Try Not To Look

What a disappointing week.

Let's start with a story heard by few but one with enormous implications. Physicists at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology reported last week that time travel is, brace yourself, impossible. They have demonstrated that Einstein -- himself likely a time traveler from the future -- was right when he postulated that nothing can travel faster than the speed of light. The research team, led by Du Shengwang, said they had proved that a single photon 'obeys the traffic law of the universe' by not being able to travel faster than light. As a result, they postulated, nothing or no one can move forward or backward in time.

Clearly, these physicists have not followed Star Trek, know nothing about the space-time continuum or, for that matter, the flux capacitor. And they've probably never driven a DeLorean.

Even so, I'm bummed. Because if there was ever a time period to leave and seek one better, it's this nightmare of a time we're slogging through now.

Our inability to travel through time -- except in our current forward motion, one-day-at-a-time manner -- wasn't the only disappointment of the week.

How about the performance of the 'leaders' of this great country of ours? (The term 'leaders' is used here incredibly loosely and, frankly, in a thoroughly mocking fashion.)

A good week for them and for us, no?

Oh, the things they did and the things we got! A new debt ceiling agreement that will cut rather than invest in our future. No new revenue. The need to cut more than $2 trillion from spending over the next 10 years. Absolutely no talk, much less a plan, to create jobs. And, if that wasn't enough, the first-ever downgrading of our debt from AAA to AA+ by Standard & Poor's, an event likely to have huge and far-reaching implications. Not to worry, though, as those effected by the downgrade will likely only be those who need a job, need companies to invest, need to borrow to buy a home or finance a business, have money tied up in the stock market, are thinking of retiring in this lifetime or, perhaps, breathe air.

(Yes, one firm downgrading our debt does not lead necessarily to higher borrowing rates. That takes two. But watch how the world reacts to the downgrading this week. It won't be pretty.)

And then there was the dreaded jobs report. Better-than-predicted growth, but a continuing lack of widespread hiring. An unemployment rate that dropped from 9.2 to 9.1. Millions still out of work -- and countless others opting to end their job search. But at least we have a new debt ceiling.

On another front, let's not overlook the fun Congress put the FAA through last week. Their political games caused 4,000 FAA employees to be put temporarily out of work, forced airport and airline safety inspectors to work without pay and fund their own travel, sidelined up to 70,000 construction workers and prevented the collection of airport fees totally $200 million per week. Like this is something we can afford. At least the FAA is now back to work. At least that.

After such a magnificent week, what did Congress then do? Yes! They went on vacation.

Actually, members of Congress going on vacation might have been the single best thing they could have done for the country. It's hard to destroy an economy, jeopardize air travel safety, and kill hopes for a job and retirement while tanning.

Ah, but Congress did pay a price, of sorts, for their inability to run the country anywhere but straight into the ground: A whopping 82% disapproval rate, as reported by The New York Times. The highest disapproval rating since The Times began asking the question in 1977.

Too bad that's the only consequence of their actions. Too bad someone can't change the locks on Congress -- and the White House, for that matter -- before everyone returns. A bit of unemployment for politicians might go a long way to creating some empathy, some sensitivity for what much of this country is experiencing. Too bad they'll eventually come back from vacation. Can't wait to see what they next have planned.

For weeks, we at TJOW have been bemoaning the lack of leadership in Washington. We have put forward plan after plan to employ millions. We've implored Washington to step up and do what is desperately needed: Create jobs. We have looked for even the smallest hint that our government would take bold action to lower the unemployment rate, to give people hope, to infuse the economy with an urgency and a purpose.

Sadly, we may have been aiming too high. Now, we wonder about the lack of empathy, the lack of sensitivity, the lack of concern for the plight of the vast majority of this country's population. We wonder if Congress and the White House are even aware of our daily existence. We wonder if they care.

So much for leadership. And too bad time travel is impossible.