By Fred Owens
At
first it was fun being sick. I got to stay home in my pajamas and read
books and not do nothing. Just some coughing and sore throat and
sniffling...... Pause ..... Are people actually interested in my minor
ailments? ..... No, but I get love and sympathy here on the home front.
I'm really okay.
Back to the national
disgrace. Trump shutdown the government. This was the wrong thing to do.
I work on a simple model now. If there is a problem, any problem, and
Trump gets involved, he will make it worse. He creates chaos wherever he
goes. Border security -- Trump turned that into a crisis and for some
reason we need to close the national parks unless he gets his way.
What
about the Passport Office at the Dept of State? I'm trying to find out
if it is open for business these days. I need to get my passport
renewed. That seems to be an essential function of government. Is that
asking too much?
I hope Nancy Pelosi keeps a
firm grip on things. She is the right woman in the right place. We don't
need a wall across Texas. The Rio Grande River forms a natural boundary
between our two countries. A wall would have to be set back from the
actual border on the river. The Rio Grande Valley from Roma to
Brownsville is an irrigated agricultural paradise, and a heavenly place
for birdwatchers who come down from the cold country in winter time to
camp in their RVs up and down the river bank. The wall would need to be
built set back from the river and create a Demilitarized Zone and be a
major disruption in the lives of the people who live there. No, a wall
is a bad idea. On a practical basis it won't work. On a symbolic level
it is a disaster.
The shutdown is a form
of blackmail. Fund my wall or I will shoot this dog, Trump says. We
cannot give into that. But let's say you think a wall is a good idea --
well, that's simple. you vote for representatives in Congress who will
fund it. Then it gets built. But we don't do it by presidential fiat,
unless there is a national emergency, and there is no such emergency.
But
you have heard this all before in other news outlets of a liberal
inclination. The thing about Frog Hospital is I try to tell you
something you don't already know and that can lead me into quirky
corners. Well, I don't feel like being the oddball today, I yearn to
speak for the common man. The shutdown is bad for business, business in
the broadest sense. We are engaged in a titanic stubborn contest between
Trump and Pelosi. They are nose to nose. I believe, I hope, she can
outlast him on that level. But it's the people who suffer in the
shutdown that will decide the outcome. And it will likely come to a head
at the airports as the TSA staff calls in sick and the lines get longer
and longer. And then people will start to get mad. People like me
aren't mad now, not yet, but we're going to get mad, and that anger will
build to a crescendo and then slowly a tiny crack will grow in the
glacier of Trump's monumental mask. Slowly, then quicker, then racing
and broader as the nose falls off into the sea like a mighty ancient
obelisk tumbling into a thousand broken pieces. People will blame Trump
and call Pelosi a hero! I swear it will happen this way.
Back at the Ranch. As
I mentioned at the start of today's story, I have been down with five
days of a winter cold. I have been resting on the couch for most of this
time. I would like to write more often about health care, common
maladies and life-threatening illnesses. But I don't know if the Frog
Hospital readership wants me to do that. I found that people readily
appreciate the attention if I make inquiries about their health. They
are willing to share the details of their struggle to regain health. Do
you want to hear those stories? Maybe not from me.
Twenty
Years. Frog
Hospital is celebrating 20 years of publication in 2019. Over 700 issues and
some of them were pretty good. Our Credo has always been tell the truth and
don't waste people's time -- meaning keep it interesting. We have done that.
And we plan to keep going. Our motto is Onward!
Fred
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