The Angry Citizen

"Believe me, lords, my tender years can tell Civil dissension is a viperous worm that gnaws the bowels of the commonwealth." ~William Shakespeare

Several years ago, my husband and I watched an episode of Everybody Loves Raymond that was called "The Angry Family". What was so hysterical about that particular show was that all of the family members in the Barone clan had gathered at an open house where son, Michael, reads from the colored booklet he’d done for school, about an angry family, with a yelling mom and arguing grandparents. The camera pans to each member of the family as shock and mortification register on their faces. Each believe that this young child is telling the entire audience what their family is like behind closed doors. Days later, all gather in the priest’s office for consultation, and each defend themselves against the allegation. They didn’t know why Debra and Ray’s child had told, through that assignment, what they thought his honest depiction of them all was. They were both troubled and embarrassed, while trying to explain where the young boy’s perception could have possibly come from, because, after all, WE knew that his accounting was spot on with regard to the Barone family dynamics. After a grueling session, the Barone’s return home, with a ton of parenting books in tow, only to discover that The Angry Family wasn’t about them at all but was a cartoon show that Michael watched, thought was funny, and wanted to share with everyone.
Cut to my point: I’m watching our Congress NOT conduct the business of this country in a fashion of fair play and compromise, and I find nothing funny or enjoyable about it! I’ve become a very angry citizen, much like I was when George W. Bush was president and no one could get along then either! Honest to God, and I mean that imploringly, what is it going to take for these bozos and yahoos to get their acts together and get something productive done?
I don’t care who said what! I don’t care, at this point, who did what because it’s done! You can’t put spilt milk back inside the bottle! All that’s left to do is clean up the mess. There’s no sense in continuing to cry about it! Get over it, already! We’ve got some serious problems that began 10 years ago in this country. TEN years. And, the name game and the blame game continues a decade later. It’s maddening; it’s frustrating; and, it’s ridiculous that grown men and women cannot seem to rise above partisan, rhetorical bullsh^t, roll up their sleeves and get to work trying to fix the seemingly cataclysmic problems that we face and what they were put in D. C. to resolve. We are wading through a deep river of do-do, and, I don’t know about you, but, quite frankly, I’m fed up with the stench emanating from Washington! It’s crap! It’s a BIG, load of crap!
I was telling my husband the other day that these congressional officers, in my opinion, need to be taken out to the woodshed. I don’t know where you’re from, but in the south, that’s not a place you want to go, because you know it’s going to involve a little @$$ whippin’ and a lot of funny walkin’ for the next day or so to the one being taken to the woodshed! Just the threat of it, in these parts, can make a big, ole boy tremble in his boots! Now, I’m not one who normally encourages or supports @$$ whippin’, but in this case, I’m willing to make an exception! I’m not talking about a flimsy little leather belt either. I’m talking about the paddle that was used in the principal’s office back in the day when corporal punishment was still a permissible tool of keeping unruly, troublemakers on the straight and narrow. [At least from 8:30 am - 2:30 pm] The lack of discipline in this country is sorely absent and that extends from our too-in-debt citizens to our too-overweight society. But, I digress....back to the paddle.
It was about two feet long and a half an inch thick, and one swat from that thing would straighten your butt right up, for a good, long time, I might add. Mr. Soulis, the Assistant Headmaster of my school, delivered that swat with a precision that made your eyes widen as a tear formed and the reality check that had just been delivered, settled in, while the slight burn began to roam over your hind parts. It was a painful reminder, later that evening, when you tried to sit down too. Still, the "smart" from that earlier disciplinarian measure lingered as it reminded you that you’d better straighten up and fly right, because some things weren’t going to be tolerated! You may be wondering how I’m such an authority on this subject? Let’s just say that I’ve been on the receiving end of Mr. Soulis’ attitude adjusters, and it was so good for me the first and only time I experienced it [a story for another day], that I never EVER saw him in that context again! Heck, I’d pay for Mr. Soulis to go to Washington right now, if I truly thought it would do any good. Sadly, I don’t think a swat on the bum would phase these yahoos. Maybe if we all bought a can of "Whoop @$$" and headed to Washington, these morons would give pause to what they were and weren’t doing, and start singing a different tune! [Forgive me God for name-calling. At this point, I cannot help myself.] Also, in my defense, if it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck...
I don’t understand why they don’t understand the magnitude or seriousness of this situation? If they do, they certainly don’t act like it or seem to care. Perhaps, if they saw themselves through OUR eyes, they’d have a lightbulb moment of what jerks they’re ALL being! I watch the news every night with this large warning sign of numbers counting down how many days, hours and minutes we have until the "Great American Shut-down" takes place, potentially, for the second time in less than 20 years. What’s wrong with this picture? HOW have they let things get this far and WHY do we continue to let them? Surely, there must be some recourse WE have? Isn’t there? This is AMERICA! Don’t we as a people have some way of stopping this madness before elections? I mean, most regular Joe’s and Jo Anne’s don’t get a four year, carte blanche work opportunity, before they’ve got to worry about their job again. Most Americans who fail to do the job they were hired to do are out on their duffs pretty quick because they’re sub-standard performance is losing their employer time and money. Am I right? Somebody?...Anybody?...Thoughts?
Here are mine: as a child, I was taught never to play with fire because I might get burned. Worse, I could burn the entire house down with me in it! The other thing I was taught to do, no matter how long it took or how much sacrifice I had to make, was to pay my debts! After all, I incurred them, and it was my responsibility to take care of them. It wasn’t okay for me to steal from my friend’s piggy bank [Social Security and Medicare] !! It wasn’t okay for me to even CONSIDER doing that! You don’t get to rob Peter to pay Paul, and, if you do, you go to jail - you go directly to jail. You don’t get to cross "Go" or collect $200. Period. No discussion.
At one time, not that long ago, we were the greatest country in the world! We were the super powers of SUPERPOWERS! It’s not un-patriotic to say now that it’s seriously falling short of that description. Our country took a major hit to its image, not only for us who live here but in the eyes of the world, last week after Standard & Poor’s revised its outlook on the triple-A rating it had previously given us regarding debt from being stable to teetering on negative. If Barron’s follows suit....well, I don’t even want to go there, because I try to be an optimist no matter what the situation! Still, Congress is paying Russian Roulette in this cat and mouse game of non-compromise and dug-in gridlock. The stability and welfare of our country and our people is what is at stake here NOT their clout on the hill or their potential re-election odds! They need to remember that as they gamble with our future and our reputation!
I don’t know what it’s going to take for all these hard-heads to straighten up and fly right, but I’m sure one entity will fare well throughout all of this: Advil. I’d bet my bottom dollar that their stock has soared given how many of us have been gobbling up their product to alleviate the constant headache that pounds between our temples, as we continue to listen to the foolishness and inexcusable excuses that are coming out of Washington!
I’m a proud American! I believe in this country! I know it’s great! I was thinking about all of these things last night: the ups and downs this country has seen; the achievements we’ve gained in our, in the overall scheme of things, brief time as a country; the beauty, grace and resilience of our people! My lack of faith is with the people who are running this country, sadly–regrettably, into the ground!
I made a video last night of the America that I believe in and the ideals for which she stands. I didn’t make them up. My parents taught them to me, and their parents before them and so on and so forth. How many generations will there be beyond us to teach it to? I honestly don’t know, but, sometimes more lately than not, it feels like it’s disappearing, and slipping from our grasp. I hope these lawmakers remember one, simple concept: comes a time when you reach a point of no return. This isn’t a game of chicken, and I don’t care who blinks first but someone needs to. I guarantee you that the one who does will be seen as the bigger and better one for doing so. I hope and pray that the time when our country is viewed as a default nation; no longer a worthy adversary or ally and no longer anything desirous for people to want to run to, is no where in sight, but the distance between those realities and us keeps getting shorter and smaller.
"The good Lord willin’ and the creek don’t rise," [as we say in the south] this will all be a Tums moment, and nothing more. [They’re probably doing alright too, now that I think about it!]
That’s my point: I don’t just want 2% of us to do well – have no worries regarding the roof over our heads, the food in our stomachs, the shirts on our backs and the prescription bottles in our medicine chests OR our ability to be able to pay for them! I want everyone to do well! I want our leaders to work in a spirit of cooperation to take care of business! I want our country to be the envy of ALL the world again, but, you see, that’s just the way I was raised: with the TRUE American spirit not this "I’ve got mine you get yours" or "Do unto them BEFORE they do unto you!" mentality. That’s not the American way, at least not the way I was raised.
I think I’m going to go take two Advil and roll up my pant-legs, because it seems like "wading time" is what we’re going to be doing for awhile. [Another thing I was raised to do: be prepared and it's always better to be safe than sorry...] In the meantime, God help us! I may not "call in" in the morning, but until I check back, peace out and a fervent prayer that all turns out NOT to be what it seems!

Written by Jhill Perran
July 18, 2011
 http://youtu.be/lIdX2SQJTHY [America video/song of the same name by Phil Driscoll]