ImNotSoBad - By: Marty Finucane / Politics

I tasked Marty with explaining to everyone why he is not the asshole everyone thinks he is. I labeled him the "Worst Sports Fan in Buffalo", we will get to that on a later date. Below focus's on his political views. 


I’m not so bad. Really, I’m not! I may be a bit of a troll with a meme problem. Sue me! A good
meme is hilarious, and I have a twisted sense of humor. Some people get me, and some don’t. I
don’t really care either way. Just let me be me and you be you. That’s what being American is
all about isn’t it? Freedom? Personal choice? Why are we all up in each other’s shit? How come
every time I open Facebook or Twitter, I am forced to defend my right to free speech, to bear
arms, or even my opinions as a man? Seriously, what the hell has happened to this country?
How have we allowed our political discourse (or lack thereof) to become so toxic, that I can’t
even hold a door open for an African-American family without being called a “white-privileged
racist cracker” to my face right in front of their kids? Like, what kind of example are you
setting? I cannot imagine harboring that much hate for any person, let alone a complete
stranger, simply because of the color of their skin. Don’t get me wrong, there are many people
that annoy me – specifically radical leftist, the alt-right, the fucking media and rich Hollywood
celebrities and politicians who think they can lecture middle class Americans on how they
should be living their lives – but I do not hate them. I don’t wish terrible things upon them like
they do me. Speaking of me, allow me to introduce myself. I am a straight, white male. I would
consider myself a jock. I am 35 years old and a disabled veteran. I served 6 years in the United
States Army and did 2 tours in the Middle East – 6 months for a humanitarian mission in
Muzaffarabad, Pakistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom and 15 months in Iraq in
support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. I love my wife, my dogs, and my country. In other words, I
am everything that the Left hates and that the Right weaponizes. But I really am a good guy.
Believe me.

Growing up, I hated politics. Both of my parents are Democrats and most of my Aunts and
Uncles are Republicans. Holiday parties and family get-togethers were always entertaining. My
dad and my uncles would gather around the kitchen table and the wine, yes wine, would start
flowing and the conversation would usually start out friendly. “How about them Bills?” “Buncha
bums.” “Sabres aren’t much better…” yada, yada, yada. Then it would happen, like clockwork –
someone would bring up their 401k or the stock market and the conversation quickly got
heated. “BUSH IS A WAR MONGER!” “CLINTON IS A RAPIST” Blah, blah, blah…I never got
involved, in fact, I never wanted to get involved. I couldn’t have cared less back then. I didn’t
know anything about politics or where I stood on certain issues like taxes, healthcare, and gun
control. When I turned 18, I did my civic duty and voted. I registered as a Democrat because
that’s what my parents were, and I didn’t know any better. They taught me to treat people the
way I expect to be treated; to shut my mouth and listen to others; not to judge the choices of
others because everyone has their own reasons for believing what they do. I still hold onto
these principles. I am no longer a Democrat though. Nor am I a Republican. I am an
Independent. I do not toe any party line, in fact, I think the two-party system is antiquated and
needs to be abolished. The Democratic party, which seems to pander to the extreme fringes of
the left and the Republican party, which is hardly conservative in nature, no longer reflect the
values of the majority of Americans, in my opinion. They serve themselves. Why do you think
you see all these older videos of politicians flip-flopping on all the big issues – like Chuck
Schumer on border security – where it becomes clear that they don’t actually have any of these
values. It becomes what is most convenient for votes, because its all about votes, not what’s
good for the American people. I never understood why people idolize these people. Like full on
fanaticism! It’s insane if you ask me. Not 1 politician can give a good God damn about you or
me or what is important to us. That’s why I give little to no attention to campaign promises or
slogans. Make America Great Again – it’s all a bunch of crap! Lies! Lies to pander to a base to
win an election. I feel sorry for people who expect politicians to actually deliver on the promises
they make when campaigning. It’s all about power. And that is why we, the people, cannot
begin to give an inch on our Constitutional rights as Americans because, as the saying goes, you
give them an inch and they’ll take a mile.

I am no fan of “the wall” but I do think we need comprehensive immigration reform. There has
to be a way that we control who comes into this country and also a way for us to keep track and
ensure those people are following our laws and assimilating properly. A clear and defined path
to citizenship should be a requirement with strict timelines on when it has to be attained so
that we can better see who actually wants to be a part of American society and who just wants
the benefits of living in America on our dime. There is a difference and it needs to be
acknowledged. It would also go a long way to curbing the amount of violent illegal immigrants
that come into our country. Read that again carefully. Violent Illegal Immigrants. It is a very
specific group or people. It does not mean that all immigrants are violent, nor that all
immigrants are illegal, nor that all illegal immigrants are violent. But you’d never make that
distinction if you listened to the news. Legal immigration is perfectly acceptable in my view.
Illegal immigration is a problem and it needs to be addressed. Ronald Reagan famously said, “A
nation that cannot control its borders is not a nation.” – and in that respect, we do need to
secure our borders with whatever new age technology, and security is available to us. We
should build bigger and better facilities to hold people that cross the border and are awaiting
clearance. I’ll admit that I need to do more research on this topic because it is very nuanced
and a very complicated issue but who am I to say that someone who wants to seek a better life
here in America shouldn’t be able to? There just needs to be a better process all around.

In my opinion, one thing that Donald Trump got right is when he said that the media was the
“enemy of the people”. That statement was met with a lot of criticism, like pretty much
everything else Trump says or does, but he was dead on. The new-age media serves 1 purpose
– to divide Americans by pushing a biased narrative and using half-truths and clever
misinformation to trick people into believing what they are saying. All of the big outlets do it –
CNN, Fox News, ABC, MSNBC, et al and a lot of the smaller ones as well – HuffPo, WaPo, NY
Times, National Review, Breitbart, etc. This has never been clearer than in recent weeks with
the Covington Catholic/Nathan Phillips non-story. How unethical of a journalist do you have to
be to push a false narrative with not even a quarter of the details available and then use your
platform get TDS-stricken celebrities and news anchors to dox a 16-year-old kid and his family?
Are you fucking kidding me? Do you have any idea how dangerous of a precedent that sets?
That all you have to do is be on the wrong end of a partial fucking cell phone video and your life
can be ruined – it’s bullshit. It’s a disgrace. And I am glad that the kid lawyered up and is holding
those people accountable. That’s the only way this will be put to an end. This reckless, gotcha
“journalism”. In the age of social media, people can put out a patently false misinformation that
garners 50,000 retweets in minutes, and then maybe issue a retraction that gets 150 retweets a
few days later after the hysteria has already set in. What do these people get for purposely
misleading their followers? A blue fucking checkmark! And a spot on CNN’s fucking roundtable!
That’s what! True journalism is dying as the name of the game has changed from informing
people of the unbiased facts to who can get the most clicks with a witty, misleading headline.
As I was saying, one good thing Trump did was expose the true bias of the media – it’s definitely
on both sides of the aisle too. Fox News is just as bad as the rest and that’s why I don’t watch it.
Personally, I don’t watch anything outside of the local news anymore. It’s filled with too much
misinformation and hypocrisy that I would literally get angry calling out the bullshit as I was
watching it. Kind of like how I am feeling writing about this topic right now. That isn’t healthy.
And my doctor said to cut out unhealthy habits. So, I’m going to move on.

Remember above when I said, “give them an inch and they’ll take a mile”? Well, let’s talk about
“common sense gun control”. Or as I like to call it, the criminalization of law-abiding citizens.
The 2 nd Amendment to the Constitution is actually quite clear on this issue – “…The Right of the
People to Keep and Bear Arms Shall Not Be Infringed”. You know how it goes though – some
lunatic that legally already shouldn’t have a gun goes into a “Gun-Free Zone” and shoots up the
place and then we get to hear all the bleeding heart politicians and celebrities and news
anchors talk, not about the lunatic who pulled the trigger, but about how we need to “get guns
off the streets” and “thoughts and prayers” and “this ends now” bullshit; or my personal
favorite, “nobody needs an assault weapon”. The joke is, there is no such thing as an “assault
weapon”. It’s a term made up by uninformed politicians and used by the media to scare the
public into thinking that that big, scary-looking gun is going to go out on its own and kill people
mercilessly. The correct term is “automatic weapon” (1 trigger pull/hold = multiple rounds fired
rapidly) and those have already been banned in the United States since 1986. Semi-automatic
weapons (1 trigger pull = 1 round fired) are legal and lawful to own – rifles and long guns can be
purchased without a license, while handguns require a license to carry. Here’s the deal. I am for
certain gun control measures, actually. Not all people are qualified to possess firearms. It is a
tremendous responsibility to carry a firearm in public. You are responsible for, not only your life
and safety, but the lives and safety of all those around you. If you don’t have the mental
fortitude to be able to react quickly and safely enough, then you probably should not own a
firearm. If you don’t have respect for the power and danger of guns, then you probably
shouldn’t own one either. They aren’t for everybody and I would never force anyone that is
uncomfortable with them to own or handle one. It is a personal choice, but it is a choice backed
by the Constitution. That being said, we can definitely do a better job of keeping guns out of the
hands of people that shouldn’t have them, for example: convicted felons, people with
diagnosed mental disorders, and children. I am for universal background checks on all firearm
purchases and I agree that bump stocks are useless and unnecessary; but you will not convince
me that implementing stricter gun control measures or simply banning all guns (which would be
nearly impossible to do without a Civil War breaking out) will do anything other than remove
guns from and criminalize law-abiding citizens. You think that criminals and people who wish to
do harm to others really give a shit about your “Gun-Free Zone” or your 10 round maximum
magazine capacity? Here’s the kicker: the government REALLY wants you to give up your guns.
Why is that? As someone who doesn’t trust the government, why would I be in a hurry to
submit to them? I could get into all the data that shows countries that have banned guns have
actually seen increased murder rates AFTER banning guns, but this is an opinion piece, not a
research paper. I’ll just leave it at this: banning guns does not mean that all the people who
want to hurt you or the people you care about magically go away. There are and will always be
people who want to hurt other people in this world. It is sadly, a part of the human condition.
Removing one of the biggest deterrents to that violence will only result in more unfettered
violence. There are crazy people in this world, and I’d rather be in a position to defend myself
and others if it the shit hit the fan.

So, you may be wondering why I feel this way. Why do I have a severe distrust of the
government and why do I not want to start bending on the rights that protect us from the
threat of tyranny? My question to you would be, why do you trust the government? Why would
you want the government to have a say in every facet of life? The same government that keeps
people sick by suppressing cures to diseases through the FDA, that makes it ok for food
industries to sell us poisoned and impure foods, that votes against measures that would
provide nutrition training for doctors so they can offer healthy ways for us to cure ourselves
from things such as heart disease, diabetes, and cancer instead of just treating the symptoms of
these diseases with a cocktail of drugs? Think that I’m blowing smoke? Look it up – America is
the most medicated country in the world, with some 70% of people on prescription drugs of
some sort, yet we have some of the worst health outcomes and life expectancy rates. Why is
that? This is why I want nothing to do with government sponsored healthcare. Big Pharma and
the government don’t give two shits about you or me or our health – so long as doctors keep
writing prescriptions for medications that, often times, aren’t even fully researched or effective.
People need to start doing more research on alternative methods of maintaining good health
and stop relying on pills. A story came out just the other day that researchers in Israel have
found a cure to cancer and that it should be available to the public within 1 year. Let’s see if
that makes it over here to the United States or if it gets stalled, because, as you know the
cancer industry is one of the largest profit makers in the country. Big Pharma and the
government making money off of you and your loved ones suffering and dying should be a
pretty good reason to raise an eyebrow at whether or not to trust the government.

The bottom line is this: I love my country and its people. I think the government has gotten too
big and powerful and has gotten further away from representing the values of the people and
more toward the values of the rich and powerful. If you are friends with me on Facebook or
Twitter you already know that I have a tendency to share things that may be controversial or
even flat out wrong. I do that for a couple reasons: 1) because of my aforementioned twisted

sense of humor, 2) because I want people to engage with me. I will never claim to be the
smartest guy in the room, but I am always seeking to learn more from people who view things
differently than I do. I think more people could stand to operate by that credo. Too often, we
are closed off from people who think differently than us and create our own echo chambers
where everyone thinks the same and anyone who thinks differently is shunned from the group.
You see that more now than ever as the rise of current day identity politics has pitted people
against each other based on race, religion, sexuality, gender, etc. I find it both fascinating and
frustrating that the same people who preach tolerance and love are the first ones to place
labels on people and want to separate them into categories and then spew filth and hatred
toward those outside of their “allied” groups. Republicans and Democrats are getting further
and further to the fringes of the right and left, and I think - no, I hope - that eventually a 3 rd
party surfaces that bridges the gap between the two. This won’t happen until we get the money
out of politics and that is a whole other topic that I could spend 20 pages writing about so, for
all of your sakes, I won’t get into detail here. All in all, I’m just your average Joe American. I lace
up my boots and go to work every day to provide for my family and I have and will continue to
fight for all those that call this country home. If you want to know my views on something, just
ask – don’t assume that a meme on Facebook tells the whole story. Honestly, I just want
everyone to be happy and free, whatever that individually entails. See? I’m not so bad after all.