Playing the Roman Fool

According to the latest report by the U.S. Comptroller General David Walker, the federal government is on the verge of collapse in a very similar manner to the decline and fall of the Roman Empire (read the Financial Times article summarizing the report). "The US government is on a ‘burning platform’ of unsustainable policies and practices with fiscal deficits, chronic healthcare underfunding, immigration and overseas military commitments threatening a crisis if action is not taken soon." Walker, a Clinton appointee, raises some valid points, but is certainly not the final word on the matter.

At the time of its decline and fall, Roman citizens were paying more than 25% of their income to cover taxes. The holidays to celebrate and honor Roman deities were reduced to being an excuse to indulge in gluttonous behavior. The empire covered vastly different cultural and geographic regions. Government officials were emptying the coffers by building palaces and putting on diversions for the plebes (gladiators and public executions at the Coliseum, anyone?). Fast forward to the 21st century. We have redistribution of wealth through taxation and government programs, mention of God has been removed from our institutions, and newcomers to our country are not encouraged to assimilate into our culture. Our elected officials bring home the bacon for their constituents in the form of pork spending attached to legislation that's supposed to help the men and women of the armed forces and secure our borders.

I wholeheartedly agree with Walker's assessment that “declining moral values and political civility at home [...] and fiscal irresponsibility by the central government" have set us on the path toward self-destruction. I would have to take issue with Walker's additional citations of "slashed government services" and an "over-confident and over-extended military". Maintaining and expanding "government services", like starting government-run healthcare, go hand-in-hand with the fiscal irresponsibility that is the hallmark of "The Great Society". In the face of retiring, and presumably ailing, baby boomers Congress should reform Social Security and healthcare regulations so that we of younger generations will be better prepared for our own golden years. Currently, we bear the burden of footing the bill for today's benefit recipients. Skyrocketing healthcare costs are a result of the rising costs of practicing medicine and fewer individuals choosing this profession. Who can blame today's college students for being turned off by the threat of malpractice suits and dealing with HMOs? Even in the face of higher doctor's bills, we're still better off than nations with "socialized medicine".

As to our military operations overseas, it is necessary to protect ourselves from the enemies without, as well as within. The Visigoths were able to cross into the Roman Empire and ultimately sack Rome itself, due to weaken border defense. Enforcement of immigration laws in addition to routing the enemy abroad is the key to ensuring victory in the battle that will define us for centuries to come, while preserving our civil liberties. I don't know about the rest of you, but I would rather not have to fight al-Qaeda in my own backyard (though I wouldn't hesistate to take pot-shots from my kitchen window). If we do not vanquish the people who have dedicated their lives to the destruction of everything that America stands for, we won't have to worry about falling our own sword.

Senile Senators' Slumper Party (BYOB Senator Kennedy)

Just when political posturing (and emissions of CO2) couldn't get any more ridiculous, "Dingy Harry" Ried had to declare, along with his cohorts in the U.S. Senate, that they were pulling an "all-nighter" to cobble together a resolution to bring the troops home from Iraq. Oh, I'm sorry, the official language of the DNC is "redeploy" (kind of like Hitler's use of the word "relocate" to describe "rounding up and exterminating millions of Jews"). So, were the news cameras showing pages hauling in cases of Red Bull or their senator's energy drink of choice (and perhaps some Geritol for good measure)? Hell no! They were rolling in foldaway beds for our distinguished elected officials to take a nap. Senator Kennedy's pages must have been sneaking in the booze via the backdoor.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but when I was in college (two years ago) an "all-nighter" implied actually being awake and working all night powered by sugar, caffeine, and sheer will...and nicotine for a few of my classmates. You were considered "all-pro" if you could not only stay up, but be a fully-functioning student the following day (complete with class attendance). What a bunch of slackers our Senate has turned out to be.

I can see it all now. Ted Kennedy will be passed out on his cot, martini glasses strewn about, hugging a bottle of vodka, and hiccuping between snores. His junior counterpart will be hugging a bottle of ketchup, and have jumper cables hooked up to the bolts in his neck. Babs Boxer and DiFi will be giving each other quizzes from Cosmo magazine and playing MASH (each will be adorned with curlers and cold cream face masques). Senator Byrd will be busy with a pair of scissors, cutting eyeholes in all of the white pillowcases. Harry will be up in his seat, leaning back with drool coming out of the corners of his mouth. When morning comes, they'll all frantically wake up and try the cram the Cliff's Notes version of the bill that their collective staffs wrote in the night. Even if it's not worth the paper found in the restroom, it will be hailed as a stroke of genius by the MSM. Let's only hope that the producers at CSPAN have the good taste to blur out some of the images conjured in this paragraph.


Update: Wonder of wonders! The U.S. Senate has accomplished...absolutely nothing! I wonder how much money it cost you and I to have those rollaways brought in for them to not even be used (most of our distinguished senators went home in the wee hours of the morning to sleep it off).

Is the Pot Calling the Kettle Black?

Apparently Comrade... er, President Vladimir Putin didn't see the declassified Soviet files regarding his own country's behavior between the Bolshevik Revolution and the collapse of the U.S.S.R. Oh wait, he's a former KGB agent! He would know all about kidnapping, murdering, espionage, and stealing top-secret information. Putin has compared U.S. foreign policy to the Third Reich (read the International Herald Tribune article here). Of course, this is nothing new. We've had a poor excuse for a college professor from Colorado refer to the victims of 9-11 as "little Eichmanns". Even the former Chancellor of Germany (a member of the spin-off to der Fuhrer's political party) had called President Bush "Hitler". This is also not the first time that "our friend" has blasted U.S. policies abroad.

In a speech from Munich on February 10, Putin accused the United States of trying to establish itself as "one single center of power: One single center of force. One single center of decision making. This is the world of one master, one sovereign." First of all, if this were the case, we would have already conquered "Mother Russia", the Soviet satellite nations, and the entire Middle East...back when Reagan was President. We would have torn down the wall for Mr. Gorbechev (and spanked the Red Army in the process), dusted both Ayatollah Khomeni and Saddam Hussein, and put Kim Il Sung in a straight jacket. They'd all be English-speaking, Judeo-Christian, democratic societies, gas would be $0.50 a gallon, and we would all be vacationing in Cuba for Spring Break. Hugo Chavez ("Big Red"), Kim Jong Il ("Big Mac"), and Mahmood Ahmadenijad ("Small Fry") would not have had the opportunity to rise to the level of power that they have. Then again, we aren't bullies and would prefer the rest of the world to solve its own problems as peacefully as possible.

Secondly, does Putin even talk to Russia's ambassador to the United Nations? Is he getting the Cliff's Notes version of what goes on there, or is he taking a nap during the phone call? If there was ever a force at work in the world to establish One World Order, it would be the United Nations, and the Third World thugs that abuse the institution to line their pockets with foreign aid meant to feed their starving masses. They hate our guts, but love our money. It sounds like the kind of marriage that requires a pre-nup.

To top this off, Putin's largest point of contention appears to be our development of a missile defense system. What makes him think we don't already have it? It's not a new idea, and R&D is always a busy (and clandestine) business. Do we not have a right to defend ourselves and our allies? Or are we supposed to be like pre-WWII France and let our enemies roll through the nation's capital? Unfortunately, that may have to happen before people realize that this is real...and it's serious. "War is upon you, whether you'll risk it or not."