Cheap Diversionary Tactics

I usually catch the last minutes of the local news and the first few minutes of the Today Show each morning before I'm out the door. So at 7:05 a.m. (8/2/11), I left hoping that NBC and Today went on to report a little more in-depth coverage of the vote than what I saw.

What I saw was a house full of self-important, self-congratulating buffoons patting themselves on the back for a job well done. The lead story - on Today, at any rate - was U.S. Rep. Gabby Giffords' "surprise" appearance to cast her vote. Am I being too cynical, or does that smack of diversionary tactics to pull the viewing public away from the real meat of the story? That is, as we are all painfully aware: our national debt and our economic prospects for the next couple of years. What's going to be hacked out of the budget? How much will taxes increase anyway? And who's going to lose (as if we needed an answer to that)?

I'm not really disputing Gabby Giffords' heroics here. To get up every day and make the progress she has in the face of the extensive injuries she suffered is heroic enough. However, whether this was her idea or it was all planned by some Capitol Hill PR genius, it was a pathetic and disgusting gesture on the government's part, and it was picked up big time by the media: Bring out the invalid to melt America's heart. Maybe it'll forget that the government owes them infinitely more than cheap theatrics for their tax dollars.

They can start making it up to us by finally earning the money we pay them. Because if you think the debt crisis - the economic outlook overall - has been averted, then read this:
http://news.yahoo.com/debt-deal-set-pass-were-costs-045917154.html

One of the points of the article that I found so disturbing, yet not surprising, is that once again, we've been held hostage by Washington parasites. The article points out that because of this "very public and intense squabble in D.C., already-anemic economic growth will be weaker, the unemployment crisis will worsen, income and wealth inequality will deteriorate further and, ironically, the fiscal dynamics will be more challenging," said Mohamed El-Erian, co-chief investment officer of the international bond fund giant Pacific Investment Management Co., or PIMCO.

Another point, made by a Chinese news agency, is that when the donkey and elephant fight, the whole world feels their dispute and suffers. Whether this global suffering continues is almost immaterial compared to the fact that the U.S. - thanks once again to this "squabble" - loses more of its credibility and leadership globally.

Thanks, Washington. I knew things would get worse before they got better, but I didn't think you'd have such a heavy hand in it.