August In and Out

August came in like a lion and is going out like a -- lamb?

August came in with the nation distressed over Republican intransigence and grand-standing over some arbitrary debt ceiling. Most Americans rightly saw the whole episode as a rather shoddy attempt by far-right partisans to make political points and set policy through a manufactured crisis. Or, at the least, Americans blamed Republicans more than Democrats for the fiasco. Again, this was right.

The last day of the month reigns notably quiet in most areas. But this is after rather significant earthquakes struck the eastern seaboard and Colorado, and after a low-rated but large hurricane struck the East Coast, wreaking havoc due to its size and slow-moving pace -- especially in Vermont and regions south.

The one bright spot in this otherwise rather fright-filled month was the relief of having our Congress (read "House") in recess. I will gladly be among the first to predict a change in party leadership come January 2013 in the House, barring a tanking on the part of the Democratic Presidential nominee -- or some other manufactured disaster.

Let's hope one of these years (must we wait for 2013?) will provide more honesty and more true compassion for the people who inhabit these shores and other shores near and far around this dear yet crisis-ridden globe.