It's We Cannot Mistake Absolutism for Principle Thing....again...that is for another four years thing

Dear America,

"Do not blame Caesar, blame the people of Rome who have so enthusiastically acclaimed and adored him and rejoiced in their loss of freedom and danced in his path and given him triumphal processions. Blame the people who hail him when he speaks in the Forum of the new wonderful good society which shall now be Rome's, interpreted to mean more money, more ease, more security, and more living fatly at the expense of the industrious." --Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 BC)

is this quote amazing, or what?

It's another inauguration day for the people of these United States of America.

The quote -- I didn't find on my own; the best quotes always seem to come from a place I think of as Lady Liberty's fountain of youth and excellence in reformation @The Patriot Post.

Right now -- you still think history doesn't repeat itself?    America is opting for "more money, more ease, more security, and more living fatly at the expense of the industrious."

For proof, all we need to do, is turn our attention to this inauguration of a second term of a man who stands for a stately arrogance of power and force under the guise of serving the American people.

And more than that --  the coincidence of  this day falling upon the celebration of life of Martin Luther King makes a striking argument in the moment to give pause, taking full advantage of the juxtaposition of the two leaders.   [Again, must give necessary commendations to The Patriot Post for its use of Star Parker's recollection of the "Letter from the Birmingham Jail" in a column for the Post, here]

As Star leaves things -- at the end of her essay titled, "Could Dr. King Have Given the Inaugural Benediction?" -- she poses two questions:

"Would the Rev. Dr. King be ejected from the stage of this president's inaugural if he called this law, produced by this administration, unjust?

Would there even have been a civil rights movement without the Christian values that today's left calls bigotry?"

Why the dilemma?

Because the Reverend Dr. King was a Christian man, and reverend.  He lived with his Christianity leading the way.  And oh, by the way, he was quite clear where he stood, and how to interpret life under the Constitution.

Parker plucks a profound understanding of the rule of law in America, through the lens of this leader for civil rights in America, found deep into the famous "Letter from the Birmingham Jail" -- dated April 16, 1963; it's rather long...read for yourself, here.    This is it:

"Now, what is the difference between the two?  How does one determine whether a law is just or unjust?   A just law is a man-made code that squares with the moral law or the law of God.  An unjust law is a code that is out of harmony with the moral law.  To put it in the terms of St. Thomas Aquinas: An unjust law is a human law that is not rooted in eternal law and natural law."

Are we really interacting with the Rule of Law as if it's still intimately connected with the moral law or the law of God?

I think not.

But this letter!   I have never read it before; I am overwhelmed by it's sincerity of thought, it's explanation of action and inaction, both direct and indirect; I find myself thoroughly enthralled by the extent of Dr. King's deliberate pleas set in motion, the call for peaceful resolution, even as he laments the daily struggle to overcome the label of "extremist".  He just seems so firm in faith...

"But though I was initially disappointed at being categorized as an extremist, as I continued to think about the matter I gradually gained a measure of satisfaction from the label. Was not Jesus an extremist for love: "Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you." Was not Amos an extremist for justice: "Let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream." Was not Paul an extremist for the Christian gospel: "I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus." Was not Martin Luther an extremist: "Here I stand; I cannot do otherwise, so help me God." And John Bunyan: "I will stay in jail to the end of my days before I make a butchery of my conscience." And Abraham Lincoln: "This nation cannot survive half slave and half free." And Thomas Jefferson: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal ..." So the question is not whether we will be extremists, but what kind of extremists we viii be. We we be extremists for hate or for love? Will we be extremist for the preservation of injustice or for the extension of justice? In that dramatic scene on Calvary's hill three men were crucified. We must never forget that all three were crucified for the same crime---the crime of extremism. Two were extremists for immorality, and thus fell below their environment. The other, Jesus Christ, was an extremist for love, truth and goodness, and thereby rose above his environment. Perhaps the South, the nation and the world are in dire need of creative extremists."

I would venture to say that this nation cannot survive half slave and half free all over again;  I might also second the motion, when King says, "so the question is not whether we will be extremists, but what kind of extremists we will be."

I believe that by siding with the sort of extremism aligned with 'love, truth and  goodness,'  -- much like King, St. Paul, Martin Luther, Abraham Lincoln, Thomas Jefferson, Jesus --  it may just be the only way we survive.

But since 'love and goodness' may be asking a wee bit too much from this imposter of a government acting under the Rule of Law for one day -- how about we begin with telling the truth.

Remember that press conference of last week?

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Well, look, Chuck, there -- there are -- there’s a pretty straightforward way of doing this, and that is to set the debt ceiling aside, we pay our bills and then we have a vigorous debate about how we’re going to do further deficit reduction in a balanced way.

I keep in mind that, you know, what we’ve heard from some Republicans in both the House and the Senate is that they will only increase the debt ceiling by the amount of spending cuts that they’re able to push through. And in order to replace the automatic spending cut, the sequester, that’s $1.2 trillion. Say it takes another trillion (dollars) or trillion two to get us through one more year. They’d have to identify $2.5 trillion in cuts just to get the debt ceiling extended to next year -- 2.5 trillion (dollars).

They can’t even -- Congress has not been able to identify $1.2 trillion in cuts that they’re happy with, because these same Republicans say they don’t want to cut defense. They claim that they don’t want to gut Medicare or harm the vulnerable, but the truth of the matter is, is that you can’t meet their own criteria without drastically cutting Medicare or having an impact on Medicaid or affecting our defense spending. So the math just doesn’t add up.

Now, what -- here’s what would work. What would work would be for us to say, we’ve already done close to $2 trillion in deficit reduction, and if you add the interest that we won’t be paying because of less spending and increased revenue, it adds up to about $2.5 trillion.

The consensus is we need about $4 trillion to stabilize our debt and our deficit, which means we need about $1.5 trillion more. The package that I offered to Speaker Boehner before we -- before the new year would achieve that. We were actually fairly close in terms of arriving at that number.

So -- so if the goal is to make sure that we are being responsible about our debt and our deficit, if that’s the conversation we’re having, I’m happy to have that conversation. And by closing some additional loopholes through tax reform -- which Speaker Boehner has acknowledged can raise money in a sensible way -- and by doing some additional cuts, including making sure that we are reducing our health care spending, which is the main driver of our deficits, we can arrive at a package to get this thing done. I’m happy to have that conversation.

What I will not do is to have that negotiation with a gun at the head of the American people; the threat that unless we get our way, unless you gut Medicare or Medicaid or, you know, otherwise slash things that the American people don’t believe should be slashed, that we’re going to threaten to wreck the entire economy. That is not how historically this has been done. That’s not how we’re going to do it this time.

THIS WAS A President's ANSWER to a question.   And correction -- he wasn't finished:

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Chuck, what I’m saying to you is that there is no simpler solution; no ready, credible solution other than Congress either give me the authority to raise the debt ceiling, or exercise the responsibility that they have kept for themselves and raise the debt ceiling, because this is about paying your bills.

Everybody -- everybody here understands this. I mean, this is not a complicated concept. You don’t go out to dinner and then, you know, eat all you want and then leave without paying the check. And if you do, you’re breaking the law.

And Congress is -- should think about it the same way that the American people do. You don’t -- now if -- if Congress wants to have a debate about maybe we shouldn’t go out to dinner next time, maybe we should go to a more modest restaurant, that’s fine. That -- that’s a debate that we should have. But you don’t -- you don’t say, in order for me to control my appetites, I’m going to not pay the people who are provided me services, people who already lent me the money. That -- that’s not -- that’s not showing any discipline. All that’s doing is not meeting your obligations. You can’t do that.

And -- and -- and -- and that’s not a credible way to run this government. We -- we’ve got to stop lurching from crisis to crisis to crisis when there’s this clear path ahead of us that simply requires some discipline, some responsibility and some compromise. That’s where we need to go. That’s how this needs to work.

 All this from a president not operating from a budget for the last four years, with every intention of going through the next four doing the very same thing.  [did you know, according to government protocol, every department simply continues to operate from the most current budget -- that being the budget authorizing all kinds of stimulus spending...And we wonder where the trillion dollar deficits are coming from...]

But I digress.

Today, the president spoke of the collective in a very big way...

Like this:

"But we have always understood that when times change, so must we; that fidelity to our founding principles requires new responses to new challenges; that preserving our individual freedoms ultimately requires collective action.  For the American people can no more meet the demands of today’s world by acting alone than American soldiers could have met the forces of fascism or communism with muskets and militias.  No single person can train all the math and science teachers we’ll need to equip our children for the future, or build the roads and networks and research labs that will bring new jobs and businesses to our shores.  Now, more than ever, we must do these things together, as one nation, and one people. "

Read his full remarks here.

Still choking on this point -- "that fidelity to our founding principles requires new responses to new challenges; that preserving our individual freedoms ultimately requires collective action."   Going further along, we get to this fascinating interpretation:

"For now decisions are upon us, and we cannot afford delay.  We cannot mistake absolutism for principle, or substitute spectacle for politics, or treat name-calling as reasoned debate.  We must act, knowing that our work will be imperfect.  We must act, knowing that today’s victories will be only partial, and that it will be up to those who stand here in four years, and forty years, and four hundred years hence to advance the timeless spirit once conferred to us in a spare Philadelphia hall."

wow. right.   And even though this may sound totally absurd, I'm just gonna say it anyway -- me thinks a Barack Hussein Obama might have called Martin Luther King an extremist, too...for all the wrong reasons, of course.   And may I be the first to ponder just who is substituting  absolutes for principles, making a spectacle of office, and otherwise ridiculing opponents left and right, stifling the freedom for a full and fair debate?  

More and more, the radicalized tactics of this presidency shine through -- contrary to popular belief and the inner workings of his own mind,  he isn't really "happy to have that conversation" about anything.   He looks upon any opposition as being extremists -- and has no patience for it;  all he wants is a  mushy, moderate middle that can be easily molded and transformed into a collective mindset he can control in every way. 

But what we need more of is just the opposite.
What we need is more people standing up and speaking up for what is right -- morally --  under Natural Law -- in order to save the collective. 

We all have a right to speak up -- even to act! -- 'knowing that our work will be imperfect.  We must act, knowing that today's victories will be only partial...'

and, and, and  knowing..... that, " 'that’s' not a credible way to run this government. We -- we’ve got to stop lurching from crisis to crisis to crisis when there’s this clear path ahead of us that simply requires some discipline, some responsibility and some compromise. That’s where we need to go. That’s how this needs to work."

The thing is -- the truth is -- rhetoric cuts, I mean, works, both ways.  

Make it a Good Day, G

It's Wrong, It's Vile, It's a Man-Made Continental Divide Thing

Dear America,

Which candidate is leading in the GOP primary polls?

Florida Straw Poll
37% of the vote.

Zogby.
28% of the vote.

Gallop.
see positive intensity rating...

And yet contrary to the popular belief that truly counts in a primary,  the 21st century continental divide downshifts anyway:

Here's Morgan Freeman, speaking to Piers Morgan:

"Their stated policy, publicly stated, is to do whatever it takes to see to it that Obama only serves one term...What underlines that? 'Screw the country. We're going to do whatever we can to get this black man outta here...It is a racist thing."

How about you get your facts straight, Mr. Freeman. Just how can you be so vile and so wrong while being so loved by so many all at the same time?  Up until now, in my experience, simply hearing your voice made me melt.  And now look what you've done.  This makes me so sad.

It's a policy thing; it's a push back against a redistribution of the wealth thing; it's a smack down against the socialist thing; and ah, just to be clear, for who are we kiddin', it's a racist thing just sayin' the Tea Party is a 'racist thing.'  

but nothing like getting the official response directly from the man of the hour, right.

And just last night, we gleaned a glimpse of another possible candidate (make that two) of perhaps another place and time (or two):

"In 2004, Illinois State Senator Barack Obama gave us a window into his vision for American leadership. He said, “Now even as we speak, there are those who are preparing to divide us — the spin masters, the negative ad peddlers who embrace the politics of ‘anything goes.’ Well, I say to them tonight, there is not a liberal America and a conservative America — there is the United States of America. There is not a Black America and a White America and Latino America and Asian America — there’s the United States of America.”

Now, seven years later, President Obama prepares to divide our nation to achieve re-election. This is not a leadership style, this is a re-election strategy. Telling those who are scared and struggling that the only way their lives can get better is to diminish the success of others. Trying to cynically convince those who are suffering that the American economic pie is no longer a growing one that can provide more prosperity for all who work hard. Insisting that we must tax and take and demonize those who have already achieved the American Dream. That may turn out to be a good re-election strategy for President Obama, but is a demoralizing message for America. What happened to State Senator Obama? When did he decide to become one of the “dividers” he spoke of so eloquently in 2004? There is, of course, a different choice."  Chris Christie

Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2011/09/27/chris-christies-reagan-library-speech-full-text/#ixzz1ZGggmTju

Yes, Governor Christie, just what happened to THIS Barack Obama?  Was he the candidate for the UNITED States of America before he was the sitting president against it?  What a fraud.  What a shame. 

 

Didn't he mean it when he called for us to be one nation undivided, acting without some kind of deep-seated, color coded, hidden agenda pitting one faction against another?  Didn't he mean it when he called upon us to come together right now?

Does it really make me a racist simply by not agreeing with THIS president's policy, as the liberal media and Hollywood would have us all believe?   What year is this?  Are we truly progressing?  Are we?

Herman Cain is on the rise and it ain't due to the color of his skin.  

 

HE speaks on behalf of not only the Tea Party enthusiasts, but to the majority of Americans who are clinging to the notion of a fundamental return to sanity.  

 

HE speaks in terms of the common man -- chock full of common sense --  because he is one.  

 

HE speaks his truth because he lives by it -- while his truth seems very much like yours and mine.  

 

HE speaks and we are beginning to listen because the liberal media does not control how conservatives think, for we think for ourselves.

Herman Cain is on the rise because he is exceptional, and holds to conservative principles better than any other candidate on the stage alongside him.

Yes, he is a black man from humble American beginnings.  There is that.  How admirable.

Yes, he does not come with political experience.  There is that.  How refreshing.

But more than anything else, I trust him.

The republican establishment is compelled to quash all possibility of a real run because HE REALLY IS different.  

 

While the Left -- the mainstream media and loudmouth's perpetuating liberal lies far and wide (just thinkin' of people like Morgan Freeman, Michael Moore, Jeannine Garafolo, to name a few)  -- is sensing a real change underfoot, and it makes them scared.  

 

The authentic grassroots revival of a campaign for a real live, conservative African-American scares the living daylights out of them and sends them into chaos -- for how in the world would they be able to use the racial divide as their shining line of attack?  And to that end, the methodology of UNITING the people before DIVIDING the people, also shows no merit (and from a president, no less).

"Our bi-partisan accomplishments in New Jersey have helped to set a tone that has taken hold across many other states. It is a simple but powerful message–lead on the tough issues by telling your citizens the truth about the depth of our challenges. Tell them the truth about the difficulty of the solutions. This is the only effective way to lead in America during these times.

In Washington, on the other hand, we have watched as we drift from conflict to conflict, with little or no resolution.

We watch a president who once talked about the courage of his convictions, but still has yet to find the courage to lead.

We watch a Congress at war with itself because they are unwilling to leave campaign style politics at the Capitol’s door. The result is a debt ceiling limitation debate that made our democracy appear as if we could no longer effectively govern ourselves.

And still we continue to wait and hope that our president will finally stop being a bystander in the Oval Office. We hope that he will shake off the paralysis that has made it impossible for him to take on the really big things that are obvious to all Americans and to a watching and anxious world community.

Yes, we hope. Because each and every time the president lets a moment to act pass him by, his failure is our failure too" just more from the Governor

We like "the idea of" and "the words of" a Chris Christie for the same reason we like Cain. 

 

Put straight talk with common sense together -- and you have a winner -- no matter the color of their skin or even, dare I say, really big and fat.  

 

It's magical, really.

This may surprise the left side of the man-made divide, but I know I am not alone when I look to Martin Luther King Jr. who said it best:

"I look to a day 

when people will not be judged 

by the color of their skin, 

but by the content of their character."

 

I have that dream, too... and just look at me... a white girl, a conservative, a card carrying republican, on this day in the life of an American girl.

Make it a Good Day, G

Dear America,

happy Tuesday.

It was a gorgeous Monday morning here in San Diego, the sun was shining high and bright, the temperature already about 70 degrees by 9 am.  My girl, along with one of her best friends, and myself, volunteered at the 3rd Annual Interfaith Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service, a gathering of all faiths with a purpose; it was a day to embrace the teachings of MLK, to come together to do something good for a local landmark -- Balboa Park, and work in community with one another.

We began with multiple prayers, offered by a rabbi from Temple Emanu-El and an Imam from the Islamic Center of San Diego, with the welcoming prayer from the minister of First Church of First United Methodist.  All in all, we prayed to 'Moses...Abraham....Jesus...Mohammed...God' all in one fell swoop. 

I knew going into this thing, I would more than likely be hearing how a prayer sounds from faiths different than my own -- and what a beautiful thing, really, to have a chance to experience God, faith, devotion, ritual -- through another man's eyes.  I have to say, it sounded good; it sounded like we appear to have everyone's faith and belief system respected, and safely protected in the right place in our hearts.

Strikingly noticeable, within the collection of the Christian, Judaic, Islamic, Mormon crowd, was the great disparity of race however; there I was, thinking there would have been a natural attraction to such an event by African-Americans -- but the stark reality of the morning, out of a group of about 150 (an unscientific count), only about six were black.

Granted, it turned out to be  a smaller affair than I thought it would be all the way around -- but honestly, six?

Maybe next year, word will get around -- I'll let you know, as we already intend to go back and do it again...

in part, because I just love the idea of being thrown in with a bunch of people I don't know, having no idea what to expect, and just going with the flow -- especially for something like this -- and low and behold, they actually made us work! 

Within minutes from the start, we began with -- for all intents and purposes -- being a link in a chain gang, directed rather authoritatively by a gal who seems to have been here before; before you could say 'I have a dream' we had two lines canvassed up the side of a hill hauling handfuls of St. John's Wort up from the bottom of the gulch.

Fifteen minutes in, we were all sweating, making jokes about the various shapes of the handfuls of debris, forewarning the next guy of the rogue sticks hanging out just waiting to poke someone in the eye, and making long lost friends of the person to the left of us and to the right.

My girl and her BFF took off in the opposite direction, more intrigued by the task of getting a garbage bag and a trash picker-upper in their hands, along with the possibility of running into a makeshift homestead at the bottom of the canyon, a "hobo" or two, a leftover syringe, or disturbing the local bees -- all of which, I had absolutely know inclination to witness firsthand myself, I stuck with the chain gang on the hill and was perfectly happy.

Before you knew it, we filled two dump trucks and it was picnic time, the end of our hard labor, made light in the company of others, was done.

Perhaps it was sucking up the aroma of St. John's Wort for two hours straight...but more than likely, it was the resplendent combination of community service, a good dose of sunshine, and an honest day's work that enlivened the spirits, nearly erasing the depression of the last couple of weeks.  Having signed up for it weeks before the Tucson shooting, it was serendipitously the perfect remedy to restore my faith in people, generally speaking.

Here's a tidbit I didn't know about MLK -- did you know he was the youngest person to ever receive the Nobel Peace Prize?  A prize he wholeheartedly deserved, of course, for his efforts to bring about civil rights coming from his very own non-violent approach and teachings.  We all grew up to love the man for what he stood for and more important, the way he did it.  It is a lesson still worthy, and maybe more so, today.

If you read G regularly, you would probably pick up that I love advertising --  I am easily entertained by the creativity of the well orchestrated thirty seconds time and time again.   In this moment of recognizing the King of Dreams for the equality of life for all people, especially that of minorities, and specifically African-Americans -- I was recently struck in an ah-hah moment listening to a man of color describe what it was like for him to go onto Ancestry.com.  Feeling hesitant, afraid of what he might find, he discovered "his great, great grandfather was born a slave, but died a businessman."  let me hear an amen to that...

The thing is, America has had their good days, and bad, when confronting the inequality of man; but the truth is, our founders set out on a path to correct the wrongs, to change the mindset of the south -- and did so, knowing we would ALL struggle through hard times until we do.  Even Frederick Douglass, embraced the 3/5ths clause, once he realized how it would directly and immediately affect the proportion of representation of the people, and ultimately have the best chance for changing the course of an absolute tragedy of the human condition for an entire nation of people.

What has changed between the time a man was 'born a slave and died a businessman' until now -- what has permeated into the mindset, what is corrupting the forward leaps and bounds, of the African-American today?  Being white, I have no way of understanding how we can begin moving forward, when for all appearances, we have gone three steps back at the same time...what has changed?

Now, of course, I have my own inklings -- ever since we grew a system of entitlements to give the minority a leg up, we have suffered; ever since we ceased raising our children, of all colors and cultures, to make use of our self-reliant roots, we have suffered; ever since we began to pay people, even when not adding, laboring,  for anything in society, we have suffered; ever since we stopped melting into one, we have suffered.

I believe the national democratic party, and it's leaders, have led the minority down a crooked path; taking a cue from the Iron Man movie of sorts, the left seems to cling to the belief, and the teachings thereof, of something more like "I wanna protect the people I put in harm's way."

But now allow me tie in the actual Saturday afternoon movie I watched, JARHEAD (talk about a crazy dose of violence); the young marine's introduction to boot camp came with a Staff Sergeant yelling at the top of his lungs, "you are no longer black! you are no longer brown! or yellow!...you are green!" 

so take that, if you think you are something special just for the color of your skin...that goes for whitey too.  You no longer belong inside a designated box discriminating your personal background or culture, Hispanic, check, African-American, check, Asian, check, Caucasian, check  -- the new culture is conformity, equally along side the brothers and sisters standing up next to you.  that's it. no more no less.

There is no special favor here, just buck up buttercup and melt into one body of solidarity for a common cause and for all concerned, or else you may be responsible for losing your own life, or the life immediately to your left or to your right.  Look around you...you belong to us, the United States Marine Corps and we tell you -- NO, we command you --  to let go of who you think you are and become one of us.

 NOW.

Well isn't that a yankee doodle dandy way to look at things, huh?

What we have lost in this country, if I may be so bold, is the sense that we are melting into one US, as citizens of the greatest country on the planet!

We have fallen victim to separating by color first-- divided by specific needs and wants and entitlements -- without laboring to come together, self reliant and true, respective of our duty to one another, and stand, side by side, with our hand over our heart (the way Christina Green would want it) and say "I pledge allegiance to the flag, of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."

For some reason, the audience of that famous afternoon, when Martin Luther King was addressing all people, of all color, giving what has turned out to be his most often quoted lines, has changed.  We are no longer standing side by side, carrying equal share of both the load and the bounty; we have stopped listening to his whole speech, the entire message, for the good of all people and the good of this church (aka USA).

We are no longer conforming to the American way... by culture...in language; our colors are not blending into Red, White and Blue...purple mountains majesty, my @%$.  Where, oh where, is our very own sergeant of arms, in our face and in utter disgust, over the overwhelming and blatant lack of attention to such detail.

Thank God, I still have yesterday embedded in my memory, so that I may dream a little dream for tomorrow.

Make it a Good Day, G

Thank you to all the organizers of a beautiful day...Chinmaya Mission San Diego, Congregation Beth Israel, First Church First United Methodist Church, First Unitarian Universalist Church of SD, Hillel, Islamic Center of SD, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Temple Emanu-El, and of course,

San Diego Parks and Recreation!  For doing all the heavy lifting, and the trash picking, every other day of the week, year after year. 

Dear America,

"It does not take a majority to prevail ...

but rather an irate, tireless minority,

keen on setting brushfires of freedom

in the minds of men."

Samuel Adams

just a wee bit of friendly fire

as featured in the Patriot Post earlier this week...

which, if you don't get, demand it...

fueling the minds of conservatives,
and independents alike, with abandon --
daily, freely, nurturing the little seedlings of tomorrow...

Let us couple the sentiment with a word or few from Glenn, from his Tuesday's show, when he looked straight into the camera all McBeckie-eyed and said,

"Don't think you know it yet...but you won...

There's not enough dirt to put out this fire."

Amen, brother Glenn, amen.

Can we get a alleluia?

Perhaps, we are living like Thelma and Louise, as in when Thelma has this epiphany while raging through a deserted and desolate dirt road, looking like somewhere in nowhere-land, Arizona, when she turns to her partner in crime and passion saying, "I feel so awake! It's like... never been this awake...you know what I mean?"

Of course, not to throw a bucket of water on her moment, this revelation came ringing in just before she had never been more dead.  (fear not, it's only a movie)

As a proud carrying member of the first fire sign of the zodiac, Aries, I know all about spontaneous combustion, jumping into uncharted territory with reckless abandon, making decisions on the fly -- based purely on how it makes me feel, of course, and living life from peak to peak, hardly having time to mess around in the valleys; these days, however, that little bit of fire that used to fuel my every move, and strangely enough, even be at times refreshing and rehabilitating -- a fire that would light my way, warm my spirit, and give creative license to my day to day without so much as a singed hair on my head, has jumped the road, leaving me in the dust of destruction.

Oh woe is me, G...what are you gonna do, cry?

All I'm saying is my life, and the fire that lives and breathes in me, has changed course so much so in the last 40 days, 40 nights -- scratch that, make that 40 weeks or so --  that I do not even recognize myself (Lord knows what my neighbor thinks...walking the dog in my jammies and all).

What happens to us when we no longer know who we are?

THIS; with the much larger than my life devastation upon Dear America, totally implied and intended.

This is what happens to us; we falter, we look like we might be crumbling under the pressure, we slip, we splinter from the tree, we say the wrong things, we do stupid things, and things just don't seem to flow like they used to, do they? 

Or, we might hide, hibernate, look for cover -- trying to get ourselves out of more harm's way so that we can just get by as best as we might possibly can without hurting someone, or everyone.

Or, we might light the fuse -- reposition the kindling, give time and space for the air to bring forth the much needed life force, tweak it, play with it, give whatever energy we have left TO it --  in order to rebuild -perhaps even stronger than from which we started.

Which one of these ideas do you think G wishes to dwell on, sit a spell on, relax and rejuvenate in the light of day and night on?

We must recognize the strengths of who we are first; we must be able to capture the spirit of what is inside us, purely and honorably bearing witness to both the good and the bad, so that we are better able to pull together every resource, come together to unite within the content of good character and a common goal, in order to better equip ourselves to wage forth in battle against the hazards that lie ahead and to those even left behind.  How do we do that?

The thing is, it will take a concerted effort; it calls for us to unite in the spirit of America, over and above the politics and ideology of attack.  It calls for us to join into the sentiment of "e pluribus unum" -- out of many, one; we must join hand in hand, with bucket brigade and all, wholly representative of the fighting spirit this country was made -- or we will be devoured by our very own bitterness, divisiveness, recklessness and abandon.

No matter how bad it gets, we cannot fail to keep showing up -- and not only show up, but to be on the same stage.

Let us ponder for a moment, upon the heart wrenching awakening featured in a recent George Will column, "TRAGIC NUMBER: 70% OF BLACK BIRTHS OUT OF WEDLOCK. 

SEVENTY PERCENT!

I believe that if Dr. Martin Luther King were alive today, and preaching upon those very same steps of the Lincoln Memorial, he would turn to us and say,

"I have a dream...that my people and all people, live together in harmony and in peace...and give rise to the fire inside each and every one of us, to do the right thing, to be a good person, to stand for something worth standing for, and most of all, to live in harmony, in family, within the community we call America...And let us never forget, everything we do, everything we say, begins at home.  Stay home with your wives and husbands and children...stay home and live by example to the little eyes who dream of one day being just like you...stay home and teach the fundamental lessons all children need to know -- to be good to each other, to love one another, and treat your family with the highest honor, the utmost respect, and in exact proportion and to the same level that you would expect -- it's called the golden rule.  Stay home, and be a father, be a mother -- be a parent who guides, loves, fosters everything wonderful for your own children to embody and fully recognize in themselves, and hopefully one day on their own.  Stay home, my people, all people.  Stay home and cultivate your own family to grow big and strong and magnificent in the eyes of God and for all the world to see.  Stay home.

Frightful statistics rage within Will's words and review of the last several decades.  He references a study by Paul E. Barton and Richard J. Coley, "The Black-White Achievement Gap: When Progress Stopped", noting that "progress generally halted for those born around the mid-1960's, a time when landmark legislative victories heralded an end to racial discrimination."  Adding the observation, "it is very hard to imagine progress resuming in reducing the education attainment and achievement gap without turning these family trends around...it is similarly difficult to envision direct policy levers [to effect that]."

Public policy for a private pulpit only feeds a fire of deprivation and entitlement, starving out the fundamental fuel and renewable energy that builds lasting peace, leaving a legacy of self respect and honor, legitimacy and good character to the next generation.

I firmly believe that if we were fortunate enough to have Dr. King with us today, he would have his way with  us, maybe even hit us up-side the head and tell us to straighten up and fly right  -- but more important, he would not even recognize us, saddened by who we have become; matter of fact, he would probably cry. 

For THIS is not living his dream; THIS is not America's dream; nor is it the founders definition of "one"  -- one family, one community, one spirit, one birth.

So will this fire deep inside us grow into a blaze capable of destroying all things which no longer serve us and make way for the seedlings of America's rebirth, returning us to the days of "e pluribus unum"?  Or will we all pull a Thelma and Louise together?

You know, if they had just stayed home...

Make it a Good Day, G

Preaching the good news: we are sixty days away from fundamentally transforming America back!

AND A MUST SEE TV is as usual, on Dear America.  Watch it.  Listen to every word.  It is from our president before he was president...listen to his still, one voice raging a spirit in America like none before (except if you count a few of the founder's men...but I digress)...listen to him... and I ask you, is THIS the reflection of the President we see before us today?  It's a good question.  One worth fueling debate and conversation for decades, I'm certain.  But make no mistake, and let me be clear,  his vision -- for it was a good one indeed -- begins at home, no matter how rich or how poor.