"Scientists Discover That Most Voting Adults Have No Brain"

In today's Washington Post, columnist E.J. Dionne writes, "If the midterm elections were held now, Republicans would probably take control of the House of Representatives".

Imagine that, millions of Americans who are suffering from the incurable "McDonald's Syndrome" still think there is a "Fast Food" fix for the mess that El' Dubya left behind when he vacated the White House in January of 2009.

I'm not implying that President Obama has done an outstanding job in governing the country and in eliminating the economic problems he inherited. For any president, congress and senate to meld a broken government into shape is not unlike taking an out of shape 50 year old male and getting him back into top condition. It takes a lot longer than most are willing to wait, or concede.

In the 1950's Ray Kroc and the McDonald's brothers started what can be said as the beginnings of the "McDonald's Syndrome", or McSy's.

Were they aware of the disease they had wrought on the American public?

I seriously doubt they were aware.

It can be argued that "McSy's" goes back as far as Henry Ford's assembly line, a process that created the fast production of automobiles.

I think; however, that it was the start of fast food service, which was followed by all kinds of technologies that now bring us instant communications, entertainment, and much more.

I believe that the time frame between the mid 1950's through the early 1990's was the true foundation for the spread of McSy's.

It was during that time period for which we saw the blossoming of generations of impatient Americans.

As our lives have evolved over the last 50 years, we have come to expect, or even demand that everything is provided, completed or fixed before you can text boo on the latest cell phone.

I can remember when people didn't care if you didn't call them on a phone for days, or weeks. Now, if you don't call someone every 10 minutes, something must be wrong.

Right?

The impatience of Americans brought on by McSy's, and their inability to wait for things to be fixed when the fix requires time frames longer than it takes a windows PC to boot up, that alone will prevent any current, or future law maker, from being able to be an effective leader or problem solver.

10 years ago when Americans tired of the Clinton White House they demanded a change. What Americans didn't demand is that our government become broken and ineffective because of squabbling and the inability to come to a consensus.

Unfortunately, that's exactly what they got and they shouldn't have been shocked that it happened. As they say, if you don't know your history you are doomed to repeat it.

The history of Bush was as a failed manager, in business, as Governor and then as President. The evidence was and is pretty cut and dry.

When Bush came into office in January of 2001, it was easy for him to undue a surplus and a balanced budget, both of which he inherited from Clinton.

I know, you are probably saying, Bill Clinton is a "pervert"? In many instances it can be said that, yes it's true, former President Bill Clinton is a pervert.

In you heart of hearts, which was worse, a soiled blue dress or thousands of dead soldiers killed in Iraq because of a lie?

What was worse. An embarrassing moment on TV and hearing "I did not have sexual relations with that woman", or tens of thousands of maimed, crippled or mentally unstable American troops because of a lie? All of that does not even mention or include the untold number of innocent dead Iraqi citizens. Yes, Saddam Hussein was a thug, a criminal and murderer. But was it all worth the cost?

What those who voted for Bush also fail to realizes is that it can also be said that Clinton understood how to govern. He also understood how to handle foreign affairs. Oops, I meant foreign relations. I think that is better phrase when talking about Clinton's abilities.

With Bush, it can be said that Bush knew how to cut taxes to make people happy. We know this because he cut taxes as the Governor of Texas. So, I guess he thought that when he came into power as U.S. President, why not do the same for all Americans and cut taxes. I just wished that "that" 2001 tax cut gave me more than a $600 check that I had to claim on my annual tax return as additional income.

The trillion dollar tax cut he oversaw while at the helm of the good ship U.S.S. America was the turning point of our severe budgetary issues in this country because like with his tax cut in Texas, he had no method for replacing the lost revenues. It's one thing to cut taxes, it's another to figure out how you will pay for things with the lost revenue. Just ask former Virginia Governor Jim Gilmore.

Couple the loss of revenue from the 2001 tax cut with Bush's inability to handle foreign relations (unlike every president the U.S. has had over the last 75+ years) and you have nail in the coffin to our economy.

If Bush had been able to work things out diplomatically concerning a number of issues internationally back in 2001 and 2002, perhaps there would have only been one war to handle by our military after the U.S. was attacked on September 11, 2001. The right war was the war in Afghanistan.

Instead, there seemed to be this rush to invade Iraq based on lies by members of Bushes administration and his desire to finish the job daddy didn't.

With two wars going on now for eight years, coupled with a huge tax cut in 2001. It was easy to kill the surplus and a balanced budget this country witnessed under Clinton and to now have no end in sight to fixing our governments budget issues.

The McDonald's Syndrome inflicting many Americans is the disease that will prevent our country from reconciling the many issues we, and our government faces in the summer of 2010, and for many years to come.

With the high costs of two wars, and the lost revenue from 2001's tax cut, it's nearly impossible for any President, house of representatives, and senate to fix all the problems we face as a country and still keep the programs that are mandatory and necessary to running our country efficiently, effectively, and safely.

So, Americans want a change, again, in the House of Representative to fix the impossible? They first need to vote for learning how to be patient.

- The Pilgrim