Today is a day of frustrations. In the United States the only open government doors will be the doors that allow people to pad the politicians who are supposed to keep the other doors open but won't. It is a day of anger and strife. Some people will be told that because our overpaid, bloated Senators and Congressmen who wouldn't vote to put themselves out if they were on fire if it somehow gave a benefit to the other political party's trite banality, didn't do the job they were elected to do. Once more the United States enters the beginning of its fiscal year without a budget and it is on pace to do so without even a Continuing Resolution--that political ploy that is supposed to send the message of "we didn't get it yet but we're almost there." A general consensus is that 2009 is the last time we had a budget passed. I'm not sure that's correct, but the point is the same CR after CR is no way to fund anything. Most CRs are used to simply fund the government at the level it was last year. If you got $100 last year here's $100 this year. So clearly the reason the fat bastages can't agree how to tie their shoes this year is that one group wants to fund something we have never had before. Simultaneously funding at the same level as year and providing new funds, what's the harm in that?
I rail against stupidity and stupidity has a name. It is the United States Senate. It is the United States House of Representatives. It is the Democratic Party. It is the Republican Party. It is the President of the United States. This is the face of stupidity and it is not in any order.
And on this day of utter stupidity, where the only people who will make a buck working for the government in the United States are the assholes that aren't allowing anyone else who works for the United States government to make a buck today, I am proud to be an American.
Proud! To be an American! Smile on my face proud. I mean deep-seated, no sarcasm, stand tall in the saddle, bleed red, white and blue, proud to be an American! American by birth, Southern by the Grace of God. Both are why I am here. And that is why today is a day of frustrations.
You see, today is the first day that my office will be working without Raziq. My office is one of only two I know in Afghanistan to work with Local Nationals day in and day out. I have several Afghans who come in, work a full day, and go home at night in my office. It allows me to mentor and train the Afghan Engineers who will carry on the work of building and pushing this country forward after we leave. It allows me a chance to learn about the local cultures, traditions, and to eat some local food (the grapes are fantastic). But Raziq is relocating.
A few weeks back, Raziq hosted a gathering in his house. Where he made some less than flattering remarks about President Karzai. Someone recorded it, and now Raziq and his family are not safe. He is relocating away from his home, Herat, because he is not safe. He doesn't have a job where he's going but he's moving his wife and children. Because he can't speak his mind about his government the way every political pundit, analyst, newscaster, businessman, little league ball coach, military member, or unemployed person can in our country.
Rail against the government, it's your right. Be proud you are American and can rail against the government. And pray for my friend Raziq as he starts his new life where he continues to not be able to do the same.
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