I encountered two "fantasies" today, one pleasant, the other quite odious.
The first fantasy was that Republicans are working to help average Americans. Upon reading the news this evening, after a long day at work, I was dismayed to hear that a large group of Republicans in the House of Representatives are trying to bring all work in that chamber to a halt. Their weapon? Scores of worthless and pointless amendments to the $61 Billion dollar Agriculture bill. Rep. Tom Coburn (R-OK) has confessed that "this is not about the agriculture bill." He is challenging the leadership of Speaker Hastert and threatening another Republican governmental shutdown this fall if the gridlock he is causing cannot be cleared-up.
Is this what Congress-people were elected for? To PREVENT the passing of vital legislation? To grandstand and make themselves seem important? To intentionally shut-down the government?
The second fantasy was George Lucas' "Star Wars - The Phantom Menace." This was so much more pleasant that it made me forget about Republican gridlock and Congress on the NRA's payroll. For a couple of hours my son and I and some of his friends traveled to a galaxy far, far away and watched good struggle against evil (for the third time). In retrospect, it did have one thing in common with the Republican representatives. The evil Darth Sideous (aka: Senator Palpatine) uses the same trick the Republicans do, he ties the legislature up in procedural knots to further his evil plans and help the "trade federation" extend their economic exploitation of peaceful and innocent peoples.
OK, that's not a fair comparison. Star Wars is a movie that will still be wildly popular in another twenty years. Tom Coburn is just another Republican flunky who will only be a tiny footnote in the congressional record, forgotten by all but his relatives.
The galaxy is a pretty good place after all!