On the Brink
It's another fine kettle of fish we find ourselves in right now.
The Republicans can't govern and the Democrats are inept and so concerned with offending that they sit paralyzed. Congress pats itself on the back for raising its own salary and defending the honor of a piece of cloth while refusing to address issues of real substance (healthcare, out of control spending, corruption, desecration of the Constitution, environmental denigration, and a widening gap between the rich and the poor).
The American electorate continues to hit new lows in communal intelligence with a majority of voters believing that
Saddam Hussein had ties to Al-Qaida and had a hand in the 9/11 attacks.
Religious extremism is flourishing around the globe, setting the stage for the mother of all conflagrations. The fundamentalist Christians in the US are as dangerous as the fanatical Muslims of the east. Israel is pouring gasoline on the fires raging in the Middle East while moderates everywhere refuse to step up to the plate and wrest back control of their respective governments.
What's a poor guy to do?
The only thing I can do is vote, AND write my elected representatives and tell them when they do something bone-headed. Oh, and maybe I can write what you read here (all 35 of you who have stopped by). One more thing. I can try to raise my children to do a better job with this world than I did. I regret that I will pass my torch along after making such a mess of this.
Still Another Reason I'll Never be an Elected Official
I don't know about you, but I am so tired of listening to all of the radio interviews of candidates. They are all asked the same questions and they all do the waffle dance so as not to offend anyone and not to say something that will end up in their opponent's blogs 30 seconds later. Who cares if you offend someone? Most of the electorate is beyond offense. The ratings of Fox News make my point. We are talking about electing
leaders here. How can you lead without taking a direction that is counter to a portion of the electorate.
My current favorite interview question is "If elected, what steps will you take to address the energy issue and the price of gasoline?" Out come the rote answers from the playbook. If Republican, we have to find other sources of petroleum to reduce our dependence on overseas suppliers (read shifty terrorists in robes). If Democrat, we have to have balanced approach and look at renewable sources of energy. If the Green party, we need to stop killing the whales.
If someone asked me that question, my response would be:
- Immediately apply a $2 per gallon gasoline tax. There is no way we are going to reduce our consumption of gasoline (and thereby have any impact on the worldwide cost of oil) unless we:
- Drive less
- Drive more economical vehicles
- Use mass transit - and since we seem to be too dumb to figure this out on an individual basis, raising the price of gasoline and using the tax revenues for energy efficiency research will motivate consumers at their wallet, where they may actually pay attention.
- Establish a rational approach to vehicle licensing so that the huge and inefficient SUV's and pickup trucks pay a much higher fee than the small, lightweight and fuel efficient Hondas and Toyotas.
- Mandate that all electrical appliances have a "sleep" mode where they truly shut down and use no electricity.
- Mandate that incandescent bulbs be taxed highly, fluorescent less so, and LED lights even less.
- Restructure the real estate tax system to penalize the McMansion craze.
- Offer prizes for innovative design ideas for community planning and transportation infrastructure redesign.
These are just a few more reasons why I will never be elected.
P.
Another Reason I will Never Have a Future as a Politician
You can't pick up the paper without reading of politicians and politician wanna-be's trying to make points by proposing solutions to crime. Their ideas always fall into the same tired and shop-worn categories, i.e. more cops, more jails, longer sentences, etc.
What is that old adage about the definition of insanity? "Insanity is expecting a different result when the inputs are the same," or something like that.
More cops, more jails, longer sentences will only move more minority males off the streets (fairly or otherwise) and place them in environments that promote inhuman and degrading behavior amongst all within the walls - staff and inmates alike; place them in a concentrated criminal environment where they can really earn their criminal chops; spit them out at some point down the road with little or no redeeming skills for the society they are expected to enter; and all at great expense to society as a whole.
This is how it has been and this is how it will be. Is it just me, or does this seem a little bit insane?
An additional effect of the placement of minority males in these criminal behavior incubators is that they are not able to be present and active as a family member. The fact that they may or may not play a positive role is another issue, but by sending them to jail, society ensures that another generation of children grows up crippled.
So, what is my proposal regarding all of this? I said it once before in a post on this blog. I propose that any male that is convicted of a crime involving violence to another human being (assault, rape, murder, etc.) and where the evidence is conclusive (no room for error), they should be castrated.
No jail time - just the snip.
And if that does not put me out of the running for political office, here is another concept I would push.
If a country proposes to do violence to another political entity (go to war in other words) the leaders of that country - the political heads, the military top brass - have to be on the front lines leading the charge.
That would put a stop to a lot of fighting.
P.
