Republican Selective Memory

I've mentioned before that I'm a registered Republican but in essence a small "r" republican. What I mean by small "r" republican is that I retain faith in the US Constitution and the wisdom (and intellect) of America's founding fathers. You know . . . guys like Madison, Hamilton, Franklin, Jefferson, et al. For quite a few years now, I've pretty much had it with both the Republican and Democrat parties. And at this point, I consider myself to be a political independent. I would love to vote for a serious third-party candidate, however the two controlling political parties have such a financial hold (via lobbyists, etc.) on our political system that a viable third-party candidate (that has a chance of winning) doesn't seem to be on the horizon.
I am sick and tired of the political idealogue's "my party is better than your party" nonsense. Blind adherence to political ideaology and dogma is not helpful to the nation. Indeed, the economic mess that America is now mired in is a result of actions (or inactions) on the part of both Republicans and Democrats. With that said, however, George Bush was in the White House for eight years and for you dyed-in-the-wool Republicans, out there, to beat up on President Obama's policies at this very early stage in his presidency is ridiculous. When the Republican Party alienates guys like me, then the party has a major problem. It's going to take an awful lot of work for the Republican party to recover from the disaster that it inflicted upon itself and the nation.

In theory, I prefer the "free market system" and capitalism over socialism. But the reality is that the "free-market" capitalists apparently can't be trusted to do the right thing. Does anyone doubt that assertion in light of recent events? Yes! I know that the government can't be trusted to do the right thing either! So where does that leave the average American? Mr. and Mrs. America: you need to turn off American idol and the like, get up off your collective butt, and start educating yourselves in regard to the state of your nation. Things are not going to get any better until you start taking an active role in your government and in your community. . . . .

"IT'S A GOOD JOB TO LOSE!"

YES! It's a good job to lose! Seems like I've heard that statement before . . . . The quote is from John Irving's book, Until I Find You. I Googled the quote, and what I came up with was a bunch of stuff about people losing their jobs and I've yet to find a mention of the quote within the context of Irving's book. You'd think that a quote from a best-selling author, that sold millions of books no less, would pop up on the first page of a Google search. That it didn't, is indeed a sign of the times and an ominous portent. The more that I read and hear about what the big-wigs in the banking and financial industries have done (or not done) with the American taxpayer's "bail-out" money, the angrier I get. The arrogance on the part of American CEOs and corporations, in general, is an outrage! And I'm now starting to apply that old 60s term, PIGS, in reference to not only the CEOs, but to the entire hierarchy of the American corporate world.
The merchant has no country . . . and if the present-day American corporate hierarchy continues acting like PIGS they will, in fact, have no country and no one to sell their shit-on-a-stick to . . . .