The layman definition of insanity is doing the same thing repeatedly while expecting different results.
That mentality, incidentally, also appears to be the cornerstone of Republican politics. We have seen it many times before: start a war or two, give tax cuts to the rich, and expect the national debt to decrease. If at first you don’t succeed…
In a recent tweet, Senator John McCain said he was “ready to sit down to do what’s right for the American people.” No, he’s not drafting a letter of resignation; he wants to “start over” the health care reform. Senator McCain’s suggestion is proof that the Republicans truly have more great ideas regarding health care reform than you can shake a teabag at.
Didn’t we just spend an entire year hashing and rehashing the disaster that is the American health care system? Were we not treated to hours of news broadcasts about village idiots in 18th century garments, gathering together to yell about socialism, Nazis, and other topics completely unrelated to the health care debate?
Did we even have a debate?
President Obama has stated that he’s eager to reach a bipartisan understanding, but is not interested in starting the reform debate over from scratch.
When John McCain was running for President in 2008, and Barack Obama announced his desire to rebuild the American health care system, McCain was quick to point out that the Republicans, too, had ideas for health care reform. Now, after a year of reform debates, it seems evident that the primary “idea” they have is to oppose whatever the Democrats are suggesting.
I can see why the concept of starting over from the beginning would seem logical to Senator McCain. For one thing, he gets hired elected for six years at a time. What’s another year to him to piss away on going over the same arguments for the umpteenth time? It would also be tremendously convenient for the GOP to still have the teabagger movement be in full steam when the elections roll around this fall. I can already envision the Republican campaign ads, declaring that it’s “your last chance to stop this insane health reform.”
A successful health care rehaul would simultaneously be the best thing to happen to this country in a long time, and the worst thing to happen to the GOP. I’m not surprised that they would be eager to put the train back at the station.
{ 0 comments }
Mika Salakka is a Finn living in the United States. He is a nursing assistant, a creative writer, a devoted husband, and an observer of the human condition. His interests range from music and literature to psychology, sociology, medicine, technology, and spirituality.
Was It Something I Said?
February 13, 2010
in Commentary
I’m sure there are few things more boring than reading a blogger write about blogging (unless you’re a blogger yourself), but here goes anyway.
A couple of weeks ago I noticed that a blogger whose blog I like to blog – err, read – had added me to his blogroll. A blogroll is, as you may well know, a list of other blogs that a blogger reads and recommends to others. So this guy, who is a terrific writer and satirist, added me to his list. I was surprised, and flattered, since my blog is hardly the sizzling hub of the universe.
Yet, about a week ago, I noticed he had removed me from the list.
I don’t touch my blogroll very often. I usually add blogs to it when the mood hits me, but other than that, I rarely mess with it. It’s not an all-inclusive list of blogs I visit, anyway. It’s just a few names dropped for others to perhaps check out. So blogs tend to stay on that list for quite a while.
I was baffled as to why my site made such a short-lived appearance on his blogroll. This vexed me terribly. I sought an answer by meditating, hiking the Appalachian Trail, and consulting Tibetan monks, yet the reason for my dismissal was too elusive.
As cold sweat lined the wrinkles on my forehead, and creatures from the beyond visited my mind in the quiet of the night, I pondered this question: was it something I said?
I tend to speak my mind. I speak it, I change it, and then I speak it again. It would not greatly surprise me if I ruffled some feathers in the process, especially with some of my political opinions. I also don’t refer to unbecoming words by their first letters – I simply do not see the point. Perhaps it can be too much for some people. In fact, I’m sure it is.
When someone adds us to their blogroll, or friends’ list, or contacts, we don’t very often wonder why. I guess it’s self-explanatory: who wouldn’t want to know us? However, being removed from a list of 800 friends on Facebook can still feel like a slap in the face. Before the Internet, before social networking, if you wanted to not associate with a person any longer, you simply stopped calling them, or writing them, and stopped answering their calls or letters. You no longer popped in for a visit, and if you bumped into them on the street, Saturday was never “good for you” – neither was any other day.
Nowadays, rejection is much more proactive. Relationship statuses change from “married” to “it’s complicated,” and then “divorced” or “single.” Perhaps the reason it’s such a personal affront is because it’s so obviously impersonal. It’s not just between you and them; the whole world becomes privy to that change of status.
Successful bloggers, who have been keeping a blog for a long time, have accumulated subscribers, some of which may have become contacts, or even friends. I would imagine that such success would grant one with at least some confidence. A sense of security; the knowledge that even if one person removes you from his or her virtual life, there are others who still want what you provide.
For a writer, I think, who has not garnered such a following and success, there is a degree of danger in allowing oneself to believe that one is not one’s only audience.
Tagged as: blogging, Internet, Society, Writing
{ 0 comments }