Singer Amy Winehouse died yesterday at the ripe old age of 27 after a short life marked with drug and alcohol abuse and the utter waste of brilliant talent. She was the poster child for everything you can do wrong in life, with her last major appearance in the news being a result of being booed off the stage at a concert at which she was so drunk, stoned, or otherwise incapacitated that she could barely stand, much less sing. My favorite of her songs said it all:
Self-destructive behavior isn't limited to the abuse of drugs and alcohol by celebrities, of course. We can see plenty of it today in Congress, where reckless and irresponsible - dare I say childish - focus on political dogma is driving the nation to the brink of economic disaster. When the entire business community, the major credit rating agencies, the government of China (which, sadly, holds a very vested interest in the outcome) and the great majority of the American people are united in demanding that Congress get its political head out of its backside, it's amazing to see the shameful and self-destructive behavior go on apace. Our elected reprehensives may try to depict themselves as taking a moral and ethical high road, but this is how most of us see them today:
Amy Winehouse is dead, and the real talent she had has died with her.
There may actually be some responsible behavior left in Congress, hidden deep within individuals cowed into submission by unelected and unprincipled ass clowns like Grover Norquist and the hyperpartisans of the far right and the far left, but I've given up on looking for it. So have even calm and level-headed persons like my blogging friend John, who always has a good word for everyone.
Five grandchildren that I love are going to inherit a country that doesn't look anything like the one I proudly served for 23 years in uniform.
If anyone needed to be booed off the stage, it was Congress ... not Amy Winehouse. And I'll be doing plenty of booing in the 2012 elections.
And that's all I have to say for today.
Have a good day. More thoughts tomorrow.
Bilbo
6 comments:
Thanks for the shout-out.
...and I guess I have your nomination for "The Last Remaining Honorable Politician" in Nobody!
Time to re-iterate your motto,"I have seen the truth and it makes no sense."
Good and valid comparison. What puzzles me is that I perceive many very powerful people in and outside of government acting not only against the best interests of the country, but - so it seems to me anyway - against their very own best interests. Don't these folks have investments, own homes, etc.? It's almost as if they are intent on committing economic suicide and want to force the rest of us at gunpoint to joint them.
I think "these folks" feel that they can act against their own best interests (houses, investments, etc.) because they expect (or already know)that they will be taken care of by those who will benefit from these policies. (Those would be the ultra rich and corporations who will be happy to spend a fraction of their vast wealth to give them lucrative "jobs" when they are out of office, but for reasons of their own don't want to help anyone who isn't rich or able to do them favors.)
We live in sad times....
I wish they had a No Award for Congress.
Superman will soon be here to save the day...... right?
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