TWO OBSERVATIONS

I have two observations about the swamp draining occurring in Washington right now. 

                  First, I'm waiting for someone on the left to defend the line items being brought to light.  Why won't any liberal defend paying $10 billion in SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program--formerly Food Stamps) to soft drink companies?  Why won't anyone defend spending a third of Medicare assistance on able bodied people too trifling to get a job?  Who will tell me why $50 million for condoms to Hamas was good foreign policy? 

                  The revelations are shocking, but nobody in the opposition dares defend them.  These people voted for these things for decades and now the only thing they can do is attack Trump.  Defending the indefensible is political suicide, and they know it.  So rather than defend their game plan, they attack the referee.

                  When I spend money on something, I'm proud to own it.  I'm glad to explain why I bought an item, gave to an organization, or invested in something.  Why don't these liberals defend these expenditures?  Cowards all, they won't defend any line item; they just assassinate the character of a referee who dares to expose violations of public trust.

                  Second, I'm appalled by the conservatives who refuse to admit their own culpability in the spending debacle.  One and all act surprised by these revelations, like this is all new information and they were totally ignorant. Where is the conservative who says "I'm sorry, folks.  I repent in sackcloth and ashes for being asleep at the wheel. I voted on this stuff because it was easier and these corrupt entities contributed to my campaign.  Please forgive me; I'm going to find the drain, pull the plug, and dry out the swamp."

                  The conservatives hide behind the excuse "we didn't have time to read it."  That's negligence.  Washington is full of ninth hour 1,200 page document crises demanding a vote.  If nobody would vote for something they haven't read, it might shorten the federal register by 50 percent.  And if the mainstream media would applaud and honor a politician who refused to vote until reading the bill instead of screaming "troublemaker" and "disinformation advocate" maybe folks would feel more liberty to read the bills.

                  Sorry, conservatives, you don't get a pass for being asleep and lazy.

                  This whole situation reminds me of the tension between the greenies and the church goers.  California's lack of water and biomass control, facilitating catastrophic fires, are a direct result of greenie environmentalists' foolish policies.  To not now own these policies indicates an arrogance beyond comprehension.  But church goers who care not about happy pigs or juicy tomatoes, who vindicate cultural and ecological devastation in the name of dominion, are equally guilty. 

                  Just because greenies worship creation rather than the Creator does not give license to the faith community to abuse God's stuff (creation).  So where are the greenies repenting of their foolish land and water policies that facilitated catastrophic fires?  And where are the conservative church goers repenting of all the atrocities done "in the name of God?"  Crusades and Conquistadors.  Hmmm?  

                  My observations indicate we can all share some blame for the fixes we're in.  I'm guilty; you're guilty.  But the first step to repair is repentance; it's owning our flaws and dysfunctional thinking.  Then we can roll up our sleeves and fix things.

                  Yesterday, I asked what people spend money on unnecessarily; today, I'll ask what does government spend money on unnecessarily?