Do I dare hope...could something good be happening?

These are not congressmen working together.  This is just a generic photo.  There is word that a group of Democrats and Republicans are working quietly together, but there are no cameras there to record it.

Word is leaking out that a group of congressmen from both parties are quietly meeting together to try and find a way to at least stabilize the troubled health insurance market.  Our non-Leader, President Donald Trump, miffed that his preferred health insurance reform package failed in the Senate, has vowed to just let the market collapse, in effect saying "f__k the people if they lose what little insurance they might have. I don't care."  These congressmen are actually, hopefully, doing something positive and not just posing.

I'm sure House Leaders Paul Ryan and Nancy Pelosi, and Senate Leaders Mitch McConnell and Chuck Schumer, are miffed that some of their members aren't toeing their parties "my way or the highway" line, too.  These renegades are stealing their Leader's thunder.

What's missing from this picture?  Bright lights and TV cameras.  The Donald and Mitch and Paul and Chuck and Nancy just LOVE to step in front of a TV camera and bloviate about how only THEY can fix _____.  They'll tell you their way is the only way, which is why we're in the mess we are today.

Kudos to these fearless congressmen who are willing to tell their Leadership to get out of the way.  May they lock themselves in a quiet room, bring in a platter of sandwiches and some beverages, and haggle until they can come up with something, not necessarily exactly what they would prefer, but something they and we can all live with.  And for Pete's sake, don't let a TV camera get within a mile of them!

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Another "tail wags dog" story?

 

In the recent news I've heard many say that Republican Senators John McCain, Susan Collins, and Lisa Murkowski "betrayed their party" by voting against the recent Republican healthcare replacement bill. I find that statement shocking and disappointing. 

Should you vote for your congressman or Senator to go to Washington and vote how Paul Ryan or Mitch McConnell (if they are a Republican) or Nancy Pelosi or Chuck Schumer (if they are a Democrat) tells them to, or should you vote to send them to Washington to represent YOU and YOUR interests? And if your interest sometimes differs with whatever their party leader wants, who should they owe their allegiance to?

Where have all the Good Guys gone?

Does anyone remember these two guys?  That's President Ronald Reagan on the right (naturally) and House Speaker Tip O'Neal on the left (both literally and figuratively).  

Mr. Conservative and Mr. Liberal they were.  They had sharply different political philosophies, visions for the future, and constituencies, yet they also had respect for each other.  When one had the opportunity to completely crush the other, to politically destroy the other, he didn't do it.  They realized they needed each other.  

Sometimes Tip had to swallow hard and give in to something Reagan wanted, and sometimes their roles were reversed.  They both knew they couldn't just dump on a large part of the American population in order to get their way.  That would be what is called "winning the battle, but losing the war"....a long-term bad thing for the country, and they knew it.

Contrast them to the "leaders" (more like "hired guns") that we have today.  Reid, Pelosi, McConnell, Ryan, Clinton, and lets not forget the Tea Party faction led by Ted Cruz....they would rather eat s__t than give an inch to the other.  The Republicans, for example, recently agreed to a budget deal only because elections are upcoming and they knew polls showed the public held them responsible for past government shutdowns that harmed millions of people.  It was self-preservation, pure and simple.

They gave in not for the good of the country, but for their own political gain.  And under similar circumstances the Democrats would do the same.  They care about themselves, and no one else.  You and I are just pawns to them.

Bernie Sanders is saying a political revolution is coming, and he may be right.  I'm wondering if it will be limited to just being "political"?  Think about that.

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A train wreck in not-so-slow-motion

For the life of me I don't understand why so many in the world look to the United States for leadership.  We wouldn't know "leadership" if it bit us on the butt!  There may be a very few potential "leaders" lurking in our political landscape, but they either have no chance of getting the nod to lead, or THEY DON'T WANT IT!

It wasn't long ago I was pooh-pooing the "Young Guns" in the House of Representatives, those being Republicans Eric Cantor, Paul Ryan, and Kevin McCarthy, their best-of-the-best.  Yes, the same Kevin McCarthy who just dropped out of the race to become the next Speaker of the House.  Back then I thought they were too rigid, too my-way-or-the-highway, too cold to effectively lead.  

Turns out McCarthy is now deemed not cold enough to please the 40 or so members of the Tea Party (now calling themselves the Freedom Party) who are bullying the rest of the Republican's.  They're like the Nazi Brown Shirts of the 1930's, sans the actual physical beating of opponents.  Current Speaker John Boner is looking like an absolute moderate.  Don't get cocky Democrats, you're no better.  Nancy Pelosi?  Really?  She's the best you have?

And the Senate....Oh dear God, we've hit bottom!  Mitch McConnell (R)?  Harry Reid (D)?  The Mafia should study them to learn the fine art of real organized crime.

Which leaves President Barack Obama.   Sir, please explain it to me again, slowly....what exactly is our foreign policy?  If it's to get run over, then I give you a perfect 10.  You say we're involved in Syria in order to help send Assad packing.  So who's going to take his place?  One of those flea-bag rebel warlords we're supporting now?  You know they're just suckering you, right?  They don't give a rats ass about working with us.  In fact they hate us.  They'll still take our money, but they hate us.  Why can't they hate us on their dime?

And who do we have in the wings?  Donald Trump, entertainer extraordinaire.  Dr Ben Carson, has no chance.  Carly Fiorina, ditto.  Ted Cruz, pond scum.  And a bunch of others who have less than no chance.  Hillary, too many skeletons in the closet.  Bernie Sanders, even his supporters say he could never be elected.  

*crickets*

What the hell has happened to us?  Our potential is limitless, our people incredibly dynamic.  Our compassion (excluding the Freedom Party) comforting, our power to do good beyond the reach of anyone else in the world.  And we're squandering it.  DOH!

You know that revolution we haven't had in 239 years?  Don't look now, but....

S

The "Pelosi-Ryan" connection

Yesterday on the news I saw GOP Veep candidate Paul Ryan trying to explain why Mitt Romney won't divulge any specific tax loopholes he would close or what tax rates he would set if he's elected.  They're being vague, he said, "....because we want to get it done."  He went on to say, "We don't want to presume to say, 'Here's exactly our way or the highway, take it or leave it Congress.'"  Huh?

Ummm, Paul....that's exactly what the Tea Party "Young Guns" have been saying since they got to Congress:  "Here's what we demand, take it or leave it."  No compromise, no way.

And didn't the Republicans lambaste then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi for her quip during the debate over health care reform when she said, "We'll just have to pass this bill so you can see what's in it"? 

Aren't Romney and Ryan doing the same thing, in essence saying, "You'll just have to vote for us so you can see what were going to do with your taxes"? 

One of my favorite old sayings is, "If you're not part of the solution, then you're part of the problem."  Looking around Washington today I see lot's of "problems" and very few "solutions".  

Even though you might have some potential solutions, unless you're willing to work with others, you have nothing.  Therefore you're still a "problem".

Whenever politicians, any politicians, try to fluff me off by just saying "trust me and I'll fix everything",  I immediately grab my wallet and back myself into a corner, 'cause I'm fixin' to either get robbed or screwed....quite likely both.

S

Squeamish Alert

If you have arachnophobia you might want to back away slowly right now.


A guy in Omaha, Nebraska named Dylan Baumann, who lives in a small studio apartment, came home one day to find 40 spiders "crawling across my walls, crawling along my floorboards, and crawling by my foot."  And these weren't your simple little Daddy Long Legs kind of spiders.  Nosiree...these were venomous Brown Recluse spiders.

OK, now if that wasn't creepy enough for the spider averse, here's how the guy deals with his new house guests:

"It's mainly just learning to cope with them.  Pushing your bed away from the wall, pulling out your bed skirt, making sure nothing is touching walls, shaking off your clothes before you put them on, after you get out of the shower, shake out your towel, knock out your shoes at night.  It's just kind of learning to not get bit."

I don't have arachnophobia.  Big, small, they normally just don't bother me, but my IQ did make it into double digits.  Listen to me Dylan....these are BROWN RECLUSE spiders!   They're like the rattlesnakes or the great white sharks or the Nancy Pelosi's of Phylum Arthropodia.  ABANDON SHIP DUDE!  MOVE!  Now.  

Jeez...I hope this didn't scare anyone.  ;)

S

Caption contest

Write a caption for this photo.  If you win you'll have the satisfaction of knowing you're a Class A Smartass.  (Which is actually something to be very proud of.  ;)  Good luck!


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