Monday, August 01, 2011

Back Again

Well, it's August, 2011 and another seven months or so have flown by without a rant; does that mean nothing have happened that is "rantable"? Oh my, of course not.

Let's see, I guess there's the little matter of the Tea Party and its minions (i.e., the rest of the GOP that has decided it has to follow the lunatic fringe down the path to eventual laughingstock status) bringing the USA to the front door step of financial ruin by whining about the debt ceiling and, at the same time, refusing to consider any kind of "revenue enhancement" (i.e., taxing the upper 2% of the populace that controls a hugely disproportionate chunk of the wealth and power and who can certainly afford it). Last I heard, the White House and the Democrats gave into the fringers some more in the Great Compromise by agreeing to budget cuts without any real hope of ever getting any tax revenue in exchange. Nice; while our infrastructure collapses around about us, I'll be sitting at my desk secure in the knowledge that Sarah Palin, Glen Beck and Sean Hannity WON'T have to be paying more in taxes because, well, they shouldn't have to.

Then there's the issue of our Governor and Legislative leaders climbing on the Tea Party bandwagon (well, that's not really true; they've BEEN on it for a while now) and indicating that IF and WHEN a "Balanced Budget Amendment" hits the States for ratification, good old Florida would be the FIRST to ratify. Not that they have to actually ASK the electorate whether or not a majority really thinks it's a good idea to tie the Federal Government's hands in financial perpetuity, since they are the "peoples' representatives" (hack, hack) and think that they don't have to ask us in advance. Fortunately, calmer heads prevailed and the BBA didn't make it out of the House Bill.

I could go on and on, but it's simply too depressing to do so. An earlier post to this blog was that we've become a "Nation of Idjits" and I'm all too much in agreement with that sentiment. Are we ever going to learn? Can we be just that stupid and throw away this great land and the potential that we still have as a country?

Maybe my mood will be different tomorrow. Ask me then.

Thursday, January 13, 2011

Back Again

Did you miss me? Probably not, which is OK. That's what Old Blue gets for not writing daily or posting porn.

Lots has happened over the last thirteen months or so. Bought a new house, haven't been able to sell the old one; had to put my border collie to sleep because of advanced canine leukemia and have seen Youngest Blue graduate with honors from the local university, only to see her head off to the icy confines of Iowa for an eleven month stint in Americorps.

Oh, did I mention that our fair State elected a far-Right bunch in practically every open seat in the last election? That our new Governor, who used all of his own money to run (notice I was nice and didn't say he "bought" the election) is the 21st-Century version of a carpetbagger, since he's a Yankee who didn't live here until moving to Naples eight years ago in disgrace after his multi-billion dollar health services corporation was found to have engaged in massive fraud of Medicare funds? That he took the Fifth on seventy-five occasions during a civil deposition? That he basically wants to gut the State Pension System?

Ah, life goes on and on. I'll really miss my dog and my youngest one; everything else, not so much.