The Bigger They Are...

Here's what allows me to keep going, to feel that there is some hope.

Let me stipulate that I don't agree with every last thing that the Democrats stand for nor, equally, do I disagree with all of the basic tenets of the Republican Party.

But of one thing I am very sure. I am not that fond of Republicans...as people...fundamentally...in their bones...behind the alligator logos and the pancake makeup.

Democrats can be tedious...full of boring bull about hairy legs, Birkenstocks and tofu. They can tire me out quicker than a rap song on the radio.

And I have to admit that most of the Republicans that I have known, and I have known a few, preppy that I am, have been fun to be with and most of the women have been babes. Drunks, mind you, but babes nonetheless.

George Bush is always touted as the sort of guy you'd like to have a beer with. You don't like his politics, you say, but you'd crack open a cold one with him any ol' time.

I went to school with guys like Bush. Rich men's sons who never earned a thing they had and always got special treatment because their father or grandfather had just endowed a chair or a building or a scholarship. Nauseating fellows who were always at the head of the line, not because they deserved it but because they had cut in or their place had been saved by their chauffer. "Fortunate Sons" as John Fogerty said.

The thing that irks me about Republicans is their smug self-righteous ego-centricity. What's good for them is all that matters. Screw the rest of us. "I've got mine. Now go to hell...!"

I believe in personal responsibility. Small government is a good idea...in principle. But we need government to care for us when we can't and to protect us, not just from missiles and bombs but from bad food, disease and, most of all, ourselves.

But the Republicans go too far. They push for legislation that benefits only a handful of the population...a handful that doesn't really need the help...while the rest of us are combing the landfill for something to eat.

Democrats think that the government should be in all of our business, from food safety and education (good) to seatbelts and helmets (bad.) Protect me from salmonella...please...but if I want to ride a motorcycle without protection...so be it.

And spare me the nonsense about the fact that we, as a society, pay for the recklessness of others. Smoking, head trauma, fetal alcohol syndrome. All of it. Why not let people be responsible for their own choices? If I want to take the risk I should bear the burden. Why should the population be made to pay for my mistakes (can anyone say AIG...?) Wanna dance? Pay the piper! No health care for people who are sick or injured because they are STUPID!!!

That's Republicanism at its' finest. But where they go off the rails is in their unbridled selfishness and penchant for unfair play.

That's where we need government oversight...e.g....Democrats.

So what's the point here, already?

The Republicans are strutting now becasue they have regained control of the House. They are going to cut spending. They are going to rein in government and remove it from the backs of the taxpayers.

The only problem is that the burden will land squarely on those among us who can least afford to shoulder the weight.

But they (the Republicans) will inevitably pay the ultimate price. They will posture and bellow and eventually the voters will rise up and throw them out again...

But not until after the next general election.

Things will improve in 2012.

That's when Sarah Palin and Glenn Beck will be in The White House and everything will be okee dokey, hunky dory, sugar and spice and everything nice.

That's when we'll have front row seats at the demise of The Republic.

Moose chips anyone?