Government Is the Problem?

So say the Reaganites, the Anarchists, the Culture Warriors, the Old South, the Ayn Randian Utopians, the Newtonian Amphibians, a lot of taxpayers (especially the wealthiest or wanna-be-ers), etc., etc., etc.

The funny thing is that it is an easy self-fulfilling political philosophy because if you do get a little authority in government, as one supposes, you can prove your thesis by acting incompetently. The last administration is pretty much the prime example. ("Heck of a job, Brownie" and "Mission accomplished" come to mind lest we forget.)

Now, even our current President is buying in at least to the point that he says "Congress is the problem." We'll see how that flies. I still think that he may be trying to restore some of the balance and responsibility to the constitutionally designated branch of government for the budget, taxes, and debt (Article I - the Legislative Branch, people). And of course, those are the people's representatives to the extent they're not bought up by all the corporate people.

Mike Lee Learns He Doesn't Rule the Senate

Yes, our Junior Senator (that's not supposed to be a pejorative, but . . . ), Mayor of the Munchkin City (OK, I'll admit that one), had to learn the hard way that one U.S. Senator just can't make up his own rules and run Senate Office Buildings. This week, he had what he called a "hearing" in the Capitol to have a tea party group announce how they would solve all our economic woes (I think it had something to do with dismantling the government of, by and for the people - especially all the parts that actually help people - except the corporate ones, of course).

Are the President's Successes His Failures?

There was hope among so many that the election of our current president would help move us to a more post-racial, post-partisan nation. That was the promise and even the Hope of that campaign, wasn't it? Something went terribly wrong. Don't get me wrong, I still really like the guy and his political philosophies are so close to the ones that I have independently developed over the years I can't help but like him. The lack of anything but craziness and opposition in the opposition leads nowhere but to Romney, the obvious result as we ask what it is that they really stand for? Because, of course with Romney, it could be anything. But we'll deal more with Romney later.

And we'll put the "easy" issue to the side, at least for a moment. It's basic human nature in American politics that the current president is held responsible for the current situation of the economy. It’s a simple formula. If there is a big boom (unlikely) or even a stronger wind at the back towards a boom (possible), President Obama wins in a landslide. If the slowest recovery in history continues to eke (most likely), he has a chance. If there is a double-dip, even if on European debt or something else outside our borders (hard to tell), he loses and we can only hope and pray that Romney can run the country as well as he did the Olympics.

The Romance of Protest

The Sixties are often a blur to me, difficult to pin point specific dates in my childhood memory. The recent “Occupy” protests have reminded me of a vivid memory of a sunburn in Seattle, that alone would be a memorable event, but it was a tan worn as a badge of some rebellious honor by one of my mom’s former MIA girls.

I remember it without any romantic thought of even pre-adolescent crushes. The romanticism was classic as she appeared at Sacrament meeting one evening after having skipped Sunday School in the morning to attend an anti-war protest at the University of Washington. Just skipping church was an attractive rebellion, and then to have the war protest on top of that!

Emergency! Everybody to Get from Street! Or - "Can't We All Just Get Along?"*

There is common ground between the Tea Party and the Occupy Movement. I first found the following diagram originating here:

Anarchists Occupy and Ron Paul Supporters Come Full Circle

Proving the political continuum is not a line but a circle, the Occupy Wall Street Movement marched through downtown Salt Lake with dispossessed Libertarians. As we watched from the windows of the Federal Building, they were at least smart enough to realize that a branch of the Federal Reserve was across the street and that's where they focused their pass-by march rather than just yelling at us for trying to serve the public. There were over 200 of them which beats out the last tea party tax day protest by a long shot.

Pretty cool design - the whole red revolution-thing going
with the socialist (oops, "industry") beehive