To be 16 again

Well, I am an optimist. When you're number one at anything, everyone is after you, and if you're number two, chasing number one can be a tiresome pursuit. But when you're number 16, like the United States is right now (according The Economist) then life is damn fine, because there are plenty of crappier countries down the list (hello Nigeria) and there are some really great countries in front of you, the likes of which America will never surpass.

Oh, well, 16 is not such a bad place to be.

That's right, using all sorts of numbers and statistics, The Economist has ranked the best countries to be born in for the year 2013 and the dear old United States is 16, tied with Germany. If you are like me you have to be asking yourself how could this happen? It's not like we have the worst education system in the world, although we do have one of the worst in the industrialized world, but certainly not as bad as Uganda. Of course, we have what Republicans like to call the "best healthcare system in the world" which is a lie, but they say it so often, it often sounds real. No, we do not have the best healthcare system in the world, but it sounds nice, much like, America is the best country in the world to have a baby in. Which is, of course not true, unless you completely discount Sweden, Singapore, Norway and the list, while not quite endless is about 15 countries longer than one might imagine.

Get the point? While the elected blowhards in Washington DC are trying to look stupid and petty and continue to lie about what a great country they are flushing down the international toilet, there are actually metrics that prove how far down that proverbial toilet we have already been flushed, and it's kind of far. Semi-senile senators waddle the streets demanding depends and tax cuts for the super wealthy all the while cutting all the programs that could have kept us just barely in front of Kuwait on the list of best places for baby having in 2013.

I know, we as Americans are brain washed from a very young age to believe we are the best country in the world and when studies show that's not true and when facts prove that's not always the case and when The Economist posts stories showing exactly how bad it is getting, the very least we should do is run out to Costco and buy a crate of Twinkies and sit back and watch some Jerry Springer and wonder how all of this could have happened. For me? I blame Obama. Why not? It most certainly is not my fault.