Filibuster This!

Today I awoke and logged into Facebook. And to my own eyes a discussion concerning a recent Atlantic article about the Senate filibuster was commencing. Unfortunately through the vagaries of Facebook I was not allowed to comment, but alas, I have this! Like so many other things, the debate over the filibuster is an allegory for a larger discussion about the future of the greatest country that has ever graced God's green earth. In order to discuss the future, first one must realize the past, so here I go.
For those of you with a public school education, much of this will be new. See, the United States rebelled from the most powerful nation at the time on the planet, Great Britain. This rebellion was not just against tyranny, but the lack of fulfillment of the seeds of political freedom that Great Britain had planted in its own soil since 1066. With the successful conclusion of the revolution, the geniuses (and yes the Founding Fathers were genius) threw the bathwater out without the baby. They took those seeds, and grew great trees out of them.
They wanted weak central power, divided and for the most part powerless. Even though most modern textbooks will call the Constitution a strong central authority, it is that in only comparisons to the Articles of Confederation. There is not just the division of power within the structure, but additional safeguards throughout the entire framework against any sort of tyranny. These structures served us well until the mid to late 19th and early 20th century, when some of them began to be removed or "reformed".
Just what things am I speaking of? First off, there are two amendments that while today are mostly ignored, they were bulwarks against federal tyranny. The 9th and 10th Amendments, when read properly, bar the federal government from any power that is not explicitly in the Constitution. Go ahead, read it. I will wait. Unfortunately, other parts of the Constitution have been misinterpreted to mean things that they don't actually mean. But this is a discussion for another time.
This brings me after that short digression, back to the baby. The genius of the Founders also realized the possibility of tyranny from the people. While over the long term the people make the right decisions, sometimes they falter. If you disagree with this, well no matter what you political persuasion you must think that at least one of our last two presidents was a major mistake. But nevertheless, the Electoral College was an instrument to assist the people in making the right choice for president. But there is another mechanism that is to stop tyranny.
In Great Britain, there exists in Parliament an organization known as the House of Lords. While greatly reduced in power from history, its job is simply put to slow down laws passed in the House of Commons. What is the purpose of this you might ask? Well, The House of Lords is not tied to the people in any way, and when the passions of democracy become too heated, a period of cooling off is needed. The House of Lords served this function.
In our own country, the genius founders realized the value of this, and added an additional function to the House of Lords, representation of the states as well. To those of you with a public school education, this organization is known as the Senate. Since its founding, the Senate is supposed to be a roadblock to the excesses of democracy. Now, wholly because of the Progressive "reforms" of the early 20th Century, it can no longer serve this function at all. The 17th Amendment destroyed this stop. This amendment provided for the direct election of senators. While some many think that this is a good thing, it most assuredly is not. Now senators must bend to the pressure from the people as well, even though they are a little more insulated by it because of their longer terms. The House of Representatives is supposed to be awash with the people's business, heated debate and generally in the throes of democratic fervor. The Senate's original job was to moderate anything that came out of that.
This brings us to the filibuster. It is not a new device in the Senate, but over the last few years has risen in prominence. In fact, there have been more filibusters in this most recently Congress than in the entire 19th century. My point would be this is not the problem, but a symptom of the problem. There is no waiting period for the passions of democracy. With the direct election of senators, those who wish to slow down or kill excess in the Senate have to resort to blunt measures like a filibuster.
Some people have said that the political climate is more divided than it ever has been. Quite frankly, that is untrue. American politics has always been a passionate and divided affair. The biggest difference is now there is no way to cool off the heat. So like Venus, it builds and builds. Of course it would simple to say that if we only listened to the genius of the founders we wouldn't be in this mess. Part of the additional heat is due to the bloated power of the federal government itself. As any fat guy knows, you retain heat, more fat more heat. Part of the reason why even in the debate around the Civil War things were on the face at least more cordial (for the most part) ain't 19th Century sensibility, but in all reality the problem was small in comparison. The debate then was over a small increase in federal power, at the expense of the states. Now it was massive in comparison to anything done before, but compared to today, almost minuscule. Today's bloated and morbidly obese monster consumes more resources than entire continents and with each meal just grows larger. The Founding Fathers would have long ago pulled out their muskets to slay the beast.
This beast is why America is divided. It is divided between those who want it to grow larger, and those who want it to grow less or shrink. The filibuster is one of the last tools left to at least slow it down. But never fear, there is a solution. In fact it is simple, even if it ain't easy. The beast must stop eating. No new programs, no new taxes, no new anything. In fact, it would be better if nothing at all got done in Washington. Complete obstructionism. The only things that need to get done are eliminations of federal jobs (not replaced), repeals of taxes, and giving the pink slip to every federal worker that can be found. Repealing the 17th Amendment would also be a big help, which would prevent this from happening again. We as Americans should cheer if the federal government is shut down, as it truly shows just how little we actually need it in our lives.

Fear and Self-Loathing in the Heartland

You thought this horse was dead, didn't you? Well you were right, my probably long gone lone reader if you existed at all. I had bastardized myself to the point where I was prostituting my writing time for cheap and virus prone online gaming sites, and gleefully chatting about movies and other fare. However, while what I do and what I say is of little concern to you all, I made a promise to myself to be honest to this blog and I had not been doing that. So, to begin anew...
What brought this on, after so many months you may ask? Simply put, I was applying for jobs just before I took a shower this afternoon. Yes, us unemployed wastes of space do shower after our noon wake up time. First off, my father had sent me a site of technical jobs, and reminded me of the classifieds in the local newspaper. Upon viewing these listings, I came upon a conclusion. After eight years, over a hundred thousand dollars of debt, a destroyed credit rating, ruined friendships, withdrawal, constant stress over money, strained family relationships, and other fun things, I have absolutely nothing to show for it. My skills are virtually non-existent. Even as I hold back tears as I write this, the conclusion is inescapable. I am a morbidly obese, broke, talentless, absurdly hairy person, who can only be loosely defined as a man.
I laugh at those who think that 2 months is a long time since their last date. Hell, even the Comic Book Guy and Captain Sweatpants have more going for them than I. I care about nothing real, especially myself, or have any desire at this point truly to do anything.
Before you say that I am being too hard on myself, or are reaching for the local mental health facility's number in your speed dial, I want you to think about a few things. They say depression is a state of mind, but I have always wondered, "What if you really do suck?" Well, I have no prospects, for love or money, am an emotional and financial drain on my family and friends (of the few that I have left), and to top it off, have no real knowledge or plan to fix any of it. Would you say that is a reasonable set of circumstances to be sad about?
Furthermore, on the few attempts that I have tried to remedy my situation, in some fashion, each has been its own spectacular failure if I have had any hand in implementing it. Those done on my behalf have generally succeeded, but my touch seems to be malignant. For example, there was a woman recently who I was attempting to see on a regular basis. As to how this state of affairs came to what it is right now is quite simple. First off, my general nature with the opposite sex is of a glacial speed, due to my next to no confidence already. Secondly, I when not moving with the speed of an ice sheet, put on cheetah's legs, precisely at the wrong times I might add. And finally, when moving neither fast nor slow, I put my head in the sand like an ostrich and run in circles. Simply put, I don't kiss when I should, say the right things months before they are right, and make a total ass out of myself because I forget that I don't know any better.
The next thing that I want you to think about before calling Dr. Schwartz is to remember that modern psychology is complete bullshit, and the fact that you need therapy just shows how much a wuss you are. Yeah, I got some anger as well, so I am going to throw that into the mix. Real depression fits like an old baseball glove, and it comfortable. Which really means that I deep down, I want to be this way. I don't know anything different, which in turn make me more sad and angry. But, for those weekend depressed people, which is really almost everyone who has anything going in their life, this is the real chant. You are not depressed if you do anything to help yourself. Real depression and self-loathing precludes any self-assistance (aside from the shower masturbation). You hate yourself so much that nothing can change it, and in fact nothing will. Taking pills doesn't fix my life, nor does talking about it. These things won't get me a job, or a girlfriend, or fix any of the other problems that I have. The most that it will do is make me feel better, which in turn should depress me even further because I actually need to alter my brain chemistry to change my emotions. Real depression doesn't preclude momentary happiness, since this heightens the deep trenches that assume larger and larger sections of one's life.
On top of this throw on a deep hatred for myself. Hatred that I have wasted large portions of my life, in pursuit of things which in hindsight I should have realized were hopeless or worthless. Hatred of the countless minor mistakes that have with a dash of procrastination become large issues. Hatred of the inertia that I seem to have over everything.
Now after I have reduced my readership by at least half through suicide, I wonder, how should I end this beginning return into releasing my thoughts into the ether? I used to often try to end on a positive note, give some hope out there or just to say something funny. Now, I am not going to state that this won't happen again, but I think I am going to go a different route this time.
The real trouble with the depression and self loathing is that it seems God is just as cruel as I am towards myself. It seems that I have a built in mechanism that when things appear darkest, I can always see a small glimmer of sunlight. Like a fat kid in a cupcake shop, I will run and smother it whether I full sprint or try and act like I really don't care. And then it is gone, truly not as filling as I needed, which drops the fat kid head first into the brown swirly. And just before I can thank God that this time, just this time it is the last time and I will finally drown in my own refuse, I am pulled up and that bastard hope springs anew that I may make it out of this cycle. It would be far more humane to just let any hope die within me and let me drown.