It's Just a Little March Madness Thing

Dear America,

happy Friday

Let's immediately cut to Breitbart Sports because it is just that brilliant:

Conservative Nebraska Senate candidate Ben Sasse, who has been surging since being labeled the anti-Obamacare candidate, has released a "Constitutional Madness" bracket to highlight the lawlessness of the Obama administration.

"Which is President Obama's worst constitutional violation?" the bracket says. "Make your picks!"

is how it all begins before breaking down the Constitutional Madness into regions with each pairing more reprehensible than the next.

Then, if we were to buttress the domestic policy up against our foreign policy, what do we get?

Firm foundation for success?

Domestic and International tranquility worthy of a Nobel Peace Prize?

Let's cut to Mary Katharine Ham, of HotAir, taking us to a post dating back to the first week of March, just because it is a happy Friday and it is that good:

When you accept a repressive Russian ruler’s offer as a political escape hatch because your own ill-considered rhetoric put you in the awkward position of being a Nobel Peace Prize winner elected president as an anti-Bush who would “nation build at home” now half-heartedly lobbying the nation to go to war in Syria, that repressive Russian ruler might not take you seriously the next time around.

A coherent foreign policy— at its best telegraphing that the United States is willing to use many tools to back good actors and punish bad, reward allies and punish enemies— is about being perceived as tough and reliable enough to prevent something like the invasion of Ukraine from happening before it happens

Let's now cut to Wednesday -- being on the cusp of, oh how do you say, a Ukraine Spring -- when the president made oh so sadly clear where his foreign policy in that region stands:

We are not going to be getting into a military excursion in Ukraine.

What we are going to do is mobilize all of our diplomatic resources to make sure that we've got a strong international coalition that sends a clear message

Ukraine should decide their own destiny. Russia right now is violating international law and the sovereignty of another country. Might doesn’t make right

[and to continue reading, go to Washington Examiner]

Remember now -- we have long told Ukraine not to worry; we would have their back all the way through the brackets, whether it was March, or not...And making it look totally official  and everything ...here, and here, when the March madness news on "the Ukraine Page" dot Gov.  included this from the ambassador: 

U.S. Ambassador To Ukraine Says Crimea Should Stay In Ukraine
Ambassador Pyatt (Mar. 10): "Crimea is and should remain a part of Ukraine. Discussion over. That said, I have been encouraged to see comments from Prime Minister Yatseniuk and others indicating that the government, the Ukrainian government is open to enhance levels of autonomy for the people in Crimea."

U.S. Foreign Policy Toward Ukraine
Deputy Assistant Secretary Rubin (Mar. 6): "Our united efforts have demonstrated to the people of Ukraine and to the international community that the United States is resolute in its support of Ukraine’s desire for a democratic, peaceful, and prosperous future."

Perhaps we should revisit the scrapped missile defense program to help Ukraine...and quickly mitigate the growing concerns of other allies, see Poland.

Let's cut to the CBS News post for a simple breakdown of what happened to it:

The Bush program, which would have placed 10 ground-based interceptors in Poland along with a radar in the Czech Republic, was replaced with a system of smaller interceptors to better deal with short- and medium-range missiles that the administration believed Iran had made more progress developing. The final stage of the replacement program was cancelled last year to place more interceptors in Alaska to deal with threats from North Korea.

And for a WHOLE lot more deep background on the entire missile defense program  -- that is, if you've got the time -- see the Heritage Foundation here.

While all this makes me nervous, anxious, good reason to pop up to the concessions for a hot dog, soft pretzel and beer, it also makes me wonder...just what happened to kinetic military action?  Why then, not now?  [Don't hate.  It's just a good question.]

AND don't get me wrong.  This girl doesn't want to go to war with Russia! 

What I am dreaming of is an administration who carries a big stick, bolstered with a well thought out game plan in both offense and defense; an administration who says what they mean and means what they say; an administration so formidable that by just walking into the arena makes any opponent shrivel into a ball, making almost any situation a non-starter.

But look at us; that was era gone by, long in the record books; that was then and this is now, all "nation building at home."

How's that working out for us?

Are we?  Are we really building a stronger nation , here, there, or anywhere?

Let's cut the denial.  We suck.

Look at us!   Completely and thoroughly divided by region... be it race, religion, wealth, sexuality, boy vs. girl, English vs. Spanish, progressive vs. conservative, east vs. west vs. north vs. south  -- you name it, we've got a bracket for it.  And who do we have leading the charge?  A community organizer -- make that agitator; just a guy who has no business being the leader of the free world, be it foreign or domestic.

Somebody, anybody, make it stop; stop the insidious madness.

A cohesive, free enterprising, peace building, corporate culture,  united under the Divine and the Rule of Law, and brought to you by painstaking assimilation by virtue of all brackets melting into one -- begins with one ball.

Make it a Good Day, G

And since this week is brought to you by the Number 8 -- let's add this to the long list of links --  Obama March Madness:  Scandal Edition:  College Students Fill Out Their Brackets on Top [Eight] Obama Scandals.

It's a Let God Out of the Closet Thing

Dear America,

So the founders built it, so that we may come into a world of freedom and liberty for all, in equal opportunity.

Given we are still discussing nation building, thanks to our dear president bringing up it's importance -- how can we not begin without looking at the very start of it all -- our birth, our early education and environment, how we nurture and teach our children to be of good character, of strong body, of kind spirit, and smart -- really, really smart.

As this sort of thing doesn't just happen by accident, you know.

It takes a village, sure.  But how often are we really in, say, "the village?"  And, how much of that early life is spent simply at home?  And just how stable is that home of ours?  These are all really good questions, if I don't say so myself.

This may be leaning a bit off the subject, but here in San Diego, we have had an unusual rash of entire families, parents and children, killed in a homicide/suicide scenario.  Three families, in fact, over about the last three weeks, are gone.  We talked about the stresses of life just yesterday -- and mostly in jest; but the reality is, in times like these, pressures of raising "good" kids doesn't even get on the top ten list of things to do today, for parents are being drowned, suffocated, buried, in a level of stress that puts just getting food on the table taking over nearly every waking thought.

And in these cases close to home, it all became too much.  A parent not only took their own life, but the life of their children along with; and according to Geraldo, at least 1000 kids a year are killed at the hand of their own parent...roughly three a day.

SO our strength to persevere must come from somewhere, right?  And to come right out with it, that is usually our faith.  See here, a current Gallop poll outlining some of the numbers.

70% of us still believe in Something outside of ourselves; and 41% consider themselves VERY religious, and 29% call themselves moderately religious...while, just 30% put themselves squarely in the NON-religious category.   If we were to break out the group of NON-religious: 29% lean towards GOP, 16% lean independent, and a whopping 54% lean Democrat.

So this poll makes me wonder -- how is it possible then, showing a country which leans seventy percent of the time towards believing in SOMETHING greater than ourselves, a God -- how is it that we have grown so anti-God in our everyday life -- say, in the village?  What, so as soon as we pop our head out our front door, we are supposed to leave our religion at home now?

Sorry.  That dog ain't gonna hunt.
This is not what our founders intended.

Our founders, lived from a place of believing -- a place that fully acknowledged Divine Providence had It's hand in the very making, and the building, and the reinforcing, and the maintenance,  in celebration of all good things to come.


Our founders protected us -- we the people -- FROM government telling us what to believe, and controlling us through the pulpit. It was hardly the situation of the other way around; this land, this nation, was built so that we could wear our religion every day, in school, in the grocery store.. at Home Depot, at Cisco..in the town square, in the village...and not be vilified for it.

And even though real Christianity had great influence upon our founders direction, in that Divine Providence kind of way,  the truth is, America's religion grew from a place so much bigger than that -- for we are living the dream of people like Cicero, that dates back two thousand years! A chief component of Cicero's politic was based upon  "rules of 'right conduct' with the law of the Supreme Creator of the universe...the only intelligent approach to government, justice, and human relations is in terms of the laws which the Supreme Creator has already established." [from The 5000 Year Leap]

Cicero explains this Natural Law in greater detail by saying:

"True law is right reason in agreement with nature; it is of universal application, unchanging and everlasting; it summons to duty by its commands, and averts from wrongdoing by its prohibitions...It is a sin to try to alter this law, nor is it allowable to repeal any part of it [G's favorite part] and it is impossible to abolish it entirely.  We cannot be freed from its obligations by senate or people, and we need not look outside ourselves for an expounder or interpreter of it.  And there will not be different laws in Rome and at Athens, or different laws  now and in the future, but one eternal and unchangeable law will be valid for all nations, and all times, and there will be one master and ruler, that is God, over us all, for he is the author of this law, its promulgator, and its enforcing judge.  Whoever is disobedient is fleeing from himself and denying his human nature, and by reason of the very fact he will suffer the worst punishment."  [Quoted in Ebenstein, Great Political Thinkers, p.133, duly noted in The 5000 Year Leap, p. 40]

Having said that -- and might I suggest sitting with Cicero for as long as you possibly can here -- just imagine now,  how great Thou art.  We are made in America from this cloth; our heritage is rich, masterful, resting on the greatest thinkers of all time!   But here we all come along this one fine day in Two Thousand and Eleven in the Year of our Lord with every intention to uproot every bit of it.  Oh the bloody arrogance and stupidity just blows me away.

Do you think for one minute that the Academia-in-Chief, and the Liberal Organizers for America everywhere, really care about Divine Providence anymore? 

Newsflash:  IT still lives here. God Is and there is nothing you can say or do to change It.

Just because you wish to extinguish all life, liberty, tradition based on life Under God, doesn't mean the rest of us -- the 70% -- stand to agree.  talking to you, King George Soros.

Do you want to live in a world without a living breathing loving soul?  yeah, me neither.

Back to the building of a nation:  start with each and every baby we bring into this world.  And it continues through pre-school, early education, high school, college -- up until they move out and find a village of their own to call home.

So according to the Gallop poll, we do raise our children in a home that lives under God in some fashion -- seventy percent say  that we do, anyway.  That is the good news.

Bad news:  the village doesn't reinforce It's magnificence.  Matter of fact, the village is growing quite tired of even mentioning It's name out loud. The village has decided for us, that it is more appropriate to go by way of pop culture, offering a world of fleeting gods and goddesses, an agenda of many names, of organizations reigning supreme to capture our hearts, steal our money, and exploit our every resource for the "common good."  Sounds a lot like the Church of England, doesn't it? Who needs God, when we have the church of mother earth to tend to, right?

And if that were not enough -- as we have slowly taken away prayer in schools, replacing character building with community organizing, and after years of indoctrinating our children with far left curriculum going against our free market, avenging capitalism, discouraging critical thinking in every way, NOW, we are up against a whole 'nother paradigm -- the onslaught of a brand new agenda focused purely on redefining love, marriage, sexuality, and family.

Perhaps if we included lifestyle differences without demolishing and discrediting traditional relationships and marriage, our children might have half a chance.  But that is certainly not the case, is it?  is it?

Truth is, we have taken God, and our relationship with the Creator totally out of school -- one might even say, that It has been expelled for life. Hit the road, jack, and doncha come back, no more no more. The village has decided that we no longer want you, God; that we no longer need you, God;  that we got this thing called life totally handled.  The village people say, that our children no longer need to give God a second thought.

How can that be when our entire existence as a nation was built upon a belief in Something greater than ourselves -- that Divine Providence led our founders every step of the way -- how can that be?

What is the village so afraid of?

I have a pretty good idea, but that is for you to decide.

But more important, with 70% of the nation leaning to believing in Something, how can it be that our curriculum, that which is responsible for raising our children, allows for this kind of injustice?

How can it be, that all of a sudden, it is totally permissible to teach gay and lesbian relationships, transgender modification, even honoring transvestites and cross dressing 2.0, while curriculum based on building good character, good conscience, critical thinking beyond ourselves -- of what it means on being human, our connection to Something greater than ourselves, and what does God tell us -- is outlawed?

If we believe in treating all people with respect, if we believe in tolerance, if we believe in civil liberties both right and left, then for our children's sake -- then the village must open it's doors to the full curriculum; meaning, the village cannot play God for the rest of us -- and if they insist upon teaching our kids 'that stuff', then our kids deserve a balance of THIS stuff... the stuff that God made...along with it. 

The reality is, our children are in the cross-hairs of a political agenda.

The reality is, nearly 1000 children are killed at the hand of their own mother or father; but the real stunner, the one that the front page never talks about, is that hundreds of thousands are dying a slow death in a liberal education.

we made better kids when McGuffey's Readers were used in school...here's a sample:

About the Stars

1.  What child is there, 

that has never looked up with wonder at the stars!

2. I once knew a little boy, who, after looking 

at them for a long time, went to his mother and said, 

"Mother, these bright things in the sky, 

you call stars, but I think that is not the right name for them."

3."Well, my child," said his mother, "what do you think they are?"

4.  "Why, I think they are God's candles," said the boy.  

This idea is at once natural and beautiful.  

They indeed seem like lamps set 

in the glorious Hall of the Creator, 

to show forth its grandeur, 

and call upon the universe to worship 

Him who sitteth upon the throne, for ever and ever.

5.  Whatever the stars seem to be, 

we have reason to suppose that they are worlds, 

or suns, much larger than the moon, or even this earth.

6.How wonderful then are these shining orbs, 

and how great must He be, 

who in wisdom and goodness has made them all!

and it continues...

...leading the reader through the rest of the story, right to the end, when it welcomes into the room a full discussion of what are stars -- asking what idea is 'natural and beautiful', etc. etc. Just harmless questions making a child truly think for himself!  The child who happens to be of a "non-religious" family, can simply say they do not believe stars are connected to a God at all.  I guess, maybe that would be, in this day and age, about 30% of the class.  But who's counting, right?

The thing is, we stopped nation building, when we ceased teaching our children a deeper connection to all of life and our inherent duty, to ourselves and each other, to maintain 'right conduct' -- with or without God.  

"The sum of all is, if we would most truly enjoy the gift of heaven, let us become a virtuous people; then shall we both deserve and enjoy it.  While, on the other hand, if we are universally vicious and debauched in our manners, though the form of our Constitution carries the face of the most exalted freedom, we shall in reality be the most abject slaves." [Wells, Life of Samuel Adams, 1:22-23, from The 5000 Year Leap]

We must allow ourselves, and especially our children, to walk with God -- out in the open. What is the harm?

As a parent, as a citizen, as a believer, I know this to be true.

Make it a Good Day, G

It's a Spring Thing even when it isn't spring

Dear America,

sometimes the Lord works in mysterious ways -- and when I say, the Lord, call It what you will...Spirit, God, Allah, the big bad Universe speaking to you.  once in awhile, if we sit still long enough, a bump on the head this way comes.

Okay, not to continue down this existential path for too long here, but something happened to me yesterday.

Now, first, bear in mind, my girl is out of town for nearly a full ten days -- having started that count down Friday evening.  And I kid you not, when I went to put on my "Singers & Swing" music, to fill up my soul in her absence and buffer the deafening silence, first thing Saturday morning --  what should the very first melody play for me?  Solitude, sung by a John Pizzerelli.  funny stuff.

It was heart wrenching, and yet, oddly warming all at the same time.  It was as if the Universe was listening to my lonesomeness,  and acknowledged every little bit of it.  With words like, 'in my solitude, please dear Lord, send back...my love.'  And sure, it fills in for a love song, too (and lookie there...strangely enough, applying it there fits like a charm.  wow.  things just could not get any better in G land...now frantically filling the sudden awkward silence with sarcasm).

OH and the old Universe was not finished with It's work -- oh no.  It was just getting warmed up...

[and really, in a moment, this too, should tie back into our continuing conversation on nation building, but then again, it's go time with just a girl...no promises]

So the five minutes of solitude quickly jumped, jingled and jived into "...why should I have spring fever... when it isn't even spring...I'm as busy as a spider spinning daydreams, I'm as giddy as a baby on a swing...it might as well be spring...

all of a sudden I am up again.  I have the house to myself, no baby bird to feed (other than the pooch) and I can pretty much do whatever I want.

[enter crickets here]

oopsy daisy, girl down.

ah go ahead, you keep going, I'll be fine, save yourself.

That was Saturday.

-- Sunday -- 

'this is the day our Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it.'

So, part of my Sunday ritual includes a double dose of God, from two totally separate directions, yet equally bringing me to the same place.  I love my Joel Osteen -- and I love catching the Sunday Heart of the Nation Catholic Mass on television.  For me, the two offer a modern cultural application of our Creator working mysteriously on earth, backed up with ridiculously powerful, sentimental, and trusted tradition.

What can I say,  to label my religion as it stands today, is an impossibility -- there is Lutheran (huge, thankfully, all through my childhood)  there is Catholicism (still huge, as it runs deep in my family heritage, while it has grown in my heart falling in love with a good Catholic boy) and still, there is a wee bit of Religious Science (having been introduced to it by accident and never regretting a single moment actively involved at Seaside Church, for nearly a decade of what now seems another life).  Yeah, yeah...somewhere here is nation building... try and keep up.

So, back to my easy Sunday morning.  

Not only have I been feebly attempting to 'let go and let God', as they say at Seaside, by practicing the presence, living life from a place of Spirit Expressing, and listening to those still small voices that we capture once in awhile in our hearts and minds -- but what did my Aries horoscope read?  (yeah, yeah, no other Gods, I got it...but please, this is going somewhere...)   It gave me this:  "the slow, static nature of the day will teach you some lessons on patience."

The thing is, you need a bit of context -- just before I read my daily sun sign blip -- I went to turn on my TV to see my church boys....

And in turn, poof!  broke the TV ...or was it that the TV broke me?  no bother, in this moment, it could easily go either way. .."the slow, static nature of the day will teach you some lessons..."  really?  Is that how you roll, Mr. Universe?  Is that the way we are gonna play it?

Again, too funny for words.  static, eh... 

The Universe is like, I'll show you something to remember.  What are you gonna do now?  huh?  HUH?  Yeah, G, you think you are all that, step back, take a chill pill and take a moment to learn a  thing or two...enough with the pity party in front of the TV...not on my watch.

...so no Sunday services of any kind....  no Fox News Sunday....  no movie to watch for all of twenty minutes before I fall asleep on the couch on a painfully peaceful, hazy, lazy, one fine dog day of a summer afternoon.

And that's when it hit me, the raspberry on the head, WAS GOD... close up and personal.  God was talking to me, just to me.  but then, I don't know, anyone else get hit on the noggin with a message lately?

While right now, just the thought back 24 hours ago, there are tears rushing down my cheeks; and I find myself unable to even keep up with my self.

There is just so much I need to say, so much I need to do, just so much that must be done -- here -- on this earth -- and especially, here, in this beautiful country -- in order to rebuild a nation caught stuck on one channel, a culture without substance; a culture completely captivated by reality TV; a nation grown so entirely narcissistic, we can't seem to get out of our own way.

It's never really quiet long enough to make a real go of it.

The volume is up way too loud; and, generally speaking, everything is on autopilot and nothing is authentic.

Nation Building.  That is good Mr. President.  It is spot on.  However, this funny feeling in my gut tells me that we are talking about two different things, aren't we?  (again, that is what a long -- long -- really long and quiet afternoon is truly good for. did I mention it was long?)

Last week, I dared you, Mr. President, to begin "NATION BUILDING."  And in this week, we will go marching along on that same refrain.

We are witnessing furor and frenzy over a whole host of cultural twists of fate and fancy...

...to be continued.  stay tuned.

We need to squeeze in one more story:

picture this...as there I was, unbeknownst to me, watching my last movie on a Saturday afternoon, FARGO (yes, and what a god-awful choice it was indeed...but understand, I had no idea what was on the horizon, I'll have you recall...let's just say, the universal power source took It's power back)

Anyway...as we were, there I was, deciding to spin a little Solitaire as I watch stupid TV,  setting up the cards the way my Grandma Vi taught me when I was twelve.  Only to look down, only for a second or two and look back up...and there they were.  Words, a whole lot of words on the screen, forcing my eyes to scramble as fast as they possibly could to get it all in my little head.  In a nutshell, just words lending proper context to what I am about to see.  blahg blahg blahg.

These words, written with a backdrop of total silence,  told the viewers within reception range, that what we are about to see is true, only the names have been changed to protect the integrity of the family left picking up the pieces. ...and talk about pieces, OMG.

which, of course,  made this girl think...

If someone should happen to miss this context, they would be ignorant of a simple truth.  If you missed the words hanging on the silent screen -- you know, while setting up a card game, if making a sandwich in the kitchen, or fetching popcorn -- you would miss the essential links to actual story,  with truth right smack up against make believe.  It is the difference of walking out of the theater thinking, wow, that was gnarly -- good thing that was just a movie ....and.... oh my goodness, I can't believe it was true, that it really happened.

Context. It is everything.

And nation building with proper context is the most essential thing.

Now, some of you might even say -- yo G, here you are about to close up shop for the day, and you hardly said two words about this whole nation building thing at all.  you tease.

And I would have to say, you are right.  shoot me.    -- no, scratch that....throw me into the wood chipper and chop me up into teenie tiny bits and pieces with blood spattering everywhere.    whatever.

This is just the first two minutes of the movie.
This is just context.
We are building context before we can build a nation.

are you picking up what I am throwing down?

And the thing is, this might take awhile...but h-e-double toothpicks, I got nothing better to do.  I've got nothing but time on my hands, right?.  The TV broke me in two; and with good reason.  And I may never get it fixed or replaced.

and doesn't the Lord work in mysterious ways...

I'm a restless as a willow in a windstorm, I'm as jumpy as a puppet on a string...I'd say that I had  spring fever... but I know it isn't even spring...sing it with me...

Make it a Good Day, G

speaking of springtime, speaking of Arab Spring, check out what this guy @ barenakedislam has to tell us, considering context is everything and all.  read this Discovered my go over the weekend joining a new group:  Smart Girl Politics.   This website, on a real story happening now, came via a group member @ SGP -- go girl go, as I like to say... as then, she talks to friends, and they talk to friends, pretty soon, the whole world knows a thing or two and then some.  

This just in (and speaking of a good sign of things to come): Rod Blagojevich is found guilty of nearly all charges and facing 300 years in prison for attempting to make hay with Obama's seat in the senate.  wow.  talk to me.


don't you love pink and green together?  simply the essence of springtime.