Sunday, July 23, 2006

Townser Luvs Him Some I.R.S.


My children were battling for supremacy of the cul-de-sac this afternoon as I struggled to digest the Sunday Times. Between random blood lettings and fratricide I happened upon a wonderful little story buried in the depths of section A. It seems that a bunch of auditors at the IRS were about to lose their jobs. Like many of you, my first reaction was good riddance, but then I realized these were not just any auditors, these were the people that had the assignment of auditing the richest of the rich, in particular those guilty of possible tax evasion with regard to mishandling large estates. I looked to the heavens and thought when will this shit ever end. Realizing this was a futile act; I then looked at my Mom (as I am a proud dweller of her basement) and said, “When is this shit ever going to end? When are people going to realize that this country is being run by a bunch of crooked morons whose only interest is in padding their pockets and the pockets of their closest friends?” The word ‘shit’ is a little too blue for my Mother, so I did not want to shock her anymore with anything harsher than moron. Anyway, I realized that act was not going to get me anywhere, so after chaining my kids back in the closet, I retired to the basement to vent. Here I sit. Obviously, this act is not going to get me anywhere either, but it feels so much better than swearing to my dear old Mum.

My basic beef is still with us, the American people. We are idiots, we have been sold a big steaming pile of shit (the conservative platform) yet we keep coming back for more. Here in the Heartland we have many of what I like to call the wanna-be cons. These are the people who make 80k a year, but spend 90k. These are the people who believe that they fall into that magic 5% that are benefiting from this disastrous administration. In their minds, they are the rich bluebloods down at the country club knocking back gin fizzes with the Walkers and the Bushes when in fact they are much closer to snorting meth with Cletus and all the little Cletii down at the Double Wide C.C. These people do not understand that they are truly not benefiting from these tax breaks, they are not benefiting from rampant Government spending with little or no control. Massive deficits, be damned. Who cares about the future, live in the now. Sadly, I learned that lesson (see exhibit A: pissed off ex-wife, failed business, lost $$$$). We need to be accountable for our actions, we need to live and consume responsibly, we need to pay our fair share of taxes, and sadly, we need government oversight. I never thought I would believe this, but even government oversight in the form of IRS auditors.

Tuesday, July 04, 2006

GWOT of Babel


It is July 4th and I am angry. I am angry about many things. I am angry about decisions that I have made, I am angry about things I have said and done, I am angry about things I have not said and done, but most of all I am angry at us, the feeble sheep that compose the US electorate. It was G.K. Chesterton that wrote:

Beware of men and of movements that speak the language of
Babel. Regardless of whether they are Communists or Fascists, Universalists or Deists, Socialists or Capitalists, Alchemists or Templars, Liberals or Conservatives: beware of their New World Order; beware of their Peace In Our Time; beware of their Fraternal Harmony; beware of their Novus Ordo Saeculorum. It is merely part and parcel of that same Tower of Babel impulse which God cursed so long ago. It is merely a new sprig from the primordial root of humanism: man seizing his own destiny and making a name for himself in the annals of history.

We have fallen prey to just such men, and just such movements. As the voting public we should be ashamed. We should be ashamed of our irresponsible actions in electing Herr W not once but twice. We should be ashamed of our imperialist actions, we should be ashamed of our dwindling liberties, and we should be ashamed of our complacent media. Frankly, we should be ashamed of what we have become. We fashion ourselves as intelligent beings that care about the ‘little guy’ and only seek to create peace and harmony. In reality, we are thugs. We have little desire to help the downtrodden. We have little desire to help the suffering. We care only about the size of our paychecks, the size of our homes, and the size of our cars. Should we be surprised that other nations see us as a bigger threat to their safety than Iran or North Korea? Probably not.

Simply put, we are never going to eradicate evil in this world; we are never going to spread peace. I won’t even get into the hypocrisy of the whole peace through bigger armaments debate. By design, this country was not meant to have imperialistic leanings yet in the past 6 plus years we have attempted to undo 200 years of history. We have erased scads of goodwill and turned allies into near-enemies. How much more are we going to take?