As I fell asleep the night before my press deadline, I was thinking about how to begin my article. Should I find a positive, common-sense approach, or should I just go with the biting — sorry if you don’t like it; that’s the way it works. Fortunately for me, Mother Nature and my 4-legged feline daughter Leia provided the answers.
See, Leia goes in and out the doggie door just like my canine companions, Buck and Finn. This time of year, one of the things you have to guard against is them bringing ticks in. They are protected against the pesky parasite, but they often ride them in like a horse and then end up on the human that loves them up. This past week, after coming back into the house, Leia fell asleep across my chest as I watched the Phillies game. As I awoke early the next morning and hit the shower, a tick was attached right in that very spot.
This has happened before, and I advise everybody, even if you haven’t been out hiking or taking your 4-legged friend for a walk, daily tick checks are a must in our neck of the woods. And it doesn’t matter if you live right in the heart of town or in the most remote setting.
The possible effects of the bite and attachment of that very small insect on the human body have been well documented. I have had several folks tell me about the effects of Lyme disease and how it’s changed their life in ways they could have never imagined. Please do your daily tick checks.
I know you’re wondering where I’m going with this. So, to be blunt, we have way too many ticks in Washington. It only takes one term of attachment to create problems. Our Nation has the problems we do because of too many elected individuals who have attached themselves for a lifetime. They have lived at the trough of the American taxpayer and continue to suck the very life and liberty out of our Nation. We have a sitting president who has been elected for over 40 years and whose beliefs and policies have swung whatever way the wind blows to keep him elected. Our current vice president completely undressed him over many of these issues in debate as she was seeking to become the presidential nominee. Obviously, this fell upon deaf ears as the voters of the democratic party knew she was not electable.
This problem also runs deep throughout Congress. Let me be clear: this is a bipartisan problem, and when Mitt Romney becomes the voice of reason not only for the Republican party but for all in Congress, that’s saying something. This is exactly what happened last week in reference to the age of many elected. Incidentally, Editor Steph brought this to my attention. I must add here I never thought Mitt Romney was any voice of reason, and is definitely part of the problem. However, he is the only one I’ve heard stand up and call out his fellow elected.
Our Nation does not need an 80-yearold president from either party; we need better candidates to choose from, not tainted by a lifetime in politics. We need new candidates with fresh ideas running on both sides of the ticket for every office, including dog catcher. Case in point, look at where the everyday hardworking, tax-paying American is currently at economically. They are suffering from an overabundance of tick bites.
As far as the budget impasse in Washington, it’s just another example of our elected putting party over the American people. The biggest injustice in all of this is that those who provide our very freedom and protect us from those who threaten our well-being are the first to be affected by this.
The solution to this problem is a simple one I wrote last August in regard to our state. When we are reaching a potential impasse, those elected, their entire staff, and anybody who works in any way for them do not get paid a month prior to the budget deadline. Let them look everybody in the eye that’s going unpaid, especially the people that really need their paychecks. I’m talking all the way down to the person who puts the toilet paper on the roll for them. That would put a whole new pressure on those sitting fat and happy at the top of the Washington food chain. I better stop there.
May God Bless and help America.
