The State of the Onion

Last evening the members of congress proved conclusively that they were capable of multiple pop ups and pop downs--though Republicans clearly have somewhat stiffer knees than Democrats. If only our legislator's ability to move horizontally through problems were as good or as frequent as their vertical leaps to applaud. The Democrats, with a huge majority on paper, remain so fractured that movement appears impossible. In spite of their protestations to the contrary, the Republicans seem committed to the proposition that blocking all movement is the best way to inherit another chance to do nothing after the next election. Everyone agrees we have problems yet nobody will give anybody an inch toward solving them for fear that the inch will give a political leg up. The guaranteed loser in all of this is the people.

Given the perks of long term public office and our campaign finance practices, it is no surprise that the prime interest of elected officials is their own re-election. A sinecure tends to outweigh considerations of what might be good for or help the country. Every congressman has a good health care plan. If you don't just tough it out. Every congressman has a golden parachute retirement plan. If you don't just tough it out. Every congressman has folks coming in to see him/her daily who want to give them money. If you don't, maybe you ought to go into politics.

Hmmmmm!