The lost earrings!

Happy Wednesday! Today we’re not going to do a news post ... mostly because I don’t feel like doing the research. So, let’s see if I can be lazy and entertain you anyway. Part one is a conversation between me and my 4 year old daughter, Winky, as best I can remember it. Part two is a short commentary about the partisan nonsense in Washington.


Me: Hey, Winks, where are your earrings?

Winky: I don’t know.

Me: Did you take them out?

Winky: Um ... (eyes roll up and search the ceiling for an answer) yes? Um ... (eyes return to normal) I lost them.

Me: Where did you take them out?

Winky: I think I lost them at school.

Me: On the play ground, or in class? Where were you when you took them out?

Winky: (Without hesitation) In Mommy’s bed.

Me: Did you leave them there or take them somewhere else?

Winky: I lost them in the bed ... I think.

Me: Who took them out?

Winky (eyes back to the ceiling) Mommy.

Me: (ignoring previous answer) So after you took them out in the bed, where did you put them?

Winky: I think I saw them get lost on the little table.

Me: So you put them on the bed side table?

Winky: No, Daddy! They got lost from the table.

Me: Why did you take them out?

Winky: They fell off and then they got lost.

Me: So, who took them out?

Winky: I don’t know.

Me: Where are they now?

Winky: They’re lost at school.

Me: Did you give them to one of the other kids?

Winky: (searching the ceiling) No, they got lost at home.

At this point I gave up ... it could’ve gone on forever like that, the earrings are still lost, I’m sure she knows right where they are, she holds up under questioning like James Bond.

Here’s how our allies do it (Germany, England, Israel) once legislators are elected the political parties form alliances with other parties and work to pass legislation. Here at home, it’s different. Once elected legislators do everything they can to make sure the other party does not achieve any of their objectives. “I can only win if you lose.” Zero-sum, time wasting nonsense! Political victory is not defined by reaching the finish line, it is defined by tripping the other runners so that they do not finish the race. And if noone reaches the finish line, then by definition, everyone loses. It has not always been this way, this type of childishness was once saved for the campaign trail. Once elected, both parties would work out their differences on an issue and come to some sort of compromise (I mean real compromise ... like when you sacrifice and the other guy sacrifices and you are left without the most extreme points from both sides. Our government was designed to work that way. It was designed to maintain the status quo, to exclude emotional fervor from the political landscape (that’s why only a third of the senate is elected every two years). So, the health care bill ... the Republicans want to reform the malpractice system and allow people to shop for insurance without regard for which state they live in. The Democrats want to cover every one in the country and can’t agree among themselves. So here’s the compromise ... TORT reform stays, portability stays, lose the oversight issues that scare Republicans and offer everyone health insurance. Forget 2,000 pages ... it’s my one page legislation.

Happy Wednesday!