It's What Does Jimmy Carter and Two Dogs Got to Do with It Thing...(barf bag not included)

Dear America,

We are just so road weary of being taken for a ride.

right?

Did I take the words right out of your mouth?
...it's like... if we hear one more lie... taste one more nugget of truth out of a bucket of deep fried, over-processed rhetoric  ... witness one more 'but he hit me first'... we just might veer off the side of the road, spin into the ditch, if not, fly over edge of the cliff and plummet to our death all by our self.

something about last night's debate just plum exhausted me --

the only sign of life was the intermittent joke, washed over the crowd in fits and spurts, but hardly often enough to keep the eyes open and the interest piqued.


Beginning with Gingrich who dropped a few ha-ha moments [and accidentally slipping into a remake of Wednesday's blog:  It's Socialism Stupid -- Among Other Things].  Here's Newt, retelling a Reagan era campaign zinger:

"when your neighbor is unemployed, 

we call it a recession. 

when you are unemployed, 

we call it a depression.  

when Jimmy Carter is unemployed, 

we call it a recovery."

good stuff.

..and just as I was beginning to give up on the whole thing (seen it, heard it, tell me something I don't know already...)...we were introduced to another funny guy.

The biggest belly laugh of the night came from a candidate on the fringe, the outskirts, Gary Johnson.  With perfect pitch and inflection... simply letting the dry wit wind float over the crowd.... boom!

"my neighbor's two dogs 

have created more shovel ready jobs 

then this administration." 

badump buh.

good one. although, too bad it wasn't his own work...and you're gonna have to look it up yourself...as I digress...

But poor Gary [fighting the urge to picture SpongeBob's pet snail...], much of his ideas may be falling on deaf ears; but every chance he got, Johnson said the first thing he would do as president would involve immediately balancing the budget -- cutting 43% of everything, pretty much across the board.  [yes, it's bold AND too bad this kind of agenda doesn't stand a chance of survival].

spinning off into something totally unrelated [sort of] -- yesterday, I ventured down the road of contacting someone within the AARP.  Yes, I am approaching the big  Five-Oh, but that doesn't even come close to the real reason for making contact.

I called them to tell them their new ad is deplorable, misguided, disingenuous, and stupid.  yeah, good luck with that G, right?   

Yes, it is bad enough that the first voice you hear (when calling the toll-free number) is Betty White's; that all you hear is Betty's voice -- yes...all the way through it... over the river and through the woods... at each and every prompt that redirects you to the department needed. It's just Betty.  Over and over and over again.  There is that.


But now, with their new ad, AARP is using seniors to preach the living fear into old people, asking everyone to call Washington, to tell them to back off their Medicare and Social Security.  really?  seriously? where was the AARP when Obamacare -- now legally binding -- commits the crime of taking 500 Billion dollars from Medicare to help pay for it?

Where were you then, AAAAAAAAAA R Pathetic?

[rhetorical question...we know who profits greatly with that little stunt] 

But back to living in the now,  NOBODY in their right mind is going to cut benefits to current seniors. Nobody.

[and risking being off message again -- 

did you catch the nods to Fed Ex and Lowe's?

...oh what ever]

The AARP is just peddling yet another lie to serve themselves.

It's like all the pointing of fingers back and forth last night, of the flipping and the flopping on positions -- is this the new AARP not to be confused with the old AARP?   Are you really for Medicare after you were against it?  Will the real AARP please stand up?

I am just sick of it.

The campaign has only just begun and my head is spinning... my stomach is nauseated... I'm feeling dizzy...and I think I'm gonna.............

I am just sick of it; I am beside myself in disappointment, sensing an overwhelming feeling of deja vu, thinking we must be going in circles.

The only thing that is saving me right now -- looking at the field of contenders preparing to go up against The Chosen One --  is this:   The Chosen One sucks more.

and speaking of fits and spurts of nausea, another rumor is being circulated about The First Lady being pregnant (again).  Now this gossip's been dropped on the street before -- nearly on an annual basis -- but who knows, right.  It could be true this time around...whatever ya gotta do to win...whatever you gotta say...whatever you gotta imply...whatever.   It's all just a part of the game.

So where are we?  Is the law of diminishing returns ringing in the next president of the United States?  By all appearances thus far, instead of appreciating in value we seem to be depreciating.

Just where is the classic, made in America, untarnished man (or woman) of steel?
Guess I'm just searchin' for a some kind of real Iaccoca (I mean, miracle) right about now...

Have politics and society reached such a level of corruption, that the one who wins is the one showing the least amount of dings and scratches?  Is that how we decide our fate?

Before I leave today, I want to do a couple of shout-out's for some really good advertising (or is it the sentiment, or is it both??)  Cuz you know... what kind of an American girl would I be if I didn't counter-punch the AARPee BS:

First one:


good,  right.

and given that I mentioned Iacocca, I would be really missing the gotcha-moment if I didn't go to Ford for the next example:



and just in case you ever wondered if the ad is "real" -- watch this:




The thing is, we are -- as citizens -- in keeping of the greatest duty and responsibility in all the land: electing the President of the United States of America.  We have seen what overzealous appeals to the heart of a social justice agenda can do; we have seen what the reality of inexperience mixed with arrogance and narcissism can make; we have seen what the masterful work of false advertising meeting up with a dynamic, young, complicated, community organizer and free radical can create;

NOW, all we want is the truth.

We are finished with all the songs and games and billboards and pokes in the side -- of course, accompanying alongside the ever so annoying and persistent bickering back and forth.

We are done; nauseated and spent in every possible way -- a.k.a. umpteen ways from Sunday -- all we want to do is get there already.

And yet, we still have such a long, long road ahead.

SO happy friday, everyone; I don't know about you, but I'm headed out to stock up on Dramamine, more Advil, and just maybe a little Maker's Mark (G fineprint: the three never to be used at the same time or when venturing behind the wheel). 

Make it a Good Day, G

Dear America,

OH MY GOSH.

Name calling. The Mini-Series. To begin in just a moment.

I'm going to start with making a highly charged, rash and rude response to President Jimmy Carter, "shut up".

Can we all just get along? And if we can't get along, can't we at the very least live gracefully around one another without attacking in such extremes? (I know I just attacked, using it for arguments purposes).

This is what came out of President Jimmy Carter's mouth:

"I think an overwhelming portion of the intensely demonstrated animosity
toward President Barack Obama is based on the fact that he is a black man, that
he's African-American...I've seen the rest of the country that shares the
South's attitude toward minority groups...that racism inclination still
exists...that (white people believe) African-Americans are not qualified to lead
this country. It's an abominable circumstance, and it grieves me..."

OH MY GOSH

Animosity? Not Qualified to lead? Hate to break it to you, Jimmy, it ain't because he's black; it's because he's a liberal, and even that we're unsure!

What century are we in? Did we not just elect, by majority I might add, THIS BLACK PRESIDENT? Have we not come to the reality where African-Americans (and women and Hispanics and Asians and Indians and Swedes and Germans and anyone with two cents between their ears) can grow into positions of leadership?

If this is truly who we are, which I believe in every way, shape, and form it is, why are we continually chasing the tail of the dog that bit us? I just don't get it.

It is a fact -- through personal coaching techniques, through seminars from self help gurus, through Sunday Sermons from Pastors and Priests -- if we accent the positive and be gracious for what we have and look to the bright side and believe the glass is half full and follow the way of finding the peace that passes all understanding WE WILL HAVE MORE ABUNDANCE AND MORE SUCCESS IN LIVING OUR DAILY LIVES. It is a fact.

We cannot climb out of America's valley of racism without acknowledging and embodying the attitudes and values that are required of us now -- in a very big way -- to rise above the generational bindings that seem to hold us back. Society will never grow up and become a better person if we keep holding onto the past, along with all the ugly details that racism brings.

While Jimmy may have had innumerable experiences, both personally and professionally, seeing racism in the south tear apart communities and families and ultimately, break the country (again) in the sixties, his words are entirely irresponsible in this day and age.

How dare he blanket the current unrest, stemming from all walks of life in America, as anything remotely close to cold, blunt racism. How dare he. And once again proves, as with the situation with Joe, we MUST be more careful with what we say, how we say it , where we say it and why.

Not that we should be in favor of censorship either. This is a free country and we should all be allowed to say whatever we want to say, right. However,

...when a past President (or a current one) breaks open old wounds through unfounded, unjustified remarks over such a touchy subject, we have to stop and think about it; we must ask ourselves if what we are about to say is going to bring about something worthy to the conversation or detrimental to the whole; do we win the battle to lose the war?

WE are a touchy bunch of people these days -- and if all of us had the opportunity to sit with a professional we would most definitely find ourselves the most insecure of a people ever in American history (okay, perhaps tied with the thirties). All of our experiences, individually and collectively, are under a high degree of stress considering the pressure we have to put food on the table and keep a happy home and plan for a future -- a future which seems so un-inviting, limiting and strained within the confines of a government that thinks more of itself than its citizens -- and in time(yesterday) will prove we can't afford in more ways than one.

We have no security because we have allowed for our basic rights and principles to be jeopardized by an untrustworthy government combined with having lost our spiritual foundation --be it whatever you want to call it, we lost it; that is the grassroots of America who are exhibiting such unrest and justifying the uprising on Obama's watch. That is the America who is shining the light on Washington today in order to wake us all up, as a people. Jimmy, with all due respect, you need to remove the colored glasses and see the truth of what is really going on here; for the Truth shall set you free.

This has nothing to do with the gorgeous caramel color of Obama's God given skin.

Hard to believe HE -- Jimmy -- ran our country with this kind of knee jerk, ignorant, over reaching and undermining reaction of this nature.

So I wanted to have fun with name calling today, only because I found myself so entertained yesterday stumbling upon some of them.

As luck would have it, I'm just not in the mood anymore.

Oh sure, it would be amusing to see that through the long, grueling, war torn and ambushed Bush years he gathered up quite a number of them so called nicknames: like Generalissmo Stupido Arbusto, All Hat No Cattle, Dictator-in-Chief, Pretzeldunce, Commander Bunny Pants, Flubya, Gee Duh, Idiot Prince, Lil' Snippy, Texas Twit, Unelected Pinhead, PinocheBush, President Weak, Lazy and Stupid, Jello W. Bush, Loose W. Cannon, Failure in Chief, West Wing Ignoramus, George the Lesser, Genghis W. Bush, Dumbya, Bush Lite, oooh and last but not least, a Liar.

Yeah, not so funny anymore. (by the way, did Jimmy speak up for treating President W with such disrespect?)

Yes, the right has their turn now, for what its worth: Obots, ObamaCare, Obamanomics, Obama Bin Ladin, Obama Bin Lyin', ObamaNation, Odrama, Obama Osama, ObaMao, Obysmal, Odumbass, Obamateur, Obambi, Obie bum kabookie, Obamanable, BO, Obamanocchio, Obamniacs, the Wizard of Uhhhs, Chicago-thug-in-Chief, the One, the Chosen One, the Obamamessiah...

Upon the good Lord willin' light of day, it's just not that funny.

Looking back to last Wednesday's Congressional address, and in being perfectly politically incorrect here, I have to add one more thought. As wrong as it was, Wilson didn't actually call Obama a "Liar". He said "you lie", as in calling him on his actions. He was not in actuality making a personal attack on Obama himself, it was an attack on the action of not being completely truthful to the American people.

As wrong as it was in that setting, I equate it to this -- it's just like how we tell our kids that we didn't approve of something that they did... but we love them unconditionally anyway. It is by way of not berating the person sitting in front of us and only attacking what disappoints. As wrong as it was in that setting, it was the action of telling a lie that proved worthy of attack, by Joe. As wrong as it was in that setting, there were consequences. (spending an entire congressional day writing a scathing rebuking of Joe' s behavior, instead of working on, oh I don't know, the health care issues, the need for more troops in Afghanistan, the national debt or budget deficits...to name a few)

What is a house if you haven't got a tolerable planet to put it on?

Henry David Thoreau

Name calling can be funny, and name calling can be harmful.

Making generalized statements of either race, politics or religion can be spoken from the heart or stab us in the back.

I just want you to know, that from this day forward I will make a conscientious and sincere effort to speak from my heart to you, to my family, to my neighbor, to the grocer, to the garbage man.

Make it a Good Day, G

The human race's prospects of survival were
considerably better when we were defenceless against tigers than they are today
when we have become defenceless against ourselves.

Arnold J. Toynbee