It's Being Awash with Spirit Thing

Dear America,

"God whispers to us in our pleasures, 

speaks in our conscience, 

but shouts in our pain:  

it is his megaphone 

to rouse a deaf world."  

C.S.Lewis

just so you all know, this girl didn't just pick that quote out of thin air; it dropped into my blog in what I would call Wizard of Oz fashion -- after a good spin and taking out the wicked witch -- and thereby paving the way for another day down the yellow brick road of life with me, G!  Thanks to a post @Fox News, by Joshua Rogers, titled "What did Jesus say about natural disasters?";  the idea of just never knowing what's around the bend is where its at today.

Oh and lookout, for here's a turn now -- 

Referring to the consequences of the Trump presidency, Jennifer Lawrence made this remark..."You know, you’re watching these hurricanes now, and it’s really hard, especially while promoting this movie, not to feel Mother Nature’s rage and wrath..."  yeah, Jennifer, that's what's happening. right.  [and beware, that link right there is a funny Reddit feed...]

Equally hilarious, were her continuing comments, weaving perilously from how upsetting the polarization of the country is now, to how foolish it was for America to vote for a guy who doesn't bow to the climate change bunk science of the Left.  Wonder how she explains the umpteen typhoons, leading to landslides, taking out multiple villages of Asia, and the vicinity, every year, -- or the 8.1 earthquake in southern Mexico just in the last twelve hours?   

Do you, Jennifer, consider all of this to be part and parcel of nature's way of showing the entire world's "rage and wrath" against Trump --  be it his logical skepticism of made-up science to feed an agenda, or his natural approach to problem-solving via twitter storms, and simply, because because because because because, because of the horrible things he does?

you are an entertaining filly, aren't you.

[wanted to say horse's ass, but that wouldn't be lady like, now would it?  oops, my bad]

Next up, we will bend and sway with the decades of what I like to call reality, through the eye of a weather wizard, Joe Bastardi.  First, read this:  Is This Really the Worst Ever?  (May 2017, posted on my favorite place to plant myself for a day's delight, @The Patriot Post.

it's so good, huh.

Just love how he wraps up...

"If you are not acquainted with the past, then perhaps you think these are not the best of times, and maybe even worse than ever. But if you expand your vision and look, you will find that if you know other times, it puts it all in perspective."  

and adding,

"There is a common thread to the extremes in life and nature. The elusive mid ground is apt to be just a stopping point for wild swings. You are euphoric when your team wins, but sadness sets in when they lose. Yet somehow it all balances out given time and man’s ability to adapt and progress."

Which sums up how, when speaking of the adversities and pleasures of weather occurrences, we often speak in averages.  Take for example the Old Farmer's Almanac -- its entire purpose is wrapped up around regional averages and statistics as a way to gauge what may lie ahead and understand the full scope year over year, helping to assess plantings and harvest times and what not....surely, Dorothy's Auntie Emm knew all about it.   

Here's an earth-shattering fact to whack us off the yellow brick path:  Things are just not the same from one day to the next -- whether we are talking about the weather, emotions, finances, blessings or challenges.  But somehow or other,  it all averages out over the years...or so we hope, with great gusto, right?  right!

Sometimes weather is a whisper, a soft breeze on a Sunday afternoon with nothing to do but take it all in with glee and free abandon and perhaps an ice cream cone on the side.

Sometimes weather speaks to us deep inside, reuniting us with wonderful memories -- like snow days, blazing hot days on the beach, or that rainy night that somehow ends up (nine months later) with brand new life to show for it.  [teehee, joy to the world!]

Sometimes -- like after a fire or flood or freeze oh my  -- it feeds us with new information as to how to better protect our things, and of course, more important, our loved ones.  Our conscience tells us not to leave that dish towel so close to the stove, to fix the leaky faucet, to leave a trickle of water running through the pipes during extreme low temperatures...Our intuitions kick in just in the nick of time, calling us to listen to what common sense and common experiences and Almanacs tell us.

And just as C.S. Lewis notes at the top,

for believers, 

that thing call intuition and conscience 

is God 

speaking to us in the everyday.

This fast and furious activity, this personal relationship with the Holy Spirit, comes as natural as blinking if we are open to Its graces.  Sometimes it is a whisper and sometimes its a smack across are that God-like, child-like, shining face.

God does not plan natural disasters -- for they truly are, NATURAL disasters, generated by the perfect storm of all the ingredients coming together at once.  Natural disasters are as old as time....and have naturally occurred looooooooooooooooong before leftists began to use the term "man-made climate change" as a way to rage it's wrath against the right -- oh,  that is politically speaking, Jennifer, just in case you don't get my drift.   And by the way, those averages of polarization -- albeit off the charts --  is also nothing new, be it rain or shine.

My Science of Mind offers us another aspect to consider, when speaking of the life force that we call water.  For besides the obvious -- our bodies being of 90% water, our daily need to drink water, and how water washes us clean after a long hard day -- water, itself, is held in rather high esteem.  (doncha just love that pun there)

From my Science of Mind, by Ernest Holmes:

"The symbol of water is used to express the idea of a complete immersion in Spirit.  As water flows in and around, so we are immersed in an everlasting Spirit which flows around, in and through us.  To be immersed in water symbolizes our recognition that we are surrounded by pure Spirit.  It is the outward sign of an inner conviction."

But further, let us be forewarned like a damn good law of averages working with the Divine,  as Holmes continues in saying,

"But water alone cannot make us completely clean or whole.  We must be born of the Spirit, for 'that which is born of the Spirit is Spirit.'"   

We can't take part in, let alone create within the realm of our Divine, and all that pure Divinity brings, unless we actually, and consciously, link to that which is Divine --  to GOD!

Ahh now swiftly approaching the last bend on the day, as this girl comes to a close.

All this water, all at once, is immersing us.  It is literally washing over all of us.

There are warnings in its flood waters, yes; but there is Grace in its pools.  It is calling upon us not in whispers, but in conscience running deep and wide and high and low.

Jennifer may have one thing right -- for it is a smack across the face, with rage and wrath; but when looking over the decades -- like good ole Joe Bastardi -- the lesson isn't about the one man everybody loves to hate right about now.  (...President Trump)

It could just be about the one man who saves us all when it really matters (and that's just a second nod of approval to Joshua -- Joshua Rogers, that is, of the link on the first bend)

Yes Houston is underwater, and yes, Miami is about to be; and yet, no one seems to care about how the nation is financially underwater, and on a trajectory that can only lead to bankruptcy.  We are fiscally so far away from solvency that it's no wonder the powers that be are now considering to eliminate the debt ceiling entirely!    Skies the limit, folks, skies the limit.  Happy days are here again.

Maybe Houston being underwater is showing us -- all of us -- that we have lost our way, that we have so lost our connection to Spirit as a country, that we may all be a bunch of goners;  that just maybe only one well timed flood may jog our conscience to change our ways, huh Noah.?  Leave it to the Divine to use a community of so many believers in one place, like Houston, to perhaps see us through to the other side with grace and gratitude and guts...

There are lessons learned and there are lessons not learned; and then again, there are lessons ignored altogether.

(Case in point -- When the news broke on Puerto Rico being underwater...it made me giggle.  Not that there was anything good or funny about it; but honestly?  And the kicker, Irma had nothing to do with it -- asking for bailouts and all, for quite some time now.  It's like, what else is new?)

indeed.

The thing is -- America can't even afford to slip, not even another inch.  There is no magical wizard behind the curtain that can bring us all home, unless you're speaking of THE  Way and THE Truth and THE Life -- that which our founders referred to as our Creator, that which we have known in action as the Intelligent Design back behind Divine Providence.

We have things to do to get right with Spirit, and that's just bringing you the good news.
(You're welcome.)

Make it a Good Day, G

It's a 'Satan Sandwich' sort of Thing

Dear America,

"Government by the elected representatives 

of the people is coming to be government 

by two (or three or four) men 

in a secret room 

pronouncing the new law 

that will be rubber-stamped -- or else! 

Accepting such a process as normal 

is a new phenomenon, 

but it is becoming in Washington 

an acceptable procedure..."  

Tony Blakely, 

a 'Washingtonian'

never short of great conservative opinion

happy monday, day before Armageddon -- oooh, but not really cuz we are working things out...


are we now?


But I heard this new debt ceiling deal was more like "a sugar-coated Satan sandwich."  That fine opinion came from a democrat (MO) and Chairman of the Black Caucus, Emmanuel Cleaver.

what else...


Oh yes, from John McCain we get this:  "I don't think without the Tea Party we would have had an agreement."


say what?  is this the same guy who read aloud, on the floor of the Senate, excerpts of a conservative opinion piece (written by Bill Krystal) who equated the Tea Party to a bunch of Hobbits...just last week?  nice flip.   just how is your neck there, John?


sideshow alert, sideshow alert.


I believe Blakely is spot on.  Washington is becoming less and less of the people, for the people, by the people and more about a few good men.


The more I delve into our dark side of human nature and governing, the more I understand -- and respect -- the Rule of Law this great nation has so defined.  Everything was built upon COMMON law that we all agreed to follow -- not tweaking towards any one person, group or special interest more than another.  It is the corruption of such Law that we are where we are.   


From John Adams:

"No man will contend that a nation 

can be free that is not governed by fixed laws.  

All other government 

than that of permanent known laws 

is the government of mere will and pleasure."

Nothing about our government seems "fixed" these days, does it?   

Even though what We the People have long assumed to be in place, a government intimately bound by the terms of our Constitution, with processes of authority and precepts of regulation to make sound Law...for the people... But this isn't what we see, is it?

Aristotle lamented that "even the best of men in authority are liable to be corrupted by passion.  We may conclude then that the law is reason without passion, and it is therefore preferable to any individual."

By growing our debt another 2.4 Trillion dollars, we constrict our freedom even more -- how can this body of "statesmen" not see this?   They must not have any idea what it feels like to be indebted -- the burden it places on both body and mind; these men, must be merely reflecting there own magnificence -- and without a doubt, without a care or a concern, let alone an inkling of a burden, in the world.  

Who are these people, and what have they done with our Law?  respective of boundaries, limited government, leaving any and all UN-limited-ness expressly for the people? 

"Our world was built on the solid pillars of three great civilizations:  Jerusalem, Athens, and Rome.  The first taught us to pray; the second, to think; and the third, to govern.  Yet, as strong as they are, these pillars require our respectful study, contemplations, and defense, if they are to continue bearing the tremendous weight of the West.  Absent this attention, we will continue to witness our ongoing decay, and eventual collapse."  

This is a quote from a local writer, Craig Maxwell -- initially dropped into my American girl realm  a long long time ago , if according to the relativity of time on the blogosphere.  But once again, it seems to jump out from the corners of my mind as something worthy of a short fixation in the moment.   The country's "pillars" were intended to be fixed in stone in most respects; what we continue to do -- to ourselves, no less -- is a treason of the worst kind.  

Who would ever have thought we would live to see a day when making "a sugar-coated Satan sandwich" becomes just part of the everyday, occurring somewhere around noon, followed up with a three hour siesta -- only to get up the very next day and do it again.  Who would have thought?

Manufacturing numbers are way down today -- oooh, color me surprised when the only thing we seem passionate about creating is more government bureaucracy.  

This new plan -- yet to be voted on, ergo yet to be real law [done deal?  hardly...oh a girl can only hope]  -- says that there are 3 Trillion dollars in debt reduction over ten years (slashing Defense in the process) to add 2.4 Trillion in credit card debt for this administration to squander...supposedly getting us to 2013.

are you kidding me?

there is no Balance Budget caveat; it leaves entirely open a raising of "revenues" down the road -- to be so ordained by committee; it squashes the responsibility and accountability factor down to nil.

Consider the AAA credit rating gone solely because We the People, through our representation, do not deserve it.

The road ahead is neither paved with gold or conviction -- it is more like on borrowed time, along with the overpriced, perfectly and passionately, pensioned and plumped, public works guys filling in the holes, and jumping from one hot spot to the next, clinging to shovel ready projects totally fixated upon burying the United States in debt....in order to fundamentally transform everything.

 

 what else is there for lunch?

Make it a Good Day, G

Aristotle and Adams came from The 5000 Year Leap...get a fix and get this book.

It's a Free Flow of Compromise Thing...make it stop....

Dear America,

it is late in the day.  way.
let's just say, the flow out of the old spigot -- the creative mind -- was jammed up for quite some time...  way.

I don't know...perhaps it has something to do with the lack of leadership in Congress -- as well as the Executive Branch -- but who can tell anymore, right.

Just fascinating how an indiscriminate, intangible, weight of the world can simply level us, no?

it's just so hard being outside the beltway just watching the politics continue to stack up -- one on top of another, loading the stream of fiscal responsibility with excuses, denials, rhetoric, and compromises.

hold up...

"put something on the table!  tell us where you are!"   

ooops.  that was breaking news that just slipped in, here in SoCal at 2:42 PST
...that was John Boehner....screaming from the podium at the opposition.

wow.
can I just say, wow, again.  he sounded kinda annoyed.
way.

and maybe, for the first time, sounding like he actually grew a pair...  way.
wow.


Not that it really matters, right.

oh my....
ya see?  the flow is all but shut off.

But look around, the week has been heavy, unrelenting, dark and deep with despair.

how can you just sit there and expect just a girl to rise above it -- continue to make her lemonade -- find her silver lining -- let the good times roll  -- under such dire conditions?

Something really trivial set me off on this wrong track today, believe it or not; even though, for the most part, up until making my mid-morning tea, I would say this girl was doing pretty fine -- considering.  but that's when it happened.  the catalyst that set me off course, navigating me down a bad, bad turn...it was the tea bag itself.

Choosing a tea that came free with a thought for the day, this is what lay in wait, ripe for sabotaging my morning:

"The mind is energy.  Regulate it."

harmless, right.
good advice.
...wrong again.

it floats off  the edge of my tea cup just waiting for it...the natural burst, the spontaneous combustion of mind and matter.  there is only one way for this to go according to the G thing...as wrong track as it may sound. For my initial ah-ha moment, free for the thinking, flashed before me, saying to my self:

let's just hope Obama doesn't catch wind of this...

and doink, der it is...
that's when I realized, he already has.

Just watch, look, and listen to mainstream media -- otherwise known as the free-flowing commerce of propaganda and mind control.

yup -- hitting the rapids rather suddenly --  the spigot clogged, the creative mind ceased up, and happy go lucky G got herself plum stuck clinging to a rock, reaching for a branch of the tree of life.

here is just a few media matters to consider:

• peddling fear on CNN
• nailing McConnell, with a class warfare pitch on NBC
• NYTimes pitching a story that only real men understand tax increases

Thank you Brent Bozell, and the entire team at the Media Research Center, to bring to America's attention of the rampant, daily, weekly, monthly, media bias. All these stories came from MRC website, while you can  Go Here for more on the debt ceiling and the media, with Brent addressing the issue personally.

Okay *** Breaking News*** the NEW new bill just passed in the House.

It is on the way to the Senate.  way.

hold up...
hang on...
nope.  they will not bring this one to the floor of the Senate either. way.

so really, we are nowhere fast -- or is it more like the slow steep of my morning tea.


we have been addressing compromise all week...leave it to friday before actually looking it up in the dictionary.

Hold up a second --  before we delve deeper into the real definition -- you know -- first impression -- anytime someone refers to a some kind of compromising position -- our mind immediately imagines the worst.  am I right?  --  a sordid affair, an illegitimate business deal, a lowering of a standard of some kind in some way... yes way.... go on G...

More or less, compromising isn't always a good thing, right.

And that's what we get when we look it up -- sure, sure, it also says something to the effect of a coming together, making a mutual promise, settling differences by making mutual concessions.  sure, there is all that.

BUT it also says, a compromise -- generally speaking -- reflects a certain reduction in quality, values, or a degree of something; to expose or make liable to danger, suspicion, or disrepute; to impair by disease or injury; to settle...yes, by those sticky mutual concessions.

Fortunately, what is emerging from the tea leaves at the end of the day, comes a sense of relief.  Good fortune and a prosperous future may rely upon the 75% of Americans polled who believe America is going in the wrong direction, believing we are stuck on the wrong track -- while only 17% feel we are headed in the right direction.  This from rasmussen reports. 

For a minute there, I was beginning to think the Obama-Spock mind control thing was working.

she's baaaaaack

compromising on america's debt -- whether it be a gang of six with twelve foot ceilings, or however the bonehead Boehner/Reid Bill turns out -- may be the worst thing we could ever do.  who's not to say that compromising is simply messing with the natural flow -- complicating America's inherent Chi -- by regulation; and hence, lowering our standards, reducing our abundance...completely narrowing the path to solvency and a sound future.

The feng shui masters of our birth gave us a foundation; they provided the Rule of Law to handle the free flow of material, of creative mind, with purpose and a duty -- as long as we tended to each our own.   America was built upon an independent, self -reliant spirit in each and every one of us, as the engine back behind a natural, wanting self-mastery, paving the way for success, prosperity and happiness.

we all messed up...a long long time ago.
Compromising now should be the last thing we cling to, that's all.

Make it a Good Day, G

It's a Tempting Thing...caving...yeah right...

Dear America,

happy tuesday...day after monday and the most contrived, disingenuous, pitiful, pathetic, attempt to force We the People into tempting fate...that's what last night's address was all about.

like he said to LaRaza just yesterday...

"bu bu but but but, 

believe me 

the idea of doing this on my own 

[referring to The Dream Act]

...or just raising the g-d-ceiling already...

or doing just about anything 
if something stands in the way of progress

is very tempting." 

Obama

so because he couldn't really say something like THIS to the masses -- you know, 'cuz this was directed at a targeted audience --  he came at America from a different angle ['cuz it a was a different targeted audience]...

"For the last decade, we have spent more money than we take in. In the year 2000, the government had a budget surplus. But instead of using it to pay off our debt, the money was spent on trillions of dollars in new tax cuts [pompously admitting he considers that the people's money belongs to the government first], while two wars and an expensive prescription drug program [just more of blame Bush, Bush, Bush mantra...which, by the way, that drug program came was enacted under a Democratic Majority Congress; and in regards to the war (s), we were 'for it' as a nation, before we were 'against it'] were simply added to our nation's credit card.

As a result, the deficit was on track to top $1 trillion the year I took office.[this is a lie]

To make matters worse, the recession meant that there was less money coming in, and it required us to spend even more - on tax cuts for middle-class families; on unemployment insurance; on aid to states so we could prevent more teachers and firefighters and police officers from being laid off. These emergency steps also added to the deficit." 

[never mind a trillion dollar stimulus, a trillion dollar Affordable Care Act, adding 22% to federal bureaucracy not to mention additional pay raises, bailouts to banks, bailouts to private companies (GM, GE), bailouts to Unions, and innumerable, intangible real costs to businesses (large and small) through massive regulations (like the EPA...need I say more?) that directly or indirectly break the backs of average Americans....as well as  the "millionaires and billionaires" who create the opportunities -- but hey, let's continue]

But there he goes again, "tax cuts" being equated to government spending -- what a mischaracterization of reality; only a socialist/marxist would define tax cuts as such.

  "Now, every family knows that a little credit card debt is manageable."

and then, from here on out and through the next five paragraphs we get a campaign speech.  Every single pitch was made directly to the people on the cheap -- he didn't have to dig into his campaign coffers (which is set to come to a collection of a billion dollars this time around!) -- he didn't have to spend a dime.  And that, as Martha would say, is a good thing [just in case you need a little help, not M. Washington, but M. Stewart].

"But if we stay on the current path, our growing debt could cost us jobs and do serious damage to the economy. More of our tax dollars will go toward paying off the interest on our loans. Businesses will be less likely to open up shop and hire workers in a country that can't balance its books. Interest rates could climb for everyone who borrows money - the homeowner with a mortgage, the student with a college loan, the corner store that wants to expand. And we won't have enough money to make job-creating investments in things like education and infrastructure, or pay for vital programs like Medicare and Medicaid.

Because neither party is blameless for the decisions that led to this problem, both parties have a responsibility to solve it. And over the last several months, that's what we've been trying to do. I won't bore you with the details of every plan or proposal, but basically, the debate has centered around two different approaches.

The first approach says, let's live within our means by making serious, historic cuts in government spending. Let's cut domestic spending to the lowest level it's been since Dwight Eisenhower was President. Let's cut defense spending at the Pentagon by hundreds of billions of dollars. Let's cut out the waste and fraud in health care programs like Medicare - and at the same time, let's make modest adjustments so that Medicare is still there for future generations. Finally, let's ask the wealthiest Americans and biggest corporations to give up some of their tax breaks and special deductions.

This balanced approach asks everyone to give a little without requiring anyone to sacrifice too much. It would reduce the deficit by around $4 trillion and put us on a path to pay down our debt. And the cuts wouldn't happen so abruptly that they'd be a drag on our economy, or prevent us from helping small business and middle-class families get back on their feet right now.

This approach is also bipartisan. While many in my own party aren't happy with the painful cuts it makes, enough will be willing to accept them if the burden is fairly shared. While Republicans might like to see deeper cuts and no revenue at all, there are many in the Senate who have said "Yes, I'm willing to put politics aside and consider this approach because I care about solving the problem." And to his credit, this is the kind of approach the Republican Speaker of the House, John Boehner, was working on with me over the last several weeks."

like I said...
...talking points...
...tempting the people to tempt fate.


This is how dictatorships begin...appearing balanced, harmless, modest, logical...next thing you know, the internet switch gets tapped.

This balanced approach, much like his health care legislation appeal, is long on generalities and short on specifics...and we all know where that got us (57% of Americans still call for it to be repealed).

Just what can we glean from the line, "the cuts [...around $4 trillion...ah huh...] wouldn't happen so abruptly that they'd drag on our economy..." ?   Well, they wouldn't happen so "abruptly" because they wouldn't happen at all.  Typical leftist response; just say that we will, tempting people with empty promises and then of course, actually DO something else in the cover of darkness.

Do you really think the president wants to adjust Social Security or Medicare or take any kind of entitlement away from anyone?  Just how could he ever get re-elected if he says something like that?

But hey, HE is balanced; the rest of us are not.

"The only reason this balanced approach isn't on its way to becoming law right now is because a significant number of Republicans in Congress are insisting on a cuts-only approach [dig against the Tea Party]- an approach that doesn't ask the wealthiest Americans or biggest corporations to contribute anything at all. And because nothing is asked of those at the top of the income scales [okay right, that 'nothing is asked of them'...is that the same top 10% who basically covers for the rest of us?], such an approach would close the deficit only with more severe cuts to programs we all care about - cuts that place a greater burden on working families.

So the debate right now isn't about whether we need to make tough choices. Democrats and Republicans agree on the amount of deficit reduction we need. The debate is about how it should be done. Most Americans, regardless of political party, don't understand how we can ask a senior citizen to pay more for her Medicare before we ask corporate jet owners and oil companies to give up tax breaks that other companies don't get [how do you explain your Affordable Care Act stealing 500 Billion from Medicare to pay for it? this sort of trumps whatever unfunded prescription drug program, no?]. How can we ask a student to pay more for college before we ask hedge fund managers [like King George Soros...who has just decided to close out his fund to the public because of scary new regulations...hmmm] to stop paying taxes at a lower rate than their secretaries? How can we slash funding for education and clean energy before we ask people like me to give up tax breaks we don't need and didn't ask for?

That's not right. It's not fair. We all want a government that lives within its means [do we?], but there are still things we need to pay for as a country - things like new roads and bridges; weather satellites and food inspection; services to veterans and medical research" [so, what are you saying, you want more stimulus?]

interesting.
indeed.
it is just so tempting to believe you.

Is that medical research including letting monkeys smoke pot to test their reflexes on fetching bananas to the tune of a gazillion dollars?  Count me in, that sounds like money well spent.

"There ARE still things we need to pay for as a country -- things like roads and bridges; weather satellites and food inspection; services to veterans and medical research" -- just who, from your team, wrote this?

The more I read it, the more annoyed I get...the odd relationships between the various things is one thing, but what are you saying?  Is there not waste and fraud even within Veteran's Affairs?  And how about those government contracts, building roads and bridges to somewhere or nowhere, extending to all sorts of general infrastructure projects at home and abroad -- Mr. President, did you happen to read your own intel on  funding billions in trucking contracts to the Taliban?

In a nutshell, here's how the president lays it out:

"Would you rather reduce deficits and interest rates by raising revenue from those who are not now paying their fair share, or would you rather accept larger budget deficits, higher interest rates, and higher unemployment? And I think I know your answer."

well, when you put it like that.  count me in.
of course, this question was posed with a purpose, and was immediately followed up with a well rehearsed 'gotcha' moment of the evening, by telling us it was spoken by Ronald Reagan.

ooooooh.

If I said it was different back then, would you laugh?

And I think I know your answer...

...in any event, here is some context:  "in order to get to 280 billion in reduced outlays over the next three years, we had to agree to the added revenues of 99 billion..."

99 billion.  that's funny.  that's like the entire Department of Education.

But there he is, invoking Reagan when America is running 1.65 Trillion dollars in deficits for this year alone; there he is, tooting a real conservative -- an icon, I might add -- to defend reprehensible eleventh hour debt ceiling shenanigans.

yes, it is tempting.
keep talking Mr. President...

"Understand - raising the debt ceiling does not allow Congress to spend more money."

wow. what a relief.

hold up while I finish rolling on the floor.

If that were true, then what is the big f&%^%g deal?

If you have admitted to the nation that we have a problem -- that we spend more money than we take in; and two, that we must address such problem -- and live within our means; then what is the problem?  Call me stupid, but if it is not about spending more on the company credit card, then why do you need it?

Clearly, as we have covered ad nauseum here on G thing...we bring in enough revenues [200 B's a month] to pay our interest on debt, to pay our Social Security, Medicare and Veterans, while tending to the one thing we MUST do as a nation, which is pay for our defense; we can even pay for that wasteland, popularly called the Department of Education -- and just maybe, one day, if we throw more money at it, get a solid rise in graduation rates (vs. the ongoing declines over the last twenty years).

The reality is, we can prioritize all of these payments and get along just fine.

Sure, I am rambling now; and it is tempting to stop, on a dime, right here and right now and call it a day.

it is tempting.

Moody's -- and the S& P --  want to see us respond with 4 Trillion Dollars in real deficit reduction; they want us to show an earnest commitment of returning to a balanced budget.  How can they give us a decent rating without it?

...and talk about something household budgets happen to know an awful lot about...can you say freecreditreport.com?

And to be perfectly clear, this isn't just G taking cues from a president and simply making things up as we go along -- this is real -- read this!

Did you read that?
stunning, isn't it?

Moody's and Standards & Poor's do not really care about the debt ceiling -- they CARE about the debt!  Specifically, the explicit accumulation thereof and our inability to pay it back!  They CARE about whether or not we actually live within our means; they CARE about whether or not we spend more than we take in.  Thus making the debt ceiling debate entirely meaningless to date. That is what they care about.

It is tempting to finish dicing and slicing the president's remarks last night;  truth is, there is simply too much remaining for one day.  If you find yourself tempted to hearing more of what he had to say, you can go here.

I want to leave you with something else.

A cartoon was being circulated on my Smart Girl Politics that was pretty funny and says it all...
picture a couple of newscasters side by side...the guy says, "today, both republicans and democrats moved towards raising the debt ceiling to remedy America's financial predicament"...as his co-anchor pipes up adding her two cents: "in other words, blood alcohol levels will be raised to solve drunk driving."

Make it a Good Day, G

NOT ONE PLAN has been suggested by the president.  

It's an All-American Gamechangers, Hype and Promises Thing

Dear America,

well a few big boys met around the table for awhile and got it done...only wish we were talking about the Debt Ceiling and the Balanced Budget.

But today, we can all breathe a sigh of relief, as football is back in business; yet, on the other foot -- dropping as we speak -- we will surely find a worn out cleat, kicking our future on down the field on what appears to be astro-turf, on a record-breaking-scorcher-kind of day.  The District of Columbia might just take notice of how it is done, just sayin'. 

If we were to take a moment to really think about it -- what we saw in the great debate before the start of the 2011 NFL Season, was nothing.  Most of what we saw was a closed door;  meetings were happening, but nobody was really talking in front of the camera; just a whole lot of little boys somehow finding their inner big boy -- and just working things out.  

As a matter of fact, it was getting so late in the day (figuratively speaking, of course, as according to the pre-season calendar posted in everybody's man cave in the back of the mind) -- I didn't think we were even gonna have a 2011 season.  I mean, the first tailgate -- requiring enough Brats for twenty and Beer for fifty -- is right around the corner; put the fear of God in us why don't you... waiting until the eleventh hour before coming to a deal.  Unbelievable! You guys sure know how to freak a girl out.

If only football was as essential to our future as the financial wranglings and un-raveling's in D.C, right?

What else can we expect from a president who learned how to negotiate by street organizers and radicals; throwing any good faith negotiation right from the start playing the only way he knows how -- hard ball.  Here's a good take -- from The Heritage Foundation (just a few of my favorite boys and girls on earth) -- setting up the entire play.

Is the president coming to the table to work things out above board? Or, is he testing the markets? playing politics?  revving up his base to incite chaos, worry,  masterminding utter fear of the unthinkable?

What nobody seems to be questioning -- that is, if you get all your news from the mainstream media -- is that this fear mongering of what may or may not happen, has been fabricated out of the halls of government to create the very situation to go along with this president's favorite go-to play:  never let a crisis go to waste.

But make no mistake, understand that it is our Congress -- those who have the express power to create and legislate the budget -- who have been acting without a budget for over 800 days; while the debt ceiling, in and of itself, is entirely created out of thin air. This didn't just happen to us overnight.

It is the Un-Limited-ness of our government that has failed us; the debt ceiling debate is merely a symptom of recklessness, overexposure, and complete arrogance -- untethered by fame and fortune; basically, the falling apart at the seams, is but a product of ceasing to simply show up and do the mechanical, tiresome, tedious, day in and day out of preparation; in other words, following through with the deliberate exercise of keeping skills sharp, the body toned, and ready to just do what you are being paid the big bucks to do.

The take away should not be Oh My God, we're doomed, give the president what he wants -- even if it buries us...like some kind of phenom running roughshod all over us, giving him a level of unsubstantiated confidence, having been based solely upon an unproven and questionable reputation without a true skill to his name. 

Rather, it should be Oh My God, what in tar-nation is wrong with all of you people...blindly standing in for the home team?  Do you not see the writing on the whiteboard wall? Do you not see how this will play out?

The solution could not be any more elementary or recognizable; just how can you all not see it?

Moody's has already eluded to the fact that it may be too late to save our credit rating; as it is, they do not perceive a certain understanding -- through a thorough connecting of the dots and arrows and x's and o's -- has been sufficiently made.

For Moody's, they need to witness the incandescent bulbs going off inside the beltway before they can have any assurances we have learned our lesson... you know... in order to allow for a certain level of trust in all parties involved, intent on proceeding with caution, due diligence, and in good faith.

According to an array of "Credit Decider's", unless a commitment to a balanced budget is thrown in, we ARE as good as buried and eating the totally organic, USDA certified, hybrid -- though temperamental -- turf.  (And boy, does it cost a lot...but I digress).

The thing is, when faced with negotiations like this -- when clearly both sides need to save a little face while they kiss a little ass while they play around exchanging a few Hail Mary's in the so-called final hours -- those of us in the stands just want the game to continue in such a way that lays tribute to the Real Rules (not rules for radicals).   The value of showing good sportsmanship -- to the level equal to that of our own children, who come to learn by the time they are a fifth grader -- is all we really want to witness from both sides. I mean, playing fair and on principle, how hard can that be?

We surely don't need to watch any of you guys sauntering out to the camera, like you are all that, before a deal is done.

Putting all my allegiances to the girls team aside for the moment -- we just need you guys to be big boys about it; take your cues off the NFL, showing more substance underneath that cup is all we really ask.  (ooooh burn.  you go girl.)

Perfect.  This is a good time to bring in somebody from the bench:

"Enlightened statesmen will not always be at the helm." 

--James Madison

or have the ball.

Make it a Good Day, G

the Madison quote came from another All-American team of Patriots:  The Patriot Post. Read this before the day is done.

It's an Allegiance to Simple Obedience Thing

"The great man knew not that he was great.  

It took a century or two 

for the fact to appear. 

What he did, he did because he must:  

he used no election : 

it was the most natural thing in the world, 

and grew out of the circumstances of the moment."

Ralph Waldo Emerson

  
Dear America,

happy thursday.

it is the Day After Opening Day at the races, marking my two year anniversary and, in total, celebrating 382 thoughtful blog posts on the state of the nation... as according to a day in the life of this American girl.

My morning ritual, usually begins with just making coffee; outside of the lazy hazy days of summer, the day demands a more stringent attention to time...making breakfast for my girl and whisking her off to school.  Aside from the natural conformity to domestic bliss, the next hour is usually catching up on emails, reading the news, spanning the headlines, and reaching into my library for inspiration; and oh, lest we forget, reading the horoscope for kicks and giggles gets squeezed in somewhere between news and headlines...

It is merely a regiment, a routine, a method of submission to what is yet to come; it allows me to take simple steps forward in hopes of BEGINNING SOMETHING that is yet to appear, even within my own mind.

It takes time to build up the momentum of my thoughts on the day; while sometimes, even after I diligently followed up on the details of the morning, I can still find myself going hmmmm, wondering just where should we go today?

But the thing is, for this day, feeling rather high on the notion that I am still showing up, two years hence and with the creation of 382 somethings out of nothings -- my heart is overfloweth. The obedience to the work makes me smile; it gives me a sense of accomplishment; it wraps the arms of the universe around me and tells me, good job girl. [besides, it's my blog and I can toot my own horn if I want to]

But it is in the spirit of this obedience that demands my humble attention in this brand new day.

I suspect that all of us awake each morning doing whatever it is we do -- whether it is with great thought or very little thought at all; whether we are fully conscious, or completely dazed and confused, or somewhere in between, we respond to the world and the world responds right back to us.  It is perfect in and of itself, because it simply is.

"Every man sees that he is that middle point whereof every thing may be affirmed and denied with equal reason.  He is old, he is young, he is very wise, he is altogether ignorant....There is no permanent wise man except in the figment of stoics."  Emerson

We constantly evolve; while life, itself, is never static. And with the ever abundant material of life in which we are surrounded, we make choices -- with the truth and consequences immediately to follow, assuredly as the moon follows the sun (or vice versa).

The consciousness of chaos within the Debt Ceiling/Deficit/Balanced Budget debate, happening right now in Washington, gives us an idea as to how far we have fallen from mastering our obedience.  From one day to the next, every time we veer from keeping up with our daily tasks -- through the reprehensible actions of those in charge of America's fundamental regiment --  we chip away at the things that bind us together.  Whatever we thought was whole and sufficiently supplied day after day, simply is not.

"A man's genius, the quality that differences him from every other, the susceptibility to one class of influences, the selection of what is fit for  him, the rejection of what is unfit, determines for him the character of the universe.  As a man thinketh so is he, and as a man chooseth so is he and so is nature.  A man is a method, a progressive arrangement; a selecting principle, gathering his like to him wherever he goes. He takes only his own out of the multiplicity that sweeps and circles round him...

...Human character does evermore publish itself.  It will not be concealed.  It hates darkness -- it rushes into light.  The most fugitive deed and word, the mere air of doing a thing, the intimated purpose, expresses character.  If you act you show character; if you sit still you show it; if you sleep you show it. You think because you have spoken nothing when others spoke, and have given no opinion on the times, on the church, on slavery, on the college, on parties and persons, that your verdict is still expected with curiosity as a reserved wisdom.  Far otherwise; your silence answers very loud." 

just a whole lot more of Emerson (isn't he simply the coolest!)

Silence speaks volumes, just as, in equal portion, those who choose the courage to speak.  The daily method of congress -- as according to the daily method of each man or woman in congress, as according to the daily method of nature -- both human nature and mother nature combined -- "out of the multiplicity that sweeps and circles round" -- prevails, one way or another.

The obedience, and humble attention, to this nation's debt has been long gone -- lost over decades, in various effects.  Following the "susceptibility of one class of influences" after another,  we find ourselves exhibiting the character of a nation.

It does not fit, does it?

We are at odds within ourselves, and against each other, over the natural tendencies and fundamentals this nation was made.  The routine has gone awry.  We have no idea which way is right or wrong, up or down -- we only see the chaos in between persons, while the order underneath it all is trampled upon, discredited, ridiculed, and left for dead.

My life, and your life, is left in the hands of people who continue to test character on whims of servitude, wings of desperation, flights of fancy, and feats of political posturing -- when in fact, all they really have to do, is the right thing.  And keep doing it -- one foot after the other -- as if the very universe relied.

The left makes fun of the right all the live long day, most commonly against the simplicity of our original pact (made altogether, by the way) resting upon the ideals built upon one's Common Sense; carrying with it, in equal portion, our duty and responsibility and allegiance to it, resting upon the ideals built upon one's Self-Reliance and Independence.

Seems to me, on this day, the trouble with free choice -- free will -- is that sometimes people do not choose to do the right thing; be it in the macro or the micro; be it in the individual or the collective.

We have a choice right now, as a nation, to do the right thing -- and for some odd reason, a great many in Washington either do not recognize it, or they would rather fall back to sleep.  It would seem, by the evidence left for us upon the light of day, they would rather face the truth another time; for the character required is simply not in them.

This lack of obedience is nothing new to Washington, it is just that We, the People, have only just now caught up to it.

"Our eyes are holden 

that we cannot see things 

that stare us in the face, 

until the hour arrives when the mind is ripened, 

-- then we behold them, 

and the time when we saw them not is like a dream."

and, once again... thank you, Emerson

America's success relies upon each of us to do our due diligence, to be obedient to the day and to the tasks at hand, in ways large and small, whether we wish to go there freely, easily, without dragging our feet out of bed, or not.

until right now, "when the hour arrives when the mind is ripened," this blog was nowhere to be seen or heard.


...of course, it only came after obedient, deliberate action....after the coffee, after the news, after the headlines, after the inspiration hit me upside the face and back down again...and, lest we forget, after the horoscope -- which, I kid you not -- began with this:

"It will be up to you to take action today..."(Aries, yahoo! horoscopes)

Make it a Good Day, G

It's a Hoarding America and Totally Busting Through the Debt Ceiling Thing

Dear America, 

we are sick, aren't we?   we have no idea how to stop; we have no intention of ever changing; it's a deep seated twisted addiction --  of an extraordinarily, reckless, perilous behavior -- that may, ultimately, bring us to our death.  And as soon as August 2.

We are hoarders of the worst kind.

Now, for anyone who suffers from hoarding -- as portrayed frequently on TLC -- my heart goes out to you.  I believe it is a debilitating, toxic, symptom of huge emotional pain; a kind of pain the average soul, sometimes, never finds a way out.  It destroys relationships, families, an entire life, piece by piece; stacking up protections and barriers and walls and turmoils into every corner, upon every table and chair, in every room.  Not a path can be traversed without climbing over something, through everything, while under the weight of the world.

This is our government.

We are truly sick.

Half of us are on the side of the family in denial; while the other half is just bloody angry -- having reached 'enough already'; and there is NO OTHER WAY TO GO but demand catastrophic reform.

When the house was all brand new -- we had four departments under the Federal government:  State, Treasury, Defense, and Justice.  FOUR.

Today, we add:

INTERIOR - AGRICULTURE - COMMERCE - LABOR - HEALTH/HUMAN SERVICES - HOUSING/URBAN DEVELOPMENT - TRANSPORTATION - ENERGY - EDUCATION - VETERANS AFFAIRS - HOMELAND SECURITY...while the U.S. Postal Service doesn't even get mentioned, that department is different (hmmm, wonder why...).

Have you heard this stat?    top 1% pays more in tax burden than the entire bottom 95% combined.

Yes, I would say we are at a redistributive peak.

Just why is the burden so great?  Just what in tar-nation do we have to pay for?  Just what is growing -- like a fungus, or a mold, with dead rodents and all?  For this is an accrual of decades, perfectly hidden in the cover of darkness, of leadership past and present.  And the truth is - something like this - just doesn't happen over night.

Check out this easy reference A through Z.


So our president has been perfectly clear with us over the last several days -- he will veto the GOP generated plan, "Cut, Cap and Balance."  Which is funny, considering if it were to pass by two thirds vote in both the House and Senate, it would be considered law.  He would not have a say.  Of course, we recognize the Senate isn't even going to pass it with such absolutes, so the question of whether he vetoes or not is really a non-starter.  But just O-dumb-a saying something like this for political points says it all, doesn't it.  (And yes, that isn't a question.)

Here is some food for thought, rotting in the back of the fridge:

The Department of Energy -- a department which doesn't actually produce even one kilowatt of power, but ironically wastes it, can better be described as this:   stacking one kind of power right smack up against the weight of another...surviving only by making towering, foreboding claims based on untruths... and employing over a hundred thousand employees with a budget of about 25 Billion dollars.  While how many Dept of Energy agencies are duplicated within the Dept. of Interior (90 B), or Agriculture (134 B), or Commerce (16 B), or Transportation (73 B)?

The Department of Labor costs us 138 Billion dollars a year.  Considering our growing unemployment figures, what, in fact, are we gaining from this department?  

The only four departments advocated by our founding documents -- State (16 B), Treasury (20 B), Defense (650 B) and Justice (46 B) -- come to a tally of about 750 billion dollars (based on real dollars spent in 2009).

So, returning to the theme on the day, once we begin a department/government agency, we never go back; we do all that we can to hold onto all that we can.  And it just keeps building, growing, expanding, into a life force of its own.


Perhaps it is an oversimplification -- but we have adapted hoarding as a means of coping; and now, besides making us terribly sick, inside and out, the writing is on the wall (if we could only see it).  It is time to stop.

What is utterly disgusting is realizing how much money we spend to maintain this lifestyle -- which is clearly unfit for a mouse, let alone a king.  Looking around, my stomach turns, my lungs collapse, my heart aches, and my mind cannot so much as wrap any or all logic/understanding around it.

Our founders had no intention to grow social justice reforms within the fabric of our daily life (and direct cause of the curtains beginning to stink).  Yet, today, thanks to the last hundred years, we have Social Security (701 B, 20% budget), Medicare/Medicaid (793 B, 23% of budget).  And adding to all that, the ONE department the federal government MUST do, DEFENSE, at 689 Billion, 20% of budget for 2010.  And to that end,  we are already nearly at 3 Trillion dollars a year.

Continuing on with regard to the proposed budget for 2010 (the one over 800 days too late), it makes a fiscal commitment for another 660 billion for "Discretionary" spending (20%) ...$197 billion for interest (6%)....another $416 billion for "other mandatory" expenses (12%)...I may be just a girl, but I'm inclined to think anytime we freely throw around 'discretionary' and "other mandatory' to the tune of a trillion dollars, we should know we have issues.

But add this all up together and turn the light on: we are at a staggering 3.5 Trillion.  so excuse me while I go throw up.

Sure, we could just turn the lights off again and fall back to sleep -- but it's too late, isn't it.  It's too late.  We know what government did to us last summer, and the summer before that, and the summer before that, and so on and so on.  We know.  And now that we know, we can't ignore it.  How could we, right? and still be able to live with ourselves.  Morally, ethically, we cannot just walk away and let America continue to destroy herself.

We have a duty to speak up, even if it is the hardest thing we have ever had to do.

And of course, as we speak, the contradictions surround us:  from the outside, she looks perfectly functional.  We would never know it what goes on behind closed doors, unless we found ourselves brave enough to cross the threshold.

And it's funny, on one side, as late as just last week, we have been told that Social Security is fine!  Harry Reid has repeatedly noted, we no more need to worry about it's solvency until maybe 2036; the prevailing belief, drilled into our heads all these years, is that there is a Social Security "Lock Box" -- it is safe, secure; while at the same time, Michele Bachmann adds, everybody's weekly, bi-weekly, payroll, has a deduction taken out, in fact, for the explicit use of Social Security disbursements.  And yet, what did our own president say,

"I cannot guarantee that those checks 

go out on August 3rd 

if we haven't resolved this issue. 

Because there may simply 

not be the money in the coffers to do it..."

So the "security" of Social Security is either a lie before, or a lie now; it cannot be both. And, not to dwell, but the president did all of us a disservice here.  This is political posturing to serve his purpose. But let's not add a digression to what is already a substantial argument...

Now one thing we cannot do, is let her talk us into understanding, to the extent that we acquiesce, retreating to cross this path, her path, for another day.  For we know, her life depends on our life making a stand for her own good.

There is no compromise.

With regard to the luxury of time, we have none.  Time is of the essence, otherwise we have lost her -- buried under debris, departments, waste, and a fraud -- of two or three or fourteen trillion...

The ceiling, itself, is irrelevant really....when you can't even walk across the floor.


Does anyone in Washington really get this?

now, if you'll excuse me, I have a cupboard to organize, a closet to clean, a floor to uncover, so that I can let the sunshine in -- both in my physical reality -- and then, taking my sweet time, allowing it to meander to the far reaches of every little breathing corner of my mind....


Make it a Good Day, G

and to think, our president just wants us to add 2.4 Trillion to our debt of 14.4, to equal 16.8 trillion -- AND only good for ONE year -- without cutting or capping much of anything. Seriously?  Really?  Just who doesn't understand what is going on here?  

Or, does he?

It's a How Do We Do No Harm Thing

Dear America,

so we are in a peas porridge hot, peas porridge cold, kind of pause today --

--  the debt ceiling debate will not hit the floor for a vote, at least for today, for the battle of wills is alive and well.  We have a president who believes it is time to "eat our peas," but at the same time, doesn't believe we need a constitutional amendment to enforce balancing the budget.  And more or less telling us,  at least take a bite of those peas; if you don't like them, spit them out...you don't need to finish...at least you tried them. 

...peas porridge in the pot, nine days old.

Anyone else remember this nursery rhyme?

I am feeling relieved that, for the moment, our Congress has done no harm.  So, we will wait. Peas may get cold, but we will wait.


So, for this morning, we will move into an entirely different direction -- and no, if you have followed me this week, you would know I have been meaning to get to a discussion on Shared Sacrifice vs. Shared Prosperity...and that isn't going to happen either.


Some of you may remember that I have been without a working television, now going on the last two weeks.  My news then, comes via the internet, the radio, and conversation. In an odd way, I feel like I have drifted into the forties, hanging around the radio out on the family farm in Kansas -- as if it was my only contact to the outside world.

So anyway, there I was, hanging my laundry (via my handy dandy stack-able Maytag washer & dryer), listening to local talk radio yesterday afternoon, until I was stopped dead in my tracks and began to cry.


I cried  -- everything from big crocodile tears to teeny tiny whimpers -- for probably close to an hour; I couldn't stop.  And still! in this moment... I am doing it again... as I struggle to see the screen, beginning to get drowned out in a wet cloud between blinks.



But perhaps for all of you, this is old news; maybe you are all way ahead of me...being that I am stuck in the mainstream media boonies.  But it was yesterday when I first heard the story of little Leiby Kletsky.

The details of the life of this young boy -- a life lost way too soon -- just hit me.  It hit me hard.  It was as if the air was knocked out of me and I couldn't move.

Leiby (pronounced Lye-bee) was eight, and a week away from his ninth birthday.  The family -- settled into a close knit Hasidic Jewish community, in the Borough Park area of Brooklyn, NY -- discovered that their little Leiby was missing on Monday, late afternoon.

But here I am, listening to this story unfold for the first time, only just yesterday.

And remember now -- picture G just folding laundry, minding my own business, listening to local talk radio -- which, for the afternoon, a public conversation monopolized by the debt ceiling debate.  For the most part really -- the truth is -- only every once in awhile my ears would perk up and listen in; I was busy, busting out the chores around the house. 

Perfectly harmless, right?

And to that end, during the news breaks, I tend to turn my attention off -- I spin into the kitchen for a coke, or, it becomes a moment to powder my nose, wipe a handkerchief across my brow (...living large, deep into the 1940's, I am, I am) -- but this time, was different. It began like a news bulletin -- marked by a few beeps and everything -- and quickly, my attention was no longer all mine.

We learned right away, that Leiby had practiced walking home from  a Summer Day Camp with his parents for days leading up to Monday afternoon; we learned he was autistic -- leaving his parents deeply concerned whether or not he could handle the walk home, of seven blocks, on his own.  It was a big decision for everyone.  Leiby insisted he was ready.

It was the very first day -- Leiby began his walk home and got disoriented.  He stopped and asked a man for help.  The man said he would help him; and as the story goes into details you can read for yourself through the link above -- let me just say, he did no such thing.  He did harm.

Leiby's beautiful little life was taken from him.

The news, however, went into detail. Of course, that is kinda what a radio has to do, right?  There are no pictures to follow along; the imagination just has to follow along with whatever we hear... through the radio.   Another vivid detail totally unexpected for this girl.

The child -- Leiby -- was kidnapped, suffocated and dismembered into teeny tiny pieces -- with parts found in the refrigerator, and whatever else this guy could find, to hide his sick and twisted crime.

I don't know about you,
but how does one continue folding the towels?

I responded immediately with every sensation rising to the surface -- as if Leiby were my own son. And I just couldn't stop crying.
...how fascinating the human spirit can be, isn't it?  one minute we could be singing nursery rhymes to our self, with the next, we are punching the pillow in a rage of disgust, anguish, in total despair, just like that.

Leiby got a little lost on the very first day he walked home alone.

And the sudden impact of Leiby's injustice was simply too much for me.

It is still too much for me.

It makes me weep for all of us; swept into a whirlwind of questioning our indignities,  just where are we going? what are we doing to each other? how can this happen?

How does a civil society find peace and security when we share a neighborhood, a community, a collective with, clearly, the broken souls? 

You know, our president loves telling stories to us -- just a matter of record over the last couple of years; this week, in the midst of these idiotic debt ceiling bickerings, he should have stopped us, as a nation.

I wish he had.  Stopped us. And made a few remarks about Leiby --

I wish he had taken to the airwaves, and reminded us, that we can do better than this; I wish he had addressed Leiby's parents directly --  looking them right into the camera -- and extended a heartfelt apology for their loss, while offering his unwavering commitment of the Department of Justice to re-double their efforts to meet the needs of communities far and wide, of battling pure evil against our sons and daughters.

But what do I know, maybe he did -- without a television, how would I know, right.  You tell me: did our president address this horrific crime upon an innocent child?  Did he bring us together, similar to how he addressed a nation, after the Gabby Giffords attack?  Sure, one was a bigger story than another -- it's not like he could address every child taken in broad daylight and had their little life snuffed out within hours, like a young nine year old Christina, from the very same day in Tucson.  He would be telling us stories all the live long day, now wouldn't he?

The thing is, I just believe, that every once in awhile,  we could all use a little gathering around the radio.

We need to be reminded why we are here, what we are good for, and all the ways possible that we can change, as a people,  to make the world a little bit better.

If we are not reminded how to be good - - the easier it is for society to become lost, that's all.

What, who, when, where.. how are we given direction to grow the good? Do we get it from school?  not really, not any more.  Do we get it from church?  for some perhaps, for some, not any more.  Do we get it from our community, at the corner five and dime?  not without the horror of being labeled extremists, crazy nut cases.

How do we really learn to do no harm? It's a good question. 

So, the last thing for today has to be this:

...the debt ceiling is meaningless, if we, as a society, grow to become lousy, selfish, corrupted, dishonest, good for nothing people too scared to simply do the right thing, and the right thing only, as much as we possibly can -- while encouraging others to do the same, of course; it's totally meaningless.

And to Leiby's parents, my solemn prayer for you both, is to find peace.  I honestly don't know how you do that, but it is my wish anyway.   Your son has left a hand print on my heart, if not my entire world.

Make it a Good Day, G

It's an America Getting Gang Banged by the Power Elite Thing

Dear America,

If I were to say, both parties are equally at fault, would I be sounding like I mean to say, BOTH parties are equally at fault?

In a flurry of forwarding emails sent to a group yesterday, my response was exactly that; and to be perfectly clear, I didn't even initiate the first one out of the gate -- I was simply the second or third voice, in a line of responses that went merrily on their way long into the afternoon.

But like I said, my main thrust of the debate focused on the fact that We the People have put people in office who have not been mindful, shall we say, of our money; We the People took our eye off the capital, allowing the government to grow and bulge and burst right before our eyes.

Anywho, moving right along here, in an instant  I was admired for making  a few salient points but with a big BUT dropped in at the end:  "but I'm afraid ideology is more important to many people than principles."  And immediately, I wasn't sure if it was directed towards me in particular, or simply making a general observation of the close-mindedness of "other people" who cling to their ideological fits of genius.

But then, this person used a Bill Maher line as the great equalizer: 

"Bush and friends ordered a lot of food, 

ate some of it and then left without paying the bill."

and then proceeded to say that under the Bush Administration, "the debt limit was raised 7 times"...

And again, allow me to scream from my mountaintop: BOTH PARTIES are equally at fault.

But how odd is that --  Bill Maher isn't exactly one to pussyfoot around his own political bias, for one; and for two, this person, apparently, clinging to his own ideology, chose a divisive, arrogant, explosive comedian who has no problem using political vitriol to fuel his audience and his success.  But maybe we can laugh it off  --


Have I mentioned this?....BOTH PARTIES....seem to be equally at fault.  And now, allow me to prove it.

For the last twenty years, we have had nearly equal participation from both parties, pretty much all the way down the line -- in the Oval Office 50/50 occupancy with the R's and D's; Congress, 50/50 control in R's and D's.

Now with regard to debt limit increases, through the legislative process under both parties (per the party controlling Congress, which creates the legislation and the annual budget resolutions) 50/50 -- five raises before 2006 and five after over the last ten years.

Under Bush, the first increase of the ceiling was in June of 2002 to roughly 6.4 Trillion (from 5.95 T); the second, December 2002; in February 2003, the Treasury took measures to avert an increase; but by May, Congress raised it; then the Treasury raised the ceiling  in Spring 2004; Congress raised it again by November of the same year; in 2005, Congress included a "debt limit (raising) reconciliation instruction"  within the Budget Resolution for 2006, but no action was taken until much later, when the actual limit was raised in March of 2006.  The Budget for FY 2008 was the final increase under Bush; this increase brought the debt limit to 9,815 Billion.

We then had a series of increases as part of nearly every major piece of legislation brought forward to supposedly "FIX us" -- beginning with the Housing & Recovery Act, the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act, the TARP reinvestment Act, as well as the FY2010 Budget  Resolution -- taking us through the numbers from Bushie's nearly 10 Trillion to 12.104 Trillion, then to 13.029 Trillion, and then finally, to where it sits today, at 14.294 Trillion.

All in all -- during Bushie's eight years, the National Debt grew from nearly 6T to 10 Trillion; and under the Obama's watch, from 10 T to 14 Trillion.

The only difference -- which, one would have to be totally stuck on one's personal ideology not to see it -- is that Bush had eight years, two wars, a housing bubble, and 9/11 rock his world.

Obama, on the other hand -- has only had two and a half years under his belt -- after getting America into a third war, creating a stimulus bridge to nowhere, adding an unfunded healthcare liability which, by the way, steals 500 Billion dollars from Medicare, and all while, scaring the living, breathing daylights out of any current risk taker, or wannabe risk taker, into sitting on their money.  Investment, expansion, corporate innovation of every kind has been squelched, put on hold indefinitely (regulation, unknown - healthcare costs, unknown -- taxes, unknown...).


So like I said, BOTH PARTIES are at fault -- dating back twenty years (at least).  BUT, if you wanna add an itty bitty polka-dot bikini butt in there -- Bush, and his Congress, had six more years on Obama.  Apples to apples, dust to dust -- if we go a full two terms under the Golden Boy, at the rate he's going, with another six years we would be sitting at 26 Trillion dollars.

Because of the level of UNFUNDED liabilities -- Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid -- and the new "Affordable [Health] Care Act" -- we cannot continue at the going rate.   It is just not feasible in any way -- I don't care if it is an R or a D following your name.  Incrementally, the rate of escalation sends us on a trajectory that we all know is unsustainable.  And at some level, even Obama agrees (let us be reminded of his political mind from 2006):

"The fact that we are here today to debate raising America’s debt limit is a sign of leadership failure. It is a sign that the U.S. Government can’t pay its own bills. It is a sign that we now depend on ongoing financial assistance from foreign countries to finance our government’s reckless fiscal policies. … Increasing America’s debt weakens us domestically and internationally. Leadership means that “the buck stops here.” Instead, Washington is shifting the burden of bad choices today onto the backs of our children and grandchildren. America has a debt problem and a failure of leadership. Americans deserve better."

yeah yeah, ideology didn't get into his way there, now did it?  yeah, yeah, now of course, he regrets having said that today -- it is different, you know, when you are the leader.


Granted, G has had her pretty little face in the sand much of the last ten years -- I seem to have missed raising a little Cain during the Bushie years.   MY APOLOGIES to YOU, AMERICA.  What can I say, those years are gone.  Albeit frittered away... at my job... raising my girl... arguing with her daddy over child support and custody, trying to keep a roof over my head and staying out of trouble.  I know, I know; excuses, excuses.  I ONLY WISH I was paying closer attention to every little breathing detail like I do now.  BUT Please, please accept my apology now.  I promise to do better.  Consider G thoroughly smacked upside her head now.

And I would also like to think, that besides being more awake these days, that I am not one to cling to a cultural political ideology, as much as I prefer to cling to the ideology of our founders --  the foundation itself --  the principles and values that made this country great.  That, to me, means adhering to the creative process this nation was intended.  It means, sticking to the Constitution, aligning with the Rule of Law, keeping to our inherent duty as citizens, as countrymen, to be a self-reliant, independent bunch, living in the freedom to pursue our own happiness, under a LIMITED, federal government.

BOTH PARTIES used to agree on this one to a great degree -- whether you were an R or a D -- solvency was an essential ingredient, part of our nature, whether you came from the left or right.  Sure, we may have different things that make us tick, but all in all, we should all be able to come together when it comes to keeping our fiscal  house in order.  I mean, tell me, who doesn't want that?

This person that made these free-flying Bill Maher Bush-bombs, continued to convey the importance of sticking to the principles, not ideology, in another '[SPAM] reply all' but directed towards one opinion in particular -- and then proceeded to close with "I was a conservative once, and then I got educated."   and all that's left for me to say to that is, wow.  way to reflect your magnificent principles, dude.

That is almost as ripe as our president walking out of the Debt Ceiling meetings yesterday, and telling Eric Cantor "Don't call my bluff."  really?

Nobody is immune, are we?  Even the president stoops to levels of playing politics with ideology -- leaving founding principles and values in a heap on the floor.  And what in tar-nation is that?  So you are playing chicken with the debt ceiling; you are playing with matches in a haystack.  Bluffing?  You said it, Mr. President.  You don't want Eric to call YOUR BLUFF.  Are you kidding me? really?  seriously?  you said that out loud?

Politics is what gets in the way of doing the right thing; this vicious cycle runs as predictable as climate change, just as explosive as human nature.

Just know, the latest contagion of the American Fall (direct opposite of the Arab Spring) --  the one rippling through our world in waves, going totally global,  in a fierce, viral conversation -- a debate that nearly every card carrying member of the Power Elite are beginning to join in chorus --  is the call for raising America's debt ceiling and the pending doomsday if we don't.  Moody's, Wall Street, Bernanke (and the Fed in general), IMF President, Geithner,  Buffett...RINO's and DINO's... Maher (that is just to make us laugh) -- the pitch is one in the same -- raise the ceiling, or America will default on the debt and it will be all over.

It is almost like America is getting gang banged by the Power Elite to do what they say, not as they do.  wow, talk about the Chicago code, an elitist mob rule, kicked up a notch...with everyone dressed to the nine's in haute couture ....Gucci, Dolce & Gabbana, and Givenchy...like ladies and gentlemen ga ga gook

[But one, in particular, seems to have issues...

 "I do not want, and I will not accept a deal in which I am asked to do nothing. In fact, I am able to keep hundreds of thousands of dollars in additional income that I don't need, while, uh, a parent out there who is struggling to figure out how to send their kid to college suddenly finds, uh, that they've got a couple thousand dollars less in grants or student loans. That's what the revenue debate is about." - Our President of the United States of America, just July 11

...does wealth bother you that much, Mr. President? Do you not know how to put it to good use?  Does it embarrass you that much?  Would your mother or your father or your brother call you a "sell-out" or something?  talk about some kind of dark ideological, internal conflict...You do know that an attitude of limitation is totally un-American, right?...oh right, and again, my conversation on Shared Sacrifice vs. Shared Prosperity is being pushed off to another day...]   

Let's wrap things up.

The truth is, the Debt Ceiling was masterminded by man as a tool; it was to intended to keep our government in CHECK.  (That is a good one, isn't it.)  The debt ceiling is imaginary; man made it all up right from the start.  They -- government -- keep ignoring it, because they -- government -- want to continue to borrow and buy on credit -- so that they --  government -- can continue to do the things it was never intended to do in the first place (like offer entitlements, in particular).  They -- the government -- continue to do this to keep the peace and control the happy stupid people.

Just like the tide, doesn't matter if it be R's or D's...both parties are equally at fault.

And political, you betcha.

Which is exactly why resting on our founding principles IS the only way to do America, to do it right.

Which is exactly why the Tea Party is rising in this country (predicting a Tsunami force by 2012).

What?  You think we Tea's are bluffing, or something?
That's a good one.

Make it a Good Day, G

and to all my muses on the day, many thanks for the inspiration.

And you know, if we want to stick to PRINCIPLES, not ideology, a notion I can fully support for the sake of this debate -- then we would have to restrict, repeal, and not replace, nearly 2/3rds of the reckless spending within our current federal budget. All entitlements go against the American Principles.  Most departments are entirely unnecessary.

In truth, if you read the Constitution, the powers of the federal government rest almost entirely upon protecting us -- as in providing a strong military, and allowing for a grassroots militia of citizenry, as well as, protecting us from an overzealous government on down the road; the enumerated powers LIMIT government, while manifesting an UNLIMITED power of the people.  Our principles and values relied on INDIVIDUALS maintaining principles and values -- above personal ideology -- while making painfully clear our direct responsibility and duty to uphold...principles and values.

It's a Radical-in-Office Thing

Dear America,

"I cannot guarantee

that those checks go out on August 3rd 

if we haven't resolved this issue. 

Because there may simply not 

be the money in the coffers to do it."  

President Obama

That's a good one, Mr. President.

Have you checked the balance of the checking account lately?  are you even remotely aware of how much money the U.S. Treasury takes in every month?


IF the stupid people take a moment to do the math, we would all realize (based on current revenues at 2.2 Trillion a year) that we bring in, at the very least, TWO HUNDRED BILLION each month.  The debt service, which must be paid first to avoid default, is about 30 B's.  The rest of that monthly cash flow amounts to somewhere around another 170 B's -- right?  I know, I know, it is a rough sketch.  ask me if I care. so hmmm...

hmmm...

hmmm...


hummmmmmmmmm

what to do, what to do.  Should we pay, perhaps, our monthly entitlement payments next? Beginning with Social Security -- needing about 25 B's, then Medicare, Medicaid, Unemployment...on down the line.

WE MAKE PLENTY OF MONEY.

Check this chart out.  It tells anyone who cares, what is sitting in the U.S. Treasury [aka 'the coffers']  at any given time.  It is brilliant really.   Take your time...go line by line (choose to veto, at will) ...review how the U.S. Treasury spends the people's money (rounded to millions).

Month to Date:  Adding Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, Unemployment  = 58 Billion dollars

So what we do we have left?  We have at least 100 billion dollars left to pay for other important things =  like the Department of Defense -- our troops -- the vendors, the veterans affairs;  and then, maybe we'll even cover the paychecks of our fine Federal Employees (albeit, their importance, questionable).

Then from here on out, it should be fire-sale time; everything must go kind of thing.

Now, my breakdown is obviously loosely thrown together according to my little head; CNS News offers you a more critical eye, using actual numbers from May 16th through July 7 -- and for that, just go here.

And they reminded me of an interesting teeny tiny detail:  WE actually HIT the DEBT CEILING on MAY 16th.  Do you still have a roof over your head?  Did the sky fall down?  Are people rioting in the streets?  Did Social Security checks get mailed last week?  the week before?  the week before that? and again, the week before that?

exactly.

Smoke and mirrors.  Desperate times call for desperate measures.  The ends justify the means.  Fear mongering.  Creating a reason for class warfare -- making the civil society chaotic.   Telling outright lies to the American people.  Really?

If you fall for these tactics from this president, it isn't shame on him -- it is shame on you.

From Saul Alinsky, the president's mentor:

"The middle classes are numb, bewildered, scared into silence.  They don't know what, if anything, they can do.  This is the job for today's radical [in office by the way] -- to fan the embers of hopelessness into a flame to fight."

Everything that is happening in America, right now, is right out of the 196 pages of Rules for Radicals.  It is time for us to know the enemy within.

Make it a Good Day, G

and again, the shared sacrifice vs. shared prosperity blaahg gets sidelined....maybe tomorrow.

pss. can I just say, Mitch McConnell is an idiot.
psss.  if the GOP don't find a pair soon, this girl is gonna lose it; and I can assure you, it won't be pretty.

just breathe, G, just breathe. But hey, if the rant fits:

"Hey! If any of you are looking for any last-minute gift ideas for me, I have one. I'd like Frank Shirley [fill in with Representative of choice], my boss, right here tonight. I want him brought from his happy holiday slumber over there on Melody Lane with all the other rich people and I want him brought right here, with a big ribbon on his head, and I want to look him straight in the eye and I want to tell him what a cheap, lying, no-good, rotten, four-flushing, low-life, snake-licking, dirt-eating, inbred, overstuffed, ignorant, blood-sucking, dog-kissing, brainless, dickless, hopeless, heartless, fat-ass, bug-eyed, stiff-legged, spotty-lipped, worm-headed sack of monkey shit he is! Hallelujah! Holy shit! Where's the Tylenol? 

had to do it.  It was radical, I know.  But I feel good.  Do you feel good?