My View In The Sun: America, Ask For The Ranch Dressing
May 8, 2008
By Tammy R. Lawson
I’ve always been a fan of tacky analogies.
Pretend that you are alone on a bass boat in the middle of the ocean. Ten yards from you are 195 people treading water, and your goal is to swim out to each one and bring them back before they succumb to the ocean’s wrath.
You are an exceptional swimmer. Many of them are not, but you’ll bypass the strong for now and save the weak that are struggling to keep afloat.
Over 40 people are now ’sardined’ onto your vessel. Fatigued and weary, you want to rescue the remaining, but know you can’t save them all. You try to get back into your own boat, but there are so many aboard, there is no room. It starts to sink as you hang onto the side, gasping for breath.
What do you do?
Now, it is no secret that we Americans are spoiled. After all, in the 232 years we’ve been a legitimate union, we’ve come a long way in comparison to some countries that have been established for multiple centuries-where locals and goats drink from the same pail.
Some countries actually think the US is nothing but wasteful because we don’t eat the entire contents of an animal from snout to tail. (Ok, I’ll give’m that one.)
We are a caring nation far beyond our tax paying control, and isn’t it time to step back and realize that it’s starting to take a toll?
We have ‘cared’ ourselves right into a recession, and I’m not afraid to say it.
Last Thursday, President Bush proposed a bill containing $770 million in US food donations and other measures in order to combat global hunger, proclaiming that the United States would “take a lead in fighting the hunger now gripping a greater swath of the developing world”.
What IS it with our levels of government and their impeccable timing? Before I forget, thanks for that 600 dollar drop-in-a-bucket. I’ll stockpile some rice and a barrel of oil.
Global food prices have jumped an average of 43 percent. Doesn’t that include the US? Go ask grandma and grandpa whether they can afford to buy a gallon of milk this week.
The fuel used in getting items onto your table has sent trucking companies into a tail spin. Can you imagine paying a thousand dollars per fill-up? Last week, it easily cost me $20 just driving to Des Moines and back to Marshall County. If Kwik Trip accepted Euros, I would’ve been a lot better off.
To add insult to third world injury, the Afghan military would receive $3.7 billion for counterinsurgency efforts, and the Iraqi military would get $2 billion for the same thing. The President also requested $1.7 billion for Iraq/Afghanistan infrastructure and social programs designed to “win the support of local populations”.
(That region wants us dead, but Colin Powell was right: You break it, you buy it.)
Did you see what our boys came home to at Fort Bragg last week after spending 15 long, difficult months risking their lives in Iraq? Sewage covered bathroom floors and broken toilet seats that in any neighborhood would’ve been condemned.
Oh, the analogy: By most accounts, there are 195 countries on this planet, and if we keep trying to save all, America The Boat O’ Full will go down right along with them.
I’m not implying we shouldn’t help our fellow man around the globe. I’m saying we need to cater a little more to our own or we won’t financially be able to help even ourselves.
Therefore, be ready when the guy at the drive-thru asks, “Do you want any dipping sauce with that?” and get the ranch dressing. I hear it can make even a cow snout value meal taste good.
Marshall County Sun© Copyright 2008
