Heaven sometimes speaks through the mouths of false prophets for the confusion of the wicked.
- Father Fray Antonio Agapida
Washington Irving, Chronicle of the Fall of Grenada
Warren, still recovering from his recent enlightenment, faced the daunting task of rebuilding his worldview.Thankfully he's not German, or he'd have to learn to spell that really long German word for worldview.
So the younger half-brother turned once again to Marty, posing this question, "So how is it that things are so messed up at this time."
"That's a long story," Marty said. "But I'll give you the 'Cliff Notes' version. I blame Congress."
"What does a precipice have to do with any of this," Warren said. "There's no cliffs around here for 20 miles."
Marty sighed, wondering how to explain the situation to his simple halfling brother. "Sorry, let me start over with a metaphor.
"If we were in a rowboat, sharing the work, we would need to row together or we'd just go around in circles. That's what's happening now . . . one side of the boat, on the ship of state if you will, isn't rowing."
"Who's not rowing," Warren asked. "Is it the Republic Party?"
"You've been paying attention, good gopher," Marty said.
"Here's the details, in list form," Marty said.
* Obama is a weak leader - so say the same people who howled in opposition when he threatened to bomb Syria.
* The stimulus package was a failure - so say those who fail to mention 1/3 for the money went to their favorite things, tax cuts, which did little to help the economy and left too little money for things like infrastructure that actually put people to work.
* The IRS targets conservative groups - actually it also targeted all the groups with "Occupy" in the name.
* Obama is a dictator - (see Obama is a weak leader above, then ponder the paradox) the president uses the tools of the executive branch to help make things better because Congress won't do anything.
* Benghazi is a terrible scandal and coverup - so say the people who voted to reduce the funding of the State Department's security program. And besides, investigations about TV talk show "talking points' is really just politicians accusing politicians of being politicians.
* The Affordable Care Act is a terrible idea - which came from the Heritage Foundation, a market-based solution to covering the uninsured.
* The President's policies have impeded economic progress - so say those who threatened to default on the nation's debt.
* "Voter Fraud" justifies onerous requirements for voting and restrictions or elimination of expanded voting - besides there being no real proof of almost ANY individual voter fraud, how dare they stand there and deny Americans votes when they suppress votes in areas unlikely to support them by reducing polling places and the capacity of the remaining polling places (Ohio, in particular).
* Obama's actions somehow "disrespect" the office of the president - so say those who denigrate and insult the man who was elected president twice (one more than George W. Bush, who after all was appointed the first time by the Supreme Court).
* The "Left" is at war with religion - well maybe with fundamentalist fanatics who refuse to let others believe what they want (freedom) and insist on imposing their views on everyone else (in a nation founded on religious freedom, the Founding Fathers said you can't legislate a man's beliefs . . . also see Jefferson's Virginia Statute of Religious Freedom).
"Wow, that's 10 things," Warren said, "Is there more?"
Marty looked over at the glazed-eyed half-brother and rolled his eyes. "Indeed, but we'll get to that another day."
Warren, still recovering from his recent enlightenment, faced the daunting task of rebuilding his worldview.Thankfully he's not German, or he'd have to learn to spell that really long German word for worldview.
So the younger half-brother turned once again to Marty, posing this question, "So how is it that things are so messed up at this time."
"That's a long story," Marty said. "But I'll give you the 'Cliff Notes' version. I blame Congress."
"What does a precipice have to do with any of this," Warren said. "There's no cliffs around here for 20 miles."
Marty sighed, wondering how to explain the situation to his simple halfling brother. "Sorry, let me start over with a metaphor.
"If we were in a rowboat, sharing the work, we would need to row together or we'd just go around in circles. That's what's happening now . . . one side of the boat, on the ship of state if you will, isn't rowing."
"Who's not rowing," Warren asked. "Is it the Republic Party?"
"You've been paying attention, good gopher," Marty said.
"Here's the details, in list form," Marty said.
* Obama is a weak leader - so say the same people who howled in opposition when he threatened to bomb Syria.
* The stimulus package was a failure - so say those who fail to mention 1/3 for the money went to their favorite things, tax cuts, which did little to help the economy and left too little money for things like infrastructure that actually put people to work.
* The IRS targets conservative groups - actually it also targeted all the groups with "Occupy" in the name.
* Obama is a dictator - (see Obama is a weak leader above, then ponder the paradox) the president uses the tools of the executive branch to help make things better because Congress won't do anything.
 |
| Marty and Warren watch The Daily Show. |
* The Affordable Care Act is a terrible idea - which came from the Heritage Foundation, a market-based solution to covering the uninsured.
* The President's policies have impeded economic progress - so say those who threatened to default on the nation's debt.
* "Voter Fraud" justifies onerous requirements for voting and restrictions or elimination of expanded voting - besides there being no real proof of almost ANY individual voter fraud, how dare they stand there and deny Americans votes when they suppress votes in areas unlikely to support them by reducing polling places and the capacity of the remaining polling places (Ohio, in particular).
* Obama's actions somehow "disrespect" the office of the president - so say those who denigrate and insult the man who was elected president twice (one more than George W. Bush, who after all was appointed the first time by the Supreme Court).
* The "Left" is at war with religion - well maybe with fundamentalist fanatics who refuse to let others believe what they want (freedom) and insist on imposing their views on everyone else (in a nation founded on religious freedom, the Founding Fathers said you can't legislate a man's beliefs . . . also see Jefferson's Virginia Statute of Religious Freedom).
"Wow, that's 10 things," Warren said, "Is there more?"
Marty looked over at the glazed-eyed half-brother and rolled his eyes. "Indeed, but we'll get to that another day."
No comments:
Post a Comment