Dear America,

"and to the republic, for which it stands..."

but do we?
do we actually stand for the republic?
do we even understand what this really means anymore?
do we have even so much as a clue, as to how far we have become separated, divided, and crippled by our own inability to take a stand -- for anything of value -- anymore?

The only thing that seems oh so very clear these days is the unyielding and wretchedly overbearing idea of a creating a new America-- yet, eerily unbinding, non-committal, wishy-washy, and nondescript just the same -- as we are beginning to see through the jaded eyes of liberalism; as if, we've got a new sheriff in town (that being, a corrupt, abysmal, slap across the face to the law abiding republic we once were).

Take for example how The Left continues to re-define us, using the process otherwise known as "democracy" as the language to describe peaceful uprisings in Egypt, to the streets of Wisconsin; the UNIONS are simply demonstrating their right to protest, and make their voice of equality and fairness heard round the world, as democracy in motion -- while the tea party is synonymous to astro-turf, discredited, and pummeled to the ground in ridicule and outrageous claims of racial bigotry and hatred.  The anti-government movement -- even by actual legislators and State Senators -- is considered a move supporting democracy; while the legislators and State Senators home in the State Capital, standing ready and willing for debate and lively discussion, sit politely waiting, like gentlemen (and women) -- witnessing the so-called democratic process upended, turned upside down and into a mockery -- awaiting for the rule of law to take it's rightful place along side them.

The LEFT is being democratic; while the RIGHT is just plain wrong.


I am strengthened this morning, through the miracle of the internet... and even though, in the midst of fighting off tears like a damsel in distress, while warding off a string of feminist yelling at me for saying that as we speak...grief overcomes me; having been sucked into a fog of disconsolate sorrow for my country's current state of affairs, let alone it's future; I give my solemn gratitude for the real, live patriots who live among us, who courageously take a stand and speak up for the rest of us,  and save us:

"The word "democracy" appears nowhere in the two most fundamental documents of our nation -- the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution. Our Constitution's Article IV, Section 4, guarantees "to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government..."

...To highlight the offensiveness to liberty that democracy and majority rule is, just ask yourself how many decisions in your life would you like to be made democratically. How about what car you drive, where you live, whom you marry, whether you have turkey or ham for Thanksgiving dinner? If those decisions were made through a democratic process, the average person would see it as tyranny and not personal liberty."

 
This observation comes brought to you by Walter E. Williams -- nestled in a bevy of keen foresight and thoughtful hindsight packaged up daily, redirecting the sometimes wayward, but forthcoming enlightened American,  by way of The Patriot Post...the VOICE OF ESSENTIAL LIBERTY, indeed.  Linked there, on Walter, is his entire piece, simply called "Democracy Versus Liberty."

Williams quotes John Adams saying,

"Remember, democracy never lasts long. 

It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. 

There was never a democracy yet that did not commit suicide."

So, I guess, looking back, that congressman from Rhode Island was a little bit right, "...every once and awhile you need to get out on the streets and get a little bloody..."  I refuse to even call him by name -- we already thoroughly discussed the hypocrisy last week -- certainly, he isn't worthy of any more of our time. I just couldn't help but get a visual tying these two thoughts together.

Apparently, the new, albeit illegitimate, Rule of Law -- make that, OUTLAW -- is under the authority of a new governing body -- Union Leaders, Radical Revolutionaries, and Community Re-Organizers large and small -- along with the help of a few misfits, who, even though they took an oath of office to follow our Republic's lead, heeding to a higher authority, that being our Constitution and a conscience, have deemed now sensible to go AWOL without a cause or sound reason among them.

A brand new paradigm has taken over the town square, west is east, north is south, and not a lick of good authentic faith, integrity, and honor in sight, as it's squelched by the clamoring left wing ideology taking for ransom our republic, and everything for which she stands; where is our true grit?  (yes, with the Oscars fresh in the back of my mind...how 'bout that Colin Firth...yum...The King's Speech...here's to a return for a little elegance and grace...loved his acceptance speech, wit by Brit...and for the other guy, Tom,"the moral of the story, listen to your mother"...  dripping in sweetness...talk to me...snap out of it G!)

Is this what you want, America?  Implosion by mob rule?  Giving permission through our silence, peering out from behind our lace curtain for fear of getting involved;  by our paralysis, for years on end, we now enter into a new age, when the democratic forces stage a coup, subverting the law, shooting holes in our faith, taking advantage of every dream our republic ever intended or thought possible.

Waging a perverse assault against the homestead, the land that we love, is what is wrong; AND, of all things, using the very tool distinguishing good from evil --  as in the process bestowed upon us through a thriving democracy in action, the ballot box, most otherwise held in high esteem under the watchful eye of the Rule of Law, first and foremost.

"it soon wastes, exhausts, murders itself" 

-- as we allow for the very sticks of dynamite...

the faults of majority rule, the fallacies of an overzealous agenda, the mistaken identity of a democracy going rogue, which ultimately, and methodically, and misguidedly, turns unto itself for every petty, selfish entitlement, for every Utopian dream of a more fairer, truer, richer new world order...

 -- to strike the foundation from which we came, leaving our republic behind in the dust.

You would think, after all we have learned by now, of the rise and fall of democracies far and wide, the intellectual pool from underground, would be bursting from beneath the surface, spouting tales reinforcing our true north; you would think, after dust to dust and generations of seeing the fruits of our labor only come from hard work, self-reliance, with equal portion of understanding that man must rule himself -- wisely, intelligently, thoughtfully, and conscientiously -- our exceptional-ism would live long into the forever after.

But we stopped teaching the right stuff, didn't we?

We stopped empowering our youngins' with the goods to live long past our sunset, haven't we?

We near plum forgot what it means to live in a republic and treat her with respect -- to honor our privileges by doing right unto one another, huh?

Matter of fact, word 'round town makes me think a duel may be the new order of the day; let's line up the definitions and ideologies and differences of opinion -- based solely upon the merits, mind ya,  not with gun-slingin' or bows and arrows -- and see who's got the last man standing, shall we?

This week, G wants to look at the THINGS WE STAND for -- and the things we seem willing to lose just the same; it struck my funny bone last night, when in the middle of Hollywood's night to shine unto thy self, that about half way through, a couple people representing "the academy" and "ABC" put our hearts and troubles to rest by letting us know something really important -- sleepless we are no more -- for the two entities have partnered up through the year 2020... in order to bring forth the spectacle most wanted, and simply known in these here parts as the Oscars ........ (lol)

...as if, anyone around will still care
...as if, we can still afford to even go to the movies
...as if, and on second thought, Hollywood might be the only thing left standing
...as if, it's all about me, taken to a whole 'nother level of discontent, hasn't hit the town already
...as if, LA hasn't been bombed by Iran, China, or even one of our own, before the decade is done...

What will AMERICA look like in the year 2020?  Shouldn't we worry when the media chastises the Tea Party, and yet, turns around, elevating something that runs so counter to our principles, as in the mob rule tearing apart the rule of law within the Wisconsin state legislature -- as if picking up a poster themselves and calling it democratic -- storming the state capital, calling it the right thing to do?  Shouldn't we concern ourselves with the level of character and conscience graduating from our schools of learning, when the majority of them couldn't tell the difference between a republic and a democracy to save their own life, let alone someone else?

This is basic America 101, riding in on a stagecoach built for a princess, and yet, we are caught in the crossfire of mis-characterization, wanton assault upon the Rule of Law itself,  and sheer demagoguery of the worst kind.

Keeping vigil on through the night, might be a good start; mayhem may ensue; as always, seek shelter with the like-minded, like a Walter E. Williams, like a John Adams, like all of those who contribute to The Patriot Post everyday  -- and of course, keeping a steadfast faith in Something Greater than ourselves.

Make it a Good Day, G

P.S. don't fence me in...
playing on GTV, just a click away on Dear America...

Dear America,

"there may be trouble ahead...

...let's face the music and dance...

soon... we will be without the moon, 

humming a different tune...

and then...

 there may be tear drops to shed..."

playing on Dear America, a little Vic Damone to carry you into the weekend.

You know what shocks me, at the root of this power struggle going on in Wisconsin -- and leaping state lines like a wildfire out of control -- is the stark reality that our children have been cordoned off into a tinderbox, with sheer politics directing the flames. 

What have our children truly gained over the last forty years?  Honestly, ask yourself, as a whole, are our children getting smarter, or dumber? Are our children growing up kinder, or meaner?  Have we taught them to be self-reliant individuals ready to leave a responsible, equitable,  charitable, productive mark upon this world -- or, are we just making a generation of spoiled, techie, shallow, needy, loud, future leaders of America advocating the age of entitlement and social justice for all the wrong reasons, no matter the means?   

Have we been throwing money at it, only to have it grow into a raging inferno, offering the very kindling needed to create a bureaucratic hell hole?  Averaging a whole lot of money -- around seven or eight grand per student (without so much as the possibility to use a voucher system to actually go to the school of choice) -- I would have to say somebody is getting gypped.

With a wealth of highly educated teachers, facilities most countries would die for, communities fully committed to the responsibility of raising our children well (as it takes a village, you know), and local budgets aside, a federal budget that has grown from 12 B's to over 100 B's in a matter of only forty years -- just what has this picture so muddied, nearly extinguishing all signs of what it used to be? 

You know why the teachers of Wisconsin are so dead set against losing a few of their collective bargaining rights?  It is because remuneration would be tied to their performance, through heavy handed reforms tied to new rules for  tenure, make raises based on merit (not seniority, or length of service), allow for vouchers (opening up the door to real competition in the education market), and simply give local jurisdictions more control over their own budgets, expenses, getting all the way down to the pencil and erasers.  (You know, anymore, they can't even blame the rising costs of education on paper, as it is customary now to simply have the kids make their own copy of the materials at home!)

If teachers were on the right side of this argument, they would want what is best for the nation, and our students -- and that only comes with an environment that elevates and rewards higher levels of achievement and capabilities all the way around.  

This, in a nutshell, is how the free market system works (when actually allowed to run free).  For we very quickly lose the business, the enterprise, the chain store, if in fact the business wastes money, hires unqualified people, or simply has no idea what customer service truly means.

The thing is, how can a teacher NOT be for these kinds of reforms?  

Shocking is the proficiency levels of reading:  across the nation, "PROFICIENCY" (just above the "basic" level, where only a partial understanding of the subject has taken hold, and just under "advanced") is less than 50% in every state!  Less than half of our children are coming out of the 8th grade considered "proficient!"  And in the state of Wisconsin, only 37% are proficient, making nearly two-thirds of the entire student body within the state of cheese-heads not all that prepared for high school and beyond. And to be fair and balanced, my state, glorious California, is at a level simply too sad for words --  22%.

What truly worries me, feeling in the thick of this nationwide conversation, realizing the duty of a Governor and state legislatures, such as in Wisconsin, is to collectively bargain for the rest of us -- is being totally, and thoroughly, mis-characterized; the voice of the taxpayer, shouldering the brunt of every single health benefit and pension fund for the pubic servant sector is being drowned out by vicious attacks, almost as an assault on the very privileges and duties this country was built.

All of a sudden we are being surrounded by people, congressmen even, who say things like this:

"Every once in a while you've got to 

get out in the streets 

and get a little bloody when necessary. 

This fight is worth it."

really, congressman?

To be fair, you did apologize... once you realized the comment got you into a lot of hot water...but seriously, is this where our country is headed -- when faced with challenges that upon first glance seem insurmountable, a divide to wide to give it our very best... 

is this what we want to teach our children?

that when the going gets tough, when trouble stares us right in the face, we yell and scream and call each other names, even promoting incivility, and "[getting] a little bloody" if we have to?  

that when we are stuck on the losing end of an issue within one of our state houses, we just flee, instead of facing the music and dance?  (Considering you are being paid to show up and vote and debate and be a voice of the people, not sure how leaving does anyone any good...unless it is all for show and tell.)

that when the opposition party takes the lead, we simply decide to pick up our toys and go home?  (If the GOP was carrying on like this, you would have our @ss alongside the tater tots for lunch...)

that when we are in the midst of reconciling overbearing, overzealous, over-compensated benefit packages and the bottom line, ones that can cripple and even topple entire state budgets, that when honest to goodness pull back must take place, the first response is to walk off the job you are being paid to do.

...and paid very well actually

...and with not a whole lot to show for it

...is that the image and message you feel entitled to make in front of our children?  (It must be, as many of you pulled our children out of school to help you with your cause.)

Curious as to why every state is not a "right to work" state by now -- I mean, come on, with so much emphasis on freedom of choice these days, how can it be possible for a job to obligate a certain amount of hard earned dough towards an agenda that runs counter to the very principles this country was made, and specifically one's own?  Last I checked, we have never really wanted to be anywhere close to resembling a communist/socialist/body of citizens of the state --  as in the bigger State, the Capitalist State -- which, by the way things are shaking out, our Union leaders would have us believing otherwise.  hello...we are not Venezuela.

What we should be teaching our children is that we can't have it both ways -- 

With freedom and liberty, comes freedom and liberty for all; the system in play here, will run us right smack into a wall of fire, and a state of affairs elevating the very thing most of us would not wish upon our worst enemy -- as we will forever be divided by the Haves and the Have-Nots.

....there will be no state legislature worth a grain of salt; we are a Republic for a reason --  a democracy is simply a nice way of saying mob rule -- and that is exactly what we see happening outside the legislature in Wisconsin... and Cairo, and Jordan, and Bahrain)

...there will be no middle class at all, let alone a teacher left scrambling through the means of collective bargaining for less practice and more boycott privileges, for we will have been devoured by the beast of burden.

...the privileged elites will control everything and everything we know and love about this land will have evaporated into thin air; America, by definition, in principle and in practice, will be gone.

With freedom and liberty, comes our inherent duty and responsibility; the system in play here, over the last hundred years, has whittled away at the true power of the people, we the people, in incremental, almost unnoticeable ways; instead of raising our children to understand and respect the rule of law, the law of this land, we have encouraged subverting the rule, to undermine the Constitution and our Declaration of Independence --  just what kind of independence are we making now?

...instead, we witness, bellowing out of our schools and universities, a generation plum ignorant, even combative towards, the force of nature from which we came; there is no connection made between freedom and duty; there is no connection made between the planting of the seed of common sense, self-reliance, and free enterprise and a history of prosperity, charity and grace.

...what we have building, in clouds of black smoke, is a sense of being entitled to the freedom, without effort; what we have building, in heated fits and starts, is a sense of being liberated, without reflection of how that very liberty is cultivated, nourished and ultimately blossoms into a rich and diverse society synonymous with America. 

...for true freedom only comes with great courage, convictions, a moral code of honor between people, a respect of property and privileges, a loving charitable heart, and a commitment to the process of the rule of law to keep us safe, protected, and led with integrity from coast to coast.  While, in truth, our freedoms are not bestowed upon us by our government at all; the only entity we have to thank for our freedoms and liberties is our Creator (look it up, I dare you)

Freedom is far from being free; it costs us in devotion, beginning with our early education and mastering our understanding throughout our entire adult life;  recognizing how civilizations come and go empowers us not to make the same mistakes and fosters a fundamental belief that we are special...here..in America ; while our founders realized all too well, we could very well lose it all, if one day we turned around having taken it all for granted, like foolish kids.

But above all, as we watch the world explode all around us, freedom is something much like our children -- it is SOMETHING, a real thing -- a marvelous, living, breathing, beautiful thing, to be cherished; if we do not raise our children to respect their very own freedom, and realize, just what this asks of them in return (as well as know the difference between  a freedom, a privilege, and a right), who will?

I seriously question the value of our current educational system -- I question it's latitudes -- I question it's entitlements -- I question it's motives -- I question it's priorities -- I question every single dime that falls that way.

When we truly know what is at stake, the answers will come to us with ease...

Until then...there may be trouble ahead, there may be tear drops to shed...let's face the music and dance.

Make it a Good Day, G

Dear America,

As the world turns...a shade of gray.

So apparently, the expectation of one's human nature to be held to a higher, wiser, truer, never falter standard, is far greater for the average Newt, and a republican, than the average Billy Boy Jefferson Clinton, and a democrat.  Is that it?  Can we not be done with this hypocritical repartee?

You know, in life, sometimes the best teachers are the ones who have been there, done that.

They allow for the general public, and anyone else within ear shot for that matter, to feel their pain and embarrassment when in the middle of it -- while when it's all over -- we get to witness how these people find their way out of it.

But this sense of somehow, some way, just because more often than not, the GOP also stands for people who actually attend church or temple, believe in a loving God, and actually try to live a life as best they can according to some kind of lethal combination landing between religious commandments and moral truths -- that somehow these people are not also human...

...that they make mistakes

...that they lose their way, scruples, principles

...and let's just throw in a whole lot of common sense for good measure

-- that these people are held to a higher standard against the other party seems downright preposterous, hypocritical, unrealistic, and simply unfair.


With everything else going wrong in the world, with all kinds of other questions to a possible presidential candidate there might be, what has G's head spinning this morning...this.

“You’ve also been married three times and admitted to having an affair with your current wife while you were still married to your second,” a student said to Gingrich, “As a successful politician who’s considering running for president, who would set the bar for moral conduct and be the voice of the American people, how do you reconcile this hypocritical interpretation of the religious values that you so vigorously defend?”

seriously?

And his immediate reply: “I believe in a forgiving God, and the American people will have to decide whether that’s their primary concern...If the primary concern of the American people is my past, my candidacy would be irrelevant,” but that, “the primary concern of the American people is the future.”

To the lowly student taunting the giant political force, let's go ahead and talk about questionable presidential behavior:

What, were you five when Clinton was getting BJ's in the oval office and playing hide the cigar with an intern?  (oh that's right, you kids today don't call it sex either)


Have your teachers not taught you all about the lifestyles of the rich and famous, and a few good Kennedy men, battling with infidelity and womanizing  in the early sixties?  Rumors abound on the real history...between the tragic death of Marilyn Monroe and a young Chappaquiddick woman... (oh that's right, that doesn't count, that was during  your grandparents era)

Let me guess, you would have still voted for John Edwards had it not been for that misguided wrong turn he took with a campaign photographer, thwarting his presidential intentions with his good ole' American boy smile?

Double standards are everywhere and often between the two parties -- while in this day of age, I gotta say -- even if I risk sounding counter to my own ideals of a certain candidate/representative -- if this is all you got, let's moveon.org.

Now, please indulge me as I switch gears a wee bit...

One of my favorite people to listen to is Star Parker; her story (her real life!) features an African-American woman, coming out of poverty and the welfare system, experiencing hard times that I can only imagine; fast forward to today, where this woman -- this bright, vivacious, conservative, black woman -- blossoms into a living example of what this country is all about.

She has grown into a shining beacon of hope for not only other African-Americans, but for ALL Americans; she teaches what she knows to be true, as she has lived it!  Transcended it even...and all of it centers around tried and true American principles and values.

The thing is, she walks her talk and empowers scores of Americans to follow her because in their heart of hearts, they believe her...

aw, let's get real... I believe her...and that's enough for me.

and right now, she is staring right at me -- for she is the face of February on my Clare Boothe Luce Calendar (I have talked about this organization before...but check them out if you haven't already).  Anyway, a short bio on Star is featured this month, while in real life, she is founder and president of CURE, the Coalition on Urban Renewal.  (and right now, you too, can help her "stop Planned Parenthood lies" by going to her website and finding out how you can get more involved).

My point, she can teach us because she has been there -- truly been there; she has been at her bottom bottom, her lowest of the lows -- and has risen above it.  And more important, she didn't stop there (and can we get a thank you Jesus! Amen); she didn't stop at the spot where you only help yourself; she continued to move forward and to share her life's lessons, to extend her wealth of experiences, to champion the cause of being a better American, to teach the rest of us coming from a place who knows. I love, love, love her and you should love her too, just sayin'.

Those who have real life experiences, no matter whatever field, no matter whatever reality, have always grown to be our best teachers, our wisest mentors, our shining example of how to follow ever after; as we in turn replicate the process and principles, our world changes, even if only at the local level.  What begins to happen, over and over and over again, is the exponential expansion of our cornerstones -- a nation's character and values -- as these things begin to shape us and take us a long way...

...and through it all, through thick and through thin, we build a nation, AMERICA, merrily merrily up the path of duplicating the good.

But the school of hard knocks and wrong moves has the ability of teaching us everything we need to know right quick when we give it a chance -- take anything that pops in your head and the process works --

• a history of too much debt, too much spending, what does it teach us?
• a past of staying up late, drinking too much, what does it teach us?
• a habit of yelling and screaming at your kids, having those kids grow up to yell and scream at their kids, and so on and so on, what does it teach us?
• a penchant for driving too fast, talking on the phone, eating a burger -- and then fixing our lipstick-- what does it teach us?
• a night of Facebook and texting friends -- when we should be doing our homework -- what does it teach us?
• a president who takes advantage of his power and prestige, what does it teach us?
• an opportunity to ask a real question to a man who has a wealth of political insider knowledge and experiences, and we blow it, what does it teach us?

The thing is, as human beings, we blow it a lot!  Speaking of which, if I could ask three questions to the big guy in charge:

DO I think it should take nine days to respond to Libya -- and to the crazy man in charge, Moammar Gadhafi --  when in fact, you were sending in an entourage for a sit down in Egypt maybe seconds into it -- proposing Mubarak, by name, to do the right thing, for his country and all, to listen to the youth protesting in the streets, calling for him to step down?  Morally, I think you would be on the right side of history, if you came down on Moammar a wee bit harder..."the entire world is watching...violence is outrageous... unacceptable..."  oooooh...you basically said the same same thing responding to the tragedy in Arizona. what gives?

DO I think after campaigning as a champion of marriage (that being, defined in matrimony as between a man and a woman) to just yesterday, out of the blue, you justify fudging a little... as your feelings about marriage further evolve... floating around the idea that the office of our Department of Justice no longer has to defend DOMA -- which, by the way, IS A LAW, enacted by the last democrat in office -- do I think that's cool?  You say, it is because there is no "reasonable defense" of such a law -- having decided for yourself outside the rule of law -- when in fact, you of all people should realize, law is fixated by what is called PRECEDENCE.  The reasonable defense of DOMA is the mounds of precedence that has preceding it -- that, by definition, is simply known as traditional marriage in this country, and actually since the days of Caesar. typical politician flip-flop.  really?

DO I wonder wonder wonder how it is possible for you NOT to interfere with the coaxing of the price of oil -- not to be confused with making an immediate about face on where you stand with the issue of drilling here in America --  and while we're at it, getting to the good stuff of clean coal, natural gas, and going a little nuclear -- and for sure, for kicks and giggles, not that we could sustain ourselves, adding to that, the solar, wind, bio-fuels and what not...how can you not see into the future at a time like this is beyond me?  A nation's security is at stake and you distract us with a combination of making a hard core union assault against a state and changing your mind about DOMA?  wow....where are your priorities? not to mention your juevos rancheros?

Getting back to Newt and the question -- Newt might be just the right kind of guy for the job (you know, to take over where Barack leaves off) -- given his experience AND ALL.

The last two years has taught us much...and we have Barack Hussein Obama to thank.

Make it a Good Day, G

and then again, some people never really learn a thing...rumor has it Charlie Sheen was on his way to a vacation spot today, taking with him his soon-to-be ex- wife, Brooke, his live in porn-star/girl friend, and another woman.  Our morning local radio show, DSC, on Jack FM, put it like this, "Charlie Sheen and a couple of prostitutes."  To frame it another way, perhaps he is just looking to fill in his resume before a congressional run, considering his current gig is on the way out...

oh my dear America, we have such a long road ahead of us...time for a little Carpenters...now playing on dear america...

Dear America,

The Middle

and in the middle of a storm...

America has always been about the middle -- as it is the very root of our success; anyone could make it here, no matter how poor, no matter what ethnicity, no matter what floats your boat; America, by definition, was the place where people flocked to -- if not lucky enough to be born here -- to make something of yourself, to be somebody.

In our deepest part of our heart, we knew we could overcome whatever challenges life may bring, pursuing our dreams, making a little happiness, and making a name for ones self; just having the dream itself, all on it's lonesome, is enough to buoy us into stardom, fame, riches, creating franchises worth millions and millions of franchises, or simply growing up to be a preacher, a teacher, a candlestick maker -- opportunity surrounds us, makes us, feeds us, and sustains us from sunrise to sunset.

Hard to keep that up when in fact we are being drowned in debt and long term deficits, no matter how much money we make; the pressure alone is enough to suffocate us.

And hard to believe, that we are living in an age when just popping our eyes open in the morning costs us, and dearly (even tugboats do that).

But if the last couple of years have taught us anything, two-thirds of our federal budget -- not to mention whatever our state and local municipalities need  -- is shaved off the top just to cover for our entitlement programs...Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid...while we add a tanker under Obama-Care shortly; oh looky there, the "Affordable Care Act" is painted on the stern, so sweet...

Sure, the top 1% of income earners in America covers forty percent of the federal budget -- the top 10% covers 68% -- the bottom 50% of all wage earners in America pays for merely 3% of the income taxes.

But you know that feeling when you get punched in the stomach...or perhaps that sinking feeling that we have bitten off more than we can chew...

...likewise for those of us somewhere in the middle;  it is the MIDDLE, our middle class, that takes the hardest hit, by simply doing what it does best no less, sustaining the principles and values and foundation for which this country was made year in and year out.

In my era, most of us didn't dream of becoming part of the uber-wealthy (say it like you have attitude) -- or even being on TV, living the dream in front of millions of Americans, characterized by such iconic memories as the Brady Bunch, The Partridge Family, The Cosby's...or... even on the family friendly variety types, like Sonny and Cher, Flip Wilson, and The Carol Burnett Show  -- we just wanted to slowly and surely grow up...throwing in too many lemonade stands to count, riding our bikes, playing hide and go seek, listening to Elton John, going to ballet lessons, filling up with a boatload of good, clean fun; we really weren't in a hurry about any of it, unlike most kids today.

We just wanted to go to school, get good grades, get a good paying job, and one day settle down; the dream was fairly simple:  make a decent living, make a family of our own, say our prayers, treat each other with kindness and charity, give back to those in need, and have the ability to pay for things -- especially our own Ding Dongs, and as many as we wanted -- comfortably and joyfully,  all the while building a life and lineage that would one day live on without us.

We wake up now and know that our new budget -- outside of our neat and tidy home sweet home -- is 3.73 Trillion Dollars...our total debt to the world, our world, is going to be 15 Trillion in a blink of an eye.


so, call me funny, but perhaps what is raging inside most of us, loving life in middle america right now -- especially on the heels of our budgetary woes across the board and taking into account Wisconsin's class warfare with a twist, as it's all tucked in under a single class, that would be, The Middle -- is heartbreak; our dream has punched back in ways we never thought possible; and we didn't even see it coming (were we a wee bit distracted by the school of dolphins... or was it canoodling with our first mate below deck...no matter, we are in the thick of it now).

While you know, it's really strange, cuz the great majority of us agree on so many things -- and what I mean by that is, I am referring to a regular go-to percentage point -- nearly 2/3rds of us agree on things relating to our border issues, abortion, growing threat of radical Islamic extremism, "the mosque" in NY, the need to live within our means and cut spending...we are a country who has settled into the position of just right of center on most everything under the sun.

Strikingly different are the views of the mainstream media, taking their cues directly from the administration, who cling to the left brain take with chills up and down their leg without thinking twice about it; don't they dislike being straddled with unsustainable debt as much as the next guy?  don't they take issue with a government legislating what we eat and how much?  don't they have a problem with Sharia law coming to a theater near you as much as you and me?

From Bill Maher (saying this out loud mind you): "I think he's a centrist the way he's a Christian."

And to think, he was speaking to his people from his left wing soapbox about the president.

First, how in the world can he say it and nobody think anything of it -- where are his liberal counterparts screaming and yelling at him like he's some kind of fanatically charged racist, a Nazi, war monger, 'teabagger', or just another white guy with something up his you-know-what?  Where are the unbiased journalists with a spine to call their own?

But hey, if Bill Maher says it's true, then he must know something we don't, right?  Because, you know, he knows the difference between stupid people, like you and me, and the upper echelon of class men, falling into intellectual dynasties of the power elite, Hollywood, and anyone with a PhD (and teaching your children not to think for themselves as we speak, oh what a beautiful world it is this morning).

So, what are you saying, Bill, you mean he's really not moving towards the center?  he's really not a Christian?  say it isn't so...

So, what you are saying, Bill, he really is a radical, left wing social justice revolutionary-in-chief, Organizing for America, who is only desperately trying to appear, through the magic of TV, that he is coming to meet us in the middle -- because that's what every American really, really wants -- because that's where most of us live? 

So, what you are saying, Bill, he really is no more a Christian than his own mother, father or a duck?  that, in fact, most of middle america doesn't have this wrong?  because after twenty years of being mentored by an extremist in a robe, the great Reverend Wright, and listening to his teachings via Black Liberation Theology for nearly all of his adult life, that all that time he didn't really turn out to be a real Christian by middle america definition after all?

I must say, this is Maher at his best.

The thing is, when you factor in inflation, and the everyday off the chart stress -- the middle is being squeezed, punched, and drop kicked off the boat, with possibly only a life raft and enough provisions for maybe forty days and nights, tops.

Middle America -- the true middle -- is feeling a heartbreak like no other; for while we witness these conditions facing all of us, and our neighbor, today -- at the same time, we are acutely aware of the macro-changes against our dear America; we are watching, aboard a rocky stormy sea, the very foundation we all grew up with -- with love and devotion and awe -- be torn to smithereens.

The winds of fundamental transformation have sent us all afloat, aboard our teeny tiny little barges to nowhere -- and it's tearing us apart; instead of all of us working together to keep the sails high and tight, with the rudder holding according to plan, and the wheel following our true north and beyond our wildest dreams, guarding our most precious cargo, we have let it all go into the hands of pirates (and all too recently know how real and ugly that can be, mighty quick-- as our hearts go out to the families touched by the tragedy off the coast of Somalia).

We are so far off course, it scares the living, breathing daylights out of us and we don't even know where to turn first.

We are so far from home, we have such a long way to go to make things right, the magnitude of our own demise haunts us at night, much less are we getting a wink of sleep.

We must prevail, however;  we made this mess -- we are the ones who got us here in the first place -- surely, we can get ourselves out of it, through it, and over it.

But the worst thing we can do, is listen to those who wish to do America harm by continuing to go down this path of resistance to the very things that have made us good; we must link our individual buoy's to nowhere together, you know, the same ones especially designed to separate and divide, by color, by creed, by class, or by union, and say enough is enough; even some of G's left-wing haters agree with me on this one, 'we have to get through this together', united in a common purpose, fully armed with respect, civility, and sense of calm and compassion in a storm.  What we cannot do, is allow for the middle to beat up the other middle, and so on and so on or we will sink.

"In Wisconsin and Ohio, 

they have decided 

there can no longer be two classes of citizens: 

one that receives the rich health and pension benefits, 

and the rest who are left to pay for them. 

These ideas are not red or blue. 

They are the black and white of truth." 

Gov. Chris Christie 

The left, generally speaking, would like nothing better than for us to drift further and further apart, with the more we yell and scream at it the wiser; as if begging us on to eat our own in desperation, reducing it to a nothing more than a method of survival. hardly.

But we know better; flailing about, screaming our hearts out, altogether 'losing it' for a lack of better words, none of it will get us back any faster.

In order to move forward with our convictions intact and our fundamentals in stow, it will take a concerted effort to say the least -- as already, the liberal machine has a fleet in motion, fully and financially organized, to do nothing more than battle against the true American tide.  From the left's perspective, falling into deeper, richer chaos, is good -- for it follows the charter of never letting a crisis go to waste -- while it makes way for smooth sailing, elevating the prevailing winds of change.

This is go time; picture any challenge from The Biggest Loser, and double it, quadruple it, no, I got it,  trupple it (yeah, I just made up...on behalf of the trillions of 'ruples' and ripples we gotta go).

I want our children, and our children's children, to still have an United States of America to call home; this is the time to protect it, enrich it, lift it up from it's lowest point and anchor her into a safe harbor;  America needs TLC -- no doubt, with a little elbow grease and some love, she will be as good as new -- but, to put it bluntly, we kinda have to start over;

and far be it for me to say it was our fundamentals that put a gigantic hole at the bottom of this baby -- our problems began when we started the slow and steady usurping of our our principles, the wear and tear over time and travels, the onslaught of heavy duty attack against everything of value, like our religion, and our patriotism, and our dedication to the markers of our birth -- things like, our Declaration of Independence and our nation's Constitution. And now is the time to get back to basics and bring it all home.

The helm, God love her, has allowed for the waywardness of man to rule the high seas -- leading the way for too long, in all the wrong directions -- and this has made all the difference; and it just needs to stop,  now.

Make it a Good Day, G

Dear America,

"I believe there are more instances 

of the abridgment of the freedom 

of the people by gradual

and silent encroachments of those in power,

than by violent and sudden usurpations."  

James Madison

From The 5000 Year Leap, written by W. Cleon Skousen, we are given a reminder as to how America is supposed to work: "Anyone who says the American Constitution is obsolete just because social and economic conditions have changed does not understand the real genius of the Constitution.  It was designed to control something which HAS NOT CHANGED AND WILL NOT CHANGE -- NAMELY, HUMAN NATURE."

Again, from Madison:

"It is proper to take alarm at the FIRST EXPERIMENT ON OUR LIBERTIES.  We hold this prudent jealousy to be the first duty of citizens and one of the noblest characteristics of the late Revolution.  The FREEMEN OF AMERICA did not wait till usurped power had strengthened itself by exercise and entangled the question in precedents.  They saw all the consequences [of governmental abuses] in the principle, and they avoided the consequences by denying the principle [on which the abuses were based]. "

The ever so slight usurpation...some hidden from view...some thought proper and good for all the wrong reasons, yet now well enshrined into the public works years in the making...now coming back to haunt us, like a vicious regret gurgling up to bite back just when we thought we were through the worst part; unfair and cruel, really, for the assault happened a long time ago --  the fundamental principles upon which this country was made have been beaten down for so long now, we can hardly recognize ourselves anymore.

Maybe we are just ashamed; perhaps it's just  all the years of denial and neglect, that are now adding up to a mountain we fear to tread, let alone, really want to climb -- just leave me here in the valley, I'll be fine, go on, save yourselves...

and yet, here in the valley of darkness, what should our wandering eyes should appear, a strange occurrence, an offering of reinforcement, of sorts, and it's happening all around -- so called "rights" are being co-mingled with privileges -- while one person's rights are deemed an outright assault on another -- while a machine feeding propaganda and falsehoods comes to us disguised as mainstream media, spoon-fed from an administration dishing out a peculiar ideology, a rather foreign combination,  far reaching into the annals of social justice reform, along side a fair portion of an overzealous progressive agenda, taking away our simple liberties and freedoms, and filling us up with everything but what we truly need.

And this is going to help?

And so here we are... a day after another President's Day...  cautiously optimistic about our future. oh joy.

So,

we have made some mistakes; we have experienced, personally and intimately, the repercussions of our own making -- respective of a lapse of good character, for one; we have let ourselves be controlled, manipulated, and even scorned, for abuses seen and unseen, for things we did not do, or for nothing more than our own ignorance, apathy and ability to just put up or shut up.

...a little ridicule here... a little usurpation there...nudging people towards catastrophic change...emasculating crazy things, like a people's Constitution, creating an atmosphere of fear, worry, need, and utter desperation -- unable to stay where we are, and yet, unable to move forward just the same.  stuck.  imprisoned in our own home.

"The corruption of power is not in power, but in ourselves.  And yet, what is this power which men live by and to a significant degree live for?  Power is the very essence, the dynamo of life...Power is an essential life force always in operation, either changing the world or opposing change.  Power, or organized energy, may be a man-killing explosive or a life-saving drug.  The power of a gun may be used to enforce slavery, or to achieve freedom...


It is impossible to conceive a world devoid of power; the only choice of concepts is between organized and unorganized power...Every organization known to man, from government down, has had only one reason for being -- that is, organization for power in order to put into practice or promote its common purpose." from Rules For Radicals, Saul Alinsky

Exactly -- as our founders might say to that -- except for one caveat, that this is precisely what our founders were guarding against...fearing that one day when a new America emerges where the power elite have their way with us (as all great societies come and go).

And don't you just love that part about "from government down..." -- Alinsky's imagery, not mine; but honestly, failing to recognize, and respect, a founding principle should be forbidden, no?

America was designed from the power of the people UP -- you would think, from the sixties standpoint alone, radicals would have shaped the last forty years clinging to this very ideology, birthed by our founders and our inherent power to the people mentality, differently -- if not absolutely -- and with a resounding arm pump in the air, if not looking very much like a faction growing far and wide and simply called the Tea Party.

I love how the sales pitch on the back cover of Alinsky's "Pragmatic Primer for Realistic Radicals" includes a quote from the Chicago Sun-Times:

"Alinsky's techniques and teachings influenced generations of community and labor organizers, including the church-based group hiring a young [Barack] Obama to work on Chicago's South Side in the 1980's...Alinsky impressed a young [Hillary] Clinton, who was growing up in Park Ridge at the time Alinsky was the director of the Industrial Areas Foundation in Chicago."

No kidding.
But no, pay no attention to the radical roots in office; never mind that the administration is back peddling as we speak, as to the federal government's own involvement in sending in the troops, through outfits such as Organizing for America, along with various Union members and leaders, from out of state even, to the Wisconsin state capital...in hopes for bringing the process to it's knees.

"The real action is in the enemy's reaction; the enemy properly goaded and guided in his reaction will be your major strength; Tactics, like organization, like life, require that you move with the action..."  An Alinsky-ism strikes again.

And let us not forget Alinsky's famous "Thirteenth Rule: Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it."

What has been the target of the last forty years, or so?   The pursuit of making our first principles obsolete -- beginning with our Constitution -- turning it's very intentions into a mockery, re-litigating the message, and convincing the American people that it is alive -- living actually -- and thus, must evolve to shape our brand new world.

That, along with attacking the fundamental ebb and flow of our free market principles, free enterprise, capitalism, and the founding  American belief that goes a little something like this:

"It was realized, of course, that some would prosper more than others.  That is inevitable as long as there is liberty.  Some would prosper because of talent, some because of good fortune, some because of inheritance, but most would prosper because of hard work
...[the] concept of 'freedom to prosper' was based on the belief that man's instinctive will to succeed in a climate of liberty would result in the whole people prospering together.
...The idea was to maximize prosperity, minimize poverty, and make the whole nation rich...Hard work, frugality, thrift, and compassion became the key words in the American ethic."

The 5000 Year Leap

About a week ago, our local paper came out with a study titled, "'13th Check' Pension Payouts: $73 Million" (this article just so happens to be coupled with, at a rate of nearly every day, of hundreds of other "watchdog" narration, highlighting one travesty after another of our country/state/city/pension/retirement/benefits/entitlements boondoggle...as in, someday how about telling us something  we don't know...whatever, better late than never) -- but basically, the gist of it gets down to how in the world could we have done this to ourselves!

The thought of distributing the modest return of investment -- when most of us would think twice before paying ourselves a bonus, even if fortunate enough to be experiencing a healthy market swing --  instead of being thrifty, and pouring profits back into the investment -- you know, for a rainy day, to build on our reserves, to roll it into something that might actually begin to pay for itself over the years...

but noooooooo, let's just cut a check. let's just call it the thirteenth check... even when unfunded liabilities are running amuck and at a time when San Diego is experiencing budget shortfalls and losses for a far as the eye can see.

typical.

oh sure, this benefit, the Thirteenth Check, was taking away in 2005, but we've got a long road ahead just to cover for the sheer lack of oversight and irresponsibility already knee deep -- while being unable to predict the next possible drought, blizzard, or gully washer on the horizon, our ability to navigate the days ahead fall directly on the good lord willin' and if the creek don't rise at this point.

I sincerely hope what is playing out in Wisconsin is duplicated across the land, from sea to shining sea; call it what you will, union-busting...and proud of it -- these "collective bargaining rights" under dispute in middle America, when push comes to shove, actually goes against the grander collective already a strong foothold and mainstay on these here parts... I reckon... and steady as a force to be reckoned with...

Collective bargaining for the rights of the rest of Wisconsin's taxpayers began to take hold at the mid-term elections; Governor Scott Walker campaigned and promised reform of union benefits and retirement packages; the mandate was spoken by ballot box -- and no matter how long you boycott, protest, march or yell and scream -- our republic is designed such that, if you have a grievance -- you act intelligently, with civility, and with proper decorum and due process.

Sorry...Wisconsin's leader is not Trumka of the AFL-CIO; it's leadership, and the powers that be, do not take heed to ridicule, stand firm, undaunted by the fearless vigilante assault by free radicals on the capital front lawn and veranda; but more important, the lives of our children -- and our children's children -- now burdened with unsustainable debt, is what's at stake.

After years of waging a committed assault against our free markets principles, after decades of negotiating reprehensible deals masked by the union label, we seem to be passing on to our children a system that goes against every principle of value, as the collective mission of our nation takes an unforeseen turn marked by fundamental transformation.

Let us not forget, our one true source for all that we ever need is within -- real empowerment is always within reach; organizing for America, the whole body of America, is much bigger, grander, than what merely scratches the surface by a few loose cannons in motion.

A war hero and purple heart recipient, Anthony Maschek, was heckled by an audience of his "peers" when he made comments that scared people ....even if his point of view came from a place of compassion, calling attention to a deeper, sinister plot in the real world-- certainly a reality hard to swallow for the ignorant and unaware, just show me to the next keg'r and I'm good;  of course, he was speaking on behalf of the mindful attacks, at the hands of radical Islamic extremists, who simply want to kill Americans and everything for which America stands; but make no mistake, America is also under attack of the worst kind -- from the inside out, and it has the power to turn us upside down if we let it...


As one thing's for sure, HUMAN NATURE never changes...our founders were kinda hoping we would never forget.

Make it a Good Day, G

Dear America,

Happy Friday

And this, my friends, is America operating with a radical in chief:

he has sent in the troops, acting directly against the rule of law, inhibiting the free flow of our republic, by interfering with a state's ability to control, lead, defend, and live within it's means and abide by the law, for all citizens concerned.


Union members and our president's very own community operation, Organizing for America, has been called upon to threaten, intimidate, and create utter chaos, upon the personal homes of GOP lawmakers, and specifically, the governor, in an attempt to force the republican leaders to back down.

And to think, our president, who initially said, 'um ah, let me just say, I haven't followed exactly what's going on...but it would seem to be an assualt on unions."... has ordered in his thugs to wreak havoc against the democratic process to take place, blatantly acting against our rule of law.

Instead of ordering the democrats to show up in Wisconsin, to man up, and vote -- we watch him blast the Governor and enforce and reinforce the troops on the ground protesting in the streets, and within the capital building, and upon the lawns of lawmakers in full force.

This is an affront to everything America stands for according to our rule of law -- and he should be impeached.

There, I said it, for this reason and many more, he should be gone.

THIS is a turning point for America; the president's direct involvement turning a state issue further upside down, turning the body of lawmakers into a three ring circus, is deplorable, reprehensible -- while adding an element of vitriolic divide never seen before.

God bless the United States of America, this morning, and every morning from here on out.


Make it a Good Day, G

And PS to the haters who seem inclined to test me, antagonize me, with leaving comments deemed inappropriate, rude, or just plain stupid -- I welcome all views and comments when they are thoughtful and not of the kind that simply, "anonymously", and cowardly lash out against my views.  I love dialogue that welcomes all respectable response and conversation...but make no mistake, its my blog and I can do what I want to -- and I will most certainly delete the mean spirited and ridiculously ugly thoughts that come my way every time.  blessings and kisses all the way around people.

Dear America,

Unions should be outlawed.

"...this is about our right to collectively bargain!"  

a teacher 

somewhere in Wisconsin

So what you're saying is, this is about your privilege to have a good, decent job in America (in the worst of times), and when push comes to shove, you feel, in order to be heard and have your expectations fulfilled, you will protest, use tactics similar to black mail, advocate students to act on your behalf, and come to the point where you choose to cease providing such service altogether; the service, teaching America's children, an enviable position for which you are handsomely paid -- including a boatload of benefits, pension and health care for life --  comes to a complete halt for as long as it takes, jeopardizing your own students education, using your position as a public servant, more or less, as a bargaining chip -- held out until all your needs are met.

You all must have been taking your cues from the Middle East...

This is a situation where our republic gets held hostage; under the guise of democracy in action -- in radical form and formula, workers of the world collectively unite, whether or not it undermines the process, whether or not it disrupts the education of our children, whether or not it takes a day or three months. They unite, in for the long haul and whatever it takes.

Don't they know how lucky they really are?

The real world doesn't even come close to being able to offer the kinds of benefits these teachers take for granted.

What is happening to us?

Where is the collective concern for the long term feasibility and ability to stay afloat for the state? 

This isn't what Wisconsin wants to do, as if they have a choice -- the financial reality staring the governor in the face is non-negotiable, too far gone, already a situation that it leaves them no other choice.  Let me be clear, this is about not enough revenue and having too many expenses; this is a taxpayer problem (aren't teachers taxpayers too?); there is not enough money in the world to follow through with the promises made to union members, and we are just seeing the beginning of it (while only adding to it, is the new "Affordable Care Law" projecting costs that many states are already well under way legally fighting to opt out).

"The bill, which also bans collective bargaining rights for teachers, requires educators to contribute 5.8 percent to their pensions and 12.6 percent to their health care. Currently, educators pay 0.2 percent for their pensions and 4 to 6 percent of their health care costs."

point two percent is paid into their own pension.  POINT two percent...unbelievable.

averaging five percent contribution to cover their health care costs...wonder who covers the rest?

STATES are broke...

let's see, would these teachers rather be let go?  would they rather have higher student to teacher ratios?  would they rather have furlough days?  would they rather have their pensions just go belly up after states go bankrupt?

Unions are so keen on the collective bargaining for their own -- but what happens when it fractures the stability of the whole?

Weaving this conversation into the discussion from just yesterday, is this the kind of behavior we can come to expect under the new collective bargaining tools made available now to our TSA's, possibly jeopardizing our ability to safely and freely travel?

While the real life salary range for teachers is hardly something to complain about... 

"According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in 2008, the average salary for an elementary school teacher was $51, 240 while middle school educators earned $50,950 and high school teachers earned $49, 400."

adding to that reality, a cushy schedule, a bevy of holidays, weeks of vacation...really?

And when Obama, Mr. Union Label Lover himself, weighed in on the Wisconsin deal, he said this, :"this seems like more an assault on unions to me" --so  rest assured, his administration is carefully monitoring the situation.

IN every way this country seems to "progress", we go two steps back.

How about our teachers move to Egypt to find work and get paid $50,000/year for teaching elementary math and the ABC's?  Good luck with that.  And considering the reality that is coming out of our standardized testing across the country, perhaps we are paying way too much to begin with.

How about, if it isn't conscionable for you to see fit paying a wee bit more for your overpriced pension upon  retirement, you get nothing?  (and considering now, by all evidence of your recent behavior, being clearly not worthy of a dime in this very moment...)  But the reality is, nothing will be what's left in the coffers when you finally reach that ripe old age of 65 -- or will it be 68 or 70 even?  oooh that's a number up in the air now isn't it.

Now, don't get me wrong, I love teachers; my daughter has had the pleasure of having stellar educators leave their mark over the years, some leaving a lasting good impression, others simply mentoring her to the next level with ease, building upon her maturity and skills as the years go by, arming her with all that she would ever need to begin her high school years taking honor classes and ready for anything (of course, she also has parents making her do her homework and expecting her to do her very best...hmmmm....which came first, the chicken or the egg? but I digress)

And for myself, twice in my life, I have taught preschool, making under ten dollars an hour, gratefully employed by one of the most well financed and organized franchises offering preschool and daycare services in the country --  KinderCare.  

Teachers are challenged to use not only what they know to teach what they know, but in ways that constantly require creativity, accountability, and a personal commitment to give it everything they've got, everyday, even when, as we all know, children of all ages can test our ability to keep cool, calm and collected (oh the irony on that last thought).

The thing is, the United States of America was never intended to run under union rules and thuggery.

These actions, happening more and more each day, will ruin the good that we got left.  And that's just a fact.

Even within my own democratically controlled state of California, we now have a governor-- who, by the way, has a LONG history of being friendly to UNIONS, all the way around -- is even considering making changes to the choke-hold unions have upon the fiscal bottom line -- there is no way to avoid it when facing BILLIONS of dollars in deficits, breaking corporations backs with increasing regulations to the point of losing them altogether, and dealing with a growing entitlement population by the minute.  

Something's gotta give and our Jerry Brown knows it (I think, don't quote me, Jerry's jury is still out).

Unions have staged and financed each and every protest that have walked our streets, stomped on CEO lawns,  providing for every poster, lunch and/or bus  -- even jumping state lines if they have to (go back and review Arizona/California union relations, about the time the AZ immigration law was enacted, and funny, low and behold featuring a large number of teachers).

The thing is, America has always been different -- kind of a cut above how the rest of the world deals with the ugly details of contracts, negotiations, benefits and long term commitments -- treating both sides of the table equally and fairly and equitably has been handled deftly and swiftly more often than not.  Picketing and Walk-Outs has never been the norm; in the past,  it's been highly frowned upon and used as a method of last resort.  

But something tells me, things have changed.

Having a community organizer in the highest office of the land kind of validates such moves of fundamental transformation, whether it comes via the grass roots fueled by a cause, or fully funded and endorsed by billions of union dues -- either way, making us look more and more like the middle east everyday.

and to think, I was going to continue my rant on the 2012 budget today -- consider it a hostile takeover of the agenda, ya just never know these days when rules for radicals devotees pop their ugly head.

Make it a Good Day, G

Dear America,

so apparently, when we are being led by lawlessness, moral compromise, and complacency, we just follow now.

Like sheep, are we?   Is this just the new way of American governing, circa somewhere around the early nineteen hundred's when it all began, leading us into today, into the reckless spirit of living in denial, rebellion, sugar-coating and spin, feeding off of sex, lies and videotape -- and you think we're okay with that?


HOW -- tell me HOW -- in the world --  did we get to a place -- this place -- when introducing a 3.7 Trillion dollar budget, with revenues of merely 2.6 Trillion coming in, sounded pretty good? Oh, and with an incredible 14 Trillion dollar national debt on our back -- a.k.a. an insurmountable debt -- that even, with all the tea in China, can never be repaid.  C'mon!

Please, tell me this is all a bad dream; where's the pale of water, c'mon, quick, somebody slap me.

Only in America.

Did you hear that Billy Ray Cyrus would take it all back...all five years of Hannah Montana, being on the show, having his daughter make gazillions of dollars, making her a star -- he tells us now, he would trade it all in -- because the work of the devil basically, has ruined his life, family and everything that was ever important to him.(you can click to The Scoop if you need to read more)

In the Bible, we are reminded often of our free will; and with that, our inherent duty, to honor that free will with every essential element necessary to be of sound mind, firm understanding, purposeful knowledge, in keeping with a constant checks and balances of who we are, and all the ways available to us to be ever so mindful of things that stir around us, that may do us harm; to be our very best, in order to truly expand and grow our good, we must be vigilant in our commitment to be clear, watchful, careful as we go about our way in the real world.

"For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love.  For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.  But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed for past sins."

2 Peter 1:5-9

We are watching our representatives in government -- almost all of them -- make these horrific crimes against our natural inheritance and birthright...as we sit idly by...saying, oh that's nice, that's real nice, look at them working together, compromising and all.

Living high on the hog, living beyond our means -- being too proud, or selfishly and politically motivated, not to take the appropriate measures to change our course, even in the midst of total disaster -- is just humanity's way of answering to a deeper, broader, all the more encompassing problem, just plum ignoring our good conscience altogether; but clearly now, after all these years, just throwing more money at our issues doesn't seem to be cutting it, is it?  And kicking the can down the road, is remarkably hardly of conscionable thinking.

IF we are of the nature to face our worst fears...

A people's morality is so much more than what we choose to do when no one is watching -- it is what we do collectively, out in the wide open spaces; it is how we choose to govern; it is seen in the eyes of our children and how they treat their elders, let alone their friends.  It comes chock-full of loaded questions, divining the grace and peace and understanding upon whether we value life, or not; to live honestly and truthfully, or not; to recognize the value of our blessings, our family, our livelihood, our country, our faith -- or not.

Our moral compass guides us when making hard decisions, and when making easy slips of good judgment; our morality forces us to stop to ask ourselves, when faced with a moment of simple indecision or complicated indiscretion, is this the right thing to do?  We are never no further away from contemplating our own morality, than we are of taking our very next breath -- and that's not self-righteous, superiority complex, judgment speak at all;  it's just how we are made, as human beings; we are all given this gift, each and every one of us, and that makes it a beautiful thing.

A people's morality is there, ingrained into our being, even when in the midst of making the nation's 2012 budget -- a commitment of great price; and tagging along with it, let's just say a wide variety of unintended consequences of a certain pecuniary offense... amid other quite precarious dealings, behind closed doors of course, highly inappropriate to mention here...

If only, our leaders paid more attention to the little devils and angels sitting on their shoulders, no?

My god, could not all of this have been prevented if we asked a few simple questions, like,

-- "hmmmm, what do you think is gonna happen next year, when we have to pay this unfunded liability?
-- or hmmm, wonder what will happen when we push that button?
-- or hmmm, do you think this is what the people's mandate last November had in mind?
-- or hmmm, a hundred billion a year sounds like a lot of money to the little people, let's run with that and see how far we can go before they laugh us all the way to a rubber room?

This may come as a surprise, but our government DOES NOT MAKE MONEY!
The only way they make money is by TAKING our money -- borrowing money that they have no business printing in the first place, in the dead of night, only to cover up the immorality that has preceded them, or worse, was perpetrated by them -- and controlling the very assets that belong to US!  that's it.  that's all they have to play with -- and apparently, we let them now. bah baaah (that is sheep speak)

Turning a blind eye to the lack of sound judgment in our midst; paying no attention to the wizard behind the curtain; just letting them take us down in debauchery, mayhem, financial ruin, just piling up one lie up and over another.  Are we that stupid, or are they simply misguided in every way?

But here they are, our keepers, the morally corrupt, solvency sloven, lost within their own world reminding us of Bacchanalian times  -- go ahead, oh chosen ones, eat, drink and be merry -- celebrate a 1.1 Trillion dollar deficit for 2012, while ringing in the  current 1.6 trillion dollar days  -- go right ahead. we can wait.  we'll just sit back and watch things just play out for a bit.

We are watching, indeed; while some of us, will speak up and say enough is enough.

The thing is, we raised better children when the Department of Education was a crazy 12 Billion/year (around 1968).  Fact.  yup, as far as the eye can see, we've reached about the last of 'em.

And yet...

Here we are, watching the right and the left quibble this morning over a 3 Billion dollar fighter jet program, all while some are turning around on a dime proposing a 53 Billion dollar high speed rail going to nowhere.

Here we are, adding over 200,000 federal employee jobs over the last two years, when the private sector is experiencing 16% unemployment (adding a discretionary number to account for the UNDERemployed); oh, and just today, tying our national security to the unions -- no longer will airport management be allowed to bring in a private service -- gone, bye bye -- the TSA's will be unionized, supplying 18 million dollars in new  union dues, supporting the already community organizing,  labor loving, liberal, left wing agenda lobby -- having just accomplished, without so much as a hiccup, a surge of more troops to the front line leading into the 2012 elections.  Who's crazy now?

Here we are, with our very own New York Stock Exchange now completely taken over and owned by the Germans -- say what?

Here's a thought, how about we get Marco Rubio and Allen West to run together for top dogs in 2012?

Crazy, I know; what kind of experience do they really have -- none!  But these days, that is spreading the good news!  Desperate times call for desperate measures.

This country needs a shake up, to the core, with leaders who appear to have a spine, a moral code of honor, integrity, standing firm on the principles that made this country great; where are these people, and more important, how do we get them into the big house before we go down in ruin -- that's what I want to know today!

We don't have time for quibbling over millions of billions; those days are long gone.  We're of the age now, when we only wish we could say we would "take it all back" -- as in the candid interview, when everyone around you is thinking, you can't be serious dude.... with none other than Billy Ray "a day late and not a dollah' short" Cyrus -- but how stupid would that sound, right?

We can't take our wrongs back; we can't go back to the way things were and change our mind; it is done.

This is a time to move forward with everything we've got left -- which hopefully, is filled to the brim with a moral code to do something about it, to repent, to beg for forgiveness and understanding and grace; AND THEN, to build upon the principles we truly know will work, to win our future back, dismissing the pie in the sky rhetoric giving us only what the people want to hear; because don't look now, all you down on the funny farm, the sky is in fact falling.

This budget -- the one being adamantly and fundamentally and defiantly defended by our president since Monday -- is morally corrupt in every way; how can anyone, left, right and center, feel secure knowing that this president is okay with sending us further down the road in H - E - double toothpicks, projecting in his very own words, according to his no uncertain terms, a trajectory of trillion dollar deficits for each year over the next ten (oh while saving perhaps a hundred billion a year) -- oh, and reaching a national debt level beyond our most wretched imagination. are ya kidding me?
 
This isn't even as tasty as pig slop, how can anyone defend this as the answer to our fiscal mess?

Granted, the world and perhaps a few power elites, would love to take America down; but this isn't who we are, this isn't what we are about, and it certainly isn't anywhere close to the reality our founders intended  -- and I would bet my life, other people are feeling, if not reeling, the very same thing.

This may be another morning to play the Motor City commercial over and over and over again until we actually get it through our thick skulls; from the days of Iacocca to EMINEM, invoking that very same spirit of revival, its time to take Detroit back... Route 66 back... time to take back Boston, Kingman, and everything in between them, back!

The District of Columbia belongs solely to the people; we own it;  we sign their paychecks; we decide what we spend and when.

It only took about 90 days, but already, they are back in business featuring business as usual, and we've got no time for it whatsoever.

If I were president, I would fire myself!
and go ahead, call me crazy, make my day...

Why G?  Why are you so upset?  He's just trying to do the best he can --- Why would you say that about our president? He inherited the debt...

For the audacity to try to pull the wool over the eyes of a people who, apparently, by all countenances upon him, misguidedly thinks we are sheep; but little does he know, even sheep born in the USA know what's up, cuz it's wigging time.

And that goes for the whole lot of you, too....how this man, this administration, this congress, can get away with just taking everything we know and love in good, clean conscience, hidden behind moral compromises that shake our very foundation to the core, jeopardizing everything, and keep doing it!   is purely beyond my comprehension.

I am livid.

but hey, happy happy,
make it a good day, G!  

Dear America,

"How soon the labor of men 

would make a paradise of the whole earth, 

were it not for mis-government, 

and a diversion of all his energies 

from their proper object

-- the happiness of man -- 

to the selfish interests 

of kings, nobles, and priests."  

Thomas Jefferson

Ah fair the well oh Laissez- Faire -- we are not worthy to receive you.

In the president's own budget, he is projecting a 1.1 trillion dollar deficit going into next year, knowing he has been running over a trillion dollar deficits for each year in office ($1.6T for 2011, adding to the $3.5T accumulated already) -- oh as he charms us with the notion of holding to "2010" spending and calling it a "freeze", and that would apply to discretionary funds only; and lest we forget, adding into the equation his brand new, unfunded, entitlement program under the Affordable Care Act which will add another trillion dollars to our bottom line (insuring 30 million people for nothing will do that); and all the while, not tending to the entitlement programs already under water  -- and -- ignoring the national debt of 14 trillion and climbing exponentially at every tick of the clock...

and the clock is ticking.

Good day to provoke revolutions around the globe indeed.

But let's look at the numbers one more time -- according to the president's own brilliance, we are setting a trajectory of doubling our national debt to a whopping 28 trillion dollars before the end of 2020; and in the words of many, at least those within the GOP collective, it would be better doing nothing, than bring this little piggy to market.

And if real life couldn't be any more startling, let's take in a few keen observations of the man we have as our president, the Statist that he is --  you know, considering all the things we know to be true, taking into account where we have been and where we are right now, adding to it "the revolutions and reform" in the Middle East, and basically, after just watching this man roll for awhile  --  for the blueprint of the last couple of years, giving way for a quick explanation of America's demise, perhaps may be found in a single speech.

Invoking the revelations of Mark Levin, from his book, Liberty and Tyranny, published in 2009 -- he is nearing the end of his "Conservative Manifesto" when he quotes parts of a speech, from 2007, given to the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, by the Senator Barack Obama.

"We have heard much over the last six years about how America’s larger purpose in the world is to promote the spread of freedom – that it is the yearning of all who live in the shadow of tyranny and despair.

I agree. But this yearning is not satisfied by simply deposing a dictator and setting up a ballot box.[fascinating, isn't it]. The true desire of all mankind is not only to live free lives, but lives marked by dignity and opportunity; by security and simple justice.

Delivering on these universal aspirations requires basic sustenance like food and clean water; medicine and shelter. It also requires a society that is supported by the pillars of a sustainable democracy – a strong legislature, an independent judiciary, the rule of law, a vibrant civil society, a free press, and an honest police force. It requires building the capacity of the world’s weakest states and providing them what they need to reduce poverty, build healthy and educated communities, develop markets, and generate wealth. And it requires states that have the capacity to fight terrorism, halt the proliferation of deadly weapons, and build the health care infrastructure needed to prevent and treat such deadly diseases as HIV/AIDS and malaria.

As President, I will double our annual investments in meeting these challenges to $50 billion by 2012 and ensure that those new resources are directed towards these strategic goals."

In a series of pointed questions following his hand picked excerpts, Levin basically returns to a combination of how's and why now's; begging almost, for him, the man, the president-to-be, to jump in and answer the age old notion of what makes you think you will be any different?  How in the world will you accomplish this feat, you loon?  How do you justify which countries deserve America's love and attention, and which one's do not? And when, just when do you call in the troops, write a check, or send material aid?  When do you impose sanctions, when do you cut everything off, just when is diplomacy no longer working for you?  And just how do you operate around crazy -- eloquently and compassionately and decisively and brilliantly -- how do you do that, in the real world, and keep America safe and her sovereignty intact?

Of course, Levin's questions were posed differently, but you get my drift.

The entire speech is long and twisted, but fortunately for us, remains as just one of the many declarations on the record, as to just what Obama was thinking, and more important, laying out the blueprint ahead, skillfully setting forth what he would do if given the chance to be President...so easy pontificating from the outside looking in, isn't it, Mr. President?

"In today’s globalized world, the security of the American people is inextricably linked to the security of all people. When narco-trafficking and corruption threaten democracy in Latin America, it’s America’s problem too. When poor villagers in Indonesia have no choice but to send chickens to market infected with avian flu, it cannot be seen as a distant concern. When religious schools in Pakistan teach hatred to young children, our children are threatened as well.

Whether it’s global terrorism or pandemic disease, dramatic climate change or the proliferation of weapons of mass annihilation, the threats we face at the dawn of the 21st century can no longer be contained by borders and boundaries...


I know that many Americans are skeptical about the value of foreign aid today. But as the U.S. military made clear in Camp Lemonier, a relatively small investment in these fragile states up front can be one of the most effective ways to prevent the terror and strife that is far more costly – both in lives and treasure – down the road. In this way, $50 billion a year in foreign aid – which is less than one-half of one percent of our GDP – doesn’t sound as costly when you consider that last year, the Pentagon spent nearly double that amount in Iraq alone.

Finally, while America can help others build more secure societies, we must never forget that only the citizens of these nations can sustain them. The corruption I heard about while visiting parts of Africa has been around for decades, but the hunger to eliminate such corruption is a growing and powerful force among people there. And so in these places where fear and want still thrive, we must couple our aid with an insistent call for reform. [wow, we should have seen it coming]

We must do so not in the spirit of a patron, but the spirit of a partner – a partner that is mindful of its own imperfections. Extending an outstretched hand to these states must ultimately be more than just a matter of expedience or even charity. It must be about recognizing the inherent equality and worth of all people. And it’s about showing the world that America stands for something – that we can still lead...

 It’s time we had a President who can do this again – who can speak directly to the world, and send a message to all those men and women beyond our shores who long for lives of dignity and security that says 'You matter to us. Your future is our future. And our moment is now...'

 Levin is quick, and with every good reason, to say that:

"In truth, the Statist is and will be no more successful in his foreign policy promises than in his domestic promises.  International utopianism has no better chance than its domestic brand.

But for all his talk of America changing the world, the Statist speaks not of American sovereignty but 'global citizenship.'  He speaks not of America as a nation-state but as a one nation among many.  Rather than maintain its superpower status and act in its own best interests, the United States should relinquish its hard-earned position in favor of multilateral power sharing and conduct foreign policy -- including decisions about military action in its own defense -- through coalitions and international organizations.  In this way, America's interests are subsumed and contained by the supposed interests of the whole."

so where are we at?  as a country, as Americans?

"So distant is America today from its founding principles that it is difficult to precisely describe the nature of American government...[with] the Constitution being altered by judicial oligarchy that mostly enforces, if not expands, the Statist agenda...[with] a maze of administrative departments... [with] the states that gave the central government life now live at its behest.  What, then, is it?   It is a society steadily transitioning toward statism.  If the Conservative does not come to grips with the significance of this transformation, he will be devoured by it."

Thank you, Mark Levin, ever consider running for president?

May I also refer you, my handful of G readers, to The Daily Bell this morning, giving a rather ample dose of reason mixed with lively doubt.....there are two articles worth your while, this and that.

The world is not as it would seem -- and funny, for it seems to be growing wildly out of control much at the same rate as our annual deficits and accumulated debt.  Wonder if there is any connection?

that's a rhetorical question -- as we ponder the new world order according to the president of   'to every thing there is a reason and with every reason there is a thing' -- a means to an end becomes a cornerstone; from the one who truly believes "the security of the American people is inextricably linked to the security of all people" and "my individual salvation depends on our collective salvation..."; Obama-isms abound and flourish aligned with a statist's dream.


Legitimate American commerce flowing freely within and beyond our borders, the growing of American prosperity and ingenuity, humbly leading the way by example, beholden to the blessings of our Judeo-Christian roots, setting in motion the American way of life admired by all the world -- it was never intended to be this complicated;

and clearly, after only a couple of years, our true American ideals, deeply rooted in every bit as much our duty as it is in conversation, remains to be truly recognized, understood, and elevated by society, let alone our president, today; too often reduced to more a foreign concept, obsolete and run it's course, groping for translation and assimilation into a new global governance paradigm, by the man, now president, with the gilded tongue.

and with that, what a brilliant way to leave it today if I do say so myself.


 Make it a Good Day, G

and if anyone wonders what number I would hit for this year's budget cuts: 370 Billion...and continue at this pace each year until we were back in black; and yes, aligning the cuts to all areas of the budget, even entitlements, the bureaucracy that has a choke-hold on our inherent pursuit of happiness; and yes, including defense, our global force for good can be fine tuned and operated more on the home front; and yes, taking apart layers and layers of government interference; and yes, making the hard decision to change Social Security benefits, effective immediately, using means testing and changing retirement age, as IT, along with Medicare, was never intended to support seniors in Florida with 25 years of free golf and a doctor...don't hate, just the first thing that popped in my head...but this is not what it was made for, and goes back to a time when we didn't live much  beyond 70 -- thanks to our excellent health care system, we easily live to be 90 years old! -- it just needs to be re-thought, more tax incentives to take care of our own family, to manage our own retirement, to keep more of our own money...but let's just stop there, no need for a p.s. bloggorama today...you see how quickly things can get out of hand.

By the way, my choice of song on Dear America is filled with naughty words -- consider yourself forewarned -- and, I am almost positive, EMINEM never intended on a conservative american girl tying her thoughts to his words, but it works; consider it my idea for a congressional budget cut pump you up song.  We are all connected, sometimes in warped ways, indeed.  and thank you EMINEM for how you choose to express yourself and find your happiness...you sir, are very good at what you do.