Let's hear it for the US of A

Back in the days when the Soviet Union and the USA were rival world powers, a friend of mine used to tell me the difference between the two powers was this:

In the Soviet Union, nobody knew till 40 years later that Stalin had decided in the 1940s the Red Army was riddled with traitors. This was despite the magnificent - you could say insane - sacrifice the army had made in World War 2 to save Родина - Rodina - the Motherland. He is said to have demanded purge after purge, sending out orders to various army battalions that he wanted the following officers treated as traitors: 1 colonel, 2 majors, 3 captains, 6 lieutenants. Nobody dared disobey, so heroes of World War 2 were lined up and shot.

The USA, on the other hand, believed in having everything out there in public where the country could see it: Nixon was guilty of a gross misuse of his powers as president and only escaped being impeached because he made a deal - the kind now made routinely by thieves and murderers - and his sacking was all done in public. President Kennedy's assassination was investigated over and over in public. Bill Clinton's sexual adventures nearly turned into a congressional enquiry. And so on.

Back then, I suppose it was a point of pride that the USA had no cover-ups (although we now know that was hogwash - you only have to look up the history of the FBI on Wikipedia to see that).

Can I be the only person not shocked but kind of embarrassed at the latest goings on in US politics? In the full glare of publicity, the Republican Tea Party tried to force Obama to give up his healthcare plans. Elderly men with bad dye jobs came forward day after day to harangue the public on the evils of Obamacare and Obama's refusal to back down, while the public - and not just federal employees - watched amazed. The final straw tonight came as a compromise was reached (I'm glad by the way that common sense and the need for health care for the 49 million people uninsured at the moment in the US prevailed) and a stenographer - let me repeat that: a member of the admin staff of the Congress - got to her feet and harangued the members over a microphone about the evils of Freemasonry. Truly the crazies have taken over.

I hope this is the end of the Tea Party and their nutty ideas, but I have an awful feeling the USA has bitten off more than it can chew this time with its public display of incompetence. I can just hear the Chinese: Hello, Mr Obama. We own most of your debt. We've come to help you to settle this problem...









Can I be the only person