Addicted to Power

Rush Limbaugh had some interesting commentary on the Democratic party on Thursday:

CALLER: “[W]hat do the Democrats want? They own the car industry. They don’t want us to go to college. What do they want? At the end of this, what do they want? They’re going to have all the power, and what do they want?”

Rush made an insightful comparison of the Democrats’ irrational policies with that of the chemically dependent:

LIMBAUGH: “Have you ever had a genuine addiction to anything? … Well, I have. I have. I have, and let me tell you about it. It makes you entirely unreasonable and irrational. It is all you care about. Nothing else matters. No matter how important to you otherwise, it doesn’t matter as much as the addiction. Feeding it, the fear of not being able to, is what animates your existence every day. These people are addicted to power, because they think it is their birthright. And I’m not just talking about the people in Washington, elected officials. I’m talking about some of — not all, but some of — the rank-and-file, madcap, insane liberals that you will find blogging, that you will find e-mailing, that you will find on the protest march. Their lives are basically meaningless. The addiction to power and dominance and control is what drives them. And the thing about an addiction is, it can never be satisfied.

Well, I have. I have. I have, and let me tell you about it. It makes you entirely unreasonable and irrational. It is all you care about. Nothing else matters. No matter how important to you otherwise, it doesn’t matter as much as the addiction. Feeding it, the fear of not being able to, is what animates your existence every day. These people are addicted to power, because they think it is their birthright. And I’m not just talking about the people in Washington, elected officials. I’m talking about some of — not all, but some of — the rank-and-file, madcap, insane liberals that you will find blogging, that you will find e-mailing, that you will find on the protest march. Their lives are basically meaningless. The addiction to power and dominance and control is what drives them. And the thing about an addiction is, it can never be satisfied.”

The caller followed-up with:

CALLER: “But after they destroy our country, where’s their power?”

Rush’s reply:

LIMBAUGH: “What do addicts do? They destroy themselves. They do. They destroy themselves, and they destroy the things that are most important to them.”

I couldn’t help but think of Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle when I was listening to this segment.   You can find the original transcript here:

• Transcript: http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/home/daily/site_051409/content/01125112.guest.html

Of course, this attitude isn’t limited to just the left – I think it is common among most politicians today.

In search of serenity

“Yesterday is history,
tomorrow’s a mystery.
Today is a gift -
that’s why they call it the present.”

I was first told the above phrase by a friend of mine, the same friend who called me today with some grim news. A mutual friend of ours died last night of an overdose. The paramedics tried to revive him but were unsuccessful.

I hadn’t talked to him in quite awhile (unfortunate, since he lives less than a mile from me), so I contacted him last night and asked if he wanted to get together.   He said that he wanted to, but had some plans that might fall though, and would give me a call later.  I texted him at 6:30pm last night to see what he was up to.  He said his plans fell through, but he had some unexpected visitors. No problem – we decided to raincheck it.

I just got the call tonight a little after 8:00pm. He had a lot of issues with depression, which caused him to use, which got him into trouble, which contributed to his low self-worth.  It was a vicious cycle.   I guess I always hoped and assumed that he would eventually pull through.

It is a sureal feeling to talk to someone and then find out they are gone the next day.   Rest in peace, good friend.