The Hottest Ticket in Town

Kathmandu - photo by JoAnn Sturman

Scott Sturman

Dear Mr. and Mrs. Sturman:

Barrack and I would like to invite you to my 50th birthday celebration.  As billed, it’s the “hottest ticket in town.”  It gives us a chance to invite genuine minorities like you and your wife, who have worked since you were eighteen to pay for our annual Hawaiian vacation.  It's an extravaganza common folk rarely experience.
 
Regrets only,            
Michelle

The invitation could not have come at a worse time.  That very night, while in a nationalistic mood, I watch the first episode of Steven Spielberg’s “The Pacific,” based on E.B. Sledge’s book “With the Old Breed,” which describes the horrific combat at Peleliu and Okinawa.  Having watched and enjoyed its companion series “Band of Brothers” years ago, it’s unclear why I waited so long, particularly since my father fought as a U.S. Army infantryman in Okinawa.

It’s not everyday one receives an invitation to hobnob with the rich and famous, but having a conscience and a long memory it was impossible to forget the First Lady’s proclamation that she was ashamed of America.  Where has she traveled and what history books has she read to come to such an inane conclusion?  Name one other country on any part of the planet in any time throughout history that has sacrificed as much as America.  It’s not a long list.   

That evening I told my wife about the spoof I had written for Flies In Your Eyes, and our hypothetical refusal to attend Washington’s gala event.

“Wait a minute,” she interjected.  “I’d like to go.  I already have the perfect dress for the occasion.”

“Honey, it’s just a joke.  It’s a story about principles.”

“I don’t like her politics either, but you have to right to speak for me.  If you won’t go, then I’ll ask my sister.”

“But....,” I stammered, feeling once again like Dagwood Bumstead.

Mr. and Mrs. Sturman Ponder an Invitation

Arguing with My Wife

Lake Manyara Tanzania - photo by JoAnn Sturman

Scott Sturman
fliesinyoureyes.com


I hardly ever win an argument with my wife. On the rare occasion when I think I have won, I really didn’t or it was a Pyrrhic victory. Even though I convince myself that my reasoning is logical, supported by fact, and well articulated, I never seem to get my way. Early on I typically feel I am making headway and will carry the day, but then she abruptly changes course and equates the disagreement with a totally unrelated subject. I object and attempt to steer the conversation back to the original topic, but it’s a lost cause. No amount of oratory or vocabulary can persuade her. I pull some indisputable facts out of my bag of tricks, but she ignores them and makes up her own. Defeated and frustrated, like Dagwood Bumstead after a tiff with Blondie, I retire to the backyard wondering what went wrong.

Barrack Obama is used to getting his way and fortunate to have a groveling media which portrays him as omniscient. This lack of scrutiny has allowed him to ignore America’s historical perspective and his own personal history. The press has granted him a free pass and not held him accountable. It is not surprising his handling of the debt crisis is consistent with this trend.

In fairness Obama inherited a difficult economic position, but the manner in which his administration attempted to rectify the problem made matters much worse than necessary. Profligate spending and amassing of crushing debt in a span of two years took a serious problem and transformed it into one which jeopardizes the future of the country.

If the situation was not so serious, Obama’s conduct would be laughable. When facts are inconvenient, he simply ignores them or invents new ones to suit his purpose. In order to avoid answering specific questions he resorts to theatrics and plays the class warfare card time and time again without heed to context. He vilifies those who pay the vast majority of taxes but acts as if squandering trillions of dollars has nothing to do with the crisis.

Most husbands will agree in the domestic setting their wives are formidable debating foes, and no argumentative technique is off limits. I wish Barrack would save his histrionics, hyperbole, and excuses when he quarrels with Michelle in the Lincoln bedroom of the White House. The resolution of the national debt will not be solved by stamping his feet and threatening to take his football home so no one else can play. Hopefully, the Republicans will remember why the voters sent them to Washington in 2010 and not succumb to his antics.

The Argument from Intimidation is a confession of intellectual impotence.

Ayn Rand (1905 - 1982), The Virtue of Selfishness, 1964