Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Am I Angry? You Bet!

Yes, ordinary Americans like me are angry and frustrated. We feel disenfranchised. Neither political party represents our point of view. No politician commands even minimal respect. Where we are headed as a country makes no sense at all. I feel trapped in a desperate situation over which I have no control or influence. It’s like living a continual nightmare.

It seems so obvious to those of us who did not go to Harvard. The economy is our overwhelming problem. The Depression of the '30s stared us straight in the face. Working off the excesses of the past decades may take years of economic pain. The administration’s solution is to spend more and more and more money on projects that seem highly questionable. Huge, huge budget deficits are the result. Yet, before our brains can begin to digest the wisdom of going down that road, our Supreme Leader advises us that we must immediately pass health care legislation and carbon caps. It is obvious that both of those initiatives will greatly balloon the record deficit with the promise of higher taxes. My head spins. Are we nuts? For sure, the politicians think we are?

The condition of the economy screams for fiscal responsibility from our leaders. Yet, taxpayer paid vacation trips are the order of the day. Pelosi and crowd spend a week in Rome. Michelle, Mom and the girls stay over in Paris and London in their own 737 sightseeing and shopping after Dad goes home. A congressional tour group decides to go to the South Pole to observe global warming first hand. On the way, they stop in and snorkel at the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. Of course, the wives go along. Fearful that this perk cannot be fully exploited, Congress wants to order more luxury jets for their vacation trips. Are you angry yet?

High level Washington types neglect to pay their income taxes and offer the most bizarre excuses. Members of Congress get favorable mortgage terms on their personal loans and pass it off as though they didn’t know. Those same members of Congress add their favorite earmarks to legislation no matter how ridiculous the cause.

The frustration builds. Want to hear more? If the Republicans are supposed to be the opposition party they are the most inept organization in political history. There is no real scientific evidence for the global warming hype, only a political consensus among certain scientists. Yet, the UN Secretary General tells us we have only four more months to save the planet. Continual apologies for America’s past behavior further stoke my anger. The environmentalists are so in control of our lives that Walmart is forced to study the environmental impact of their products.

Anyway, you get the idea. The system is broke and it is swirling totally out of control. Both political parties are implicit in creating and sustaining the mess. The stakes are high. They involve protecting our country from self-induced disaster.

Not knowing what else to do, getting really angry seems like the logical first step.

Disclaimer: I am an ordinary, plain vanilla American. Family oriented. Buy my clothes at Costco, not Brooks Brothers. I own guns, but have never used them in a criminal activity. I know nothing about militias. I have always paid my taxes and obeyed the law best I could. I love my country and all it stands for without apology.