Robin Beres: The Boys May Be Gone, But the Noisy Battles Loom Large

Fall is right around the corner. Early last week she sent a calling card, delivered by chilly nights and blankets, to remind us of her inevitable arrival. In a few days, roads and streets will be filled with yellow buses busily transporting their cargo. Please remember to watch for schoolchildren.

Our two daughters are ready for the academic year to start. They've got their clothes, they've got their backpacks, and they've got their schedules.

Summer passed in the blink of an eye -- as summer always does. For the first time in 21 years, we had no boys at home. Each on his separate journey to manhood, these three Navy brats all returned to the sea for the season.

The oldest spent much of his last summer of college on board the USS Ronald Reagan, crossing the Pacific Ocean, visiting exotic ports, and being introduced to naval aviation.

On the other side of the globe, our middle son, more the independent free spirit, spent the summer on the Outer Banks, busing tables by night and beaching it by day. He had a blast (I've no desire to know details) and even managed to tuck away a tidy sum for school.

Our youngest son has seen both coastlines this summer. He visited the Pacific Ocean on a graduation trip to California and is right now spending time on the banks of the Atlantic Ocean. But life on Parris Island probably isn't as much fun as life in California or at OBX.

Without any boys at home, there was no gradual easing into fall. No football practices or skirmishes. The laundry room wasn't overwhelmed with stinky socks and sweaty T-shirts. And no one tripped over cleats or shoulder pads left on the floor.

Yet, despite the smaller, quieter household, this wasn't a summer that will be remembered as particularly lazy or peaceful. In fact, the mood of the entire nation was far from either.

With steadily rising unemployment and a lack of results from mind-boggling amounts spent on TARP funds and stimulus bills, a late-arriving spring was greeted by Americans nervously curtailing spending and keeping an uneasy eye on the stock market. As summer approached, it became apparent to many that the recession wasn't going anywhere and neither were politics.

As spring morphed into early summer, the House of Representatives -- apparently oblivious to citizen concern over a skyrocketing deficit -- quickly passed the Waxman-Markey cap-and-trade bill on June 26. Fireworks began well before Independence Day as Americans started to realize what was in the 1,000-page Trojan horse of a bill that squeaked through the House by a mere seven votes.

Concern turned into genuine alarm when House Democrats, confident of their mandate to change much of the status quo, unveiled their hastily thrown-together health care bill on July 14. Politicians were caught unawares by the heated reaction to this gargantuan proposal as Americans learned that most in Congress had no idea what was in the bill.

Washington quickly launched a defensive blitz of its own -- that even the Redskins could admire -- to counteract the onslaught of phone calls and e-mails.

And when Congress adjourned for summer recess, many Americans, worried over out-of-control spending and a perceived takeover of health care by the federal government, became active in politics for the first time. They attended town hall meetings and rallies to voice their concerns. Most were polite but a few were loud and obnoxious, giving the health care bill's proponents plenty of fuel to discredit the movement.

Alarm escalated into genuine anger as Democrats called out special-teams members Janeane Garofalo, Leonard Pitts, and others to inform the public that the only reason for the protests was middle-class America's disdain of a black man in the White House. These commentators seem oblivious to the fact that what concerns Americans is not the color of the president's skin but rather the idea that while we finished fiscal year 2008 with a deplorable $455 billion deficit, the deficit for FY 2009 is projected to hit $1.84 trillion -- four times that of a year ago!

Now that Congress is about to reconvene, Democrats, worried about the growing tide of resentment against the health care bill, are threatening a Hail Mary pass of their own, promising to go it alone if they can't achieve a bipartisan overhaul of health care. And don't forget, waiting on the sidelines for a little game time, the Employee Free Choice Act, better known as card check, promises yet another bruising fight.

So, if it doesn't feel as if we ever had a laid-back, relaxed summer, fall isn't going to see Americans sitting quietly on the sidelines, either. And while I miss our sons and I miss the football hype and the dignified and intelligent dinner discussions that go something like: "Whaddya mean Eli Manning is over-rated? You're such an idiot! You're over-rated!" politics this fall promises to be a no-holds-barred contact sport in its own right, with its own dignified conversations. Suit up!

Contact Robin Beres at (804) 649-6305 or .