Just Let Me -- G -- Indoctrinate You!

Saturday, February 27, 2010

Dear America,

oops. G missed a couple days; I believe the health care summit made me ill.

Oh I watched it...nearly every minute of it; that is, until Fox stopped streaming live action and switched to Meghn Kelly; went to CNN, continued there until they caught wind of regular programing going; so twenty minutes later, I found myself back at my desk, streaming the Fox Live web-cast.  What an effort for every painstaking moment waiting for something really good to come.

Despite the fact that Obama spoke for nine minutes longer than all republicans combined -- a whopping 110 minutes -- they still prevailed in making the better case for all the world to see.

The democrats spoke for four hours all together and couldn't get it done;

They even read letters aloud and recollected stories of their constituents (or relatives of staff) each and every time one of them came to the mic, pulling on the good ole heart strings;

For all intents and purposes, they had twice as much time to orchestrate a proper dissemination of bullsh** across the wide open spaces between ideology, and all that came out of it was more seeds of distrust.

Even with the Moderator in Chief having every opportunity under the sun to "correct" the "misspoken facts" liberally strewn about by the republicans while sounding every bit as much like the farmers and framers of the Constitution, he lost ground.

And every time they said something to the affect of
"we really basically agree here..."
"there's not a lot of opposition really..."
"we have included some of your republican ideas..."
or "we don't really seem very far apart..."

The gap grew wider.

Every time a republican had the floor they reminded the President that we needed to start over.

Every time a republican had a chance for appeal, they said let's take it step by step, let's walk this field of dreams together and start with what we agree in earnest and move forward from there.

Every time a republican gained an opportunity to speak on behalf of the American people, they reminded their fellow countrymen sitting around the table of how the polls reflect the concerns of people who do not agree with the comprehensive approach in this sweeping, landmark legislation -- that far outreaches both what we can financially afford and in turn, forfeit our personal freedoms along the way.

The Republicans couldn't say it enough,
WE HAVE FUNDAMENTAL DIFFERENCES; 
what became quite clear, no matter how many times you till the earth, turn over the remarks and opinion, subjective and objective beliefs to what ails our system is at the heart of the discussion and at the root of the seeds we sow from here on out.

It is appropriate to bring and to question the 2,400 page bill that sits before us with all of it's idiosyncrasies and legalese.

It is expected to raise a few eyeballs as to how republicans were shut out to closed door sessions last fall, all the while with Obama looking the other way and to all of a sudden, month's later, see the light and welcome both sides to the table.

It is obligatory to wonder how the special deals between the AMA and PHARMA and UNIONS and TRIAL LAWYERS and Nebraska and Louisiana and Florida soils the year long preparations for changing one-sixth of our economy.

McCain did just that long into the morning calendar -- and this is the rebuttal from someone who is supposed to be acting humbly presidential and show partisan restraint (if only to raise the bar for those sitting around the table with him):

"the way you just characterized...
[the wanton and reprehensible behavior of this party]
let me make this point,
 because we are not campaigning anymore, John;
 the election's over."

That had to be the funniest moment of the whole entire day; the king of taking talking points to an art form and masterfully setting up props of his own [whether it is men in uniform, cadets, caskets and planes, or doctors in white coats and stethoscopes] -- this whole health care summit was nothing but a ruse.

It was I believe John Barasso, a republican, who actually used the symbolization of the stethoscope as one of his first tools and adjoining message, given to him when he became a doctor -- marking the importance of really listening to his patients -- extending a personal plea to the President; that this is the time we need to come together and listen to the American people who respectfully request we start from scratch.

Obama was annoyed by the afternoon; in the morning he went from being perfectly engaged and inspired to bridge the gaps and to find the common ground, to at times looking somewhat bored with all of them (including his own), while at other times, his elbow was on the table with his chin resting firmly in the palm with a spread of fingers crossing his lips -- as if trying desperately not to burst out in "you lie" from across the room; but all in all, the dawn of promise slowly eroded into real disdain for anything said against Him or his legislation, leading us into the twilight of a day where nothing really changed.

I'm sure if you are one of those who find a way to like the redistribution of wealth, the "higher taxation to anybody but me is fine by me" mentality, is applauded -- the dynamics of slowly rooting out the free enterprise system to a government run bureaucracy is acceptable; you simply don't see the harm being done.

"The trouble with our liberal friends is not that they're ignorant;
 it's just that they know so much that isn't so."
Ronald Reagan

What are the long term consequences of this sweeping legislation?  Just a quick gaze to the horizon we can see we are already caretakers of that kind of world -- insolvency and bankruptcy looming in Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, Welfare, Unemployment and Food Stamps -- regulation and administration of ground breaking entitlement programs that had the best interests of the American people surely at heart without a hard review of the reality almanac down the road, to see how the seasons would change and how real life variables would fluctuate and affect the harvest.

Who could foresee people living beyond the age of 65?
Who could foresee people losing a moral obligation to one another to live independently and productively and according to natural and universal law?
Who could foresee that what we get from our elected body originally comes from the lot of the land and the people themselves -- that we grow our government according to our own beliefs and values?

Our corruption, whether it be to our own bodies or to that which our government stands, is directly related to the kind of culture we raise, collectively and independently of one another. 

What began as simply a question as to how we insure the uninsured, gratefully the process rapidly deteriorates to a lesson of what we are truly made of and the fundamental differences between the left and the right ...right before our very eyes; and while the consequences of our actions will eventually see the light of day, in the meantime the back forty needs the weeds cleared and the irrigation system seems to be on the blitz again.

While the democrats seem ready, willing  and able to bet the farm via the process of reconciliation  -- when, after all, we are already mortgaged to the hilt -- only time will tell if the next backdrop for the President is a field of grain or a bounty less fortified. 


Make it a Good Day, G 

Reconciliation has NEVER been used to ENACT new LEGISLATION -- only to bridge budgetary deficits and welfare gaps; even a democrat, Robert Byrd, duly noted  "that the health care plan was out of bounds for a process that is theoretically about budgets" when confronted with evaluating Clinton's health care plan and the use of reconciliation to pass it.

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Dear America,

"The Morphine Within"

G has been all tied up in knots lately; my world is a tad out of whack these days -- that really being just way more than usual. So what did I do about it?

I started running again.

Oh, I know.  It's not like I'm on a streak yet; nor have I gone two days in a row.  But the most important factor is I feel good.

We have all witnessed desperate measures when the pressures of life and liberty seemingly become too great -- with an airplane flying into a building, a man in Ohio bulldozing his house before he would succumb to foreclosure, and a professor shooting up a biology department meeting.

While with the Health Care legislation still looming over our heads and heating things up again -- can't wait for Thursday -- it would appear America has reached a point of no return on this one; what to do about nothing and everything?

Somewhere along the line we have lost our ability to take care of ourselves, while I may not be the best one to talk about such matters for very long before my own creaky joints get the best of me and kick me in my own behind -- I'm going to meander down this road anyway, if only to walk off the shin splints.

But how is it we have come to this place where we expect the government to fix everything?  Just who is responsible for teaching this behavior to us? Inquiring minds wanna know -- as it is soooo wrong in soooo many ways to Sunday.

The GOVERNMENT:

They can't eat (right) for us.

They can't strap on the old running shoes and take in a mile or two, all the while fighting off the evil green giant within who just wants to go home, sit on the couch and eat potato chips.

They can't see into our lives and know what each and every one of us wants for ourselves, if not also for our children, our neighborhood, or the aging parents who need us -- who may live all the way across town or perhaps over a couple state lines.

They can't show up at the office and do the work for us, including the over time while being under paid.

They can't go to the lender and plead our case to buy more time or cut a new deal -- or for that matter, make the commitment for the three bedroom, two bath town home as if times are so good and we got nothing to lose anyway.

They can't even tell us to turn off the lights, not to buy that television at Best Buy, or know when to say when.

Our habits -- Our choices -- the things we put our money where our mouth is --  whether good or bad or indifferent, originate from the one source within us and that which we can call all our own. On a micro scale, it's one thing; but upon the macro --
oh      my     God.

There is just no conceivable way the government can be all things for every body, but it very well seems to be that this is what we are expecting out of them and in the end, this mentality will surely bring us all down.  The Government is not God, people.

And really, what God actually gives us to use at our own discretion is far more valuable.  Up until now, most of us just didn't see it.

For people who run (religiously that is -- not people like me, ha ha ha), they refer to the "runner's high" after they have been running so long they reach a peak, pushing their own endurance beyond it's capabilities, to a point where the body releases endorphins into the system.  God created our bodies with it's own natural mechanism to fight the sensation of feeling pain in order to relieve that which might seem unbearable. Ingenious, no?

It wasn't until the 1970's, when a University of California at Berkeley chemist, by the name of Choh Li, actually discovered "the morphine within" and aptly named it ENDORPHINES:

"any of a group of endogenous peptides (as in enkephalin and dynorphin, of the Nervous System) found especially in the brain, that bind chiefly to opiate receptors and produce some of the same pharmacological effects (as pain relief) as those of opiates; specifically Beta-Endorphin, of the Pituitary Gland."
Natural Heroin; and we wonder why so many people get hooked, on running that is.

Who doesn't want the feeling of euphoria, coupled with appetite modulation or control, along with the release of sex hormones and all things good and fabulous?  Who doesn't want a piece of that action?

 Twenty more minutes of this and I am out the door...

But no matter how hard we try, the turn we are collectively making towards the county line of nanny state meets pimp daddy will never give us what we really need; it will never give us the high as compared to doing the work ourselves; it will never give us a sense of satisfaction, having labored the road ourselves; it will never be enough, as we will continuously look ahead down the road to see what else can you do for me...yeah baby...this feels good...hit me up with some more of that...
as the more we get...the more we want...and pretty soon, it's all we want.

When it comes to euphoria, just how high can we go?

Apparently there was a meeting of the minds here in my neck of the woods this past weekend; scientists, psychologists, coming together to evaluate things pertaining to the natural, the supernatural, and more specifically including our inherent ability to create happiness.  Certain attributes, other than what we were born with and genetically bound by lineage, were highlighted -- in accordance with all things happy people share:

 Gratitude, for what we have
Optimism, for what will be
Counting our Blessings
Using Our God Given Talents/Strengths
Promoting Random Acts of Kindness

I have to wonder, if only people would stop for five minutes every day to focus on the things that truly matter -- as within this simple list of five -- how our world would look a whole lot healthier, wiser, perhaps even bring a certain glow to our cheeks and a little bounce to our step.

We wouldn't be watching the partisan bickering in Washington over a subject matter that was never intended to be theirs to discuss in the first place; we would be taking care of our own, within the boundaries and civil liberties of a country suspended and highly held above all that. 


  • Our fellow countrymen would be allowed to sell insurance over state lines, and travel miles across the purple mountains majesty to find the right fit, the right price, and the right services.

  • Frivolous lawsuits for burning our mouths -- and our laps -- on a cup of hot coffee from the drive thru simply wouldn't exist -- we would know better and take responsibility for our own stupidity. 

  • Doctors and hospitals would charge whatever the market would bare for their expertise and years of experience and schooling -- some would be rewarded generously -- and likewise, if they made a big mistake, it would cost them and their shingles would come crashing down. 

  • It wouldn't take a discussion with Congress, a Board of Directors, or a panel of seven or even a hundred, to decide what is best for me and my health -- all it would take is a sit down with a doctor and the family. 

  • While we all recognize the real cost of healing the uninsured (including illegals) is insurmountable and will be the root cause of our final demise (through legislation enacting overhead of nearly twenty percent of our economy, added to the already overwhelming bureaucratic heart attack waiting to happen)...
The real ailment -- not producing enough American-made Endorphins to override the full operating system breakdown -- will escape us.

That secret, which four out of five doctors agree, is safely held deep within; get plenty of rest, eat right, do something nice for someone else, and take a walk, run, bike ride, or swim -- move the body and move the mountains seemingly too hard to climb.

And then,
just before we close our eyes at the end of a day,
give a moment of yourself to the world within and feed the soul -- that which truly sustains us to make it through another day when perhaps not every thing is going our way.  In place of sheep jumping over a cloud, imagine counting blessings; give thanks for what is good, even if it was only a smile from a stranger or an "A" on your child's math quiz; look forward to tomorrow, even if it means rising at dawn to look for a new job, a new home, a new lease on life; share your strengths with the world, if only a sense of humor or your rose colored sunglasses.

America needs you -- she needs all of us to do our share and to do our part.

We all start at a crawls pace and work up to the coffee table and eventually the sprint across the living room floor.  This is what we do; we start small and go big, and with each step, a greater responsibility of our movements come along -- yet in time, our endurance will outlast even the most aggressive paths.  We will be rewarded with endorphins kicking in and feeding our ultimate destiny.  We will create a society so healthy and vibrant, the world will want a piece of us once more -- and in a good way.

Our health and happiness was never intended to be in the government's hands; no matter how many ways to make believe, it never has been and it never will.

MOVE today and make it a Good Day, G

nothing stays the same,
but if you're willing to play the game...
....I believe in love...
...coming around again...coming around again...
oh I believe in love...I believe in...


Friday, February 19, 2010

Dear America,

Happy Friday.

There is some weird stuff circling around us these days; it's like we've jumped into some kind of black hole, one that upon every spiral downward we find stranger and stranger things going on.

In the last week,

we've had a Harvard educated, Professor of Sociology, Dr. Amy Bishop, go on a shooting rampage and kill three fellow professors in the middle of the day, who we assume were just sipping coffee and having a chat at the University of  Alabama biology department. The speculation from the inner circle -- that it was due to her not receiving tenure -- her attorney is claiming insanity;

we've had just hours ago, a press conference with Tiger Woods (yet without the Q & A), who extended his second apology accompanied by an additional 12 minutes of explanations -- not that any of us really needed to hear it.  While within the hour immediately following, we got the tearful "Josslyn James", the porn star (aka Veronica, along side her attorney, Gloria Allred) requesting a personal face-to-face apology for all the anguish he put her through; I mean, he simply destroyed her reputation and she had to go "in hiding" after the news broke...as she really loved him...and she was told he really loved her!

we've had just minutes ago, a press conference on behalf of the Stack family, by a guy who sounds like he just fell out of the sky, Rayford Walker (he just appeared, doesn't know the family, apparently not getting paid -- he's "just here to help" -- but never you mind all that) He stood amidst the crowd of cameras and gave us a quick peek of the level of distraught found in the family left behind of a crazy person, Joseph Stack...you know, after he purposely set fire to his own home and jumped into his plane and proceeded to careen into the second floor of an IRS building in Austin.


All this while our President is on the road stumping for Harry Reid in Nevada, because that dirty Harry is relentless in his pursuit of looking out for middle America and deserves to be re-elected come November --
"Health care has been knocking me around pretty good," Obama said. "It's been knocking Harry around pretty good..."
"...I can personally attest that Harry Reid is one of the toughest people I know, sometimes he takes his licks. But he gets back up. Harry Reid has never stopped fighting."
Oh my.

We are lost souls; we're somewhere between heaven and hell, more caught up into the sensationalism of the day, than the root cause back behind it all -- and especially to that which may actually heal us and correct the error of our ways.
 
We are so taken by fame and fortune; we are so mired by money and the follies of man; we have lost our way and our respect to the laws that truly govern and give great cause to a sound government and a system that supports sanctified, proven. happy human relations -- that being, NATURAL LAW.
 
Our Founding Fathers looked way back when they began to create our Republic -- the one which we unabashedly and ignorantly take for granted today; they, most certainly, would be aghast to see us in this way;  talk about pleading insanity... or falling to human error... or choosing sensationalism over substance... or the inability to come to sound and moral and virtuous choices for ourselves... adversely affecting the lives of others in our wake.
 
Our Founders went to the days before Christ walked the earth to find the real tools to build the best society the world has ever known; one of their favorites was a Roman, Marcus Tullius Cicero, who studied law and philosophy in the days of 106-43 BC!
 
"True law is right reason in agreement with nature; it is of universal application, unchanging and everlasting; it summons to duty by its commands, and averts from wrongdoing by its prohibitions...It is a sin to alter this law,nor is it allowable to repeal any part of it, and it is impossible to abolish it entirely.  WE cannot be freed from its obligations by senate or people, and we need not look outside ourselves for an expounder or interpreter of it. And there will not be different laws at Rome and at Athens, or different laws now and in the future, but one eternal and unchangeable law will be valid for all nations and all times, and there will be one master and ruler, that is God, over us all, for he is the author of this law, its promulgator, and its enforcing judge. Whoever is disobedient is fleeing himself and denying his human nature, and by reason of the very fact he will suffer the worst punishment."  (Quoted from The 5000 Year Leap, who takes excerpt from Great Political Thinkers, Dr. William Ebenstein, Princeton).
   
"The Thinkers" today dismiss the credibility of the Law set in motion by our Founders, referring to the abundance of Christian principles as having grown obsolete according to the ways of the modern world; when in fact, the very roots of our system run far deeper than the age of Christ and his followers -- albeit making that which was masterminded by our founders, the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, all that more astounding and rich.
 
Cicero noted that Natural Law supersedes all others -- whether already devised, or any law to come; and connected that the Law of Nature and Nature's God is universal -- eternal -- basic goodness in motion from one to another, and as one stands alone.  We are connected to this Universal Spirit back of all things created; yet as humans, we are ultimately set apart and above all that exists due to our incredible mind, and  more importantly, it's ability to reason.
 
Remember now, this knowledge and foresight comes before the days of Christ; this is the mindset discovered and cultivated through the gatherings of "thinkers" and "revolutionary men" who made it their mission to create a country of unprecedented liberties, and in so doing declaring provisions and universal truths in order to create a more perfect union and outlive all time.
 
Cicero wrote:
"But what is more divine, I will not say in man only, but in all heaven and earth, than reason?  And reason, when it is full grown and perfected, is rightly called wisdom. 
Therefore, since there is nothing better than reason, and since it exists both in man and God, the first common possession of man and God is reason.  But those who  have reason in common must also have right reason in common.  And since right reason is Law, we must believe that men have Law also in common with the gods.  
Further, those who share Laws must also share Justice; and those who share these are to be regarded as members of the same commonwealth.  If indeed they obey the same authorities and powers, this is true in a far greater degree; but as a matter of fact they do obey this celestial system, the divine mind, and the God of transcendent power.
Hence we must now conceive of this whole universe as one commonwealth of which both gods and men are members." (again, from The 5000 Year Leap)
God's Law is "right reason" -- grounded in the one love system of justice shared by all under heaven.
 
If I'm not mistaken, isn't this really what most liberals rant and rave and protest about every day?  Are they not the party of the kumbaya -- this one world -- this one people -- gathered together for the good of the whole?  For goodness sakes, this very idea is centuries old and created long before Harvard had ever seen the light of day;  the irony, if they only knew of it's inherent connection to God's Law!   And to be sure, Natural Law is the only set of Laws we should ever really be concerned about -- if we want to grow good people, that is.
 
Where was "right reason" within the sensational stories of the last week?  Where was reason at all, let alone whether it was right or wrong; for if any one of these people ever "reasoned" the choices before them, wouldn't they have soundly and rightly come to another action(s)?  The Law is not to blame; undoubtedly, the individual separation from the principle of right reason is at fault.
 
Many of the "certain unalienable" rights of man, called upon as the foundation of this country, were not spelled out for us by our Founders -- for they assumed we would never wander very far away from them.  They had more faith in us than is conceivably possible -- given how they could see into the future with such vision, subsequently knowing us better than we know ourselves, yet still leaving our personal responsibility of our duty free to decide for each and every one of us.  

If only we had the foresight to recognize these truths all along the way; our society would never have grown into worshiping short term gains and desperate, quick-fix solutions over long term sacrifice and generations of prosperity and blessings.

"Right Reason" is what we have in common with one another, as a planet of men and women -- and yet it is this one thing we mess up on time and time again.  How do we teach "right reason" to our children if not going explicity and often to where the teachings can be found -- whether it be found in the Bible, in Fables and Fairy Tales, and in the spiritual teachings of all faiths which encourage, correct and support a moral compass and right minded thoughts?  How does our ability to "right reason", or not to right reason, affect the outcome of our lives, as well as the lives of our neighbors and countrymen -- as if we don't already know from current events?

In the end, and from the very beginning -- right reason only comes from one place, doesn't it.

What comes from the one place that truly matters -- at the start of all things good or bad, right or wrong -- is our one mind, which is naturally connected to the whole.  This one mind must be cultivated with right teachings -- that which we must become acquainted with right from the start -- and likewise must be supported with in times of trouble and despair; in both cases, firmly planted in a loving family and a faith in something greater than ourselves, call it whatever you want -- God, Allah, Mother Earth, Universal Mind, Yahweh, Spirit, First Cause...

We have a moral obligation to hold ourselves to this One SOUND RIGHT REASONable MIND in order to keep the peace -- the peace that passes all understanding, rooted in the principles that recognize our pursuit of happiness and the liberty to do as we so please in this world which is equally and proportionately connected to the "Right Reason" back of all things great and small...

...And like Dr. Amy, Joseph, "Josslyn" and Tiger -- our free will makes it so.


Make it a Good Day (as nobody else but you can), G

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Dear America,

"They were all kind of squirming in their seats ...
It was interesting to watch,"
Obama said.

This, from the President who is supposed to be all about bringing the two sides together. Interesting.

Mocking republicans at every chance he gets; does he think we can't hear him?

It's getting old.

It's getting old because he is forgetting HE IS THE PRESIDENT of the UNITED STATES -- he doesn't have to go there; matter of fact, you said you wouldn't.  Oh what's the use, it's not like he's listening.

Republicans couldn't applaud to your so-called "tax cuts" during the State of the Dis-Union Pep Rally because they know the truth; they also know, along with the rest of us, the repeal of the Bush tax cuts are around the corner.  They also know, along with the rest of us, that we didn't feel a thing.

Are you feeling the tax cuts?
Are you feeling the love?
Are you feeling like we're back from the brink?

"There has never been a program of this scale, moved at this speed,
 that has been enacted as effectively
and as transparently as the recovery act,"
Obama said.

"This team has done an outstanding job."
Obama said.
as if telling us one more time,  maybe we'll understand

 "They're unwilling to step up,"
[in case you didn't know -- referring to Republicans]
Biden said.

"Well not us."  Biden said.


No, not you guys; you're the good guys -- the other guys are evil, the party of no, with stupidity or swastikas written all over them, astro-turf wannabes, and all but acting alone -- not to jump to any conclusions, or anything -- but can't we all just get along?  It's not personal, it's business.
 
"They were all kind of squirming in their seats ...
It was interesting to watch,"
Obama said.

Not that I was in favor of it at the time, but something tells me it was the TARP program that really stopped the financial collapse...you know, the one enacted as the last hurrah from the previous administration ..you know, the one in which the sole purpose was to stabilize the financial markets -- institutions and lenders -- in order to prevent the pending doom and gloom and mass hysteria.

Oh yeah,
and also allow for banks to shed their troubled assets, mostly mortgage backed securities that were under water; but ultimately, the goal was to create a flow -- a massive pipeline of dough, if you will -- of credit available for main street... by bailing the banks out with main street tax payer revenue.  Huh?

Interesting, isn't it. (get used to hearing a lot of that, for it is the word of the day -- interesting -- not my fault, though, Obama started it)

There is some kind of new math going on these days, that is for sure.

One thing that has confused me (but who am I kidding, everything about this is confusing) is the process of implementation -- in that, how can you enact a 700 Billion dollar bailout and then still not have all the monies distributed over a year later?  It was an emergency situation, right?  It had to be done immediately.  Well, I found my answer in an easy read from back in the day, October of 2008, and discovered a quick lesson in asset miss-management in portfolio.com.and in a word, it's complicated.

Anyway, interesting to note, that most of the solvent banks are back from the brink, having now returned, as most of you know, all of the funds loaned by the federal government (not to be confused with the added tax/fine/punishment that they -- the fed -- tacked on after the fact).
What is more interesting, with a click back to the TARP's show me the money site, is a look at the top four recipients:  AIG (45B), Fannie Mae (60B), GM (50B) and Freddie Mac (50B)

-- note the amounts "returned" to the Treasury...oh, but wait...

"There has rarely been a less loved
or more necessary emergency program than TARP,"
Obama said.

 "Launched hastily under the last administration,
the TARP program was flawed,
and we have worked hard to correct those flaws
 and manage it properly."
Obama said. 
Doink, der it is.
That is interesting,
when most of the task of administrating such funds has fallen under your watch and under the command of your Treasury Secretary, Tim Geithner; let me put it another way, you guys can stop the program at anytime, but you seem to like it so much, you have extended it until October of 2010. That is interesting to watch.
 
But even kids know when it maybe time to follow the latest sales pitch from Lending Tree (oh, the irony), it's the one which applauds the simple idea:
 
 "YOU TO THE RESCUE!"
(showing a regular joe reflecting a superhero persona in the mirror)
 
The latest polls should tell Obama all he needs to know: only 6% of Americans believe that His Stimulus Plan has actually worked to stimulate real job growth -- 6%!  oy vey, talk about troubled assets...and this is coming from a NYTimes poll.  Ouch, perhaps something isn't too big to fail?
 
Obama told us the unemployment rate would never see the light of day over 8% IF we followed his lead; and we all know what happened after that...interesting to watch, yes sir ree.
 
This may be a good time to jump to a little graph...
 
But then there is another ad buzzing around too -- this one from a law firm, the Property Law Group, out to help troubled mortgage holders in the face of foreclosure.  This one may be more telling -- with the new found glory that we don't need to take responsibility for anything anymore, as they begin by saying, "the banks wrote bad loans but you are not to blame..."  I can't even continue.
 
Interesting to watch, yes indeed.
 
Make it a Good Day, G
 
"Learned Institutions ought to be favorite objects
with every free people. 
 They throw light over the public mind
which is the best security
against crafty and dangerous encroachments
on the public liberty."
-- James Madison
 
or they teach how to do it.

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Dear America,

"Property is the fruit of Labour...
That some should be rich shows that others may become rich
and hence is just encouragement to industry and enterprise."
Abraham Lincoln

Happy Fat Tuesday; as if we all need an excuse to live it up while we still can.

Ringing in an idea with such high flying Christian roots, in celebration of the last hurrah before a time of repentance and of showing great restraint on all levels, it seems rather fitting these days given the economic hole we've put ourselves in.

It would be one thing if we actually followed through with the work that goes along with it; but nowadays, we're just expecting bailouts, or robbing Peter to pay Paul, or spending money to make money, or we just live with some kind of warped sense of entitlement while we party down main street with not a care in the world. Whether we are dippin' into the moonshine or simply living in denial, we are pretty much messed up.

I love how the Obama administration blames Bush for everything going wrong, while they take all the credit when things go right; take the recent pronounced victory of the Obama Administration, from the crazy mouth of Joe Biden -- you know, last week when he was with Larry King...calling it [IRAQ!] "one of our greatest achievements."..

How can you go on like that, Joe, when you know darn well you wanted none of it -- you said no to the surge, wanted none of the work, and made no qualms about letting us all know how you felt -- as only you, Joe, can do -- along with your fellow Commander in Chief. Both of you wanted no piece of that strategy from the start and well past it's finish -- speaking of "the Surge"  -- claiming it will never work and ultimately would be our downfall, leaving the region in rubble and our reputation and honor in shreds.

Let's face it, Joe, you didn't want to do the work.  You didn't want to make any more of a commitment.  You didn't want to see it through and do whatever it was going to take to win.

Ah sure, but now, now Joe -- you want to take this victory home as if it were your very own and party like it's nineteen ninety-nine. Take the victory lap down Bourbon Street if you must, but at least give the credit to where credit is due -- as talk about party-san politics! This was Bush's war and Bush's strategy through and through -- you know it and WE know it. 

The Iraq Surge worked -- it was a success -- because BUSH was the determined and committed Commander in Chief who set in motion. He wasn't going to leave Iraq without a Democracy, along with all of the protections and provisions to keep it; even the exit strategy we are using today is the same as the one implemented by Bush...but why am I telling you that when you already know.

So this whole Mardi Gras thing is kind of like a shining example of America -- we party as if we have done the work already; we're letting loose as if we've already tightened our belts; we're taking credit for an accomplishment we haven't even achieved yet; we're putting on our party clothes as if the hamper is full of the sweaty and soiled Levi's after a long days work.  We're mouthing off, hooting and hollering, nipping the Jack Daniel's and acting like Joe.

We live very disconnected lives as to what it really takes to make this country work these days.

Success cannot come from nothing, or idleness; while if Joe had it his way, America never would have surged and never would have won, because America would have sat idly by and watched the victory (and Iraq) slip away.

From one of the "have nots" of England, Benjamin Franklin came to America with the sound advice:

"I have long been of your opinion,
that your legal provision for the poor [in England]
is a great evil, operating as it does to the encouragement of idleness. 
We have followed your example,
and begin now to see our error, and, I hope, shall reform it." 
This quote, found in a treasury of insight, from The 5,000 Year Leap.

The entire premise of the creation of a Federal Government in America was to safeguard the principles of a WORKING, civil, moral, and good society; whether rich or poor, the same would be true for everyone -- and that would be the teachings of personal responsibility to achieve prosperity.

"Compassion which gives a drunk the means to increase his drunkeness is counter-productive."

"Compassion which breeds debilitating dependency and weakness is counter-productive."

"Compassion which blunts the desire or necessity to work for a living is counter-productive."

"Compassion which smothers the instinct to strive and excel is counter-productive."

Again, words of reason from Benjamin Franklin via The 5,000 Year Leap.

The idea was to let the people, even the very poor, learn to do the work themselves; those in power could shape America in such a way to encourage and support people to help themselves -- which was all the federal government was ever supposed to be; that "under no circumstances is the federal government to become involved in public welfare... The Founders felt it would corrupt the government and also the poor." Adding, "no Constitutional authority exists for the federal government to participate in charity or welfare."

And now look at us.

The only reason why Iraqi's can dance if they so choose is because they have done the work; they know that from this day forward it will continue to take work and it will remain their duty to never let down their guard; as it requires the action of real effort day in and day out...lest they will lose it.

"A people must from time to time,
refresh themselves at the well-spring of their origin,
lest they perish."

don't you just love that Franklin...

But fast track back to today, even if you never liked the guy, Bush was a man of conviction.  He didn't quit; he was a leader, a man of honor in a battle he started from a place of reason and compassion and for the betterment of the people in Iraq and our country. 

We could question whether it was the best or his only option for decades -- and we will -- but the reality is, only by the actions of a fearless and tireless leader do we ever see the finish line; and bearing in mind the Olympic spirit overflowing in Vancouver today, only by this kind of effort do we ever have a chance to stand tall and wave our flag in the air as we take the victory lap round the ice.

But get a load of Joe these days, fresh off of Larry King we found him taking time off to enjoy a few days at the Olympics, sitting in the stands happy as can be, proud of his accomplishment in Iraq -- "this administration's greatest accomplishment", he said.

Refresh yourself, Joe -- look at the origins of 'your finest hour' and there you will find something which you, along with a parade of other yahoos in Washington -- will never fully understand:

"Though the earth and all inferior creatures be common [as the gift from God] to all men, yet every man has a 'property' in his own 'person.' This, nobody has any right to but himself.  The 'labour' of his body and the 'work' of his hands, we may say, are properly his.  Whatsover, then, he removes out of the state that Nature hath provided and left it in, he hath mixed his labour with it, and joined to it something that is his own, and thereby makes it his property...
He that is nourished by the acorns he picked up under an oak, or the apples he gathered from the trees in the woods, has certainly appropriated them to himself. Nobody can deny but the nourishment is his.  I ask then, when did they begin to be his?  When he digested? or when he ate? or when he boiled? or when he brought them home? or when he picked them up?  And it is plain, if the first gathering made not his, nothing else could."  From John Locke, Second Essay Concerning Civil Government, inside The 5,000 Year Leap

At what point, Joe, did it become yours, when you saw that it was done?  when the people of Iraq could vote?  when you finally felt good about a decision that wasn't yours was ultimately met with success? or did you take something that doesn't actually belong to you? 

To be able to stand tall at the podium, Joe -- it can only come with the discerning decision to make the commitment in the first place, to accept whatever laborious extra effort it may take, and follow through all the way to the end. To know the real joy, Joe -- it can only be found back behind such labor, such unwavering spirit to see it through, no matter what, no matter how hard, no matter how long it takes -- only then, from such personal attachment to the goal and the nature of creation itself, can you really feel the win. (Case in point, some of the real life stories from Olympians and what it took to get there).

The accomplishment in Iraq is not one for you to truly own, Joe -- and if I'm not mistaken, given the dynamics of effort and outcome, soil and reward -- you feel that way too. 

Tomorrow should be a pretty good day for you, after parading the transgressions claiming an honor fraudulently deemed your own, perhaps a quiet day of reflection will find you on your knees in gratitude to someone else besides the good Lord.

Make it a good Day, G

whether in Iraq or here at home...captured in one of my favorite places, The Patriot Post:

"Government is taking us a long way down the Road to Serfdom. That doesn't just mean that more of us must work for the government. It means that we are changing from independent, self-responsible people into a submissive flock. The welfare state kills the creative spirit. F.A. Hayek, an Austrian economist living in Britain, wrote 'The Road to Serfdom' in 1944 as a warning that central economic planning would extinguish freedom. ... Hayek meant that governments can't plan economies without planning people's lives. After all, an economy is just individuals engaging in exchanges. The scientific-sounding language of President Obama's economic planning hides the fact that people must shelve their own plans in favor of government's single plan. At the beginning of 'The Road to Serfdom,' Hayek acknowledges that mere material wealth is not all that's at stake when the government controls our lives: 'The most important change ... is a psychological change, an alteration in the character of the people.' This shouldn't be controversial. If government relieves us of the responsibility of living by bailing us out, character will atrophy. The welfare state, however good its intentions of creating material equality, can't help but make us dependent. That changes the psychology of society. According to the Tax Foundation, 60 percent of the population now gets more in government benefits than it pays in taxes. What does it say about a society in which more than half the people live at the expense of the rest?" --columnist John Stossel

Thank you "The Patriot Post (www.patriotpost.us/subscribe/ )"

Thursday, February 11, 2010

Dear America,

Excerpts from Eve Ensler, from way back in September of 2008 -- featured in The Huffington Post.

"I am having Sarah Palin nightmares. I dreamt last night that she was a member of a club where they rode snowmobiles and wore the claws of drowned and starved polar bears around their necks. I have a particular thing for Polar Bears. Maybe it's their snowy whiteness or their bigness or the fact that they live in the arctic or that I have never seen one in person or touched one. Maybe it is the fact that they live so comfortably on ice. Whatever it is, I need the polar bears."  by EVE

If EVE was truly smart, she would read GOING ROGUE by SARAH; and discover for herself just how much of a true, blue, red-blooded conservationist SARAH really is.  Alaskans are born in tune to the earth, respecting all of it's inhabitants, and using our God given resources wisely; it's not a fad or a political agenda, it is a way of life. by G



"I don't like raging at women. I am a Feminist and have spent my life trying to build community, help empower women and stop violence against them. It is hard to write about Sarah Palin. This is why the Sarah Palin choice was all the more insidious and cynical. The people who made this choice count on the goodness and solidarity of Feminists."

As one raging woman rages on about another...Again, I would rush to point out GOING ROGUE is a must read for you, EVE, as there you will find how the real SARAH lives -- real feminists don't need to rage on about inequality, they just go to work; real feminists have worked men's jobs in Alaska for hundreds of years and through generations -- fishing, the pipe line, and actively participating in the needs of community and civility and society long before you were born.  It is one of her Alaskan native in-law's, A WOMAN, highlighted in her book, who started a fishing company before it was cool and still works it today -- in her nineties. But all of your anti-violence stuff, your V-Day .org, sounds like a good thing and for that I applaud you -- and I'm sure SARAH would too.

"But everything Sarah Palin believes in and practices is antithetical to Feminism which for me is part of one story -- connected to saving the earth, ending racism, empowering women, giving young girls options, opening our minds, deepening tolerance, and ending violence and war."

TOLERANCE?  really, EVE? 
And is that empowering all women, or just liberals, I'm confused? 
Open your mind, EVE, and let your own words of wisdom sink in, will you? How can you preach the anti-violence mantra when every word out of your mouth is all about the attack and annihilation of someone who simply is different than you --- why so vicious? It is so unbecoming. 

"I believe that the McCain/Palin ticket is one of the most dangerous choices of my lifetime, and should this country chose those candidates the fall-out may be so great, the destruction so vast in so many areas that America may never recover. But what is equally disturbing is the impact that duo would have on the rest of the world. Unfortunately, this is not a joke. In my lifetime I have seen the clownish, the inept, the bizarre be elected to the presidency with regularity."

Now that's funny. no joke.

"Sarah Palin does not believe in evolution. I take this as a metaphor. In her world and the world of Fundamentalists nothing changes or gets better or evolves. She does not believe in global warming. The melting of the arctic, the storms that are destroying our cities, the pollution and rise of cancers, are all part of God's plan. She is fighting to take the polar bears off the endangered species list. The earth, in Palin's view, is here to be taken and plundered. The wolves and the bears are here to be shot and plundered. The oil is here to be taken and plundered. Iraq is here to be taken and plundered. As she said herself of the Iraqi war, "It was a task from God."


Again, you speak like you actually know her, EVE, and yet the real ignorance is found in you (of course, I say that without really knowing YOU myself, oh the irony)  Earth to EVE, many of us do not believe in the Global Warming Hoax -- even, dare I say, real scientists.  The Global Warming issue is a political tool to redistribute wealth and to line the pockets of people like Gore and Soros and Moore, to name a few.  Now quite the contrary, do we need responsible legislation and regulation and rehabilitation and conservation to the resources here on this beautiful earth?  Always and forever. Do we have to destroy America in the process -- absolutely not.

"Sarah Palin does not believe in abortion. She does not believe women who are raped and incested and ripped open against their will should have a right to determine whether they have their rapist's baby or not."

Because so many babies are conceived from rapists...do your research, EVE.  Interesting to note, the highest proportion of abortions come from the over 22 age bracket, and many of these are smart women who simple made foolish choices by accident, and who can easily afford to drop a few hundred bucks to get rid of the issue.  How different is abortion than the likes of the killing of dolphins or grey whales or the white horned owl of some sort, is it simply because you can't see it?  Are you that oblivious to the conception of a life force?  But I digress, a woman's right to choose includes millions of women who choose life...it's a matter of principle that pro-choice'ers respect that choice and it's as simple as that.

"She obviously does not believe in sex education or birth control. I imagine her daughter was practicing abstinence and we know how many babies that makes."

Okay, perhaps you are the wrong person to discuss this kind of thing.  First, you make all kinds of assumptions as if you have sat around the kitchen table with them all the time-- that's bold.  As parents, we can't always control what our children ultimately do, now can we?  Isn't that natural?  I have trouble understanding how you, at the age of 23, could adopt a son who was already fifteen years old -- and who knew, Dylan McDermott, the actor, is your boy?  Some day, over coffee, I would love to hear more about that.

"Sarah Palin does not much believe in thinking. From what I gather she has tried to ban books from the library, has a tendency to dispense with people who think independently. She cannot tolerate an environment of ambiguity and difference. This is a woman who could and might very well be the next president of the United States. She would govern one of the most diverse populations on the earth."

You know, when you do all your research according to sound bites or bits of creative and adulterated journalism, this is what you get. Besides the fact that your sentences there need some work, it must be real difficult for you to watch a woman actually speak her own mind, go against the tide and even fire fellow republicans who are out of control, and turn the energy commission of Alaska upside down -- making fodder out of the disingenuous and corrupt good old boys network that wrecked havoc on the oil business and the environment; no wait, your a feminist, that's what you are supposed to like. 

"Sarah believes in guns. She has her own custom Austrian hunting rifle. She has been known to kill 40 caribou at a clip. She has shot hundreds of wolves from the air."

You must love watching reruns of MSNBC.

"Sarah believes in God. That is of course her right, her private right. But when God and Guns come together in the public sector, when war is declared in God's name, when the rights of women are denied in his name, that is the end of separation of church and state and the undoing of everything America has ever tried to be."

America has never "declared" war in "GOD's Name" you stupid woman -- ah oh, I think I'm letting you get under my skin.  (This must be how you feel about SARAH.)  But secondly, read your Constitution and America's Declaration of INDEPENDENCE; it's not too late.  The context of both documents was written in stone to last for all of eternity -- God was not only a vital part of our early American history, GOD was the center of it and creator of all that surrounds us.  Our forefathers, even the atheists, respected the Universal Creative Spirit and Almighty God above all else; and trusted this GOD to carry us and continue on as the cornerstone to our law, our land, our people and our freedom. By all appearances, you "learned" "evolved" "intellectuals" have it all backwards these days.

"I write to my sisters. I write because I believe we hold this election in our hands. This vote is a vote that will determine the future not just of the U.S., but of the planet. It will determine whether we create policies to save the earth or make it forever uninhabitable for humans. It will determine whether we move towards dialogue and diplomacy in the world or whether we escalate violence through invasion, undermining and attack. It will determine whether we go for oil, strip mining, coal burning or invest our money in alternatives that will free us from dependency and destruction. It will determine if money gets spent on education and health care or whether we build more and more methods of killing. It will determine whether America is a free open tolerant society or a closed place of fear, fundamentalism and aggression."

NO COMMENT, sista; this is extreme feminism at it's best.

"If the Polar Bears don't move you to go and do everything in your power to get Obama elected then consider the chant that filled the hall after Palin spoke at the RNC, "Drill Drill Drill." I think of teeth when I think of drills. I think of rape. I think of destruction. I think of domination. I think of military exercises that force mindless repetition, emptying the brain of analysis, doubt, ambiguity or dissent. I think of pain."

"Do we want a future of drilling? More holes in the ozone, in the floor of the sea, more holes in our thinking, in the trust between nations and peoples, more holes in the fabric of this precious thing we call life?"



Polar Bear population in the 1970's was about 5,000 -- bears were being killed to the point of extinction.  Today, five times that are frolicking in the snow safely under guarded, well tooled regulation that conserves and reinforces natural growth and life, while in some areas, are seen to be actually thriving in population.

And what do you have to say to your King now?  When he duly noted in his State of the Union address a couple of weeks ago, his commitment for developing clean coal, drilling for oil and nuclear energy -- along with other alternative energy solutions of course.  He's your guy, now.  It's not a SARAH saying it.  It's your man -- the man -- the Anointed One -- not that you believe in Church and State.

The difficulty I seem to be having-- speaking to the prophet of the "anti-rage" who in turn found a way to rage against  every action of a person, real or imagined, just because they think different than you or hold a different set of beliefs--  is trying to hold myself back from doing the very same thing.

I mean, those thoughts were over a year ago -- surely some things may have changed (besides all of the hope and change we have going around). But then again, maybe not.

We saw you on the Joy Behar Show.

Maybe it's because you consider talk show hosts smarter than the average bear; maybe it's just because running the state of Alaska's got nothing, according to you, as compared to those making disparaging remarks on The Huffington Post or writing an entire play encapsulating the lives of women talking out of their ya-ya's (as brilliant as that may be, and is) --

but it's a shame really.  I think women like you give women a bad name.

I'm not understanding why we can't get along and simply have a conversation without the personal attacks; that is not being tolerant -- and it most certainly doesn't curtail the call to bear arms and go to war with one another -- can you say cat fat?

For me, that kind of behavior is the antithesis of being a true feminist -- a woman strong in her own soul, secure in her own self, and planted firmly in faith -- whatever that may be.

My guess is that you missed out on that softer side of being in your own skin, having been wrecked by a childhood that took away your innocence -- the rapture, the joy, the faith in all good things -- far too young.  You "think of pain" because your pain runs deep; and you speak of it with every word you write, as a tumultuous monument to your past of the reckless actions of a father who harmed you.

From one woman to another, I can only hope you find your peace -- and in the meantime, just so you know, it doesn't really matter what YOU think of SARAH and all the talk shows in the world won't change that.

Make it a Good Day, G

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Dear America,

Not everybody gets a trophy.

At least, that's the way it used to be here in America.

We were taught at a very young age that in order to get anywhere in this world, it would take work.  Hard work.  And perhaps a little sacrifice.

And even when we didn't win, get the job, defeat the other team, get the girl, bring home the contract, or have a good day -- we still kept our chin up.  We persevered; we went the extra mile -- we went over the mountain -- we made it to the other side and then made some lemonade.

Now, my favorite football star of all time has been catching alot of flack from the blogosphere and sports fanatics with regards to his behaviour on Sunday.  In case you missed it, our dear Peyton walked off the field in a huff, head down and not making nice with anyone. He made absolutely no effort whatsoever to prance on over to the other side as if nothing ever happened; not hiding a thing for all the world to see.

Oh, later in the day he took in the press conference and made very public, finally, a few conciliatory remarks to the Saints; he personally congratulated Drew Brees with a phone call; and Drew had nothing but good things to say about the Manning as well.  Everyone came to grips with their own reality in time and in their own way; when some people win, some people gotta lose, and that's all there is to it.

Oh, but the way people carried on about Peyton  -- the "lack of sportsmanship,"  the "lack of respect," the "show of an arrogant quarterback gone bad"...may this be a lesson to kids everywhere and often, they said.

What has happened here in America? 

If you bear with G just a bit, somehow I believe not showing our true feelings when we lose is all a part of this underlying progressive direction our country is heading. This new fab philosophy, that happens to be a century old, cutting into the natural ingenuity and drive that has made this nation the greatest collection of people that has ever lived is beginning to permeate into the American mindset -- that we must conform, follow along, not stand out, stifle our winning spirit, be told what is appropriate behavior, how much is too much, and what is ours, yours or the governments to use at will. 

Peyton wanted to win -- and he didn't. He may be one of the greatest quarterbacks of our day, but he still has feelings, he is still only human.  Peyton wanted to win and made no excuses about that as he hung his head down low and walked off the field.  He is a competitor -- and probably harder on himself than all of his teammates put together.  He is the fearless leader of the entire team -- and while expecting only the best of himself, he was unable to meet those demands with a winning performance along with it's hard earned triumphant outcome.  AND he didn't feel like hiding it either.

Obama doesn't "begrudge" a few Wall Street bankers getting obscene bonuses for creating wealth for their companies by amassing crazy profits -- referring to the Goldman Sachs CEO, Lloyd Blankfein, and the CEO of JP Morgan Chase, Jamie Dimon, the two combined raking in 23 million dollars in stock bonuses -- with certain restrictions, of course.  This coming from the Oval Office and according to an interview with Bloomberg Business Week,  the President said:

“an extraordinary amount of money...there are some baseball players who are making more than that and don’t get to the World Series either, so I’m shocked by that as well...”


“I know both those guys; they are very savvy businessmen... I, like most of the American people, don’t begrudge people success or wealth. That is part of the free- market system.”
Peyton was quarterbacking big bonuses for his team, too -- and he didn't make it happen.  It was a loss he felt not only for himself, but for the whole franchise.  He wasn't ready in that moment to pretend that it didn't matter, when for all intents and purposes it was everything he ever wanted -- for his teammates, for the owners, for the city of Indy and all it's fans.  He let himself down and he let it show.  Big deal; for he was just keeping it real.

Isn't that what we want from our home team anyway? 

Isn't this thirst for bringing home the win every time exactly what we expect from our players, as fans?  

Printed in locker rooms everywhere is there 'hey, if we win we win, if we don't, we don't?'

Where's the fight? Where's the will?  Where's the come hell or high water, yes we can and we won't take no for an answer in that  -- and after all that -- when faced with a shining blow, how is it possible to go, oh hey, good game? 

I'm so glad our President Obama went there with his analogy on Wall Street, as this country's love of baseball, football, all sports, most certainly exemplifies the American spirit inside us.  We win some and lose some every day.

But today, our kids are finding out that even with a loss comes a trophy.  We can't even have gold medal ceremonies for excellent readers, because the kids that don't do the required reading will stand out, get there feelings hurt.  We can't let one team grab the gold without the other team waiting to see what they get -- just for showing up. 

In a manner of speaking all the way around, we take the losing team out for ice cream while the winning team gets to buy -- that's where we're at these days.

Where is the will to climb out of the rough in that, make first down on 4th and inches, and spring the on-side kick at the start of second half as if you got nothing to lose? 

Where is the determination to work harder, play smarter, build stronger, and maybe next time bring home the victory?  The whole notion of the underdog breaking all odds comes from exactly this -- in order to be considered the underdog in the first place, it must come from a place of loss -- and a lot of them, continuously, unabashedly in your face defeats time after time after time...let me hear you say LOSER!
holding the customary fingers up in the air in the sorry ass-ed "L" position. 

The Saints, in all their years as a franchise, had never gone to the big show. Never.   

How much did that trophy finally mean to the team and to the heart of Louisiana, New Orleans?  How huge was the victory -- how sweet the success -- how deserving -- and how down in the bayou good did it feel to witness such a thing right before our very eyes?
 
How can you begrudge one teams outright success over another?  How can you put a value to the accomplishment or to it's affects on a city, a franchise, a company in the business of selling the home team and all that it encompasses...including, the outreach, the monies, the community support from each and every player that comes along free of charge.  Thanks to the million dollar salaries, fame and fortune trickles down and helps people back up from the brink. (see also the NFL and the United Way)
 
Can a president put a dollar sign in front of some body's worth to a company -- whether it is Wall Street, Main Street or Bourbon Street?   I think not; a president doesn't belong anywhere on that field of play.
 
And this is precisely why America is going through such hard times;  the administrations of the last forty years have tried to micro-manage the American franchise -- trying to do too much for people who don't deserve it -- trying to shelter us from losses that would ultimately only teach us to buck up, buttercup all on our own -- trying to take profits from one team's win and redistribute to the rest of the losers (jeopardizing future seasons for everyone) -- and ultimately disenfranchising future generations by gridlocking them into huge debt along with not enough of the market share to keep up, with teams wrecked by lack of motivation or reason to try harder, as what's the use -- even if I make it big, I don't get to keep it.
 
You are so right, Mr. President, we shouldn't begrudge success and wealth; does thou shalt not covet other people's things ring any bells?
 
As the American standard proves time and time again, when unpunished and left free to do as we please, we give back -- and then some.  When the "free-market" is truly left free, when the very idea of creating "success and wealth" is applauded --  growth naturally and exponentially and magically multiplies.
 
It takes people with a level of high expectation to get that; it takes people who hate to lose -- people who make no apologies for showing 106 million viewers that they feel pretty darn bad when they do.
 
Peyton didn't take home the trophy and, make no mistake, he feels pretty darn bad about it.  That is why he is a franchise player for the Indianapolis Colts -- and amongst the highest paid athletes of our day.  The Colts own him.  They made him a franchise player for his work ethic, his drive, his composure, his expertise, his skills, his maturity, his allegiance, his ability to create success and wealth for an entire team -- and you better believe, every bit of his team spirit and sportsmanship.  How do I know?  We watched it walk off the field in defeat on Sunday.
 
No matter what the equation, no matter who's dat or who's not, our free market works best when people are actually free to do as we so please.  And no matter how much we try to massage the numbers, tweak the stats, or spend our way out in record breaking dollars in order to hold onto something that is not meant to be and meant to be free -- all we will ever take home will be a loss.
 
God Bless Football
and God Bless the United States of America.
 
Make it a Good Day, G
 

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Dear America,

and we're back to health care.

He told Katie on Sunday, "[republicans] want to ask them to put their ideas on the table, and then after the recess, which will be a few weeks away, I want to come back and have a large meeting, the Republicans and Democrats, to go through systematically all the best ideas that are out there and move it forward."

So now he wants a "large meeting"; not to be confused with the umpteen mini meetings behind closed doors where the republicans were all but shut out openly and transparently in front of all 300 million Americans.

Now, he wants to hear republican ideas (even though they had them all along).  Now, he wants to include republicans.  Now, he wants to have a "large meeting" where both sides are brought to the table.  Didn't we elect him to begin that last year?

And, make no mistake there miss katie, my focus on health care (again) is not going against my commitment to jobs; "in retrospect, jobs were my number one priority last year [don't you remember], that's why we did the stimulus package...maintaining the jobs we had...growing infrastructure...if we hadn't..."

SO, with regards to the stimulus package: "Do I wish we could have done it faster? That it hadn't been so painfully slow through the legislative process? Absolutely. But it was the right thing to do then, it continues to be the right thing," he said.

Painfully slow?  You became President on January 20, 2009 and within thirty days, on February 17th to be exact, the stimulus bill was signed into law with your left paw; if that is painfully slow, then by all accounts and according to how you roll, Mr. President, this health care legislation must be going backwards at warp speed.

SO, which is it really, jobs or health care?
SO, did you talk to Reid and Pelosi about including republicans last year in the conversation, or do you take the fifth on that?
SO, the stimulus worked so well the first time, you feel the need to ramp up and do it again, is that it?
SO, when your administration sent SEIU members to disrupt town hall meetings last summer, that was just our imagination?  After dismissing the hearts and minds of the people, you still want to push a legislation that costs too much and doesn't fix the real issues at hand and goes against the will of the people and the law of the land (as you well know, being an "expert" in Constitutional Law)?

You and your democratic super majority had the capability to ram whatever you wanted through congress -- you just knew, all of you, that the people wouldn't tolerate such nonsense. 

I got news for you, it was painfully slow for us Americans to watch the antics back and forth for the last year and 21 days and five hours, not that I'm counting...

What is painfully slow is waiting for the November elections -- just to catch a glimmer of hope -- that one day soon all of this will go away.
What seems to be running painfully slow is your entire term; at this point, I don't think we can get you out of there fast enough.

And what is certainly painfully slow is listening to the empty rhetoric dripping out of the mouths of the people's house, the people's seat, the people's representatives like a broken sewer, slowly trickling into the crevasses below our foundation, unseen and mischievously going about it's business, until one day the ground will just open up and swallow us whole.
Day after day, watching the closed door sessions.
Day after day, listening to the flip and the flop of partisan politics gone awry.
Day after day, being called names like "nazi's" and "astro-turf" and "extremists garnering guns and swastikas".

All this, from a government who belongs to us, the people!

What seems to be, by all appearances, a painfully slow death of our constitution and this country calls for action -- action that may require a little overdrive  -- in order to right the wrong, make the crooked road straight, once more.


But the thing is, we are so far off course, the painfully slow reality is settling in -- it may be that no amount of speed will be enough to catch up with the recklessness of Washington.

All the while, as we hear our President say things like 'it takes time', 'a little longer than we expected', 'it's not going as fast as we would have liked', it's 'painfully slow' -- what we feel inside is quite the contrary. 

Here's an idea for Katie, what is going on in Washington is too much!  too soon!  too fast!   not what we want! and never will be painfully slow enough!  for our liking. 
 
We see the curves up ahead, and we want to slow down.
We see the broken bridge and realize there is no other way around.
We see the finish line on the horizon -- and all we want to do is stop, dead in our tracks, before it's too late.
 
The irony really. 
 
IF only our President realized that an environment that supports real job growth -- not government growth (currently at it's all-time high @ 14%) --one that lowers business and capital gains taxes, supports thriving and active competition in the marketplace, promotes ALL businesses, large and small -- only then will we have the makings to create the jobs necessary for the 10-20% of Americans currently unemployed and who want to be fully, and gainfully, an active participant in society. 
 
Subsequently, when people are employed, they will have health insurance offered to them or are able to afford it on their own; by opening commerce over state lines, insurance companies will be able to finally compete for true market share, naturally providing better service and opportunities to increase sales and their customer base, otherwise they will fail; with simple reforms added in to remedy fraud, malpractice or wrongful litigation, ultimately the cost of providing care to all of us will correct itself, becoming more manageable and fair.
 
The irony really; if our president just stopped overcompensating in the turns, flip flopping from jobs to health care and back again, and simply concentrated on creating the best and the brightest free market on earth, the relationship between our health meeting job opportunity would surely go hand in hand, making all of our little engines begin to purr.
 
A sweet hum on down the road, that's my kind of painfully slow, what's yours?


"A wise and frugal government,
which shall leave men free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement,
and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned --
 this is the sum of good government."
 Thomas Jefferson
 
"The circulation of confidence is better than the circulation of money."
James Madison
 
"Democracy...while it lasts is more bloody than either aristocracy or monarchy. 
Remember, democracy never lasts long. 
It soon wastes, exhausts and murders itself. 
There is never a democracy that did not commit suicide." 
John Adams
 
"The Constitution only gives people the right to pursue happiness. 
You have to catch it yourself." 
Benjamin Franklin
 
It's not up for discussion; it is not the duty of this President to decide if it's a conversation about jobs OR health care, we must make the decision for him. He can talk up his plan all he wants, on a daily basis if that's what he thinks it will take; we all know it doesn't come cheap and we can't afford it -- while it goes against every free market principle in the book.
 
What seems to be painfully clear now, is how long it may take for him to get that --
or get off the road, honk! honk!
 
 
Make it a Good Day, G

Monday, February 8, 2010

Dear America,

really?

really, Gloria? 
and you too, NARAL.

That was what got your panties in a wad?   really?

All I can say is thank you.  All of your jumping to conclusions, your quick to comment tackles, and simply your poor sportsmanship and acting "stupidly" as some may say, did more to promote the real cause than any commercial ever could.

For starters, it was over so fast, if you blinked, you might have missed it.

As -- for a second -- or maybe twenty -- I nearly did...all of a sudden, I looked up and watched this blur cut across the screen, barreling into some woman; I had to do further research to watch the whole spot.

And yeah, that stuff was pretty 'anti-choice' and 'anti-abortion' and 'anti-women' -- political and ecumenical -- yup, a mighty extremists point of view was written all over it.  All the way from "I call him my little miracle baby as he almost didn't make it into this world...I can remember so many times when I almost lost him...It was so hard...Well, he's all grown up now and I still worry about his health...We have to be tough in this world" (as she gets plowed over by her big boy, Timmy) as he pokes his head up and asks, "you still worry about me mom?" when she responds with, "well yeah, you're not nearly as tough as me" (as he wraps his arms around her).

Whoa. 

To meet with any words of controversy, you would have to turn to the fine print at the very end of the thirty seconds, where you find the "Focus on the Family" in little baby blue letters -- referring people to their website to hear the Tebow's whole story -- and that's it.

Yeah, but talk about interuppting the family over a ballgame with something so horrifying as an in your face pro-life commercial --

Yeah, talk about dispensing hate and division over a touchy subject in the middle of 100 million viewers who simply want to be entertained for four hours, without be interfered with, without family eruptions over some "religion-inspired, sugar-coated ad" like Gloria 'look at me on tv' Allred hastened to call it -- before she even saw it.

Can we all just settle down now?

I'm sorry, but I was sort of disappointed. The ad seemed to be so unassuming and without pretense or ulterior motive that I almost think it was a waste of money.  But then again, the two weeks leading up to the ad -- priceless.

So quick to judge now, aren't we?

The ad did not preach. 

The ad did not even go so far as to utter the words "pro-life" or anti-anything. 

All this ad seemed to do was advocate a sweet sentiment of all moms -- how we never stop worrying for our babies -- whether it be before the day they arrive into the world, to all the days that follow; and while the children may appear to grow up big and strong -- they can never really rival the strength and abilities of what it takes to be a mom in this world.  Can I hear an amen, sista?

Oh, but what we might take from all of this may be more astounding -- the actions of being too quick to judge (and overreact) seems paramount to the conversation that we keep having with one another.  So at the very risk of jumping to the Bible for help, let us seek a measure of good advice:

"Do not judge, or you too will be judged.  For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. 

Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?  How can you say to your brother, 'let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye?  You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see more clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye."  Matthew 7:1-5
Which view came out the victor in the end?  Was it the over zealous condemnation to an ad unseen, or was it the subtlety of Tim Tebow's mom showing off her miracle baby for just a moment in time?  If you were there, you would know just how rhetorical the question may be.

So what up if someone actually goes to see what "Focus on the Family" is all about after watching not-so-little Timmy tackle his mom on national tv?  Are growing strong, healthy families that out of vogue these days?  Is it that much of a threat?   Is one organization's investment into the lives and well being of creating and supporting and honoring the American family from it's own set of values so outrageous that it warrants contempt and backlash from those who simply do not agree with it?  GO to the site.  I think not.

Honestly.

I have to believe that the NOW and NARAL are feeling kind of silly this morning -- much ado about nothing -- except their own insecurities and lack of respect to a world view highly separate from their own.

I implore you -- no, I throw the red challenge flag and dare you -- to go to Focus on the Family and check them out even further.  Like the intention of their ad, the focus is all about celebrating life, celebrating the family.  There are ample links made available to assist the family -- growing good kids, building strong, loving marriages (even inter-racial, multi-cultural kinds!), and offering a place to seek out help and expertise if the going gets rough (as surely as in sickness and in health, for richer for poorer, those times come).

The website is a happy place; one that I may venture to myself from time to time, now that this "ooooh, so controversial" ad has shed some light.  Much to my dismay, NARAL was still promoting the 'anti-family focus' campaign yet this morning -- begging for donations as they throw the penalty flag against CBS and the cause.

Really, what penalty?

I didn't see it; and as a matter of fact, the replay begs to differ no matter how many times you play it back -- and we all know, after a plate of seven layer bean dip and chips, the camera never lies.

And for the last two seconds of my blog today, how about the last two minutes of the game?  Nobody thought the underdog had half a chance to survive, let alone thrive against all odds.

If I may be so bold, come morning light, The Saints seem to have it all the way around.

Make it a Good Day, G

replay the youtube of Louie Armstrong again -- by clicking on Dear America -- this time, turn it up and dance around the room, play your air trombone and swing your children in the air... catching them, of course, in your arms...