I’m not into the misplaced nationalism behind the Olympic Games.  Sure, the participating countries provide the fertile ground, but the competitors are obsessively dedicated individuals and the chants of “USA, USA!” or “Azerbaijan, Azerbaijan!” take away from simply cheering for the best of the best.  As an American, however, I would love to join in a daily unified chant, stirring us on to be the best we can be, (and not end up joining the Army by mistake).

For a large chunk of the past 100 years, America has been the world leader in innovation, technology and manufacturing.  The unique convergence of time and necessity and the drive to unite our adolescent federation, prompted great minds to invent the infrastructural elements that made us a world power.  Now, after an historical race that began at the real tea party and ended, (probably), with the Moon landing, we have forgotten that “gold” is a metaphor for excellence, not a burdensome mound of metal.

Deficits, shmeficits!  We’re Gumby…I mean America, damn it!  We have to have the best education, provide everyone with the best health care, support the best minds and the ideas within, make the best products and show the world at every turn that it all happens best in a free and democratic society.  This can never happen in an atmosphere where wealth is the only win.

The CPAC, (I always wait for the “See PAC run” part to follow), collection of Looney Toons would have us mumbling in our caves, trying to relearn the art of making fire.  Not that they would care after I’ve just called them Looney Toons, but I agree with many of their fundamental gripes, primarily that government is broken and throwing tax money at it is a lousy investment.  But perpetuating the unregulated, lone cowboy approach at the heart of the Reagan Doctrine, is the path to our undoing.  We need to solve this in a unified effort or accept the dire reality that not finding common ground to, (un-Humpty-like), quickly put ourselves back together, could soon lead to us all being forced to chant, “Qinhuangdao!  Qinhuangdao!”