Y'all Gon' Make Me Lose My Mind . . . .

Y’all gon’ make me lose my house
Up in heh, up in heh

Y’all gon’ make me starve my kids
Up in heh, up in heh

Y’all gon’ make me really flip
Up in heh, up in heh

Where’s my gun? Where’s my clip?
Up in heh, up in heh

- a parody of “Party Up (Up in Heh)”, with apologies to DMX

I try. I mean, I really do try. When famous African Americans do some really dumb stuff, I try to have an open mind and judge fairly. I have been trained to do this by my parents, who always believed that we should judge our own fairly because no one else would.

But I’m really having a hard time judging California Assembly Speaker Karen Bass, and all the other California legislators for that matter, fairly. In a time when general fund state employees and many other state workers are dealing with three furlough days a month, I find it hypocritical at best that Speaker Bass and other legislators would give some legislative staffers raises. Are the Speaker and the legislators really that politically tone deaf to what is supposed to be a budget crisis?

Now, maybe I don’t have all the facts. Maybe these salary increases resulted from promotions, not raises. I hope that’s the case.

But if it isn’t the case, between the Governor setting out layoff scenarios of up to 20,000 state employees and rank-and-file state workers finding it hard to cope with close to a 15% pay cut, I’m surprised that more state workers haven’t gone postal on our legislature and our Governor. Now, as an officer of the court, I can’t encourage or condone violence, or, in the case of state workers, even striking, given the terms of our union contracts. But, to borrow from Chris Rock, that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t understand it.

You can only push people so far before they lose it. I mean really, really lose it.

Do they not get that some state workers might lose their homes behind these furloughs? That there are state workers who are now patronizing food banks in order to feed their children? That most state workers aren’t making $60,000 a year?

I’m surprised that some single parent mom state worker, trying to feed three kids and buy back-to-school clothes on $25,000 a year as an Office Assistant before furloughs, hasn’t tried to stalk the Governor at his public appearances or tried to “meet” him at the Executive Airport as he slithers, uh, I mean, flies, back to Santa Monica. I couldn’t condone it, but I would understand it.

Y’all gon’ make me lose my mind, up in heh, up in heh . . . .

I’m surprised that some state worker hasn’t put a “Thinking of You” greeting card at the bottom of her cat’s litter box for a week, retrieved it with gloves, and popped it in an envelope and mailed it to one of the legislators who gave their staff raises. I couldn’t condone it, but I would understand it.

Y’all gon’ make me go all out, up in heh, up in heh . . . . .

I’m surprised that thousands of purple-shirted state workers haven’t stormed the Capitol chanting “Y’all gon’ make me lose my mind, up in heh, up in heh,” armed with brown paper lunch bags filled with dog poo to be flung at their state leaders. I couldn’t condone it, but I would understand it.

Y’all gon’ make me act a fool, up in heh, up in heh . . . .

I’m surprised that the Governor and legislators haven’t been egged at their fundraising appearances back in their districts. I couldn’t condone it, but I would understand it.

Y’all gon’ make me lose my cool, up in heh, up in heh . . . .

I wouldn’t be surprised if, should the Governor make his annual appeal for state employee contributions to the California State Employee Charitable Campaign (CSECC), state employees were to give their contributions directly to CSECC charities, wipe their behinds on their CSECC forms, and send them directly to the Governor. Asking for charitable contributions from the very people whose salaries you cut by almost 15%? Crazy. Yep, I couldn’t condone it, but I would understand it.

I don’t think the Governor and the legislators really get how close they’ve pushed state workers to the edge. You can only push people so far before some really weird and tragic shit jumps off. I couldn’t condone it, but that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t understand it.