Pungenday, Discord 70, YOLD 3173

With all the problems facing the world - famine, poverty, wars, bigotry, televangelism (although that last has lost the Falwell, thank goddess), it amazes me the amount of money that American "professional" atheletes are paid. There's no need for, it, and just think about it. I we did away with one major sport - just one - and put all that money toward...well, anything that's a problem in America, whether via charity or taxes, that problem would at least have the potential to be solved. I doubt very much that it would actually BE solved, but at least if we did that, the corrupt politicians lining their own pockets with ill-gotten gains wouldn't be able to tell the sheep people that they failed because of a lack of fundage. They would have no choice but to blame their subordinates. Now, after a man has to fir so many peons, perhaps the people will catch wise that it's really him (I doubt it, but maybe). And then viola! One less money-grubbing politician in office.

I realize that that's not really a viable solution to end the corruption in Washington, but goddammit, it's a start and we have to start somewhere. This must be how the Germans felt when Hitler was just starting to erode their freedoms. We realize, day by day, that those little bits of constitutional freedoms are being taken away. We don't notice it, because They(tm) are chipping away ever so slowly, but they're going. One day we'll all look up and say, "When the fuck did we get a gestapo?"

By then, of course, it will be too late.

I guess the point I'm trying to make here, in my own rambling and incoherent fashion, is that with all these very real concerns, even without looking at the "Sally Struthers" countries and sticking to our own back yards, there are so many more worthy things to spend billions of dollars on every year than to watch a tall man try to get a little ball in a basket. Or whatever, I'm not particularly prejudiced against basketball.

I'm done here.