The Wrong Direction

I admit it. I have not posted a lot lately. Work is one of the reasons. When the economy is down, people are more willing to fight over money that in better times, they are more likely to let go. But the bigger part of it is the day-to-day stupidity that is the hallmark of elected officals all over the country these days. Whether it is the outstanding bipartisan spirit increasingly demonstrated by the left (We won, you didn't, so you'll do it our way and like it!), or the constant assaults on the dignity of logic and reason that translate into daily outrages that pile up like cordwood. If I attempted to catelog them all, this blog would become a full-time job. However, the worst part is the conumdrum at the heart of our current predicament. As more comes to light to inspire mistrust and disgust with government, the kind that robs it of any pretense of legitimacy, the nation as a whole seems to be nonplussed. Those of you who are regular readers know that this is not the whole story, as the mainstream media completely abandoned any appearance of impartiality in the last election cycle and publically embraced the left, finally ceasing to pretend that they didn't have a bias. And they did their jobs well. The 52% of the voters in the last election decided to believe the hype, ignore the lack of substance in the current President, and the complete lack of any serious criticism or investigation of Barry H. Obama. Hope and Change were enough. And even now, when the man who champions the cause of transparency in government hires a tax cheat for the Secretary of the Treasury, and uses the economic downturn, which was orchestrated by 'community organizers' who bullied and threatened banks into makeing bad loans, and facilitated by Democrats in Congress who turned a blind eye the mushrooming of the debt bomb, and actively dissuaded any attempt at regulation and oversight which would have put a stop to the stupid lending practices that have created the current "crisis". As a result, the Congress and the President spent more on one piece of legislation than they typically spend in one year, under the guise of 'economic stimulus', although it contains so very much more. Billions for ACORN (hey, the attorneys necessary to fight the fraud charges are expensive), money for birth control, for green power, which, when the math is done is extraordinarily expensive for the resulting power achieved, computerizing every American's health records, so that government can second guess decisions about your care made by you an your physician, and so very much more. All passed by a Congress that could not have possibly reviewed the entire bill before voting on it. State governments that expanded into so many realms in which they had no business when times were good that now face such deficits that they look to taxpayers for even more money that the government itself did not earn, and to the federal government, which means you and me. These state governments are issuing IOUs to taxpayers who are due returns for last year. An IOU? Try giving one to government, and see what happens to you. But best part is this: If the Feds give some of our bailout money to states like California, then we, you and I, get to pay for all of the things Calfornia officials did that we did not agree with. Sanctuary cities? Yup? Health care, welfare, and the cost to the state legal system and state agencies for dealing with illegals? Yup. We will get to pay for that too! And what is the reaction to all of this by the 52%ers? Yawns. They don't see any downside to any of this. "Debt so large that my grandchildren will be paying it? Whatever. When is Obama going to fix my mortgage so I can stay in this home? Paying all my McDonald's wages to do it right now is a real bummer. I want to get a plasma screen. I hope he hurries up."

The rumblings are there. Words like "disinfranchisement", "crooks", "unconstitutional", and "illegitimate" are cropping up more than I feel comfortable thinking about. The last time so many people in this country were so completely fed up with the direction of government, it lead to years of the saddest bloodshed this nation has ever known. I don't want to see it happen again in my lifetime, but I also wonder how much longer I can fullfill my duties as an officer of the court, which adjudicates the laws of a government that I increasingly feel is abdicating its duty to its people in favor of ruling over them, and the paradox grows more obvious with each passing day. Perhaps the Fresh Prez of Bill Ayers would be well served by contemplating a quote by the man whose legacy he is so eager to claim, yet he fails so tragically short of: "A house divided against itself cannot stand".