So I get this in my in box. It is not, as Bullwinkle says, “fan mail from some flounder”, though I think that some intellectual floundering definitely present.

Note that I have permission to reprint, and the only changes have been to email addresses.

#####@aol.com <#####@aol.com> Sun, May 18, 2008 at 8:28 AM
To: me

From an AOL address…How utterly appropriate

Since taking over Congress two years ago, everything has GOTTEN WORSE.

First, of course, it’s not been two years, it’s been 1¹/₃ years. Congress came in on January 2007. It’s only 1½ years from the election, so now we know that you can’t count.

Gas is skyrocketing, and they campaigned and told us they would stabalize prices.

Actually, gas prices were not an issue in the 2006 elections, it was war and corruption. In fact the only people who are claiming that they can control gas prices are the Republicans, both through John McCain’s (and to her shame Hillary Clinton’s) gas tax holiday, and through the two months (most likely case the 6 months quoted is best case) that are under the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

The economy is failing and all they want to do is take more in in TAXES.

The economy is failing because our deficits are catching up to us. We need to balance the budget.

Furthermore, the economy is failing because the velocity of money is slowing….Rich people spend more slowly than poor ones, and so you want to get money going further down the scale.

The spending cuts instead proposal means throwing retirees out into the street and downsizing our military to the size of that of Norway. You arguing for that?

Republican profligacy, as evidenced by Ted Stevens’ bridge to no where, and Dennis Hastert’s road project to inflate the value of his land are Republithug innovations, thank you very much.

It’s why we are seeing a breakout in inflation, which is higher than reported.

The common theme is that President Bush is the problem.

He is a large part of the problem. His solution to the credit crisis is to eliminate oversight and regulations over financial institutions, as the abandonment of basic regulations was not what screwed this up in the first place.

While many of these problems go a long way back, starting with baby steps under Jimmy Carter, and proceeding to spring under Reagan, it’s clear that Bush has been long opposed to doing anything about this, and he is still largely trying to wish the problem away.

With the veto pen, and Mich McConnell being willing to filibuster a burp, there are limits to what can be done under our system.

Is president Bush a god or something.

Only to you guys, though I’m sure that when he leaves power, your worship will end. At that point, to paraphrase Richard Widmark you will be blaming the Eskimos.

Seems like the Dems have no clue what or how to do anything.

Truth be told, I’m not too happy at their relative lack of success in getting through their agenda, but the bulk of the Democratic members of Congress have limited experience with being in the majority, and they seem to be doing better month by month, albeit very slowly.

Oh by the way, dont think that the 57 STATES mentioned by Obama will go away. It is clear, Obama was referencing the 57 Muslim states. HGMMMMMM……I wonder what was on his mind when he made that comment.

Well, since you haven’t read the full quote, where he says that he won’t make it to Alaska and Hawaii, but will hit all the other states, it’s a brain fart on numbers, particularly since there aren’t 57 Moslem nations. To quote the Republican president Abraham Lincoln^*, “It is better to stay silent and let people think you are an idiot than to open your mouth and remove all doubt,” as there are roughly 40, Wiki has 37, Majority Islamic nations.

The dems are certainly making this a better country, YEAH RIGHT.

They are trying, which is more than I can say for Republicans. I mean this in a very literal way.

I went to school, and served in the SGA Senate with, (convicted of corruption) Tony Rudy and Brian Darling (of Schiavo Memo Fame), classic modern movement conservatives, and I actually had fairly good social relationships with them.

They honestly believe that government is an unmitigated evil, and that government programs, even when they work, are evil, so their goal is to break stuff so that it does not work.

It’s why, after 38 years of Democratic rule in the house, you had corruption defined by a few bounced checks and one guy splitting salaries with ghost employees, where with the Republicans you had representatives preying on little boys, and an explicit pay-for-play bribery system.

It’s harder to be an honest Republican, because the only reason you are in government is money, power, and getting your way.

resp Paul P

Back at you.

BTW, you might want to use the comments instead in the future. I do read them.

^*There are some disputes on the source of the quote. It has variously been attributed to Lincoln, Twain, and Franklin.