A letter to the editor published May 24th in The Tennessean newspaper tickled my fancy to the core.
It seems letter writer Bill Terry is of the opinion that "Valentine's anger is misdirected." Phil Valentine is of course the popular conservative talk show host who recently made news by locally supporting a national wave of tea parties. I believe Phil Valentine is a voice of reason here in Tennessee and nationwide.
Sure, he is angry. Anyone with a pulse should be. In fact, we all need to be way past angry. When it comes to bailouts and government spending and government waste, both the Republicans and the Democrats have failed us. It's just the truth. To deny this is to deny the very reality staring you in the face. That a third party cannot even come close to winning the presidency is evidence we have two party rule with not a whole lot of difference right now. Both parties are united in their desire to find insidious ways to tax and spend us into oblivion.
But Phil Valentine does not have a gang, and there are no followers. Um, that would be President Obama and a mainstream media who apparently can't wait until he wakes up in the morning for crying out loud. Bill Terry confesses that he "spent the last eight years being angry." That's a long time. I hope he was not angry that George Bush had a hand in us not getting attacked again after 9/11. President Bush, like every politician, makes mistakes. Nothing new here.
However, if you stay angry for eight straight years, that doesn't have much to do with who is sitting in the White House. Or maybe I'm missing something.
Anger is a good thing if there is action behind it. What I find amusing is that when conservatives and libertarians mobilize, we're angry and disgusted. When liberals and those on the far left mobilize, they're passionate and concerned. Again, it makes no difference to the vast majority of the country that President Obama happens to be black. What does matter is understanding the scope and size of government he wants placed in our lives. And subsequently, the lives of our children and grandchildren.
I think I read something where President Obama wants to make the Pell grant for college students an entitlement like Medicare. Where is this money coming from? We really need to be asking this question more and more. A college education should not be a government entitlement. There are just some kids who do not belong anywhere near a college right after high school. All that the government (us) gives away with no oversight, will in time take away with no rhyme or reason.
Bill Terry could not be more wrong when he claims "it was the lack of adequate regulation of the markets that got us into the financial mess that we are in." I don't think it was the private sector that forced banks to give risky loans to folks who shouldn't have been buying a home. As far as avarice and fraud go, it's neither Republican or Democratic. It knows no particular political party.
We all lose when no one is responsible for anything anymore.
Tony Zizza is a free-lance writer who lives in Hermitage, TN. He writes frequently about politics and popular culture. Email: tz777@comcast.net.
