This year, many families will have to work a little harder to find those blessings to count up. Given a recession triggered by outrageously incompetent government oversight of the mortgage industry, crony bailouts, and a ludicrously out-of-control Transportation Security Administration—to name but a few negatives—how deep do we have to look to find something good?
First of all, no life is free from adversity. Fortunately, though, the vast majority of us have the wherewithal to cope, and that itself is a blessing. For those who cannot, family members can often pick up the slack, and that too is a blessing.
Still, many of us are angry if such adversities are imposed on us by a government, which in theory exists only to serve us.
If it makes you feel any better—and it probably won’t—rank incompetence and blatant stupidity within the US Government is hardly a new phenomenon. If you’re so inclined, surf through the archives of these columns, and you’ll find plenty of examples. One aspect that I cover more than many writers is awful Supreme Court decisions.
But, there’s even a blessing here, and it goes beyond the loss-of-63-seats revolution in this past election. Most other countries simply could not have survived decades of such miserable leadership. Rejoice in our material wealth and in the resourcefulness of our people, who can thrive (relatively speaking, at least) despite the machinations of this brood and earlier broods of vipers.
It is this context, that I proffer a series of cynical, if true, observations on the current state of the union.
In 100 years we have gone from teaching Latin and Greek in high school to teaching Remedial English in college. (Joe Sobran)
When a politician wrestles with his conscience, he usually wins. (Joe Sobran)
The Feds sue Arizona to stop probable cause searches of suspicious-looking individuals for possible immigration violations, but then tell us that invasive personal searches of essentially everyone, without probable cause, are just fine.
The Feds bail out GM, allowing it to go public again. Don’t you wish that you had a $45 billion tax holiday on YOUR business? However, you and I are limited as to the number of shares we can purchase, but Saudi Prince Al-Waleed Bin Talal now owns 1 percent of the company. Chapter 11 bankruptcy would have been the best way to handle the GM debacle, but that did not leave enough room for massive fraud and corruption.
In an all-too-common example of trade associations being co-opted and going completely against the interests of their members, the once-respected American Medical Association supports Obamacare, even though at the very least, it will mean lower Medicare reimbursements for the doctors. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: If health care is so important, why don’t we care about doctors?
Let’s close with something that really is a blessing. The much vaunted Chicago Climate Exchange is closing at the end of this year. Just goes to show you that a bad idea, even if it has massive funding and is recommended by the usual idiots, will still fail if it makes no financial sense. The bad news is that the guy who foisted this outrage on the public made out like a bandit.
Oh yeah, Goldman Sachs lost on this deal also. Pity. Maybe the best news here is that it makes Al Gore look like a fool—again.
Happy Thanksgiving.