Monday, May 8, 2017

The 'Georgie People'

      George Washington hated slavery,
      "Feh, pooh, yech, phooey. I hate slavery," he would often say.
      But yet, George and Martha Washington kept slaves. One day, he decided to do something about it. He called to his wife,
       "Martha, I hate slavery. It's cruel and inhuman."
       "Yes, Georgie. I know. You are a good and kind and just man. Everyone always says that about you."
       "And so, I've decided to free our slaves."
      "Yes, Georgie. You...what?!"
       "That's right, Martha. We talked about this before. Slavery is evil. I can't live with the guilt anymore. We've got to free our slaves."
       "But, Georgie. Slaves are so nice. They take such good care of us. They work  like...slaves."
       "I'm sorry, Martha. No sense in discussing it any further. My mind is made up. We're freeing the slaves, but not right away."
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      And so George Washington added a codicil to his Will that freed all his slaves upon the death of both George and Martha and he immediately got a warm, fuzzy feeling because he knew that he was doing the right thing. 
      No one ever mentioned, at least not when he was within earshot, that George Washington had no heirs and so his slaves would have gone free upon his death anyway. Of course, he could have freed them while he was still alive...but, 'they were so nice.'
      And to this day, many honor the memory of the father of our country, each in his or her own way,
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      The rich want to pay higher taxes than their maids so they hire accountants to help them lower their taxes (Huh?) and they get a warm, fuzzy feeling, especially when they go on the Late Show, because 'tax fairness' is a good thing.
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      Supporters of the public schools, regardless of where they send their own kids, get a warm, fuzzy feeling whenever they talk about the importance of public education because 'public education built this country' and is a good thing...for your kids. Vouchers for the poor? Nope. Would destroy the public school system.
                                                                 *
       Live Aid, Farm Aid, Let's-go-to-the-park-and-cry-and-do-the-wave-and-have-a-concert Aid all give everyone a warm, fuzzy feeling because singing about the poor is a VERY good thing. Just ask any poor person.   

      Diversity for me. Diversity for you. So, why do all my neighbors look just like me?

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