New Year’s Special

Dr. Jekyll…Mr. Hyde

I am really lost so I decided to write to all of you. I know I said once a week but this is keeping me up at night.  I have a personality disorder. I don’t know who I am. I am hexed, vexed, perplexed. Please help me.

There is this deep divide on who I want to be. Yin and Yang. Republican or Democrat. Liberal or Conservative. Let’s take a few of the burning issues on the horizon this year. Let me tell you both sides.

First and foremost is healthcare. The humanitarian side of me says no one in this great country should be without. We have technology and staff in every major city and burg. If someone is dying or in incredible danger we should reach out our hand, no matter what. Insured or not.

But wait. The sheer numbers make it impossible. We will have a $23 trillion unfunded liability in Medicare alone. Medicine and treatment at its current rate will bankrupt our country. People go out and abuse their bodies in so many ways. Death defying tricks. Overeating. Overdrinking. Overdosing. And then they come to the hospital’s door and say “heal me”. And they can’t or won’t pay. They won’t take positive steps to improve their life. This does not seem right.

Immigration. You sneak in and start raising your family here. You faced destitution and maybe starvation in the old country. You walked across miles of desolation to get here. You work hard. You will do anything. You live in hovels. But it is so much better than where you came from.

But there are people who have been waiting years. They have played by the rules. They are productive under visas. They go through the paces we have set up. They are many times well educated and well financed. They pay their way. They are not a burden on society. They are a plus. But they wait.

My religion tells me to do unto others. Be God fearing. Love one another. But my religion also tells me it is the one true religion. It is the way the truth and the life. It is the only way to heaven. Everyone else is wrong.

Your religion says the Messiah hasn’t come. Or yours says that Muhammed is the true prophet. How about Buddhism? Hinduism? Am I really supposed to tell a good Muslim or Buddhist that he isn’t going to make it? Even though he might be a much better person than me.

Foreign Relations. We are the world’s most powerful country. We are the supercop. We want to proselytize democracy throughout the world. We want to make it a better place for both humanitarian as well as strategic reasons. We spend billions in foreign aid and yet many of those countries despise us or laugh behind our backs.

Maybe we should spend those billions on our homeland? Our roads? Our schools? Our hungry and bereft? Developing technologies. How many countries have furthered their own interests while we are trying to bring peace to the world?

Maybe you have all the answers. Maybe you know how to solve our deficit without raising taxes on anyone and just maintaining even 2008 spending levels. Maybe you can vote in lockstep with the ideological bent of your party without giving a thought to the other side’s position. Here’s to you if you can.

I can’t. I will have to seek a middle ground that may necessitate me compromising  but not necessarily sacrificing my long held principles. I won’t do so in a huff. I won’t glare you down. I will just say that maybe we all have a say. Maybe we are all a little right. Maybe I will just listen.

I guess I will have to learn to live with both the good doctor and Mr. Hyde. Maybe they are both a part of me and deep down a part of all of us. I really can’t go hard left or hard right. It’s just not in me. Can you say with absolute certainty it is in you?

As always

Pondering the Imponderables

Ted  The Great