Cynicism Requires Less Work

I don’t know if I’m onto something here, or it’s just the mood I’m in, but it seems to me that we Americans are spending a lot of time whining about the help.

I’m talking about the people who work for us, the Federal Government.

Ever since the late 60s, this same cycle has kept revolving. The Republicans get in office. They cut back on domestic programs, cut back on safety regulations for our food, our medication and our environment, and give the rich a tax cut.

Somewhere in the middle of the regime, we discover once again, that no, these folks aren’t the fiscally responsible stewards they claim to be, that in fact, they’ve been writing government checks to their buddies in business, without any tangible return on their investments.

Don’t misunderstand. There have been many corrupt Democrats as well. But when they’re caught, Democrats don’t say, “Everybody does it,” or “Politicians are all bad,” or “You’re mistaken. I just have a wide stance.”

When they’re caught, Democrats invariably say, “Yes. But look what we’ve accomplished for the people of this country.” Even a Democratic con man has voted to ease the burden on the middle class, tried to help the poor, and taken a legitimate shot at slowing the rate at which we foul our environment.

But we get tired of all the effort Democratic administrations demand of us, and get tired from thinking that we each have to work harder, and we end up voting for the Republicans again, who say, “Aren’t you tired? Well, here’s good news! Relax! It’s the government’s fault! We’re going to cut taxes and you’re all going to be rich! Rich, I tell you!!!”

And a few of their friends do get a whole lot richer.

When Republican politicians are caught, Republican theorists say, “You see? You can’t trust the government.”

And we, the people, just eat that up like ice cream. Yep, that’s it. You can’t trust the government. It’s the darn help. You can’t get any good help anymore.

The government, that’s the problem with this country. Good. That’s settled. Now, where’s the remote?

What a load of nonsense.

The way we complain, you’d think that each one of us, in our daily lives, is pure as the driven snow. That insurance sellers, lawyers, teachers, CEOs, taxi drivers, and athletes never lie procrastinate, mislead, or make errors of judgment. Sure-- only politicians do.

More to the point, we’ve been ruled, since 2001, by an administration that is uninterested in the realities of our daily lives. They’ve never faced bad news straight on. Sure, many previous administrations have tried to blame others, or tried to explain the circumstances that made them screw up, or even said that the bad news is being misinterpreted by the media.

But these clowns don’t even acknowledge the information that they’ve created a huge debt, that they’ve sold a lot of that debt overseas, that the working class is living a nightmare because of outsourcing

The Army isn’t liberal, trust me. Neither are the Marines. The CIA isn’t out on the streets begging us to vote for Dennis Kucinich. Chuck Hagel isn’t going to be joining union workers on the picket line anytime soon.

Neither are the hundreds and hundreds of other responsible and dependable officials who have risked their careers, just to let us know that this administration won’t even accept the fact that there’s a problem, even when those problems are weighing down on the working families that just want to earn an income, raise a family, and maybe do a little better than the previous generation.

The question remains, are we going to simply respond by saying “Well, what are you gonna do, politicians are ruining everything, pass the chips”? Or, are we, in the final analysis, going to shed our calloused façades, and do what Americans have always done, down through the centuries: suck it up, and again try to work together to improve this country that we love, government and all.