Kakistocracy. Sounds pretty interesting - bet it has something to do with governing, like democracy. It does; it means "rule by the worst". I sometimes think that's what we have here in the USA. Lest you think I am going to pick solely on the Bush Administration, let me start off with Congress, at times a prime example of a kakistocracy.
Today, January 31, 2007, the House of Representatives voted to extend the Federal government's funding through September 30, 2007. The Senate, "The World's Greatest Deliberative Body", has yet to act. Maybe they will the week of February 12. So we still do not have a budget for FY 2007, which started October 1, 2006. Congress didn't get around to funding the government with a FY 2007 budget before the elections, save for the Departments of Defense and Homeland Security, so our elected representatives have used something called a "continuing resolution" to keep the government running at the same funding levels for FY 2006. But the FY 2007 budget still needs to be passed, and so Congress will tackle that next week.
Yesterday was Dick "Last Throes" Cheney's birthday. At some sort of function he made the comment that to withdraw from Iraq would show that "the American people don't have the stomach for a fight." As usual, the Dickster got it wrong. What the American people don't have the stomach for is an incompetent administration that misled the country into a needless war, and then mismanaged that war for almost 4 years under an arrogant Secretary of Defense, Ronnie Dumsfeld. That same administration gave short shrift to the real war on terror in Afghanistan to invade Iraq searching for nonexistent WMDs ("It's a slam dunk!"). And have we caught the man whose organization was responsible for 9/11? Now we have a "New Way Forward" from the same people who gave us "Mission Accomplished", "Stay the Course", and "Plan for Victory". Duhhhh, Dick....feckless, incompetent, duplicitous leaders - that's what we do not have the stomach for.
How about a little levity? It originally came to me from a friend, Barney Popkin, but it dealt with Israeli government officials and not American ones. You can substitute your own government officials if you like - it's the ultimate universal joke.
Did you hear about the monster traffic jam in Washington, DC? I mean it was really gridlocked - more so than usual. A guy in his car is fuming when someone bangs on his window. He rolls down his window and asks, "What's wrong?" The guy on the street is out of breath, but stammers, "Terrorists have kidnapped the President, Vice President, Secretary of State, and the leaders of Congress. They are demanding a $200,000,000 ransom, or else they will douse them with gasoline and set them afire on the White House lawn. We are taking up a collection." "Oh my God!" says the motorist. "About how much are people giving?" The man in the street replies: "About a gallon each."
And still more humor....
Q: Why was Dick Cheney a lousy ice hockey player? A: Because he always blew the face-off.
"Those who have not learned the lessons of history are destined to repeat its mistakes." -- George Santayana
Comments