Game of Kings

 --Minimum Security cartoon

 If we affirm one moment,
we thus affirm not only ourselves but all existence.
For nothing is self-sufficient,
neither in us ourselves nor in things
. . . in this single moment of affirmation
all eternity was called good,
redeemed, justified, and affirmed 
--The Will to Power, 
Nietzsche, Friedrich

 The spotted hawk swoops by and accuses me,
 he complains of my gab and my loitering.  
 I too am not a bit tamed, I too am untranslatable,
I sound my barbaric yawp over the roofs of the world 
--Song of Myself (LII), Walt Whitman  
_____________________

The government's default crisis has come and gone with nary a comment from Ranger on the grand theater provided, but it did cause him to mull the state of the United States, 2013:

--America is not great because of the himbos and bimbos that occupy our leadership positions. We are great because the people make this country great, artificial crises and phony wars to the contrary.

--Neither political party was correct in the recent crisis; democracy occupies the middle ground, and not the political extremes. The radicals on both sides are counterproductive and lack the attributes of greatness required to lead this nation.

The radicals in both parties lack the moral, spiritual and mental stability required to move forward ... progress usually being the sign of effective leaders.

--The religious overtones of the radical right defy logic, reason and practicability. Their unity lies in their hatred leveled at President Obama, a man who is our elected leader (whether we like him or not), and whether he is cast in greatness, or abject mediocrity, is irrelevant as we elected him above all others.

Hatred, intransigence and "No" cannot be the hallmarks of a great nation.

As mentioned in #1, we as a people possess greatness, but that no longer translates into the ability to identify potentially great leaders. When a one-term Senator can stall the process of democracy (Ted Cruz) and the Speaker of the House (Boehner) cannot control the assembly, then perhaps we should examine the foundations of our political system.