One of my all time favorite comedians was the late Rodney Dangerfield. His appearances with Johnny Carson on the Tonight Show back in the late 1980s and early 90s were classics that are still as fresh today as they were back then. The bugged eyed comic would always start with, “I get no respect. No respect at all.” Then he would launch into ten minutes of frenzied, nonstop jokes of which he was usually the butt.

The preface to his whirlwind routine was always “There are a lot of problems out there, Johnny. A lot of problems,” delivered in an over exaggerated staccato as he frenetically mopped his brow with a handkerchief and tugged at his tie. All the while, Carson who was seated behind his desk off to the side rolled with laughter as he awaited the inevitable reprise of Rodney’s trademark line “Let me tell you, I get no respect, Johnny, no respect at all!” Somewhere later on in the routine, when a joke failed to live up to expectations, Rodney would mumble under his breath, “Tough crowd, Johnny, tough crowd” before continuing his rapid fire assault on the audience.

Unfortunately, Rodney died in 2004 leaving a void in standup comedy. Ironically, the trademark lines of his routine have turned out to be both prescient and germane to the seemingly overwhelming crises of public confidence that is unfolding at the outset of America’s second decade in the increasingly uncertain waters of the new century.

No Respect
At the heart of this crisis is a growing discomfort that government is too big, that the political system is broken, and that we our spending ourselves into irreversible fiscal disaster. More and more citizens have turned pessimistic and cynical about America’s future. To many, Ronald Reagan’s “Morning in America” has morphed into a late and cloudy afternoon on the way to a permanent dark and stormy night. I hope they are wrong, but fear they are right.

Leading the way in the “No Respect” Department is Congress. Public confidence in the federal legislative branch of government is at an all time low. Mitch McConnell and John Boehner say “No” to everything, not as a matter of principle, but only because of politics. On the other side of the aisle, too many Democrats want to blindly print money for every kind of new program from “Cash for Clunkers” to appliance subsidies to who knows what else in the name of government money will fix everything. At least Bob Boyte and Cowboy Maloney are doing okay.
Then there is Wall Street, Big Business, and the Military Industrial Complex. What they all have in common is they have become too big to fail and too powerful to reign in. With the help of lobbyists and millions in campaign contributions for elected officials with their hands out, these sectors have positioned themselves to profit at the expense of the average American in the solemn name of “National Defense, Capitalism, Private Enterprise, and Deregulation” thanks to endless legislative loopholes. There are literally thousands of examples of this kind of Corporate Welfare. Remember the Glass-Steagall Act? Or, speaking of legal history, how about the Sherman Antitrust Act prompted by the abuses of another unregulated Guilded Age. More recently, the wisdom of allowing energy companies to police themselves regarding environmental and safety regulations has been in the news. Does BP ring a bell? And by the way, that is British Petroleum not “Beyond Petroleum” as their ads trumpet. Think about deregulation of safety procedures next time you try to order shrimp and oysters. How’s that “Drill Baby Drill” workin’ for ya, Sarah? Then there is Massey Energy of West Virginia coal mine infamy that rang up hundreds of safety violations and opted to fight them in court and pay fines if they lost, but refused to fix the underlying problems until 29 of their employees were killed. All of this can be tied to the sacred Republican mantra of deregulation that started with Reagan in the 1980’s. Is all deregulation bad? Of course not. The key is responsible regulation and oversight, but that is not what we have gotten.

And speaking of “No Respect,” how about those regulators at the SEC who were too busy downloading porn to stop Bernie Madoff’s outrageous ponzi scheme until it was too late. These weren’t GS-6 government workers, but rather top bureaucrats making between $100,000 to $220,000 who were repeatedly warned, but were too arrogant, incompetent, or self involved to look into it.

A Lot of Problems
Ballooning debt, unsustainable entitlement programs that will soon go broke, immigration crisis on the Southern border with Mexico, sub prime mortgages, loss of manufacturing jobs, chronic unemployment, worsening school drop out rates, drug related crime, college students up to their ears in debt they can never pay off. “Hey, we got a lot of problems, Johnny.”

Internationally, America is dumping millions of dollars we don’t have into nation building to prop up hopelessly corrupt regimes in Afghanistan and Iraq. And it’s not just us. Greece, Spain, and Portugal are in the financial tank as well. The wheels are literally coming off of Toyota in the world’s second largest economy in Japan. And then there are always those fun loving nuclear rascals in North Korea and Iran. And did I mention all the radical Muslims scattered around the world who think blowing up 30 or 40 of their own people at a time is a free pass to Paradise. Sad to say, but Osama bin Laden unleashed exactly what he wanted back on 9-11; worldwide chaos.

All of the foregoing doesn’t even account for the fact that when China is not exporting toxic dry wall or lead based toys to America, it is buying up energy and mineral concessions in much of the undeveloped Third World. With 1.3 billion people and an authoritarian political system that can fast track the kind of policies we have become incapable of instituting here in America, get ready for the Chinese Century.

Worse yet, Kim Kardashian is a major American celebrity who serves as the unofficial poster girl for inane television reality shows that now pass as a premier form of American entertainment. As Rodney would surely quip, “We got a lot of problems, Johnny.” Boy oh boy, would Rodney be right!

Tough Crowd
And so, what is the fix? The latest hope for change is the so called “Tea Party,” which thus far makes Ross Perot look like Woodrow Wilson. Frustrated Americans are whipped into a frenzy by opportunistic, for profit multi-millionaires like the former half Governor of Alaska, a college flunk out and prescription drug abuser, bully radio personality, and a reformed alcoholic (maybe) whack job television commentator. These low information, albeit angry, Americans spend their time lashing out at random targets in an irrational way rather than taking thoughtful positions to solve our real problems. The Tea Party crowd professes to fear a government takeover but thinks the Arizona immigration law is just fine. They are against socialized everything but warn politicians to keep their hands off their Medicare and Social Security. Those two bits of ironic irrationality say it all.
When it comes to pushing back on this insanity, the “Tough Tea Party Crowd” should be comprised of rational citizens who are willing to stand up and demand action that is in the public interest. But guess what, that would call for collective sacrifice by us all. Reduce credit card debt, quit buying houses we can’t afford, and quit simultaneously supporting fiscal gridlock and federal earmarks for the home folks and above all, institute public financing of elections to get rid of the quasi-bribery cronyism that is Washington D.C. We should also institute an absolute ban on allowing elected officials to leave Congress to become lobbyists so as to profit from their government service. Until measured rationality and sacrifice replace irrational rage and institutional selfishness, nothing will change. Or as Rodney would say, we will continue to have, “A Lot of Problems!”