We have 72 hours left. In three short days, life as
we have known it in this country will be forever altered, our pursuit of
happiness imperiled for years to come. The very foundation of our republic is
about to be shaken. The eyes of the world are upon us, financial centers from
London to Seoul, from Istanbul to Montreal are watching, waiting for a miracle.
Children in all 50 states prepare to eat their last
meal. Senior citizens are saying their goodbyes in nursing homes from Seattle
to Saratoga. 700,000 Americans wait anxiously for their pink slips. Aircraft
carriers prepare to drop anchor, mid-mission in the perilous waters of the Mediterranean.
For want of fuel, our fighter pilots await their orders to stand down.
Scientists in research labs all over the fruited plain, on the cusp of
discovery, anguish over seeing their work destroyed. The end of our grand
experiment in Democracy is upon us. We are ruined not by invading armies of
totalitarian barbarians, not by the ravages of nature and nature’s God. No, we
meet our end because of a word that will forever live in infamy…SEQUESTRATION.
Who is to blame for this sorry state of affairs?
Does it really matter? These hideous, devastating, egregious, slashing, wanton,
extreme, massive, brutal spending cuts are sadly a bipartisan effort. The very
thought of forcing a government that in more sane circumstances spends 10
billion dollars a day, (3 billion of which is borrowed from the Chinese), to
suddenly get by on a mere 9.76 billion a day is, of course, a national outrage.
The carnage done to our way of life by this draconian 2.3% spending meat
cleaver is so much sadder because it could have been so easily avoided if only
our leaders were worthy of the moment. If only someone in government could have
just stood up and said, “An 84 billion dollar spending cut is going to visit
all of this destruction upon us? Hell, why don’t we just eliminate the
Department of Transportation? Their entire budget is 84 billion, and what in
God’s name do they do?”
Alas, for want of a nail, the shoe was lost. To all
my fellow citizens out there, Godspeed, and I’ll see you on the other side,
March the first.
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