Madison, Tea Party? No difference.

Reflections on Madison from a lazy parasitic civics teacher.

I am a professional liar. Everyday I walk into my classes and for hours tell lies to my students. I tell them about the revolutionary vision of the founding fathers. I show them that we are a democratic republic, a country in which the will of the masses is carried out by elected representatives. I tell them the story of how democracy has expanded. I tell them that the U.S. inspired the world. I teach my students about the rights they have, rights guaranteed by the blood of thousands of people just like them. I once felt honored to be the tribune of democracy for the small handful of kids the city threw into my classroom, but more and more I feel like a vile liar.

This is a note to you, slimy politicians. This is a note to you, empty suits. This is a note to you, in Washington and Springfield and to you on Wall Street. If I am a liar, it is not because of me. If I am a liar it is because YOU made me a liar. America is not so foolish as you presume.

Don't think I haven't noticed it. You have been on my t.v. and radio trying desperately to portray teachers like me as money-grubbing, greedy, lazy pigs. According to some of you, we have destroyed the economy by sucking at the trough of the state. You tell America that we are vile creatures. We are, as the influential Rush Limbaugh said this week, "parasites." It is quite low to speak like this of such a noble profession. Few contribute more to what makes America great as much as a teacher and people are not fooled by such silly rhetoric.

Money-grubbing and greedy? Hardly. People in my line of work make less than those with similar education. Was it greedy for me to choose to spend time teaching kids? Should I have chosen the field of law or politics or banking? Maybe my mistake was that I chose a job in which I am paid for six hours of work when I probably do about ten hours a day. I should not have been so greedy. I should have gone into the derivative trade or maybe sold faulty mortgages like fine upstanding people like you, people like you who truly pull your weight. I am a burden on society, what with the homework I assign. I should have stuck to

selling mortgages to people who couldn't afford them like my banker critics or maybe I should be like my political critics and contribute to society by looking the other way as lobbyists pour money into my campaign coffers.

I am a parasite, eh? I suckk and suck and provide nothing. This is something I have seen lately in education. Many who come to guide school districts with backgrounds in business do not know what to make of us. What is the widget of a school teacher? What do we make? What do we provide? And more importantly, how can one measure what we produce, so as to apply business management strategies? They have tried to use the ACT to measure it, but, alas, there is no test on the ACT to measure how well a student knows their rights or understands the position history has put them in. Some of these managers in education have concluded throwing things like poetry and civics and music right out of the curriculum of schools since there is no way to measure its worth. It is a sad day we are approaching when everything that makes someone educated and worthwhile must have a price tag attached to it. So I guess, I contribute nothing and so, am a parasite.

The thousands protesting in Madison this week are alarmed that you have made us liars. We told our students that their government had their best in mind, and you gave us lies and more lies and kicked the can down the road. You told me I could retire after a career of training active civic-minded American voters. And then what is most appalling is the assault on the very democracy we are obliged to herald in our classrooms by banning through state law the right of people to peaceably redress their government for grievances, the right to strike and collective bargaining.

Thousands of regular people sacrificed for that right. Many even gave their lives like the workers in the Homestead Strike who picketed, but were met with bullets. Collective bargaining and the strike has become a cornerstone of American democracy and Governor Walker of Wisconsin and Rep. Michael Madigan of Illinois have proposed cutting off democracy at the knees. These politicians tell us to trust them. They ask us to give up our hard-earned rights and to trust them after they've delivered nothing but decades of lies. When the unions came to compromise with Walker so long as he did not sacrifice the rights of working men, but he refused; revealing a truly sinister motive.

Regular, hard-working everyday Americans are not fooled. We refuse to give up our American dreams to the rich and powerful and to the liars on Wall Street. We demand freedom and we demand the voice that was promised to us by our social studies teachers in our own youths. That is why there are thousands protesting in Madison and it is why the Tea Party made the dent it did in November's election. The people want control of their government. They want fairness. I am surprised at how dense the powers that be are to fail to see this.

We do not want to be talked down to. We are not chattel. We are the rulers of this nation because, unfortunately for the CEOs and big wigs, we outnumber them and our vote counts. I always voted with the idea of underwear in mind: One should change their politicians like they change their underwear. After a short while, both tend to stink.

Who are the parasites? When major corporations and banks broke the law and went against common sense to make a quick buck on the backs of everyday men and women, the government failed to stop them. It was not out of ignorance that our esteemed government did not stop it, they just hoped it would go away and a few bucks made waiting for it to go away easier. They played a game of hot potato while I told my class that they were lucky to be Americans. And then it hit the fan and the banks were "bailed out" with the tax money of hard-working America because they were "too big to fail." Well, they did fail. And so did the people who were foreclosed on. Those people were left homeless, but the banks were given a check signed by our elected representatives. Who are the parasites?

So, here it is.... here are the people in the streets you must have thought would never come. Here they are with their signs and placards, acting like "animals" by demanding their basic democratic rights. Here they are yelling and screaming at you. The Republicans defy them and the Democrats run and hide, but both tactics are foolish. Americans are finished with the games and want their democracy back. We want our jobs back from China. We want an end to all the deals. We want all that was promised to us by our parasite, lazy, do-nothing social studies teachers who reminded us of Lincoln's words that the American government is "of the people, by the people, and for the people."

So go ahead and keep calling us communists or racists because we oppose the plutocracy. We will not race to the bottom and compete with your Chinese and Indian slaves. This is the Tea Party. This is the union protest in Madison. It comes from the Left and the Right and is one and the same.

See where will your closed ears get you next time you want our votes. This is not a Democrat or Republican thing. This is an American thing and in America, majority rules.