Yes! Bush defeated on Social Security.

[icarus]

Right on!

Bush Admits Defeat On Butchering Social Security

Okay, so I added the word "butchering."

This is the beginning of a long slide for the Bush agenda. Next year is a congressional election year, and after that he's a complete lame duck president. Iraq isn't going away and isn't getting any better, and Iraq plus the Katrina clean-up are the two key issues he mentions in this article: both of them stones around his neck.

The less-government pundits are having to face the facts that "less government" leaves us helpless in the face of disasters like Katrina, and "less government" means we can't afford wars in Iraq either.

Bush is not really a conservative "less government" president, by the way. He makes use of a "big government" with items like, oh, wars in Iraq, Patriot Act red tape, then makes himself popular by cutting taxes (for the people who put him in office) with no clue how to pay for it. That's not less government. It's just less money to run the same amount of government.

Anyone want to help me nail his coffin shut? *Icarus hands out nails*

Comments

[aizjanika.livejournal.com]

I agree, mostly, but don't feel at all hopeful about the future. Our country has changed so much it's barely recognizable as the same country to me any more. What used to be considered "extreme" is now the norm.

Example:
At a bowling league thing for kids last week, another mom and I were talking with a Christian mom. The three of us were having a friendly discussion. Christian Mom wanted to know what we non-Christians believed and why. Another mom (Mom #4) was sitting with us (I didn't know if she was Christian or not since she never said), while we were talking about all of this, when suddenly Mom #4 got all huffy and started clearing her throat and indicating that her son had come up. (This is a kid who has to be 9 or 10 or 12 or something like that.) I was completely oblivious to this interplay and continued talking/listening. Mom #4 grabbed kid and left our table.

Other non-Christian mom was upset as she explained to me what happened since I am such a dunce. Mom #4 came back a few minutes later without child and chided us for having such a discussion where her kid could hear. "I would never do that in front of someone else's child," she said. "It's such a controversial topic."

WTF? It's not like we were describing porn movies we'd watched or something--or even discussing gay marriage or abortion or any number of "controversial" topics. Christian Mom had asked us what we believed about the Big Bang and we were also talking about whether we believed in God and/or Jesus. How is that "controversial"? Am I missing something here?

Mom #4 seriously expected that we should censor ourselves in a public place, rather than that she should remove her child from the area if she didn't want him to hear our conversation.

If that had been me with my child...well, first of all I never minded my kids hearing about others' beliefs (even if it included 2 months' worth of questions later), but if there was something going on I didn't want my kids exposed to (cigarette smoke, discussion of grisly murders...whatever), I'd just remove them from the situation by distracting them with something else or even, "Gee, look at the time. Sorry guys, gotta run!" I can't imagine expecting other people to just not discuss anything *I* didn't want *my* kids to hear.

Encountering crap like this reminds me why we never go anywhere any more. Son loves the bowling, though, and the kids on his team are nice and he's having fun, but geesh...

Anyone want to help me nail his coffin shut? *Icarus hands out nails*

I seriously fear it's too late for that. We'd have to nail the coffins shut for about 99% of the country right now.

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

I disagree. I remember the Reagan era -- people like this just grow more vocal during such periods. It's cyclic rather than degenerative.

Icarus

[aizjanika.livejournal.com]

I remember the Reagan era, too. I think these people got even more vocal during the Clinton administration and they've been getting louder ever since.

Still, I hope you're right and not me. :-)