Let the Good Times Roll

I suspect that most folks reaching an advanced state of years like me tend to spend a lot of time recalling the past and wringing their hands over what has become of the nation since they were born.

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I know I sure do. Maybe we were naïve when we looked around in wonderment in the abundance with which God has surrounded us and thought it would last forever without any real effort on our part to keep the goodies flowing. The French saying “Laissez Le Bon temp rouler” (Let The Good Times Roll) best exemplifies the widely accepted belief that simply because we are Americans Le Bon Temp must continue to roll. After all, that’s part of our birthright, isn’t it? No, it’s not. Our birthright gives us the opportunity to exert ourselves to such an extent that all things being equal the end result will be periods of good times. Beyond that there are no guarantees. There will always be times when things tend to go awry. I’m reminded of an incident in the life of St. Catherine of Sienna when a cart in which she was riding turned over and tossed her into a muddy ditch. Commenting on her plight, a fellow Nun noted that after all, it is a known fact that God punishes those He loves the most. “And that’s why he has so few friends,” said the saint who despite her recognized state of heroic sanctity (a must qualification for sainthood) once described her preferred vision of Heaven as a place with an endless ocean of beer. That’s my kind of saint! Anyway, nowadays, the bon temps are not rolling. The economy is a mess, the rate of unemployment is surging, and we have a president who is not up to the job for which he has not a single worthwhile qualification. Sure he reads his omnipresent teleprompters with great skill and panache, but he hasn’t shown even the vaguest indications that he has any idea of what his job is all about beyond providing an awful lot of vacation time and golf outings. With the help of a Congress largely composed of Democrat toadies he inflicted a so-called health care reform bill hardly any of his fellow Americans wanted. His legislative agenda containing such catastrophes as his Cap & Trade bill, which will impose huge costs on the American people to deal with a problem hundreds of scientists insist does not exist, will deal a serious blow to employment and the economy. He’s out and about these days flitting around the nation making speeches about how great the economy is under his beneficent management and how evil are all those rascally Republicans who don’t appreciate all the wonders he is performing on our behalf. I don’t know if he has even the vaguest notion that the image the media created to sell him to the voters in 2008 has gotten ragged around the edges, and that an increasing number of Americans now view him as a narcissistic opportunist not qualified for the job he holds. In a few months from now there will be Congressional elections which will, for all intents and purposes, be a referendum on the voting public’s attitude about his person and his presidency. If the polls are correct, it won’t be just Democratic members of Congress who get swept out of office in great numbers, it will be an omen for what he’ll face in 2012. I hope and pray that after that, Le Bon temps will once again rouler.