Jumping the Shark...

     You may be old enough to remember an episode of the 70's hit show Happy Days, when Fonzie went to Hollywood and had to water ski-jump over a shark to prove he was brave. He was wearing his swim trunks and his leather jacket.
     It was a turning point for the show. That scene was so ridiculous, that no one could ever again take that show seriously.
     And so the phrase "jumping the shark" was born. It means that the best of something has passed, unlikely ever to return.

     You always know the point at which something jumps the shark. Until now, I have heard the term applied mainly to TV shows.

     The 80’s hit Moonlighting jumped the shark the moment Maddie and David's relationship turned from adversarial banter to romance. 

     Remember when Rosie O'Donnell went ballistic on Tom Selleck? She very definitely jumped the shark that day.

     The same happened with American Idol when they sent Chris Daughtry packing early.

     Well, I don't watch much TV anymore, but I do follow politics. And lately, everyone seems to have jumped the shark. 

     Karl Rove is just the latest. But you can put Charles Krauthammer with him, due to their condescending and disparaging remarks about the Delaware conservative candidate for the U.S. Senate, and the people of Delaware who elected her. Her primary opponent was a tax and spend progressive, but Rove backed him because he thought he could win, and the "R" next to his name is apparently more important than how he votes. Even after the people of Delaware had chosen the conservative, Rove and Krauthammer still disparaged her as weak and "nutty." FYI... Her democratic opponent is a Marxist. Maybe he's a sophisticated Marxist. 
     Newt Gingrich jumped the shark when he supported the bailouts. So much for the free market. And Peggy Noonan jumped the shark with her elitest fawning over Barack Obama during the presidential election.

     It's hard to remember just exactly when the so-called mainstream media jumped the shark, but they long ago traded away their journalistic principles for political correctness and the ardent promotion of the progressive agenda. 

     The entire Federal Government has jumped the shark with its gluttony, expansion, waste and corruption. 
     The president and first lady jumped the shark, with their endless talk of "We are all sacrificing," in spite of their ongoing extravagant and opulent lifestyle. Maybe they mean that we ordinary folks need to sacrifice. Let them eat cake.
     Additionally, the president's Keynesian economic experiments and socialistic dreams, despite repeated failure everywhere they have been tried earn him a pair of solo skis. Good thing the American people are waking up and smelling the shark.
     And of course, Congress has completely jumped the shark. Corruption. Cronyism. Greed. Unquenchable lust for power. Political favors. And the spending. The unstoppable spending. With a complete disregard for the U.S. Constitution and the American people.
     When a certain TV show jumps the shark, you usually find one that hasn't. 
     Television is one thing. Our government and our economic system is quite another. Because our kids will have to pay. And pay dearly.
     We must find a way to change the political channel. Away from the elite establishment. And away from the destroyers of America.
     Remember in November. And two years after that. And two years after that. 
     And pray for our country.