I just want to be clear up front, that it is not my intention to infer that any other father is wrong about their daughters. But, I have the three most beautiful daughters in world. Period. That is just how it is. And, that will never change.
There is a lot of conversation going on about Miss Universe, weight, looks, misogyny. It is all important, and one of the key things that determines what kind of person you are, depending on your reaction to them. I don't understand "beauty" pageants nor do I understand their fascination to the public. Of course, they usually have attractive young ladies, depending on your particular attractiveness criteria.
But, they do nothing to measure, quantify or otherwise award beauty. Beauty is the sum quotient of your personality, your heart, your dedication, your love and your soul. It has almost nothing to do with how you look. Because how you look is so transient, it should not be considered in how you define beautiful. Your heart, your soul, your love, those are eternal things and are capable of expressing your beauty.
I am not trying to get into some debate about women's rights and the worth of women. I don't even know how to express how wonderful the women in my life, in my family, my friends, my work colleagues, are. They are all beautiful. And, nothing about that is wrapped up in how they look.
But, my wife, my daughters, are the most beautiful things in my life. The only thing that is as beautiful as they are, is my son. I have three daughters, vibrant, resilient, intelligent, caring, dedicated, talented, and excellent young women. They amaze me, they inspire me, and they humble me with all that they are. There is nothing, nothing, that you could explain or show to me to change that opinion. That is about love, parenting and self knowledge.
I do not attempt to understand why God gifted me with the perfect three women to be my daughters. I just acknowledge, He knew. I do not mean that they are perfect. I know better. But, they are perfect to be my daughters.
They have courage. They have humor. They have honor. They have heart. They are wondrous. They are glorious. And, that will remain my opinion, my fact, forever.
So, when the public. conversation turns to "beauty" it disturbs me. Because, I know how special that word is, and it misused to describe attractiveness, cultural norms, individual preferences. It is wrapped up in huge personal emotions. It is the definition, the standard of some women's lives. It is a burden, a goal, an attainment that they cannot ever feel they reach, because it is always different in everyone's eyes. It makes superstars overnight, but immediately turns others ugly and mean over the attention.
See, beauty is something we are all gifted with. When a person understands that beauty is within them, their essence, and is a gift from God, that beauty shines out and is plain to all to see. When your life is a constant struggle to remain attractive, in the delusion that is beauty, the baggage gets heavy.
We tell our young girls that their attractiveness is tied up in their self worth. If you are "not" attractive by the judge of the public, your worth is less somehow. That is a horrible thing to do to any person, but most especially our daughters. They look to us, regardless of their age, or how long you have been their parent, as arbiters of their actual worth. We are to be the mirror, the reflection of truth, gifted from God, that they utilize to stabilize and understand their world.
None of us get it completely right. I am sure that I have failed Emma, Tara and Kasey in various ways, around maintaining their worth, their self esteem. I am sure that I have not reaffirmed their beauty and unique brand of wonderful at every available opportunity.
That is all on me, and one of the great failures of my life. Because they are all three, each one and together, the pinnacle of beauty to me. And, if they have to look no further than directly behind them, urging them on to the heights of success they will achieve, to see me mirror that beauty, than I am only doing the minimum that God decreed for me. And it is an honor I do not deserve.
We should honor all the women we know, not because they are women, but because they are people deserving of it. We should not be blinded to issues because of the fact they are women, but we should not assume they have issues because they are women. Women are not the same as men, but that does not mean that men cannot understand how to live with women.
Women deserve respect. They deserve fair opportunity. They deserve reassurance. They deserve challenges. They deserve relationsips. They deserve hope. They deserve support.
All of our daughters do. Because regardless, they are some father's daughter. It is hard to remember at all times, because we are fallible people. But it is wrong to claim that because we are men, we can't figure it out. That is lazy and ill advised. Especially if you want to deal with my daughters, you better get it straight. Not only because I am still redneck enough to get the job done if I need to, but because they are going to make certain you do.
Not all daughters receive the support and encouragement and back up they deserve. It motivates them to be focused in ways I feel are unhealthy. They tie their worth to their looks, and then find something ugly in the mirror and because of that error, degrade their worth. They listen to cultural clues that tell them they are not able to do this or that. They receive implicit and explicit messages all day, every day that lies to them about their worth and their limits. Entire industries exist around the vanity that we enforce on our children and most cruelly upon our daughters.
It is all wrong. And, it is beyond my ability to fix. But, all I can do as a Dad, is wake up every day loving them more than I thought possible. All I can do is keep telling them what I know to be true, that they are more wonderful than they guess. All I can do is remind them and encourage them to reach for their dreams, because they are overqualified to be whatever they want. All I can do is sympathize with their setbacks, celebrate their successes and understand, to the best of my ability, the pains and the hurts.
I don't get it right, but I never lose sight of just how blessed I am. All three of those girls will no that someone in this world finds them beautiful, finds them exactly right, just the way they are. I think that is the highest calling a man can have, and is the essence of being a father. It is why we call God, Father, because He accepts us and finds us exactly right, as we are. There is nothing by accident in the creation of the Lord.
So, when a society finds it appropriate to objectify their daughters, it is a sickness and black stain on that society. It happens in all societies. But like every other sin, we are supposed to stop when we realize we are sinning. I don't watch beauty pageants. Because they aren't about beauty. They are about pretty, but Pretty Pageant sounds just as shallow and worthless as it is. And, don't mistake me, those women are someone's daughter, and I am sure they are beautiful. But they are being judged on pretty, because in a contest with bikinis or "sports wear" and world peace questions, you cannot judge beauty. Miss Universe is an exceptionally pretty women on an objective scale. She is beautiful to someone, she is someone's daughter and I would never call her anything but beauutiful. But, the inference that she is the most beautiful woman in the universe is wrong. Because she isn't all three of my daughters, and they are, all three, the most beautiful women in the universe.
So, when you hear this current debate, understand that the whole premise is flawed, and wrong. And neither side is clean, because making hay from someone's suffering is really not any more atttractive than being someone making money off objectifying women. Calling someone's daughter "pigs", "disgusting", "ugly", is just wrong from a person standpoint.
And, I am no holier than thou. Won't claim that I am forever innocent of this issue, or have always understood this. I am positive that I have failed in this regard along the way. That is not a proud admission on my part. It is just that deep a part of the fabric of our society. And it goes beyond elections and such. God does not want us to behave in this way. It is not appropriate by any standard I recognize.
I just needed to say that, to put that out there. Because I watched this mess unfolding, and all I thought is, that poor young lady, I hope she had someone to make her understand that none of that mess had anything to do with her being beautiful. I don't know if she did. But, I want my daughters to know they do, and the world to understand it when I am that man, that father, and defend them, buoy them, brag about them, worry about them, and correct any wrong crap about them.
It is a Dad thing, and from one Dad, to all the rest of you, I hope you have a Dad in your life that makes you or made you understand this.
Thursday, September 29, 2016
Wednesday, September 28, 2016
Morals/History lesson
I figured out what I find wrong with this election cycle. Well, I have known all along, but have finally put some words to what I was feeling. America has lost its moral way, maybe.
Now, I am not talking about being a Christian nation, that is a post for another time and I can definitely put some words together over it. What I mean is we have lost our sense of good and bad, secular values of character and decency.
I suppose part of this is my nostalgia for a place and time that no longer exists. But, I am realist enough to understand that all the things that I miss, that have gone by the wayside, are replaced with things that others are treasuring as they live through them. Instead of drinking from a hose, my children will remember when you could not play Xbox or PlayStation on line. They may even have foggy memories of the dial up modem, which replace my rotary phone attached to a party line memory (which in a weird way, was kind of like a stone age Facebook, lots of lurking and listening).
Time stands still for no one, nor anyone's romanticized memories. I am not nostalgic for the world that cost my grandfather his life from a heart condition that would not have even required open heart surgery today. Nor for the world that required me to use pen and paper, and wait 2 weeks to hear from my family, during my first extended deployment. No satellite phones either, just MARS calls, which were exactly like Facebook without the pictures, cause two guys sat there eavesdropping on you.
There is much to admire and be thankful for, in the world that we live have today. But, that does not mean there are not relics from the past that would be useful to resurrect in our society. For one, we could go back to having some basic right and wrong, good and bad, expectation of morality in interaction. Me included, look, I am just as guilty as the next person.
But, there were rules in play, that were relatively adhered to, and worked for our benefit. We worked on racism, and maybe made progress. And, I hate to disillusion the young folks of today, who see a world of discrimination, but, it is very different today than it was, even in my youth. In 1973, when my family went on vacation, I remember asking my Mom if black people only lived in Maryland. Because once we got across the Harry Nice bridge on 301, we did not see another black person until we got back across the Harry Nice bridge coming home. All that federal desegregation stuff was good and all, but it had not yet come to be rooted in society. There was still enough segregation in place that it was noticeable to a five year old. Today, the segregation is replaced with economic isolation, and there are sections of every large city in this nation that you could wander for hours and never see a person of color, or wander and never see a white person. No sign says "Whites Only", or "Colored Only" but the rent sure as hell does. So, maybe we haven't made progress?
We worked on religious bigotry, and maybe made progress. I was born only 7 years after we elected the first Roman Catholic, the faith I was raised in, to the White House. There was a significant segment of the population that wondered if JFK would be told what to do by the Pope. Honest, its true. The great JFK was seen as something of a risk (besides being a war hero and Senator, bigotry knows no reason). All because of his faith, and his Irish heritage, there was an entrenched minority that would never accept that he was American first, because he swore an oath to be, and believed he was a Papist puppet. Today, we just have an entrenched minority that swears our President is Muslim, because of his name and his skin color, and swears that he is plotting to destroy America. 7 years into his term, we have nominated the chief bigot in charge of that little gem, to run to succeed him as President. It would not be okay if he were Muslim, that must mean he is a terrorist. And, if he swore his oath on the Kuran, it is non-binding, because only the Bible is sacred enough for oaths, though it says in the Bible not to do anything like swearing an oath. President Obama is viewed by many as illegitimate, despite attending a Christian church (though religion is not supposed to matter) and was a Senator. So, maybe we haven't made progress?
We have made progress on equality for women. We haven't, I was just checking to see if you were reading. We still have not passed meaningful legislation that determines that women are required to be paid consistently with men, for the same qualifications and experience. We have done stuff that really is not in the best interest of equality for women, like maternity leave. No, hear me out, because I don't have anything against maternity leave. But, if there is supposed to be equality, there should just be parental leave, that applied to both parents, to integrate a new life and schedule into their complexity. As long as we continue to determine difference based on sex, we continue to extend sexism. Most women are viewed as a risky endeavor when they get pregnant, that is the reality of today. After all, how do you manage without a needed employee for six weeks or more? You don't worry about that with a dude. Unless you extend the rights to both parents, and you then staff accordingly to absorb the expected absence. That is the thing with equal, see the racial thing above. Separate but equal never is. And equal can't be just between one race, or one sex, or one religion. It is either equal to everyone or IT DOES NOT FIT THE DEFINITION OF EQUAL.
I was involved in a conversation last night about wasted votes that prompted this rant. My vote will be wasted on the Libertarian candidate, and because I don't agree with the person I was talking to, I was deluded and militant. Well, maybe. I am convinced, completely, that the essential thing that is American is wrapped up in voting. Exercising that right, without fetters of taxation or publication, is everything America is based on. We, the people, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, ensure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare and ensure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish a Constitution (and yes, I sang that as I typed it, thank you School House Rock). In it, it states that the people elect the representatives that form that government, and the government is subject to the will of the people.
But, we were a little too afraid (maybe with some justification, you did see Trump in that debate right?) about the will of the people, so we instituted the Electoral College. Supposedly to negate the disparity in population, South to North, but really to discount the number of black folk that were enslaved in the South. A fascinating thing, but, in all the elections we have held, we have managed to stay basically true to the will of the people. Except for 4 elections Quincy Adams/Jackson 1824, Hayes/Tilden 1876, Harrison/Cleveland 1888, and Bush/Gore in 2000. Out of all of the elections, these 4 were the only ones that resulted in someone winning the election without winning the popular vote. That is a pretty good record of getting it right, and all 4 of those elections put people in office that resulted in bad news for America. Objective history, not just personal opinion. But instructive about the will of the people. (Important historical note for all those Birther/Obama is a Muslim folks)
What has happened, is that we have entrenched ourselves in a situation of hate and anger. Blacks are angry about their treatment. Whites are angry about their treatment. Muslims are angry about their treatment. Hispanics are angry about their treatment. But, instead of identifying where those points of anger overlap, and can be addressed to the benefit of all, we devolve into name calling and bitterness. Look, I am part of the problem as well, no holier than thou condemnation. And if you have read this far, it is almost over, but this is important.
POLITICS WILL NOT SOLVE IT FOR US. No candidate that we elect is going to solve anything for us. Because our system is set up for us to solve the problem, by the will of the people. We are supposed to vote out folks that do not do their duty, that is why the House has elections every 2 years. They are the pursestrings of the government, that is why they have such a short term, to limit the damage they can do to the nation's well being. The Senate, supposedly a deliberative and considered body, has a longer term, and rotating portions, to provide continuity and breadth of vision, for appointments, treaties, confirmations. The President is up every 4 years. If there are issues, we get to vote in a new President.
Except it has failed. There was a Congressman from Texas on TV last night, that was a Trump supporter, who went on and on about Trump being the change we need, the change necessary, the shake it up piece that has been missing. The reporter asked him, since change was necessary, didn't that mean he was necessarily a piece of the problem that needed to be replaced. Painful expression, silence, then "I put my credentials up every 2 years, and the voters think I am doing a good job."
Look, my opinion, there is not a single member of Congress, House or Senate, that is doing a good job. No budget, no long term legislative agenda, no meaningful amendment to regulation or taxation, no progress on appointments. There is simply a partisan piss party happening. But, we vote for them, over and over and over again, then get pissed off that it doesn't work, like we should expect something different.
Even your particular great representative, that you plan to vote for again, is part of the problem, or change isn't necessary, in the kind of nuclear explosion that Trump would be, literally. The status quo, which is the horse blanket over Hillary, is not all that great an option either. So either way, the political midget that is your current elected official, is of dubious value, period.
If we are to create a process by which we have power in the people again, a lot of folks like me, need to cast "meaningless" votes for other. Because the vote tally and performance of those "fringe" candidates is the only way to break the stranglehold of incumbency the two major parties possess. A vote for other, Johnson in my case, is a vote for different, and the first step in the machinations required to consistently field and provide a choice between R and D. Because Redo and Duplicate are just not good things at this point.
That is not a good versus evil, religious morality. That is a right and wrong decision for the basis of our Constitution and the government we established in 1789. It is maybe the most important thing, those of us alive and running America today, will ever do. Just like beating the Nazis, the Commies, waging forever war on the Religious Nutbags, getting our government back to of the people, by the people and FOR THE PEOPLE, that just might be our greatest generation accomplishment. It worked for the Whigs/Republicans in 1856. They nominated John C. Fremont, a cannibal, I kid you not. He lost, thankfully, he was a major league idiot. But, the performance was significant enough to lay the ground work for two very distinguished Whigs to vie for the nomination in 1860. William Seward, the most able man to never serve as President, and Abraham Lincoln. IT GAVE US LINCOLN, and who would not be happy to see a statesman like that appear on the horizon?
Just saying.
GLYASDI
Now, I am not talking about being a Christian nation, that is a post for another time and I can definitely put some words together over it. What I mean is we have lost our sense of good and bad, secular values of character and decency.
I suppose part of this is my nostalgia for a place and time that no longer exists. But, I am realist enough to understand that all the things that I miss, that have gone by the wayside, are replaced with things that others are treasuring as they live through them. Instead of drinking from a hose, my children will remember when you could not play Xbox or PlayStation on line. They may even have foggy memories of the dial up modem, which replace my rotary phone attached to a party line memory (which in a weird way, was kind of like a stone age Facebook, lots of lurking and listening).
Time stands still for no one, nor anyone's romanticized memories. I am not nostalgic for the world that cost my grandfather his life from a heart condition that would not have even required open heart surgery today. Nor for the world that required me to use pen and paper, and wait 2 weeks to hear from my family, during my first extended deployment. No satellite phones either, just MARS calls, which were exactly like Facebook without the pictures, cause two guys sat there eavesdropping on you.
There is much to admire and be thankful for, in the world that we live have today. But, that does not mean there are not relics from the past that would be useful to resurrect in our society. For one, we could go back to having some basic right and wrong, good and bad, expectation of morality in interaction. Me included, look, I am just as guilty as the next person.
But, there were rules in play, that were relatively adhered to, and worked for our benefit. We worked on racism, and maybe made progress. And, I hate to disillusion the young folks of today, who see a world of discrimination, but, it is very different today than it was, even in my youth. In 1973, when my family went on vacation, I remember asking my Mom if black people only lived in Maryland. Because once we got across the Harry Nice bridge on 301, we did not see another black person until we got back across the Harry Nice bridge coming home. All that federal desegregation stuff was good and all, but it had not yet come to be rooted in society. There was still enough segregation in place that it was noticeable to a five year old. Today, the segregation is replaced with economic isolation, and there are sections of every large city in this nation that you could wander for hours and never see a person of color, or wander and never see a white person. No sign says "Whites Only", or "Colored Only" but the rent sure as hell does. So, maybe we haven't made progress?
We worked on religious bigotry, and maybe made progress. I was born only 7 years after we elected the first Roman Catholic, the faith I was raised in, to the White House. There was a significant segment of the population that wondered if JFK would be told what to do by the Pope. Honest, its true. The great JFK was seen as something of a risk (besides being a war hero and Senator, bigotry knows no reason). All because of his faith, and his Irish heritage, there was an entrenched minority that would never accept that he was American first, because he swore an oath to be, and believed he was a Papist puppet. Today, we just have an entrenched minority that swears our President is Muslim, because of his name and his skin color, and swears that he is plotting to destroy America. 7 years into his term, we have nominated the chief bigot in charge of that little gem, to run to succeed him as President. It would not be okay if he were Muslim, that must mean he is a terrorist. And, if he swore his oath on the Kuran, it is non-binding, because only the Bible is sacred enough for oaths, though it says in the Bible not to do anything like swearing an oath. President Obama is viewed by many as illegitimate, despite attending a Christian church (though religion is not supposed to matter) and was a Senator. So, maybe we haven't made progress?
We have made progress on equality for women. We haven't, I was just checking to see if you were reading. We still have not passed meaningful legislation that determines that women are required to be paid consistently with men, for the same qualifications and experience. We have done stuff that really is not in the best interest of equality for women, like maternity leave. No, hear me out, because I don't have anything against maternity leave. But, if there is supposed to be equality, there should just be parental leave, that applied to both parents, to integrate a new life and schedule into their complexity. As long as we continue to determine difference based on sex, we continue to extend sexism. Most women are viewed as a risky endeavor when they get pregnant, that is the reality of today. After all, how do you manage without a needed employee for six weeks or more? You don't worry about that with a dude. Unless you extend the rights to both parents, and you then staff accordingly to absorb the expected absence. That is the thing with equal, see the racial thing above. Separate but equal never is. And equal can't be just between one race, or one sex, or one religion. It is either equal to everyone or IT DOES NOT FIT THE DEFINITION OF EQUAL.
I was involved in a conversation last night about wasted votes that prompted this rant. My vote will be wasted on the Libertarian candidate, and because I don't agree with the person I was talking to, I was deluded and militant. Well, maybe. I am convinced, completely, that the essential thing that is American is wrapped up in voting. Exercising that right, without fetters of taxation or publication, is everything America is based on. We, the people, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, ensure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare and ensure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish a Constitution (and yes, I sang that as I typed it, thank you School House Rock). In it, it states that the people elect the representatives that form that government, and the government is subject to the will of the people.
But, we were a little too afraid (maybe with some justification, you did see Trump in that debate right?) about the will of the people, so we instituted the Electoral College. Supposedly to negate the disparity in population, South to North, but really to discount the number of black folk that were enslaved in the South. A fascinating thing, but, in all the elections we have held, we have managed to stay basically true to the will of the people. Except for 4 elections Quincy Adams/Jackson 1824, Hayes/Tilden 1876, Harrison/Cleveland 1888, and Bush/Gore in 2000. Out of all of the elections, these 4 were the only ones that resulted in someone winning the election without winning the popular vote. That is a pretty good record of getting it right, and all 4 of those elections put people in office that resulted in bad news for America. Objective history, not just personal opinion. But instructive about the will of the people. (Important historical note for all those Birther/Obama is a Muslim folks)
What has happened, is that we have entrenched ourselves in a situation of hate and anger. Blacks are angry about their treatment. Whites are angry about their treatment. Muslims are angry about their treatment. Hispanics are angry about their treatment. But, instead of identifying where those points of anger overlap, and can be addressed to the benefit of all, we devolve into name calling and bitterness. Look, I am part of the problem as well, no holier than thou condemnation. And if you have read this far, it is almost over, but this is important.
POLITICS WILL NOT SOLVE IT FOR US. No candidate that we elect is going to solve anything for us. Because our system is set up for us to solve the problem, by the will of the people. We are supposed to vote out folks that do not do their duty, that is why the House has elections every 2 years. They are the pursestrings of the government, that is why they have such a short term, to limit the damage they can do to the nation's well being. The Senate, supposedly a deliberative and considered body, has a longer term, and rotating portions, to provide continuity and breadth of vision, for appointments, treaties, confirmations. The President is up every 4 years. If there are issues, we get to vote in a new President.
Except it has failed. There was a Congressman from Texas on TV last night, that was a Trump supporter, who went on and on about Trump being the change we need, the change necessary, the shake it up piece that has been missing. The reporter asked him, since change was necessary, didn't that mean he was necessarily a piece of the problem that needed to be replaced. Painful expression, silence, then "I put my credentials up every 2 years, and the voters think I am doing a good job."
Look, my opinion, there is not a single member of Congress, House or Senate, that is doing a good job. No budget, no long term legislative agenda, no meaningful amendment to regulation or taxation, no progress on appointments. There is simply a partisan piss party happening. But, we vote for them, over and over and over again, then get pissed off that it doesn't work, like we should expect something different.
Even your particular great representative, that you plan to vote for again, is part of the problem, or change isn't necessary, in the kind of nuclear explosion that Trump would be, literally. The status quo, which is the horse blanket over Hillary, is not all that great an option either. So either way, the political midget that is your current elected official, is of dubious value, period.
If we are to create a process by which we have power in the people again, a lot of folks like me, need to cast "meaningless" votes for other. Because the vote tally and performance of those "fringe" candidates is the only way to break the stranglehold of incumbency the two major parties possess. A vote for other, Johnson in my case, is a vote for different, and the first step in the machinations required to consistently field and provide a choice between R and D. Because Redo and Duplicate are just not good things at this point.
That is not a good versus evil, religious morality. That is a right and wrong decision for the basis of our Constitution and the government we established in 1789. It is maybe the most important thing, those of us alive and running America today, will ever do. Just like beating the Nazis, the Commies, waging forever war on the Religious Nutbags, getting our government back to of the people, by the people and FOR THE PEOPLE, that just might be our greatest generation accomplishment. It worked for the Whigs/Republicans in 1856. They nominated John C. Fremont, a cannibal, I kid you not. He lost, thankfully, he was a major league idiot. But, the performance was significant enough to lay the ground work for two very distinguished Whigs to vie for the nomination in 1860. William Seward, the most able man to never serve as President, and Abraham Lincoln. IT GAVE US LINCOLN, and who would not be happy to see a statesman like that appear on the horizon?
Just saying.
GLYASDI
Sunday, September 11, 2016
15 Years
It has been 15 years since that terrible day. I can remember exactly where I was, how I found out, and what I did for the next frantic few days. I remember checking the names daily at the Pentagon to see if I knew any of them, either from serving with me, or because I come from the DC area, and it was entirely possible I knew the civilians killed in the Pentagon.
I mourned when the towers fell. It broke our collective heart. It was a terrible, dark, bad day. We suffered one of the worst things a nation can suffer, a sneak attack upon our civilians, upon targets that were not part of our military complex. It was cowardly warfare, condemned by the world.
I have struggled with what I want to say today. I am always so saddened at the memory of the loss. It breaks my heart still, those poor people, those brave responders, the magnitude of it all. But, more, I remember the America that faced that day. We were not a nation of angst and sniping, and the lowest common denominator we have become in these 15 years.
But, I will not use this anniversary to conflate issues. We have a serious issue and disagreement in this country to do with the former starting quarterback for the 49ers, that has spread to others in the NFL. I will not dignify their behavior by citing 9/11 as a reason to condemn it. 9/11 should be more important to all of us than that. Regardless of our race, our creed, our national origin, 9/11 should stand as proof that to be American is important, is to be cherished, and makes many jealous enough to kill over it.
9/11 is proof of how much a large segment of the world's population despises our freedom, our rights, our uniqueness on the planet. More than they even hate the Israelis, they hate us because we are free. They hate us because they cannot erase the vision of freedom and liberty that we remain to so much of the world. People so impoverished they make Apalachia look like El Dorado, dream of being American. People so oppressed they do not have the bare minimum requirements for life, dream of being American. People so abused by those that pervert their beliefs for violence and power that they literally cannot show their face in public, dream of being American.
Shame on us if we ever forget why 9/11 occurred, why it is so important. Shame on us if we care about some quarterback, more than we do remembering that even the stumbling and broken excuse for a democracy we portray is still so stupendous, it drives the oppressors and evil of the world to try to kill us.
They do not want our money. They do not want our goods. They do not want our lands. They do not want anything, but to destroy us. Because our freedom, what we represent, what we show to the rest of the world, is so precious they cannot abide the thought of it. We forget that, in all the tumult that we currently find ourselves in.
And, shame on you, if you think that whatever your race, creed or origin may be, if you think you are oppressed here. You think that because you have not seen what real oppression looks like. You think that because you do not understand what living in real fear feels like. You think that because you are uneducated as to what those words and ideas are. You are told you know. Your lot in this nation is light years ahead of the best those in other nations will ever hope for.
There are plenty of things I would not do for this country, torture, murder, rape, because we are Americans, and we are better than that. But there is no danger I would not brave for this country. And, I did so, for more than two decades. On 9/11, I was an experienced sailor, one of the best at what I did. I was helpless to stop the carnage. I was helpless to do anything to prevent the deaths, prevent the pain, injury and loss. I was helpless to explain it to my children, to myself. The enormity of the evil we faced was beyond my description.
It was not beyond the description of much of the world. There was rejoicing in the Mid East. This was not condemned wholesale by the Muslim world. This is not out of the realm of their understanding and conception, like it is America's. This is considered something that may be justified in their faith. They covered for, supported, financed and hid members of the groups that perpetrated this crime. Members of the Saudi Royal family, members of the leading families in Yemen, the best and brightest of the Muslim world were complicit and culpable in many ways for accessory to the crime that was 9/11. Remember that even our "friends" in that world are not liking us because we are America. They need us because we are the big stick. There is no love lost there for us, and never has been.
We have no business glossing over the enormity of 9/11, or what it brought about. We have no business not still feeling the sting of that loss. We have no business thinking that we have defeated the enemy. As long as we are free, as long as we are America, they will hate us. Be they Nazis or Islamic zealots. As long as we are free, we are in danger, and we are at risk.
I will happily live with that risk all the rest of my life. I will happily continue to struggle to live as we wish and still maintain the proper security. As long as they continue to hate us, as long as they continue to desire to destroy us, I will know that my America is still the greatest light onto the world.
Whatever your particular axe to grind with America is, if you are American, give thanks for it. It means you are allowed, gifted and expected to make your America better. Whatever disagreement we may have, we are still disagreeing and not in combat. We are still so much more blessed than any other nation on Earth, we have no excuse not to see that.
Walmart, libraries, free access to the Internet, freedom to move from here to there, freedom to go worship where you want, freedom to wear the clothes you wish, freedom to have children, (that one is way over abused BTW), these are all things we take for granted. Were any of the riots or demonstrations we have seen this year around the country, to occur in Saudi Arabia or Jordan, our good friends and the good Muslim nations, most of the organizers would be facing the death penalty. The abuse the women would suffer is not fit for description.
If you do not see the proof of our blessing as Americans, in the terrible hatred and bigotry and idolatry that drove the 9/11 attackers, and drives the terrorist organizations still, you miss the point.
Never forget, because it is when we forget why we are hated, that we lose our freedoms. We become incapable of disagreeing. When we forget, we elect a raving bigot and narcissist that is more like Sadam than he is any of our past President. When we forget, we elect a criminal that will do and say anything to enrich themselves and get what they want, and that is more like Sadam than it is like any of our past Presidents.
Disagree with me. Defame me. Condemn me. Curse me. Put me on blast. Every one of those actions ensures that we will not succumb to being like those that hate us enough to kill us. And, if I dish back as good as I get, realize that also proves our freedom still reigns supreme. I don't agree with anyone all of the time. And, I really hope no one agrees with me all the time. That does not improve America.
And our continued disagreement, our continued growth and experimenting, our continued deepening of rights and liberties and free access, will make us remain unsafe at some level. But, those goat abusing knuckle dragging bastards will never overcome America. Not with hate. Not with oppression. Not with intolerance. Freedom will win out. At least as long as I have breath in me, freedom will have at least one defender.
So, please remember why 9/11 is important, so those 3,000 lives are never lost in vain. Please. And I hope that you disagree with me loudly and clearly, for all the world to see. That is what they hate most, and any chance we get to dig it into those bastards, we should take full advantage of it.
GLYASDI
I mourned when the towers fell. It broke our collective heart. It was a terrible, dark, bad day. We suffered one of the worst things a nation can suffer, a sneak attack upon our civilians, upon targets that were not part of our military complex. It was cowardly warfare, condemned by the world.
I have struggled with what I want to say today. I am always so saddened at the memory of the loss. It breaks my heart still, those poor people, those brave responders, the magnitude of it all. But, more, I remember the America that faced that day. We were not a nation of angst and sniping, and the lowest common denominator we have become in these 15 years.
But, I will not use this anniversary to conflate issues. We have a serious issue and disagreement in this country to do with the former starting quarterback for the 49ers, that has spread to others in the NFL. I will not dignify their behavior by citing 9/11 as a reason to condemn it. 9/11 should be more important to all of us than that. Regardless of our race, our creed, our national origin, 9/11 should stand as proof that to be American is important, is to be cherished, and makes many jealous enough to kill over it.
9/11 is proof of how much a large segment of the world's population despises our freedom, our rights, our uniqueness on the planet. More than they even hate the Israelis, they hate us because we are free. They hate us because they cannot erase the vision of freedom and liberty that we remain to so much of the world. People so impoverished they make Apalachia look like El Dorado, dream of being American. People so oppressed they do not have the bare minimum requirements for life, dream of being American. People so abused by those that pervert their beliefs for violence and power that they literally cannot show their face in public, dream of being American.
Shame on us if we ever forget why 9/11 occurred, why it is so important. Shame on us if we care about some quarterback, more than we do remembering that even the stumbling and broken excuse for a democracy we portray is still so stupendous, it drives the oppressors and evil of the world to try to kill us.
They do not want our money. They do not want our goods. They do not want our lands. They do not want anything, but to destroy us. Because our freedom, what we represent, what we show to the rest of the world, is so precious they cannot abide the thought of it. We forget that, in all the tumult that we currently find ourselves in.
And, shame on you, if you think that whatever your race, creed or origin may be, if you think you are oppressed here. You think that because you have not seen what real oppression looks like. You think that because you do not understand what living in real fear feels like. You think that because you are uneducated as to what those words and ideas are. You are told you know. Your lot in this nation is light years ahead of the best those in other nations will ever hope for.
There are plenty of things I would not do for this country, torture, murder, rape, because we are Americans, and we are better than that. But there is no danger I would not brave for this country. And, I did so, for more than two decades. On 9/11, I was an experienced sailor, one of the best at what I did. I was helpless to stop the carnage. I was helpless to do anything to prevent the deaths, prevent the pain, injury and loss. I was helpless to explain it to my children, to myself. The enormity of the evil we faced was beyond my description.
It was not beyond the description of much of the world. There was rejoicing in the Mid East. This was not condemned wholesale by the Muslim world. This is not out of the realm of their understanding and conception, like it is America's. This is considered something that may be justified in their faith. They covered for, supported, financed and hid members of the groups that perpetrated this crime. Members of the Saudi Royal family, members of the leading families in Yemen, the best and brightest of the Muslim world were complicit and culpable in many ways for accessory to the crime that was 9/11. Remember that even our "friends" in that world are not liking us because we are America. They need us because we are the big stick. There is no love lost there for us, and never has been.
We have no business glossing over the enormity of 9/11, or what it brought about. We have no business not still feeling the sting of that loss. We have no business thinking that we have defeated the enemy. As long as we are free, as long as we are America, they will hate us. Be they Nazis or Islamic zealots. As long as we are free, we are in danger, and we are at risk.
I will happily live with that risk all the rest of my life. I will happily continue to struggle to live as we wish and still maintain the proper security. As long as they continue to hate us, as long as they continue to desire to destroy us, I will know that my America is still the greatest light onto the world.
Whatever your particular axe to grind with America is, if you are American, give thanks for it. It means you are allowed, gifted and expected to make your America better. Whatever disagreement we may have, we are still disagreeing and not in combat. We are still so much more blessed than any other nation on Earth, we have no excuse not to see that.
Walmart, libraries, free access to the Internet, freedom to move from here to there, freedom to go worship where you want, freedom to wear the clothes you wish, freedom to have children, (that one is way over abused BTW), these are all things we take for granted. Were any of the riots or demonstrations we have seen this year around the country, to occur in Saudi Arabia or Jordan, our good friends and the good Muslim nations, most of the organizers would be facing the death penalty. The abuse the women would suffer is not fit for description.
If you do not see the proof of our blessing as Americans, in the terrible hatred and bigotry and idolatry that drove the 9/11 attackers, and drives the terrorist organizations still, you miss the point.
Never forget, because it is when we forget why we are hated, that we lose our freedoms. We become incapable of disagreeing. When we forget, we elect a raving bigot and narcissist that is more like Sadam than he is any of our past President. When we forget, we elect a criminal that will do and say anything to enrich themselves and get what they want, and that is more like Sadam than it is like any of our past Presidents.
Disagree with me. Defame me. Condemn me. Curse me. Put me on blast. Every one of those actions ensures that we will not succumb to being like those that hate us enough to kill us. And, if I dish back as good as I get, realize that also proves our freedom still reigns supreme. I don't agree with anyone all of the time. And, I really hope no one agrees with me all the time. That does not improve America.
And our continued disagreement, our continued growth and experimenting, our continued deepening of rights and liberties and free access, will make us remain unsafe at some level. But, those goat abusing knuckle dragging bastards will never overcome America. Not with hate. Not with oppression. Not with intolerance. Freedom will win out. At least as long as I have breath in me, freedom will have at least one defender.
So, please remember why 9/11 is important, so those 3,000 lives are never lost in vain. Please. And I hope that you disagree with me loudly and clearly, for all the world to see. That is what they hate most, and any chance we get to dig it into those bastards, we should take full advantage of it.
GLYASDI
Wednesday, September 7, 2016
Opinions
This business of having an opinion is dangerous. Because, see, there is this idea out there that has taken over our society, that is a real problem for us. See, this idea says that my opinion is somehow an attack on someone that disagrees with me.
We have lost our way in discourse. I blame social media to some extent, none of us were prepared to have everyone read what we think, without the context of a conversation or shared background. But, more importantly, I blame the parenting we (my generation) has inflicted on children the world over. While it might be the best time ever to be a child, it is also the time that has been built around the input of our children.
Therefor, any hope we have to have maturity in our society is dying. Because we tune the world for our littlest ones, we remain stuck in the juvenile world of hurt feelings and what is most important to me. We have lost the mature perspective of what is the impact to the whole, and some ability to disregard our own desires in that search for the ultimate right answer.
This whole phenomenon of having an opinion insulting someone is right at the 12 year old level. Now, I have been plenty offended by stuff others say and think. Sometimes, my reactions are at the 12 year old level. But, when it blows up, as anything juvenile eventually does, I am able to maneuver my way through the issue. Without needing my posse or my squad to come to my defense.
As a grown up, a mature and fully realized adult, sometimes I get it wrong. Sometimes what I think will not be agreed to by anyone. Sometimes, sometimes I just think what I think, and if you don't like it, we are just going to have to agree to disagree. Or you can maintain your pissed off state at me, I got crap to do.
That used to be the way discourse worked in our nation. People of principle and discipline were in positions of authority, that accepted that not everyone will agree with them. They did not assume that meant they were wrong, because someone got their feelings hurt. They did not judge the worth and validity of their argument by who agreed with them, but by what they knew in themselves. When folks they knew and respected did disagree with them, that drove introspection and self analysis, which many times resulted in a change of thinking. All the rest of the times, people just kept thinking what they thought, but tried to do it without ascribing evil to those that disagreed.
What brought about this post? Well, one of the people that I blame for the regression of our society has passed. Phyllis Schafly, one of the least appreciated social engineers in American history, passed this week. Her brand of politics, condemnation and moral superiority tinged with bigotry and disgust, were a potent mix of heady elements that post World War II America could not manage.
Where would we be today without this woman? Perhaps somewhere in the same neighborhood that Reagan and O'Neill lived? You know, that era when men of character and opposing views found enough common ground to work to the benefit of the nation, that place? Remember it? Probably not.
It has been drowned out by 15 years of war, and 8 years of corruption and morally broken leadership before that. There was a time, not so long ago, when we did not agree on the edges, but found the wide common ground and did things. We took care of the nation's business. We disagreed vehemently, and with great vitriol, but we still took action.
But, as the Boomers came of age, they began a shift in the American psyche that we are living through now. See, Baby Boomers were the children of the greatest victors the world had ever known. They were born to gods that had defeated the combined might of the world, and knew no master or fear of the cost of their freedom. We look at these people today, old and infirm, and still imbued with a whiff of the cocky bastard that toppled Hitler, Tojo and Mussolini. These were men and women of great distinction, and no understanding of a world not subject to their rule.
Their children were tolerated and spoiled. They grew to a generation that retained the idea that they were titans striding the land, but without the understanding of the cost that freedom demanded. When war came, they broke. They split deeply and passionately over fighting the war, and ended up with the side that hid and did not man the ramparts, actually prevailing in our social conscience. This was a different kind of victory and a different affirmation of a shared ideology.
Now, it mattered what the individual thought, more than the cost to the whole. These people raised their children, my generation, with this theory. The individual worth was counted much higher than the whole. That is where participation trophies, everyone getting something, the rise of the welfare state, the grim reaper of entitlements, and a notion that there was a moral obligation to self before country, all came to maturity. For a while, we resisted this cancerous stance. George Herbert Walker Bush was last of the great hero of the Greatest Generation.
We held on to an idea that the nation's priorities were often at odds and above the priorities of the individual. We did great things. But, when we elected the first of the Boomer Presidents, things began to decay. Clinton was the bell ringer for the state we find ourself in. His brand of morally ambiguous leadership just did not sit right. While there were still enough of the Greatest Generation in Congress and the courts, we kept ourselves solvent and capable.
But, the cancer spread. Soon, all the arms of government were populated with a layer of leadership that had never served, had no idea that they should ever serve, and no conception of what that service meant. When these people came into the government, IN POSITIONS OF SERVICE, they had no internal measure of what that meant. So, it became about their individual feelings, and not about the best for the nation. Whatever your political persuasion, you can understand that where before we had Titans striding the halls of government, today, there are just stunted dwarves of little talent and little conviction.
Neither Obama, Reid, McConnell, Boehner, Ryan, Pelosi, nor Chief Justice Roberts, are people of gigantic stature and thought. Obama comes the closest, mostly because his focus is broad enough, not because he possesses the principle required to lead and to govern. The rest are small minded, on top of poorly talented. There are no saviors stepping forward either. Neither Trump or Hillary Clinton possess the internal mechanism of greatness. They are both petty and petulant children in spirit. Someone told them they were always supposed to have what they wanted, what they thought important, and they believe it. Neither has come anywhere near serving, in the manner of service we hallow so greatly.
Politics has become a career that has the potential to make you one of the wealthiest people in the nation, look at the 348 millionaires in the Congress. Harry Truman lived on his pension from the Presidency. Imagine today, a person leaving the White House and living on what is considered upper middle class income, it boggles the mind. Politics has become about the enrichment of personal cliques and business segments. Corruption is nothing new, it has plagued every government established by man since leaving the Garden.
But, today, corruption is so accepted and tolerated, that we cannot imagine a government without it. Imagine a government that passed a law requiring a cap to profiteering from medicine on the backs of Americans, instead of just coughing with embarrassment at Mylan increasing the price of EpiPens by 400%. We can't, it is inconceivable that the government would be the instrument of protection of the people. Imagine a government that required businesses to pay taxes that support the maintenance of the roads, sewers, water supply and infrastructure of the towns and regions they are draining? We can't, because we have convinced ourselves that taxes are evil, and of no purpose, for our own advantage. (And because we have not had a Congress in over 20 years that was not at least as legal as it was criminal.)
Imagine a time and place that provided work for people capable of work, instead of welfare. Imagine a society that expected something from its citizens, for the privilege of being American, by virtue of nothing but luck on your part. Imagine a society that valued its teachers enough to pay them adequately for the responsibility that we entrust them with. Imagine a society that shared in sacrifice for the safety and preservation of this democracy. Imagine a time when being American was more than an entitlement status, and was actually a personal debt worth service up to and including your life.
This society existed less than 60 years ago. The remnants of it exist still. But, we are so spoiled that we cannot conceive of actually being required to participate in something that requires things of us, not just gives to us. Ever noticed that TV has always approximated the society it reflects? Look at TV from 1956-1966, every one of us has a show that we loved from that time period that we watch even now on TVLand. Can you see that happening with Teen Mom or Keeping up with the Kardashians in even 10 years? The moral level of authority respected in the community is reflected in its public display. We are no longer Brady Bunch, Andy Griffith, Bonanza; we are ThugLife and Pimpin'.
We accept Clinton/Trump, because we are not willing to go be responsible for what is happening to us. Most don't even pay attention. Most won't even vote. Instead of serving, here or abroad, we won't even vote. Too hard, too long a line, too much to pay attention to. Yet, let someone put a picture or opinion out there that we don't like, and we will spend life energy being offended, outraged, righteous. How dare they not agree with what we think is right. They are either evil or stupid, and possibly both. So, let's immediately go to the 3 year old level, "I hope you die."
This is because no one has ever risked, escaped, or suffered death next to us, doing what we do, for over 90% of the population. Want to know what made the Greatest Generation great? They watched the kid next to them get shot, saw the guy down the street come home in a coffin, and lied about their age to go serve and protect this nation. They did whatever it took to get to the end result they needed for the whole. That is why they are great, because they accepted that their price might be high, but the value was worth it to us all.
We could care less about the all, if the price is more than we care to pay personally. That is why we cannot even stand to see someone express an opinion different from our own. None of us, me included, are free of this taint, at this point. Instead of assuming the opposite side of the argument is at least as correct as our own, because the real truth lies somewhere between, we assume the opposite. If you don't agree with me, you are disturbed, wrong, evil, bigoted, small minded, and should be abused mentally and physically.
Want to know how you will know I am right? Because this time next year, the President will be Donald Trump, a narcissistic billionaire that has no idea how dangerous he actually is because of his narcissism; or it will be Hillary Clinton, who has proved throughout 40 years under our inspection, that she will lie, cheat and steal to whatever extent necessary to get what she wants. Neither of these people care about the whole more than themselves, and I would love for someone to show me any example they can find to prove that is not a true statement.
Our leadership reflects our best median. Our best median is somewhere between Trump and Clinton. That ought to just make you sick at your stomach. If you are reading this, your parents most likely fought the Great War, or served in the 50's. Does this nation have any resemblance to what they exerted all of their effort to achieve? Are we doing a service to our children, or is that even too hard a view to take externally? Do we just desire another generation of crooks that enrich the corporations, protect the wealth that already exists, and leave us even less safe, less solvent and less stable?
If you think we do, any channel will play the stuff you want to hear, it is a good time for you. However, if you are tired of this, and tired of how immature the world around you is, you need to do something. It is not even hard. Just reject these two current clown shows. Vote for something different. Get crazy, vote for something different in every single race something different is available. Just say no. That does not mean not participating, they are counting on that. It means standing up and just saying NO! We don't even have movies to demonstrate that simple principle, but look it up, watch Mr Smith Goes To Washington. It is not that we have not faced these things before, it is that we have no champions to follow, because we have done this to ourselves.
It should make us all ashamed to call Ryan, Speaker of the House. Obama President of the United States. McConnell Majority Leader of the Senate. That should curdle all of your stomachs. And the only way to change it, is to change it.
Good luck kids, it is going to get tough out there if we don't. And, if you don't like either Clinton or Trump, this was not any kind of endorsement of the other. They are both equally wrong for the same reasons, THEY ARE NOT GOOD ENOUGH for my country. I would be curious how anyone could quantify them as good enough. In fact, there is a spot below for comment, or on the post that puts this up, go ahead and give it your best shot. I will assume you are at least as right as me, and I will not consider you evil, twisted or broken. I will not be offended you do not agree with me. I don't know that you will convince me, but I will hear you out. That is how it is supposed to work.
Remember?
GLYASDI
We have lost our way in discourse. I blame social media to some extent, none of us were prepared to have everyone read what we think, without the context of a conversation or shared background. But, more importantly, I blame the parenting we (my generation) has inflicted on children the world over. While it might be the best time ever to be a child, it is also the time that has been built around the input of our children.
Therefor, any hope we have to have maturity in our society is dying. Because we tune the world for our littlest ones, we remain stuck in the juvenile world of hurt feelings and what is most important to me. We have lost the mature perspective of what is the impact to the whole, and some ability to disregard our own desires in that search for the ultimate right answer.
This whole phenomenon of having an opinion insulting someone is right at the 12 year old level. Now, I have been plenty offended by stuff others say and think. Sometimes, my reactions are at the 12 year old level. But, when it blows up, as anything juvenile eventually does, I am able to maneuver my way through the issue. Without needing my posse or my squad to come to my defense.
As a grown up, a mature and fully realized adult, sometimes I get it wrong. Sometimes what I think will not be agreed to by anyone. Sometimes, sometimes I just think what I think, and if you don't like it, we are just going to have to agree to disagree. Or you can maintain your pissed off state at me, I got crap to do.
That used to be the way discourse worked in our nation. People of principle and discipline were in positions of authority, that accepted that not everyone will agree with them. They did not assume that meant they were wrong, because someone got their feelings hurt. They did not judge the worth and validity of their argument by who agreed with them, but by what they knew in themselves. When folks they knew and respected did disagree with them, that drove introspection and self analysis, which many times resulted in a change of thinking. All the rest of the times, people just kept thinking what they thought, but tried to do it without ascribing evil to those that disagreed.
What brought about this post? Well, one of the people that I blame for the regression of our society has passed. Phyllis Schafly, one of the least appreciated social engineers in American history, passed this week. Her brand of politics, condemnation and moral superiority tinged with bigotry and disgust, were a potent mix of heady elements that post World War II America could not manage.
Where would we be today without this woman? Perhaps somewhere in the same neighborhood that Reagan and O'Neill lived? You know, that era when men of character and opposing views found enough common ground to work to the benefit of the nation, that place? Remember it? Probably not.
It has been drowned out by 15 years of war, and 8 years of corruption and morally broken leadership before that. There was a time, not so long ago, when we did not agree on the edges, but found the wide common ground and did things. We took care of the nation's business. We disagreed vehemently, and with great vitriol, but we still took action.
But, as the Boomers came of age, they began a shift in the American psyche that we are living through now. See, Baby Boomers were the children of the greatest victors the world had ever known. They were born to gods that had defeated the combined might of the world, and knew no master or fear of the cost of their freedom. We look at these people today, old and infirm, and still imbued with a whiff of the cocky bastard that toppled Hitler, Tojo and Mussolini. These were men and women of great distinction, and no understanding of a world not subject to their rule.
Their children were tolerated and spoiled. They grew to a generation that retained the idea that they were titans striding the land, but without the understanding of the cost that freedom demanded. When war came, they broke. They split deeply and passionately over fighting the war, and ended up with the side that hid and did not man the ramparts, actually prevailing in our social conscience. This was a different kind of victory and a different affirmation of a shared ideology.
Now, it mattered what the individual thought, more than the cost to the whole. These people raised their children, my generation, with this theory. The individual worth was counted much higher than the whole. That is where participation trophies, everyone getting something, the rise of the welfare state, the grim reaper of entitlements, and a notion that there was a moral obligation to self before country, all came to maturity. For a while, we resisted this cancerous stance. George Herbert Walker Bush was last of the great hero of the Greatest Generation.
We held on to an idea that the nation's priorities were often at odds and above the priorities of the individual. We did great things. But, when we elected the first of the Boomer Presidents, things began to decay. Clinton was the bell ringer for the state we find ourself in. His brand of morally ambiguous leadership just did not sit right. While there were still enough of the Greatest Generation in Congress and the courts, we kept ourselves solvent and capable.
But, the cancer spread. Soon, all the arms of government were populated with a layer of leadership that had never served, had no idea that they should ever serve, and no conception of what that service meant. When these people came into the government, IN POSITIONS OF SERVICE, they had no internal measure of what that meant. So, it became about their individual feelings, and not about the best for the nation. Whatever your political persuasion, you can understand that where before we had Titans striding the halls of government, today, there are just stunted dwarves of little talent and little conviction.
Neither Obama, Reid, McConnell, Boehner, Ryan, Pelosi, nor Chief Justice Roberts, are people of gigantic stature and thought. Obama comes the closest, mostly because his focus is broad enough, not because he possesses the principle required to lead and to govern. The rest are small minded, on top of poorly talented. There are no saviors stepping forward either. Neither Trump or Hillary Clinton possess the internal mechanism of greatness. They are both petty and petulant children in spirit. Someone told them they were always supposed to have what they wanted, what they thought important, and they believe it. Neither has come anywhere near serving, in the manner of service we hallow so greatly.
Politics has become a career that has the potential to make you one of the wealthiest people in the nation, look at the 348 millionaires in the Congress. Harry Truman lived on his pension from the Presidency. Imagine today, a person leaving the White House and living on what is considered upper middle class income, it boggles the mind. Politics has become about the enrichment of personal cliques and business segments. Corruption is nothing new, it has plagued every government established by man since leaving the Garden.
But, today, corruption is so accepted and tolerated, that we cannot imagine a government without it. Imagine a government that passed a law requiring a cap to profiteering from medicine on the backs of Americans, instead of just coughing with embarrassment at Mylan increasing the price of EpiPens by 400%. We can't, it is inconceivable that the government would be the instrument of protection of the people. Imagine a government that required businesses to pay taxes that support the maintenance of the roads, sewers, water supply and infrastructure of the towns and regions they are draining? We can't, because we have convinced ourselves that taxes are evil, and of no purpose, for our own advantage. (And because we have not had a Congress in over 20 years that was not at least as legal as it was criminal.)
Imagine a time and place that provided work for people capable of work, instead of welfare. Imagine a society that expected something from its citizens, for the privilege of being American, by virtue of nothing but luck on your part. Imagine a society that valued its teachers enough to pay them adequately for the responsibility that we entrust them with. Imagine a society that shared in sacrifice for the safety and preservation of this democracy. Imagine a time when being American was more than an entitlement status, and was actually a personal debt worth service up to and including your life.
This society existed less than 60 years ago. The remnants of it exist still. But, we are so spoiled that we cannot conceive of actually being required to participate in something that requires things of us, not just gives to us. Ever noticed that TV has always approximated the society it reflects? Look at TV from 1956-1966, every one of us has a show that we loved from that time period that we watch even now on TVLand. Can you see that happening with Teen Mom or Keeping up with the Kardashians in even 10 years? The moral level of authority respected in the community is reflected in its public display. We are no longer Brady Bunch, Andy Griffith, Bonanza; we are ThugLife and Pimpin'.
We accept Clinton/Trump, because we are not willing to go be responsible for what is happening to us. Most don't even pay attention. Most won't even vote. Instead of serving, here or abroad, we won't even vote. Too hard, too long a line, too much to pay attention to. Yet, let someone put a picture or opinion out there that we don't like, and we will spend life energy being offended, outraged, righteous. How dare they not agree with what we think is right. They are either evil or stupid, and possibly both. So, let's immediately go to the 3 year old level, "I hope you die."
This is because no one has ever risked, escaped, or suffered death next to us, doing what we do, for over 90% of the population. Want to know what made the Greatest Generation great? They watched the kid next to them get shot, saw the guy down the street come home in a coffin, and lied about their age to go serve and protect this nation. They did whatever it took to get to the end result they needed for the whole. That is why they are great, because they accepted that their price might be high, but the value was worth it to us all.
We could care less about the all, if the price is more than we care to pay personally. That is why we cannot even stand to see someone express an opinion different from our own. None of us, me included, are free of this taint, at this point. Instead of assuming the opposite side of the argument is at least as correct as our own, because the real truth lies somewhere between, we assume the opposite. If you don't agree with me, you are disturbed, wrong, evil, bigoted, small minded, and should be abused mentally and physically.
Want to know how you will know I am right? Because this time next year, the President will be Donald Trump, a narcissistic billionaire that has no idea how dangerous he actually is because of his narcissism; or it will be Hillary Clinton, who has proved throughout 40 years under our inspection, that she will lie, cheat and steal to whatever extent necessary to get what she wants. Neither of these people care about the whole more than themselves, and I would love for someone to show me any example they can find to prove that is not a true statement.
Our leadership reflects our best median. Our best median is somewhere between Trump and Clinton. That ought to just make you sick at your stomach. If you are reading this, your parents most likely fought the Great War, or served in the 50's. Does this nation have any resemblance to what they exerted all of their effort to achieve? Are we doing a service to our children, or is that even too hard a view to take externally? Do we just desire another generation of crooks that enrich the corporations, protect the wealth that already exists, and leave us even less safe, less solvent and less stable?
If you think we do, any channel will play the stuff you want to hear, it is a good time for you. However, if you are tired of this, and tired of how immature the world around you is, you need to do something. It is not even hard. Just reject these two current clown shows. Vote for something different. Get crazy, vote for something different in every single race something different is available. Just say no. That does not mean not participating, they are counting on that. It means standing up and just saying NO! We don't even have movies to demonstrate that simple principle, but look it up, watch Mr Smith Goes To Washington. It is not that we have not faced these things before, it is that we have no champions to follow, because we have done this to ourselves.
It should make us all ashamed to call Ryan, Speaker of the House. Obama President of the United States. McConnell Majority Leader of the Senate. That should curdle all of your stomachs. And the only way to change it, is to change it.
Good luck kids, it is going to get tough out there if we don't. And, if you don't like either Clinton or Trump, this was not any kind of endorsement of the other. They are both equally wrong for the same reasons, THEY ARE NOT GOOD ENOUGH for my country. I would be curious how anyone could quantify them as good enough. In fact, there is a spot below for comment, or on the post that puts this up, go ahead and give it your best shot. I will assume you are at least as right as me, and I will not consider you evil, twisted or broken. I will not be offended you do not agree with me. I don't know that you will convince me, but I will hear you out. That is how it is supposed to work.
Remember?
GLYASDI
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