Tea baggers fail to see their own hypocrisy

So, there was yet another tea party rally, this time in Boston. They’re still pissed off at health care reform, calling it socialist and communist without ever understanding the definition of those two words. I wonder where they were a few years ago when Medicare part D was push through with no vote and why they weren’t rioting against socialized medicine then. Welfare queen, Valerie Shirk, however, seems to be the biggest hypocrite of them all.

Early yesterday morning, Valerie and Rob Shirk corralled their 10 home-schooled children into their van for the 2 1/2-hour drive from their home in Connecticut to Boston, arriving just in time to hear Sarah Palin denounce government-run health care at the tea party movement rally on Boston Common.

They thought it would be a learning opportunity for their children, who range in age from 9 months to 15 years old and who held up signs criticizing the government for defying the “will of the people.’’

“The problem in this country is that too many people are looking for handouts,’’ said Valerie Shirk, 43, of Prospect, Conn. “I agree with the signs that say, ‘Share my father’s work ethic — not his paycheck.’ We have to do something about the whole welfare mentality in this country.’’

For the Shirks, it was a day for their children to seek inspiration from Palin and the other speakers, who questioned Obama’s patriotism and at least one of whom referred to him repeatedly as Barack Hussein.

The couple, who rely on Medicaid for their health care, were also upset about the nation’s new health reforms.

When asked why her family used state-subsidized health care when she criticized people who take handouts, Valerie Shirk said she did not want to stop having children, and that her husband’s income was not enough to cover the family with private insurance.

“I know there’s a dichotomy because of what we get from the state,’’ she said. “But I just look at each of my children as a blessing.’’

The Shirks fail to see how their chosen lifestyle of 10 children is not hypocritical of her complaint that we need to do something about the welfare mentality in this country. She doesn’t even realize that her little blessings have caused her to accept this dreaded socialized health care because her desires of wanting more and more children is too much for her husband’s income to afford. Instead, she relies on taxpayers to foot the bill for her family.

The views of everyone in the article are that government money is okay for me, but not for anyone else. The Shirks, most likely, also pay little to no taxes either precisely because the tax system helps them out.

The sad news in all of this is that there are still far too many people who don’t understand what it means to help out their fellow man. While I get angry at people like the Shirks for having 10 children they can’t afford, still want more, take government aid, and then bitch about said government aid, I would still help them out because the children never asked to be born. It is their parents who should be held responsible, yet we, as a society, have also said we cannot dictate how many children you can have. We would all probably agree that 10+ children is too many if you cannot afford them on your salary, especially when one of two spouses do not work, but we cannot, as decent human beings allow the children to languish because of choices their parents made.

Sadly, the anger they should have had during the Bush administration over skyrocketing spending, an unjust war, the removal of personal freedoms, the illegal spying on Americans, and the passing of legislation such as Medicare Part D never materialized. Institutions like FOX News have taken well-intentioned, ignorant people and given them a voice. They don’t understand that they already have some form of government-run health care and, by protesting, they are protesting against what they already have.

Unfortunately, the people interviewed here have a fundamental lack of understanding of how government works, believing instead that what they heard on the TV is correct. Then they run out to protest out of fear and misinformation. The tea party movement has moved away from what it started to be as it has attracted far too many racist, misinformed, crazy people. It no longer matters that there are intelligent, well-informed people in the movement, the loud-mouthed crazy people are getting all the air time.

Protesting in America is a great thing. Just make sure you know what you’re protesting against and get the facts before you start decrying the other side. Angry people who lost their jobs and are on unemployment, retired people who rely on social security, and folks with families far too large for their means and rely on Medicaid are not the face of the movement you should be displaying. It belittles your movement. It makes your movement make no sense and makes you a laughing stock to the entire nation.