The National Bell is Tolling

If you've been troubled by dizzy spells and blinding headaches you've probably been watching congressional debates on the Stimulus bill and enduring the partisan spin about why Republicans opposed it. You may also suffer from trance-like wonder at politically-inspired rewrites of history and media antics that pass for humor in some quarters.

Self-righteous claims by Republicans that Democrats are fiscally irresponsible are downright laughable. On Washington Journal, 2/10/09, Senator Tom Coburn of Oklahoma said Democrats were asking American taxpayers to "spend money we don't have on things we don't need". But haven't we been spending money we didn't have to carry on a war we didn't need to fight and re-building infrastructure in Iraq while our own crumbles? Never mind, Coburn said he prays for the president every day.

And in that wonderful way their party has of inventing fanciful distractions, Minority Leader McConnell suggested we were seeing the "Europeanization of America". Horrors, must be that Socialism thing. Citing a bunch of arcane figures regarding the percentage of government spending to GDP he also claimed government outlays have caused an upswing in that ratio, while his colleague Senator Ensign reflected on the dangers of inflation even as the country founders in a deflationary spiral. Their objective apparently is to include every possible angle that might support their opposition to the legislation.

One feature of their rationale is that The New Deal failed to end the Depression although it significantly reduced unemployment and created landmark programs. Conservatives maintain that government is poorly equipped to run what the private sector can handle more efficiently - - market forces and all that. But private enterprise couldn't stave off this recession. And today's corporate leaders have no sense of loyalty to their employees, which is why, when subscribers have questions about their credit cards, they find themselves talking to someone in India. On the other hand, questions about government-run programs like Medicare and Social Security are handled by people in this country who provide prompt, expert information and guidance. Remarkable isn't it?

The Republican Party rejects those who dare depart from strict observance of its most conservative agenda. The "Newsmax" organization, for example, accuses Senators Collins, Snowe and Specter, who voted for the Recovery plan, of betraying "the basic principles of the Republican Party, including a fiscally sound government" But Republicans, having held power for the past eight years and having done the bidding of a Republican president can hardly claim meritorious service. Their reliance on "the market", de-regulation and a spate of ill-advised spending, have left the country near ruin.

But the economy isn't the only pressing matter before the president. The detainee issue, two wars, Middle-East peace and nuclear proliferation are just a few of the challenges he must address. Given the serious nature of our times it is troubling that many politicians continue to devise self-serving, partisan schemes no matter how destructive to the political process. And humor has taken a turn for the twisted.

For the sake of a cheap joke Bill O'Reilly and Dennis Miller laughed themselves silly recently over their mock proposal to create a theme park called "Waterboard World" with Miller suggesting that pouring water into someone's nose would reduce the amount of CO2 emitted into the atmosphere and could be ‘sold' as "greenboarding", laughing off both a form of torture and environmental concerns. The best thing about realizing such a concept would be the opportunity to say to O'Reilly and Miller: "You go first."

Were Fox News devotees laughing along with these unfortunate relics or did even loyal fans turn away in disgust? Something seems to have gone missing in terms of the way we as a people respond to one another. Those who have spent their money wisely, paid their mortgages and worked hard, for example, often feel they are being punished for the bad behavior of others and don't relate to their suffering. Neither do they understand that many people have been overtaken by circumstances not of their own making and that we are all inter-connected, part of the human condition.

It's time to enter into a bargain with our country-men and women and help each other and our leaders find a way past our national distress. As poet John Donne put it so many years ago, "...send not to know for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for thee".