Remember the dweebs you knew in high school, the ones who kissed the teachers' asses and became hall monitors? You know who I'm talking about, the ones who went to pep rallies and made us all sick? Well, they grew up to be Congressional Republicans.

There are three ways to deal with real problems in our world. One way is to deal with the problems. The other way is to ignore them. The third way is to make things worse.

We make things worse in this country by throwing gasoline on the fire and then ignoring the fire. Then we worry that the Dumpster might burn rather than worry about people inside the building. Two recent news stories highlight this pathological refusal to deal with reality.

Last week's heat wave inconvenienced us all but especially those who lost electricity. We often hear about people freezing to death but more people die from heat-related causes than the cold. People living in apartment buildings without adequate air conditioning will not live long, especially the elderly. A horrifying account of this phenomenon was reported in "Heat Wave," a book about the 1995 heat wave in Chicago which killed hundreds of people. Last week, approximately 100,000 people in New York City lost electricity and roasted in the 90-100 degree heat. Some people had no water. This happens all the time, and there are no provisions for these people. If our government bungled the Hurricane Katrina aftermath by sticking people in inadequate sports arenas, what does it say about our response to power outages when there is nowhere for people to go?

In the face of this crisis, what are the Congressional Republicans doing? Trying to prohibit the Federal courts from ruling on any cases challenging the constitutionality of the Pledge of Allegiance. "We should not and cannot rewrite history to ignore our spiritual heritage," said Rep. Zach Wamp (R-Tenn). "It surrounds us. It cries out for our country to honor God." That voters would elect a guy named Zach Wamp is bad enough. That Mr. Wamp is not ridiculed from coast to coast for saying this is even worse.

Mr. Wamp's colleague said, "This is an issue that clearly resonates to what we are about as a country," said House Republican Whip Roy Blunt (R-Mo.). To put it bluntly, Mr. Blunt, maybe forcing kids to honor God every morning should not be our priority. Mr. Blunt, you're a schmuck.

Recall a few years ago when an atheist sued over the Pledge's reference to "under God." The Pledge does not need a religious reference and the Federal court in California struck "under God" in the school context. The Supreme Court reversed that ruling on technical grounds having nothing to do with the separation of church and state. So the issue of whether "under God" is legal is still up in the air.

"Court stripping" is a nefarious practice in which ideologues try to prevent the courts from resolving an issue. The Federal laws rarely allow for this. For example, a routine slip and fall case cannot generally be heard in Federal court because it does not involve a federal or constitutional issue. Personal injury is usually for the state courts because it involves state laws. But most civil rights cases are heard in Federal court, where the judges have life tenure and will not bend their rulings to conform to popular will.

According to Associated Press, Davison Douglas, a professor at the William and Mary School of Law, said constitutional scholars are divided over whether such congressional restrictions on judicial review would pass constitutional muster. He noted that "past efforts to bar all federal court review of hot-button social issues have consistently failed. Hence, if this bill is enacted, it would be a highly significant landmark in terms of congressional efforts to control the actions of federal courts."

Republican efforts to strip the Federal courts of their authority to rule on the Pledge of Allegiance resemble the pathetic attempts to pass a Constitutional amendment to prohibit flag burning. Much effort over a non-problem and strong-arming the world to their childing point of view favoring total adherence to authority and the avoidance of dissent. If these demagogues want their kids to say the Pledge of Allegiance with "under God," they can get up early and supervise a breakfast table Pledge of Allegiance, God and all, with their own children. But please don't shove God down our throats.

Associated Press reports that "The pledge bill was part of the House GOP's "American values agenda" that House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., said would "defend America's founding principles." Another part of that agenda, a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage, was defeated in the House on Tuesday."

Want some more? According to Associated Press, "Also on Wednesday, the House was voting on legislation that would designate a 29-foot-high cross as a federal war memorial to prevent it from being removed from public land in San Diego."