Let Freedom Glow

Lest you think I listened, even while flipping radio channels, to even a second of Rush Limbaugh, I got this information from the clip they played on an NPR segment from his show. Whew! Now, you know it's safe to read on...

The aforementioned NPR segment addressed the repeal of a bill that was enacted to phase out incandescent light bulbs due to their inefficiency. Of course, financial doom and gloom is the news of the day. Don't worry; Congress is not entirely focused on the nation's checking account and balance sheet. No, Republicans (who worked with Democrats to pass the light bulb bill initially) are making sure things like freedom to choose inefficient bulbs is not lost just because there are a few pesky fiscal issues facing the country.

Let me just make a little side trip here to make a comparison to a household for a second. So, if our checking account was bare (o.k., it IS bare, but that's another story) and it was not balanced, and we were already into our overdraft protection and almost hitting the limit (thankfully none of that is true), and then one of the kids came to us with a newspaper ad for Store "X" or something and proclaimed that they were phasing out the sale of some product, would we make time to run over protest the loss of a product of some kind while our financial situation was dire? Umm, no.

I know my personal-is-comparable-to-political example above is not quite the same as Republicans protecting our rights, especially the right to choose...WHAT? I know, "Republican" and "right" and "choose" are not usually words found in the same sentence. What the heck is going on in Washington?

O.k., so let me enlighten you (oh, I love puns!) about what Rush preached (let's call it what it is). In the preachy, rant clip on NPR, Limbaugh claimed that Americans do not like their right of freedom to choose to be taken away from them by the government. He really said that. If I hadn't been driving while listening, I most surely would have fallen off my seat in laughter at the utter preposterousness of his statement, especially it coming from him. Thankfully, I was driving so I was wearing a seatbelt. I also managed to stay on the road.

Of course, he was not talking about the rights of women or the LGBT population. He was not talking about having a choice about what goes on in your own body. He was not talking about equal marriage. He was not talking about rights to accurate, logical education. Light bulbs? Really? I was dumbfounded until I realized that as long as we are free to choose incandescent bulbs, we don't really need to have other choices or rights. Then, I thought for another minute and wondered why we needed ANY kind of light bulb if we are to keep everything in the dark and not shed light on complex topics or issues. Maybe Congress should ban all light bulbs so we are kept in the dark even more than ever. They can pass bills for the most opaque government on earth, for even dictatorships are sometimes more transparent and obvious than our democracy seems. Sure, they're violent and often include genocide of some sort. However, there's no SECRET about any of that. It's pretty "out there" for everyone to see.

Dylan said we don't need a weather man to know which way the wind blows. Well, I don't need incandescent light bulbs to see through the Emperor's, Congress's or Rush's (same-old) clothes either. Let freedom glow, for sure. Let it glow from the rights and choices of Americans, not incandescent light bulbs.