SO, what's up with all this anger against the government?

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I was watching the news the other day, listening to the anchorman recall accounts of citizens taking their anger out on specific government entities. A guy flew a plane into an IRS building. Another guy went nuts and shot some Pentagon guards. Things happen on the same or smaller scale more and more often. The anchor closes the story with the question, “So, what’s causing all this anger against the U.S. government?” Are you kidding me? How can you report the news nightly and not know the answer to that? Let’s see, a health care bill is being shoved down our throats no matter what we think. “Don’t like the original version? Here, we wrote it in purple ink. How’s that?” When citizens rise up against that version, “Here, we wrote the whole thing backwards and used invisible ink. How’s that?” Nope folks, I think the problem may be that Mr. and Mrs. U.S. Taxpayer don’t want to provide health insurance to people who are here illegally. I think they may also have a slight problem with paying for abortions for women who are too lazy or stupid to use birth control. Some may even have the crazy notion that abortion is murder, and they would rather not finance murder.



I love this country. I do. But I sit back and watch in amazement the cleverly packaged crap that’s being thrown our way. It’s like the folks in Washington have been given an imaginary checkbook, and they’re in a race to see who can write the most bad checks the fastest. This is not an Obama rant. He did not invent this game. He’s just the starting pitcher right now. I believe his heart is in the right place, but we’ve gotten way off track. Who the hell is going to pay for all this free/reduced healthcare if NO ONE’S WORKING?

So…the Chinese are smarter than we are. Who’da thunk?

Well, according to the news piece I just watched, they are. In fact, the United States has dropped from the enviable top spot as world's most educated nation to (gulp) 12^th place. Please tell me that this does not come as a surprise, folks. I have always been struck by the discipline and level of expectation Asian parents in general have where their children are concerned.

On the flip side of that, I have always been bothered by the lack of expectation we as Americans have for our offspring. I'm bothered by the over-showering of praise we rain on our children when they do things that we should expect them to do anyway. "Oh look honey, Johnny went poopy in the potty. Let's rent a limo and take him and his entire daycare class to Chuck E. Cheese!" I remember leaving my daughter's 5^th grade graduation, and when we walked outside the building, there was a line of limousines waiting to scoop up the little darlings and spirit them off to God-knows-where. We're talking 5^th grade folks. That's what, 11 years old? What on earth do these parents have planned for the kids' high school graduations? The Concorde to Dubai?

What are these kids supposed to strive for? What, exactly, is within their reach when they're out on their own? I suppose that's an experiment; the results have yet to be revealed. Then again, have you ever watched the TV show "Pimp my Sweet Sixteen" or whatever it's called? It's positively nauseating. That's our future?

Back to education. All this goes hand-in-hand. For once, I'm not really wandering off-topic. I have a friend who, when her son was in 4^th grade, withdrew him from school because (and I quote) "His teacher got onto him for not doing his homework. He's just a little boy!" He never returned to conventional school, by the way. He was "home schooled" for a time, which means he sat on his behind and played video games day in and day out. The saddest thing about his story is that he was a very bright kid. He was also over-indulged and now, at age 20, he struggles with simple life issues, like getting a job and paying bills. Sadly, his is not the only story I'm familiar with.

We graduate kids from high school who can't spell. Many can't perform simple mathematical calculations. Our kids, on average, are in school more than 40 fewer days than kids in China. We push kids out into the world with their grubby little hands held out, expecting the world to accommodate them because they don't really feel like applying themselves. They've never had to. The world is not a nice place. It's not going to baby our babies, folks. Technology morphs by the second. The world is facing challenges that require smart people to solve. The world does not need whiny underachievers whose mommies and daddies swoop in to protect them from the world!

And while we're at it – YOUR is possessive – "Those are your shoes."

YOU'RE is a contraction of the two words YOU and ARE – "You're a poor speller."

THERE – "There are your shoes!"

THEIR – "Their shoes are not yours!"

THEY'RE – Another contraction, this time of THEY and ARE "They're confused about where their shoes are!"

OK now that that's settled…