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Not Far From the Madding Crowd, Myself

There is madness.  Simple, incurable madness.

The polls show that huge numbers of people on the political right think that Barack Obama is a Muslim, born in Kenya, to an unmarried mother, not a U.S. citizen, who is plotting to steer our country into a Stalinistic state.  Apparently, even before he was conceived, he had arranged to become President some day so he could drag us all down to ruin.  A majority of right wing people in some southern states think he ought to be impeached or, at least, that it is likely that he ought to be impeached. 

It is of no importance, whatsoever, to those same people, that Todd Palin, Our Little Sarah's husband, was for years a member of a political movement to have Alaska secede from the Union.  The Governor of Texas could not bring himself to say that Texas should not secede. 

Libertarians argue for a vastly reduced scope for government, and health care, public education, food safety, public highways, universal health care, clean drinking water, public parks, and social security be damned! 

"Nobody is listening to us!" the Tea Party members shout.  "The government is a bunch of Nazis!"  Not a year after we almost collapsed into a genuinely deep economic depression, brought on by huge, unregulated investment organizations gambled with people dreams of making really big money, building a house of cards, and even while those same institutions whose assets and asses were saved by public money, while those same investment bankers are paying themselves billions of dollars in bonuses for being so smart and for having done such a good job, people are arguing that our problems today is that we have too much regulation on big business.  It is to argue that those guys are bastards, but they are our bastards! 

At the same time that every non-partisan study shows that universal health care, particularly a system that omits the insurance companies from managing the system, will save money, these same mad people argue that government costs too much, and that we should leave health care as it is!

While Republicans were in office, they decided not to add the costs of the wars they urged upon us in the general budget, and still the budget deficit grew enormously, because they did not believe in paying for what they bought.  Obama and the Democrats said that was madness, and counted the cost of the wars, and now the Republicans argue that the budget deficit has suddenly ballooned. 

With only a few exceptions, Republicans in office have decided that saying no to anything the Democrats propose is the best course forward for the nation.  They don't care.  Just get that guy from Kenya out of there!  Save us all from right-wing facism and left-wing socialism.  Pare government down to size.  Put Republicans into those useless offices where they can deregulate, and privatize social security:  let smart working people give their money to stock market brokers.  Retire in your parents' basement.  Or your kids' back bedroom. 

I have been trying to think clearly about all of this. 

I think that next year I shall audition for American Idol.
I am certain to win, do you not think? 
My looks, my voice, my obvious sex appeal. 
Maybe buy a lottery ticket, in case the system is rigged. 
Cannot go into retirement without a security blanket.

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