It's a Shot into the Soul of America Thing

Dear America,

"Our faith comes in moments; 

our vice is habitual."

Emerson

and it's always darkest before the dawn.

There is a time for compromising and then there is a time for compromising and then there is a time for really, really compromising -- not to be confused with totally losing all scruples.

It's another happy monday and my mind has turned to mush; the over-soul is working overtime.

What is with us these days?  Dare I say, the fixation on doing the wrong thing is winning.  And when I say 'winning' we might as well be letting Charlie Sheen tell it.

Ooooh do tell, just how many jokes have been penned off the title of the book alone? 

"ALL IN."  Really?  really? 

But here we are, about three days into the stunning news surrounding a general and his mistress ...or is it two... when the timing couldn't be better, right?  The old dog was set to meet before congress on Benghazi and answer a few pertinent questions on the decision process, the security issues in the region, etc., etc. and lo and behold, poof.

Slowly, but Shirley, all prime time witnesses to the security breach, and ultimate loss of four Americans, are leaving all countrymen behind -- Clinton, Ham, Petraeus...Here's some plenty good,  good and plenty commentary from Political Outcast and Tad Cronn.

Rumor has it, the president knew about the infidelity months ago, but delayed action until after the election.

Cover up is ALL this administration really knows how to do -- either by way of hardcore and direct action or killing us softly through clandestine meetings, propagandized speeches, overthrows, and  otherwise promoting deviant American policy beginning with the "apology tour" and muscling through the "Arab Spring".... all while dismissing  homegrown terrorism at Fort Hood..... to the evolution of leaving Israel behind.... to Benghazi -- and lest we forget all the green energy loan fraud, Fast & Furious gun running, and the Secret Service simply tying one on....oooooh scandalous...

All in all, America's weakness as a whole has become the new compromise, the new cool; while American foreign policy is now a story of compromise compounded by more compromise.   Does anyone even know what our mission over-there is anymore?

Considering it is Veteran's Day Weekend, after all, gone are the days when we were all equally effected by wartime -- giving up our nylons, going to work in factories while the men went off to battle, making do without for the benefit of the whole.  Gone are the days we felt the war no matter how many hundreds of miles away.

Fast forward to the naked eye of a typical countryman today, it all looks the same, doesn't it; life hasn't changed all that much in the day to day even though we are at war, abroad...  And besides, whether we pull the lever for an Obama presidency or a Romney, what does it really matter, right -- especially to all of you who were 'on the fence' along with the libertarians and those too principled to a fault?

TO everything turn, turn, turn to mush.

One might think we all have our spy-cams up and operating.  It's been fast times for furious sake, sensing the all night stake-out with a donut and a cup of coffee is no longer a thing of the few and the far between; we might as well get used to this; whatever it takes in the call of duty for heat-seekers and truth keepers.   The FBI investigates the CIA who investigates the FBI who investigates the CIA; and in and around it all we look to the Department of Justice -- and not to be outdone or out-sourced, we get to Congressional Hearings laying it all out with reputations on the line and everything.......oooooh..... As America watches it all on live feed, on daytime TV, on Sunday morning talk shows, on cable news, on-line, twenty four seven. 

Of course we are going to get to the bottom of it!

But let's not dwell on this thought for long; heaven help us if the jaded G-nie gets out of her bottle already; the week has only just begun.

You know what I want for Christmas?  I want us to be ALL IN for America, that's what I want.

Enough with the compromise, enough with the gray area, enough with walking the fine line between good and evil, and ending up just making excuses for not doing the right thing in the first place.  Enough.

Here's a newsflash: doing the right is hard today just as much as it was hard yesterday; while surprise! in the 'to be expected' category, it will be every bit as hard tomorrow.  

And now back to my main squeeze on the day, Emerson:

"The Supreme Critic on all the errors of the past and the present, and the only prophet of that which must be, is that great nature in which we rest as the earth lies in the soft arms of the atmosphere; that Unity, that Over soul, within which every man's particular being is contained and made one with all other; that common heart of which all sincere conversation is the worship, to which all right action is submission; that overpowering reality which confutes our tricks and talents, and constrains every one to pass for what he is, and to speak from his character and not from his tongue, and which evermore tends to pass into our thought and hand and become wisdom and virtue and power and beauty.  We live in succession, in division, in parts, in particles.  Meanwhile, within man is the soul of the whole; the wise silence; the universal beauty, to which every part and particle is equally related; the eternal One."

Let's make an abrupt about-face, shall we, and go to the great one and Compromiser-in-Chief:

"I want to be clear: I’m not wedded to every detail of my plan. I’m open to compromise. I’m open to new ideas. I’m committed to solving our fiscal challenges. But I refuse to accept any approach that isn’t balanced." President Obama, full text here.

I am open, and yet, REFUSE to accept ANY approach that isn't "balanced."

I am open, and yet, my idea of a balanced approach supersedes yours.

We hear a fair and balanced compromise, and yet he will veto any approach that doesn't 'balance' TAX increases for every one making $250,000, or more, into the mix.  [um, last I checked, 250k isn't even close to a million dollars....but that's the president's magic number.. and the election, oh it gave him the mandate of the people to go for it...yeah, he's kinda cool like that....so let's go...]

I am open to new ideas, only if those ideas mirror mine.

I am open to compromise, as long as it's the other side doing the compromising.

Yes, you do sound open; you are like ALL IN, aren't you, Mr. President.

You are so open we can see right through you; just the picture of transparency, justice, openness, and light -- doing the right thing for the betterment of the whole is like your middle name.

"Of this pure nature, 

every man is at some time sensible."  

Emerson

Yes. You're probably right, Mr. President; let's raise taxes in a recession, indeed and jolly good.   Business owners, large and small, will just pass it on to the consumers; risk takers will just hold off putting up the risk; government will reign once again over the weaknesses of humanity; everybody wins! oh happy days are here again.

This girl's got news for you -- it isn't about 'to tax or not to tax'....even with someone out of the republican peanut gallery leading the charge [and that's just a nod to you, Bill Kristol].

The Grand Bargain beget The Grand Compromise beget The Grand Fraud --or is it, The Grand Bankruptcy -- either way, you beget my drift.

We have compromised on each and every American fundamental --

• we have compromised on the "free market"; 
• we have compromised on the freedom to pursue one's own happiness for all the marbles; 
• we have compromised on our cultural, political, business and personal morals; 
• we have compromised on what is right and what is wrong [sure, it's the same thing, just seeing if you are paying attention]; 
• we have compromised on our Unfunded Liabilities;
• we have compromised on how we define "transparency" and  "cover-up"; "tyranny" and "socialism";
• we have compromised on our agreement to keep a smaller, limited government; 
• we have compromised on the Rule of Law, our Constitution; 
• we have compromised on our National Debt;
• we have compromised on holding our children to a higher standard of excellence in education;
• we have compromised on keeping the faith in Divine Providence.

Why not taxes, right? Never mind that a revolution was the result beginning back on December 16, 1773.

Compromise -- by definition, in the worst sense of the word, and in action according to real life -- has put us into this mess, this mush.

America's position in the world -- within and without --  is so compromised, why stop now? [There she is! Welcome to the party my jaded little G-nie]

Maybe we can't stop. We are only human, you know.

Maybe it's like juggling a wife and kids with a mistress or two -- eventually the charade takes far more energy than is reasonable, sensible.  Slowly, but Shirley, somethings gotta give.  [Not to mention, hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.]

It's something that can happen to any one of us.  It's merely the natural progression whenever we compromise on the merits, the principle, the integrity of our life; we bend and twist and turn, pushing it to the limits, all in and over time and perhaps with countless bottles of wine, when the over-soul says stop --enough -- and breaks into multiple shards and pieces all over the place. 

Boom.

it's like a shot heard round the world if not right into the soul of America.

Make it a Good Day, G

It's a Status Quo is So Gay Thing

Dear America,

it's funny, one of the first stories I read this morning was all about fourteen [female] Senators having sent a letter to the King of Saudi Arabia begging for him to change -- pleading to his higher self to allow women to drive.

Among the gang-ette of fourteen... both of my California Senators!  Isn't that just fabulous.  Now yeah, sure, we can multi-task; there is really no shame in spreading ourselves around for the love of country and all.  But seriously, right now?  When in fact our Senate cannot even gather the troops long enough to vote on major life changing financial legislation, with Harry Reid refusing to bring Cut Cup and Balance even to the table...this is how my Senators keep busy?

Hello!
Sure we are global now -- and this campaign featured through an organization simply known as Change.org -- is all about building respect for women all around the globe under an array of good causes; but don't you think we have enough, right here at home, to work on?

Not to mention, I would think getting a driver's license, ranked  by importance and pinned to the front of any given refrigerator at the home of a the typical Saudi woman, comes after treating women like real human beings.  Like giving them certain unalienable rights like each and every American woman...

All women under Sharia Law have to be escorted by a man everywhere they go; they can't even speak to a man that is not their husband in public; they can't even decide what to wear in the morning without being forced to cover it all up. They can't eat with men in restaurants; they have no decision making authority in the home; they can't even CHANGE their religion without meeting up with certain death.  Their genitals might even be brutally mutilated, okay...

But let's get them a driver's license.

While this is the letter my two Senators from California just had to place their Jane Hancock; allowing women to drive in Saudi Arabia gets tossed into the Things to Do Today of team Boxer & Feinstein, and twelve others, ranking the Debt Ceiling Resolution, Balanced Budget, Cutting Spending, Unemployment, Obscene Growth of the Federal Government to come happily ever after.  Way to show your priorities, ladies.  [fyi, the lone republican Senator, was Susan Collins, of Maine]

I really didn't set out to discount a good deed of fellow American women this morning; standing up to oppression, whether large or small, all add up and make a difference.  We have seen the small step for man, big step mankind, become something bigger than life time and time again.

To pick at that small step even more, very often, these baby steps require a steadfast, solid, unwavering, fortified in every way, spine before that big toe even makes a move, so much as a wiggle.  We know that sometimes, what started out as the will of maybe 150,000 women protesting -- growing to become the grassroots movement back behind the efforts of Change.org's involvement -- becomes a full on platform for real change to occur.  Once it gains a foothold, natural momentum has the support to fundamentally transform reality.

This is precisely why the Debt Ceiling/Cut, Cap and Balance Debate seems so inane; the spine is missing.

Neither side is showing any Chutzpah  -- which is ironic, considering we are operating under the Audacity of Hope president, and after making a very convincing argument through the likes of Jay Carney, administration spokesman/poster boy of the moment, when addressing the press, saying, "We have shown a lot of leg on what we were proposing." 

all elements of sexism aside in the aftermath of making such an asinine comment, what leg?  Was the leg covered by an Abaya by chance?  [For a fabulous expose, and more along the same lines, go to sweetness & light, right here]

While what we get from the left is Harry Reid...business as usual and whining about the Tea Party...stopping just short of calling John Boehner a unick when expressing his concern, noting that the republican party is "being driven by the radical right-wing in tune with the tea party...We should not let these extremists dictate the outcome of this debate....it is time for ideological extremism to end... break away from those extremists who seem to be running  the Republican party in Washington.”

Basically, what Harry met Nancy want, is a compromise built solidly on more of the same: an illegitimate growth of an overzealous government without checks, balances, scruples, principles... let alone, a limit.

So what are we left with?

Honestly, just how are we still standing up?

...when the Left Leg is simply begging for us to continue under Status Quo -- stumbling along on a limp that sees no end... compromising upon so much... and redistributing every bloody thing... until we are left powerless, broken, and in ruin; with the Right Leg bending and tweaking and twitching uncontrollably, to the extent of going utterly numb.

Back bone?  Spine?  It's something that masterfully sits above the legs; and when turned into an admirable quality, it is something rarely associated with compromise --- but of pure, unadulterated, honorable, resolve.  Until such time we have statesmen (or WOMEN!) showing one, we, the people, will suffer.

Sure, Reagan bended a wee bit back in 1982; a closer look at the details would reassure the average patriot he compromised on a policy to stand firm on a principle. When searching for more on the bigger picture then, and now, I stumbled upon a fairly decent article on Reagan's "compromising" spirit here.  Reagan transformed taxation in this country beginning with a few small steps, eliminating loopholes, that in the short term amounted to tax increases, in order to change everything.  Can you just imagine still operating with the top income tax bracket at 70%?  Think about it.

"Right wing extremists" are screaming loud and clear DO NOT COMPROMISE on this now.  "WE the People" are lighting up the congressional switchboards, overloading websites, taking it to the airwaves and bloggers large and small, united with the same cause; and we number in the MILLIONS!  The spine of the right wing sweeps long and wide, spanning from sea to shining sea.

This has to be the time when America rejoins with her spine -- for we are faced with 60 trillion dollars in unfunded entitlement liabilities, while under the weight of an insurmountable 14.4 Trillion dollars in debt, when we continue to spend WAY more than we take in and running 1.5 trillion dollar deficits, when government by the numbers looks absolutely insane!  Go here for more on that...leading you, on fingertips, to The Heritage Foundation.

Call us what you want, Harry, but Status Quo is so gay.  [that is just piggy backing on something like this.]

Make it a Good Day, G