It's a Day We Will Become All One Thing or All the Other ...Thing

Dear America,

So, here we are, seven score and a decade later, we, the people, commune on a moment:

The Gettysburg Address

Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate—we cannot consecrate—we cannot hallow—this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us—that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion—that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom— and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

If you can trust an Associated Press story about an Associated Press journalist -- a young Joseph Ignatius Gilbert -- assigned to make a record on the day, then feel free to jump into this wonderful backstory, here, as featured on The Washington Post.

But let's go back a wee bit further, shall we?

Here's a sign of things to come -- from 1858 -- when Abraham Lincoln was running for State Senator, against Douglas, having just received the Illinois Republican Party nomination...

A house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this government cannot endure, permanently, half slave and half free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved — I do not expect the house to fall — but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all one thing or all the other. Either the opponents of slavery will arrest the further spread of it, and place it where the public mind shall rest in the belief that it is in the course of ultimate extinction; or its advocates will push it forward, till it shall become lawful in all the States, old as well as new — North as well as South.

It would seem America is divided once more; it's only a matter of time before we decide our fate, of our own choosing, of becoming "all one thing or all the other."

Which brings me to a quote widely misattributed to be a Lincoln-ism, but isn't, and fully worthy of a repeat and creator correction; so without futher adieu, let's go to wise words of The Ten Cannots from Reverend William John Henry Boetcker (1873-1962):

You cannot bring about prosperity

by discouraging thrift.

You cannot strengthen the weak

by weakening the strong.

You cannot help little men

by tearing down big men.

You cannot help the wage earner

by pulling down the wage payer.

You cannot further the brotherhood of man

by encouraging class hatred.

You cannot help the poor

by destroying the rich.

You cannot establish sound security

on borrowed money.

You cannot keep out of trouble

by spending more than you earn.

You cannot build character and courage

by taking away man's initiative and independence.

You cannot help men permanently

by doing for them

what they should do for themselves.



But perhaps Boetcker was inspired by these words from the man of the hour, Abraham Lincoln:

"Let not him who is houseless pull down the house of another; but let him labor diligently and build one for himself, thus by example assuring that his own shall be safe from violence when built."  Abraham Lincoln, March 21, 1864, in remarks made to the New York Democratic Republican Association  [thank you Dictionary.com]

In any event, in the search to gather all things G today, I happened to come upon a journalistic masterpiece from PBS NEWSHOUR, intent on clearing up quotes and misquotes, while compiling a library of reference material revolving around the age-old divide between the haves and the have-nots and chronicled for quite some time on PBS, and thus titled, The Inequality Dilemma, by Paul Solman. [click it if you want]

The ideas are nothing new.

Who really cares who said what, right?

But for good measure, here's another good one, from Dr. Adrian Rogers, swiped from a page on goodreads.com:

“You cannot legislate the poor into freedom by legislating the wealthy out of freedom. What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving. The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that my dear friend, is about the end of any nation. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it.”

With a nation half full and half empty, the fiasco known as Obamacare has told us what we have not learned.  So the real question remains, what have we learned in the last seven score and a decade, added to the four score and seven years ago, and what are we prepared to do about it?


From Saint Paul to the Thessalonians,  "The one who is unwilling to work shall not eat." [love love love BibleHub]

In the beginning, America understood this basic principle; it's translation never denied, nor  had to be explained.   It's a new day.    Real FREEDOM for all requires the all to be responsible.

You cannot help men permanently by doing for them what they should be doing for themselves...You cannot further the brotherhood of man by encouraging class hatred...You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong....You cannot build character and courage by taking away man's initiative and independence...You cannot establish sound security on borrowed money...You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich.....You cannot keep out of trouble by spending more than you earn...You cannot help the wage earner by pulling down the wage payer....You cannot help little men by tearing down the big men...You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift....You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it....Let not him who is houseless pull down the house of another; but let him labor diligently and build one for himself, thus by example assuring that his own shall be safe from violence when built...

A house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this government cannot endure, permanently, half slave and half free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved — I do not expect the house to fall — but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all one thing or all the other.


It's just another day when America will decide to become all one thing or all the other.

Make it a Good Day, G 

It's a Doozy of a Dosey Doe Heard Round the World Thing

Dear America,

G appears, then disappears; she pops in, then out...do the hokey pokey and we turn ourselves about, that's what its all about [clap, clap].

Just think of it as me, G, embracing a rather uncommon, seemingly under-rated, modus operandi  these days -- the posturing of a stellar post once in a blue moon in unison with a few rockets red-glare, the ever-so-lovely and lively element of surprise.

Surprise!  Just when you thought she was a goner...she's baaaack...boom.

This Syria thing is a hot mess; even still, the perverted, welcome distraction (however ugly) saves me from my own life, which at this point is almost unrecognizable.   

But honestly -- Syria now?  I wouldn't touch it with a ten foot pole, with the help of a perfectly undefined army of unknown rebels, or with four destroyers and two aircraft carriers just offshore...

I mean, look at the track record over there...
Come on.
We can't be serious...
We've had no winners: Iraq, not; Afghanistan, not; Egypt, not; Libya, not.  This Arab Spring, as predicted, is more like winter in Siberia.

Mr. President-is-In -- Nope, he's-Out -Obama has made a mockery of both our military might and our foreign policy.   And you know how I know?  Let's review.  We'll begin with simply the latest from the Associated Press:

Obama set the fast-paced events in motion on Saturday, when he unexpectedly stepped back from ordering a military strike under his own authority and announced he would seek congressional approval.

Recent presidents have all claimed the authority to undertake limited military action without congressional backing. Some have followed up with such action.

Obama said he, too, believes he has that authority, and House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi said during the day that even Congress' refusal to authorize the president wouldn't negate the power of the commander in chief

.
If President Obama feels he has the full authority to intervene and "undertake limited military action without congressional backing," why not go for it?  Why the hokey pokey when you ARE, as you say, the Leader of the Free World -- aka King of Everybody?

Not to mention, this girl is still confused as to the mission.  What's the goal if it's not about getting Assad out now?

 

Here's some stunning Assad observations --  from John Kerry, going back to 2011--  and courtesy of The Weekly Standard in a post by Daniel Halper from December 21, 2012, that declares right from the start "Assad is now under fire for mass murdering his own civilians, as he fights an internal war to keep his position of power. Even Obama has called for Assad to go."):

"Well, I personally believe that -- I mean, this is my belief, okay? But President Assad has been very generous with me in terms of the discussions we have had. And when I last went to -- the last several trips to Syria -- I asked President Assad to do certain things to build the relationship with the United States and sort of show the good faith that would help us to move the process forward."

But please, don't take my handpicked nuggets as the end all -- go to the source, here, and check out the pictures documenting cozy dinners, chats in big chairs, and all.


No, no, I got a better idea.
Let's recap a little more of the history leading us up to this moment in time, this moment when our "commander in chief" dosey doe's from that was then, this is now, and it's more important to act, to do something, anything, to save face over a self-imposed blurred red line.

For this kind of action, we go to Reuter's -- and a detailed post from July 27, 2013 with the headline, "INSIGHT - Obama and Syria: a trail of half-steps, mixed messages,"  by Matt Spetalnick and Warren Strobel.

Is that not the greatest thing since musical chairs, or what?

And just so you know -- we can't continue here until you have read it.  So if you decided to fake it till you make it through the day, do not pass go, do not collect two hundred dollars and go back two spaces; great insight awaits; I'll wait...

Now, let's cue Carney, like stat, like yesterday, and before I change my mind:

"The options that we are considering are not about regime change," said White House spokesman Jay Carney. "They are about responding to a clear violation of an international standard that prohibits the use of chemical weapons."  August 27, 2013, Reuter's

Oh okay, Jay.

I think I get it now.   We want Assad to leave, but just not by force (at least, not by American forces leading the way and without a European entourage).

Here's General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff:

"Once we take action, we should be prepared for what comes next. Deeper involvement is hard to avoid."  [Translation: this is a huge unknown...offering up ideas synonymous with retaliation possible, al Qaeda and Hezbollah extremists taking advantage of the chaos, large scale  civilian casualties...]

The problem with the president of the United States of America -- as it pertains to this issue of Syria, anyway -- is that his first inclination was to get the support of the world to go into Syria in order to leave a mark, charge a warning across the bow, not to mess with chemical weapons.  When the president didn't get it, he cowered and quickly buried himself with second thoughts.  It was only then, after a walk, no less, that he came to the realization, oops, maybe I should seek authorization from congress.  [Can't have this kind of decision coming back to bite me]  Duh, dosey doe and away we go; do the hokey pokey as he turns himself around, that's what its all about.  [clap, clap]

Hello -- just a girl to Commander-in-Chief -- didn't you hear?  The Military has concerns about Syria!  Will you accept the role to lead to the level of a certain George Washington, for even Dempsey has doubts?

And why sixty days?  What is it you plan to accomplish within sixty days?  And how can you be so sure it's enough time?  What if this plan of yours doesn't go so textbook cut and dried?

If you don't plan on targeting the chemical weapons from the air, what are we targeting? 

If it's not about regime change, what's the point?  Why not?  We've done it before...Mubarak...Saddam...Gaddafi... How do you solve a problem like Syria without taking out the guy who pushes the chemical weapon button in his day job?   And how do you plan on making nice and keeping the [Nobel] Peace [Prize] with the countries siding with Assad -- like Russia?

And how strange it is --  that John Boehner, Eric Cantor, are supporting this kind of misguided international misstep.   Are you kidding me?  Let Obama stand on his own two feet with this decision.  What part of this sounds like a good idea?   I'm dizzy with disgust. [but here's five reasons to think twice about it...congress]

Something tells me at the rate we're going, a big fat oopsie-daisy muttered out of the lips of our fair leader is expected sometime before the end of the first week of November, give or take another round of hokey pokey and perhaps a dosey doe or two.


Make it a Good Day, G