We stand at the precipice of moronic politics in this country. There was a time in this country when the business of politics was a serious business where only the relatively intelligent need apply. But the Foxification of the media in America has led to an infiltration of the truly incompetent into the public discourse and national dialogue. Because now, all a candidate has to do is trot themselves onto Fox News and pretend to be viable. As long as party lines and canned talking points are reiterated, the issue becomes one of likability instead of essence; style over substance. As the Foxygen became inhaled on a national level, we saw the rise of the truly inept George W. Bush to the office of President of these United States of America. The inability to correctly pronounce words got spun as being "folksy." The inability to form coherent sentences became akin to being "one of us." Instead of polls asking about the seriousness of the candidates, it became about which one you would rather have a beer with.
While Bush may have started the downhill slalom to idiocy it only gave birth to new levels of stupidity within the body politic. We were treated to a Vice Presidential candidate who clearly did not read, at all. Not only was comprehension a problem but because Fox exists for the sole purpose of giving credit to those whom it is not due, all of the behaviors, gaffes, and indications that Sarah Palin was woefully unintelligent were whitewashed with the "mavericky" brush. Since then we have seen candidates who had previously admitted to being a witch to one who believed there were decapitated corpses lining the Mexican border. But while these are the extreme examples the true result of these being tolerated and encouraged is that the borderline dimwitted appears somehow acceptable.
I present to you exhibit A -- the Tea Party and their incessant clamor for a Balanced Budget Amendment. The main idea being that at all times the Federal Government must have a budget that is balanced so in theory it cannot spend more than it takes in. Sounds great in principle but the reality is quite different. To support this childlike idea, the chief talking point has been that since families have to live in a budget, so should their government. This of course overlooks two major flaws in the logic. First, the average family does not actually live within a budget either. The average American family has over $14,000 in credit card debt. Now you can argue that this is not a good thing and I would agree but to pretend it doesn't occur is silly. The larger flaw in the logic however is that a government that services 310 million people has a tad bit more responsibility than a family of four. Families generally do not have to worry about natural disasters, wars, or building national infrastructure. A nation such as America does. The entire premise falls off the table of reasonableness. It is an infantile comparison, designed to make people feel self-righteous about how their government spends "their" money. But there are plenty of new Congresscritters who have drunk the Tea and gone all in on this ridiculous notion of a balanced budget amendment. Not because they believe it in theory but because they see it as a way of achieving their dream of eliminating all governmental functions. But they of course cannot say that.
I present to you exhibit B -- Eric Cantor. Congressman Cantor represents the 7th District in Virginia. During the recent debt ceiling debacle, he was the one you could spot by his only using the word "no." To him there is never a good enough reason to tax a rich person and never a good enough reason for the federal government to provide services to poor people. With the threat of Hurricane Irene bearing down on the Eastern seaboard, Cantor was asked about his insistence that all new spending should be offset with cuts. His insensitive and uncaring answer was that if the Governor of Virginia asked for federal aid, Cantor would insist that it be offset somewhere else in the federal budget. Of course this is not his worst moment of heartlessness. While touring the damage to his own district from this week's earthquake, Cantor offered this gem, " Obviously, the problem is that people in Virginia don't have earthquake insurance. " Yes Eric, you hit the nail right on the head, or through the head of those you claim to represent. You see earthquakes are not covered in the United States under homeowner or business insurance policies. You have to purchase that separately. Virginia, as all areas east of the Mississippi do not experience earthquakes with any regularity compared to the west of the country. So to Eric Cantor, the problem is not that the Federal Government shouldn't be hamstrung in helping the citizens of his own district. It's that they should have purchased earthquake insurance, during the worst economy of their lives, when they have never experienced an earthquake such as this in their lifetime. Thank you Congressman Sensitivity. But beyond the stupid talking points and inhumane posturing, I have faith that a higher power is watching.
I present to you exhibit C -- God! As a man of faith, I find it quite interesting that amidst all of this inane talk about a national government needing to balance their budget like a housewife, that we have seen two extreme events in one week. Two events that scream national level involvement. First we have an earthquake hit the eastern seaboard; a rare enough occurrence. The result is that the state needs the federal government to provide aid, as is their proper role. A role that the average housewife never has to worry about. But if that is not enough, we now are staring at the worst hurricane to bear down on the east coast in some time. Hurricane warnings are in effect from the Carolinas all the way up to Maine. The resulting devastation will certainly require the federal government to step in and assist, as is again their proper role. When you are left staring at what used to be your home, I wonder how much zeal there will be to "keep the government out of our lives."
Now, can I know that this is a true act of God? Of course not. But the truly interesting thing is that the epicenter of the earthquake was in Eric Cantor's 7th Congressional District in Virginia and it appears that Hurricane Irene is going to head straight for that district as well. Just saying. If next week there is a plague of locusts descending upon Northern Virginia...well just don't say I didn't warn ya. Balance that Eric.
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