It's a Family Blending of Virtue and Happiness and Ben Thing

Dear America,

to the last quote from Poor Richard's Almanac...

"Let no pleasure tempt thee, 

no profit allure thee, 

no ambition corrupt thee, 

no example sway thee, 

no persuasion move thee, 

to do any thing 

which thou knowest 

to be evil; 

so shalt thou always live jollily; 

for a good conscience

 is a continual Christmas.  

Adieu."

oh Ben, you and I would have been so good together.

this may very well explain all the many ways our culture, in America, has grown into a serious decline; the less emphasis we place upon the things that truly matter, the more wayward our hearts and minds go.... So goes the battle between living in integrity and breeding corruption; the outcome, ultimately, harboring the power to extinguish every good thing.

fall of Rome anyone?

it just feels like we keep missing the point, no matter what matter seems to matter in the moment.

At first glance, someone who I consider a super smart girl, Condoleezza Rice, seemed to doing just that, when she made the comment --

“I think it is time to have a conversation about what the right to bear arms means in the modern world,” Rice told radio host Hugh Hewitt on Friday. “I don’t understand why civilians need to have access to military weapons. We wouldn’t say you can go out and buy a tank.”

yeah, just got stuck on the thought of having that conversation addressing whether or not the Second Amendment even has a right to exist in a "modern world."  That first blush was a sea of red.

Although, being in total agreement with that tank tag line at the end, my growing frustration is the realization that we never seem to be brave enough to address the actual, real cause -- from the root of all evil, to the mental instability of individuals, to the full glory of gun violence in film and video games, to the mind-blowing amount of dysfunction in families and communities and government....

At this rate, folks, we might as well give every single one of us a pistol and see what happens.

The problem is NOT THE F*&*NG GUN!

[Just as it is not about the planes trains or automobiles, let alone the pressure cooker stolen from granny's kitchen, the chef's knife in the top left drawer, or the ten digits that can wrap around a throat and snuff a life faster than you can say boo...   AND moreover, NO ONE within the membership of the National Rifle Association has EVER committed such an horrific crime against humanity, as we witnessed in Parkland, Florida ...props to Rushie.]

Sustainable humans, anyone?  [indeed.  and given I did not get up and eat humble pie for breakfast, here's props to G and yesterday's blog]

This girl really likes the views from Steve Hilton, here.

EVERYTHING gets down to how we raise our children and grow healthy families; for only through proper guidance, meaningful emphasis upon education, unconditional love, quality and quantity of  time...all aiding and abiding in the process and civic duty of raising children of good character... this symbiotic structure and security, blending nature and nurture, beginning at birth, is paramount in the making of a healthy, mindful, conscientious, responsible, strong community and country; the micro becomes the macro and so on and so on.

Duly noted on this here blog umpteen times before, but whatever --  it does get down to this one thing -- family -- as the beginning and the end of all good things to come.

You know, "Virtue & Happiness are Mother & Daughter."
awwwww Ben, ya did it again... xoxoxo

amen. amen. amen.

Make it a Good Day, G

It's a Story about a Story Thing

Dear America,

so speaking of family.

my girl comes home from college TODAY!!!

and you know the best part -- she is just as excited to come home to see me as I am to see her. 

Verily feeling all the more proud, with my anticipation all the more heightened, and the value of all the many years of my single-parenthood's ups and downs affirmed --  I realize I have done something right; she will be flying high and happy wee wee wee wee all the way home.

See what I did there?

It's called tapping into a little game we play on the toes of our babies -- beginning with the little 'piggies,' nursery rhymes and story times produce results; developing the miracle that grows from their little pea-brain from the moment our children come into the world benefits all of us in the long run.  And lo and behold, it can be done even through the most unsuspecting of ways...

Of course, here in G land, we are long past "this little piggy went to market."

Like a blink of an eye, somehow or other, we have made it to a brand new stage; and "this little monkey goes to college" seems to fit just fine.

One of a parent's many responsibilities and duties is to ensure that we build up and validate what our children do right, and likewise discouraging -- even with consequences, if warranted -- what our children do wrong, Think of that mother of Baltimore recently, Toya, who smacked her son upside the head on national TV [no recollection? then go back and read my blog from a couple of days ago..]

[oh this is rich...just got a text after she hum and hawed about my insistence she get to the airport two hours early...she writes  "it's 12:30 sitting at the gate an hour and half early are ya happy"]

beautiful girl.

anyhow.

The thing is, I appreciate any validation from the universe of my fine parenting skills, large or small, or, given her latest text, totally unseen.

But you know what I really love?

 -- getting validation of some of the ideas I schlep day in and day out @this American girl thing.

And today, we can thank a little post titled, "Is having a loving family an unfair advantage?"

Allow me to just cut to the chase, my little piggies --  at the end of the day, it's a rather twisted and absurd thought process of some highly intelligent people.    But who am I, right?

Apparently [even though I'm completely stuck on the notion as to how nobody connected the dots on this before...duh] -- there needed to be a study on the value of reading bedtime stories to children at the end of the day.

And you know what they discovered?

After all has been said, read, and done,  there was more of an advantage in doing just this one thing than sending our children to private schools, let alone reading nothing at all.

It's just amazing!

Someone -- seemingly in a position of authority on the matter -- affirmed my simple-simon approach to parenting;  something as easy as reading to our children a bedtime story, or playing with the little piggies in nursery rhyme, add up to something pretty wonderful: a loved and well adjusted child with an advantage!

So what becomes twisted and absurd happens to be THE RESPONSE to this realization by these yahoos; that when something so simple as reading to our kids can be so influential, to the extent of giving some children an advantage,  that surely the answer must be in the take away of this advantage! 

Or so they have you think anyway....

Are you kidding me?

With the advantage being seen as totally unfair, the summation to the equation --  in order to even it all out --  might just be to subtract the loving family and the bedtime stories? seriously?

I love this part --

Setting it up like so....

So should parents snuggling up for one last story before lights out be even a little concerned about the advantage they might be conferring?

‘I don’t think parents reading their children bedtime stories should constantly have in their minds the way that they are unfairly disadvantaging other people’s children, but I think they should have that thought occasionally,’ quips Swift.

Or how about --  Swift -- you simply get up and tell the  whole world to bloody hell read to your kids!!! 

Why isn't this news on the front page of the Wall Street Journal?  How come the nightly news isn't championing this latest incite,  perhaps in rhyme and unceasing, until we all get it smacked upside the head and do it?

ahhh these are the days that try a mom's soul.

"No bother,"  (Eeyore), "Promise me you'll always remember you're braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think"  Christopher Robin to Winnie-the-Pooh

I have a baby coming home and I plan on rubbing her arm and telling her a story or two just like the olden days.

Make it a Good Day, G

It's Good Beginnings Make Good Endings Thing

Dear America,

precepts, quotes, t-shirts, greeting cards...and bumper stickers, oh my!  these are the things that make me go hum...

and today is no exception.

cue the silver bumper of a Prius, just plastered with opinion, yesterday: 

WAR IS NOT THE ANSWER

 yes, indeed, we would like to hope so, anyway.

WHO for Pete's sake really wants WAR, for jiminy crickets?  (Besides Iran, North Korea, Boko Haram, ISIS, Hezbollah, Hamas, Al-Queda, Russia, Environmentalists, Atheists, Illegal Immigrants, Gay Marriage Enthusiasts, and the latest, the poor, black "children" of Baltimore....)

But I just sat there -- at the red light and with nowhere to run -- and looked at this liberal's rear end and sighed....heavily, and almost to the point of hyperventilation.  There was not an inch uncovered, but that's beside the point; this "war is not the answer" hit me upside the head a little differently than usual -- and left me broadsided and motionless upon the idea for hours.  

And as for this morning --  I still find myself hardly in the position to just shake it off.

Context is always fun; and how things change from generation to generation seems to be at the crux, as if the "olden days" are always set up against the latest modern conveniences of what is essential, or true.  Beliefs systems get tossed around, laws get upended, what is practiced and preached go into direct conflict with one another in each new day, escalating and overreaching with hidden agendas and propaganda, and all the while using the cultural divide to evolve and transform nearly everything under pressure, under duress.

I would have loved to have stopped this gal and ask, just how important was that Revolutionary War? Because , you know, lady -- the option of airing that vast, beautiful, ideological, opinion of yours everywhere you go came on the heels of granting you a certain independence dating back over two hundred years ago FROM THE OUTCOME OF A FRICKEN WAR!

Even better -- how about that CIVIL WAR?  You know -- the one that ended slavery in America!!!!!!!!!!!  [ Thank you, Lincoln -- a REPUBLICAN!]   

Of course, the sex slave industry -- here in the US, over there in Syria, and pretty much everywhere, especially during big sporting events like the Super Bowl -- is an industry doing a bang up job year over year, there is that; and what about the use of children to provide cheap labor all over the world? Slavery wars of inhumane terms and treatment, in tandem, and with no light in sight -- but then again, that's not the kind of war you are commenting on, am I right?

And given the context of the last 48 hours --  how about you take that soapbox piggybacking hope upon hope of yours directly to the streets of Baltimore -- perhaps popping it down right in front of that CVS Store that got burned, almost to the ground, and tell those "kids" to stop -- think about what you are doing -- in a 'war is not the answer' kind of way -- and see what kind of response you get.  Something tells me, from what you tell me about yourself all over that sassy little hybrid of yours, the war happening on the streets of Baltimore is something different; the violence being totally justified under the protections of a higher purpose under heaven, or something (no -- wait -- what did the bumper say; did you have anything about WWJD or no?)

Funny though --

considering how quickly emotions and reactions flared in real time --  who knew?

War...being at war and the senseless, violent acts of all kinds and measures to quell or control or change the world or protect, never works right?  Never a good reason, huh?   UNLESS YOU'RE A MOM!

Now famous -- the slap upside the head and heard 'round the world!   

And notice how her son did NOT slap her back.  He may not have shown respect to the police, or to his very own hometown of Baltimore, but he cowered, and ducked his little hoodie-head, weaving himself across the blacktop as fast as his feet could travel.  There were two sides:  his and her's.  And her's won; and nobody died in the process.

So perhaps -- in a lesson gleaned is a lesson learned kind of way -- next time we see trouble coming in our inner cities or otherwise, never mind the PoPo.  Just send in the moms.  Send in an army of moms and we'll have all the kids home with their hands washed and the table set in no time.

Now -- do we dare go down that road of having babies out of wedlock or families without dads?

As much as I applaud this  "get the fxxx over here" kind of mom -- taking care of her own business and making sure that all of her business ...all SIX of them...aren't all about town and misbehaving -- I must add my two cents:  kids need fathers, too!  Sure, it appears she's got things very much handled (get it?), but my second thought is that she needs reinforcement.

I know -- how old-fashioned, right?

The thing is -- and we have gone round and round with this more days than I can remember -- for a civil society to live long and prosper, nearly everything gets back to one major component being the priority.  The priority!  Not the "maybe it's highly recommended, but not mandatory" category; it's a priority!    And that component is the family unit.

That's it.

FAMILY -- with a mom and dad watching over our every move we make, teaching us values, making us go to school, supplying the unconditional love and support and balanced meals, restricting TV and video babysitting, taking us to church, promoting good grades and going to college, guarding us against gangs and drugs, teaching us manners and respect for authority, reading us bedtime stories and kissing us on the forehead goodnight -- these are the things a family is made of.

AND --  if we all did just this one thing, and did it well, throughout all America, what happened in Baltimore never would have happened.  Never.

And make no mistake --  it works whether rich or poor, liberal or conservative or libertarian, and no matter the color of thy skin.  It's a system indiscriminate and far-reaching and good for all.

Sure, it can be done, even in the inner-city -- raising a child well as a single mom.   Look at the shining example coming from Dr. Ben Carson!    And just look at his response to Baltimore, here.

But let's be clear.  This single mom thing is not the ideal (ask me how I know).

It's not ideal at all.
As a mom, it takes at least twice as much of everything; twice as much work, energy, courage, food, patience, grace,..including bubble baths and prayers.

What happened in Baltimore marks a sad, sad day that turned into two and is hardly over.

But the good news is we can fix it!

There are times when war is not the answer...like on the streets of Baltimore.

While sometimes, the answer is not creating the conditions on the ground in the first place.  

And that begins with going back to the BEGINNING -- before the animosity, before the crime is committed, before the child is lost, before the game begins.  It begins in the comfort of our homes and  within the confines and protections of family surroundings and upbringings.  While the left will never have you believe it could ever be that simple.

It begins with a mother and father bringing into the world a child -- coupled with their undying commitment and integrity to do their very best and TEACH their children WELL.

[And go ahead and laugh] but I have no problem with saying it is just that simple. 

So here's your G bumper sticker for today:

Good BEGINNINGS make good ENDINGS.

Make it a Good Day, G

let's pray for Nepal and pray for Baltimore and pray for America.

Dear America,

First let's clean house a bit:

The opening page of yahoo, told of a different headline than what was really going on... declaring, oh my gosh... something that is terribly untrue -- oh, the shock, the horror, be still my broken heart.

Bristol Palin was not "out for revenge" on the "haters" -- and she did not think ill of Jennifer Grey winning the shiny sparkly globe of dancing jubilation, okay; when she said she had "the time of her life" it wasn't a dig, alright.  She was gracious and probably, very happy it was all finally over.

And you know, I really can't understand the controversy; when you have a show that allows voters to stem the tide, and sway a certain way, for whatever reason -- popularity or skill -- then you just have to two step with it; it's what it is.  You think Emmitt Smith got the big dancing ball by just his dancing shoes?   Against Mario Lopez? ...who were side by side with identical scores in the end? when it came down to "popularity" -- or who's got a bigger "fan base."  Pulleeze.

 America, we can't be a bunch of poor sports now, we've come too far, for too long, to have a bad attitude and snide comments get in our way.   Fair and balanced means anything goes, competition doesn't play  favorites, except sometimes, maybe it does!


Some could say, Jennifer Grey had a clear cut, pointy toe advantage  -- is that fair?  really? to have made history making the moves on our dear Patrick Swayze so long ago?  Who came from the family jewels of a rather famous father, a dancer and choreographer, Joel Grey, no less.  C'mon.

All is fair in love and dancing, especially when it is made for TV (and you know who really benefited, was ABC -- if anyone wants to get after somebody, how about we take a look see at the corporate media mogul over there sitting pretty on a table for what, five million, sipping champagne).  FYI, just guessing on how many people actually watched the series...I have NO idea, so don't quote me.

So, having said all that, I feel better; but let us move into other feats of journalistic wonderment, and review an article simply titled: FOUR IN 10 say MARRIAGE IS BECOMING OBSOLETE...November 18, by HOPE YEN, of the Associated Press.  Hmmm Hope, is that really what is happening?

Oh, and it's not just Hope who carried this drumbeat, much of the media picked this story up...kind of like a big mass of haters, sneering at the sacred tradition with contempt, as if marriage is soooooooo nineteen eighty-nine.

The article went on to note "in 1978, just 28 percent believed marriage was becoming obsolete..." after claiming it was "indeed, about 39 percent of Americans said...obsolete" only a sentence before. So in thirty two years, the idea that marriage is becoming obsolete is up by 11%.

after decades of divorce, Hollywood, and the ever so popular use of a cultural and relationship killing phenomenon -- none other than the arrow through the back by way of a sordid affair of the heart and soul, or after decades of children being raised with virtually one parent, trading weekends (myself included in this group) at about the rate of "29 percent of all children under the age of 18",  or after distancing ourselves from God, as a culture, slowly, recklessly, mindlessly, over the last several years to maybe an entire century -- the IDEA that MARRIAGE is becoming OBSOLETE is only up by about ten percent???  THAT IS AMAZING ...have God's grace on thee.

Personally, and being a half full kind a girl, I don't know how we did it.

I think that is remarkable, given where we have taken our culture, meandering the streets of dirty dancing, drugs, selfish ambitions, personal careers at the expense of family, greed, loss of spirituality and a connectedness to Something greater than ourselves, only to name a few.

Having said all that, Hope does make some alarming, but well thought out observations of the changes we are making, as a people: pointing out the effect of the "changing views of family are being driven largely by young adults 18-29, who are more like than older generations to have an unmarried or divorced parent...have more liberal attitudes when it comes to spousal roles and living together before marriage."

Hope also mentioned the number of people who would be sitting around the table this Thanksgiving could be in the range of about twenty people -- a family more than likely piecemeal-ed together with extended family, friends, step parents and siblings, and maybe even both parents -- but then again, maybe not (got about a fifty-fifty chance).

The thing is, not until you get about two-thirds of the way in do we discover a number that really counts:

"Still, the study indicates that marriage isn't going to disappear anytime soon. 

Despite a growing view that marriage may not be necessary, 67% of Americans were upbeat about the future of marriage and family. 

That's higher than their optimism for the nation's educational system (50%), economy (46%), or its morals and ethics (41%)...

about HALF of all currently unmarried adults, 46% say they want to get married. Among those unmarried who are living with a partner, the share rises to 64%."

You can read more at http://pewsocialtrends.org

Make no mistake, and let me be clear, now:  67% of Americans were upbeat about the future of marriage and family, according to the same survey, the same study, who declared Four in Ten say marriage is becoming OBSOLETE.  wow.

I guess it's all in how you look at it.

Funny could it be that the same haters of Bristol Palin (who really hate her mom) be in the same group as those declaring marriage as going away some time soon??  perhaps even, hoping and wishing and praying that marriage itself might meet it's ultimate fate, dancing off the stage, in a runaway bride sort of way, along with any and all family tradition whatsoever, in a warped Cinderella style Disney destiny...

Now, could it be that those who are upbeat about marriage and family --  the 67% crowd -- might actually be the ones who were voting for the underdog, in droves, that kept Bristol dancing, and smiling, all the way to the very end?  Just sayin'

And looky here, full circle, isn't this just a perfect week to give thanks and praise for what really works in society  (and what doesn't) in everything from marriage, to family, to faith, to humanity rising to the levels it really needs to be, in order to make a more perfect UNION...we can always strive AS A PEOPLE OF MANY OPINIONS and VIEWS to be better, in all we do, in all we say, in all we think about, as we go about dancing about in our own little world.

We can only hope, and give thanks,  and maybe even try a little harder from now on.

Make it a Good Day, G

Dear America,

So picking up with where we left off yesterday, The Heritage Foundation's "Morning Bell" daily wake up call offered further insight on the subject of family, and quite frankly, it left me stunned:

"As Rector has amply documented before, the left’s continued blindness to the cultural underpinnings of poverty have undermined civil society and bloated our federal budget. Since 1964, the U.S. has spent $15.9 trillion on means-tested welfare programs. After adjusting for inflation, welfare spending is 13 times higher today than it was in 1965. Welfare spending has grown more rapidly than Social Security, Medicare, education, and defense. And what do we have to show for these efforts? According to the Census Bureau, a record high 3.7 million Americans fell into poverty in 2009. The out-of-wedlock birthrate is now 40% and the African American out-of-wedlock birthrate is 72%. When the War on Poverty began the out-of-wedlock birthrate was just 7%."

Poverty growth is linked to the deterioration of the family; while the article also finds, poverty only begets more poverty -- while the archaic, penalizing ideas of parts of the welfare requirements further wreak havoc, like not allowing recipients to get married. We have grown a system of welfare programs that have totally replaced the family -- and now, the stats prove it.

When the "war on poverty began the out-of-wedlock birthrate was just 7%..." and now look at us.  If that doesn't shake things up, God knows what will.

You know what else was stunning to hear?  Angela Merkel -- flat out declaring "multi-culturalism [in Germany] has utterly failed."

Oh my, wonders never cease; after all, Europe has long thought they were cool like that. 

Funny.

Enlightenment comes in mysterious ways these days.

Merkel basically said they needed to be more like America -- carrying forward the belief that Germany would be stronger if in fact, the people, and immigrants, melted into one...realizing, too, that the only way to do so, is total assimilation to the inherent culture of Germans, and going even further to say, learning the native language is absolute and non-negotiable.

Germany has awakened!  The dream of the multi-cultural society -- the Utopian lovin' free-world, imagined in their little elitist heads, chockfull of a rainbow of color and creed -- has failed; what they envisioned through their pointed efforts to welcome the world to their door, feels  not      quite       right...

The budding global government mentality of the twenty first century, the work of progressives undermining the integrity of countries and communities left and right, has met their match -- all hail to the angel of e pluribus unum, albeit in another part of the world, but hey, a girl's gotta take it wherever she can get it.

The thing is, assimilation -- as simple-minded as it may be -- seems to be the common thread to all things living and creating, growing and communing... that is if we wish to be the master of our world and the maker of a better life.

We can't improve our prosperity level if we just sit back waiting for the paycheck from the government, if there is no incentive to work, for who really would?  While if there is a greater benefit to having another child out of wedlock, digging in deeper to a life of poverty without restrain, why change our ways?

While just as communities around the world openly and trustingly allow the immigrant to come -- welcoming the new culture to gain a foothold (even if complete with dangerous ideologies and radical religious activism) , dismissing the call to unify with the whole in keeping to their own agenda -- does nothing to grow a vibrant show of loyalty to the country to which they came. 

In both instances, everybody loses.

There was a reason America grew out of the seeds of liberty and justice for all; there was real meaning back behind our defining characterization of the budding community we know now as Americans, under the spell of the iconic phrases found in our very own Declaration of Independence; there was a Higher Purpose to our creation, a greater understanding of our unalienable rights, and a firmer alliance and allegiance to our founding principles and values.  There was a time when we were so clear about it all -- it was enchanting and universal and destined for greatness.

But here we are, poverty is high and the feeling of community is at an all time low all the way around, whether referring to the neighborhood, or all around the entire miserable globe of ours.  WE are splintered, broken, and poor -- more than ever before in our history.  And you know the world's got problems when the nation that used to lead the way -- economically, spiritually, communally, patriotically  -- begins to wobble on it's axis.

The article in The Morning Bell includes a few solutions -- but the reality is brutal,  we can't just flick a switch and recreate the family unit back to the sixties, when the out-of-wedlock births were so low, and that is simply tragic; while Merkel attempts to hit the reset button, only time will tell if she is too late.

If anything, this tells us that policy beginning right now must be different -- we must reward good citizenship, incentivize building community, support common values that bind family and faith, and accentuate the positive, the plus factor that inherently illuminates brightly when we come together in a united purpose, waving flags and all -- versus breaking off in fractions by cultural differences and divided interests that only tear us further apart. As time goes by, the systemic failure is ours to make or overrule.

In this moment, my frustrations grow as we see so much of the focus on family rapidly deteriorate, all while we culturally come out in praise and full support of unconventional lifestyles; where is the pop of praise for marriage between a man and a woman?  for traditional families? where is the love? 

...just maybe, if the rainbow marriage coalition came to meet the other side with love and respect! instead of demands and reprimands, happier days could be made for all of us; there has to be a way to expand the rights without marriage being redefined -- whereupon the license we are reduced to signing as "partner A" and "partner B", which was the immediate reaction and slap in the face from the courts in the state of California.

Again, the political correctness of an issue gets the best of us, and overlooks the mainframe of community far and wide -- tradition gets unabashedly smacked down, while overt and covert activists of extremism in marriage easily capture the compassionate and progressive heart, controlling the P.C. dialog, while leaving a trail of divisive destruction in their wake.

Can't we all get along without discrediting the opposition -- without the ridicule and disparaging  remarks of the majority -- and more important, upholding our natural and universal beliefs that bind and make us strong?

Yes, I believe we can.

Marriage, family, faith, community, melting into one will be what saves us; assimilation with the whole will be what brings us together -- there is room in a community for all; but what it will take, is the spirit of cooperation.

What it will require, is speaking the same language, in both metaphor and actuality.

What we must reward is when it works, no matter how it looks.

and a little more family dinner won't hurt either...

What must remain constant and true, will be the identity, the integrity and the character of the whole, for without, the spirit of the foundation will be gone... the budding vibrancy of a people will be lost... thereby, only making a brighter future living next door to next to impossible; for real unity and astounding prosperity, the assimilation factor is absolute and non-negotiable.

But far be it for me to say, just let the astronomical growth of poverty and broken spirits, along with the recent sway of an entire nation, make it so.

and Make it a Good Day, G

Oh my, Tom Bosley just passed away...oh unhappy day, first Billingsley, now Bosley, who's next? 

Ya see, it's a sign; America is crumbling at the family unit, who needs any more of a demonstration than a couple of pop-cultural family icons to leave us, huh? huh?  This is how it starts...

thank God for Modern Family on ABC, Wednesday night...you may think it contradicts, but not...they show us how it can be done very well (not perfect, but whose family is?)...and very funny. love it.

Dear America,

Puo ritenere come buon venerdi,

ma domenica sta venendo!

E una vita bella!

(It may feel like Good Friday, but Sunday's coming! It's a beautiful life!)

In the meantime,
waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!

but let's get real, G may be a big cry baby over things large and small, but deep down I know,
when we walk by faith,
we never walk alone.
So here we are again, on another day after; and in a warped and weird way, G has come full circle; for it was an early morning much like today -- the sun was shining, the air was bright and clear, a slight breeze blew the fragrance of eucalyptus and jasmine into my window as if America hadn't a care in the world -- when 'its-a-gthing' was born.

It was so seductive really, easily I could have found myself happy with the status quo, just as I had done previously, like any other July --  July 23rd to be exact -- in the day, in the life of America;  and yet, something drew me in.

And here we are, from it's conception to this very moment, nearly nine months have passed me by.

The good news, at least we all don't have to skirt around the issue anymore, our federal government -- in an overwhelming partisan display of politics with a vote of 219 to 212 -- is now in charge of our health care.

Whether a little or a lot, the federal government is now dictating health insurance policy, quadrupling the authority of the IRS with the instruction to create four more departments to handle the Fed's new responsibilities, and all the while, outlining accompanying policy for turning Medicare upside down; basically, as of today, everything changes when it comes to our health care system in America. 

It is done; socialized medicine is here -- albeit sugarcoated to help the medicine go down -- but don't kid yourself, it is here.

America has given birth to a brand-spankin'-new entitlement program, this time for the so-called "middle class" -- not to be confused with it's big brother, Social Security, which is currently running 43 Trillion dollars shy of meeting it's fiscal liabilities (amounts to roughly $400,000/ household) --  or the evil twins, Medicaid/Medicare, which as we all know by now have a number of issues going on, not the least of which is Medicare's inability to cover it's liabilities; even though it is years younger, it's got a couple of inches on him and towers over Social Security at 57 Trillion dollars  (amounts to about $500,000/ household).

Here we are -- one big dysfunctional family, joy to the world -- and I've got just one question for you, what are we gonna name it? 

Oops, sorry, it's not just one... I seem to have a few more popping out to my surprise... had no idea...

Just why, for Pete's sake, were we in such a hurry? 

And isn't this still just a bit premature?

Aren't we still  -- after all the talk, after all the debate (the debate that is over, but is still not over), after all the selling points, talking points, props, pitch and ditch -- not ready?

Why did we induce -- knowing there were real risks involved, knowing we were clearly opening ourselves up to the well-spring of emotions bubbling under the surface and a whole of brand new issues?

Oh my, the last twenty 36 hours has been a doozy... really wasn't sure if I would make it...ice chips, anyone?

And how about that last minute Executive Order?  As if Obama's word to uphold:

"consistency with longstanding restrictions

the use of federal funds for abortion."

is enough
to convince
the small fraction
(twelve in fact)
of pro-life democrats
to follow Him? 

Oh right, I guess it was.

But the crowning blow arrived just knowing how close we came, without the E.O. from the B.O.-- when push came to shove and then shove some more -- the measure didn't stand a chance.

(we were 4 votes away, that's it)

The sad truth is, the executive order is just another example of how our government takes creative license with it's legislative power.  To be sure, it is merely fluff; it is style without substance, show without tell, and a mask to a fraud. 

As much as our dear President would love to see His Word be the new Gospel, he can't make it so no matter how hard he pushes; an Executive Order does not trump the Law.  Sure, it is nice to have, and it did the job to pacify the merry band of Stupak's imposters long enough to nab the vote, but it did nothing to change the law -- as in the new law as set forth by the Senate Health Care Bill. 

But hey, like the Chairman of the Rules Committee, U.S. Rep. Alcee Hastings (D-FL), so eloquently put it,

“I wish that I had been there when Thomas Edison made the remark that I think applies here: ‘There ain’t no rules around here — we’re trying to accomplish something.’ And therefore, when the deal goes down, all this talk about rules, we make ‘em up as we go along..."

"there ain't no rules around here...we make 'em up as we go along" -- now THAT is giving birth to some kind of new world, now isn't it? 

(Breathe, just breathe.)

But since I brought it up, let us jump on a thing called Trump for just a moment.

The Apprentice was on last night; and as it would turn out, it was just what the doctor ordered. Besides reminding me of a few fine principles America used to stand on with a greatness of ease, it was also great comic relief after laboring the day away with health care drama.

Now, Trump is not someone I usually turn to for guidance, you know, like Mao is to Anita Dunn or something like that, but I dig him -- there is definitely something about this guy that causes people to stop and pay attention to what he has to say.  Sure, he's been up and he's been down -- he doesn't have all the answers nor is his way the only way, that we can be sure -- but without a doubt, the wealth of his experiences can teach many of us Americans a thing or two (I mean, for heaven's to Betsy, look at his children...)

The centerpiece of last night's show was an iconic American brand:  KODAK. 

Now lucky KODAK, no? 

Trump is just like the Oprah Effect -- both of whom embody the rare commodity of  just saying the word and millions are sold  -- only in America!   And if you really think about it, just the premise of Trump's show alone proves my point -- only in America can someone sell you on watching his show, based on the success (or lack thereof) and celebrity (or lack thereof) of himself and others like him (or lack thereof), and sell an American label or brand name in the process, and all the while GIVE SOMETHING BACK TO CHARITY!  Is America a great country, or what? Love it...wish I thought of it...but I digress.

The task at hand was for both teams to take their store front business and turn it into a Kodak showpiece, an emporium designed to capture the best of Kodak and it's products while taking the idea of "Kodak Moments" to the streets of New York; the underlying message asked of each team to incorporate the idea, besides real sales and promotion of it's product, that real Kodak Moments don't just happen when you take the picture -- they happen when you actually SHARE the moment.

The team which captures the Kodak philosophy and bring their pitch to the marketplace the best, wins.

Well, the boys brought their A-team -- they sold themselves and their celebrity over and over throughout the night, hey, look at me, "I'm funny", "I'm sexy", "I'm sporty", "I'm smarty", "I'm anything you want me to be" and for once, the girls, just brought heart and substance -- for once, it wasn't about T and A!

What a breath of fresh air.  What a turn around.  What a way to bring the whole package, girls!

Just in case you missed it, in the end the girls got Trump's attention, along with the thumbs up from the visiting Kodak entourage, for all the right reasons; in the end, substance truly did matter... here, in the Kodak Moment of a day in the life of America. 

For centuries now, the American marketplace has naturally rewarded good policy, sound principles, hard work, ingenuity, service, charity, truth, honor, following the law, setting high standards, creating an income stream for ourselves, our families, while enabling us to care for our broader communities; the only times we have failed to do so, were in times we have compromised our values and principles.

And as we have seen by Executive Order in the last twenty four hours, it doesn't take much anymore.

By the way, the donation last night went to Make-A-Wish Foundation (go to them and make a wish come true).  During the show, a touching Kodak moment came when a young boy, in the midst of awaiting a wish for himself to come true, was asked a simple question,

"what are you gonna do when you grow up?" 

He answered with this, with a look on his face worth a thousand words,

"hadn't thought about it".

A future can be hard to imagine for many a set of circumstances, but when a child is sick enough not have one, we can hear everyone in America cry.

After all things said and done in the last nine months, we can't push it back in, now can we? 
It is here. 
It is out. 
WE the People -- without so much as a choice, I might add -- are the parents of another entitlement program.

Congratulations (say it like Ben Stein would say it). 

Oh, one more thing, you do know that not only will they not move out, you will have no choice now but to cover for their health insurance until the age of twenty-six...even if you one of the lucky one's and they are the picture of health. 

God speed, parents, countrymen, girls and boys, one and all.

Make it a Good Day, G

All in all, it's nothing that a little congressional tubal ligation can't fix...go to:
www.firenancypelosi.com/  really, it's brand new, too!

In the meantime, and in all seriousness, here's a good song for you today...

Dear America,

I don't think I ever listened to the words of the entire song before today:

"Revolution" by The Beatles...
we all know how it starts

you say you wanna revolution, well you know...
we all wanna change the world...

moving along :

you say you'd change the Constitution,  well you know
we all wanna change your head...
they tell me its the institution, well you know
you better free your mind instead.
BUT if you go carrying pictures of Chairman Mao
you ain't gonna make it with anyone anyhow.

you know it's gonna be, alright
you know it's gonna be, alright
alright alright alright....

We ALL wanna change the world -- whether it's in our own homes, our own backyard or across the pond.
I believe we are doing the best we can and trust other people live a life from that spirit as well, even if appearances tell us otherwise.  We know what is in our heart -- and if coming from a good place, that is all that really matters.

Today is dedicated to my family; for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, across the street or miles between, bonds of friendship or blood, in celebration and annihilation, they are all mine and I love them all.

Make it a Good Day, G

Our ability to forgive, listen, learn and love anyway comes with the lessons of family life, even when we don't say the right things, even when we are provoked or attacked, even when we are misunderstood, and even when we are doing the best we can.

Every day, I want to be able to look in the mirror and see someone doing her best to accomplish that.

And to the negative chatterboxes, if you don't have something nice to say about all that,
then bless you and may you  keep it to yourself xx

Dear America,

"Certainly his actions hurt me, and they caused consequences for me,

but they don't in any way take away my own self-esteem,"

she told ABC's Barbara Walters.

"They reflect poorly on him."

That was Jenny Sanford, Wednesday night appearing on Barbara's 10 Most Fascinating People of the Year.

This morning, she filed for divorce.

G has been there; matter of fact, G remains single today, raising a child, and with every ounce of my being building a home with the blocks of character in tandem with the man I left nearly twelve years ago.

Similar but not quite the same, my connection to her sentiment "they reflect poorly on him" gives me chills; that was my response to it when coming to my own rescue for a past that feels like a lifetime ago.

Given that my parents have been married fifty years -- of course you would already know that if you followed G during the summer when gallivanting around Yellowstone Park marking the anniversary with them at the foot of Old Faithful -- it would also be a given that the reflection of failing at the one thing I thought I would also live to see -- the milestone and badge of honor of a marriage blessed with the same -- had the potential to destroy me. 

Perhaps it is the Aries in me that gave me the ability to stealthy swing from bliss to defeat, defeat to shock, shock to indifference, indifference to peace, peace back to bliss on a dime way back when; truth be told, it's more like on a wing and prayer that gave me the strength to forgive myself for the fall from grace and lay the stepping stones to a new life.

No easy task for anyone -- but that's not the direction today; the thing is, with a child, every move we make is reflected back through their actions, demeanor, character and attitude.  Good parenting cannot fail even when our heart is broken; we simply do not have time to selfishly lose sight of our responsibility to our children amidst a shattered dream; the shards must be picked up and pieced back together to allow for real character to shine through.

While our culture seems to cling to stories of the Hollywood stars, politicians, and athletic phenomenons appearing to have the world by a string only to have it lost in a whirlwind of scandal and infidelity and loss of character -- perhaps our true failure comes from falling under a spell right from the start. 

Perhaps it is what we wanted to see in them that remains left in fragments on the floor; leaving only flaws reflecting poorly on them and certainly, and ever so hopefully, not upon us.

But what is it our children take in from this all too familiar scene played out over and over again in the tabloids and on TV?

We live by example; we grow up as a reflection of our parents and our environment; we make children from that which and all that we are; and it is within our children we show the character we live by.  We teach them through a happy marriage; and if we fail at that, we must teach them through the walls of a broken home.  It's as simple as that.

Good parenting does not take a pass simply because we don't make good soul mates.

...okay, pretend you just stepped out to walk your dog, like G just did...we're walking...we're walking...another storm is moving into the area so it's brisk and cloudy with a slight chance of showers.  Brr

...then it happened.  A light bulb moment.

...what if the rule was for every story we show on the lack of good character we must show a story that does?  Think about it.  Two days ago, my girl was so sick and tired of all the disappointment, all the yuck in the muck, all the virtues of a society gone bad at the detriment of finding anything worthy of substance, of value, of something that could lift her up and elevate her to a higher level of living -- she proclaimed enough was enough!  Mayday. SOS.

This is where we as parents step in; not only do we step in, but we do our best to reflect that which we want our children to mirror -- aren't our babies and the potential of our ever-evolving community in which we live worth it?  While with all of it's rhetorical attributes aside, I'm  really not asking.

So to follow the new rules, we would see little ole Tiger and his sweet Swede Elin be paired with Uncle Teddy and Auntie Lettie from Chattanooga -- after thirty five years, surrounded by children and grandchildren with a simple life, a living faith, and a loving heart welcoming another Christmas all together as a family, certainly around a fire place if the reality was there.

Instead, we get this,

"One of Tiger Woods's alleged mistresses, Jamie Jungers, 26, has told how she had "wild" sex with the wealthy golf star, including during 10 visits to his home, British newspaper the Sun reported Thursday.

She recounted how their relationship started in Las Vegas eight months after Woods married, and continued despite Woods telling her that his marriage to Swedish wife Elin Nordegren was fine..." Agence France-Presse December 11, 2009

Or this,

"CHARLESTON, S.C. – South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford blames his own moral failures for his wife's desire to divorce him.

He says Jenny Sanford is gracious and remarkable and has been patient and selfless since he publicly revealed his affair with an Argentine woman in June." by Bruce Smith, Associated Press Writer, December 10, 2009

What is our world coming to?  Is our culture becoming so insensitive to the values we are teaching our children -- and seemingly just crossing our fingers that they turn out alright -- that we stop teaching to be of good character, stories of real people with sound principles and values, altogether?  The emphasis has clearly grown to side with what ails us -- not in what nurtures, and feeds, and nourishes a young hungry soul for that which is good. 

 
It is bad enough that generation after generation we are seeing not only more of what we brush off as merely dysfunctional families -- almost laughing it off as simply our culture's mild sign of decay, a few flakes on the shoulder -- we are now watching it upon the big screen and the pages of yahoo, the macrocosm loss of every principle in the book. 
 
What are we teaching our children and shouldn't ABC, CBS, NBC, TMZ and YAHOO fulfill some of it's duty to bearing some responsibility of teaching both sides -- highlighting good with bad -- finding more news to the values that we hold dear than illuminating the raunchy, the absurd, the wicked and the immoral?  Showing the titillating nature of the news of our times may be considered selling our culture short of an opportunity to really shine in the face and earshot of our children. But time will tell now won't it.
 
My mama and I share our personal preference and love of wearing a cross. It's really nothing more than wanting to display for all the world to see where we aspire to live our lives from -- a reminder to the cross we bear at times in a world that doesn't always go our way -- it affirms daily a belief in something greater than ourselves and our ability to transcend the secular world in a flash, on the fly, and whenever we need "reinforcement" to get through the day.
 
Low and behold, on a rainy Monday afternoon this last week, my girl came to me and asked me if she could wear one of my crosses (hold on a second, I'm pulling a GlennBeck and needing to grab a tissue); but you gotta understand, she came to me and asked.  I didn't push or prod, I simply led and I did; that's all it took.
 
I'm not surprised by her modeling herself after her mama; it's what we do as kids, as I remember for myself.  We follow and learn and grow and turn into people much like those who sit around us at the dinner table, in the church pew, on the sidelines and in the front seat.  And we don't usually grow too much outside the family boundaries, unless of course we are graced by an angel or something very close to it -- the story of Michael Oher comes to mind.  (Thank you for the gift of The Blind Side, in theaters now.)
 
We usually can't make those kind of leaps on our own -- we usually don't grow much further from the tree -- we usually don't become something we're not or something that wasn't inherent to who we really are or where we came from...and from what I see and as time goes by, it is becoming increasingly hard for society to fake it.
 
Our character comes from values and principles instilled in us from our parents, and perhaps a mentor, minister, teacher or coach.  It takes work and effort to build a kind of character worth repeating itself in a new generation; it takes real, unadulterated stories that teach values -- not victims, villains or a veneer of a society that once was.
 
The latest book I'm reading is a collection of fables; and talk about the value and influence of story time  -- Aesop, a Greek slave, told stories to the king featuring animals as the main characters, in an effort to teach a moral platform without essentially hurting any one's feelings -- an indirect and delightful way to make a point, don't you think? 
 
Here's The Jackdaw and His Borrowed Feathers:

A Jackdaw flew over the wall into a garden where peacocks walked.
No one was around.
But there on the ground lay some beautiful peacock plumes.

Quickly he gathered them up,
"How fine I will look dressed up in these peacock feathers!" he thought.
He stuck the longest ones in his tail and some shorter ones on his head.
Then he flew back among the crows and starlings and sparrows. 

He strutted around proudly.  He made believe he didn't even see the common birds.

"I really am too fine to talk to them," he decided at last, and flew off to the peacocks.

But the peacocks saw at once that he was a Jackdaw dressed in their feathers.

They came up angrily and pecked their plumes off him.  And along with the borrowed feathers,
the Jackdaw lost some of his own.

It was a sad-looking bird that flew back over the wall.

He was glad to get away with both eyes in his head.

Now he was ready to be friends with the common birds around him.

But the starlings and crows and sparrows remembered what airs he had put on before.
And they would have nothing to do with him.


Moral: Borrowed feathers do not make fine birds.

 

Who are we as a people, what kind of Americana-Birdus of a Feathurus are we?  What are we made of and what do we pass on to our children of value, of character, of worth in order to carry this generation triumphantly on to the next? 

 

If we don't teach it to them, they will look for it from the outside, they will look for it disguised in opulent lifestyles and empty souls, they will look for it to be fulfilled by things, material and immaterial, to fill their void.  They will not learn to respect who they are -- and have enough moral courage and inner strength to give them the guidance and security to become who they are destined to be. 

 

This is the job that evidently, and the more society dictates, can only be filled by the one person we see in the mirror -- and two if you happen to be one of the lucky one's --  broken or not, the reflection we see in our children tells the whole story.

 

Make it a Good Day, G

 

Before sending them off to school, bless your children with a story, a fable, a poem, or simply a whisper in the ear with something that brings light and love -- in a lesson taught by animals or a thought that makes them smile; our chance to be better parents starts over in each and every new day, thanks be to God.