Who’s To Blame?

by Betsy Ashton

Betsy Ashton, born in Washington, DC, was raised in Southern California where she ran wild with coyotes in the hills above Malibu. She protested the war in Vietnam, burned her bra for feminism, and is a steadfast Independent. She is a writer, a thinker, the mother of three grown stepchildren, companion and friend. She mentors writers and writes and publishes fiction. Her first mystery, Mad Max Unintended Consequences, was published in February 2013. The second in the series, Uncharted Territory, A Mad Max Mystery, came out in April 2015. In her spare time, she is the president of the state-wide Virginia Writers Club. She loves riding behind her husband on his motorcycle. You’ll have to decide for yourself if and where she has a tattoo.

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#amwriting | Playing the Blame Game | Stupidity

3 Comments(s)

November 2, 2015

I originally published this in January 2104. Given what’s going on now, I’m sad to say I think it’s still accurate.

We hear it all the time. He made me do it. I’m going to tell Mo-o-om. It’s all your fault we’re grounded. On the political side, it’s the other party that’s obstructing progress.

Why did this come up right now? I was at our local coffee shop this morning waiting for my latte and shamelessly eavesdropping on conversations. I do it all the time. It’s one way I get material for my stories and novels.

Two men sat at a table. One was complaining that his daughter, who had just landed a terrific job in New York City, was going to be paying nearly half of her gross in taxes. The conversation went like this:

Guy with daughter making six figures in Manhattan: Vote the goddamned Democrats in and all you get are higher taxes, wars and poverty.

2nd guy: I hear you. Them Democrats hate all of us. We need to get ’em out of govment.

GWD: Run ’em out of town before they get us into another goddamned war.

Those of you who know me I was dying, absolutely dying, to jump in and profess a bit of reality. First, NYC. Taxes always go up. Fact of life. Mayor Bloomberg didn’t do much to lower them during the 12 years he was in charge. Second, Bush 1 = Desert Storm. Bush 2 = Afghanistan and Iraq. John McCain = get boots on the ground in Syria.

Last time I looked, these were all the good guys, the Republicans.

I smiled sweetly when I left. I decided to follow Forrest Gump’s advice: Stupid is as stupid does. I kept my mouth shut, but I wanted to rip faces off. Wouldn’t do any good. Can’t change minds set in cement.

Sigh.

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3 Comments

  1. pdroberts1
    pdroberts1 on November 2, 2015 at 8:51 am

    Betsy, You touch my heart. While I was in Michigan, I watched my first Republican debate (with friends with whom I am in agreement) and, of course, there is that first reaction which is laughter at the pure absurdity of the show. But I found that finally I simply couldn’t understand that this is the reality, this is the State of the Union, this isn’t just theater. A while back, I wrote this on my blog. I don’t know if you saw it.

    http://pdrobertson.com/2015/08/16/a-world-ago-dreams/

    Thank you so much for continuing to do what you do to keep us all awake.

    >

    • betsyashton
      betsyashton on November 2, 2015 at 6:18 pm

      I did see your blog post, Dean. The world is in such a sad state and yet we have to find humor in the situation. I wish we had politicians with strong moral fiber who are open to negotiation. After all, no president can stand up and shout, “You’re fired.”