Don't look now, but...
- It's been a full three weeks since the U.S. House of Representatives went out of business for lack of a Speaker.
But, my life hasn't changed one bit.
The politicians and the media are revved up like a rat stuck in a coffee can. But there's still plenty of toilet paper on the shelves at Walmart, the kids are still in school, and nobody's calling us villains if we don't get an experimental vaccine.
Could it be that the fast talkers in Washington aren't our essential source of life-giving oxygen, as some would have us believe?
The main problem with the Republicans being unable to elect a Speaker, we are told, is that they are temporarily unable to send more money – 30 cents of it usually borrowed for every dollar we actually have – to every Tom, Dick and Harry Country with its hand out. And we're already $33 trillion in debt.
Suddenly, a House without a Speaker doesn't look so bad. This is gridlock on steroids, and I think we should enjoy this brief time out in the profligacy.
- We're supposed to be worried sick that without a Speaker, we can't give $100 million to the people of Gaza, where money tends to end up in the hands of Hamas savages who sever the heads of babies. I'd say that might be one place to cut back. Wouldn't you? I don't believe we sent humanitarian aid to Germany during World War II, on the promise that Hitler wouldn't spend it on Zyklon B.
I don't lose sleep over government shutdowns, and so far I see life without a Speaker of the House as kind of refreshing.
- My wife – who believes that $33 trillion in debt calls for drastic action - and I disagree on Big Haired Matt Gaetz, the Florida congressman who touched off this whole life without a Speaker imbroglio. In the interest of connubial bliss (don't tell her I wrote this), I don't mention Gaetz much, other than to say he came to Wyoming to tell us to vote against Liz Cheney, when we'd already figured that out without the help of a big-haired blowhard from Florida.
When it comes to Gaetz, the editorial page of the Wall Street Journal said it best:
“What kind of an idiot mutineer takes over the man-of-war, tosses the captain overboard, and then spends two weeks pulling ropes at random, hoping like hell that the thing will somehow drift ashore before the supplies run out?”
What they said.
- The main problem with life without a Speaker of the House is that Democrats are making fun of us, saying we couldn't organize a two-car funeral procession, and they're probably right. (Watching House Republicans this year is like watching the Denver Broncos.)
The real threat is that they use this to regain control of the House in 2024, and open the mindless spending gates even wider than they are today. Then, $40 trillion in debt, here we come.
Someone needs to knock eight heads, or 20 heads, or 25 heads (the number keeps going up) together to make the point that we've all had to work with people we don't like from time to time, but we were adult enough to keep the main goal in mind. In this case the goal is not turning the House back over to Queen Nancy and the Big Spenders. (Sounds like a rock group, doesn't it?)
- With the unbelievable savagery we saw two weeks ago in Israel, and the pro-terrorist demonstrations in many cities, and, shockingly, on many of our college campuses, do you think President Biden has reconsidered his belief that white supremacy and climate change are the top threats to our country?
Don't bet on it.
Do you think a few nutty idiots spouting crazy notions compares to a southern border that lets drugs and 8 million illegal aliens pour in?
I don't know anyone who thinks he's superior because of the color of his skin. Do you?
- And lastly, some good news.
According to Gallup, while 56 percent of respondents view Republicans unfavorably, 58 percent view Democrats unfavorably.
We're a full two percentage points less repulsive than Democrats.
Woo Hoo.
Dave Simpson can be reached at: DaveSimpson145@hotmail.com
