My good buddy Rob replied to a post I did the other day, making the following comment:

1.“all you’d ever hear from the Left is how shameless Republicans are on morality issues. When there’s a Democrat in the White House? Not a peep, of course…”

No, but you hear it from the right. That’s how it works. The left complains about the right, the right complains about the left, and the seasons, they go round and round, and the painted ponies go up and down.

I was going to reply to him in comment, but it started getting so long I figured I’d turn it into a separate post. So here it is:

“You’re right about that, Rob, but I will you this: the Democrats have been in charge for over a year now and I don’t know about you, but I’ve been around a long time and I’ve never seen this country in such a mess.

Does anyone – anyone – think anyone at the top knows what the hell they’re doing? Think about it. We’ve got unemployment stuck at or around 10%, and that doesn’t even begin to take into account people who have given up looking for work. Include that, the unemployment rate is more like 23%. Teenage unemployment has never been higher since they’ve started keeping track of those kinds of things. The country is so awash in record debt – at both the state and federal levels – that we will saddle not just our grandchildren, but their children with footing the bill, and all Washington can think of doing is dickering around with healthcare legislation that will not only bankrupt the country, but more importantly, throw yet another sector of the country’s economy into chaos.

And after this bill passes, what are the Democrats planning? Why, an amnesty bill for those in this country illegally – legislation that will not only increase unemployment further (now there’s an idea!), but the payout of government services on an even larger scale than is already being done. And don’t even get me started on the “cap-and-trade” bill that would penalize industries that supposedly contribute to global warming. Wonder where those industries would pass on the cost of that legislation? Hmmm…

This has nothing to do with political parties. I, for one, wish it did. This has everything to do with a President who was elected primarily on his message that he was going to “change the tone in Washington”, “change the way Washington works”, and have “the most transparent administration in history”. Those aren’t my words, those are his. So how’s all that “hopenchange” workin’ out for y’all? You better off today than you were a year ago? Need three more years of what’s been going on in Washington in order to figure that out?

Here’s how I’m better off today than last year at this time. I just got my first paycheck of the year Friday and it’s $5.50 less than it the last check. When I get my next two-week check, it’ll be $11 less. Now you might say, “Great White Shank, you can afford the loss of $11, can’t you?”. Yes I can, but that’s not the idea. That’s money being taken out of my pocket, money I’ve worked harder for this past year than I ever have in my life. That money ought to be MINE, not anyone else’s. It’s money I could spend at the Petsmart, or the supermarket, or the pizza joint, or the convenience store, or help my sister-in-law, or contribute to my church or charity that’s gone FOR GOOD. And to whom? And for what? And that’s just my $11. Multiply that by all the other people who will also see their paychecks reduced and all of a sudden you’re starting to talk real money. How’s that going to help the business down the street hire someone new or increase their profits so someone else can?

But I digress.

I’ll tell you this, when the present administration is still blaming George W. Bush for everything that’s going on, I would hardly call that a change in tone and the way Washington works. I call that an abdication of responsibility.

When the administration resists allowing C-SPAN to broadcast conference committee meetings needed to reconcile a heathcare bill that could still only BARELY pass both houses of Congress after bribes were tossed around faster than favors in a Nevada whorehouse, that’s not transparency. I call that corruption.

When the Director of Homeland Security, the day after an attempt to blow up an airliner over Detroit was prevented only when his detonator failed to detonate and he was subdued by passengers on board, says “the system worked”, only to be corrected days later by the President characterizing the event as “a catastrophic failure on all levels”, that’s not just incompetence. I call that frighteningly incompetent.

Look, I understand how Washington works. And if all this were all happening with some stupid public works bill or the usual spend-and-tax crap that both political parties in Washington are so good at, I’d agree with you. But these idiots are screwing around with people’s healthcare coverage, our nation’s economic future, our basic standard of living, and the security of our nation’s air system. When previously-loyal-Democrat seniors find out that their Medicare and access to health care is being cut back, their taxes are going up yet again, no one will be hiring due to all the economic uncertainty, and that their asses are more likely to be blown up in the air because of some fear we may offend or inconvenience someone by profiling them at an airport checkpoint, I’m sorry, that’s not the usual way Washington and the political parties work.

This is insanity, incompetence, political pettiness, and graft and corruption on display at an unprecendented level. We’re talking trillions upon trillions of dollars, impacting the way millions upon millions of people live. Maybe at one time it was about the political parties and the size of government and the way government spends our hard-earned money. But that’s no longer the case. Now it’s Washington deliberately turning its collective backs on the welfare of the American people solely for personal gain and petty political one-upsmanship. And no one in the White House showing any interest in displaying any kind of leadership or living up to their high-falutin’ campaign rhetoric and promises.”

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Pool temp: 49 degrees