How to Waste the Government's Time

I'll be the very first to admit that the challenges our government faces now are the greatest and most difficult challenges our nation has ever had to face. True, our government has created a lot of the challenges themselves, but that's another point for another time. But as I was saying, the challenges our government faces are serious and, quite possibly, world-changing. There's the unrest in the Middle East between Syria and Israel, with Iran sticking their noses in it; there's the drawdown in Afghanistan and the concerns on how that one will turn out (one name for you: Viet Nam); there's the saber-rattling by the fat little moron in North Korea, who I think is taking a lesson from "The Mouse That Roared." (Don't know what I'm talking about? Read the book or see the movie.)

On the home front there's the ever-rising unemployment rate, spurred on now by the layoffs and cutbacks being forced on companies by NObamacare; there's the all-out assault on the Second Amendment by the Buffoon In Chief and his band of merry idiots, and then there's the polarization of our people along political lines in what has been the nastiest political era in our nation's history.

Yes, our government certainly has a lot on its plate, so the last thing they need is a useless petition to take up their time. Personally, I think they have much more important things to do.

But you can't tell that to the people at New England Sasquatch Research and Protection. No, sir, you sure can't tell them that - all 660 of them. Seems that those folks, spearheaded by someone who calls herself "Rachael Zhang," have started a petition at the White House's petition website with the goal of the petition - and this is a direct quote from the petition - being to "officially recognize the Sasquatch as an indigenous species and have them lawfully protected by laws banning any hunting."

No, I'm not kidding. These people actually want Congress to pass a law recognizing and protecting a species of creature that no one has been able to prove actually exists.

Yeah, it's kinda like passing a law to protect the Tooth Fairy and the Easter Bunny.

Now, for those of you who haven't been following my blog, about two years ago I posted something about Animal Planet's "Finding Bigfoot," and to be honest it was somewhat less than flattering on the show's part. My issue there is not with the topic of Bigfoot, but rather with the idiots and clowns on the show. As for the issue of whether or not a Bigfoot-type creature actually exists, I think it's possible. Not likely, but it's possible. And I'm the kinda guy that in order to get me to believe this, you're gonna have to show me rock-solid PROOF, actual irrefutable evidence to make a believer out of me. So far, no one's managed to do this.

Personally, I think the petition and the idea of a law protecting a mythical creature is ludicrous at best, moronic at worst, and I said so on the group's Facebook page. The conversation which followed was interesting to say the least, and if you have a Facebook page then I suggest you go check it out.

My main point in the conversation was to try and convince "Rachael" that the burden of proof was on HER, that SHE and her organization were the ones who had to actually PROVE that this creature exists in order for the Congress to take them seriously. She tried dazzling me with a bunch of scientific terms, jargon, and phrases, but I guess she's not as smart as she thinks she is - or I'm smarter than she thought I was - because that effort fell flat on its ass. Then she went on the defensive, simply stating that it wasn't her responsibility to prove anything to anyone, especially me. My counterpoint is that if she can't convince me, then what chance does she and her group stand with Congress and the President?

Try as I might, that last point of simple logic just seems to escape her. Then again, logic always "escapes" someone when they know they've been proven wrong.

I even pointed out to "Rachael" that she had the perfect opportunity to convince someone who admitted that it was possible that a Bigfoot-type creature exists that they really do exist, and she refused to take the chance. At that point I cast a hell of a big doubt on her devotion and beliefs, and she did nothing to refute me. She simply said that it wasn't up to her to convince anyone of anything, proving that she was either totally ignorant of my point or just choosing to ignore it. (Personally, I think her devotion sucks. If a liberal gave me the chance to prove to them that gun control doesn't work, I'd be all over that like hair on a - well, on a Bigfoot.)

The truth of the matter is that if "Rachael" and the six-hundred-odd folks at NESRP want to be taken seriously, if they want their petition to stand even a snowball's chance in Hell - which it doesn't now - they're going to have to convince nearly three hundred people, elected officials whose reputation and political careers will be affected by their decision, that this creature actually exists. And it's going to take a hell of a lot more than some shaky cell phone video filmed through the mesh screen of a tent, or some country bumpkin standing out in the woods in his RealTree camo outfit saying, "Yeah, I seen it, and it wuz raht over thar!" for that to happen.

Like I said, if you can't convince ME, then you stand ZERO chance with Congress.

And apparently I'm not the only one who feels this way; or, rather, there aren't that many people who feel the same way as "Rachael" does. You need to amass 25,000 signatures on any petition in order for the White House to even look at it, and you only have thirty days to do it. The "Tooth Fairy" petition, as I call it, runs out on February 10, a mere five days from now. So how many signatures do they have?

1,272 as of now. They still need 23,728 more signatures.

Good luck with that, "Rachael."

IHC