Unanswered questions on the cusp of a new year

    We're about to flip the page on the new year, but I still don't know . . .
    
     Does anybody else see incongruity in the name "Tea Party Express" for a group whose logo should be a Conestoga wagon?
    
     Would you want to go on trial for anything with a jury made up of predominantly Tea Party people?

     If the Republicans are serious about being the party of predictability and consistency, why have they dedicated their efforts to the politics of nullification: if you don't like the vote results, push back, delay, create chaos, oppose any attempt at compromise?

     Occupy (fill in the blank) people want a classless society, but haven't they seen the headlines on the covers of magazines in the checkout lines in food stores? "Sex Tips" and "Camilla Storms Out," and "How to make your man whimper during sex" is about as classless as it gets, isn't it? And we haven't even started to assess the class found in cage fighting and most of the TV reality shows.

     Would war be as prevalent as it is if somebody wasn't making a lot of money from it?

     And who makes all the money that the rest of us lose when the stock market tanks? And why aren't they roomies with that fella Madoff?

     How can we be proud of the fact that we are a nation willing to sacrifice justice in the interest of practicing law?  And how much practice does it take to get it right?

     Are any of the local jock types who have been pushing for turf fields for kids' athletic programs paying attention to the injuries suffered by so many pro players, like the "turf toe" that has kept the Ravens' Ray Lewis on the sidelines so long?

     And why doesn't anybody seem to notice the disconnect between mandating dietary changes in school cafeterias designed to fight childhood obesity, then sending kids home in school buses that stop every 75 yards so the poor kids don't have to walk so far?

     Anyway, may your New Year be less interrupted at suppertime by telemarketers and robo-callers asking for political contributions, or slinging mud at opponents.