It’s the hottest excuse in federal government: “I didn’t read the bill.”

Congress’ latest anti-transparency scheme is literally telling the American public that ignorance really is bliss. Yes, you can be granted full immunity on voting for horrible bills, pumping special interests and robbing the average taxpayers if you simply say you did not read the bill.

I often wish we could declare our independence from the U.S. Congress, a body more obsessed with its own desires than the people it represents. Much like the top Wall Street executives, our members of Congress have a very shallow view of the future, not looking beyond their own personal enrichment.

The citizens of Fayette County need a moment of introspection in order to figure out where they want the county to be in the next 10 years. The days of resting on our laurels are long gone.

Too many men and women have needlessly suffered.

Too many witnesses did not get it right.

The judicial system can break down.

Parents get their children in an awful lot of trouble by erasing the word “no” from their vocabularies. After laboring to produce a muffled “da-da” and “ma-ma,” the word “no” comes roaring out of the toddler’s mouth crystal clear, usually as an exclamation.

Sometimes people can fool themselves into believing just about anything if they keep saying it enough. Truly, parties can become too ambitious with their storytelling in an attempt to persuade others of an altered reality, a shift in historical fact.

The current swine flu outbreak will be another test of how the government, news media and an anxious public behave. The ability of all three to separate the truth from the hype could determine how we perform if and when a devastating pandemic strikes.

The 2009 session of the Georgia General Assembly ended earlier this month. The conclusion of the political hash-making carnival opened the barn door so the local Republican roosters could begin strutting around the barnyard.

There was quite a bit of media coverage on the TEA (Taxed Enough Already) parties across the country, replete with signs, bumper stickers and t-shirts. Many of the events were rants on President Obama, assumed to be “Republican” TEA parties. Others were somewhat issues oriented. However, I thought the best witticism directed at Congress was the little toddler wearing a diaper and holding a sign saying, “I didn’t read the bill either!”

At the end of a bull fight comes the “el momento de la verdad,” meaning “the moment of truth,” denoting the point in the contest when the matador finishes the bull off. Ernest Hemingway introduced the phrase to American readers in 1932.

Oh, the games politicos play, sneaking through the back doors, throwing up smoke screens, searching for scapegoats.

The AIG bonuses are the most recent reminder of just how bad our government is skewed toward the special interests. They are so caught up in their ways, they cannot see the freight train of social justice heading straight toward them. Yes, Congress knew about the bonuses; yes, the lobbyists know how to distract those in power.

It appears the new “normal” is we must pay more and more taxes, pressuring our neighbors to do the same, redistributing the wealth if necessary.

The debut of President Barack Obama has left many people skeptical about his willingness to confront those who would ignore his lofty standards or plunder the treasury.

Edward R. Murrow, journalistic hero, a man willing to take on the biggest names in government, defending the American public from dishonest dealers, said, “The obscure we see eventually. The completely obvious, it seems, takes longer.”

I am encouraged to see the people of Fayette County speaking up on a number of issues, voicing their dismay of shady projects like the big box center on Ga. Highway 54 West and the developer-friendly West Fayetteville Bypass, protesting the faulty fiscal judgment of the local City Council and the Board of Education.

Attention, all taxpaying passengers: Make sure your seatbelts are fastened, and, oh, your seat cushions can be used as a floatation device. The captain has informed me that we are heading into some turbulent, irrational behavior.

Peachtree City Mayor Logsdon and council members Boone and Plunkett actually voted for the city submitting the foolish traffic signal at Ga. Highway 54 and Line Creek Drive.

I have found the main troubles with governments are a lack of patience, aptitude and sincerity. We have all seen the memorable rush to action with horrible results. We have all seen the dreadful consequences of ignorance. And, yes, we have all witnessed the outcome of dishonest actions.

I believe the greatest enemy of the Christian Church today is the Church itself. The history of the Christian Church has been a fractious one with new denominations peeling believers away in various directions. In fact, the institution of slavery in the United States created a first-class moral divide, leading to a segregated church up to the present day.

In economic times like these, we can easily see which governments have been managing the store and which ones have been shoplifting.

We can rarely escape the consequences of our choices.

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office has our national debt pegged at $1.2 trillion (a staggering 8.3 percent of our gross domestic product) for the year. If President-elect Barack Obama’s sweeping stimulus package is enacted, it could add nearly $1 trillion or more to the red ink over two years.

Our current local political environment evokes the old proverb, “He who fails to plan, plans to fail.”

The educational SPLOST was narrowly approved by the voters of Fayette County. The additional sales tax can best be described as a Board of Education’s attempt to correct a massive deficiency in planning.

January brings a new year and another session of the Georgia General Assembly. I wish January would also usher in an era of political integrity.

Every year, the local kindergartners sing, “He knows if you’ve been bad or good, so be good for goodness sake!” So, what is going to be in some of our stockings this year?

Supposedly, this is the season for gift giving. It’s the season when people expect to receive gifts. It’s the season when the government expects you to boost the national economy through retail sales.

“Dear Steve, some of my little friends say there is no such thing as responsive, accountable government.

“Papa says, ‘If you see it in The Citizen it’s so.’

Five of our finest U.S. warships recently pinned a hijacked freighter against the Somali coastline. We had to immobilize some pirates, something the U.S. has been dealing with since 1784.

Here is a quick election recap. For some reason, 12,041 registered Fayette County voters decided not to show up to vote, but an 83.16 percent turnout is quite good.

A fracas erupted during the McCain-Obama competition. The battle was not political, but religious.

In September, around 30 pastors across the country, including one in Georgia, mailed copies of their sermons to the IRS denouncing Barack Obama and supporting John McCain. The pastors’ actions were a direct challenge to a federal law enacted in 1954 stating that nonprofit, tax-exempt organizations cannot participate in political campaigns for or against candidates for public office.

In most cases, government runs astray until we run headlong into a crisis.

When the federal government failed to shepherd the market because of special interest enticements and a lack of aggressive enforcement of regulations, the crisis forces a revision of oversight controls and restores order at taxpayer expense.