Hammers of lords

There's this saying—I forget who said it first—cripples don't mock cripples. So perhaps that's why I "trend" left in the common understanding of political views. Indeed, the older I get, the more left I become; an outlier on the 'if you're young and you don't vote left you have no heart; if you're old and you don't vote right you have no brains' theory. It's probably because my physicality has taken a massive pounding of late and thus the more crippled I am the more prone I am to look out for the like afflicted.

Anyway, I proudly admit I am left of centre (again, as the common understanding is). I am most likely to vote Green. Indeed, though I am (at last check) a paid up member of the ALP I have voted green as a first preference because I want the ALP to go their way and not die in the barren midlands where no one dwells. 

So I arc up when I see my ideological opposites acting particularly monstrously. I can't but help see them as feudally inclined lords and toffs, made up of the financial elites that wish only for more wealth and to fuck any social compact. Skeevy bigots who drape their 'us and them' mentality over themselves like a Cloak of Resistance +2.

Two examples spring to mind. 

The first is, of course, Tony Abbott and his inhumane views on handling refugee arrivals from sea. Turning the boats back. These are people illegally attempting to enter our territory to seek asylum. Sure, within the midst are those seeking a better place in life, but really, who the fuck can blame them for doing so? But despite it being clearly a conflict with international law and, indeed, the primeval law of the sea that mariners have followed since time immemorial, this heartless pandering cock spank is drilling down on his belief he can command others to do something in violation of not only international law but the very spirit of the sea. 

Abbott's fucking lucky Poseidon or insert-aquatic-sphere-holder-deity-here doesn't exist or they'd be mighty peeved at ole budgie smugglers and his strong stance on Brownies get towed back out. Indeed should such watery divinity be around I'm presuming Abbott can no longer go swimming lest he end up having a memorial swimming pool named after him for expressing such a sentiment.

The next example is the Republican Party in the US. These intransigent mofos have torqued their economy solely to screw over Democratic attempts to right the fiscal ship that the Republicans in office nearly capsized. Indeed, the ship steering analogy extended they then drunkenly stumbled and attempted to wrest the wheel once more with their refusal to raise the debt ceiling, let alone all the other horrid shit they smeared over the body politic.

But in addition to political and economic fouling of their own nest—though it helps so much of their personal wealth resides protected overseas such as those owned by Mitt Romney, proud parent of a Swiss bank account and stacks of wealth stored in Caribbean Island Banking Systems—they've been steadily disenfranchising tens of thousands of poor people on the utterly spurious notion there's electoral fraud due to lack of acceptable photo ID. Because, you see, the poor and less able less likely to have such in their possession and therefore they can be turned away from the polls. A classic example of this plan being some egregious error of a human being in the State house of Philadelphia claiming their Voter ID law changes had delivered the state for Mitt. 

Both of these have at their heart a world view that is poisonous and mean spirited. A clear example of fucking Haves trying to shit all over the Have Nots. Why? So they can gather to their miserly embrace even more of their mostly-unearned money. 

Part of me is hopeful still for the future. That even though the generations behind us will be beset with Biblical-esque horrors in the form of environmental damage that sanity and compassion will prevail. That the ability to share a thought with the rest of a world at an instant will eventually put paid to tyranny and the power of evil old mostly-white men. 

But things like this. An overt appeal to base xenophobia and at the risk of whatever reputation Australia had left as a place synonymous with a positive immigration and integration experience or the deliberate targeting of the only right the poor really have to redress their lot—at the ballot box—just makes the blood boil.

These lords are old evil but someday their hammers will break and then they will be done.