AND THE BAND PLAYS ON

We had dinner the other night with good friends from Ohio whom we have known for years who spend their winters here on Sanibel Island. Both are lovely people and a delight to be around---except when politics rears its head and the guy insists on climbing on his soapbox and espousing his ultra-conservative causes. Out of deference to being a good host and having a pleasant evening, I bite my lip and say as little as possible.


Last year we had dinner together in a restaurant the four of us enjoy and everything was going along swimmingly until he brought politics into the conversation and asserted that George W. Bush would go down in history as one of our greatest Presidents. Choking on my mouthful of food, I swallowed and, without thinking, purely reflexively, blurted, "Oh. shit, George (phony name), I can't believe you said that!" He looked absolutely shocked at my reply. His wife quickly and tactfully changed the subject after a brief heated exchange.


Then, at the dinner the other night, he commented how "tacky" he thought the President's Tucson speech was. I bit my lip but did say I disagreed and that part of a President's responsibilities is to be the Great Comforter at times of national stress. I cited that a good Republican who really started this trend was Ronald Reagan---remember his great speech after the Challenger disaster in 1986--- and that George W. tried to do the same after 9/11. His is the kind of mindset that would wholeheartedly support Satan if he ran on the G.O.P. ticket. Oh, I know there are Democrats just as staunchly loyal to their party as my friend---it's not just a Republican phenomenon. The band keeps playing louder, not better.


But right now we are seeing the worst kind of obstructionism demonstrated by the G.O.P. The "symbolic" repeal of Obamacare in the House of Representatives is an example. I concede, the Healthcare law is flawed and needs revision, but form a commission to study and make recommendations to fix the flaws. Then there is that little matter of unemployment---of jobs, jobs, jobs. Why is the first order of business cutting all programs to slash 3.5 trillion from the budget? I don't say we don't need to cut programs and be fiscally responsible, but the first order of business must be, on a bipartisan basis, to seek remedies for unemployment and to encourage economic growth. The Obama administration has definitely made moves to reach out to the business world and to move to the right and seek reconciliation with the G.O.P., but the tea party elements want war, not solutions.

Have we heard this song before?