Dear America,

Last Sunday, Joel Osteen talked about how he wasn't ever going to apologize for God's blessings; he said it in front of his audience of thousands, an added television audience of tens of thousands -- basically, for all ears to hear, he made it perfectly clear, that he is not ashamed of how the Lord has blessed him, his family, and went on to tell us why, sometimes bringing himself to tears.

the long and the short of it seemed to fall back on a realization that for most of us running around in this world, unless we are privy to all the years leading up to the 'time of blessings' shall we say, we really don't see the whole story; we're getting in at the end, at a time when we witness the good stuff, like when the fair maiden finally kisses her handsome prince; we're finding ourselves in the audience of some kind of super power preacher, who by the looks of things is making millions in book sales and weekly tithes through his evangelical ministry, some people might even be wondering what the @%*#, he's so lucky...look at him all happy...I wanna big house, shiny new shoes and the ability to feed my family without a care in the world....all he does is say a bunch of mumbo jumbo about how good it is to be a follower of Christ, a child of God...really, Joel...really...easy for you to say...
 

What we don't see, is the time of struggle; what we are not witness to, are the innumerable times of drought and despair.

We, the people -- sitting from our sweet spot of judgment --  have no idea what in the world it took to get to this time of blessing.

absolutely no idea.

Similar to the attack on Sarah Palin, immediately following her arrival along side John McCain on the big presidential wanna-be stage, the media issued in a new era of character assassination; the left, then and now, pounced on her as if  asking 'what in the world did she ever do to deserve it...' -- all they saw was this beautiful, articulate, polished woman, with her gorgeous, American family standing up behind her, who would before the night is through, change the course of history, while welcoming in a new day -- overnight -- for the republican party and conservatives everywhere.

Upon first impression, whatever the left could see from the outside, could no way justify the ability for Sarah to simply waltz into blessings; she didn't have the right credentials, the proper Ivy League resume, or the recognition of years of public service -- at least for those of us in the lower 48 -- we never saw this locomotive comin'.

What the left refuses to see, to this day, is her years of putting herself through school, the years of service and hockey-mom activism in her own back yard, the years of living close to the land, as all Alaskans naturally do, respectful of the Alaskan environment and natural resources, including oil, fishing, game and the protection of all endangered wildlife.  If the left actually took a genuine interest to get to know who Sarah really is, I have no doubt they would love her -- instead, we get fear and loathing, but maybe that's just me being G.

IN any event, the world was introduced to Sarah long after her time of paying her dues, starting out small, beginning with city council, moving into the mayor's office, and reaching the Governor's seat of the entire state of Alaska -- and especially after taking on the good old boy network, her own party, and the oil industry all at the same time -- which, by the way, she accomplished nearly on her own, making more enemies than friends, and in the end being responsible for totally dismantling the crony capitalism of Alaskan politics; struggle?  the credentials?  the school of hard knocks? the payment of her dues in blood, sweat and tears? not to be seen by the naked -- and thoroughly, ignorant, left brain -- eye.

Likewise, is the business of getting America back on track -- a perfect segway into a quick comparison to the times; we have no appreciation, it would seem, of what got us here in the first place; we are surrounded in blessings, as if showing absolutely no respect for the days, weeks, months, or two centuries of struggle and strife to get us here, to this very moment in time.

We are so full of blessings, we have grown so spoiled, more enamored by looks over substance, we have forgotten each and every principle and value we have painstakingly realized to date, long after the due diligence, the struggle, the heartache...long after the worst part, for all intents and purposes, is over.

It would seem we have no respect for her -- America -- at all.

Nope; all we have left are the petty rushes to judgment; the critical thinking of someone who clings to 'outdated ideas', you know, the ideas that made America pretty wonderful to begin with; nope, now is the time of dividing, rather than uniting -- ever hopeful that our own issues will be heard over the deafening voices of another.

Gone are the good old days, when we actually understood why we are a nation of faith; gone are the days when we recognized free market principles out-shined all the rest; gone are the days when self-reliance was taught, nurtured, cultivated into every process of society while fully and bountifully rewarded; gone are the days when we celebrated another man's riches, for we could very well make it happen too...next; gone are the days when we protected the sanctity of life, the preservation of our own bodies, and honored real love; gone are the days...

gone are the days when we totally got it --  that we are only as good as the character of the people we make -- teaching our children with the highest level of standards and expectations and morals, and, in the end, actually gaining something in return; gone are the days when we lived within our means; gone are the days when we opened the door for the person behind us; gone are the days when we sat down for dinner, with the family, eating a home-cooked meal, when it wasn't a holiday or special night of the week; gone are the days...


gone are the days when we understood why the founders had to have a 3/5th clause; gone are the days when we fought, with real guns and ammo, a civil war to protect the lives and future for all Americans; gone are the days when we made it through the Great Depression saying we would never do that again; gone are the days when we said no more taxation without representation and threw tea into the sea;  gone are the days when we cried, as one nation, after the twin towers collapsed from the direct attack by Islamic Suicide Bomber Terrorists; gone are the days when we truly melted into ONE America -- not about being Irish or Italian, not about Protestant or Catholic, not about Black or White or Yellow or Brown, not about my special interest over yours; gone are the days...

My father sent me what would seem to be a rather innocuous email this morning, telling an age old story of how we got the width of train tracks -- which, by the way, is a strange figure, an exact 4 feet 8.5 inches, between the rails.  SO!  Sitting here, hearing a raging chorus of 'so what' I will leave it at that...

or will I?

...what's this...
underneath it all...
I am hearing...
a still small voice begging for more --

alright, alright, shooosh now and sit down, I will tell you:

It is a story as old as time -- and I kid you not one bit....the railroad gauge got it's specifications from the English, who got it's country roads dating back to the beginning of civilization, a time when chariots of fire flew through town raping and pillaging and stealing all they could find, or simply just setting up camp -- the specifications of the chariots were all the same...going back to specifications that were arrived by a calculated mass of 'two horse's asses'; the roman empire was simply conforming to a width to meet the demands and abilities of the times, and more important, stuck to it; the dimensions never changed.

Over time, the ruts in the road became permanent roadways, and from then on, basically, all things invented to move continued to operate using the same standards all through the years.

Sadly, I have not replayed the story to you giving full justice of each and every moment in time, to reflect the rich history, but you get my drift; the specifications of today's railroad goes all the way back to the Roman Empire!

The added budump ba at the end included a tie to NASA -- for the two rockets cradling the space shuttle -- the ones that most people pay absolute no attention to whatsoever -- have to be moved by rail; what specifications to the width of the rockets do you think they had to use?  Good class...now run outside and play.

Some things in our history -- set up by our founders to create the so-called limited government, with limited powers, to allow for the unlimited blessings of the people to truly rise to their highest heights -- were specifically and conscientiously designed using steadfast specifications, of lessons learned long ago, molding fundamental principles with sound, exemplary values that were already tried and true; they knew, and warned us, veering away from one, or in part, could lead to untimely, unimaginable, unintended consequences of the highest order.

The thing is, we have reached a point now that either we have chosen not to see, or simply prefer not to pay homage to, the blue print handed down to us  -- dismissing the past as if it were irrelevant, unimportant and old school; we have no respect for the lessons of a past, a past wrought with struggle, strife, and reminiscent of the true depth and breadth of the real makings of America; we no longer cling to a natural yearning to capture the back story, the who, what, when, where of our history -- absolutely uninterested in everything up until now.

Everything that has led to this moment of blessings is being left by the wayside; all we are into these days is the outcome, the end game, the end no matter the means...and make it snappy, if you will, we are kinda in a hurry.

Our rich history, everything we have worked for, is brushed off, ignored, misunderstood, or entirely miss-characterized; the long and shaky beginning, that just so happened to really date back a couple of millenniums no less, has been reduced to rounding chorus of 'who cares' --


America -- she is beautiful -- and look at her, with the substance to back it up... oh, the things she could do, the places we could go  -- if only we could truly set her free (again).

Make it a Good Day, G

so the president has the State of the Union speech tonight -- word is leaking out that he will call for a 5 year spending freeze.  That is great news -- and if only I could leave it at that; 

what about his last two years of unprecedented spending?  adding a huge health care entitlement to the nation's woes and basically adding 3.5 Trillion dollars before the day is done (the total of five trillion under  Nancy Pelosi's congressional lead)?  

"a five year spending freeze" -- can't wait to watch him say this with a straight face.