We were with friends at a party last night and talk turned to the Casey Anthony trial (which I haven’t followed and have no intention of discussing). My daughter said something about bread and circuses and suggested we should be more concerned about the 23,000 laid-off state workers in Minnesota. It quickly emerged that some of our friends were delighted … and that is the precise word, delighted … those workers are suddenly income-free. They got was was coming to them. They needed to be taken down a notch.
I remember two federal financial shutdowns during my military career. Both times, of course, we kept working … without pay, true, but the shutdowns were short and we got our back pay afterward. That’s what’s going on in Minnesota, and as soon as they resolve their budget issues everyone should be okay again. I hope.
But our state worker-hating friends are hoping for something more lasting, something on the order of what happened to the members of the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization during the Reagan administration: permanent loss of jobs, benefits, and pensions. Not because these state workers went on strike or anything, but just because … just because they’re jealous of anyone who might still have a good job, I guess.
The most vociferous of the lot was a retired military man who depends on his pension and free VA medical care.
Anyone else see the problem here?
First I saw what was going on and wanted to quote Niemöller,
But that’s reserved for really serious genocidal shit,
So I didn’t.Then suddenly things seemed a lot more serious,
But I didn’t want people to accuse me of being a drama queen,
So I did not speak out.They they fired all the teachers and took their pensions,
But Godwin’s Law, you know,
So I kept silent.Then they passed a law against quoting Niemöller — and it was too late.
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Well, speaking of problems, my wife has contracted RSS: restless sleeper syndrome. She tosses and thumps and thrashes all night long. It’s getting to the point where I can’t get to sleep. Please tell me that after 45 years of sleeping together we’re not going to have to go all Ricky and Lucy!
She’s flying to California tomorrow and will be gone for ten days, so at least I’ll get some rest in the short term. But it’s an issue we’re going to have to face soon. Maybe I’ll write a bedtime book for her and other adults with RSS. I already have a title in mind: Go the Fuck to Sleep … and Quit Twitching!
Actually, the Casey Anthony trial has revealed a whole new aspect of the American justice system as theater. Not long after the verdict was pronounced, two representatives of the law and the court system came out to address the press. But this wasn’t just any press conference; these were Oscar speeches. To quote the ever-quotable Dave Barry, “I am not making this up.” These were full-blown, bona fide Oscar speeches, thanking each and every person who had participated in developing the case on both the law-enforcement and courts sides. Unlike real Oscar speeches, however, they didn’t have a thirty-second limit. But what’s really puzzling is this: when have you ever heard the losers give Oscar speeches? Oh, well, to quote Jacques Brel, “that’s America to me.”