On Forest Fires and Fiscal Cliffs

It seems we're gearing up for more budgetary battles in Washington, which will determine the rate at which this nation bankrupts itself. The is a meme running around the conservative websites I frequent that I like to use myself from time to time, and I would like to introduce it to you here, on the off chance you haven't seen it yet.

When we think of forest fires, most of us think of destruction and death and disaster. We watch the crazy stuff that goes on out in California and Colorado, with people and animals fleeing the flames, and houses and communities going up in smoke.

What we don't often think of is that a forest fire also has a cleansing effect on the very country it burns: It clears the old growth out, making way for new generations of forest flora to take the place of that which has been destroyed. In fact, the seed comes of certain conifers won't release the seeds unless exposed to temperatures generally found only during a forest fire. In this way nature perpetuates the forest, with new life succeeding that which had passed.

Now, looking at the finances of this nation, and the spineless jellyfish that, generally, are in charge of those finances, we can easily see that there will be one fiscal cliff after another, until, eventually, we can't avoid going over. The question isn't if we will go over, but when, in my opinion. We are on the road to becoming Greece and Spain and France, and there is no political will in Washington to keep this from happening,

So, what I say is this: Stop avoiding the fiscal cliff. It's coming one way or the other, and the longer we put it off, the worse the inevitable crash is going to be. We need a purgative forest fire in the nation's finances, a cleansing that can only come when out credit goes up in flames. And when the flames have gone, the seed of the America that is being taken from us and our children can take root and freedom and responsibility can flourish again.

So, while Washington is running around trying to put out a forest fire with a bucket brigade, what I say is:

Let It Burn.