I don't believe it either

I don’t believe it either.

The children are at it again. You can hear the bickering every time they get together - some might call them little brats.

I remember the last time it happened. It seems like only minutes ago. Jerry came running in bawling about Johnny. He sobbed, “Johnny won’t let me have the ball. He took it away from me.”

And right behind him came Johnny. “I’ll let him have the ball if he’ll play dodge ball,” Johnny said. “Besides that he grabbed it out of Mary’s hands andwouldn’t give it back to her.”

That rang a bell. Mary had come in a few minutes earlier. “That’s not what she said,” I replied. “She said it was you who wouldn’t give it back and Jerry took it away from you and was going to give it back to her and you grabbed it back.”

Moments later the shouts of outdoor fun filled the house. Sound familiar?

The children in Washington are at it again. It’s the Democrats' fault. It’s the Republicans' fault. It’s the President’s fault. They want this. No, it’s they who wantthat. It’s the rich people’s fault. No, it’s the poor people’s fault. And on and on and on ad nauseam.

I wonder. Is there any answer? It’s nothing new; it’s like a bunch of kids playing. It’s been the norm as long as a bunch of professional politicians have been running things. Not a statesman/stateswoman (politically correct, you know) in the bunch!

There is a problem. No doubt about it. We/they just keep spending what they/we ain’t got. And we/ they want more of what we/they want and daggum, we/they are gonna get it. One way or another. We’ll figure out how to pay for it later or just let somebody else pay for it.

What’s the problem? It’s called greed. From the top layer down. Greed, that for the various reasons that inflict us as a specie, when we have something we want to keep it and get more and more and more. Of course, it’s better if we can be convinced it’s free.

And so we’re frustrated and mad, and disgusted and mad, and uncertain and mad, and afraid and mad. And just plain mad. It goes on and on and on.

Those whom we have entrusted to chart our nation’s course have put off the day for paying, or reckoning, far too long. But aren’t they operating just like we as individuals, or families, when we overextend? Like when we buy a Corvette when we should be driving a used Camero? Reckoning can be a quite painful experience.

We are an over-regulated, over-taxed, over-dependent, over-indulgent mass of people. Collectively, we just don’t have the guts toadmit it. And those “children” in Washington surely don’t.

But is it all their fault? Aren’t “they” a product of our creation? Aren’t they doing and giving just what we as a people expect? And demand? They hear our wants and respond with promises, promises, promises. And when they are elected, or re-elected, they just have to deliver. Don’t they?

If we were in their shoes, would we do the same?

Theoretically, aren’t we are a nation of laws; not of men? Do we have too many laws? Would it hurt to back up a little and revamp the thousands of pages of our tax code? Should we put a hold on that unread mess we call Obamacare? Could we at least cut back on the wish-list mentality that evolves from so many lawswhich often begin so innocently but which grow into monstrous bureaucracies?

Isn’t it time for our politicians and leaders to revert to real statesmanship and for our citizenry to return to the real family structure and those values that made us great?

That cliff we’ve been hearing so much about, or more accurately a hole that we’re warned about falling into, will probably be temporarily overcome, but in time another cliff or hole with appear. But there are mountains to climb - and dodge ball to play - if we will all help our nation become the fun-filled playground it used to be.

Dodie Evans is contributing editor of the Westside Eagle Observer. He can be reached at [email protected].