As the Year of Our Lord 2012 winds down the country's rush to insanity seems at full throttle. Rationality is in fact so increasingly rare that at some point we'll have to declare it an endangered species.
A quick glance at today's newspapers and net dispatches confirms that we are our own worst enemy and the sum of our fears.
Gleeful gun shop owners are pointing with pride to empty shelves in their stores as weapons of mass murder fly out of their doors at record rates. The sales of high capacity ammunition clips have gone through the roof also as the paranoid among us gather up all the armament they can before the government attempts to clamp down on such weaponry. The current philosophy seems to be, if you can't kill a whole bunch of people at once, why own a gun at all?
Out in Phoenix, the self described "toughest sheriff in America" and part time birther conspiracy buff, Joe Arpaio claims he will have armed volunteer posse members standing guard at Maricopa County schools within a week. It is reported his volunteers must go through a background check and 100 hours of training. Hopefully the background checks will be a little more in depth than the ones that allowed James Holmes and Seung-Hui Cho to load up on assault type weapons. Holmes, of course, is the Aurora, Colorado theater murderer and Seung-Hui is the guy who ran amok at Virginia Tech. Newtown, Connecticut killer, Adam Lanza didn't have time for his background check when he tried to buy a weapon a few days before the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre. His need for speed led him to employ the weapons his mother trained him how to use at local gun ranges. As we all know, he, tragically, learned his stuff well.
In Chicago today police recorded the 500th homicide of the year. As awful as that is, it still isn't the record for the Windy City. In 2008 there were 512 murders. Meanwhile in New York City, eight year old Natasha Brunson received a teddy bear gift set through a local charity. Along with the stuffed animals was a hand gun deposited there by a person unknown. Well that is the next step isn't it? Arm the kids and let the little shits defend themselves for God's sake.
Down in Washington D.C. the nation is careening toward the fiscal cliff mainly because republican speaker of the house, John Boehner has absolutely no influence on the members of his own party. The GOP sold its soul to the Tea Party crowd and now they realize what they've bought into. The only thing remotely similar is in pre World War II Germany when there were actually politicians who thought the Nazis were needed to face down the communists, but could be controlled. Boehner's own plan "B" which would have never been accepted by the president in the first place, was considered too liberal by his chock ful 'o nuts wing and never even went to a vote. Now we are at the last hour and the brakes on this big old bus have just failed.
The fact is the Tea Party members of congress hate the government they are supposed to be helping to lead. They also loathe the president for a couple of reasons and one of them has nothing to do with his politics. In an online issue of The Slate, outgoing republican congressman Steve LaTourette of Ohio talks about the Red State Bloggers and how any attempt to compromise with the democrats causes mass hysteria and accusations that you're a RINO, or republican in name only.
Well you have to do what you have to do. So when we do go sailing over the edge and taxes go up for everybody and budget cuts rip every one's program to shreds, most notably the military's, we'll see who the public blames. All indications, considering the election results in November, lead most to believe the Tea Party republicans are going to take a real hit, as well they should.
Finally, NASA scientists have assured the populace that Asteroid AG5, a 450 foot wide chunk of rock, will miss the earth in 2040. This is no doubt disappointing news to the Apocalypse, Please crowd. They were all ready in a funk because the end of the Mayan calender didn't cause the world to go upside down. They'll just have to wait for another prophet, or comet, or zombie scare to rile up the masses and The History Channel,
As for me I could have cared less about AG5. If I make it to 2040 I will be the most shocked human being on the face of the planet. Indeed, 90 years of age seems a bit out of my reach considering the life style. So if you make it there yourself, you're on your own.
Another long weekend looms.
Keep the faith and remember the words from a largely unwatched movie: If you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything.
sic vita est
12-28-12
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