Today, I find myself sad to be called an American.

I’ve fought a tough battle to get to where I am today, and anyone who knows my story would say that every day I get to spend on this Earth is a blessing.   And they will acknowledge the fact that I’ve now survived for almost two years since I was diagnosed, thanks to a matched unrelated donor stem cell transplant.   The same type of transplant that the Arizona state legislature was told were “totally ineffective” (source).   And because of that blatant misinformation, and facing a $1.5 billion dollar deficit, the legislature decided that part of a possible solution would be to cut funding to some state-funded lung, heart, liver, and stem cell transplants.

Really?   We’re now sentencing people to death because the state can’t balance its budget?   Now who’s fault is that, and let’s be honest here.   It may not rest on the freshman legislators, but one can bet that at least a majority of those who serve now also served when the state went into the red.   And more importantly, the blame certainly, absolutely, undoubtedly does NOT fall on those waiting for transplants.

Let’s take a look at the breakdown of votes.   Here is a press release from the AZ Democrats (1. it’s posted on the azleg.gov website, and 2. the part I’m concerned with is the vote tally links at the bottom.   So don’t accuse me of using biased sources, please).   In both the AZ House and Senate, all Democrats voted against this budget.   And in both the AZ House and Senate, all but one Republican voted for it.

Is this the same party that was crying wolf over mythical “death panels” that would be supposedly created by Obamacare?   The same party that supports Sarah Palin and Newt Gingrich, and (at least) sometimes listens to Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck, all of whom have spoken against these “death panels”? Yes, yes it is.

As my girlfriend aptly puts it – “I hate this country sometimes.”

How much longer can we afford to stand by and let hypocritical, corrupt people ruin what was once a shining pillar of hope and freedom?   I don’t know, and I certainly don’t want to find out.

(For the record, I think that Democrats can be just as corrupt as Republicans.   No matter what your party loyalty, do what you do for the right reasons, not to smear the opposition.   Represent the people who elected you, don’t spit on them, step on them, and certainly don’t kill them.   You should not run over the same promises you run on, or the people you run for.   Both parties are guilty.   Get rid of the two party system, and maybe we’ll get somewhere.   But either way, it’s broken.  And politics is broken, and going to tear this country apart some day.   Make sure you take the antidote – practice common sense, use your head and not your heart.   Do what you know to be right, not just what someone says is right.)

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