Meet the New Year, same as the Old Year

I get it — it’s been a rough year for Americans. The wrong person won an election while too many rock stars, movie stars, and shooting stars died. How horribly depressing can life get? No wonder people want to party like it is 1999 again, because those were the good old days, right? Wrong.

The coming year is nothing more than the marking of time and nothing else. If you are expecting great changes to take place, be prepared to be disappointed in another bad year. Trump, Clinton, or anyone else won’t matter. Democrats have already indicated they will do what Republicans have done for eight years: stall anything and everything they can. If Hillary were headed to the White House, the GOP would have just continued what they began in 2008.

Now for the harsh part of this column. You, make that we, deserve it. In fact, we really do not deserve a functioning government which is why we do not have a functioning government. We really do get what we deserve and at this point in our history, we’re getting it in the worst way because we have come to a point where we simply feel entitled to a functioning government, just like we feel entitled to everything else. You see, work, one of the few four letter words Americans avoid at all cost, is no longer part of the equation.

Somehow, we are under the impression government is supposed to solve all out problems. Personally, I believe this is the fault of the Obama philosophy which has been a continuation of Bill Clinton, and yes, “It Takes A Village” Hillary, which began increasing our government to such a bloated size of programs that it is now caving under its weight in much the same way many over weight Americans are because they resist portion control.

It’s time we all wake up and smell the stench and do something more than whine or post memes on social media. I wonder, how the hell do some people get their garbage to the street once a week without having a government employee show up and do it for them?

Don’t expect government to solve your problems when you cannot function in the most civil manner.

A nation more willing to fight over a spot in the return line or over the last flat screen TV, but not willing to fight over low working wages, the high cost of health care, or the declining state of our roads and bridges does not deserve a working government.

A nation that has to ask professors to cancel mid terms so college students can mourn the election results does not deserve a functioning government.

A nation that can’t keep their own from killing each other, but is willing to wage war overseas does not deserve a functioning government.

A nation that settles on a narcissist and a serial liar as their choices for their next leader does not deserve a functioning government.

A nation that remains ignorant of their rights and the rights of all its citizens does not deserve a functioning government.

A nation that fails to comprehend the roles of the three branches of government does not deserve a functioning government.

A nation that reelects 90 percent of the people they think so little of does not deserve a functioning government.

A nation where comedians are relied on more than the media to provide them with accurate information does not deserve a functioning government.

A nation that legitimizes hate groups does not deserve a functioning government.

A nation that remains ignorant of history and how it repeats itself when ignored does not deserve a functioning government.

A nation that cares more about their cell phones than the people they are with does not deserve a functioning government.

A nation that boycotts the inauguration and thinks this makes a difference does not deserve a functioning government.

A nation that worries more about the story line of the next Star Wars film now that one of its stars has died than it does the condition of our planet does not deserve a functioning government.

A nation that refuses to see the similarities between their religion and the religions of others does not deserve a functioning government.

A nation that can’t read more than a headline does not deserve a functioning government.

Finally, a nation that prefers Hammurabi’s Code over the Golden Rule does not deserve a functioning government.

2016 is in the books. It can’t be rewritten. However, 2017 is ours to write, but that requires each of us to lift pen to paper and begin the process rather than expecting the book be written for us.