A Metaphor For Our Times

This is the perfect metaphor for our government.

Presidential Ambulance Runs Out of Gas, Gets Towed

The Washington, D.C. EMS ambulance that accompanies the presidential motorcade,  Medic 1, ran out of gas last week, just as President Obama was pulling away from the White House August 8 on his way to a family birthday celebration at a local Indian restaurant:

As a result, according to WJLA, a back-up ambulance had to be called in after the motorcade pulled away from the White House -- but it couldn't have been used by the president anyway if there had been an emergency.

"Multiple sources familiar with protocol say since [the back-up ambulance] was not in the motorcade, it likely had not gone through a security sweep and therefore could not have been used by the president anyway if something had happened."

So what was the problem? Simple: No one filled up the gas tank that day.

"Fire officials confirm that the vehicle was towed away and is now being repaired off-site. Fire officials say that as per policy, the crew should have but did not fill up the tank that day. Sources say the bigger issue is that the vehicle’s fuel gauge had been broken for months and not been repaired," according to WJLA.

Got that? First, they couldn't fix the original problem (the broken gas gauge).

Then they fouled up the work-around (failed to fill the tank that day).

And when an alternative solution presented itself (the back-up ambulance), it was rejected because of government regulations (the 'protocol').

If the government can't even keep one ambulance operational, how the hell can it be expected to manage the nation's healthcare services?