Nodding Off The Fiscal Cliff

     When I get really, really tired, I hallucinate.  I don't mean the can't-stay-awake-during-a-movie tired, that sort of garden variety fatigue that is so common anymore amongst the general populace.  I mean exhausted tired.  The kind of tired where you fall asleep while stopped at a red light (have done it); where you almost literally are asleep while walking (also have done it); and, in my best personal example, where you drive off the road into a ditch at about 35 or 40 mph on a country road.  I don't recommend any of these examples to anyone, but the upside to the last one?  You wake up really, really quickly.
     The hallucinations come in the form of thin, whispy, people-shaped blurs that dart from side to side (usually left to right, but not exclusively so) across my field of vision, causing me to jolt for a second until I realize what's happening.  They're like little friends of mine who come to visit but outstay their welcome; teasing temporary lasers who draw their strength from my lack of it; and fleeting foot soldiers who draw up their own marching orders at my psychological expense.  I've come to learn that "seeing things" is a common side effect of fatigue so I don't think much about it now.  But when it first happened?  Freaked me out.

     The human body has limits, and when it is stretched past those limits bad things predictably happen.  It goes without saying that President Obama is perpetually exhausted - part of the job description - but have you seen John Boehner lately?  The guy is spent.  Even Nancy Pelosi - awash in the perpetual creepy alertness that is her trademark - never had the obvious problem that Speaker Boehner has.  People right now are making decisions about our future - important ones - while running on personal tanks that are 1/8th full.
     The result of this is that decisions will be made and compromises agreed upon that will be as much about setting policy as it will be about simply doing something - anything - to end the marathon and enabling people to jump off the spinning wheel and get some rest.  It's an awful way to govern.
     The drooling Conservative in me rebels when I say this, but I propose that we construct a new government agency to deal with politician fatigue.  The Organization Against Deathwalking In Excess (TOADIE) would watch over our elected officials, making sure that each and every one got proper rest so as to do their jobs, earn their pay, and prevent them from selling us collectively down the proverbial river.  Cots could be spread out on the floor of the House - blankets for the back benchers - for designated nap time with the whole thing being telecast on CSPAN along with that dignified classical music background that they play during votes.  Vegas could get involved by taking bets on who would wake up first (The early line: 8/5 on the GOP) with part of the ensuing largesse going to help pay off the national debt.  Ad space could be sold on the cots and blankets.  It has potential.
     Exhaustion and fatigue affects us all.  We don't react as well when it overtakes us and our instincts are dulled; it causes us to make hasty and wrong decisions; it forces us to forego long-term thinking in years for the short term goal of "Where can I sit down?"  For all of our technological advances, being tired brings us back forthwith to the level of our cavemen ancestors:  We must sleep.  And nothing is right and nothing can be properly decided until we do so.