Welcome To Paradise

America, as I have often said, is a tough town. There are plenty of things to be frustrated about. There are plenty of things about which we can all sleepless nights fretting. Our economy. The upcoming election. The crime in the streets. Ebola. I could go on and on, since that is my tendency. But maybe today we should all take a moment to consider the alternatives.
Our president, knuckling under to partisan pressure, named an Ebola czar. Ron Klain will now orchestrate our nation's response to this plague. We worry that our capacity for treating more than a dozen cases in our special isolation units our country supports. The good news: we are not currently in danger of filling those twelve very prized beds anytime soon. Our percentage of the ten thousand cases estimated by the World Health Organization is about one thirtieth of one percent. In the meantime, just for safety's sake, stay away from bowling alleys.
Now on to the economy. Our dollar, as well as our cents, have taken a pretty solid beating as a result of all the turmoil in the world. The stock market has been buffeted by all manner of effects brought on by forces outside our borders. And yet, Wall Street recorded its best week in nearly two years. How could this be? Perhaps there is money to be made on pain and suffering, and we as a nation have never been too proud to overlook this fact. We are, after all, the guys who invented the smallpox blanket. We also spend a great deal of our money making smart bombs and stealth bombers to carry them, so be careful who you're messing with, world outside. We are sneaky, explosive and well-funded.
And then there's the whole justice thing. There are so many ways that our system of courts and all around jurisprudence. We send the wrong person to the electric chair. Our peace officers are sometimes less than peaceful. If you have the money, you can buy yourself a verdict. It is a far from perfect system. On the flipside, we are not currently hanging women for killing their rapists. They do that in Iran. We have a lot of kinks to work out still, but here in the Estados Unidos, we continue to be the place where the rest of the world longs to be.
And maybe that's a good thing.