Combs: Goodbye, DC, it's been a blast!

Many years ago, I read "On Death and Dying," by Elisabeth Kubler-Ross for a psychology class. She was a shrink, specializing in the psychological process of facing death, the kind you see coming through old age or terminal illness.

It's not a happy topic, of course, but I recall being impressed by her point that death and dying is something to experience; it is what it is, and one had ought to live it.

The other thing that impressed me was the idea that the dying can be comforted by the simple chores and routines of life, getting their hair done, for example.

That's why I tend to like Barack Obama, and why I feel he is the perfect president for this day and age, an era in which America, as a national entity, has pretty much given up. Rather than ghoulishly lashing out in a murderous rage, like a Clinton or a Bush, seeking whom he may devour, blaming others for his demise and trying to prolong the process, Obama is merrily doing our hair and make-up. When the Titanic is sinking, you might just as well rearrange the deck chairs; there's not much else to do, and it's amusing to think about what might have been.

Because it's all pretend at this point, he can champion any sort of silly legislation. Health care for all? You bet! Why not free ice cream while we're at it? Cash for clunkers? Indeed. Next he'll be handing out blank checks.

"Enjoy yourselves, kids. Things'll be fine."

The only harm is when the cheerleader pretends the death is not happening. You don't need to delude the dying. There's no call to pretend it's not happening. Just live the process, and savor the experience because, my friends, that's all there is.

The dying patient is not America, it's Washington. And it's Washington's time to die.

This is a good time for America. When our government is content to busy itself bailing and rearranging the deck chairs, it's a rare opportunity for Americans. We've been so long without responsibility, or even any say in our own affairs, it's shocking to realize the day is coming when we'll be entirely responsible for our own survival and prosperity.

Most of us have never been truly responsible a day in our lives. The shock of clearing up the ruinous mess the federal government and the Democrats and Republicans will have left us will be daunting.

Imagine it for a moment, because you'll be seeing it soon: All your dollars – your life savings – will be worthless. The bank is closed. Gasoline is only available on the black market. The only vestige of the federal government remaining is the occasional swarm of Democrats and Republicans waving their arms and demanding that soldiers enforce some arbitrary curfew or rationing. Crowds of people gather to laugh at them. From time to time gangs of men who call themselves "soldiers" or "authorities" or "militiamen" wander through town, requisitioning anything of value they can find, beat up a few old men, then wander off.

The state government will be useless. They'll just announce sporadically that we ought to obey the federals, and that order will be restored soon. Occasionally someone in Washington will declare martial law, but they'll have a hard time finding any American soldiers willing to shoot Americans – this isn't Lincoln's America anymore.

We'll be adrift, like inmates born in the asylum, cut loose to fend for ourselves for the first time. What perfection our souls and bodies will achieve, if we can survive the initial shock!

Don't cry for Washington. It was never any good to begin with. It was a half-baked idea that brought ruin and destruction wherever it went. From the Whiskey Rebellion, the Revolutionary veterans' war bond swindle, the Alien and Sedition Act, the Trail of Tears on, every thinking and decent person knew a terrible monster had been unleashed. We should be happy to see it go.

We'll learn what our ancestors knew: that real wealth is earned through sweat and toil; that value is added by one's efforts and one's genius. We'll learn that we don't need to apply for some grant to feed, house, clothe and doctor ourselves. We will be so busy working we won't care that our flat screen TVs won't work. Our spirits will be younger, more fulfilled, more vibrant and alive than ever before in our lives. Our lives may be shorter, but we will revel in meaning, reality, experience, and the virtue of an honest day's work for an honest day's pay.

Let the stupid federal government do what they want; let them pass health care reform, cap and trade bills, let them bail out their banking buddies. Who cares? It'll all be over soon. They are utterly bankrupt. They have no more money. They have led us to ruin and, like tapeworms, they have made us all old and fat and lethargic. Good riddance to bad garbage.

Goodbye, Washington!

Friends and neighbors, rejoice! We of McDowell are the luckiest people in America. While our betters in Washington roast over a fire of their own making, we can and will relearn the reasons our common ancestors came here in the first place; to live and die in a manner of our own choosing. We need no king and no president to protect us. Our short, sweaty and desperate lives are best lived free.