THE CURMUDGEON CHRONICLE - #225

THE CURMUDGEON CHRONICLE ©

AN IRREVERENT VIEW


Time Line: December 13, 2007
Date Line: Flemington New Jersey

The year is limping to a close. After a last look at the damaged humans and their habitat, with a shrug of its December, 2007 will lumber into history. I don’t know your take on the past 12 months, but I found little to commend them.

Here at home, we found that the limits of the administrations misdeeds had no limits. We learned that if you perjure yourself for the Vice-President; are convicted and sentenced pursuant to jury verdict, you get your sentence commuted by the President. If you try to protect the borders and shoot a Mexican drug dealer in the course of a chase, all the congressmen, senator’s and king’s horses won’t get you out of jail because your President says, “A jury found them guilty”

Can we forget the veto of stem cell research? That milestone on the path to scientific leadership fell to the bulldozer of ignorance disguised in sanctimony as “religion”. Can we forget the wonder of inexpensive toys from China, only slightly poisonous to our children? Can we indeed forget that China made Mattel apologize and take the blame for the harm done?

We might forget the Chinese part of the equation but I can never forgive corporate America for having sold out our birthright.

The year also saw an increase in business propaganda alleging that
…. Outsourcing was good for America
…. We had the most productive workforce in the world and were the
largest manufacturing economy
…. That our labor force is uneducated and stupid in the sciences
…. That our children can’t read English
…. That there are jobs Americans won’t do
…. That open borders are good for the US and it doesn’t matter if our
own citizens are under-employed.
No editorial comment is needed. The Chronicle addressed each bit of nonsense during the course of the year.

We will not deal with the issues of torture, cronyism, warmongering and the like. We promised not to write about sub-prime debt. However, I did watch our Congress in action (on TV) last night and it is worth a comment.

Our profligate President vetoed a bi-partisan measure to provide access to health care for children above the poverty level, but unable to afford coverage. Congress can override the veto and last night the measure was on the table. A quorum was not present;

Impassioned pleas for passage and counterpleas for “considered negotiation” took up four hours. At the end of the period, Speaker Pelosi called for a voice vote, extending the period for the measure to be considered. She declared that the Ayes” (Democrats) had it. A Texas Congressman raised a point of order, saying that there was not a quorum.

Pelosi agreed, and Stamer left to get a stiff drink.

Who knows Virginia; maybe The Santa Claus will bring us a good President. Americans are mostly nice and the naughties among them got their turn up to now. If Santa does well by us in the leadership area, I will never question his existence again and will always have the vodka and caviar ready for his midnight snack,

If that doesn’t move the old bugger, then he really is just a myth.

Howard Stamer