A strange day in paradise. Maybe we are truly settling back into Denver after five years of residence. Many of you are of course wondering when Kathy and I are going to move next. No way. There is a wonderful home town feel here. We love it.

I made homemade ice cream today and our neighbors are coming over for a cookout. There was a parade in the park this morning and the weekend has seen several glorious shows of fireworks. It may be ccorny but Americana is a neat thing.

I am sitting in command central and there is a quiet before the storm. I am starting to think again after our reentry from San Diego and two things loom on the horizon: immigration policy and the debt snafu.

This day there were people taking the oath to become citizens . They were of all nations and colors. They were tearful. They were proud. I thought of 11 million illegals who wish they were in those shoes.

I remember bringing this up one day while playing golf in Arizona. One of my fellow players was very comfortable in his 7000 sf house that was occupied by he and his wife. It had probably been built and cleaned and landscaped weekly by several dozen Latinos. Minor detail, Ted.

I asked what we should do? He replied “Send all those sons of bitches back.” Taking great comfort in his eloquence but a little wary, I asked how? He said simply, “Busses!” I asked if he had any idea how many busses that would take and he said he didn’t care. That is the type of strategic forward thinking we need in America today.

That was probably seven years ago. Let’s just say we have been theoretically working on this problem as a government for 25 years to be gracious. Does anybody really believe we are any closer to a solution? Is it really that hard? Be careful you might piss someone off by doing the right thing. Oh yes, time heals all. Manana.

Now we have the debt limit as a smaller problem of the overall deficit conundrum. Well screw them. Let’s just not raise it. Let’s just go into default. Let’s slice every government agency to nothing. Forget about schools etc. We don’t need them. Sounds like my guy and the busses.

Oh yeah. but don’t touch Social Security or Medicare. On the one hand we have the ads with the forlorn middleager saying her government doesn’t care. Or the one with the homeless in the streets. And that could be you. Don’t let them touch anything. The tooth fairy will come. Plays well in Peoria.

Then there are the economic ruin ads. If we tax anybody higher, we will plunge into a world of hurt. We can’t raise taxes in a recession. Look at all the trickle down and job creation that happened after the Bush tax cuts. Right.

Before I have a vodka and tonic and cook the burgers I am really thinking hard. Governor John Kasich of Ohio was on a weekly journal yesterday. He stated in a refreshingly forthright fashion that each and every politician in Washington has to vote and participate as if he or she did not have another election to run for. He truly felt this was all grandstanding and that there would be a solution. It’s almost like Greek theater. This one is a tragedy.

We have a government that is dysfunctional. Unfortunately I think we as citizens are guilty of the same malfeasance. We don’t study what’s going on. We refuse to be educated because ignorance is bliss. What did you watch on TV this week? Oh yes the Anthony trial.

We will only vote for someone who matches our view regardless of how much sense or lack thereof he or she makes. We vote in lockstep as a Congress and as a people. Kiss it and make it all better. Nothing could be more dangerous.

On the Fourth of July we celebrate our independence. Are we really independent thinkers? Can we put the good of all above our own selfish wants and agendas? I think that is the broader question before we tackle anything.

Free will and freedom itself implies responsibility. It’s hard to think of on this beautiful Colorado blue sky day. And I regret I have to. We don’t have enough busses. We don’t have enough time.

As always,

Ted The Great

Factoids:

It would take approximately 220,000 full Greyhounds to send all those sons of bitches home.

In Georgia, a farmer’s berry crop is rotting on the ground because he can’t get it picked. There was a crackdown on immigrants and he can’t get many legals to work for him, even though he pays $11 per hour.

We educate thousands of foreigners in our universities in Math, Sciences, Computers and Engineering. After that we deport them even though jobs are waiting to be filled. George Will said we should staple a green card to every post graduate degree. At last some clear thinking.