David McElroy

I sense growing frustration among many Republicans. They can’t stand Barack Obama and will do anything to dump him, yet there’s no real enthusiasm for any Republican who might be nominated. I can’t say I blame them.

When Rick Perry jumped into the race, I thought he had the look and feel of someone to come out of nowhere and win the GOP nomination. But Perry has had an instinct for self-destruction that I haven’t seen in a candidate lately. I still think Herman Cain is a “flavor of the month” candidate whose star would have faded quickly even without his female accusers lately. Newt Gingrich? Give me a break. He has no chance. Ron Paul? He has passionate support that’s never going to go much above 10 percent. He can’t win.

Mitt Romney is probably going to be the Republican nominee by default. He’s always at or near the top of the polls, but have you talked to anyone who’s passionate about supporting Romney? I haven’t. I finally saw my first Romney bumper sticker Friday, so I know his supporters actually exist. It’s just hard to imagine why anyone supports him.

So here’s the likely scenario in my mind. Romney and the other Republican candidates keep up their never-ending stream of fake debates for months. (If they add any more of these events that are more like joint news conferences, they’ll be able to save money by just traveling together like the member of a band on tour. When I mentioned this earlier, one friend suggested we call them the Grateful Dead.) Anyway, it’s likely that Romney will win the nomination and all the Republicans who are completely cold about him right now will suddenly decide that he’s Mr. Conservative — all because he’s their only hope to defeat Obama.

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In the current environment of horrid grammar and poor word usage, an English teacher can only take so much before snapping. Some of the rest of us aren’t far behind.

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Do you have any idea what you pay for sewer service? Most people pay so little that they’re no more conscious of the cost than they are of a cup of cheap coffee. That’s the way it used to be in the county where I live, but widespread corruption on sewer construction and bond deals sent rates through the roof. That corruption has now resulted in the largest municipal bankruptcy filing in U.S. history.

Not that many years ago, my sewer bill was only about $10 for each quarter of the year. When the price started rising, billing became monthly. My most recent bill was $20.18. Current rates are now almost 10 times what they were in 1992. Something that used to cost almost nothing is getting a bit expensive. If my bill is anywhere close to typical for one person living alone, the cost could add up quickly for a family of four or five. That extra bill hits many families hard in this economy, especially as local taxes continue to go up.

National stories about the bankruptcy filing today have been all about the huge amounts of money involved and the fight between the Jefferson County Commission and the NYC banks over cutting a deal to avoid bankruptcy. Most of the stories I’ve seen, though, skip lightly over the most important point. They pretty much ignore the issue of why this mess ever got this bad. I worked in the middle of the politics of the situation, so I can give you some insight into that.

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