Last night our nation’s Congress finally passed a bill to extend our debt ceiling and to fund our government, relieving it from the shutdown forced by a wholly dysfunctional, irrational Congress – a shutdown costing our economy an estimated $24,000,000,000. There was no need for the shutdown to occur; no rational reason whatsoever to have come so near to the debt ceiling that we adversely affected the nation’s credit rating.
As a result, we’ve awoken this morning to widespread national dissatisfaction with the political establishment in Washington DC. Those who hate Democrats are mad at the President and Harry Reid; those who hate Republicans are mad at the house, the Tea Party, and Ted Cruz. Those who admire the Tea Party are mad at everyone, including themselves. They’ve been mad for a long time, continue to stay mad and revel in madness – in both of the word’s senses. While this is not the first time insensibility has reigned in Washington DC, it is the only the second time insensibility has extended to the point of stabbing ourselves rather than Caesar.
Come to think of it, the first time occurred with the assistance of most of those presently in Congress, a fact that should remind us of just how stupid this present Congress really is – so stupid that it not only is unable to learn from the mistakes of past Congresses, it is unable to learn from its own!
To those, like me, who are so profoundly disappointed this morning, so profoundly angry over the fact that stupidity stalks the halls of our government and reigns supreme, I offer a reminder, a warning, and an opportunity.
The reminder is that Congressional failure has its seeds in our personal voting habits. If we elect only idiots to Congress, we will inevitably reap idiocy in our legislation – or, in this case, in our failure to legislate in a timely manner. If you think your vote is so meaningless that you won’t bother to exercise it, think again. In fact, think about Ted Cruz. One or two votes might well make a difference in his recall or in his eventual reelection effort. Personally, I don’t want to think any more about Ted Cruz than I have to or about his disgustingly smug enjoyment of the limelight, for he reminds me strongly of another attention seeking, focus stealing, personality impaired imbecile – Senator Joseph McCarthy.
But imagine if you will, a la Rod Serling, the Senate without Ted Cruz. The Senate would be a marginally improved place for his absence. Admittedly, Cruz’s recall or his failure of reelection would not solve all of the problems in Washington, but the Congress would be a marginally better place if he were not a member, would be a marginally smarter place, would be a markedly more civil place. Then imagine how much better Congress might become if a great number of his fellow idiots and imbeciles (you decide who they are; there are so many from which to choose) were removed along with him. That can only happen if each of the Perpetually Angry exercises his or her right to vote.
My warning is this – hang on as well as you can to the anger you feel this morning, for only your anger and mine will see us through to more idiot and imbecile free Congress, once that is sufficiently idiot and imbecile free that it can again function with at least a modicum of success. Anger is one of those emotions that is difficult to sustain, for its existence depletes our energy. Political anger is especially ephemeral, often evaporating in the stew of partisanship by the time of a far distant election. Unfortunately, the next Congressional election – other than that of Corey Booker in New Jersey – is a year and change away. What all of us angry people need to do this morning is to sustain our anger until November 4, 2014. No small task, but we one we can accomplish if we try, if we put our collective backbones into the effort.
The opportunity I offer is to join the ranks of the Perpetually Angry.
Those of us who seek membership in the ranks of the Perpetually Angry will undoubtedly have considerable assistance in sustaining our anger at least through January and February. This is because inherent in the legislation that was passed yesterday is the chance to have the equivalent of a bar room brawl in Congress all over again in January and early February; inherent in the legislation that was passed yesterday is the notion that Congress still reserves its God-given right to act with a full measure of stupidity, still believes it is possible to wield its powers insensibly, still believes that thuggery and extortion are proper means by which to run or control a government. If they felt otherwise, they wouldn’t have set the next deadline so near to this disaster.
So Congress will likely help us in our efforts with another dose of anger-inducing, anger-sustaining stupidity, but even if, through some miracle or other, they don’t, all of us – those of us who are willing to join the ranks of the Perpetually Angry – need to remember how we felt this morning on the morning of November 4, 2014 when we next have a chance to toss out many of the rascals. For on that date, the entire House of Representatives and approximately a third of the Senate will be up for reelection. So our job now – regardless of our political persuasions – is to remember how you feel this morning, remember how disgusted you are with the effects of intransigence, stupidity, inability to compromise, the pandering to big money, the incivility, and the patent stupidity that rules the Halls of Congress. Our job is to find and elect candidates of all persuasions who believe in civility and in the power of listening; who understand that their beliefs, while sincerely held, are not the only beliefs important to this great melting pot of a country; who understand that compromise is the grease of democracy; who will fight fairly for their goals while understanding that God didn’t ordain them or bless them with the only semblance of Truth.
If you have the same feelings about the Presidency, you will have to wait until 2016 to make your point.
I assume most of you are damned angry this morning, most of you are as angry as I am that we’ve put the idiots in charge of the asylum. If you aren’t, shame on you. If you are, join the ranks of the Perpetually Angry and hang on to your anger and hug it to you closely. Think of it as your blanket or your Teddy bear of yore, and hold onto it as tightly as you can for as long as you are able. Hold onto it to assist you in surviving the months of certain stupidity yet to come; hold onto it for the sake of your eventual comfort and sanity.
For if we remember and if we will vote, our anger can make us free.
