Our neighbors in the North Country have a birds-eye view of the American Soap Opera. There’s no sitcom more astonishing, more preposterous. One of our Canadian friends made some trenchant observations about the loony bin to his South, inferring that “Only In America” — a nation of incalculable accomplishment — could people behave like real-life actors in The Walking Dead. With apologies to this anonymous author for a paraphrase here and there:

♦Only in America do some politicians talk about the greed of the rich at a $35,000 a plate campaign fund-raising event.

♦Only in America do some people claim discrimination against black Americans when black Americans have a black President, a black Attorney General and a roughly 18% black federal workforce — while only 12% of the population is black.
♦Only in America could the two men most responsible for the nation’s tax code — Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and former Ways and Means Congressman Charles Rangel — be outright tax cheats — both in favor of higher taxes.
♦Only in America do Muslim terrorists kill people in the name of Allah, and see the mainstream media react by complaining about a Muslim backlash.
♦Only in America do honest people  wait years and pay thousands for the privilege of becoming immigrants — while people who sneak into the country illegally ‘magically’ become American citizens.
♦Only in America could people who believe in balancing the budget and sticking by the country’s Constitution be thought of as hardcore extremists.
♦Only in America do you need  a driver’s license to cash a check or buy alcohol, but not to vote.
♦Only in America do people demand to investigate whether oil companies gouge the public over  gas prices, when the return on equity of a major company (Marathon Oil) is less than 1/2 the return of a company making tennis shoes (Nike).
♦Only in America does the government collect more tax dollars than any other nation in recorded history, yet still spends a trillion dollars more than it receives, for total annual spending of $7 million per minute; then complain it doesn’t have nearly enough money.
♦Only in America could the most productive people who pay 86% of all income taxes be accused of not paying their “fair share” by the country’s President and by the people who pay no income taxes at all.

Meanwhile, as the inmate in Washington rules the Cuckoo Nest, you learn that U. S. welfare spending has mushroomed from $563 billion in fiscal 2008 to $746 billion in fiscal 2011, a prodigious leap of 32 percent.* This amount is more than Social Security, basic defense spending or any other single chunk of the federal government. You and your neighbor to the north are now witnessing a real life example of “killing the goose that lays the golden egg” — American style.

Epilogue: A government which robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul. G. Shaw

*Congressional Research Service.

It was an interesting discussion during dinner among like-minded friends. The issue was — Lying — a deadly sin parents begin harping on the instant Junior learns the art of covering up his wicked deeds. But this discussion had nothing to do with two-year-old Tommy putting Tabby in the oven and blaming it on his four-year-old brother and role model. No, this pow-wow had everything to do with lying on a much grander scale — specifically, the Biden-Ryan debate. One school of thought suggested there’s no place for using the L word with people of high standing — people who occupy the highest offices in the land. Somehow, uttering the L word isn’t seemly, somehow in bad taste. Besmirching the integrity of elected leaders somehow casts an uneasy shadow over the fruited plain. The other school of thought? Lying is epidemic. The former Arkansas Governor and U.S. President lied repeatedly and he still strolls across the national landscape like a rock star to his adoring fans. The current U.S. Attorney General, under oath, lied to Congress repeatedly and he remains untouchable on his lofty perch, the alleged guardian of U. S. justice. And most recently, the Vice President, his pearly whites glistening under theatrical lighting, lied repeatedly as if lying were a skill that would make him a first round draft choice. Meanwhile, the vaunted Fourth Estate, guardian of Liberty, lost interest in facts, preferring to engage in the practice of political prejudice than in the advancement of ethics, honor, principle and truth. Face it, you won’t hear the L word as opponents square off. Instead, you’ll hear terms like “inaccurate, misleading, exaggeration, dishonest,” etc. — because, as one school of thought suggests — you just can’t call a lie a lie. Within the bounds of political decorum, you may assert, “That’s not true.” Or, as Biden so cleverly proclaimed, “What a bunch of “malarkey.” Malarkey — does anyone under the age of 65 know the word? You appreciate the idea of civil discourse, respect and etiquette, but you appreciate something else more —  the lives of Americans who gave everything to uphold the tenets of our founding freedom — the lives of Americans who gave everything to preserve an exceptional system that celebrates a moral value, like Truth. No, your school of thought can’t stomach a politician who tramples on the nation’s trust. If good people fail to expose lies at the very moment they’re spoken, they become willing accomplices to those very lies. And that failure leads to decline and dishonor. In 1642, Hester Prynne wore a scarlet A to symbolize her shame as an adulteress. Now, 370 years later, you think this concept should be put to good use. Substitute the red letter A with the red letter L and tattoo it on the forehead of Mr. Biden or any other lying pol, regardless of party or persuasion. You guessed it — there’s a marketing idea here — hand signs with the a big letter L for debate audiences to flash — billboards, yard signs, internet traffic, etc. If the L word fits, wear it.

When the United States Ryder Cup team snatched defeat from the jaws of victory, a gratified sigh fell onto the hallowed walls of the Oval Office. “Yes,” the Occupant breathed in triumph. No way to prove that reaction, of course; but you have the weight of evidence on your side. The overt acrimony toward American exceptionalism. The outright denial of American exceptionalism. The unfairness of American prosperity. The strategy to reduce American hegemony among nations. The allegations of American guilt. The accusations of American bellicosity. The apologies to foreign leaders. Etc. September 30 was a good day in the Oval Office for the Occupant who harbors a deep resentment spawned in childhood, forged in his teens and constantly honed thereafter. If asked about his reaction to the Ryder Cup, the person in the Oval Office naturally would follow his first instinct quite automatically — he would lie — and then orate something about the ideals of good sportsmanship among nations. Ironically, professional golf (and the Ryder Cup) represents the very thing the Occupant repudiates — absolute capitalism. TW aside, you have this bunch of privileged white guys, traveling to the most beautiful venues with their beautiful wives, to play a game — a game that, with few exceptions, is inaccessible to all but a privileged (white) minority who have the physical gifts and skills that others have been unfairly denied.  And while the American golfing audience (mistakenly) mourns another loss to the combined talents of an entire continent, this affluent minority retires to posh sanctuaries in Florida, Arizona, Texas or Nevada to live the good life and avoid State taxes. No doubt that dodging taxes irks the Occupant; but what truly must rankle him is that 10 of these residents are the very same European players who shellacked America’s finest. There you have it. The Ryder Cup is billed as this emotional patriotic clash between the USA and a dozen (so-called underdog) European countries, when in reality it’s all about bragging rights among neighborhoods and friends in Florida. Despite Ian Poulter’s maniacal histrionics, the media hype, the tears and all the pomp and circumstance, the Ryder Cup is simply golf theater on steroids, testing individual performance and egos, while supporting several charities and inflating TV advertising revenues. In the final analysis, then, the Occupant’s satisfaction at America’s defeat is severely dampened by several realizations:(1) The USA and PGA are responsible for the explosive growth of golf worldwide; (2) The PGA is the powerful engine that drives and enriches the European players; and (3) Europeans have embraced America on a personal level by choosing to live here. That, Mr. Occupant, is American exceptionalism at work. Live with it.