The tea party movement and their corporate-funded astroturf backers at FreedomWorks often claim to be fighting “big government.” For instance, FreedomWorks complained that the individual mandate in the new health care law was an “unacceptable, unconscionable, … complete perversion of the liberties our founders fought and died to protect.” Now, local chapters of the tea party and FreedomWorks are collaborating to plan a protest in Gwinnet County, Georgia, to voice their latest grievance against government powers — mandatory home trash collection….
I know; I promised that WWJD would forevermore be a Tea Party-free zone. Making fun of ignorance, racism, and unfocused rage gets old pretty quickly, and since it’s been well-established that teabaggers are crazier than a gaggle of March hares…well, the thrill was gone. This silliness, though, is so stunning, so breath-taking, so “WTF???” that it rendered me something close to speechless…which isn’t easy to do. I fought the temptation to close my eyes and let the stoopid wash over me…but then it dawned on me that these idjits are SERIOUS.
I can understand a lot of things that I might not necessarily agree with…but opposing mandatory garbage collection? How completely brain-dead does one have to be in order to oppose requiring that communities maintain minimum sanitation standards, of which mandatory garbage collection is part and parcel? What do teabaggers propose to replace collecting garbage? Burying it in back yards? Throwing it over the fence into your neighbor’s yard? Having your child take bags of garbage to school? Giving bags of garbage away as door prizes at monthly block parties?
In some parts of the country, garbage collection is mandatory AND a damn fine idea. After living on the Texas Gulf Coast for 10+ years, I’m here to tell you that leaving garbage out for too long in the heat and humidity of a Texas summer can lead to all sorts of problems- odor, rats, and other animals top the list. There’s also the increased potential for disease. Garbage collection is (and should be) considered to be a basic sanitation and public health issue…and for very good reason
Of course, this being Georgia we’re talking about here, people probably just want to keep their garbage for themselves…perhaps next to the couch and the refrigerator on the porch of their trailer.
Protesting mandatory garbage collection? REALLY? This is the best, most legitimate “issue” that FreedomWorks and their fellow knuckle-draggers could come up with on short notice? Before any of y’all try to argue that the Tea Party is a legitimate expression of voters frustrated with governmental interference in their lives, just stop. There’s nothing that you could possibly say to convince me that this isn’t the single stupidest and most insane expression of political opposition. EVER. Well, next to praying for the Deepwater Horizon well to magically seal itself, that is.
Protesting mandatory garbage collection? REALLY? Jeebus, get a clue, willya?
