Why.....

I am reaching out...... but nobody can touch me

I am screaming out..... but nobody can hear me

I am trying to pour my heart out.... but nobody can feel me.

I am hanging on as long as I can...... this is really hard

Saving us from ourselves

Sandy Hook Elementary.  26 people shot and killed, 20 of which were kindergarten children. Tragic is an understatement in describing this incident. One lone deranged gunman. I won't mention his name because that may in some twisted way validate his motives.

While supposedly the nation mourns this tragic incident, there are those that are apparently eternally grateful for a real life incident in which to hang their anti-gun arguments on. So we have seen the discussion move from poor kindergarten casualties to an unqualified effort to impose even stricter gun control. 

I don't own a gun, never have. Actually had my father attempt to give me an old family heirloom of a gun for Christmas last year and I declined the offer. Not for any philosophical reason but rather I just don't have an interest in them. I don't have an interest in Barbie dolls either and would have declined the offer for one of those as well. 

In spite of  my personal lack of interest I am still a supporter of the right for a person to own a gun. And Barbie dolls as well.  I don't want to hash over the worn out arguments that exist on both sides of the debate as to the effectiveness or lack thereof of making guns illegal. But here is where I do take an interest. Regardless of what the founding fathers intent was when crafting the 2nd Amendment it has generally been accepted for the last 200 plus years that the "right to bear arms" has equated into the right for the general public to own a gun. Whether for sport, security or just as a conversation piece. 

But we have an entire culture of people in our country that have anointed themselves supreme guardians of the public at large. They are intellectually superior to those who might disagree with them and feel compelled to tell those of lessor intellect how they should run their lives. They are convinced that the average American is not capable of managing so much freedom and therefore must be kept in check. 

Incidences such as this one at Sandy Hook are all the proof they need that Americans are not capable of  handling the right to own guns. They are convinced that they must impose their will and save us from ourselves. 

I am convinced that we need saving from these narcissistic morons. 

I don't know that there will ever be any fool-proof approach to avoiding tragedies like Sandy Hook. There is no defense against ignorance. At best we may be able to develop procedures that can minimize the success of a deranged individual, one solution that quickly comes to mind involves a gun. Taking away personal freedoms from law abiding citizens certainly won't provide a solution. 

Gotta get it out of my system!

Obviously I have not bothered to attempt a post in forever. I guess the motivation just hasn't been there. Maybe I will try and redouble my efforts with this new year and actually make a few posts.

Don't hold your breath... really

Tonight I am aggravated at the state of our country. Actually that is a little bit of a far reaching way to put it. Our country is fine I suppose but the people trying to lead it are getting on my last nerve. The buzz word of the moment is "fiscal cliff". That is supposed to represent an artificial deadline set by Congress a few months back in order to give them some more time to reach some sort of agreement. Ha! Our two parties can't agree on whether the sun is up or not.

Somewhere back in the annals of time something happened to the way we looked at ideas from a political standpoint. There used to be "good ideas" and "bad ideas" and usually you couldn't be for sure which category an idea fit in until you gave it a little time to see how it was working out. Now there are "Republican ideas" and "Democrat ideas" and all you need to know in order to determine if it is good or bad is your party affiliation. At least at the congressional level.

Both parties are scared to death that if the other party gets credit for a good idea then it will aid them in the next election so therefore you just can't let your opposition get the upper hand like that. The only way we seem to be able to tackle tough issues anymore is to make it appear that both parties won something and lost something.

So today we are supposedly standing on the edge of some cliff (a term our media has eagerly promoted for dramatic effect) and our congressional leaders are trying to push us off or save us, again depending on party affiliation.

The President is just standing on the sidelines occasionally exercising his bully pulpit to support the democrat plan. (As long as it lines up with what he wants). He apparently knows nothing about the fine art of compromise but instead relishes in trying to make the republicans look bad at every opportunity he gets. This of course pisses them off, sometimes at a personal level. and just intensifies the determination to thwart any plan the President supports. It is sickening to watch and watch you must as our 24 hr news coverage feels compelled to report blow by blow the developments like it was some sort of prize fight.

For the record I am a registered republican and usually vote my party especially once you get past local and state level. I am not a "one lever" type. I will vote for who I feel is the best person as long as I can know a little about the person. Naturally once you get passed the State level and even local level in some cases it is almost impossible to really know anything about the candidates on a personal level so I just have to go with the party at that point.

But here is a news flash..... We just had an election AND WE LOST!. The Dems maintained the White House, gained seats in the Senate and House as well. So for better or worse I think the nation as a whole has spoken and like the way the Dems think on the majority of issues. So I say give em what they want. Nothing wrong with debating a fine point here and there but to try and completely block everything that comes down the pike is just ludicrous.

If the ideas being presented by the Dems are bad ones then I am sure they will pay the price the next election cycle. Why should the Republicans continue to allow themselves to be made to look like the bad guys.

If they don't start getting it together (and I am putting the impetus on the Reps at this point) then I am afraid some people are gonna start going off a real cliff..... on purpose.

The time to start settling issues is now.

The Proposal....

Life has a tendency of moving along at it' s own pace no matter how hard you try to slow it down. Another milestone is upon me and as usual I am powerless to effect it's timing. Not that I necessarily want to.. but all the same.... life happens.

My oldest daughter received a wedding proposal on her 23rd birthday. Now don't think I was totally unaware of this eventuality. In fact I can boast that my future son-in-law asked ME before he asked her. Yep.... that's right.... right here in 2008 he passed it by me first. He also filled me in generally on the method of his proposal and so I had a secret to sit on until things actually took place.

I guess tradition suggests that I should somehow feel somewhat apprehensive, protective and maybe even a little jealous about this sort of thing. In fact I am not. There is no doubt in my mind how happy my daughter is, nor can one who is observant overlook how her choice of lifetime partner gives her an air of completeness.

As I adjust to this latest chapter that life has revealed to me I can only hope that this chapter in her life will end just as happy as all the other chapters in her life so far. After all, my book is getting closer and closer to being complete with each passing day. Her's is just getting past the prologue.

May it be a wonderful novel.

Listening to the "oldies"

Eagles in my ear and a steady diet of Pink Floyd, Journey, REO Speedwagon and on and on. Oldies by today's standards but it amazes me how timeless the music of these and other groups has become.

Countless is the number of remakes of songs from that era. I have even heard several rap songs with songs of the 70's and 80' s as the backdrop music. I an convinced that I have lived through the most creative times of music ever.

Not to take anything away from Buddy Holly, Elvis "the King" Presley, Chubby Checker and all the rest that helped usher in the era of rock n roll, but I think even they would agree that the music of the 70"s and 80's from the standard bearing rock and roll groups was exactly where they would have wanted to see the music they created go.

Music with a nice beat, great riffs, and songs that actually tried to say something is a far departure from the standard fare today. To be fair there is still excellent music being made today but not at the consistent rate of those days gone by.

I have seen disco come and go, I have seen the rise of rap and the steady decline of rap, the be-bop era was on the way out as I started to tune in but that good old "oldies" of my youth are still here and I believe will never die.

The news gets worse.......

Another day, another round of disappointing headlines. A major lending institution has been seized by the government, gas prices reach a new high per barrel, the stock market tanks again.

If you wake up in the morning and feel pretty good about life, if you feel as though your income is sufficient to meet your needs, if you manage your driving enough that gas at any price is not going to break you, then for god's sake don't turn on the TV, read a paper, or search the internet for that matter.

The gloom and doom being reported is enough to make anyone consider cashing in and getting out while the gettin's good. I for one had a decent day today, traveled with my daughter looking for her 1st car. I was really feeling good about things till I logged on the internet and went to my homepage of news and started reading the headlines. Then I turned on the TV. Now I am wondering if death is such a bad thing after all. (said facetiously).

Keep telling us how bad it is long enough and we will all quit trying to figure out a way to make the adjustments and just give in (and therefore contribute) to the doom and gloom.

Wonder if our great-great-grandparents felt this way in the 20"s?

Elections, erections and defecations

For months now the top of the news has centered around the Presidential Primaries and we have several months more to look forward to as we head into the general election.

This election cycle has certainly been historic as we are reminded almost daily because of the success of Obama (a black male) and the political significance of Hillary (a white female). McCain's claim to oldest human elected to the Presidency should he be successful has a lot of historical value too.

I am certainly hoping for the point in this campaign when we can get past all the cutesy novelty stuff and start seriously thinking about who will lead the nation.

As a younger person I was of the mindset that I heard so often from those older, wiser around me, that you should vote for the man not the party. Sounded noble to me.

Older myself now, and hopefully wiser too, I have completely changed my perspective on voting altogether. You better vote for the party because the individual is pretty limited if they do not have their party actively pushing and supporting whatever agenda they have set up.

So with that little bit of insight to guide me I officially proclaim that "I am voting for the Republican". Maybe McCain is not the absolute best we have to offer but I know that with him will come a cabinet and appointees that we can halfway count on to stick to our Judeao Christian beliefs and will support the types of policies that can encourage expansion of business and therefore create jobs and the hope of prosperity for the future.

Unfortunately the Democrats , at least at the national level, are intent on freedom "from" religion, full and equal rights for everyone whether you are an American or not, and believe that anybody and everybody is fine to do or be whatever you want to be and we all should just accept people for who are what they are. Sounds good in principle until you realize that the people they are really trying to help out are either anti-American types or ant-Christian types, or anti-normal behavior types. And you can bet your sweet ass that a Democrat, if elected, will start paying off loyalty favors immediately and we have no idea what our government will look like.

Obama has been a very attractive and articulate candidate. Depending on which of his speeches you listen to you can find him to be very compelling in his rhetoric. But I just can not fathom who he would have in his cabinet and who his political appointees might be.

This is the jest of this election in my view. Things aren't so hot right now and that is a fact. And the current Bush administration has left lots to be desired but we should not throw the baby out with the bath water. There are other Republicans that can and will do a better job if we can get them in there.

Everyone needs to relax a little from the primary season, let their libido settle down from seeing so much opportunity to make history. And most of all we need to make sure that what we do in the fall doesn't turn out to be something shittier than a double dose of exlax on a full stomach.

We have seen history made already. We don't need to try and go from 0 to 100 all in one election cycle. Let's settle down and get this thing right.