Inspirational Senior...

Via my lovely wife:

As we get older, we sometimes begin to doubt our ability to "make a difference" in the world. It is at these times that our hopes are boosted by the remarkable achievements of other "seniors" who have found the courage to take on challenges that would make many of us wither.

Harold Schlumberg is such a person:

"I've often been asked, 'What do you do now that you're retired?' Well, I'm fortunate to have a chemical engineering background, and one of the things I enjoy most is converting beer, wine and vodka into urine. Then I piss on photos of The Senate and The House.  I do it every day and I really enjoy it."

Harold is an inspiration to us all...

Doomed...

Megan McCardle is not feeling optimistic about the debt ceiling negotiations.  The lead on her piece:

When I heard that the president was making a speech this evening, naturally I made plans to watch it. After all, our nation is at a crossroads--either we will figure out a way to work together and pass a debt ceiling increase, or we'll be forced into default or government shutdown. I wanted to know what the president had to say at this critical juncture. Now, having listened to his speech, and John Boehner's response, I am left with the same question that is on the lips of every American: why on earth did I bother?

Then there's her conclusion:

That was what I kept thinking about as I watched tonight's speeches. These guys are out of ammunition. They don't even have any good arguments left to fire at each other. Which I think means we're hosed.

That's pretty close to my own take, which really boils down to this: not one of these bozos in a position to actually do something is sincerely looking out for the country; instead, it's all about the political positioning.  Washington is broken, and broken bad.  Incremental fixes aren't likely to work.  What we need is a revolution.

Read the whole thing.