NO JOKE

This is no joke: America is a joke. She’s become a three ring circus. It’s not a pretty picture. The U.S. for the first time in its long history has become the laughing stock of the world. All who have hated us are having a field day at our expense. Those who have loved us are shaking their heads in disbelief.

How did the once great nation get where we are today?

If you ask an economist to answer that question you’ll probably get a long, convoluted explanation and depending upon the economist’s beliefs, you’ll get answers that vary.
Ask a politician what happened and rest-assured you’ll get a long-winded answer replete with aspersions, lies, innuendos, and most-definitely denials that America’s fall from grace has anything to do with them.

Ask Americans how we got where we are today and 82% of them will have a few things to say, all with disgust, leaving one to wonder how even 14% of Americans are still not reeling from the reality that our country is a punch-line to our friends and what’s worse the great despots of the world.

Ever hear the old joke, “I never kick a man when he’s down, I just stamp on his head, it’s easier?” Yes, it’s easy to kick a man when he’s down, and a country, as Standard & Poor the ratings agency did – what they probably wouldn’t have dared do just months ago – before America laid herself bare to her detractors.

On Friday night, Standard & Poor’s removed the United States government from its list of risk-free borrowers with strong reference to the antics of the Republican Party run by the Mad Hatters aka the tea party, talk about a joke.

“We have changed our assumption on this because the majority of Republicans in Congress continue to resist any measure that would raise revenues, a position we believe Congress reinforced by passing the act.”

The ratings agency had threatened to downgrade America’s rating if the government did not act to reduce the federal debt by at least $4 trillion over the next decade. Earlier last week, Congress instead passed a plan to reduce the debt by only $2.1 trillion.

While warned, the tea party Mad Hatters, heads stamped by their intransigent foolishness acted as if there was no need to heed S&P’s warning. You might call it “Through the Looking Glass Politics,” a reversal of fortune, their bad joke on America.

It’s been a long, difficult, non-amusing time for our nation. Since 9/11 we’ve suffered one blow after another. While one was the result of an invading force, al Qaeda, most of our wounds have been self-inflicted.

W got us into an expensive war or two that we didn’t need to get into. He cut taxes for the wealthy, which he never should have done, turning our house into a fiscal not so fun house. While it is true that President Obama inherited the Republican induced financial mess, he also lacked the courage to do exactly what was necessary to stem the tide of default Standard & Poor sees on the horizon.

Yes, the GOP is a joke, but our president is also a coward and a buffoon. As are the irresponsible clowns in Congress, Bozos all, Claribels, Emmet Kelly’s, Bubbles…America’s great jokesters.

So, tell me, why am I not laughing?