The Smack-worthy List 2015

It's the end of the year, and everyone has a list of this or that to celebrate the end of 2015.  I'm no different.  I have a list in my head.  A list of people who are being deliberately disagreeable or downright stupid in their behavior. People saying or doing hateful things that spread hatred and discord.  People being stupid for the sake of getting attention. People who have no regard for others.  I could go on, but you get the idea.

These sorts of people, in my humble opinion, need a good smack upside the head to 'reboot' their bad behavior. I spend at least a couple of minutes a week imagining this scenario, and I'd like to share. Close your eyes, and picture the Hand of God, coming down out of the heavens, just to THWACK!!!  someone you know who needs it.  Doesn't that make you feel just a tiny bit better about the whole situation?  No?  Well, some people do tend to need multiple smacks to get their minds back on what counts.

So who counts as Smackworthy this year? 

Donald Trump.  There are probably a few people who want to do more than just use their imaginations to smack this guy upside the head, but I'm not one of them.  What can I say about Trump that hasn't already been said?  He's the man who says that he wants to be President, without knowing the first thing about how government works.  He's the guy who is out there reinforcing the world's view of the United States, making us appear to all be anti-immigrant, anti-Muslim, anti-everything.  If there were anyone out there who deserves a good smack upside the head,  it is this guy.

Pharma-bro.  This guy's(I am not glorifying this jerk by typing his name) company bought the rights to a pill that many people need and immediately raised the prices of that drug from $13.50 to $750.00.  The world was outraged, and he promised to lower the price again.  He never did.  This guy just sat there and smirked during every interview.  He instead decided that the world needed him to start podcasting his every move online, because he was just so awesome.   I've heard that he's received a giant dose of karma in the form of an arrest for fraud not relating to his drug companies, but he still needs a good smack.

Ted Cruz.  The worst thing about Ted Cruz is that he thinks that he is a reasonable man.  He says awful things and it's all okay as far as he's concerned, because he's just so reasonable and mild mannered.   Cruz is an immigrant(born in Canada) who claims to dislike immigrants, well the immigrants he doesn't like.  Cruz is a rich man who wastes taxpayer money like it is his own; he engineered the last shut down of the government because he didn't get his way. Cruz reminds me of the snake-oil salesmen of the previous centuries, peddling his fake cures for whatever he thinks ails the world.  Definitely in need of a smack.

The Affluenza teen...and his Mom.  This kid got off for killing four people while driving drunk, because the lawyer convinced the jury that he was too "rich and too spoiled" to understand his actions.  He was on probation for a couple of years, but this year he decided that wasn't any fun, and he started up his partying ways.  Then he didn't want to get caught for his behavior, so he decided to run off to Mexico.  His mother, already guilty of overindulging her boy, decided that she would join him.  Because there's nothing wrong with driving your child on his escape from the law. The two of them went to Mexico, and of course they were caught.  If ever a pair needed a good smack upside the head, it's these two. 

People who hate on Carrie Fisher.  Seriously?  There are really people out there who thought that Carrie Fisher would look exactly the same as she did in Return of the Jedi?  Yep.  I wish I was kidding. Han Solo aged, and that was cool.  Luke Skywalker aged, and nobody blinked.  But Princess Leia?  She's got to remain young and scantily clad, according to guys who sit around in their underpants and eat day old pizza.  The amount of crap Fisher has had to deal with over the past week is stupid.  I'm glad that Leia doesn't look the same.  Why would she?  In the Star Wars universe, she's had at least one child, which automatically wrecks your body.  She's led not one, but TWO resistance armies.  Leia's a freakin' GENERAL in The Force Awakens!  Do you know how hard it is for a WOMAN to become a general in any military?  We should never stop smacking these people.

The Media.  While there are exceptions to this, the Media as a whole has become ridiculously floppy with their journalism efforts.  If you turn on the news, there's quite a fuss over things that aren't all that important.  That's probably expected in these days of the 24 hour news cycle.  What isn't expected is the sensationalism.  It used to be that the news was reported in an objective, rational tone.  I can recall vividly the day that Ronald Reagan was shot; the facts were reported, and not much else. When I watch the evening news these days, however, I feel as though I am expected to have an emotional response to everything, no matter what, and that response is usually anger. I'm trying to keep negativity out of my life, and these days I don't even want to turn on the news or open a browser.  For cryin' out loud, stop it. Report the news, don't edit it.

Are there any other people I may have forgotten?  There may be others who need a good smack, that I forgot about.  I do tend to forget things these days, after chemo.  That's probably not a bad thing.

Everyone be safe and stay warm on this New Year's Eve!