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| "Ben Carson by Gage Skidmore 7" by Gage Skidmore. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Commons. |
It's like the mo' money we come across/
The mo' problems we see/"
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Or "poverbs" as the case may be.
I'm trying to be a good human and not infringe someone else's copyright, so please understand when I insist that you follow this link.
And where does this link take one? To The Guardian's recent photo essay, "Ben Carson's House: A Homage to Himself in Pictures."
Goodness knows, there is so much I could say about Dr. Carson, the least damning being that apparently it is indeed brain surgery, that is to say, everything including brain surgery must be pretty darned simple if the presumably Xanax-addled Dr. Carson can do it.
I write this--and the rather cheeky post title--at my peril. I do not want to ever be seen as criticizing Ben Carson in a way that could be perceived as racist--and the post title is admittedly pushing the very vanilla envelope. (Editor's note: Yes, I know it's manila.) But good lordy, Ben Carson's stupidity transcends race, gender, faith, sexuality, culture, income, and a squillion other potential ways to be bigoted.
I could go on for days about his, Donald Trump's, or any other Republican candidate for president's suitability for office. But let's just simply say that they are not suitable, are in fact embarrassingly ignorant, and yet are "intelligent" enough to be able to push their fellow ignorati and illiterati's Velcro snaps to a frighteningly intolerant and reactionary level.
And yet . . . I just can't muster the energy to rail and rage on about any of them. These whores are simply not worth the attention they're demanding and receiving. While they need to be watched carefully, they do not need to be taken as seriously as they take themselves, that they have anything serious or worthy to contribute to humanity.
Admittedly, I live in Canada now, and I give slightly less of a fig about life in the U.S. than I used to. Oh, I feel the stings of the slings and arrows of stupidity launched by certain culture warriors and their goosesteppin' citizen soldiers. And I worry, worry, worry about my family and friends back home, who deserve so much better, as do most Americans. (Truly.) In a perfect world, I'd be living in the U.S. (but not in Pittsburgh, please, God, never again . . .), enjoying life and work as best as one can until retirement.
But here in Canada I have a lovely boyfriend, I get paid more, I have been able to progress in my career, and I don't worry so much about getting assassinated by loose-cannon, gun-crazy white guys anytime I enter a movie theater, restaurant, or office building.
From here I can appreciate the positives about living in the U.S., of which there are many--a rich culture, a gregarious approach to life, and far better shopping being the ones that come to mind at the moment.
Safety and income equality are not two of its better qualities, unfortunately.
So for now I'm staying put, wishing others well, keeping my citizenship so that I can vote in the next election, and praying (yes, literally) that the Ben Carsons and the Donald Trumps become infected by a raging case of humility and never fully recover.
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All rise for the National Anthem.
A bit about my thinking behind the title of this post: Yes, of course, it refers to "Mo' Money, Mo' Problems" by the late Notorious B.I.G., one of the better songs to come out of the 1990s, in my humble opining, of which there were few, in my humble opinion Part Duh.
The post title also alludes to a situation when you have too much money and not enough class, talent, humility, or self-knowledge to know how to behave.
The case in point: Dr. Ben Carson and his house of horrid decor, perhaps best exemplified by Example A) a quote from "Poverbs" chiseled into a marble wall and Example B) a "selfie" of Ben with freakin' Jesus.
What, God was too busy that day to allow Leonardo Da Vinci to paint him with Ben? A missed opportunity for another lesson in ironic humility, that.
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