Spring At Last

I hate winter. I hate the cold. I hate the snow. I hate the grayness of it. I hate the trees without leaves. I hate seeing people so bundled up that you can't tell the girls from the boys. 

The time from the leaves falling until the new year isn't too bad. The holidays keep people cheerful or at least distracted. After that I dive deep into the doldrums. Today I saw the beginning of the end of the darkness that afflicts my soul. (You have to love melodrama.)  Today  I sat in front of the TV and watched a whole baseball game. My heart soared. (More melodrama.)

I just spent St. Patrick's Day afternoon watching my Boston Red Sox win. Sure it's only spring training but that's a start. I have  been seeing robins around. Soon the buds on the trees will swell and a little later leaves will happen. My attitude is improving just thinking about it.

But being a cranky conservative, I'm obliged to find something to be cranky about. That is not difficult. As they say in the military, "it is a target rich environment". CPAC has got me cranky because the Republicans still don't get it. They have to stop sniping at each other. The  administration and Democrats in general supply enough targets for all the Republican darts. When you rip each other, no one wins.

I get angry when I see liberals trying to come up with all these end runs around the second amendment. The latest idea seems to be a small tax on guns. This tax will slowly grow until it becomes confiscatory. Of course, this means guns for the rich and connected and none for the poor that live in dangerous neighborhoods.

I get cranky as the President uses sequester to hurt Americans so that he puts pressure on his opposition. I get cranky when he takes credit for anything that he deems as good and takes no responsibility when things go wrong. I despise his willingness to throw anyone under the bus to protect himself. I also hate that he is willing to let laws with which he disagrees go unenforced.

I get cranky when people see what the Dow is doing and think the economy is getting better. It is not. Taxes are up, growth is down, jobs are stagnant, and family incomes are down. There was an article in the Washington Post telling of the plight of Woonsocket, RI. One third of the population exists on food stamps.

I get cranky because my country is in trouble and no one is doing what needs to be done to fix it.