This article belongs to In Search of Laughs! column.
Warren G. Harding originated the phrase: " founding fathers" in the
1920's. Maybe these revered fountains of wisdom, who molded our
country, wanted the wheels of our government to grind slowly, if only
to minimize knee-jerk mistakes!
We, the middlin' people, (as
Ben Franklin described our average citizens) have a system of checks
and balances in place, as protection from overly passionate
legislation. If an idea for a law is so radical as to not garner
sufficient support, that idea shall not become law! That's why most
Americans just love gridlock!
If The Senate and House of
Representatives cannot agree amongst themselves, it just may be a good
thing! This infighting may force citizens to act as a father figure and
threaten our legislators / kids! " Don't make me stop this car! "
Have
you ever been to Washington D.C.? Even the people who were hired to lay
out our capital city couldn't move things along. What is it with the
weird driving and traffic circles? This very city, and atmosphere,
creates gridlock It is as though the whole American psyche is
historically and internally hardwired with gridlock!
There's an
old joke: How can you tell if The President is lying? His lips are
moving! The Congressional and Judicial equivalents are: How can you
tell when it's good for all the Americans? It's when Congress and The
Court AREN'T in session! The truth is: I'd prefer all those politicians
at home, out of session. If not, then I'd prefer that they were chewing
on each other, rather than on us middlin' people!
Face it, even
with a triple majority; The Republicans just can't get anything done.
This is a blessing for some and a religious curse for others.
Conservatives, in bulk, have trouble working together. That's spooky!
Imagine if all the neo-cons up and designed an airplane. It couldn't
ever fly, because it would only have right wings!
We should be
aware that we have historical precedents where gridlock actually helped
Americans to avoid certain nutty laws being enacted. Hindsight makes it
easy to see now, how wrong-wrong, bad wrong some laws would have been.
In 1914, there was a constitutional amendment making divorce illegal! (Can you imagine that today?)
In 1916, there was a constitutional amendment (never enacted) that all
acts of war be put to a national vote. Anyone who voted to go to war-
had to join The Army! ("First, I voted for it…then I voted against
it!")
In 1938, there was a constitutional amendment (never
enacted) forbidding Drunkenness, anywhere, in all of America! (This law
could've stopped Hooter's very existence) In a democratic republic like
ours, political gridlock can't stop stupid laws, or even stop stupid
lawmakers, but it can help slow them down… just a little bit! God bless
those little checks and balances!
Some citizens watch the
cockfight going on in politics, and then belly up to place a wager on
one side of an issue or the other. Others just like to watch them fight.
1920's. Maybe these revered fountains of wisdom, who molded our
country, wanted the wheels of our government to grind slowly, if only
to minimize knee-jerk mistakes!
We, the middlin' people, (as
Ben Franklin described our average citizens) have a system of checks
and balances in place, as protection from overly passionate
legislation. If an idea for a law is so radical as to not garner
sufficient support, that idea shall not become law! That's why most
Americans just love gridlock!
If The Senate and House of
Representatives cannot agree amongst themselves, it just may be a good
thing! This infighting may force citizens to act as a father figure and
threaten our legislators / kids! " Don't make me stop this car! "
Have
you ever been to Washington D.C.? Even the people who were hired to lay
out our capital city couldn't move things along. What is it with the
weird driving and traffic circles? This very city, and atmosphere,
creates gridlock It is as though the whole American psyche is
historically and internally hardwired with gridlock!
There's an
old joke: How can you tell if The President is lying? His lips are
moving! The Congressional and Judicial equivalents are: How can you
tell when it's good for all the Americans? It's when Congress and The
Court AREN'T in session! The truth is: I'd prefer all those politicians
at home, out of session. If not, then I'd prefer that they were chewing
on each other, rather than on us middlin' people!
Face it, even
with a triple majority; The Republicans just can't get anything done.
This is a blessing for some and a religious curse for others.
Conservatives, in bulk, have trouble working together. That's spooky!
Imagine if all the neo-cons up and designed an airplane. It couldn't
ever fly, because it would only have right wings!
We should be
aware that we have historical precedents where gridlock actually helped
Americans to avoid certain nutty laws being enacted. Hindsight makes it
easy to see now, how wrong-wrong, bad wrong some laws would have been.
In 1914, there was a constitutional amendment making divorce illegal! (Can you imagine that today?)
In 1916, there was a constitutional amendment (never enacted) that all
acts of war be put to a national vote. Anyone who voted to go to war-
had to join The Army! ("First, I voted for it…then I voted against
it!")
In 1938, there was a constitutional amendment (never
enacted) forbidding Drunkenness, anywhere, in all of America! (This law
could've stopped Hooter's very existence) In a democratic republic like
ours, political gridlock can't stop stupid laws, or even stop stupid
lawmakers, but it can help slow them down… just a little bit! God bless
those little checks and balances!
Some citizens watch the
cockfight going on in politics, and then belly up to place a wager on
one side of an issue or the other. Others just like to watch them fight.
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