Francis Meyrick

Diary (5) A Turtle stuck on a pole

Nov 9th, 2008

Well, the elections are over, and Obama has won. I’m enthused. Not.
I didn’t vote for him. But I didn’t vote for McCain either. I didn’t vote at all.
Now before you accuse me of lethargy, and apathy, and tell me that it’s because of derelicts like me that the country is in the state it’s in, let me tell you this: I can’t vote. I’m not yet a US citizen. Green card, yes, US citizenship, not quite yet.
When I do take the oath, sometime end of 2009 my attorney tells me, and when I do get to stand there with my hand on my heart, and tears (maybe, but I doubt it) in my eyes, this will end a fourteen year period of jumping through immigration hurdles. My big mistake was to be a European (naughty), University educated, and English speaking. Wrong move. Oh, and to top it all, I’m white. Disgusting. Go back to the bottom of the line.
If I’d been smart, way back in 1995, I would have forgotten all my English, learned Spanish, dyed my face Hispanic brown, hopped the border fence, and just waited for another amnesty. Hey presto! US citizen! And no attorney fees!
On the way across the Mexican plains to the US border I could have dined out on the food left out by volunteer do-gooders, drunk their beverages, and followed their maps. I would have been part of a movement of thousands every night.
And of course I would have been able to get my driving license straight away, enjoy health care, and have some very patriotic American companies employ me very cheaply out of the goodness of their capitalist hearts.
But,no, I had to go and do it the hard way. I had to go and foolishly respect the US laws, and try and be squeaky clean.
That’s way I wasted thirteen years so far, and spent nearly $10,000. No wonder Europeans are not over eager to immigrate into these shores.

Not to be put off, I can hear you asking me: “Well, if you HAD been able to vote, who would you have voted for? “
Answer: nobody. I would not have voted.
I love America. It’s a wonderful country to live and work. It’s a privilege to be here. Once legally able to work, I have rarely experienced a xenophobic or negative attitude. I enjoy the variety of the country. I enjoy motorcycling. Shooting. And talking with Americans. But I’m fed up with all the foreign wars. I’m fed up with all the meddling overseas. I’m fed up with cloak and dagger, clandestine, over-funded US government agencies that have to stick their oar in, it seems all over the world. With really strange nett results. Wasn’t Saddam Hussein once our ally? Receiving arms shipments from the USA? That was a real smart move. And then we backed the Shah of Iran? No wonder the powers that came after him really loved the USA! And how come we preach democracy in Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan, and have American boys dying for it on a regular basis, when we say “Bah! Humbug! ” to anybody that suggests that what is good for the goose should be good for the gander? Meaning of course Saudi Arabia? The Bush administration to my knowledge has always been strangely silent on that one.
I prophesy that one day the house of Saud will be overthrown in Saudi Arabia. And that the powers that come after Saud will be really NOT very friendly towards the US. Surprise? Wonder what that will do to the price of a barrel of oil.
No,I like John McCain. Hell, he’s a pilot. Surely I have to like a fellow aviator. I admire his courage for refusing an easy ticket home out of his Hanoi Hilton POW camp. Daddy might have been a General, but son John did the right thing.
He’s got integrity, and I warm to his personality. But he’s way too close to “same old, same old ” for me.
The national debt is a sick joke. The government spending incentives, shelling out taxpayer monies like Father Christmas, reminds me of performing cancer treatment the African witch doctor way: beat the patient with a stick, until the demon spirit leaves the sufferer. It’s about as effective. Ever heard about inflation? What happens when you increase the money supply exponentially without a corresponding growth in productivity? Why don’t we just give every American family a million dollars in their bank account tomorrow? Within a day, a Big Mac will cost thirty thousand bucks of course, and a decent pint of Guinness the same, but never mind, we’d all be millionaires.

Hell-o. Hell-o. Calling all politicians. Pundits. News media. Yoo-hoo. Common sense calling. Can you read me??

It ain’t gonna work. You can dance in the streets, you can call your babies Obama, you can shed tears on television, and you can worship the great Messiah Barack who is going to hold your “calloused hand ” and lead you to the promised land, but:

It ain’t gonna work.

Barack Obama, in the words of a friend of mine, is like a turtle stuck on a pole.
How so, I asked, puzzled at the imagery. He explained:
“He’s like a turtle stuck on a pole. You know damn well he didn’t get there by himself, and now that he is up there, he has no real idea of what to do next… “
I thanked him for the explanation, and digested the mental picture. I think there’s a lot to it.

Let’s give it six months. When all the euphoria has worn down. When all the “Hosannahs ” and the baby kissing orgies have faded a little. It’s going to be the same mess. And it will STAY the same mess, until we all admit that the nation’s health depends on the production of goods and services. It depends on people working. Working hard. And you CAN NOT spend your way out of this problem. It is POINTLESS to go on promising FREE LUNCH.
There are WAY too many folk sitting around with their hand out.

Crunch time is going to come. The government is just like a household. You CAN NOT go on spending more than you are bringing in. Year after year. That way lies -eventually- some horrible days.
And you really believe little Barry Obama, I’m sorry, BARACK BOY, is gonna fix it all? You really think he’s gonna raise all the (vast!) amounts of money he needs to honor his half promises by NOT touching any family earning less than $250,000 a year? Dream on, my friend, dream on. Even if he doesn’t DIRECTLY tax us ALL, I guarantee you we will ALL be INDIRECTLY taxed. There are lots of ways that can be done, and a simple example would be to raise the taxes on gas. But he will need a lot more money than that.
Indirect taxes or direct taxes, it makes no difference. It’s still going to come out of all our pockets.
Stand by for a U-turn on the $250,000 promise.

Remember the turtle stuck on the pole. Surrounded by all the excited baby turtles down below shouting:

“Jump! Jump great leader! Jump to the sky! You can do it! And bring us back the sun! “

Yeah, right…

Francis Meyrick
(c)

Last edited by Francis Meyrick on December 27, 2008, 8:07 pm