by  Lance Thompson

My switch from analog to digital photography occurred last summer, and my new computer came with Photoshop, so all this instant photo retouching is a revelation.  Now, instead of waiting for photo processing, the results are immediate.  Retouching can be done in the camera.  Manipulation of the photos is a breeze on the computer.  I can combine elements, erase them, even draw and annotate.  The power is intoxicating.  Reality is mine to shape and distort as I choose. 

Of course, with absolute power comes the temptation to go too far.  Not content with removing red-eye or simplifying distracting backgrounds or improving lighting, my tampering crossed the line of good judgment.  I intensified colors to neon brightness, multiplied waterfalls with reckless abandon, dramatized historical photos with modern special effects.  It was a disaster.

But the makers of Photoshop, in their wisdom, included an insurance policy.  It is a function called “Undo,” and it allows the user to erase all the ill-advised modifications he has made when his good sense catches up with him. 

Similarly, the president’s first legislative initiatives, the stimulus and spending bills, which send the national debt to Marianas Trench-like depths, afforded Democrats the same kind of sudden unlimited power.  The president was selling crisis to the public, Pelosi and Reid weren’t letting anyone read the bills, and there was an opportunity for every Democrat to have his legislative wishes granted.  Cost was not a factor–rub Obama’s magic lamp and your fondest earmark will become reality.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if the stimulus and the omnibus spending bills had “Undo” buttons?  A hundred million to ACORN, the organization that creates votes out of thin air and will soon be helping to tabulate the Census.  UNDO.  Insuring honey bees and farm raised fish for another $150 million.  UNDO.  $850 million to bail out Amtrak.  UNDO.   Nine thousand earmarks from Democrats and Republicans. UNDO.

As the nation plunges into record-breaking debt, with the only response from the White House and Congress being to spend more, Americans are beginning to see the onrushing train at the end of the tunnel.  Obama’s own nominee for commerce secretary, New Hampshire Senator Judd Gregg, compared Obama’s economic plan to that of a banana republic, and called the level of debt that will result “unsustainable.”  Many Americans who supported and voted for Obama may be wishing there was an UNDO button on their ballots.

In fact, there is.  There’s an UNDO function coming in Election 2.010.  The UNDO button won’t apply to Obama–he’s not due for an update until 2012.  But every member of the House and one third of the Senate will be up for re-election in 2010.  It’s not as easy as voting Republican instead of Democrat.  Several courageous Democrats in the House voted against the stimulus bill, and three imbecile Republicans in the Senate voted for it.  So you’ll all have to do your own research.

If the Senator or congressman who represents you voted for trillions of dollars in spending, and is sending you the bill, your choice is clear.  UNDO to others as they have tried to UNDO our economy.  It’s as simple as the push of a button.