It's About Statesmen vs. StatesXmen Thing

Dear America,

"If Congress can do whatever 

in their discretion 

can be done by money, 

and will promote the general welfare, 

the Government is no longer 

a limited one possessing enumerated powers, 

but an indefinite one 

subject to particular exceptions."

 James Madison, circa 1792

 With much appreciation to The Patriot Post 

so this morning i left messages for susan collins, rand paul, john mc cain, and once again, tried to leave a voicemail for mitch mc connell; and to my complete disappointment, getting the ear piercing message that his mailbox was still full and not taking messages, all i wanted to do was scream. 

[Mitch's mailbox has been "full" going on three weeks now, but this is an unscientific assumption based upon my mere efforts to get through; for all I know it's been full since mid January, guessing around the twentieth, the day of reckoning that it was... teehee. Mitch is so pathetic, but I digress.]

Now if you read G regularly, you would already know this:

  

One of my favorite places on the world wide web is The Patriot Post.  It gets the credit for not only the opening thought just this morning, but, also, consistently and diligently leading with inspiring quotes from our founders, compiling commentary from conservative authors far and wide who are fully committed to revealing the revelations and history of our remarkable Republic and its foundations as it pertains to policy and our principles today, and all the while, having the editorial prowess to offer sound opinion upon the day's current events in the name of liberty and justice for all. 

   

The Patriot Post, birthed the same year as my girl, holds a special place in my heart; there is probably not a day that goes by when this girl doesn't mosey on over to see what bells are ringing.

  

Getting the Mid-Day Digest and Alexander's Column automatically via email (highly recommended btw) never fail to impress me, and above all, center me -- especially upon days like this...watching the nonsense bellowing from the halls of Congress.

Congress is so afraid to act as true statesmen, we may as well call them statesXmen; it's as if they have all lost sight --  gone completely deaf and dumb, too -- of keeping to the terms and conditions laid down by our founders.  And considering we have just finished celebrating our Independence for the 241st year in a row, how is it possible we have all completely lost our true independence?

In closing what has to be the most historic, international, smack down documented ever, Thomas Jefferson, John Hancock, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, Samuel Adams....etc...said the following:

"And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the Protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor."

They had no idea what lay ahead in the days to come, in the days that continued with the Revolutionary War raging across the colonies.  And yet, being men of great courage, they FIRMLY believed in the process and the cause with unwavering faith, knowing their actions were guided by something greater -- that being, DIVINE PROVIDENCE.   

With unshakable faith, they pledged their allegiance to each other no matter what may come -- because they could see it clearly in their mind's eye and they knew it was going to be good!   It was not only going to be good, it was the right thing to do!  It was not only the right thing to do, it was the honorable thing to do!    So much so, they were willing to risk personal loss, personal indebtedness, personal happiness, against all enemies on behalf of the livelihood and general welfare of the common man.

In one short sentence, a sentiment of the highest standard was displayed without fear; with a confidence setting forth a destiny that would change the world, the stage was set with a willingness to do whatever it takes.

Now -- to the day's statesXmen we have come --  shaking in their loafers/stilettos, being completely dizzy proposing one political antic after another, rather than resting upon the principles that have made America great; for the laws and principles, in policy and constitution, were Divined and reasoned and debated and questioned over the many months and years following the signing of our Declaration of Independence of 1776.  

Taking what amounts to be a compilation of the best of the best of the body politic over the centuries --  if not 5000 years  --  America's Rule of Law came about following the study of civilizations through the ages, mainly of Rome, Greece, and Jerusalem.

To say we are a government "of the people, by the people, for the people" is not some slick gimmick.

The thing is -- with respect to what our founders actually set forth -- this idea of centering on WE the PEOPLE required each new generation to make the same pledge to each other, just as our first statesmen, moving forward.  It called for a certain duty -- to God and to Country and to Countrymen and women and children -- that we continue to be an educated and self-reliant PEOPLE, essentially believing in good self-government above all else; for solid self-government has a way of controlling many flaws, right...

What it did NOT call for -- is allowing for some people to get free stuff, free healthcare, free food, free anything, solely on the backs of the hard working, tax paying Americans without end.  If you are receiving any government benefit, it's not the government supplying these needs; these needs are being supplied to you by the generosity of the community in which you live, through government taxation.

It's a rather direct transaction, too, along with the umpteen unseen fees; corporations and small business and individuals are taxed, and from those proceeds government provides for the common defense, supplies three branches of government with all the bureaucrats amassed to support it, and then decides how to distribute the rest.  And the government can't even do that legitimately living within it's means, now twenty trillion dollars in debt!  Does anyone care how much money that is?

This Obamacare fiasco is a case in point.  This never should have happened in the first place; and how absurd is it that today's GOP cannot figure out how to communicate to the American people just how corrupt and ridiculous this legislation truly is, let alone be brave enough to repeal it!

Mitch McConnell doesn't even come close to being in the same room as statesmanship, this is just a given.  But besides that, healthcare is simply not a commodity that the government can recklessly give away by way of the redistribution of wealth, by way of government subsidy, by way of any other way other than through the avenues of the free market, the natural flow of supply and demand, and of course, lest we forget, good SELF-GOVERNMENT.  [translation:  smoke at your own risk, as just one example.]

The founders recognized what kind of government provided the healthiest relationship between those in power and the governed; clearly, it's now all reduced to a prescription that we have fully abused, erasing two hundred years of common sense.  (See also opioid abuse and 1.3 billion dollar fraud)

At the end of the day, it is the entire GOVERNMENT that needs limitations enforced, department sanctioning,  and perhaps, with due cause, of course,  a few statesXmen jailed for charges of crony capitalism, invasive corruption, and fraudulently spending trillions of dollars of the people's money without proper, lawful cause, and without any way possible to reach solvency before an overdose occurs.

and to think, all this because Mitch didn't answer his f%&ING free phone.

Make it a Good Day, G

It's About Drawing a State Line Thing

Dear America,

it's about something mentioned yesterday, almost entirely as an afterthought, that is still sitting with me...

Can you guess what it is?

it's when the words 'why have state lines at all' gave way.

This morning -- this entire week perhaps -- is about returning to this new reality in America, the smudging of the lines, the boundaries put in place.... for our benefit! I might add.

Michigan, just this morning, is trying to remedy a similar situation as we speak.   The Unions in the state have overstepped their bounds; a course correction, granting an array of new policy surrounding the Right to Work -- including the right NOT to pay Union dues, if one is so inclined -- has been bundled and bonded by the legislature and is presently on its way to the Governor's office for signature.

Yesterday, the president attempted to influence the decision by saying the following:

"These so-called 'right-to-work' laws, they don't have anything to do with economics. They have everything to do with politics," Obama said. "What they're really talking about is they're giving you the right to work for less money." 

Continue reading here.

But anyway -- is the president predictable, or what?

One minute he speaks so highly of the people's liberty, the next he treats it with contempt.   For this president and radicalized-community-organizer-in-chief, everything is viewed through the political prism.  It's always about the propaganda, the polls (and how to play them), the people's perceptions (and how to twist them), the politics of dividing this sacred body, in actuality, these United States and how to use that for control.  

Control what?

Control of the people, the wealth, the resources, the property -- all in all, the people's liberty. 

He's a learned man, President Obama -- astute to the tactics of Saul Alinsky, armed with an intellect raised by Marxists, and having his entire personal career built upon Union support, community organizing for the disenfranchised, and heavily influenced by mentors steeped in radical thought --  Frank Marshall Davis,  Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Bill Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn...just to name a few. 

The thing is, the boundaries of government are no longer smudged -- they're entirely erased.

Let's just rattle off a short list of where the Federal Government does not belong:

• education
• health care
• abortion
• marriage
• a person's 'right to work'
• welfare & entitlement
• social security

leaving it to seven... for the seven deadly sins.

These things belong under the authority of the state --  as in the individual states, not the socialist state.

Since it was brought up only yesterday -- take, for example, gay marriage...or any marriage, for that matter.  The government simply does not belong.  It should not be of any political use whatsoever...you wanna talk about something having absolutely nothing to do with politics, Mr. President?  Let's talk about this.  You flipped sides on the issue for the politics of it, more than once!  As in you were for it, before you were against it, before you were for it again...

...and come to think of it, your tax hike plan -- calling "the rich" beginning at 200k/year as individuals, the hitched @ 250k/year -- why isn't the starting point $400,000 if you're married?  Is that a punishment?

But having outlined where the fed doesn't belong, allow me be even more clear -- this view is not intended to take anything away from the root of good government created in these United States of America.  The boundaries, the form, the context was rooted in responsible self-government, and created through the prism of multiplying freedom and liberty for all; the family being not only the extension of this principle, but the very center of it.

The core unit of any society starts locally, with the family -- working outward through the churches, schools, the entire community, much like the ripple created from a stone.   A good society starts with something truly small.  But boy, is it strong, solid, stalwart -- becoming a certain structure in place to find our heart, security, peace, and understanding in a crazy world.

Which reminds me, one of the fundamental tactics used in communism is to replace the family with the cause, to replace God with a new religion.

It isn't any great stretch to see that we are in the midst of the lines being smudged; the federal government is erasing cultural boundaries, becoming intricately involved in areas it doesn't belong.   Under any normal situation, this environment begs for anarchists against authority to rise up against it, much like the Occupier's; but such is not the case; it's puzzling, really.  All  is quiet on the home front.  It's kinda creeping me out...

The Tenth Wish is upon us -- give states back the power!  (fist pump)  Let every state be free to decide -- pot or no pot; gay marriage or traditional; right to work or right to union corruption; right to abortion or right to life (and yes, if I were in charge of anything, I would force the elimination of the phrase "pro-choice" -- call it what it is.) 

Every state is different; the political electoral map (by specific county, too) proves that in a heartbeat...Let the Left leaning fall into the Utopian oceans they cling to and let the rest of us revel in our right for our right to live in real liberty, true freedom and peace...lots and lots of peace and quiet.

The federal government was designed to give it limited power for a reason.   The reasons, many.  Unfortunately, for so many Americans, the reasons seem to have been erased along with the boundaries put in place over two hundred years ago.

It's time to for lines to be drawn with a Sharpie pen. 

How do I know this will work?

Children thrive with boundaries.

Make it a Good Day, G

It's About Doing the Wrong Thing

Dear  America,

good morning new world.

good morning Thoreau.

" 'that government is best which governs least;'

and I should like to see it acted up to more rapidly and systematically.  Carried out, it finally amounts to this, which also I believe,  -- 'That government is best which governs not at all;'  and when men are prepared for it, that will be the kind of government which they will have.  Government is at best an expedient; but most governments are usually, and all governments are sometimes, inexpedient...

This American government, -- what is it but a tradition, though a recent one, endeavoring to transmit itself unimpaired to posterity, but each instant losing some of its integrity."

Well now,  now that the president has imagined himself a full mandate to have the will to do and do what he will, let's stop looking forward for a moment and recollect a particular week in a day in the life that has come to pass.

Like the one when Newsweek declared, "We are all Socialists Now."  

After vilifying republicans for socializing our banking industry, the editors of Newsweek just laid it out for us little people:

"If we fail to acknowledge the reality of the growing role of government in the economy, insisting instead on fighting 21st-century wars with 20th-century terms and tactics, then we are doomed to a fractious and unedifying debate. The sooner we understand where we truly stand, the sooner we can think more clearly about how to use government in today's world."

The term "we" not being all the same, we  might add.

For the full scoop, see Tim Graham's blog on Newsbusters, here. And the original Meacham piece, here.

More Thoreau:

"The government itself, which is only the mode which the people have chosen to execute their will, is equally liable to be abused and perverted before the people can act through it."

Indeed; we are in quite the state now; the role of government has been "abused and perverted before the people can act through it."

Now what?

Hence the mounting petitions to the government for secession. 

"All of this is unfolding in an economy that can no longer be understood, even in passing, as the Great Society vs. the Gipper. Whether we like it or not—or even whether many people have thought much about it or not—the numbers clearly suggest that we are headed in a more European direction. A decade ago U.S. government spending was 34.3 percent of GDP, compared with 48.2 percent in the euro zone—a roughly 14-point gap, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. In 2010 U.S. spending is expected to be 39.9 percent of GDP, compared with 47.1 percent in the euro zone—a gap of less than 8 points. As entitlement spending rises over the next decade, we will become even more French." Jon Meacham, just one of 51% of Americans who doesn't mind turning a little French

Back to Thoreau:

"Can there not be a government in which majorities do not virtually decide right and wrong, but conscience? -- in which majorities decide only those questions to which the rule of expediency is applicable?  Must the citizens ever for a moment, or in the least degree, resign his conscience to the legislator?  Why has every man a conscience, then?  I think that we should be men first, and subjects afterward."

amen.

It's a lesson as old as time; perhaps  this is a good time to remind ourselves 'two wrongs don't make a right.'

This is not the time to lose all good conscience -- even if it's been done before, Mr. Meacham.

And yet, America seems to be evolving, organically,  systematically, right on cue, just as timely as the arrival of the changing season on Walden Pond.

This is our government now.

Back to Thoreau:

"A very few, -- as heroes, patriots, martyrs, reformers in the great sense, and men -- serve the state with their conscience also, and so necessarily resist it for the most part; and they are commonly treated as enemies by it.  A wise man will only be useful as a man, and will not submit to be "clay," and "stop a hole to keep the wind away [quoting Shakespeare]," but leave that office to his dust at least --

[and again, he's quoting more Shakespeare] 

I am too high-born to be propertied, 

To be a secondary at control, 

Or useful serving-man and instrument, 

To any sovereign state throughout the world."

...All men recognize the right of revolution; that is, the right to refuse allegiance to, and to resist, the government, when its tyranny or its inefficiency are great and unendurable....

...Our legislators have not yet learned the comparative value of free trade and of freedom, of union, and of rectitude, to a nation.  They have no genius or talent for comparatively humble questions of taxation and finance, commerce and manufactures and agriculture.  If we were left solely to the wordy wit of legislators in Congress for our guidance, uncorrected by the seasonable experience and the effectual complaints of the people, America would not long retain her rank among the nations....[and can we get a shout out from the town square with a snarky 'no duh' here]

...There will never be a really free and enlightened State until the State comes to recognize the individual as a higher and independent power, from which all its own power and authority are derived, and treats him accordingly." [double DUH]

Working on that Christmas list early this year [if you happened to have missed the first thing, it was for Americans to be 'all in' for America, mentioned just a couple of days ago] -- you know what else I want?  I want more men like this.

The thing is -- it would seem as if 'we' have all turned to clay; and worse, we are modeling ourselves from a state of total corruption in every way as if it's totally acceptable.

Sure, maybe in light of the republican governance of late, reinforcing the unmitigated and stark reality the future looks bleak if government continues down this path, it is highly troublesome; just the idea of it -- that they, too, are equally responsible and liable for the growing state of ruin in America as any other.  With any luck in the remains of the day, this realization should be a hard one to accept for every single one of us, all 100%, no party delineation needed.

But if anything else be true -- hardly does this give good cause, to reasonably become a contributing factor to authorize just more civil disobedience and fraud from our legislators until the end of time.   While this notion of a  people's mandate to a president -- to go 'all in'  -- giving government 'carte blanche' -- cannot be anything further from the truth.

Just where is the strength of conviction and good conscience of the common legislator acting on behalf of this nation's first and best intention, for the will of the common man -- to be a free people living with a government which does less, preferably nothing, at best?


Putting all grievances of the Benghazi scandal, along with the miscellaneous, and dangerous, liaisons aside -- this is the day we should find ourselves equally ashamed.

Things Known and Unknown.

Things Seen and Unseen.

It's running rampant;  even running into each another;  ideals colliding or extinguishing
and spiraling us into ruin.

No matter; doing the wrong thing is winning.
And according to some, it's what the people want.

Nothing more, nothing less.

But hey, have a nice day....  :)

Make it a Good Day, G

It's an Article I, Section 8, Thing

Dear America,

it's absolutely crazy that we are even talking about this.

going back to Aristotle:

"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."

amen.

what is absurd is listening to the arguments from the Left as they gaze upon the members of this Supreme Court -- the "individuals" in position to decide the fate of Obamacare; they are whining in unison, saying it's just not fair; and when they break it down to the brass tacks, they find themselves fixated on one guy -- Kennedy -- lamenting it's all up to him.

WRONG AGAIN.

THIS IS EXACTLY WHY this government MADE REASON (without passion) the FOUNDATION of the LAW of the LAND.

What does the LAW say?  What limitations does the CONSTITUTION provide?  Where are the boundaries drawn between the INDIVIDUAL, the STATE, and the Federal Government?

America was designed in direct opposition to anything that appeared, intimated, screamed, conjured, conspired, to look, act, dream like we were run by a RULER(s) of any kind.

MAN was NOT going to decide for us; LAW was going to decide.

Our founders created a limitation of power to the federal government to allow for the people's freedom and liberty to reign.  It was conceived from the Age of Reason to manifest a Reign of Reason.  And it was to protect us from ourselves -- and days like this.

But MAN has usurped the LAW time and time again; and in a stunning turn of fate, has done so in such a way -- over time, trial and error -- that it would seem totally reasonable.

This is what I don't get: since when did the body commissioned solely to protect the LAW become a political push me-pull you vehicle driven by the whims of man?

If we focused upon what the LAW actually says -- without the passion, prejudice and pre-existing conditions --  just how happy would we all be right about now?

You know, Patrick Henry, didn't like The Fed one bit; he considered himself an "anti-federalist" -- someone who basically wanted to give the federal government jack....nothing, nada, no power if we can at all help it.

He fought against Article I, Section 8, Clause 3 (generally recognized as The Commerce Clause) in a very big way; and when tied to what people call The Necessary and Proper Clause (what some people think of as a blank check of no checks/balances whatsoever), Henry deemed the whole thing entirely unnecessary.  He was afraid that it would ultimately lead us into an era with UNLIMITED federal power, complete with unchecked passion and without constraint.  oh Patrick, ssshhh, you had me at 'NO'.

THIS IS HOW SECTION 8 begins:

"The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts and excises, TO PAY the debts and provide for THE COMMON DEFENSE and GENERAL Welfare of the United States; but all duties, imposts, and excises shall be uniform throughout the United States;"

And beginning with the first clause of great interest with regards to the health care law debate:

"To regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the several states, and with the Indian tribes."

blah blah blah la di da di da da...cue clauses of distinction...the coining of money...being the keeper of the "post offices and post roads"...which is funny, isn't it?  one of the main things the Fed was supposed to be fully responsible for...and then moving into at least nine clauses providing for the COMMON DEFENSE, and related.  But now, without further ado, let's cue the second clause of great interest:

"To make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers, and all other vested by this Constitution in the government of the United States, or in any department or officer thereof."

Providing for individual HEALTH CARE is NOT what the founders had in mind when they spelled out "GENERAL WELFARE." The greatest concern of the federal government was to remain one thing -- to provide for the COMMON DEFENSE (oh right, and make a few coins that are worth something, and send mail).  But the militia was basically it.  How uncomplicated could we be?

Health Care is awfully specific to every individual -- as well as, to the state (compare California's health care woes to Kansas, if you will).  So specific, in fact, THIS "Affordable Care Act" forces the individual to pay for other people's contraceptives, forces all people to pay for services they do not personally need, and extinguishes all possibility for private insurance companies to compete equally and fairly with a universal coverage package provided by the federal government.  The one that forcibly mandates the individual to pay for it one way or another -- or get fined, taxed with a penalty --  you say "2-may-toe", I say "2-ma-toe".

When the founders came up with "General Welfare," it was all about things like... keeping the lights on at the White House yet to be ... paying the long distance phone bill to compensate for secret conversations between foreign nations (of course, after creating the very conditions for Ma Bell to come into being, that is).  Any expenditure was to be reserved for the basic, general needs in keeping with the expressed intentions to uphold a free, and general, Republic -- not the other way around.

"The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the People."  The Tenth Amendment

hello.

The truth is, anything outside a truly limited federal government is too much.

From Thomas Jefferson:

"The true theory of our Constitution is surely the wisest and best, that the states are independent as to everything within themselves, and united as to respecting foreign nations.  Let the general government be reduced to foreign  concerns only, and let our affairs be disentangled from those of all other nations, except as to commerce, which the merchants will manage the better, the more they are left free to manage for themselves, and our general government may be reduced to a very simple organization, and a very inexpensive one; a few plain duties to be performed by a few servants [referring to CIVIL servants...yeah right, like that's what they are now...but we digress]."

"A very simple organization, and a very inexpensive one."  oh my...

You know,  back in the forties, the federal government got involved to tell Americans -- business owners actually -- exactly how much they could pay their employees.  It became a doctrine under the days of FDR to control the market with both a minimum wage and a maximum wage.  A fine idea, in theory.

So how did American enterprises and entrepreneurs respond?

They began to provide something new, something really keen and totally cool:  a benefits package!

In turn, America, all of a sudden and totally unexpectedly, entered into a new age -- an age which limited the power of the business owner to pay the employee a wage based on what the market will bear, in tune with the experience and education of the candidate himself; with nudge and by shove, the employer was forced to work within specific guidelines and constraints...for the "betterment" of the "general welfare" by an overzealous big government.  To do this -- to succeed and be competitive with other companies, all wanting the same thing -- they had to tack on benefits (health insurance, paid vacation, sick days, a pension, maternity leave, bereavement leave, and so on and so on).

The business of commerce became commingled with individual [Employer and Employee] rights and responsibilities and privileges and duties.  And we have never been the same since.

[And in a warped way -- the business of just doing the right thing, in keeping with honoring an honest, trusting, respectful, working relationship between two parties was superseded by a higher authority, paving the way for this era of litigation, large and small, and a tidal wave of regulations and taxation]

Anywho....all of a sudden, health insurance became a commodity of just good business practice; and from then on, we never looked back; "benefits" became something expected, demanded, as a "right" of the individual.   By definition, the good intention back behind a decent benefits package, became something teetering on the obscene.

Something that was restricted to the personal whims and needs -- and controlled purely by the individual, who could buy his own insurance and carry it with him no matter where he worked or lived -- became a tool of the system.  Growing into the system we see today.  

If you have time -- and taking a totally different tack now -- read the horrific precedence laid out "under the law" dating back to the Wickard vs. Filburn case, of 1942.  I found a really good summary of the case and how it pertains to what is currently happening HERE. 

It was just about a farmer having a little extra wheat, and just look at what happened!

So, here's my final thought on the day and I promise to leave you all in peace and quiet --

"If the day should ever arrive (which God forbid!) when the people of the different parts of our country shall allow their local affairs to be administered by prefects sent from Washington, and when the self-government of the states shall have been so far lost as that of the departments of France, or even so closely limited as that of the counties of England -- on that day the political career of the American people will have been robbed of its most interesting and valuable features, and the usefulness of this nation will be lamentably impaired."  John Fiske, The Critical Period of American History, 1783-1789 -- plucked from The 5000 Year Leap

 Make it a Good Day, G

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

Dear America, 

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

We are hoarders of the worst kind.

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

This is our government.

We are truly sick.

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

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

Today, we add:

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

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

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

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

Check out this easy reference A through Z.


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

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

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

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

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

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


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"I cannot guarantee that those checks 

go out on August 3rd 

if we haven't resolved this issue. 

Because there may simply 

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

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

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

There is no compromise.

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

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


Does anyone in Washington really get this?

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


Make it a Good Day, G

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

Or, does he?

Dear America,

One of the main points of  Paul Ryan's GOP rebuttal [of the president's SOTU address] -- and what continues to be the mantra of the entire conservative nation  -- is, what do we do NOW in order to RETURN to an environment that "CREATES the conditions to upward mobility."

What do we have to do now -- not in the future --

not drafted over the course of ten years...amounting to merely 400 B's and only attending to discretionary funds (less than 15% of total budget),

not by manipulating ghost budgets and foreshadowing future economic conditions (which, let's face it, if those kinds of super natural predictions existed, we could all buy an island and retire, right?),

and certainly not by "freezing" where we are at now -- how stupid is that idea? especially considering we are currently facing another year of trillion dollar deficits (1.5 T to be exact, see CBO 1-26-11)


but above all, not by ignoring the true culprits of the unfathomable crime in the first place -- the slush fund entitlements.

We are at 14 TRILLION right now, by the end of the year, at 15.5 TRILLION...we can't continue on this trajectory, we simply can't do it, which is why they say it is UNSUSTAINABLE!

Paul Ryan gave us sweet and to the point ten minutes outlining some of the incredible ideas our founders held dear and why; and more important, he didn't sugar coat and pansy his way around the unsustainable debt, the yearly deficits, that every futuristic timetable known to man has come to recognize, shuddering in undeniable regret and disbelief; America's fall from grace and sound principles has created the very conditions to a fierce, traumatic,  downward spiral -- a kind of spiral that, in the right now, is showing enough velocity to take but only a matter of years into the not-so-distant future to come to a horrible, and oh so final, demise.

This isn't fear mongering; this is the truth.

This nation was built upon the rock of ages; learned men, who became known as our founders, came to the table crafting and creating and defining what it is, we as a people, should elevate to our highest value, and likewise, painstakingly made known, in no uncertain terms, what would happen if we don't.

As long as we stayed true to our core beliefs, and held tight to our common values, and came together in a principled, respectable, honorable manner in all of our daily affairs -- as long as we could remain true to our good, and not to the downright ugly -- we could create the conditions of upward mobility, in direct and equal proportion for our efforts -- and all would be well.

America would grow, expand, blossom and bear fruit --and now returning to the very idea of a blog just a few days ago -- UNapologetically -- our blessings would multiply.

"[budget debates] are also about

the purpose of government...

the principles that guide us...

and to show you...

in the spirit of our Declaration of Independence, 

and in the words of our Constitution, 

they have to do with the importance of limited government

and the blessing of self-government." 

Paul Ryan

..."the blessing of self-government." wow.

of course, G's easy -- he had me at hello -- but I'm not sure if I have heard anything more beautiful while making so much sense.

Can we just sit for a moment and get a grip around this?

THIS phrase defines who we are supposed to be as individuals, blessed to be living in this nation, at this time, in this moment AND our inherent responsibility and duty to her, this nation, America.

And now, it becomes painfully clear, we have neither aligned ourselves personally, or collectively, to either of these principles for quite some time.

ouch.

If we stayed true, we wouldn't be in this position today.

Imagine what our world would be like if we simply followed our personal dreams living within our means under a selfless, limited government who only saw fit to manage us with the bare minimum in mind, remaining true to the limited government mandate handed down by our forefathers.  Can you imagine that?

And now, get a grip around the fact that we did this to ourselves, whether it was unabashedly -- or unwittingly!

This is just one example of our government in action today :
(besides the one the president recited in his SOTU address...the one about the salmon departments...his timing was spot on and very funny) -- 

but just yesterday the government made this big announcement of how it was discontinuing a knee-jerk reaction of the Bush Administration which produced the colorized terror alert chart.  The Bush Administration thought, in the short term, a simple system illustrating the height of perceived terror attacks would bring a level of control to the people -- quantifying it, packaging it, making it look like something manageable, or something.  When in fact, all in all, it didn't seem to do much of anything really.

But what does this government report, something to this affect: 'we've been looking at it for more than a year...we will begin phasing it out over the next 90 days...and we will replace it with something better."

If only they were talking about the health care law.

...repeal and replace...repeal and replace...oops but I digress.
 
digress alert, digress alert...
stop...it isn't safe...go back..

So it would be funny stuff if it weren't so true -- but in reality, it has taken somebody, within this administration, probably someone making oooh, I don't know, let's go with the latest upper echelon averages, say, $173,596/year, an entire year to figure out that the purpose of the current Terror Alert System can no longer be found -- but we're gonna replace it  anyway, with one of our systems instead.

Now, given we already have the tools in place under "the emergency broadcast system" of the FCC -- why are we even spending our energy -- over the course of a year! -- to even discuss it????

and this phasing out thing... over 90 days -- what does that mean? -- first the red goes, then the orange...then...?

I like where Stossel is coming from these days -- and Rand Paul -- just start; start cutting, and by all means cease and desist clinging to any relevance in 'freezing' -- as that dog just ain't gonna hunt no more, no more.

I remember when I was a wee little girl skipping to the tulips in the seventies, we had lessons on recycling, being good to mother earth, conserving our resources, being kind to our neighbor, only paying for what we could afford, listening to our parents (with genuine love and respect, too), not letting the water run when we brushed our teeth, wearing the same tennis shoes everyday until we grew out of them, having to at least try my spinach until the day I began to really like it, spending pocket change for a 45  (Elton John's Good Bye Yellow Brick Road) and thinking it was gold...point is, we knew then many of the things we know now... we were all talking about saving energy, making more fuel efficient cars, getting off our addiction to oil (especially exported) even then!  forty years ago. we've been on this road a long, long time.

The thing is, today, my epiphany came with the idea, that all this talk about green this, green that, is so yesterday's energy.   THIS talk is nothing new at all -- and there are ample parts of this world, full on countries, make that continents, who don't give a hoot if they pollute -- still!  And have no plans to change.

Now conservation is commendable and essential all the live long day.  No doubt about it.  It is cool.  It is smart.  It is responsible.  It is what all of us should do right now.

Conservation, based on sound principles and universal truths, is never on the wrong side of the argument...
but especially right now.  TODAY.

And just what has grown twenty five percent in the last four years?  Where is the gluttony?  Oh the irony given the recent focus on obesity, no?

What we have left
of this beautiful America
we must conserve, and rapidly.

The future is now, not divined over the course of ten year averages while hoping the creeks don't rise.
It is now.

Right now, today, we must return to a limited federal government and immediately alleviate wasteful spending from every ridiculous department saved or created in the last ten years. And not stop there.

Chop entire bodies of bureaucrats, right now, today -- slash the department of education, slash the department of energy, and remove most czars along with all of their people, overhead, and paper clips right out from underneath the high speed-rail dreams that carried them in.

Stop all government special favors and subsidies and earmarks.

Privatize, re-organize and/or limit Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid -- for like the president said, "the rules have changed."

Close down Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac for fraud, and pose incredible fines upon the bums that abused their power, recklessly mis-managing a condominium of bureaucracy for years, while punishing the American taxpayer all along the way.

Close down military bases around the globe (without a second thought, at least half, to start), and bring our troops home to work along our borders -- to protect America, for America's best interests, as clearly defined by our Constitution.

All travel should be curtailed until further notice -- any of you guys ever heard of a thing called Skype or GOtoMeeting.com?

All catered lunches should be paid for out of pocket.

All un-used office buildings should be sold.

And to the issue to raise, or not to raise, the Debt Ceiling: This is no longer a question --  NO.

No new taxes.  No new spending (i.e. investing).
You -- the federal government -- are cut off (and make no mistake, you are cut off at the knees, the Chicago way, if you get my drift). For we, the people, are creating the very conditions for upward mobility of the common man, right here, right now.


Cease all discussions about "yesterday's health care law"  -- and begin to lay the groundwork to commence true TORT reform; regain the competitive spirit of the health care industry by extending the insurance company territory to the entire United States,  and thus correcting the mass market failure of limiting the industry to the border line, slashing the monopoly affect right off it's feet, so that we may more fully create the conditions for fair market value and practice of a commodity long overdue...while the health care bill is just the beginning...

A country who's sole purpose is to create the conditions of upward mobility -- who wouldn't want to live in a country like that?

A limited government is perfect in every way -- add to that the 'blessing of self-government' -- oh my, true blue liberty runs amuck. crazy I tell you, just crazy.  make no mistake, it's crazy good.

"A people who values it's privileges

above it's principles 

soon loses both." 

Dwight D. Eisenhower

This is no time for sissy speak; we must act, confidently, and go in the direction of full stop and reverse...

...not over ten years, not tomorrow, not in five minutes, not even in a minute...but right now.

Make it a Good Day, G

love love love Doris Day...and she's playing on G-TV, just a click away on Dear America today, not tomorrow, right now, today, and only for today, don't miss her ...Day,   Doris Day.

Dear America,

My guess is, he never thought it would come to this; he imagined the whole thing going down a wee bit different; he jumped in front of a moving freight train, and thought his cape and crest would save him.

Not so much.

Here we are, a week into the melodrama on Capital Hill, and the political landscape continues to weave and turn.

What a gamble -- I mean compromise; doesn't he know how impossible it is to reap any kind of favorable reward via manipulation, arm twisting, letting the finger do the walkin,' the mouth do the talkin', giving free reign to his rootin' tootin' ego in leading the way?  He thought it was in the bag, so much so, he leaped when he should have taken a step back.  He zigged, when his party zagged. And by the end of the week, he was in such a pickle, he had to call for reinforcements.

The best part, was when he turned to Mr. Bill and said, "I gotta go to a party [as the Mrs. has already been kept waiting for a half hour]..." 

How strange was that -- the president leaving a past-president to clean up the mess he made, to smooth over the rough edges on the track, and to finally make way for the meeting of the minds in Congress to just do it already.

Really?  You called in Mr. 'I did not have sexual relations with that women' Clinton, recalling his fist with thumb protruding from the top, waving at us, as if that would be enough to stop a presidential size train wreck in our midst?  As we all know, it just got worse from there...

...ah yes, but in the liberal mind's eye, he is masterful and wonderful and perfect just the way he is.

I just love, how sometimes, just a girl can get it right; remember back a couple days, when I was wondering why things can't be settled on a handshake, with one thing at a time, only an up or down vote, keeping on the straight and narrow to legislate upon the issue at hand while comforting the community at large with simply a display of one's integrity, political convictions, and personal character? 

I found a little help articulating just that in this morning's "Morning Bell" from The Heritage Foundation...Liberals Leave the Reservation... What does it cry out for, pray tell?  Just a simple vote -- on the bare bones initiative to save the current tax rates for all -- while, if we must, they say, we can do the same in a simple yea or nay for the Unemployment Benefits Extension -- and then call it a day.  That's it. Done.  Then the little engine that could -- I think I can, I think I can -- could probably get over the hump, while more important, keeping the integrity of the engine still very much intact.

Getting back to our Compromiser-In-Chief, he blew it, from day one (that being about a week ago); he came out with both barrels blazing, backing his own party into a corner, and thinking they would just bend rounding the unexpected bend at locomotive speed, naturally and effortlessly, to his new found party line; not so much and not in the least bit.

But there he was, leaving it in the hands of an experienced engineer who has been there before, crafting perhaps his very own saving grace right out of thin air.  Will it be enough? The first round of votes begins about three o'clock, eastern time -- high noon, of course, out here in the wild, wild west.

The thing is, real altruism -- much like a ghost town spiriting a congress long past -- seems only to be found in the annals of history;  as the tumbleweeds come rolling in with the dust up, legislation of the 21st century seems only to come with a pearl of great price; that real price having nearly nothing to do with real money anymore. (ah who are we kidding, real money has a lot to do with it too...)

But these are the people we have elected into office, entrusted to be the caretakers of the public good -- when in fact, few are worth a lick of salt between them.

Somewhere along the line, the attributes we used to elevate in the process of progressing as a society -- our natural ability to persevere, our pioneering spirit to overcome diversity in order to take care of one's own, supporting the generations of both the young and the old in community with one another beginning with our own family -- are elements we no longer value; personally and collectively, society has turned our self-reliance into a thing of the past.

What used to be embedded into our DNA -- endowed by our Creator and reinforced by America's very own heritage over two hundred years -- has grown into waves of entitlement programs, one after the other, bequeathing to the public good a mountain of insurmountable deficits, creating a legacy of debt we can no longer afford, let alone have enough spare change to tinker with these unscrupulous details hidden in the fine print of any new legislation to come our way anymore.

Sure we can move mountains, we can survive the prairie, we can outlive blizzards, droughts, and hurricanes, some of us have been known to even leap tall buildings in a single bound -- but when we do, we expect to keep the money we make (just go with it...).  That's just the way we are made.  In no particular order, the DuPont's, the Vanderbuilt's, the Carnegie's, the Rockefeller's, the Ford's, the Kennedy's, the Gate's, the Buffett's, the Winfrey's, the Johnson & Johnson's, the P Diddy's, the Zuckerberg's... even in make believe, like the 'moving on up' Jefferson's -- this country used to value and applaud and congratulate success; we built this nation wanting the next generation to have more, be more, make more, than the generation who came before.(FYI, just notice when most of the big money's been made...with 375,000 millionaires, some billionaires, America is doing exactly what it is supposed to be doing)

Which is all the more poignant when we realize our self-reliant foundation -- the one we take for granted in this age of having everything and nothing simultaneously -- came from a body of men who never once said what's in it for me.

Achieving great personal wealth was not the goal, as building the framework of the best and the brightest natural laws known to man became paramount; laying the track and extending the tools for the public good, so that the public good as a whole -- individually and collectively -- could expand and prosper under free market principles, so that the people could better equip themselves for success, and in the end, provide for themselves; the key, of course, is found in the freedom in-between the small, limited government with limited power ...and the unlimited power unleashed in those who find ways to capitalize on their own skills, talents, education, hard work, tireless efforts, to the best of their ability, to create wealth.

The problem is not in the creation of wealth, but the overzealous control of it, along with the natural growing inclination to grow the government, to take from the rich to give to the poor, like robber barons on a speeding train over the proverbial cliff... a story line played over and over again since the beginning of time.

The good news, and in the spirit of yesteryear, we shall overcome one way or another.  We always have and we always will.

Make it a Good Day --
and you shall be rewarded for it, G

A box of Cracker Jacks gave me a pleasant surprise over the weekend; my prize was a booklet, inside we had to guess who the cryptic illustration was only by the following description:

"I was born in Boston, the youngest son of my father's 17 children.  As a candlemaker, my father earned enough money to send me to school until I was ten.  Despite my limited education, I loved to read and write.  At 12, I became an apprentice to my brother, James, who was a printer.  After several disagreements with James, I ran away to Philadelphia where I would eventually open my own print shop, publish a newspaper, and become involved in politics, foreign affairs, and science...who am I?"


On the back page, Cracker Jacks adds: 

"Described as the most multi-talented figure in American history, Benjamin Franklin's contributions to American society are as numerous as they are important.  The most famous American of his time, Franklin was also an inventor, (bifocals, swimfins are among his many inventions) a philosopher, politician, firefighter, soldier, cartoonist, ambassador and more.  The common thread among all of his endeavors, however, is his dedication to public service and the betterment of society."

then in bold letters, it reminds us: "FRANKLIN CAN ALSO BE FOUND ON THE $100 BILL."

A common thread today, is that our kids seem to be cheated out of a good education -- we aren't doing enough, they say; the argument seems to be we aren't throwing enough money at it, as we enter an age where we just aren't seeing the results we had hoped.  Maybe, we should just stop teaching kids at the age of ten, require them to use their own initiative to read and write on their own, and let them fall where they may fall -- with any luck, they could be the next Ben.

Now, I am being facetious, but think about it.  A limited early education somehow made many a great men...the Franklin's, the Lincoln's, the Carnegie's... hold up, I just might start sounding like a broken record. 

Last word, even a Harvard Education gives us no guarantees.

Dear America,

We are born free and then we die, while in between we are caught up in a web of confusion, contradiction and calamity being over regulated and undercut by the workings of man upon man, through wanton and unlimited government intrusion.

Is it really better to live in a cage, restricted of the free flow of life, under the heavy hand of government -- is this really where we want to go, how we want to be?

More regulation is not the answer; if anything, let the last hundred years stand as proof, it cultivates an environment of strict controls, higher penalties, more punishment, and less individual freedom to think and grow rich, to live and let live, to go wherever our dreams might take us. 

AND it can be so darn confusing in the process -- mixed messages abound in the united states of do this, but not that; let's change this, but not that, but not right now, maybe later; let's tax this, but not that -- this applies to some, but not all;  let's regulate this guy, but not that guy, oooh but hold up, let's sit on this some more, but not for long, let's not jump to conclusions here, but here, go for it... you get my drift.

And anymore, it's not just our government doing this to us.

Take the recent revelations by the NFL, you can tackle, but don't hurt anybody; no  longer will helmet to helmet pummeling of the opponent fly, or you will be punished -- fined and taken out of the game -- you know, the game where the fundamental key to winning, or at the very least, defending, is the stark brute force of tackling the guy who has the ball.  Oh okay,  so when you go to the NFL with VISA these days, you get less of the NFL -- at least, with respect to the nature of the game that it was intended.

But really, what this means for those of us sitting on the sidelines, the refs will be the ones calling the shots, stopping the clock, overseeing the players every move, and making sure everyone behaves themselves for now one      more      thing... now I am all for not being stupid, there is that, but if the game wasn't already losing the sport to rules and regulation... we get an afternoon for the price of nearly four hundred bucks for a family of four with brand  new pansy regulations... feel free to tackle, but not like that...and just how is a 300 pound tackle going to adjust mid-air?

Take the latest brainchild of the legislators born out of the days of Woodstock, after nearly twenty years of telling our children not to smoke, what do we do, we seek the legalization of pot --  oh, it's to cover for our lousy good for nothing legislators  who seem to think they can spend our money into oblivion, while increasing services in welfare and health care, while signing off on a slew of ungodly and reprehensible pension packages from here to Timbuktu...oh, the kids will be fine...what harm will it do? 

Really?  Seriously?  Don't smoke this, but smoke that (when you are over 21, of course).

Take the drama on DADT -- and first, let's point out that on the campaign trail, Obama said he would repeal the DADT first thing, as it was "unconstitutional."  Well, flash forward, with not one mixed message, but two for the price of one.  In the first instance, in the last couple of days the courts legislated the law (again) by repealing it -- so, how did the Department of Defense take it?  They issued a statement alerting the recruitment of gays and lesbians will be honored -- but added basically the caveat, don't get the crew cut yet, as it may not stick.  Say what?

In the second instance of contradiction and calamity GI Jane, we have the Obama Administration rushing in to tell the courts, no can do -- and long story short, the courts said no can do back -- so now, the decision is under appeal.  Say what?  Isn't this what you wanted all along, Mr. President?  You are wearing me out, dude, as I am so confused...Do you want DADT repealed, yes or no?  It's a simple question; and in the meantime, I do believe a few of your people have their nickers in a wad, just sayin'.

And along those same lines, let's plug an easy one:  the war in Afghanistan.  In the campaign, the wannabe Commander-in-Chief said Afghanistan was "the good war,"  not to be confused with the good wife, I'm sure.  But in essence, he came out fighting, he said that this was the war to win -- the one that mattered.

Oh really, Mr. Commander-in-Ican'tgetoutfastenough?

Enough said; but in review of the last few months in particular, we seem to be experiencing a strategy under the likes of somewhere lost in translation and lost in space and timetables -- you know, the holidays are just around the corner, Mr. President, after that, it's like six months to summer 2011.  Somethings gotta give but it won't be the Taliban -- they are absolute in resolve, laser like in the cause, and have no problem just waiting this one out until clear skies.  But more important, think about what our troops are thinking, for just a moment, if you will.

And now talk about mixed messages, how about the biggest one of them all -- besides the little things, like saying you would come into office and go line by line to cut government spending... having spun that tale into somehow adding THREE TRILLION DOLLARS to our NATIONAL DEBT (and now being all you, not a bit of BUSH) -- besides that...let's just move on.org and set that aside...

BUT you, dear president -- and much to our dismay and totally unexpected --  came in on a cloud of illusion; nothing in what we saw in you then, has become the president we see today, and need so desperately now.

Nothing. 

Talk about mixed messages -- you take the flag, steal the show, and make it look like everything else is amateur hour; you can't even speak the whole truth of the words of our Declaration of Independence...which just Monday, for the third time in like thirty days you have left out "by their Creator."

We thought we were getting an American President who held  tight to the Constitution (having studied it!), who hailed our Declaration of Independence (having exemplified it in every way), who basically glorified the position of being the leader of the free world, having the privilege of holding the highest office in the land, and representing America, Americans, and all that she stands for.

What we heard, when you campaigned with  grease lightening charm and elegance, was a centrist, was a peacekeeper, was a "bridge to both sides of the aisle" maker; what we thought we heard was a man who understood the principles upon which we were founded, from a point of view that we all recognized in ourselves, in keeping with something familiar, safe, engaging, and revolutionary. 

Your message cut right to the heart of a nation of 300 million,  who wanted to live in a country with you in charge, to be that country in every way; you delivered a package deal that we could not refuse nor turn away -- as you presented yourself with open arms, a fair intellectual mind, with an added bonus, of astounding, dynamic, true blue personal flare.

There was no confusion, America's exceptionalism poured out from your every word and move; the message was clear, absolute, undeniable and UNALIENABLE through and through.

ahh  Wasn't it  Emerson who once said, "conversation is a game of circles..." yes...

How clear the understanding becomes after a wee bit of time, and place, and circumstance; ahhh what we find after the true test of time -- waiting for the message to meet up with the real world and the ideology of just a man, front and center, fully exposed.  It's enough to make one dizzy, really.

Oh the web we weave...falling under the principles of natural law... we're bound to get stuck in a corner some time or another.

In a word, not, this was not the America intended by our founders; mankind, and the boundless, immutable natural law we live, by design, safely under the arm of the unalienable rights endowed by our Creator, is all we ever need; unlimited power of the government simply gets in the way.

America was intended to grow, freely and unencumbered by rules and regulation, and by definition, creating the free flow of free enterprise and the free market with a free people, and, how do you say, freely, every step of the way; if you'll notice, what got in our way, was the failure to regulate and limit the growth of government.  Of course, hearing you shout out, government wouldn't have to regulate so much if they didn't see the need, the systemic failure of the decent common man gone bad...blah, blah, blah...and you're right. Absolutely.  and thank you for bringing that up.

As soon as we began to take our attention away from "the unalienable rights endowed by our Creator," we created issues; we became mixed up and confused over how to do it right -- getting sucked into a gnarly web of disaster, one thing after another, confusion, only making things worse, the further away from our founding principles and values we became,  the more we were in it, committed, lock stock and barrel tied to the cause of over-correction, masterminding false Gods, regulating hopes and fears, all to control the whole under the so-called rule of law...for our own good, you know. 

It was all an illusion to turn our hearts and minds away from the one true thing that made us whole, good and law abiding citizens creating law abiding businesses and prospering with law abiding integrity and honor and compassion and liberty and justice for all...

...that being our faith in something greater than ourselves, the Creator of all that is seen and unseen, the maker of America and all that she stands for and all that she will ever be. amen.

When we ceased letting the Creator regulate our every move, individually and collectively, by allowing government to take over and play God, we ceased being a free people and began regulating a world wrapped around the impossibility of all things, through eyes of man not our maker.  It doesn't even matter if you are a believer, or not; the reality that when we ceased making good people, with or without the motivation and inspiration under God, is when we failed the possibility of everything.

"...But lest I should mislead any when I have my own head and obey my whims, let me remind the reader that I am only an experimenter.  Do not set the least value on what I do, or the least discredit on what I do not, as if I pretended to settle any thing as true or false.  I unsettle all things. No facts are to me sacred; none are profane; I simply experiment, an endless seeker with no Past at my back.

Yet this incessant movement and progression which all things partake could never become sensible to us but by contrast to some principle of fixture and stability in the soul.  Whilst the eternal generation of circles proceeds, the eternal generator abides.  The central life is somewhat superior to creation, superior to knowledge and thought, and contains all its circles. For ever it labors to create a life and thought as large and excellent as itself; but in vain; for that which is made instructs how to make a better...

...The way of life is wonderful. It is by abandonment." 

Emerson, from his essay simply titled, Circles.

We are born free; while two things we know for certain, death and taxes; at this point, full circle sounds fine by me, and might even venture to add...  like heaven to my ears.


Make it a Good Day, G