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.

Dear America,

"Isn't there a limit on how many times we raise the debt limit?"

that's my girl

just something to think about as we set out, today, pondering the thoughts and posture of a president.

For starters, I was pretty close now, wasn't I? (referring to my best guess on the king's speech)

Only a guy proposing we continue to spend over one trillion dollars more than what we take in could figure out a way to get away with it.  sure, he started out mighty fine:

"From our first days as a nation, we have put our faith in free markets and free enterprise as the engine of America's wealth and prosperity. More than citizens of any other country, we are rugged individualists, a self-reliant people with a healthy skepticism of too much government.

But there has always been another thread running throughout our history - a belief that we are all connected; and that there are some things we can only do together, as a nation."

that is a pretty big BUT there, Mr. President.  You know what they say about using the word "but" -- it negates everything that was previously said...and let's move on...

"For much of the last century, our nation found a way to afford these investments and priorities with the taxes paid by its citizens. As a country that values fairness, wealthier individuals have traditionally born a greater share of this burden than the middle class or those less fortunate. This is not because we begrudge those who've done well - we rightly celebrate their success. Rather, it is a basic reflection of our belief that those who have benefited most from our way of life can afford to give a bit more back."

So all things being fair now, "as a country that values fairness," the "wealthier individuals have traditionally born a greater share of this burden" -- giving us a moment when our president truly values tradition.  And not done, he makes the assertion... well, it's the price to pay for being the ones who have "benefited most from our way of life."  Which is it, Mr. President, do we teach our children to be self-reliant and prosper, or do we teach them that when they do (rest on their own self-reliance, create prosperity, and share it, ultimately, of their own free will) be prepared to give more of that fair share, cause that's only fair?  Where do you preserve and support the genuine motivation and benefits anchored by tradition steeped in self-reliance?

"...we lost our way in the decade that followed. We increased spending dramatically for two wars and an expensive prescription drug program - but we didn't pay for any of this new spending. Instead, we made the problem worse with trillions of dollars in unpaid-for tax cuts - tax cuts that went to every millionaire and billionaire in the country; tax cuts that will force us to borrow an average of $500 billion every year over the next decade"

Thanks for the drone hit, Mr. President...indeed, because we have sooooooooooo many millionaires and billionaires running around -- and don't you just love how the two are always put together, like, what's the difference?  It's all the same thing.  They are crooks getting away with murder, while women and children are dying out there.  You forgot to point out, that in the last ten years, our government's annual expenditures have ballooned from 1.8 Trillion in 2000 to 3.4 Trillion by 2010.  While the last three years, under your presidency -- bearing in mind that for this year alone, the CBO projects a 1.6 Trillion dollar deficit -- the national debt has gone from 10 Trillion to 14 Trillion.

We are adding to the population of retirees everyday now.  Baby Boomers are no longer booming.  The annual revenue from our current bunch of yahoos no longer supports the 60% of the Federal Budget that currently pays the bills for retirement benefits, as well as a host of miscellaneous entitlements we'll just stipulate for "the poor."  If you add the payment for just our debt service to the bottom line and do the math, only about 10% of our "revenue" is left for discretionary spending.  That's it.  Yes, they say you are brilliant, BUT let me remind you, it will never work out the way it does in your head, Mr. President, for your numbers do not add up...3.7 out with 2.6 in, equals a 1.1 deficit. simple simon.

"And so, by the time I took office, we once again found ourselves deeply in debt and unprepared for a Baby Boom retirement that is now starting to take place. When I took office, our projected deficit was more than $1 trillion. On top of that, we faced a terrible financial crisis and a recession that, like most recessions, led us to temporarily borrow even more. In this case, we took a series of emergency steps that saved millions of jobs, kept credit flowing, and provided working families extra money in their pockets. It was the right thing to do, but these steps were expensive, and added to our deficits in the short term.

So that's how our fiscal challenge was created. This is how we got here."

wow. dripping with arrogance...and after growing our federal government ten percent (fact), and throwing in a failed stimulus package, what I did has nothing to do with it...and with a straight face tells us:

"We have to live within our means, reduce our deficit, and get back on a path that will allow us to pay down our debt."

Seriously?  Do you even know what living within your means is?  He says this knowing his budget exceeds the means by over a trillion dollars. (This is about the time I believe we lost the second in command, Mr. Joe "can't keep my eyes open a second longer" Biden....snore)

"By the end of this decade, the interest we owe on our debt could rise to nearly $1 trillion. Just the interest payments"

And yet, you are only proposing 4 trillion in cuts/new taxes over the next twelve years.  such a pretty web we weave...
...while he continues to rattle off all the things we like, but really don't like having to pay for, and in the middle of it he says this:

"Most of us, regardless of party affiliation, believe that we should have a strong military and a strong defense."

Should?  Most of us, those of us who respect America's Constitution, recognize that a strong military isn't just an option on the table --  it is paramount to our nation's security,  mandated by our forefathers, and considered non-negotiable by we the people. It isn't lumped in somewhere between food stamps and early retirement benefits. just fyi.

Getting to a bottom, bottom line, "Those are both worthy goals for us to achieve. But the way this plan achieves those goals would lead to a fundamentally different America than the one we've known throughout most of our history."

hmmm where have I heard that before? 

"A 70% cut to clean energy. A 25% cut in education. A 30% cut in transportation. Cuts in college Pell Grants that will grow to more than $1,000 per year. That's what they're proposing. These aren't the kind of cuts you make when you're trying to get rid of some waste or find extra savings in the budget. These aren't the kind of cuts that Republicans and Democrats on the Fiscal Commission proposed. These are the kind of cuts that tell us we can't afford the America we believe in. And they paint a vision of our future that's deeply pessimistic."

and then he simply goes off -- throwing everything on the wall -- a game of paint ball has got nothing on how he proceeded to riddle the right with attacks left, right and up the middle.  Bridges collapsing, no college education, grandma literally getting thrown under the bus...not pretty.  not even the truth.  it's just what radicals do.

and partisan politics in Washington lives on to see another ugly day.

"Worst of all, this is a vision that says even though America can't afford to invest in education or clean energy; even though we can't afford to care for seniors and poor children, we can somehow afford more than $1 trillion in new tax breaks for the wealthy. Think about it."

no, you think about it.  think about what you say, Mr. President.  this is acting presidential?  this is statesmanship?  this is meeting in the middle?  these are words from a leader for all Americans?  this is how low you want to go?

wait for it....

"The America I know is generous and compassionate; a land of opportunity and optimism. We take responsibility for ourselves and each other; for the country we want and the future we share. We are the nation that built a railroad across a continent and brought light to communities shrouded in darkness. We sent a generation to college on the GI bill and saved millions of seniors from poverty with Social Security and Medicare. We have led the world in scientific research and technological breakthroughs that have transformed millions of lives.

This is who we are. This is the America I know. We don't have to choose between a future of spiraling debt and one where we forfeit investments in our people and our country. To meet our fiscal challenge, we will need to make reforms. We will all need to make sacrifices. But we do not have to sacrifice the America we believe in. And as long as I'm President, we won't."

doink, der it is... the walking contradiction reigns supreme again. halleluja.

and tops it off with this little tidbit:

"If, by 2014, our debt is not projected to fall as a share of the economy - or if Congress has failed to act - my plan will require us to come together and make up the additional savings with more spending cuts and more spending reductions in the tax code."

"require us to come together"   What is he not saying here?  Is he purposely planning on stripping Congress of their powers -- specifically, as it pertains to regulating taxation?

"This larger debate we're having, about the size and role of government, has been with us since our founding days. And during moments of great challenge and change, like the one we're living through now, the debate gets sharper and more vigorous. That's a good thing...

But no matter what we argue or where we stand, we've always held certain beliefs as Americans. We believe that in order to preserve our own freedoms and pursue our own happiness, we can't just think about ourselves. We have to think about the country that made those liberties possible. We have to think about our fellow citizens with whom we share a community. And we have to think about what's required to preserve the American Dream for future generations..

This sense of responsibility - to each other and to our country - this isn't a partisan feeling. It isn't a Democratic or Republican idea. It's patriotism."

You can take the organizer out of the community, but you can't take the community out of the organizer.

All in all, for nearly the entire 45 minutes, you pretty much pounce all over the right, one way or another, even injecting class warfare as a main theme; and yet, you still believe you can end on a high note...you sir, must think you are a pretty big deal to think you can really get away with that.

You still don't get it.

We are a country based on individual freedoms, individual liberties, with individual dreams putting individual self-reliance to the test; we are not endowed by our government, but by our Maker.  Sure, collectively, you have it right, in part -- it does make us the strongest, free-est, rich-est, kind-est nation in the world -- and it has everything and nothing to do with the "millionaires and billionaires" and everything and nothing to do with the collective.   think about it. 

Make it a Good Day, G

Definition of Marxism:  "The political and economic ideas of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engles as developed into a system of thought that gives class struggle a primary role in leading society from bourgeois democracy under capitalism to a socialist society and thence to communism," from The American Heritage Dictionary.

think about it.

patriotism?  where?

Dear America,

Thank God it's Friday.

To wrap up the indoctrination by maher segment of the week, let's recall a couple of his final words of wisdom from last night's appearance with Bill O'Reilly, as it is just so fascinating to watch; he's much like a baboon in the wild, and you never know what sounds he'll make or what load of crap he will undoubtedly throw at you. And all I can add to that is, thank God we continue to evolve.

"60% of the people believe Noah's Ark is true..." in high blasphemous billy fashion...going on to pound out the idiocy of literally believing every word of God as if it were true, even quoting a verse in "Deuteronomy" to prove it...as if God told "his people" that discovering your neighbor working on a Sunday is enough to warrant killing them.  right, Maher Luther, king of the jungle, that's what he told us to do, and by golly, we follow..doink y der dee do...I think a coconut just hit me on the head.

There was a moment when he threw O'Reilly a bone (at least, I think it was, hard to tell from this far away) when he proclaimed, "I think if Jesus were in charge (today), we'd have health care for everybody."  Does Maher not remember what happened in the temple? But there we go again with the redistribution of all the bananas and the power in the bunch...

Oh, my my my maher, ye of so little faith; you really hate the believers of this world, don't you.

One thing that keeps batting around my head, with regard to this great contempt for the religious extremists of the world, is how you seem mum when it comes to the fundamental Islamic extremism wreaking havoc across the world, and taking on America from ground zero on up -- especially, as a New Yorker and all; how is that possible that you are not calling out these horrific actions of extremism, based entirely on a belief system, having birthed from one of the sons of Abraham?! 

The history of Christianity does include defending our ground from time to time against Muslim extremists; and yet, here we sit, at the start of the twenty first century, still defending those who can't but with one difference, our militia is not simply Christians -- but includes Jews, Buddhists, Agnostics, Atheists... even 1.6% Muslim...we come as one nation under God in full UNI-form as AMERICANS. 

As its been done from kingdom to kingdom come -- every war, every conflict -- Americans have never come in the name of a Christian God, ever.  We have never adorned our soldiers swaddled in fabric and sword in the name of Allah (or God), and continue to praise Him as we act out our radical religious order against heathens of other faiths -- much like the Islamic Extremists attacking the oddly peculiar, yet apparently highly threatening, western world of the Christian species.

So where are you on that, Willy?

And I can't even believe you admitted to the world, "I don't know" -- trying to explain how the Earth was made, "nobody can explain it" you say...babbling on some more, about how the ignorance of "championing faith" is nothing more than "suspending (all) critical thinking." Have you lost your mind?  Because the absolute fact remains, for you to even have a chance TO THINK about it, should give you plenty of ammo to answer that question.

You must have missed G when we defended God (of all kinds) featuring a book by a physicist and Jewish/Theologian Scholar, having been fully educated and doctored from MIT, Gerald Schroeder (http://www.geraldschroeder.com/) His latest book, not to be confused with a number of others, including The Science of God, The Hidden Face of God, and Genesis and the Big Bang --in his latest, God According to God -- and you're gonna love this part -- actually uses excerpts from the Bible to prove specific scientific points.  Genius really.

Anywho, what I have noted before and will surely say again, the Big Bang, the beginning of it all, began with something really BIG to create it; what was that something? Just a thought.  ker pow, bang, der it is.

Something had to THINK about it first; as the accidental mathematical physical probability of having it all come together, at just the right time, at just the right temperature, came down to a nano-second, or perhaps an eternity, knee deep into thought to basically come up with the 'build it and they will come' philosophy back behind creation itself.  Gives a girl goosebumps, how 'bout you?

Schroeder offers us this...

"...then came the discovery of the uncertain, fuzzy world of the quantum.  And suddenly our classical view of reality, the inbred misconception that reality must conform to our logic, was shattered. We have discovered that the reality we perceive stands in place of, or better said, represents, a deeper essence of truth.

And that is what I discuss here, the idea, admittedly speculative, that the truth of our universe is not as we perceive it, even with the aid of the most sophisticated particle accelerators and most powerful space telescope; that from the invisible realm of the quantum to the vast reaches of space, our universe may more closely resemble a thought than a thing."

The alchemists and meta physicists have delved into the world of thoughts-are-things for centuries -- it isn't anything new; while even the modern day gurus, self-help promoters, and preachers collide with our ability to change our world, change our life, starting with a simple thought; that what we think about expands; that our very thought is the actual genesis of all things we are surrounded with (be it person, place... or shiny new thing).

Everything we do, and everything that is here and now and ever will be, begins with a thought, an idea, a realization of that which could be a something being virtually created out of a nothing, all within the confines of the mind.

Mr. Maher, your cult following captures just such a thing; as you had an idea, and lots of them really, and not all of them good, but in each new day, you are able to ponder, voice, expand your extremists views out unto the world -- and make money off of it!  Oh, what a wonderful world we live.

It doesn't matter, the matter in which we live; what matters is what we do with it.  Do we throw it around haphazardly, or do we treat it with care?  Everyone is at a choice to do it there own way -- at least here in America, we still can -- which should make you fall to your knees in thanksgiving.  Other parts of the world, are not able to think freely and act accordingly and create a life in liberty and justice and free speech for all -- while attending a church of their choice, or not.

Some people actually want to attack that part of us, no matter where we live in the world, just because we are different  here in America -- we let people live and let live under a rule of law that fully supports and defends our GOD given, UNALIENABLE RIGHTS.  Our laws, rights, amendments, constitution and declarations only put to word what already IS; for our unalienable rights do not come from man, or a government, or a president, or even from the evolution of baboons; these inherent rights are passed down from generation to generation from God; we are intimately connected to the Source of all things, good and evil, right or wrong, seen and unseen, without falter and in pure faith.

Our rights -- if we could only be fully satisfied by calling them that -- come from the One; they come from the one, true, First Thought.

Some religions are, quite frankly, disturbed -- threatened -- emboldened to attack -- such totalitarian freedom enriched territory, land of liberty and home of the brave.   Allah-u-Akbar! (only my) God is Great!

I am thrust into a thought, going way back when, to the days of Abraham and descendants of Ishmael, and ponder just how the world would be right now if only Mohammed had changed a thought, or two; I wonder too, with the Qu'ran being taken so literally, verbatim, as the word of ALLAH, around the world, you must think all Muslims are idiots, too, Mr. Maher -- or no?

Or, are you just afraid to say that out loud? 

Did you know, they believe in many of the same prophets...they adore mother Mary (Suru Maryam)...and are not afraid to admit they believe in Angels, too? 

But the reality is, according to the Land of Ishmael and the making of Islam (and feel free to ask the closest Muslim near you) the Qu'ran is speaking the word of God, literally, word for word, across the world, around the clock -- so call me funny, but I would think that would bug you more, Maher; for they, fully admit it.  The gospel of the Qu'ran makes something like honoring thy father and mother sound like a nursery rhyme.

So let's face it, we can agree to disagree about all sorts of details, but extremism in any shape, genealogy, or ancestry is deadly, dangerous and destructive -- end of story.  Be it the Bible or the Qu'ran or the little red book of Mao, what truly matters is the thought back behind the things, the consciousness back behind the actions, the mindfulness back behind the creation of an America or an Iran, an Iraq or an Afghanistan, a Cuba or a China.

The individual, who acts, who does, who thinks, becomes fundamental; hence, the premise behind the making of our Declaration of Independence, and our Constitution -- to the actual making of our children, the remarkable little creatures that they are, who happen to not only have the great responsibility to survive the legacy of debt we are leaving them, but somehow be able to do so while passing on the fundamentals of love and life to the next generation, and so on and so on...

Where do we govern from an open heart, allowing for the freedom to think and grow rich, living in a country who worships liberty, shelters the common man, and defends the inherent rights of all people, equally but not without great difficulty -- with civility, while fortunately for us, on most days, without suicide bombers disturbing the peace with religious fanaticism and extremism in the townsquare -- AND FURTHER be allowed to follow that heart... to find hope, peace, forgiveness from Sunday to Sunday, believing (or not) in an Unimaginable God, of Out of this World Proportion, who really we wishes unconditional Love upon us all?

Show me that land and I will show you where I want to live, both literally and figuratively, metaphorically and verbatim -- and more important,  I am not afraid to say so.

Let us all say a little prayer for Maher today (I think he would just love it) and
Make it a Good Day, G