America: 50 States = 100 Senators, less 50 Democrats, + 2 Independents, (wait they’re already counted) Minus 2 That Voted Yes but Didn’t Want to, So That Equals …
I'm confused
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The Big Beautiful Bill’s passage through the Senate wasn’t a slam dunk. It was tied 50/50. However, this isn’t sports, so there was no winning field goal in overtime or walk-off home run.
VP Vance stepped to the plate, stood upright, or maybe he sat down, not all that important in the end, and said yes.
There are too many moving parts (I mean senators) to speak about all of them, so I’ll focus on one – Sen. Murkowski from Alaska.
She voted yes. Then immediately stated that she hoped the House would improve upon the bill she just passed, because it wasn’t perfect and it needed work, before being sent to the president.
Kind of like ordering a tuna melt at a restaurant when you hate fish, but you’re hopeful the waiter will do something cool between the kitchen and your table to make it work.
Another senator (sorry, I did say I would focus on one, but…), Sen. Rand R-KY, said Murkowski voted yes (he voted no) after the GOP added “stuff” to the bill that benefited that state. That’s what they said, he said.
Sen. Murkowski was offended by his comments and said, “I have an obligation to the people of the state of Alaska, and I live up to that every single day.” She also admitted to reporters that this has been an “agonizing” experience.
Wait a sec.
I thought an agonizing experience was a woman giving birth to a child.
Or a guy getting hit by a line drive off a baseball bat in the lower quadrant.
Or getting a root canal in the back seat of a taxi.
I just don’t know why voting NO on a bill that slashes much-needed medical support, lunches for children, and many other essentials for millions and millions of Americans, and instead allows the 1% of America even more tax breaks, would be an agonizing experience.
What am I missing?
Wait! I’m looking at this all wrong.
What was meant is that voting yes on a bill that you know, deep down in the places where ethics, integrity, and compassion reside, is absolutely the wrong thing to do, but you do it anyway – and that’s agonizing.
Now I get it. She was just being honest. Whew, for a second, I was thinking totally bad things about the lady. My bad.
Being a senator is tough; no, it really is. Like being a meter maid. If you don’t give out tickets, then people park there all day and no one else gets to go inside Starbucks. But if you do give out tickets then you’re taking food off their tables and the kids go hungry.
Tough.
I guess Politics is just confusing and tough in general. And expensive. Somebody has to pay the tab.
Like when Uncle Ernie buys you five dinners in a row, eventually you know he’s going to ask for something in return. You’re just hoping it won’t be about that new thing he’s into.
Yeah, American Politics is tough, and it takes a special breed to withstand the constant pressures, the constant demand for favors. The constant testing of one’s integrity and accountability, and for what?
Free lifetime health insurance.
A great pension.
Free trips on jets and cozying with billionaires.
Adoration from the masses and that dopamine rush every time those lobbyists come bearing gifts. (All legal, of course.)
Endless sound bites and being in the public eye as the hero.
Wait a sec! Is there a Senate seat available in my state?
I'm going to go out on a limb here and suggest that the entire political process today is an agonizing process, but not for those involved in it. At least they are paid something for their "agony". The rest of us have watched the nation devolve into a pointless shit show of meaningless drivel that resolves nothing. That is agony on many levels. Many Americans have divorced themselves from caring for good reason. Being a slave to total morons is much worse than being a slave to imaginary success. Some of us just haven't figured that out yet.