What I Hate About Politics

Last week, I was reminded of how much I hate politics, even though I can't get enough of it. But I hate politics today because of the lack of concern politicians have for citizens. It's just a game, a conquest for power, that is more concerned with the next dollar collected than with solving real problems.

For 6 1/2 years, President Bush has signed into law every spending bill that came across his desk, caring nothing for the pork. For 6 1/2 years, Bush has expanded government, making it larger and larger, never once concerned about the growing national government.

Last November, Democrats campaigned partly on the need for fiscal responsibility and accountability in government.

Last week, Bush vetoed HR 3043, the Fiscal 2008 Labor, Health and Human Services Appropriations bill citing too much pork. Wow, it took him 6 1/2 years to decide to do this? And of all the bills he decides to take this stand on he singles out this one? Why am I so upset about it? Because this bill authorized the use of $165 million for autism research and treatment as authorized by the Combating Autism Act, which one year ago Bush had called a very important act that needed support. And now, he finds fiscal discipline after 6 1/2 years due to $20 billion worth of pork in the $600 billion bill. I don't fault Bush for being fiscally responsible, but I do fault him for failing to do so for all this time only now to decide to veto. Perhaps if he had vetoed other spending bills, this one wouldn't have been laden with so much pork.

As for the Democrats, who talk so much about the need for accountability and decreasing deficits, here they are adding funding for a prison museum, sailing school, and classes in Portuguese among other things. Bush called the Democratic congress a "teenager with a new credit card," which is an accurate description, but Bush has acted like a willful parent signing off on all these measures for the bulk of his presidency.

Through all of this, who gets penalized? One in 120 children and 1 in 94 boys who are on the autism spectrum. In this game of politics, where the issue is more about who can make who look bad, the American people, specifically those dealing with autism, are the ones who get hurt. Wouldn't it be nice to see government try to solve problems rather than play games? Well, that's why I hate politics.

Remembering Charla

Our family lost someone this week who had become part of our every day life. She was our front porch spider, Charla. For months, Charla had resided in the corner of our front porch with a finely kept, intricately designed web, which she always maintained so nicely. Every once in a while, the web would look rather ragged; however, by morning Charla would have it tightly woven again, with the zig-zag pattern prominently displayed. She got her name from Claire, I think, who when referring to her as Charlotte, as in Charlotte's Web, instead called her Charla, a name no doubt she knew from our aunt and real estate agent. (If by some chance aunt Charla reads this, I promise the spider being named Charla was the kids' doing, and something you can even be proud of, because Charla was a magnificent spider.)

Last night, we noticed Charla was missing. Claire said she probably went to her friend's house, Grant thought she was probably sleeping, Jessica and I feared the worst. Before I went to bed, I checked again, still no Charla. The web is failing and it doesn't appear that Charla is still here to fix it again. Then this morning - still no Charla.

Charla reminded us of the beauty of God's Creation. How she worked on her web as an artist, wrapped up her prey, protected her egg sacks, and did it all so gracefully. Jonathan Edwards, a 19th Century American Evangelical, remarked that the ultimate thing shown by the spinning spider is "the exuberant goodness of the Creator, who hath not only provided for all the necessities, but also for the pleasure and recreation of all sorts of creatures, even insects."

So thank you Charla, for reminding us daily of the beauty and intricacy of all of God's creation. And should one day your offspring appear, they will have a welcoming home in the corner of our front porch.

Charla
July -November 2007