Editor's Note: WARNING!!! This hate filled diatribe contains memes which will cause political Kool-Aid drinkers to feel extreme discomfort. If you're in doubt about your political orientation, do not read this rant. If, while reading this piece, you're overcome with feelings of disgust or anger stemming from a perceived attack on your idealogical point of view, then you have most certainly been infected by tainted Kool-Aid and should report to the nearest poison control center for detoxification. Thank you for your cooperation in this matter.
Like most Americans, I'm sick…tired….and just generally fed up with how things have been going lately in this country. More than that, I'm apoplectic over my apparent powerlessness to do anything about it.
First, there's the federal government. Hopelessly bloated, even for the likes of Barack Obama. There isn't enough hope in that man's heart to give the federal government what it so desperately needs: intensive liposuction coupled with stomach stapling. If anything, he plans on continuing the trend of expanding government bureaucracy to invade every nook and cranny of our lives. That is his hope, an elitist ideology from the far left implemented on every level imaginable, and I suspect many liberals don't even know what he means when he bandies about lofty terms without clarification.
That is the point, however. What a political leader's rhetoric means is really irrelevant nowadays. Rather, the important thing is that you think you know what that leader means when he/she speaks of "hope" and "change." Or maybe the libs really are paying attention. After all, the hope of neo-liberals is bigger government and that is really what will be changing: the size of federal government. The thinking seems to be, spend all you want, the American people will make more.
The neocons aren't faring much better in the government spending department, either. Under Bush Jr. federal spending has ballooned to epic proportions. But McCain will also do his worst should he get elected. At least he acts like he's got some moral fiber underneath all that gabardine, while Obama has the moral center of peanut…a really sharp dressed, smooth talking, and inspirational, hope filled peanut. Still, there might be worse things than having a high brow legume for president.
There's the energy crunch driving inflation along with our trade deficit and yes, more big government "bail outs" which are, frankly, a joke. More on that in minute.
There's the ever shrinking dollar and the loss of our self sufficiency.
To paraphrase, Bernard Goldberg, there's the fact that on the left are loonies a plenty and on the right are gutless wonders. The former, going after Obama with all the zeal of drunken prom dates who've been hijacked to a frat party. The latter resorting to political scalping for the sake of the power grab and selling out the ideals which gave birth to the Republican Party in the first place.
Ironically, I've come to hate the party I belong to almost as much as the liberals do. A lot of that angst is because true conservatives aren't even supported by the party which allegedly spawned conservative ideals. Instead, the party has gone "Topsy" turvy…almost… and is now more neo-liberal than ever when it comes to spending. Maybe that's why classical conservativism has become anathema to the GOP. When the most classically conservative candidates can't even get the support of their own party, you know it's time to call it a day. Many conservatives are doing just that. They're giving up, disengaging, heading for the hills. They can no longer stomach betrayal at the hands of the once Grand Ol' Party. Yet, the party can't seem to figure out where the conservative base has gone…or maybe they just don't care. The fact is, only the very desperate or the very naive are supporting them now. That explains why they've become so "neocon with a dash of squishy moderate" lately. They need that soft squishy center now that classical conservatives have left the party in disgust. This arrangement suits them just fine, as long as they have warm bodies at the ballot box to ensure they stay in power. To quote my long time friend and fellow writer, Danny Johnson, "I press onward…" but only just barely.
There's the fact that more and more Americans (neocon and liberal/moderate/progressive…uh, whatever the hell they're calling themselves these days) are embracing the neoliberal concept of messiah. In this case, the chosen one is none other than Uncle Sam himself. Of course, when he manages to hit the nail on his thumb with the next failed government intervention, liberals will be the first in line to throw rocks through the "oral" office windows and purge on the White House lawn, provided there's a Republican president at home. If not, then I'm sure they'll find some other "conservative" to blame. Maybe it'll be a legislator, or a conservative media outlet like Fox News. Maybe it'll be those hicks in small towns whose bitterness has turned to guns, religion, and popcorn chicken. But the one thing you can count on is that liberals won't shoulder one bit of blame for the policies they've screamed, pleaded, and begged for…policies like universal health care, foreclosure bail outs, corporate farm bail outs, economic (political) stimulus packages, minimum wage increases (another political stimulus package), open borders, free trade, and any other legislation they can dream up to expand social spending, buy votes, line their own pockets, and generally do away with personal responsibility. Neocons will be standing by with the holy water to give their blessing on all this, I'm sure. At least they have so far. Whatever it takes, you know. 'Cause there's just not enough love in the world and big government really is the answer.
One more thing, there's the stupid, idiotic, sophomoronic media which no longer knows the difference between opinion writing and news writing. Just one tier below them we have the even "more stupider," (for the biblically astute, write that as "foolish") Kool-Aid drinkers who believe every word merely because it's in print…or merely because it happens to match the preconceived notions of their neighbor who they get their information from. Mostly, they just toe the party line because they don't know any better.
As I said in my opener, I'm tired folks. Tired of politics: politics in big government, small government, companies, organizations of every stripe..and dare I say it? Politics in the church. I'm tired of lunacy, tired of foolishness, tired of dishonesty, tired of adults acting like children, tired of a world and a country gone absolutely barking mad. I think if I don't unplug for a while I may just join them. I've had it up to HERE with how the country is run and with foolish young people who'll vote for anyone who speaks well and promises them the moon. I've also had it with liberal Dems and neocon Republicans who are so arrogant, they think they can do whatever they damn well please once they get elected. Guess what? They do, and I'm tired of that too. Mostly, I'm just tired of feeling powerless to do anything about it.
So, I'm taking a long vacation to Disney Land and I don't know if I'm ever coming back. Don't call and don't write; I just want to be left alone so I can live my life in relative peace. Maybe next week if I'm feeling better I'll write about something soft, fluffy, and inspiring…Naaaaah…that would only give aid and comfort to the enemy.
I think I'll just give up politics altogether and live happily ever after in the land of Disney. If Al Gore and Bill Clinton can do it, so can I. While I'm there, I'll do something constructive like invent some kind of eco-nazi crisis to drive the greens into a panic. That way, I can control world leaders and drive up the price of my stock or, perhaps, something less ambitious, like coming up with a new definition for the word "is."