Surrounded by The Fog

Sometimes, I think the world has become more surreal in the US and more real in other countries. Like we are surrounded by a ring of fog.

It's like we are in a fishbowl, being observed by the entire world and we are oblivious to what the world is clearly seeing.

We just had the most bizarre elections of our history. An election that follows 8 years of the US stumbling, falling from grace and alienating almost every nation and offending our allies. The world was watching as our economy, which used to be the most powerful in the world, lost power, nose-dived, taking all economies down with it.

In the middle of this nose-dive, we changed pilots. The world was cheering us on as we elected a man the world believes will redeem us. Obvious to the world, as it should be to us, the failed policies of 'trickle down' and corruption, are fail.

I think the rest of the world thought we, as a nation, had come to our senses and would now help this pilot, who is trying with all his might, to pull this nation out of the most certain crash landing.

I sense the other nations of the world have just taken a step back, and sucked in a disbelieving gasp as our elected officials, instead of pulling together, are battling in the cockpit, trying to get more tax breaks for their wealthy influential corporate friends. Failing at that, to obstruct for the sake of obstruction, the work of saving our economy, as if it were mere sport and points scored for stalling the home team, are awarded.

Greed, corruption, ineptness, insanity all, brought us to this steep decline. There are those who want to get one more big score before the party is over. Despite millions of jobs vaporizing, homes being vacated, the economy swirling the porcelain bowl, the circus that is our government, seems morally, ethically and mentally disconnected from the dangers of their actions, or their inactions.

Obstructionists acting as if they are somehow immune to the consequences or accountability for what has happened and for that which will surely follow, heed only the most extreme voices in their ego wounded world.

A world apart from other nations. A world surrounded by fog, unable to connect the dots of their previous wrong thinking to the disastrous outcome we now find crippling our nation. In the fog of their world, the rules are different, and lessons need not be learned. Failures become other people's problems. Where lies and twisted logic, spin and fiction substitute for reality. On that plane of existence, everyday is a circus and cartoons come to life.

Elected officials grovel for forgiveness at the feet of Rush Limbaugh, who has become the defacto deity of the GOP. As if the surreal insanity of putting Sarah Palin up as the running mate of John McCain was not enough idiocy, the GOP now seeks to redefine itself in the comic book trinity of Limbaugh, Palin and Joe the Plumber. ( A drug addict, a babbling beauty queen and a tax dodger walk into a bar...nevermind)

That unholy trio, who just this past week or two, realized we are in an economic disaster, and have taken the most bizarre actions to thwart any recovery:

• Denounce the current president as being the cause of it
• Demand even more tax breaks, -- their last grab greed.
• Rail on about how this spending is running our future into debt. Suddenly they are against debt?
  

The world watches as an angry, vicious minority, holds our nation hostage. Demanding tax breaks for the wealthiest if allowed for the middle class. Make it proportional. It's only fair. You and I get a thousand dollars, and the Bill Gates of the country get $20-30 million.

One Congressman, a Republican who proudly did the fat man's bidding, and voted against the stimulus package, Rep. Don Manzullo, (R-Illinois) said that his idea was to "give everyone a $5,000 voucher." They could all go and buy "a good Jeep Patriot with that.".. Get another 25% discount, and then only have payments of $300 a month or so. That's what we need to get our economy running. See: http://gapersblock.com/mechanics/2009/01/30/best-recession-money-can-buy/

The world is watching as our economy, losing altitude, is screaming towards the river, and morons like that are fighting for control? There are no life rafts, no jackets those were gifted to the baffoons of Wall Street. We go under, we drown. You may want to kiss your ass goodbye, or use it as a floatation device...

And the lot of them, smiling and proud that they offered nothing (Republicans said that they had better ideas that they plan to roll out in a few months...) but posed for pictures, smiling much the same way a hunter poses with his kill.

I see the US, having become so ethnocentric that we are somehow unaware of how the world outside of our borders views us. The world danced and rejoiced when Obama was elected. When was the last time our election carried so much import to the world? When were other nations happy FOR US?

The world, having been torn apart by the ineptness, and corruption of the past eight years, was happy for US! As if some suspense novel had a new chapter and we might be able to save ourselves.

And now, the world, a helpless audience, staring into the ring of fog that surrounds our nation. A zoo of insanity, greed, and stupidity, snarls and tears as the better half of us tries to save all of us, abides within. The lesser portion strives to bring us down, like some sort of kill trophy, to lay at the feet of their deity, for the approval of the trinity of Limbaugh, Palin and Joe The Plumber.

We have no idea how much peril we are in. The world is watching. It must seem like a poorly written horror movie, where you know the crazed killer is behind the curtain, and no matter how much you scream at the TV, the girl is going to open that curtain...and be slaughtered. Just as you think help is on the way, they take a wrong turn... and the plot drags on.

I imagine the world is peering into that ring of fog that surrounds us, screaming at us to not listen to the Cartoon Trinity, and to not open that curtain, and to not lose our way before we can save ourselves. I imagine they feel helpless as they watch the once most powerful nation in the world, politically implode with tantrums and insanity.

They thought that us electing a brilliant, well-spoken man as our president was all that was needed for us to save ourselves. They now realize that almost half of our family is crazy, stupid, and greedy, and one man cannot do it all.

Because of the fog, we may not have a real clear picture of where we are as a nation, and in this world. But if we could see what the world sees we would see that we, as a nation, are in a state of emergency. The economy is crashing and the dust cloud is sweeping the nation. Some public servants are running into the building to save us, and others are trying to trip them on the stairs.