The food stamp party.

Oh my, it's getting ugly here in A-merry-ca. I have a confession to make: I have been blessed all of my life. I am one of the lucky ones here in A-merry-ca who has never had to depend on a government handout. But there are a lot of hard working and successful A-merry-cans who, at some point in their lives, did need a little government assistance. Families and individuals can go through rough patches, and, when they do, they might need help from a government that they have been paying taxes to all of their working lives.

Which brings me to Newt Gingrich. My man recently labeled the democratic party the party of food stamps. (Of course considering the number of A-merry-cans on food stamps right now, that might actually be a good thing for the dumbocrats. )

"It's perfectly fair to say they are earning the title of the party of food stamps," he said. "By contrast, we have historically since Ronald Reagan of 1980 been the party of job creation."

Fair enough, Newt. But what if your Reaganesque supply side policies do not create jobs? What if on their way to achieving the A-merry-can dream they go broke and hungry and might need some food stamps to get by?- A college student, or small business person who is going through a rough spell comes to mind. - What then?

Oh, that's right, they are just people. Who cares about them? It's not like they are foreign owned conglomerates who can give the republicans and their lap dog organizations much needed money.

Yep, just people. Bad stuff happens to just people sometimes. Like poor Gene Cranick of Obion County, Tennessee. Seems Gene forgot to pay a $75 annual fee and it cost him big time.

"A smoldering rage may be all that remains after Gene Cranick's home burned to the ground last week in Obion County, Tennessee.

Firefighters are usually the bold "veni, vidi, vici" sort, but those from neighboring South Fulton could only say "veni, vidi." They came. They watched. That's it.

Cranick lives outside of the city limits and he admits that he forgot to pay a $75 annual service fee that would have provided him with fire protection. Firefighters wouldn't lift a finger, much less the hoses that might have saved the house.

The fire reportedly started in some barrels outside. As the flames crept closer to the home, Cranick says he offered to pay whatever it would take. The plea fell on deaf ears. Hours later, the home was gone.

So were three dogs and a cat.

"They coulda' been saved if they put water on it. But they didn't do it," Cranick told MSNBC.

The South Fulton firefighters did show up and managed to save a neighbor's field. The neighbor had paid the fee. But they would provide no heroics for the Cranicks. A local news report shows them climbing back on their trucks, flames still dancing over what was once the family's home."

Of course, folks like Glen Beckkk and other wingnuts thought that this was funny. You see, in their A-merry-ca, when one is not serious enough about his or her individual responsibilities they must be punished. So the Cranicks got their just deserts; they lost their home. Unfortunately Beckkk didn't get his; he still has one.