If the negotiations over the fiscal cliff were a different game – say, craps – eleven would be a good thing. It, along with seven, is the lucky combination for the dice.

But the negotiations over the fiscal cliff aren’t craps – ohh, so tempting, but resist…they are a game of poker.

According to Gail Collins’ column, this morning, here’s the situation:

“Attempts to avert the infamous “fiscal cliff” are like a super-high-stakes card game. But you have to imagine a game in which one player needs to go into a back room before he makes his bet and get the approval of a herd of rabid ferrets. ”

I like that allusion to the Republicans – rabid ferrets…

Now John Boehner is going to try to get his colleagues to pass “Plan B”, which materialized out of nowhere. All it does is get past the hump of tax increases for all but people who’s adjusted gross income is $1,000,000 or more. Something tells me there will only be two of those left in the country if this passes. Everybody else will find a way to use tax loopholes and defer compensation to stay at $999,999 (cents don’t matter since everything is rounded).

So with eleven days left, we are once again confronted with the reality that Washington simply cannot and will not function as the Founding Fathers designed it to function. So let’s start thinking and talking about ways to give them the ultimatum: work together, pass something meaningful, or else …?? The “or else” is where I welcome your comments, gentle (and not so gentle) readers…

But the song remains the same: the taxpayer foots the bill for all this wasted effort. And apparently the President, with all his good points, is someone with whom you definitely want to play poker, because he’s really not very good at it. Hey – that’s my first suggestion for a revenue-generating suggestion…

But back to the theme song:

On the second day of Christmas,
My true love gave to me
Two turtle doves…

Two turtle doves.

Here’s a description of the bird, from Wikipedia:

Perhaps because of Biblical references (especially the well-known verse from the Song of Songs), its mournful voice, and the fact that it forms strong pair bonds, Turtle Doves have become emblems of devoted love.

Strong pair bonds…like the Reps and Dems; Boehner and Obama…sort of the antithesis of what we’re experiencing, eh?

So, let’s recap: so far we’ve gotten the ‘flying fickle finger of fate’, stranded up a tree and the opposite of ‘strong bonding’…What will we get for Christmas from these gentlemen? Undoubtedly a lump of coal in our stocking, and a ski trip to some nice venue for them. What’s wrong with those pics?