Over the top

Back for a short break between vacations. Frankly, I used to think the crazies in the Republican Party were just making themselves look ridiculous, but now I'm beginning to think twice about that. Had dinner last night with two close friends whom I used to consider to be reasonably intelligent and well-informed. I couldn't believe it when they started mouthing the "death squads" talk about the health care bill. Then, one complained she had not seen Obama's birth certificate and wasn't sure he was legally president. I asked if she'd ever seen Bush's. "No," she said, "but that's different because he was a normal person." Whatever that means ... I guess it means white.

While we were on vacation in Montana, we stayed one night at a B&B where everyone was openly talking about the need for armed revolution and hoping that someone would have the guts to assassinate "these commies who have taken over the government." Of course, they're always pissed about taxes. I asked one fellow how much he paid in real estate tax. He said $2,000, and he was really pissed about it. When I told him I paid $22,000, he almost flipped. Of course, these guys get back something like $2.00 for every $1.00 of federal tax they pay, while we pay $2.00 for every $1.00 we get back. Nearly empty highways out there are being expanded, while we can't even fix the pot holes here in the east.