Dancin' With Them That Brung You

With the nomination of John McCain as their candidate, the Republican voters gave voice to their growing discontent with the party as it today. They were tired of the lies (great and small), mismanagement and arrogance of the sitting President. But with little to no party support, Mr. McCain rode that wave all the way to the convention.

And, still, the party hasn’t listened. Instead of hearing the discontent that will most likely leave their opposition in control of the House, Senate and presidency, it pushed McCain as far to the right as it could without him toppling over. It created an older, though infinitely more well-spoken, version of the current tenant at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.

(My cats are more well-spoken than GWB, by the way. And I never have to wonder what their agenda is.)

What are they thinking? That with a mismanaged war in Iraq that didn’t need to happen in the first place, a neglected war in Afghanistan that needed to happen but has gone off the radar and an economy in such shambles that no one can say with any degree of certainty that the $700 billion bail-out package will have any effect on the under-lying credit crisis people would be lining up to vote for more? That minute differences between the candidate and the incumbent would put just enough lip-stick on failed policies to make them look demure and not like whores?

Not that I mind the implications. I haven’t seen a good thing come out of the Republican party in my life time, so I don’t mind if they dig their own graves. I just wonder whose pockets are deep enough to lead an entire party down the road of political suicide. It’s either deep pockets or that they really are as un-intelligent, un-informed and out of touch as they seem.

So, on the off chance that any of them stumble across this, here’s a reality check: I’ve lost 20-25% of my 401(k), which is invested in what were stable mutual funds, in the past 3 months; my health insurance costs $7,200 a year, ¼ of which I pay, so a $2,500 tax credit would barely cover my current cost if I had to pay for all of it; my rent is going up $55/month, but my income hasn’t; everything costs more than it did a year ago. I’m on the losing end of this equation.

I know I’m not alone. I work hard, don’t take on debt that I can’t service, and give money to worthy causes as I’m able. I don’t have a mortgage that’s in default because I can’t afford a mortgage. I’m doing better than any number of other citizens.

And yet I’m being asked to allow companies to continue to operate irresponsibly even as I help bail them out.

I don’t see corporate greed and a lack of oversight as a worthy cause, and yet, in one way or another, I’m going to be making non-deductible contributions to the charity not-of-my-choice.

Any party that chooses to forcibly sculpt a W, Jr. out of what used to be a fundamentally decent man and then run him as a palpable candidate is hopelessly out of touch.

They’ve made a deal with the devil. Now they’re going have to dance with him.