Cringe-and-Wince-a-Palooza

How many crises do we need?

We're in the middle of a Presidential election that is turning out to be kind of a national embarrassment. First of all, John McCain has chosen a Twit to be his running mate. Sarah Barracuda is turning out to be clueless in a national setting. When she is speaking or being interviewed, it's cringe and wince time. I saw a bumper sticker in T.C. that said "Big Mac and Cuda". Now that's what I call Presidential. I'm waiting for McDonald's to sue. I think the bumper sticker should say "Twit for Veep".

There's also a problem with her religion. I was brought up to be respectful and tolerant of other people and their beliefs, but that doesn't mean that I have to suffer fools gladly. This is a person who is a creationist, which flies in the face of rational thought. Fundamental evangelism is her religious background, and it's very scary to me that a person of that ilk could actually wind up being President of the USA.

She's also anti-abortion, which means she wants the government to step in between a woman and her doctor and dictate what she should do with her body. Sometime I want to do some research and write an essay about governmental intrusion into human reproduction. I would use the example of the Chinese government limiting families to one child each and forcing abortions. I would also reference Hitler's Aryan breeding program trying to create a super race. Once you let government into reproductive issues there's no telling how far it might go. I personally believe that most folks agree that abortion should be legal, safe and rare.

Somehow the Republican Party has the formula for ruining our national reputation all around the world. I'm sure the rest of the globe cannot understand how we choose and elect these hapless candidates over and over again. I'm sure they can't understand it because I can't either!

Now the Powers That Be have come to the conclusion that the Federal Government needs to take over Freddie Mac, Fannie May, AIG, and ......... To do this they will need to borrown 700 billion dollars. And who will pay for this? Taxpayers - meaning you and I will pay for it. Where will the money go? Well that's a good question. I'm cynical enough to think that several millions will go to CEOs and COOs of the companies which have failed. I would love to be wrong about that.

How many greedy people can the country afford?

Everyone is a bit worried about the money situation - investments are way, way down in value. Chip's friend had trouble getting his money out of Bank of America (scary). We're all right so far - I think most of our liquid funds are FDIC insured - but of course that depends on the stability of the Federal Government. Oh dear.

It could be that we really are going to Hell in a Handbasket. I have my fingers crossed. I wish you would cross yours too.