Coming Up Empty

Too windy and cold to work in the yard or golf. Too lazy to do the items that remain on my to-do list. So, I spent a lot of time looking out the window. My view was an angry lake, but one of whitecaps basked in sunlight. Really beautiful with not a boat in sight. But lots of birds despite weather that humans dislike. Gulls were active and a couple of cormorants went fishing.

The entire time I watched, the two cormorants dived and came up empty. I was amazed how long they stayed down before resurfacing. Time and again, a deep dive and no fish. I hope their luck improved as they moved on down the shoreline. The behavior of those two cormorants reminded me of our government bodies, the Executive, the House, and the Senate.

All three bodies keep diving for fish, but come up empty. They take turns looking like ineffective fools. The birds dive in ernest and will catch a meal as they are focused on what is important. Our legislators and leaders are focused on diving, not what is important, eating. The process, image, and power take precedence over fish. Cormorants are smarter than Congress. Democrats and Republicans should now be called cormorons.

Lets hope the cormorons make some pretend progress today and eventually some real progress in straightening out the country's fiscal mess.