Wheel of Misfortune

Hope n' Change isn't going to do much in the way of editorializing today. After this week's disappointing developments on the budget and Obamacare, and feeling like we're running as hard as we can just to find ourselves right back where we started, we're pausing today to catch our breath and drink deeply from the bottle attached to the side of our cage.

It is not a water bottle.

Enjoy your weekend - Monday we all need to be back in the wheel!

Random Bonus Cartoons:

A Mime Is A Terrible Thing To Waste

Like the mime in today's cartoon, Hope n' Change is feeling a bit speechless at the moment owing to the lack of solid news at presstime (which is when we press the whiskey bottle directly to our lips instead of screwing around with glasses) about fiscal negotiations between Republicans and Democrats. Meanwhile, the final hours continue to count down to potentially the greatest human disaster to befall our country since, well, two weeks ago when Healthcare.gov came online.

The expectation is that some sort of deal will be reached shortly, as both sides are beginning to realize that they may be playing Russian roulette against crazy opponents, using a gun that has no empty chambers (unless we're talking about the political chambers in Washington DC, which seem conspicuously empty when it's time to get serious about budgets).

In the past 24 hours, we've heard alleged negotiating points which include the Republicans dropping the sequester cuts in return for (ahem) "talks" about entitlement reform; Harry Reid demanding another $1 trillion in new taxes and spending because, clearly, he's forgotten to take his meds; and Barack Obama saying that he refuses to discuss any changes to Obamacare now that he's invested 4 years and billions of taxpayer dollars into assuring that it absolutely, positively doesn't work.

Moreover, the president doesn't have time to worry about little things like the government shutdown or the potential debt ceiling debacle, because he had a pressing photo-op to make baloney sandwiches at a food bank.

Which, in our opinion, is the only bank that he should be allowed near.

Funny, we thought he promised everyone big pieces of PIE...

Fencing Lesson

Although Obamacare appears to be no closer to working this week, hope was raised Sunday for an eventual Obamacure.

Specifically, military veterans attending the "Million Vet March" in Washington DC removed the aptly-named "barrycades" preventing access to the World War II memorial, and piled them in front of the White House while chanting "Obama must go!"

Upon hearing which, Obama probably did go - right in his Huggies Pull-Ups.

Unfortunately, it may be too late for Obama to really go in time to avert economic disaster later this week. The president rejected GOP offers to raise the debt limit temporarily in return for serious talks about the budget, raising genuine questions about whether he actually wants America to default on her loan payments.

And why would he want that? Because chaos would work in his favor, allowing him to initiate "extraordinary measures" to control the populace while simultaneously making his "Wet Dreams From My Father" come true as the United States collapses into irrelevancy.

In 2010, the military considered giving medals for "courageous restraint" to soldiers who refrained from responding violently in the face of provocative enemy action.  Hope n' Change thinks that medal should be awarded, with honor, to every veteran who peacefully protested this weekend at the White House.

BONUS CARTOON: Government Gives Away Free Straight Lines!

Yes, that's really the new slogan for Obamacare's entirely non-functional 

"Health Insurance Marketplace" website. They may not have made getting

insurance any easier - but they've made it a breeze to write jokes.