The next time I hear a politician talk about "shared sacrifice", the likely sacrifice will be my flatscreen when the remote flies through it. The elected class loves to talk about everyone pitching to clean up the mess made, in total, by the elected class. Medicare and Social Security are not on the verge of implosion because of me. I did not offer up hundreds of billions of dollars to bankers who made bad decisions, nor did I take your money and use it to thank campaign contributors. Further, I did not enact a prescription drug benefit during dual wars and I have not used your money to subsidize any number of businesses. No, folks; the sacrifice needs to come from Washington. It's called leadership. Look into it.
Establishment DC has collaborated on making such a colossal cluster of the nation's finances that it hopes you are so dizzied by the numbers that you will not notice neither side has a claim to the high ground. For six years, Republicans had both chambers in Congress AND the White House, and spending went up. Then Democrats had both chambers plus the White House for two years, and spendint went up even further. We have the party of big government and the party of bigger government; the only difference is the things that each likes to spend your money on, whether you actually have the money or not.
Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan dared to, out loud, notice the elephant in the living room when he put forth a budget proposal that would overhaul Medicare. The Democrat response? Cheesy, not to mention dishonest, ads about grandma being tossed over a cliff. The donkey party could have put forth its own plan, so could the President. Neither did. How come? If you have no plan, then just say you have no plan. Otherwise, stop bitching about the other guy's proposal.
The folks in Washington believe you are their personal ATMs and they believe you can be tapped on a whim. Which, actually, you can, which should also make you mad. When the government talks about investing, subsidizing, or anything else, it is talking about your money. When it whines about the "cost" of tax cuts, it is also talking about your money while simultaneously saying that it can spend those dollars more responsibly than you can. How's that working for you?
The problem is not one of revenue, it is one of spending. Too much spending on too many things that have little, if anything, to do with the role of the federal government. Oil does not need your money any more than Planned Parenthood does or ethanol producers do or NPR does. I am perfectly willing to be bipartisan is saying no to all these leeches who see the federal treasury as their personal playground. If they want your money, they should have the good grace to ask for it through fundraising campaigns, delivering quality service that you want to support, and other traditional means, not through donating money to members of Congress who them become industry and non-profit bagmen. It is a disgusting scenario, one created solely by the elected class and one that can only be fixed by the elected class sacrificing.
Monday, June 27, 2011
Monday, June 20, 2011
Howling at reality
Thomas Wolfe was right - going home simply does not work. I tried it with the best of intentions, both personal and professional. The need for a Master's Degree was coupled with two dying parents who could not live independently. So, we moved. And learned the hard way what happens when good intentions meet incomplete information and reality. I'm not griping; if the option were to come up again, I would do the same thing. But, it is doubtful the outcome would be any different.
Sixteen months later, two dying parents became two parents who have passed on, a lifetime of things and memories collected in their house has either been stored (for the important keepsakes) or swept out (for the calendars from 1985), the Master's has been half-earned in an effort that was one-third fun and two-thirds frustrating, and a lot of people I used to consider friends are no longer people with whom any communication is necessary. Again, not griping, just saying.
The town of my youth is no longer; it has been replaced by something bigger, something less inviting, something more impersonal, populated by people who are of other places and/or heading to other places, with little use for natives. I tried to stay, applying for numerous jobs that would not only keep me in school, but further tie me to the community that was such a formative part of my upbringing. At least two dozen applications; not a single interview. Not one. Not even a phone call.
It is not about qualifications; I am old enough to apply only for jobs that call for my skills set, in this case 20 years of communications and marketing experience. Near the end of my time in town, I found out I was hardly the only one. The attorney who helped with the closing on the folks' house, a native who graduated a year ahead of me, had the same issue and the man has a law degree. He recounted tales of other locals similarly rebuffed. I'm not sure if this made me feel better or worse. Of course, I was glad to hear it was not just me; a lot of rejection and you start to take it personally. On the other hand, that an institution would ignore people who grew up in its shadow and wanted to return was depressing. It does not say much about an organization when it refuses to consider its own graduates for employment.
The upside was the football season and the chance to see, in person, a once in a generation athlete and a magical season. Saturdays will be different this fall; I won't be attending games this time. I just can't write checks for tickets to an institution that wrote me off, so while I retain an allegiance born of a lifetime of cheering for one set of colors, there will be a new team to pull for, one emblematic of a new set of colors, the one that will adorn the Master's to be completed. And, it will be completed. The folks would have insisted and, in some way, they still do. It will just be a little different. The remaining ties are gradually being cut - a storage unit to be emptied out in the next few days, a bank account to be closed down, license plates to be changed, and old hopes to be retired. It's not the way I had wanted it to be but, apparently, it's the only way it could have been.
Sixteen months later, two dying parents became two parents who have passed on, a lifetime of things and memories collected in their house has either been stored (for the important keepsakes) or swept out (for the calendars from 1985), the Master's has been half-earned in an effort that was one-third fun and two-thirds frustrating, and a lot of people I used to consider friends are no longer people with whom any communication is necessary. Again, not griping, just saying.
The town of my youth is no longer; it has been replaced by something bigger, something less inviting, something more impersonal, populated by people who are of other places and/or heading to other places, with little use for natives. I tried to stay, applying for numerous jobs that would not only keep me in school, but further tie me to the community that was such a formative part of my upbringing. At least two dozen applications; not a single interview. Not one. Not even a phone call.
It is not about qualifications; I am old enough to apply only for jobs that call for my skills set, in this case 20 years of communications and marketing experience. Near the end of my time in town, I found out I was hardly the only one. The attorney who helped with the closing on the folks' house, a native who graduated a year ahead of me, had the same issue and the man has a law degree. He recounted tales of other locals similarly rebuffed. I'm not sure if this made me feel better or worse. Of course, I was glad to hear it was not just me; a lot of rejection and you start to take it personally. On the other hand, that an institution would ignore people who grew up in its shadow and wanted to return was depressing. It does not say much about an organization when it refuses to consider its own graduates for employment.
The upside was the football season and the chance to see, in person, a once in a generation athlete and a magical season. Saturdays will be different this fall; I won't be attending games this time. I just can't write checks for tickets to an institution that wrote me off, so while I retain an allegiance born of a lifetime of cheering for one set of colors, there will be a new team to pull for, one emblematic of a new set of colors, the one that will adorn the Master's to be completed. And, it will be completed. The folks would have insisted and, in some way, they still do. It will just be a little different. The remaining ties are gradually being cut - a storage unit to be emptied out in the next few days, a bank account to be closed down, license plates to be changed, and old hopes to be retired. It's not the way I had wanted it to be but, apparently, it's the only way it could have been.
Do they want to win?
The economy is a shambles, we remain mired in two wars with POTUS getting us into a third, health care costs continue spiraling, and the education system is a disgrace. And Republicans? They are racing to see who can claim the high ground on an issue that, for most Americans, ranks 316th on the kitchen table priority list. The country is divided about abortion and no one sees it as the pressing priority of the day, week, month, or year. Perhaps someone can remind Republicans that the idea is to nominate a candidate who can defeat Obama, not to see which candidate can out-demagogue the others by signing a meaningless pledge disguised as litmus test.
Like most Americans who understand that the sun rises in the East, I get that Republicans are typically pro-life while Democrats are typically pro-choice. Therefore, what is the point of the Susan B. Anthony's List pledge beyond yet another opportunity for Republicans to demonstrate why Libertarians and a good many other independents -- whose votes will be crucial in 2012 - are made uneasy, if not queasy, by the self-righteous wing of the GOP, the section that preaches about limited government unless that same government can limit things it dislikes.
Whatever your position on abortion, there is nothing that I or anyone else can do to change it and that is irrespective of which camp you are in. That is why even the US Supreme Court cringes when yet another abortion case comes before it. It is why the Roe decision has gone virtually unchanged it became law. And, this national ambivalence is also why anytime a pregnant woman is murdered, the state only files a single charge of homicide.
We waste time debating a phantom "right" to abortion while scores of children who are already here languish in the foster care system, while Americans go abroad to adopt because doing so domestically is a bureaucratic nightmare, and while government rewards serial pregnancy through a system that only perpetuates poverty. The real shame is that poll after poll already shows the United States to be a center-right country (hint: this means the majority is already receptive to conservatism, at least the fiscal kind), but instead of speaking to Americans about the issues that impact their lives, many in this class of candidates are more interested in being Moralist-in-Chief than Commander-in-Chief.
The incumbent president is a committed left-wing ideologue who is only unbeatable in the minds of his steno pool, or as some call them, the media. Whatever "inherited" problems existed have only grown worse under Obama's watch, yet the Republican field wants to see which candidate can more closely align him/herself with the Almighty than with the average American voter. I hate to break it to the field, but there are a lot conservatives who don't see the so-called social issues as the government's business, whose dinner conversations have far more to do with dollars and opportunity than pregnancy and gay marriage; and whose votes are more likely to be lost than won by piety. To paraphrase Newt Gingrich, social engineering is no prettier when it comes from the right than from the left, and the field might do well to recall that James Carville's 1992 mantra is applicable in EVERY presidential election - it is always the economy.
Like most Americans who understand that the sun rises in the East, I get that Republicans are typically pro-life while Democrats are typically pro-choice. Therefore, what is the point of the Susan B. Anthony's List pledge beyond yet another opportunity for Republicans to demonstrate why Libertarians and a good many other independents -- whose votes will be crucial in 2012 - are made uneasy, if not queasy, by the self-righteous wing of the GOP, the section that preaches about limited government unless that same government can limit things it dislikes.
Whatever your position on abortion, there is nothing that I or anyone else can do to change it and that is irrespective of which camp you are in. That is why even the US Supreme Court cringes when yet another abortion case comes before it. It is why the Roe decision has gone virtually unchanged it became law. And, this national ambivalence is also why anytime a pregnant woman is murdered, the state only files a single charge of homicide.
We waste time debating a phantom "right" to abortion while scores of children who are already here languish in the foster care system, while Americans go abroad to adopt because doing so domestically is a bureaucratic nightmare, and while government rewards serial pregnancy through a system that only perpetuates poverty. The real shame is that poll after poll already shows the United States to be a center-right country (hint: this means the majority is already receptive to conservatism, at least the fiscal kind), but instead of speaking to Americans about the issues that impact their lives, many in this class of candidates are more interested in being Moralist-in-Chief than Commander-in-Chief.
The incumbent president is a committed left-wing ideologue who is only unbeatable in the minds of his steno pool, or as some call them, the media. Whatever "inherited" problems existed have only grown worse under Obama's watch, yet the Republican field wants to see which candidate can more closely align him/herself with the Almighty than with the average American voter. I hate to break it to the field, but there are a lot conservatives who don't see the so-called social issues as the government's business, whose dinner conversations have far more to do with dollars and opportunity than pregnancy and gay marriage; and whose votes are more likely to be lost than won by piety. To paraphrase Newt Gingrich, social engineering is no prettier when it comes from the right than from the left, and the field might do well to recall that James Carville's 1992 mantra is applicable in EVERY presidential election - it is always the economy.
Saturday, April 30, 2011
Tough Times Reveal Character
You learn a great deal about people when things are at their worst. Folks can surprise you, in ways both good and bad, and that is the parting lesson from my mother's death. Many of the people who have known me seemingly forever, I am almost ashamed to say "my" people, were virtually non-existent if not outright dismissive or hostile. Others were exactly as I remember them as a kid - warm, friendly people who would do anything for you. And a group of former co-workers who had known me for all of 3 1/2 years were far more comforting than I could rightly expect, with e-mails and calls of condolence, even a couple of cards. It is almost funny; the ones from whom you expect the most do the least, and those with the least connection wind up doing the most.
As services go, I think we gave Mary a nice sendoff. We did not waller in misery and maudlin overwraught emotion, though my brother broke down a time or two. Then again, I was there when mom died and he was not, so I had already had the opportunity to get the immediate grief out of my system. We chose to focus on the happy times, and my bride and step-daughter put together a wonderful collage of a smiling mom that dated back nearly 50 years. It was nice to see her visibly enjoying the moments captured in those pictures.
It was also nice to see a couple of neighbors from way back, including my first little league coach, a very nice man whose son and I spent a lot of afternoons riding bikes and doing kid stuff. And, a couple that used to live right next to us came in from Montgomery, great folks whose son was my brother's best friend back in the day. I think mom would have been happy to see people like that come to remember her. There were some of dad's faculty friends, people whose kids both of us went to school with and one gentleman who was one of dad's students. He came in part for himself as his wife is now in year 12 of Alzheimer's; I can honestly say I know how he feels and hope a guardian angel looks out for his and his wife.
The disappointing aspect came from a few fellow Greeks, not all of them, but some who saw fit to say nasty things about me, my brother, and my wife for the past several months, as though we had conspired to make my mom ill. My brother's eulogy made mention of us doing the best we could under trying circumstances; I am confident we did that and anyone who disagrees, well, they can kiss our asses. They have become people I never again have to speak to.
I hope mom is now at peace, that what my brother and I had to say let her know that we loved her and gave her comfort in knowing she raised two pretty decent men. I appreciate the old neighbors and friends who came to pay their respects, and the one old friend who called with condolences but was unable to attend due to her husband's failing health. I hope someone watches over the two of them, too. I probably shouldn't be surprised, but I was to hear from my old co-workers, a solid group of people whose company I miss and whose reaching out reminds one what friends are all about. And now we move on, for there is no other option. It has been the longest of years and now comes a new chapter. We'll see what it holds.
As services go, I think we gave Mary a nice sendoff. We did not waller in misery and maudlin overwraught emotion, though my brother broke down a time or two. Then again, I was there when mom died and he was not, so I had already had the opportunity to get the immediate grief out of my system. We chose to focus on the happy times, and my bride and step-daughter put together a wonderful collage of a smiling mom that dated back nearly 50 years. It was nice to see her visibly enjoying the moments captured in those pictures.
It was also nice to see a couple of neighbors from way back, including my first little league coach, a very nice man whose son and I spent a lot of afternoons riding bikes and doing kid stuff. And, a couple that used to live right next to us came in from Montgomery, great folks whose son was my brother's best friend back in the day. I think mom would have been happy to see people like that come to remember her. There were some of dad's faculty friends, people whose kids both of us went to school with and one gentleman who was one of dad's students. He came in part for himself as his wife is now in year 12 of Alzheimer's; I can honestly say I know how he feels and hope a guardian angel looks out for his and his wife.
The disappointing aspect came from a few fellow Greeks, not all of them, but some who saw fit to say nasty things about me, my brother, and my wife for the past several months, as though we had conspired to make my mom ill. My brother's eulogy made mention of us doing the best we could under trying circumstances; I am confident we did that and anyone who disagrees, well, they can kiss our asses. They have become people I never again have to speak to.
I hope mom is now at peace, that what my brother and I had to say let her know that we loved her and gave her comfort in knowing she raised two pretty decent men. I appreciate the old neighbors and friends who came to pay their respects, and the one old friend who called with condolences but was unable to attend due to her husband's failing health. I hope someone watches over the two of them, too. I probably shouldn't be surprised, but I was to hear from my old co-workers, a solid group of people whose company I miss and whose reaching out reminds one what friends are all about. And now we move on, for there is no other option. It has been the longest of years and now comes a new chapter. We'll see what it holds.
Monday, April 25, 2011
The end of the Mary tales
Sometimes, death is a shock and, sometimes, it is a relief. When my father died about a year ago, there was a suddenness to it that was not expected. We knew he was going to die; no one escapes cancer forever, but the degree of the downward slope was more severe than anyone thought it would be. Then came my mother.
There is a huge gulf between physical deterioration and the non-physical kind. The latter is especially nasty business, watching a loved one gradually lose the ability to do just about everything independently while slowly fading away from the world they knew. The only variable is how long the fade process takes. By the time the end comes, the person you knew has long since left this earth and when their final breath is let out, there is a bit of sadness but, bad as it may sound, there is mostly relief. Relief certainly for the individual, who not too long ago, was also aware of what was happening and not too happy about it. And relief for everyone else.
When that loved one no longer remembers who you are, who your siblings are, who your children are, who her husband was, and has reverted to early childhood remembering only her own immediate family, it is fair to say the individual is no longer with you. And so it is. And that is the end of the maudlin portion of this.
In looking back at old pictures, I am going to remember a woman who enjoyed life, enjoyed her kids and friends, enjoyed going back to the old country and rekindling old relationships, and enjoyed her husband. I will remember a woman who not only had an opinion on just about everything but also believed that you were entitled to it. If mom's life were a book, it would have to be called "The Last Word" because no matter the discussion, she was going to get it. I like to say that at least one my kids has inherited that and that this trait skips a generation; my wife is not so sure.
It is a bit odd to look up and suddenly realize you are an orphan, which sounds a bit ridiculous for a 50-year old man. Orphans are little ragamuffins from 1930s movies where Andy Rooney plays a character wise beyond his years, street smart urchins schooled in the unpleasantries of life. In reality, most of us wind up wearing that title at some point and it is part of the natural order. Never being an orphan only means one thing, dying before your parents which is about the worst thing I can imagine.
I am going to believe that mom is at peace, bending dad's ear again. Of course, he had more than a year to rest up so he should be okay. A lifetime of pictures and memories will erase the difficulty of the past several months, and I'll leave it with this - if you or an elderly person that you know has even an inkling of "senior moments" going on, make a doctor's apppointment immediately if not sooner. The last thing you want is for your kids to find out after-the-fact that mom or dad or grandma is mentally fading away. I've read too many stories of families being ripped apart over how to care for the person who can no longer care for him/herself. Get the check up and make a plan; it will be the thing you can do for the ones left behind.
There is a huge gulf between physical deterioration and the non-physical kind. The latter is especially nasty business, watching a loved one gradually lose the ability to do just about everything independently while slowly fading away from the world they knew. The only variable is how long the fade process takes. By the time the end comes, the person you knew has long since left this earth and when their final breath is let out, there is a bit of sadness but, bad as it may sound, there is mostly relief. Relief certainly for the individual, who not too long ago, was also aware of what was happening and not too happy about it. And relief for everyone else.
When that loved one no longer remembers who you are, who your siblings are, who your children are, who her husband was, and has reverted to early childhood remembering only her own immediate family, it is fair to say the individual is no longer with you. And so it is. And that is the end of the maudlin portion of this.
In looking back at old pictures, I am going to remember a woman who enjoyed life, enjoyed her kids and friends, enjoyed going back to the old country and rekindling old relationships, and enjoyed her husband. I will remember a woman who not only had an opinion on just about everything but also believed that you were entitled to it. If mom's life were a book, it would have to be called "The Last Word" because no matter the discussion, she was going to get it. I like to say that at least one my kids has inherited that and that this trait skips a generation; my wife is not so sure.
It is a bit odd to look up and suddenly realize you are an orphan, which sounds a bit ridiculous for a 50-year old man. Orphans are little ragamuffins from 1930s movies where Andy Rooney plays a character wise beyond his years, street smart urchins schooled in the unpleasantries of life. In reality, most of us wind up wearing that title at some point and it is part of the natural order. Never being an orphan only means one thing, dying before your parents which is about the worst thing I can imagine.
I am going to believe that mom is at peace, bending dad's ear again. Of course, he had more than a year to rest up so he should be okay. A lifetime of pictures and memories will erase the difficulty of the past several months, and I'll leave it with this - if you or an elderly person that you know has even an inkling of "senior moments" going on, make a doctor's apppointment immediately if not sooner. The last thing you want is for your kids to find out after-the-fact that mom or dad or grandma is mentally fading away. I've read too many stories of families being ripped apart over how to care for the person who can no longer care for him/herself. Get the check up and make a plan; it will be the thing you can do for the ones left behind.
Sunday, March 27, 2011
The Mary Tales
When your mother struggles to recognize you, as in she knows that she should know you but is not exactly sure why, that is a tough day. Even knowing the day would come does not make it much easier. Since this part of the story last appeared, Mary has moved to a nursing home. Nice place, ridiculously clean, perpetually cheerful. If you have to put a parent into such a facility, this one is as good as it gets. She is well-fed (it may sound bad but any time a group of Southern black women are in a kitchen, good things are coming out), clean, and never allowed to wallow in bed. But.....
Dementia is a nasty condition. Some want to see it as an alternate form of Alzheimer's, but it is far more insidious. It not only robs memory, it robs cognitive ability in general along with motor skills. And, there is not a damn thing that modern medicine can do about it. In a sense, it is like watching a cancer patient slowly waste away, with one cruel difference - the cancer patient remains mentally aware, able to converse and reminisce, recognize hunger and thirst, and to a limited degree, participate in life. The dementia patient does not really even observe life; more likely, he or she endures it. Or, at least, the rest of the family does.
My wife and I have been through numerous books, websites, and blogs dealing with dementia. None tells a pretty tale - no patient ever recovers, no family gets through it without some scars, no one really cries when the end finally comes. It is something one must see and experience to understand, yet it is not a fate I would wish on anyone. The confounding thing is that there is no trace of anything like this that I can find in either side of the family. Two grandmothers lived into their 90s, one grandfather to near 90, the other past 70. The first three died of the obvious, being 90+ or near it, and the fourth I am not sure of, though no mention of anything like mental deterioration was ever made. Seems doubtful something like that could be kept secret.
We visit a couple of times a week; some trips are better than before. On occasion, there is a moment of lucidity but invariably, it serves to raise the question of, why. Why is this going on? How long will it last? When your mom, out of the blue, breaks from a string of incoherence and in perfect English says "this isn't very good for anyone", there is little mistaking what she is talking about. And so we go on, visiting, trying to make the best of it, occasionally asking dad why he never clued us in about this. Probably didn't want us to worry, through it would have made some decision-making after his death a lot easier and much less traumatic. We'll see what Tuesday holds.
Dementia is a nasty condition. Some want to see it as an alternate form of Alzheimer's, but it is far more insidious. It not only robs memory, it robs cognitive ability in general along with motor skills. And, there is not a damn thing that modern medicine can do about it. In a sense, it is like watching a cancer patient slowly waste away, with one cruel difference - the cancer patient remains mentally aware, able to converse and reminisce, recognize hunger and thirst, and to a limited degree, participate in life. The dementia patient does not really even observe life; more likely, he or she endures it. Or, at least, the rest of the family does.
My wife and I have been through numerous books, websites, and blogs dealing with dementia. None tells a pretty tale - no patient ever recovers, no family gets through it without some scars, no one really cries when the end finally comes. It is something one must see and experience to understand, yet it is not a fate I would wish on anyone. The confounding thing is that there is no trace of anything like this that I can find in either side of the family. Two grandmothers lived into their 90s, one grandfather to near 90, the other past 70. The first three died of the obvious, being 90+ or near it, and the fourth I am not sure of, though no mention of anything like mental deterioration was ever made. Seems doubtful something like that could be kept secret.
We visit a couple of times a week; some trips are better than before. On occasion, there is a moment of lucidity but invariably, it serves to raise the question of, why. Why is this going on? How long will it last? When your mom, out of the blue, breaks from a string of incoherence and in perfect English says "this isn't very good for anyone", there is little mistaking what she is talking about. And so we go on, visiting, trying to make the best of it, occasionally asking dad why he never clued us in about this. Probably didn't want us to worry, through it would have made some decision-making after his death a lot easier and much less traumatic. We'll see what Tuesday holds.
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Obama must be Roman
Leaders in the Roman Empire used bread and circuses to distract the populace from more pressing issues. Likewise, President Obama is becoming increasingly adept at misdirection to avoid discussing topics he either cannot answer or does not want to confront. Consider the past three weeks: the federal budget is a mess, states are in similar bad straits, the Middle East is on the verge of either revolution or implosion, gas prices are spiking, and unemployment remains high.
The White House response? Two weeks ago, it was an announcement that the Defense of Marriage Act would no longer be defended in court. Last week, the Oval used its clout to speak out against bullying in schools. And this week, POTUS vowed to defend gender equality. Can you say "the re-election campaign is underway." How else to explain the highlighting of three issues that fly below the public's current-day radar? And to compound matters, they are directed at three constituencies - the gay community, teachers unions, and feminists - who are as reliably pro-Obama as the labor unions. Curiously, the unions actually are involved in a discussion of national significance, but the president has not had much to say on that. At least publicly. Given the frequency with which the head of the AFL-CIO visits the White House, however, there could be plenty of discussion afoot.
I realize being president is a tough job but I keep hoping that, at some point, Mr. Obama will understand that has actually won the job. Two years ago. When a corner of the world is in a state of multi-national upheaval, people everywhere expect to hear the President of the United States say something, even if it as benign as declaring America's unwavering support of individual liberty and freedom. We do not need to take up arms in Libya, Yemen, or any other Arab country; people there should plot their own destiny. But we should at least give voice to the notion of self-determination in a part of the globe that has never seen it. If people give the impression of trying to escape oppression, that has historically be the sort of thing the Oval Office supported, even if the support was only rhetorical.
Meanwhile, the budget debate (if it can be called such) continues in Congress with Dems and Repubs debating whether $60-billion or $6-billion is a more suitable reduction, from a budget of nearly 4-trillion dollars. Put a calculator to either set of proposed cuts. It is like debating what type of floor mat to put in your Bentley. If neither side is serious about actually cutting spending, and there is no reason to believe that either is, then say so and be done with it. Tell Americans they can expect continually-expanding government until far more than the 35% of US paychecks are made up of taxpayer dollars. Tell us the whole country will be one giant nanny state, where our minders will dictate the light bulbs we use, foods we eat, cars we drive, and eventually, thoughts we think.
Rome's ignoring of genuine issues led to the fall of the empire. Already, America is in a state of decline whether it wants to admit it or not. One reason is the unwillingness of elected leaders to face the problems they were elected to solve. The elephant in the living room does not disappear simply because one pretends it does not exist. The world is changing around us and the Senate Majority Leader worries about the demise of a cowboy poetry festival, the House Speaker and some of his deputies are consumed with abortion, and the President apparently stays up nights worrying about schoolkids being bullied. And, all three wonder why some of us take none of them seriously.
The White House response? Two weeks ago, it was an announcement that the Defense of Marriage Act would no longer be defended in court. Last week, the Oval used its clout to speak out against bullying in schools. And this week, POTUS vowed to defend gender equality. Can you say "the re-election campaign is underway." How else to explain the highlighting of three issues that fly below the public's current-day radar? And to compound matters, they are directed at three constituencies - the gay community, teachers unions, and feminists - who are as reliably pro-Obama as the labor unions. Curiously, the unions actually are involved in a discussion of national significance, but the president has not had much to say on that. At least publicly. Given the frequency with which the head of the AFL-CIO visits the White House, however, there could be plenty of discussion afoot.
I realize being president is a tough job but I keep hoping that, at some point, Mr. Obama will understand that has actually won the job. Two years ago. When a corner of the world is in a state of multi-national upheaval, people everywhere expect to hear the President of the United States say something, even if it as benign as declaring America's unwavering support of individual liberty and freedom. We do not need to take up arms in Libya, Yemen, or any other Arab country; people there should plot their own destiny. But we should at least give voice to the notion of self-determination in a part of the globe that has never seen it. If people give the impression of trying to escape oppression, that has historically be the sort of thing the Oval Office supported, even if the support was only rhetorical.
Meanwhile, the budget debate (if it can be called such) continues in Congress with Dems and Repubs debating whether $60-billion or $6-billion is a more suitable reduction, from a budget of nearly 4-trillion dollars. Put a calculator to either set of proposed cuts. It is like debating what type of floor mat to put in your Bentley. If neither side is serious about actually cutting spending, and there is no reason to believe that either is, then say so and be done with it. Tell Americans they can expect continually-expanding government until far more than the 35% of US paychecks are made up of taxpayer dollars. Tell us the whole country will be one giant nanny state, where our minders will dictate the light bulbs we use, foods we eat, cars we drive, and eventually, thoughts we think.
Rome's ignoring of genuine issues led to the fall of the empire. Already, America is in a state of decline whether it wants to admit it or not. One reason is the unwillingness of elected leaders to face the problems they were elected to solve. The elephant in the living room does not disappear simply because one pretends it does not exist. The world is changing around us and the Senate Majority Leader worries about the demise of a cowboy poetry festival, the House Speaker and some of his deputies are consumed with abortion, and the President apparently stays up nights worrying about schoolkids being bullied. And, all three wonder why some of us take none of them seriously.
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