CRANKY IN THE MIDDLE - Issue 6

CRANKY IN THE MIDDLE: OBSERVATIONS FROM ST. JOHN, KANSAS
Volume 1 - Issue 6 - September 29, 2006

WOSSAMOTTA U?
When I was a kid, and even as a teenager, I was a huge fan of Rocky and Bullwinkle……….I never missed an episode. It was a very politically savvy cartoon and tied in well with the times at hand, mainly the cold war. (I do miss the cold war….at least you knew where you stood and you knew who the enemy was.) You had your good guys……Rocket J. Squirrel, Bullwinkle J. Moose, Dudley Do-Right and the ever so sweet Nell. Then there were the bad guys……….Snidely Whiplash, Boris Badenov, Natasha Fatale, Mr. Big and Fearless Leader.
Week after week the good guys always beat the bad guys……..and there was always that cliffhanger at the end of each episode.
Sometimes I think of today’s political climate (a really bad cartoon) and what goes on, or doesn’t go on in Washington D.C. in the context of Rocky and Bullwinkle. The bad guys are easy……..Rove is Snidely Whiplash, Rumsfeld is Boris Badenov, Condi is Natasha Fatale, Cheney is Mr. Big and of course, Bush is Fearless Leader. Finding the counterparts to the good guys is a little tougher………(and at this point I would feel better if Bullwinkle was president anyway.) I’m just waiting to see who will try to inspire us as a nation, get us on the right track and fill the shoes of those brave and true blue friends from Frostbite Falls Minnesota.

“We are not afraid to entrust the American people with unpleasant facts, foreign ideas, alien philosophies and competitive values. For a nation that is afraid to let its people judge the truth and falsehood in an open market is a nation that is afraid of its people.”
--- John F. Kennedy

“Artificial Intelligence is no match for natural stupidity.”
--- Author Unknown

“In my many years I have come to a conclusion that one useless man is a shame, two is a law firm and three or more is a congress.”
--- John Adams

“Truth is not only violated by falsehood; it may be equally outraged by silence.”
--- Henri Frederic Amiel

“To announce that there must be no criticism of the president, or that we are to stand by the president, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public.” (1918)
--- Theodore Roosevelt

I’M A CITIZEN, HOW ABOUT MY CONCERNS?
If it looks by the quotes this week there is a theme here…….well I guess there is. Free speech, free thought, free to do whatever suits your fancy…….as long as it hurts no one and is legal. You’ve got Bush going ballistic over the fact that the NIE secret report leaked BY the government stated U.S. military actions in Iraq have made the terrorists stronger; and the so called great compromise on the torture bill that just passed……(more like a whitewash), congress bans torture, but Bush gets to define torture……..? First Mr. President, let me remind you, that the government you accuse of leaking that secret report….is YOUR government, the one that YOU have created. You want to blame somebody for leaking …..then blame yourself. Secondly Mr. President, I don’t think that anybody with the emotional maturity of a 16 year old boy has any business defining much of anything, let alone torture. Folks……….. this is your government on hormones! (My apologies to all 16 year old boys.)
The mood in this country is dismal, to say the least. That’s your fault Mr. President. You are expected to set the tone and the mood of this nation’s psyche, that’s part of your job. What do we get instead? An administration that does not tolerate even the slightest hint of dissatisfaction from its citizens and his constant carping on how he’s right and EVERYBODY else is wrong. It is disheartening and depressing……and reminds me of high school.
I am expected, as a citizen, to obey the laws, and I should be able to expect, hell I should demand, my government and this president to stay within the boundaries of power that the constitution gives them. And NO, you can’t just go changing the constitution because you don’t like the color of the paper it’s written on. I wonder if they understand “what’s good for the goose is good for the gander”?

“Restriction of free thought and free speech is the most dangerous of all subversions. It is the one un-American act that could most easily defeat us.”
--- William O. Douglas ---

IN REMEMBERANCE
This issue is dedicated to my Mom, who enjoyed my little newsletter. She was an ardent reader and was part inspiration for my endeavors……..who often reminded me… “to go get ’em”. Thanks Mom.