No Forwarding Address

I found this week's Republican response to the President's weekly address especially amusing, albeit not in a pleasant way. Arkansas Representative (and soon to be Senator) Tom Cotton observed that the many blessings [a select group of] Americans have in their lives, including those of a material nature, were not the result of their own individual hard work but rather granted to them by an outside entity. I seem to recall the President getting a lot of flak from Republicans when he made a similar comment about business owners a few years back. Now, I know the outside entity to which Representative Cotton was referring was [insert your preferred term for a higher power here], but it's still an example of the Republican Party's rank hypocrisy where the President is concerned. When the President suggests that a "job creator" (to use the fashionable term) owes their success in part to earthly factors, it's un-American. However, when a Republican suggests that said success can be attributed to the blessings of [insert your preferred term for a higher power here], well it's time to break out the apple pie that your mom made. On an individual level, I know there are a great many thoroughly decent - and, yes, truly Christian - Republicans, but the GOP as an entity is a steaming turd of vile hatred that needs to be fired into the deepest darkest reaches of outer space as a warning to extraterrestrials to leave our planet alone until we can evolve into something less hateful.

Liberty Without Responsibility Is Still Tyranny

While I hope that enough sensible voters in states with Senate races show up to keep the Senate out of GOP control, I concede that's unlikely. What's more likely is that, even if they gain control, they won't accomplish anything of substance.

For the avoidance of doubt, this won't be because of obstructionist tactics by the new minority party or even Presidential vetoes but rather because today's GOP collectively has no real interest in making government work. They're not even really a party so much as a family gathering where a small group that's had a bit too much to drink is making it hard for the ones who, despite long-held conflicts, know they really should help to get dinner on the table. Don't get me wrong, the Democratic Party has more than its share of feckless cowards (some of whom are probably lousy cooks) in the Senate, but I'll take them over the likes of Ed Gillespie and Mitch McConnell any day. 

Of course, ultimately it won't make much difference because of a more pervasive problem, one even worse than no-compromise "patriots" who don't understand that the Constitution they venerate was itself the product of compromise. It's the sad truth that most of us are so hung up on our rights that we neglect to consider the responsibilities that accompany them. JFK said it most eloquently, "ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country." Until that question is top of mind for all, America will remain the world's greatest example of wasted potential.