Adding Two and Two

Mark Twain said: “It’s easier to fool people than to convince them that they have been fooled.”  He must have been speaking of the Congress of his time! Actually the Congress of any era.

I saw the movie ‘Lincoln’ and was surprised at the folly and duplicity of the Congress of his day. The machinations the politicians went through to block legislation, votes on important matters, even the legislation decreeing slaves emancipated. As I saw the chicanery unfold and the enormous effort expended to overcome the nonsense to make good things happen at last, I thought of our current Congress, both the 112^th just completed, and the 113^th just sworn in. What history will make of the 112^th! But what will the history become of the 113^th?

Then I read the new Thomas Jefferson book, The Art of Power, by Jon Meacham. The Congress Jefferson was a part of and ultimately the Congress he had to deal with as president – what perfidy to the spirit of democracy! Such shenanigans. How very shameful.

Twain’s observation that it is easier to fool people into thinking one way than it is to convince them they have been fooled is instructive for us today. Listen to politicians speak on TV in sound bites. They sound intelligent but they are saying empty words and phrases. They are stating what they want you to believe but they themselves don’t believe those words. They vote differently and flip their positions constantly. The chaos is representative of their tom foolery.

On Women’s rights and gun rights, if these two issues alone were added together, watch out! As a quote on the internet offered:

            “If women took up arms to defend their reproductive rights…

             The GOP would immediately demand gun control!”

The GOP had better hope women will not take up guns to defend their rights. The GOP has played so many games with issues near and dear to women the direction of up and down no longer make sense. And people frustrated by nonsense are not good users of guns, don’t you know.

Purveyors of congressional speak need to take care. Like the Chinese proverb says,

            “Life is an echo; what you send out comes back.”

Beware those echoes. When two and two are joined powerful results will happen.

Congressional players are playing with fire. They play for power. We the people wasn’t them to solve problems. Power is temporary. Smooth operations cast a long lasting spell into the future.

January