Non-science Fridays: Cartoons in Congress edition

How to lose respect and relevance in three easy (dance) steps

Can this really be happening? Congress in public group therapy with Richard 'cartoon of myself' Simmons? Crawl back into your protective bubble and weep my friends, becasue it really happened. Do they know they have 14% approval rating? Obesity is a problem, and Congress' approach to this is to hold a hearing with Mr "Yankee Doodle DAAAAN-DEEEEE" and talked about their traumatic childhoods and self-esteem issues with statements like:

I'm still waiting to get picked for the congressional basketball team

Next week, they'll be looking to Patch Adams for tips on how to fix the health care system.

I've got the solution
I got an e-mail that suggested that I shouldn't critique things unless I had a better plan fully delineated. This put me in mind of an old Fry and Laurie bit (first 1:45):

Happy Friday! (For more good friday laughs, find Hugh and Laurie's 'Privatization of the Police Force', 'Genital Fungus' or 'the word gay' bits)

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It's entirely valid to critique things without having a better plan fully delineated. At least a vague idea of which direction to go in to make it better is nice, though. Too often people come out and critique things while having a *worse* plan fully delineated.

Socialized health care leaps to mind. ;)

PhilB

By Phil Boncer (not verified) on 27 Jul 2008 #permalink

So yes, obesity is a problem. It is, however, a problem for which Congress has exactly zero responsibility, authority, or Constitutional permission to meddle in.

They need to be concentrating on things like delivering the mail, fixing the roads, protecting (not violating) our civil rights, and not bombing other countries that aren't attacking us.

Fatness, steroid-using baseball players, and so on are really none of their purview or business.

PhilB

By Phil Boncer (not verified) on 27 Jul 2008 #permalink

It's entirely valid to critique things without having a better plan fully delineated. At least a vague idea of which direction to go in to make it better is nice, though. Too often people come out and critique things while having a *worse* plan fully delineated.