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

Dear America,

a sliver.

a budget of $3.8 Trillion, operating with a $1.5 Trillion deficit, and proposing $775 million in spending cuts (fyi -- only applying to "discretionary" items, and paying no mind to items requiring immediate attention, like Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid). And can we get a rousing shout out to the Patriot Post this morning, for providing the colorful  visuals... along with the unintended consequences of the nation skipping a beat that immediately follows... or was that just heart burn...can we get a plop plop fizz fizz.

all this, with only a few years to go before the trillion dollar "Affordable Care Law" kicks in all the way! remember, we are only beginning to pay for it now, full benefits don't even start until 2014 -- who's brilliant idea was that?  for they deserve a prize, as that is just fabulous...best way to fight  the rising cost of health care, start corrupting the corruption early and often.


But never you mind...that is a long time away from now...

As the echo of a president speaking to Joe the Plumber rings in my ear..." I believe when you spread the wealth around, it's good for everybody."

If you take the time to listen to the entire five minutes spent with Joe the Plumber -- which you will have to find on your own, as my link is merely a fraction of the conversation -- you will be amazed at just how dazed and confused Obama sounds.

He spins his own weave of tax rates with catch phrases, while trying to convince a hard working plumber, that now that he's kind of made it... under his tax plan... if you go back ten years and somehow have a chance to relive it, you would have more money in your pocket now -- but since that isn't realistic, what he wants Joe the Plumber to recognize, now that he is doing so well, is that he should support a tax plan that makes him pay more for his success -- you know, to help those who are coming along behind him -- you know, "because there are two ways of lookin' at it..."

So with respect to Obama's 2012 budget, there are two ways of lookin' at it --

ONE: at least it's something, right? He's put a "freeze" at 2010 levels, whatever that really means, since we were already in the hole in 2010, one would have to wonder about that; but all in all, he has a plan, a budget (given we have been operating without one, this is a step in the right direction) and he has come up with a number -- $775 million -- in actual spending cuts.  refer back to the pretty picture above, to put that number in proper perspective.

TWO: we are doomed.

Now, it has been a tough couple of weeks around the globe, hasn't it; we have fires of unrest fracturing the entire world, as if we are falling apart.
 
So, I don't know about you, per se, but I couldn't help but get the biggest chuckle in days, while watching the O'Reilly Factor during his weekly segment with Dennis Miller; me and my girl turned to each other with eyes wide open thinking this guy is brilliant (that would be Miller, not always the case for O'Reilly).

First, I have probably said this out loud before, but Miller is smart -- so quick on his feet -- and funny -- it is hard keeping up with him half the time -- what a fireball of wit, wisdom and western culture -- his mouth should be the eighth wonder of the world, but perhaps that's just me; but when he told O'Reilly, something to the affect of, you know, a good question (for the president) would have been to ask him, at the end of the game (Super Bowl) should they have evened up the score, you know, to be fair?

No need to show a pie chart to figure that one out -- redistribution, no matter how you slice it, no matter which side of the ball you're on, does not work -- will never work -- and only keeps good decent people from actually, going to work, in more ways than one.

Redistribution of Wealth, in any form, discourages -- in fair and equal proportion -- both the creators and the takers... stifling all good deed, all the way around, as if both hands are tied behind our back; did you watch Joe the Plumber's expression over the course of his sliver in time, as he was face to face with the man who would ultimately become the next president of the United States? 

His face grew twisted, he cocked his head, he tried to interrupt when things turned to mush, as he attempted to swipe the sweat, literally and figuratively, off his brow -- looking at Obama with a face of confusion, frustration, or just plum impatience half the time, yet all the while, painstakingly trying to pay him his full respect; ugh.

Joe the Plumber, as we all know now, became the face of middle America, and his moment with Obama would be replayed and reused and retained as the quintessential argument of the campaign -- not that it made any difference.  Oh, to know what we know now.  see also yesterday's lamentations which seem to follow suit...Known and Unknown, that is the question.

And then, in the midst of all the conversation on cutting spending we have another Joe, promoting the administration's plan to "invest" $53 Billion dollars in a fly-by-night cockamamie scheme to have the government get into the High Speed Rail business -- you know, Joe, if it were cost effective in the least bit, don't you think a Carnegie or a Rockefeller would have done this already?

It's simple, there are no takers because the numbers simply don't add up; oh, and what's this...what corporation stands to gain the most with this little operation...GE.  Case closed.  next.

Which, by the way, if you have not already done so, send a letter to Jeff here.    This link connects you to The Free Enterprise Project, offered through an affiliation with Freedom Works; if you get on the email list with Freedom Works, they make it incredibly easy, and FREE, to send letters to your congressmen and women, and just about anybody else worthy.

Just before I leave you, another segment from the day, yesterday, included a preview of an upcoming John Stossel report; with him standing in the middle of an ice rink,ordering people around, meddling, encroaching on free expression, restricting the natural flow, proving to America, for the umpteenth time, unlimited government intrusion is no way to go around life (as our founders intended, of course).

The thing is, the good news and the bad news is the same news -- to live in a free country, to remain a free people, to grow a free enterprise -- it actually, and boldly, requires a system based upon the principles of freedom and liberty in order to facilitate the unlimited-ness of all possibility to take shape; yes, and likewise, a system such as this, inherently, intrinsically and emphatically requires all of its members within the group to act responsibly and account-ably to that end. [yikes, as I get Glenn Beck screaming in my ear, begging the question, "can man rule himself?"]

We have proven now, thanks to the last hundred years or so, that man cannot rule man -- that man, must rule himself, tied to Something Greater Than (whether it is God, or in principle) 'said man', or else man loses  everything, including every living, breathing hope and dream along with it;

We have proven now, thanks to the last hundred years or so, that government is not the answer to the problem, but the problem itself;

We have proven now, thanks to the last hundred years or so, that one cannot spend more than one takes in, for that trajectory is unsustainable -- and of course, a pathway wrought in fear, instability, worry, unease, disease, addiction and corruption --

...robbing peter to pay paul
...getting in deeper and deeper in over your head
...finally reaching a place of total, moral, financial, emotional bankruptcy
...for the liabilities eat us up piece by piece, one by one.

bye bye miss american pie -- for no longer would we have the ability to even talk about the pie, let alone discuss what we will take away from it; no longer is it a question as to when, how much, or just where oh where would a portion not be missed whatsoever; no longer is it a question of  who we will choose to eat it with or how much we can share, for none of it would matter anymore -- for, in a manner of speaking, we would be plum out of pie. all gone. no more.  buh-bye.

Make it a Good Day, G

Dear America song is dedicated to all the Joe's of the day -- Joe the Plumber, Joe the VP, Joe the baker and the candlestick maker, and of course, my favorite Joe of all...xx... I'll never tell...and yes, even to a brother, Joe, who just so happens to be celebrating his 44th year on this earth upon this very day -- rock on, brother.