[Bill,
May 17, 2009]
A painfully obvious thing that for some reason, needs to be said
Reading a lot about "what Republicans need to do" and this and that. Um, here's an obvious thought that, as the title says, needs to be said for some reason.
Politics ain't baseball. I am not rooting for the Republicans to come back and win next time as I root for the Phillies to win. I am not rooting against the Democrats as I root against the Yankees.
Get what I'm gettin' at?
Like, this stuff matters. This is governance. If Obama proves to be an effective leader, we all win. If Obama proves to be an ineffective leader, we all lose.
Clear, yet? I don't want Republicans to win because I root for that brand. I want the government to maintain a level playing field so that I can pursue excellence in my chosen profession and have plenty of time for the rest of my life without too much interference from the government.
Now, I have my personal opinions on Obama, but the truth is, I'm not sure about the guy. On one hand, he's without a doubt a frightening demagogue. He seems to be extremely effective at mass hypnotic effects straight out of Marcos, Peron and, well, Hitler. The fact that Americans have become so culturally degraded that they've ignored this is more worrisome to me than Obama himself. It means, in the end, we've finally become prey to mass movements. We used to be more cynical, critical and mature than that.
On the other hand, Obama occasionally make sense.
My inkling at this time: This Obama Administration will end in tears. No one's really willing to confront what needs to be done.
I recently heard that the U.S. government is basically an insurance company with a side business in defense. If you look at government expenditures, you'll see what I'm talking about.
The government simply can no longer afford its entitlement promises, nor a massive military with troops all over the world. Get rid of entitlements, get rid of Social Security, scale back the military for U.S. mainland defense only, and default on the debt, and we can keep everything else for about $1.2 trillion a year (assuming $200 billion for defense and a nip/tuck here and there.)
What to do? Keep kicking the can until it goes off a cliff, apparently.
Politics ain't baseball. I am not rooting for the Republicans to come back and win next time as I root for the Phillies to win. I am not rooting against the Democrats as I root against the Yankees.
Get what I'm gettin' at?
Like, this stuff matters. This is governance. If Obama proves to be an effective leader, we all win. If Obama proves to be an ineffective leader, we all lose.
Clear, yet? I don't want Republicans to win because I root for that brand. I want the government to maintain a level playing field so that I can pursue excellence in my chosen profession and have plenty of time for the rest of my life without too much interference from the government.
Now, I have my personal opinions on Obama, but the truth is, I'm not sure about the guy. On one hand, he's without a doubt a frightening demagogue. He seems to be extremely effective at mass hypnotic effects straight out of Marcos, Peron and, well, Hitler. The fact that Americans have become so culturally degraded that they've ignored this is more worrisome to me than Obama himself. It means, in the end, we've finally become prey to mass movements. We used to be more cynical, critical and mature than that.
On the other hand, Obama occasionally make sense.
My inkling at this time: This Obama Administration will end in tears. No one's really willing to confront what needs to be done.
I recently heard that the U.S. government is basically an insurance company with a side business in defense. If you look at government expenditures, you'll see what I'm talking about.
The government simply can no longer afford its entitlement promises, nor a massive military with troops all over the world. Get rid of entitlements, get rid of Social Security, scale back the military for U.S. mainland defense only, and default on the debt, and we can keep everything else for about $1.2 trillion a year (assuming $200 billion for defense and a nip/tuck here and there.)
What to do? Keep kicking the can until it goes off a cliff, apparently.