The great American sideshow
It will be somewhat gratifying to someday see the US government go bankrupt. A government that spends time trying to debate and impose its version of moral virtues when it ought to learn how to balance a budget. A government that tries to please the Arab community, while continuing to blindly support one of the main agitators in the region. A country whose politics are dominated by petty social issues like gay marriage and abortion, even while caught simultaneously in the midst of "war," major environmental calamity, and economic peril. A country where good-faith efforts for environmental responsibility are met with self-important ignorance whose individuals, while surrounded by melting glaciers and dying species, complain that their taxes will go up a percent or so. A Republican party who is opposed to big-government social programs and federal spending, yet says NOTHING about Social Security and defence spending, which comprise over 40% of the federal budget. A Democratic party who pussies out on a progressive agenda for fear of being labeled "too liberal," even while its opposition flails like a fish with its head cut off (or, worse yet, with the head of Michael Steele tacked on). A government that had an opportunity to use the biggest stimulus in history to build something ambitious (like, say, a national high-speed rail system), but instead threw wads of money at pet projects that won't see any sort of impressive result. A government that, despite its aging population, has an immigration system that turns away large numbers of young, intelligent talent from our aging workforce. A Republican party who tries to ride the moral high ground of fiscal conservatism, even while the biggest increases in government spending in recent memory were done under Republican Presidents, including (yes) Reagan. A government that cares more about not pissing off China than it does about its own workers and manufacturers.
A President who talks big about healthcare - and axes the public option. A President who talks about how the future of transportation is vested in high-speed rail - and budgets a paltry $12 billion to it.
If there's any comfort in all this, it's the sheer entertainment value of Washington. No matter how dire things are, there will always be talking heads accusing our President of being a Communist, yelling out tired-out chants for the lowest common denominator of American voters, bitching about America "losing its morals" or something, etc… Whether the United States of America fades slowly into obscurity or plunges more dramatically into a state of chaos and pandemonium, you will always be able to rely on Washington, DC, and the media drones along with it, to provide the comic relief necessary to distract us from the hole into which we find ourselves perpetually digging deeper.
So, to that, I thank them. For, no matter how quickly the world around us burns down, the show must go on!
A President who talks big about healthcare - and axes the public option. A President who talks about how the future of transportation is vested in high-speed rail - and budgets a paltry $12 billion to it.
If there's any comfort in all this, it's the sheer entertainment value of Washington. No matter how dire things are, there will always be talking heads accusing our President of being a Communist, yelling out tired-out chants for the lowest common denominator of American voters, bitching about America "losing its morals" or something, etc… Whether the United States of America fades slowly into obscurity or plunges more dramatically into a state of chaos and pandemonium, you will always be able to rely on Washington, DC, and the media drones along with it, to provide the comic relief necessary to distract us from the hole into which we find ourselves perpetually digging deeper.
So, to that, I thank them. For, no matter how quickly the world around us burns down, the show must go on!