Strange
Our country has turned strange. I mean really strange.
Let’s start with the simple hypocrisy that the anti-government, small government Texas Republicans were the fastest and first to request Federal Government assistance with Hurricane Harvey. Ted “Cut Everything” Cruz led the charge. Now, I think Federal Disaster Relief is a good thing and Houston and the Texas Gulf Coast and probably Louisiana too before this is all over will deserve and need it. However, I must also admit that it royally pisses me off to see the same folks who vote against helping the poor and needy suddenly become big government fans when it’s their ass on the line. If it didn’t cause so much pain and suffering for the non-politicians, I would like them to be told to go piss up a rope.
Our President, the man who took an oath of office to uphold the Constitution of the United States of America just pardoned a man convicted of blatantly ignoring a Federal Judge’s order to cease and desist. And, further, he did it as Hurricane Harvey was hitting so that the announcement would hit the news cycle at peak viewership. Crass, unfeeling, and un-American. Not our values. Not what should happen in a country ruled by laws, not men/women. I can only hope the day comes sooner rather than later that we get to have a real debate about a President pardoning himself.
The Democrats, rather than working hard to craft a counter message to the current lunacy, seem content to pot-shot the inmates in the asylum we have been calling the White House. The big news for Dems was that a judge tossed the case of Bernie Sanders supporters vs the Democratic National Committee. Now that’s certainly of major appeal to the voting public – NOT! What a bunch of total clucks. Like the Republicans, it is apparent that no one in the Dem leadership can find their ass using both hands, either. They have only months to get their shit together if they are going to avoid a huge embarrassing disaster in 2018 elections. Anyone want to give me odds? A pox on both their houses.
Then Hurricane, now Tropical Storm Harvey dropped over 9 trillion gallons of rain in the first couple days with another 5-10 trillion gallons forecast. Let me write that as a number: 15,000,000,000,000 gallons. If that much water had fallen on New Orleans it would have topped the 10-20 feet of water by 100 feet or more. With some places getting 50+ inches of rain, we are approaching a once-in-a-million-year’s event (Source: The Washington Post 8/27/17). Long-term weather forecasters are beginning to see a trend of more and more of these types of storms. The damage is going to be catastrophic – New Orleans sustained $250 billion in damage. Hurricane Harvey may well be worse as Houston is the 4th largest city in the United States. And yet, we have a President and a ruling majority in both houses of Congress that do not believe in climate change. How’s that for categorically stupid?
Things must change. I know that. I am not, however, optimistic. It is as if we passed a Constitutional Amendment guaranteeing the right of stupidity and idiocy. And that is truly sad and discouraging.
Adult Language Is Possible 
Yes, as a life-long Republican the state of the national party has my simple head spinning. Never could understand why the “party regulars” decided to throw their support behind Ted Cruz instead of Gov. Kasich as the alternative to Trump in the primaries. I was encouraged to hear Chris Christie this morning essentially making the same argument as you made about the hypocrisy of Cruz in regards to his stance on disaster aid. He chalked it up to Cruz positioning himself for a presidential run and wanting to posture as the “uber-conservative” on controlling government spending….as if responding to catastrophic natural occurrences is the time to make that stand!
Thanks, Kevin, for being a reader and for your thoughtful comment.
Dan: I join your concerns–and the urge to rant–about so much in the current state of our nation. But I’m at a loss to know how to change it. I read “Listen, Liberal” by Thomas Frank hoping for some insight. And while I agree with the fact that the Democratic party has perhaps moved away from its working-class roots, part of Franks’ criticism is aimed at the idea, pushed by the Bill Clinton and Obama administrations particularly, that education is a panacea for social ills. Sure, we may need to refocus as a party, but I can’t square the idea of not trying to get my kids the best educations I can afford. I cheer for unions; I happily pay rather large chunks in federal taxes (nothing like yours, but still chunks to me); but I can’t imagine anyone on a micro-decision level, not seeking the best education. And as it turns out, it is the GOP and its fans who seem to distrust and dislike higher education:
http://www.people-press.org/2017/07/10/sharp-partisan-divisions-in-views-of-national-institutions/
I am in total agreement, Bennett. I do not believe the pursuit of the best education possible for our children needs to mean that others cannot do the same for their children. We can, and should, enable both. The fact that almost 60% of the GOP finds higher education bad for the country is truly astounding.