Read Michael Tomasky’s editorial, The Republicans’ Moment of Truth, on the Republican Party in the face of the so-called “fiscal cliff:”
The only thing the Republicans are ready to play, as usual, is roulette, with the cocked gun against the country’s temple, unfortunately, and not their own. It’s worth taking a moment in this context to consider: Never have the priorities for survival and success of a major party’s Washington politicians been so utterly at odds with the priorities required for the country’s survival and success. These Washington Republicans represent the one-third of the country that hates government, despises Obama, and considers obstruction victory.
The rational two-thirds wants compromise, good-faith bargaining, higher taxes on the wealthy, a reasonably strong safety net, and lower defense spending. But the obstructionist one-third wants the opposite. McConnell and Boehner aren’t ideologically committed to that one-third in the way that Jim DeMint and Paul Ryan are, but so far, they have never once stood up to it for the country’s sake. We’ll find out this weekend who they really are.
A Celebration of Reading 
your added link r.e. the beast hasn’t informed me of much… america is the largest debtor in the world and yet the most affluent – lending, as it does, to others on a massive scale… living in sin with one’s flexible friend is all good and well (i.e. being in debt via the old credit card mentality is all very niiiiiiiiiice) but doesn’t solve the live fast die young attitude that america seems to have in its dealings with the rest of the globe – who have seen enough and suffered enough to know that such political shenanigans cause more woe than assuage in the long run….
if we look askance (world war two for instance) america lending out to allow other nations to arm themselves… after which, assessing the global situation as it stood, siding with the allies to reap the benefits of a still-traumatised europe, ourselves – over here – only now having paid of the debt from both world war one and two – it beggers belief that the u.s. and its economic play mates should ask that other nations tighten their belts to aid in an american debt crisis of their own making…
it is quite telling that someone so young (as i was) had weighed up the world as it was/as it still is and come to the conclusion that reading up or engaging with these infantile situations that present themselves are worthless interactions – due to the fact that nothing changes etc… the powers that be are the same powers that be who we were whinging about all those generations ago… war is illogical and bringing the world and its inhabitants to its/their knees is pointless and equally unrational/irrational – when we think of all the wonderous utopian achievements we could… well… have achieved by now… i can’t be arsed anymore (i.e. i can’t be bothered with these troubles…) the children will always be children waving their guns and flashing their phallic bolsterings about etc…the playthings of outside forces (as society now seems to be) is not even a strategic presentiment… all the misery and charitable good works – another bug bear any “red” with any sense will be able to see through easily enough – are programmed into the system now… are forseeable and allowed to occur thus making it a credible society- it simulates all that worry and strife that we once encountered without prior warning… o, i don’t know when… when was it that the last person encountered a real personable emotion???????????????
as i say, i can’t be arsed. i’ll leave it to the grand folk of the mass media and politics to work this one out… like they ever have tried… we are, after all, working towards a day when there is no news to report….
n.b. as you will no doubt realise the west is very much in debt to a global situation it has helped create over the past few decades i.e. middle eastern conflicts… where’s all that oil that we were promised??????
regards
jonathan
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I THOUGHT HE BALKED FROM, LEMMING LIKE, THROWING YOUR COUNTRY’S FISCAL CONCERNS OVER THE METAPHORICAL CLIFF…? MIKE; YOU READ LIKE A PURPOSEFUL JELLO BIAFRA – INQUISITIVE TO A TEE R.E. THE WORLD’S ILLS ETC…
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