Sick & Tired

I am sick and tired of being told what the People Want & What the People voted for last November!  I see few signs that Congress has any idea what The People want.

It is time that The People tell Congress what WE Want.

It seems to me that we are fast headed toward is Corrupt Dictatorship, If we don't unite and take a stand quickly.

You can give it whatever label you want, with your oh so scary labels (socialism, communism, badism).  I do not want Corporations and the very rich running my life. I do not want them withholding jobs, raises, manufacturing, health care, medication, equality, gender fairness, retirement security, honesty, and transparency.

Is it REALLY true that the majority of the American public don't know that it is wars, big business and Wall Street that caused our economic crisis?  And now after middle and low income individuals have been further crippled, those very wealthy and powerful people are screaming about the deficit and telling us that WE have to give up the threads we are clinging to so the budget can be balanced NOW, Immediately!

I am sick and tired of being battered, abused, misrepresented, ripped off, lied to, and bullied by the wealthy!!! I am insulted and outraged that it is implied that if I can't find a job, pay my bills on time, own a home, pay for good health, get credit, and pay for heat, water and food in this economy, it is because I am lazy and want a free ride. How dare anyone make this assumption about me, my family, friends, neighbors, and/or community. HOW DARE THEY! This arrogance and judgement is outrageous, unjustified and totally unacceptable.

They have NO right to use the Christian Bible in twisted self serving ways to, create fear and hatred in our country, to turn fellow citizens against one another, to suggest violent hateful ideas about anyone they preserve as different in any way, to abandon compassion, fairness and generosity.

And then there is the issue of trusting our Government. The United States Government is one of the MOST successful governments in the world. It is not some scary monster, it (Government) is us. It is our Government Representatives who are the very ones who are telling us in essence, we can not trust THEM. I don't know about the rest of you but when someone looks me square in the face and tells me over and over again that they can't be trusted... Well, I think its time to take them at their word. Fire them and hire some people who can be trusted. It is not the "Government" that is bad, it is the people who represent it who are BAD, and they are telling us so. Why on earth would you vote for someone who tells you they are bad or that they want to be hired to become part of the Bad system?  IT IS THE PEOPLE WE HIRE AND DON'T SUPERVISE WELL ENOUGH WHO ARE PROVING HOW BAD THEY CAN BE!

The reason we can be a free country is because each of us has responsibility for our government. Free doesn't mean no responsibility, it means just the opposite. It means we have the freedom to be part of the process. It means we are all responsible to govern, participate and pay very close attention. OUR Government is us and should help us thrive, should help us be safe, should create an environment of equal opportunity, should work to make the whole country strong, should disperse the costs equatable and balance the budget when the economy is strong enough to do so.

Thus when some try to tip the balance, they must be directed back toward center. We have been built on the ideas of human rights, equality, freedom to choose, and freedom to prosper, FOR ALL. Someone will have to explain to me how allowing a few to lie, cheat, steal, mislead, be disloyal, or not share the same level of accountability as everyone else, is in keeping with our country's values and principles.

I don't think anyone is proposing that we do away with Capitalism. But, it is not a perfect system and has to be managed by certain guidelines, values, and ethical standards. Any group and its members has to conform to certain standards and conduct in order to thrive. We have seen time and again that humans are easily tempted and that greed is a powerful lure. The answer is to control unrestrained greed with rules and consequences, that must be applied with fairness and reason in all situations that attempts to exploit others. Extreme excess has to be rained in to maintain balance. This does not mean that some will not benefit more than others in any endeavor, they will. Some will have a better idea, better business practices, better marketing or consumer appeal. That is a good thing. Competition works well in moving us forward but just as in most competitive sports activities, there must be a level playing field. Using unfair tactics or unfair advantage can not be allow.

To use the sports analogy further, right now our country is functioning like it has one team on steroids, untold doping of all kinds, getting mega hours of extra practice, building the arena to fit their side only, they have all the best players, they don't have to follow any of the rules of the game and the refs are encouraged and paid to make calls in their favor. The other team The Peoples Team is made up of smaller players, no doping allowed, we have one leg and one arm tied down, get little practice time and are heavily penalized for breaking a rule and sometimes for unwritten rules or rules that change to fit the other team at any given moment. Not only that but our team must play with our eyes taped shut and in order to have the refs even look our way we must have the ability to pay large sums of money and even then fairness is rare in the rulings. 

Like any petulant child, who is used to getting their own way and has come to believe they actually ARE BETTER than regular people, the indulged will not give up their privilege easily. They have somehow come to believe that they deserve to be held in higher esteem, that they have a right to expect that they will be the only ones to be given the good things in life, only they should assume they deserve medical care, healthy food, air, water, heat, and shelter. And that good or high quality isn't even enough for them it should be the best in the world. And, who should pay for it? Well of course, the low lifers should pay for it, through labor, sacrifice, and taxes. They are such Superior people that their money should be kept free to buy bigger and better toys, homes and whatever they want and of course they should be able to stash that money in places that can't be touched by anyone else. Having ALL the cookies makes them sure that they are the Best People.

Don't let anyone tell you that the self made American man did it all by himself. It is not true. He did it in a country that supported his dreams, efforts and business building. He likely did it with workers, consumers, loans, tax breaks, incentives and space and ingredients that came from our country. We are the United States, we are united people. We are an interdependent system. Did that man use our water, our education system, our libraries, our examples, our food supplies, our banks, our clothing and materials, our roads, our electrical system, our land etc, etc, etc?  Of course he did. Should his country deserve and require his loyalty, support and reinvestment? Absolutely!!!

We all have a responsibility to make sure our government, our businesses and each of us as individuals play by the same rules, on a level field and that we all pay our fair share while everyone also shares in the bounty of our great country. It is about balance, and a continuum that is not overcome by greed and narcissism. It is about a belief that we can become ever more humane toward one another. Sure some will be harder workers and be rewarded for that and some will simply be luckier than others but we do not have to live in an all or nothing country.

We are moving in the direction of so many other countries who live by the rule of greed, corruption, loss of freedom and equal opportunity. I'm sick and tired of allowing this to continue. It is time to organize, stand up and use the power of the people to be the people our fore fathers envisioned for us.

Stop the Austerity Craze!

Stop the Austerity Craze! Massive Budget Slashing Can Lead to Economic Disaster, Violence and Repression

The DC-Wall Street power circuit, with a big assist from the corporate media, is blindly pushing an agenda that could lead to massive social upheaval.

January 25, 2011  |   Mark Ames / AlterNet

 Now that the shock of the Gabrielle Giffords shooting is starting to wear off and the country is returning to its more familiar climate of insanity, we’re back to facing a far worse, far more serious, and far more violent threat than mere rampage shootings: Austerity.

The Washington-Wall Street power circuit has already decided for the rest of us that “austerity” will define the 2011 political agenda. Austerity is what the oligarch-sponsored Tea Party demanded, what the Republicans are promising to deliver now that they’re in control of drafting the budget in the House, and what the Obama administration is going to try to enact as part of its neo-Clinton triangulation strategy. And the DC pols have the total endorsement of the corporate media, which have been hammering home the same message for months now: Austerity is the answer to our problems — problems that were created by the same establishment which wants to make us scream in pain again.

The way this austerity debate has been framed in all the major media outlets, anyone pushing for austerity cuts and “pain” is automatically labeled “courageous”—which is an odd way of defining courage, since not a single rich politician or pundit pushing for "austerity" will actually suffer that pain, and most will profit from it. But that’s what counts as courage in our era.

Bush speechwriter-turned-Washington Post pundit Michael Gerson has been an early promoter of the courage-austerity complex. Here's Gerson writing about his old colleague, former Bush OMB director Mitch Daniels, now Indiana governor, whose first act upon taking oath was pawning the Indiana Turnpike to a multinational as fast as you can spell courageous: Daniels became a highly successful Indiana governor, combining a motorcycle-driving, pork-tenderloin-eating populism with courageous budget cutting, a solid record of job creation and a reputation for competence.

By this logic, if Mitch Daniels is the courageous one, then that means that the opposite of courage is us, the cowardly masses of lazy slobs, who need to be whipped into shape with a steady lashing of the “austerity” whip. We prove our unworthiness whenever we call for “Austerity for the rich,” which is of course the opposite of courage.

And while considering the implications of living in a country where politicians and pundits are allowed to call selling off juicy pieces of the state courageous acts, there's something even more troubling about it; what has happened in modern history after the austerity drive is finished: These measures almost always end in the worst worst-case-scenario imaginable: economic disaster, violence and repression.

Let’s start with the most catastrophic of all austerity programs in history—the one austerity program none of the Austerity Snake Oil peddlers want you to know about. It was the disastrous austerity program tested out in Germany way back in 1930, under Chancellor Heinrich Bruning, himself an austere centrist.

The Depression was just spreading around the globe, and Bruning, backed by Germany’s industry titans, believed Germany would only recover with a strong currency, which he tethered to the gold standard, and a balanced budget through brutal cuts in wages, pensions and unemployment benefits, and hikes in taxes and fees. Bruning learned austerity as a doctoral student at the London School of Economics -- which nurtured and promoted "free-market" whores like Friedrich von Hayek and the “Austrian School” that is still being piped out to us through major outlets like the editorial pages of the Wall Street Journal and the libertarian press.

Bullying, Why is it such a problem?

Many parents don't teach their children about accountability, respect, and compassion. They neglect this in words, actions and attitudes. Too many adults have not yet graduated from jr. high, mentally! Children learn in their homes first! All adults are responsible for what they model to kids!

This is one of the reasons why I am so adamant in the We CAN group that we demonstrate the ability to discuss issues without the hatefulness and name calling that is so rampant on all sides of the political spectrum.

 

It is repeatedly astonishing to me that sooo many equate being civil, respectful and staying focused on the issues rather than the person, with being weak. I am far from being a saint but I will not stop working toward learning and teaching all I can about how to mange one's feelings and emotions in ways that are respectful, honest and with tact.

 

In the past several years it appears that our society has confused being honest and encouraged to express ourselves with being rude and totally unrestrained. It is quite possible to be assertive, strong and honest without attacking with a desire to hurt, shame, and/or crush the other person.

 

When someone verbally strikes out at any one of us in hateful ways, it does not make us stronger and wiser to reply in the same manner. It makes us stronger and wiser, to respond by focusing on the issues at hand. Presenting the facts, asking them to explain, back up their statements, and being knowledgeable and articulate our selves is what makes us stronger. If the person is only out for a verbal fight what is accomplished by engaging in a name calling match? Nothing.

 

There are a few very loud people who feed off of drawing us into their angry/hate-filled world view. If I choose to participate in this angry rhetoric with them, I give THEM more power/strength. I have just feed them, reinforced their position and unwittingly made them even more sure they are right about what ever the issue is. I have now joined in their definition of people and the world. Pretty quickly I can become absorbed in hate, cruelty and generalizing to EVERYONE who does not share my opinions. You can watch it happen before your eyes in many places on FB, blogs, and chat rooms.

 

As adults we have much more power than we did as children to take care of ourselves and to shape the world around us. We can set limits on our acceptance of mean, hateful and cruel talk and action around us. We have to be wise enough to know when to engage in a worthwhile debate and when walking away is the wisest choice for our higher goal of genuinely influencing the majority of the people regarding an issue. I.E. pick your battles and when you do choose to make an impact, make it by demonstrating the attitudes and behavior you hope to inspire on the other side.

 

Children go through developmental stages when it is very important that they learn that just because they are angry about something does not mean they have the right to rage and hurt anyone else. While it is quite alright and even good for them to be able to express their feelings, they must learn that THEIR feelings are not the ONLY feelings that matter. They need guidance to learn. How and where they express themselves is key to successful responsible maturity. When children grow up in environments where the adults do not demonstrate and teach them that everyone in the family is valuable and deserves respect, and that our feelings are important but must be expressed appropriately, they often grow up to be adults who do not know how to manage their own strong feelings and have not learned how to be strong, assertive, articulate, and civil, all at the same time.

 

As we grow up, learning and resources ARE readily available to gain the skills we may not have gotten as children. As adults we are all responsible for our choices and how we interact with others. We are all responsible for how we teach children to get along successfully in the world. We are all responsible for creating the world we want to live in.

 

Isn't it time that we become skilled at being all the things we want others to be? Tolerant.  Equal.  Articulate.  Topic Focused.  Educated.  Compassionate.  Fair.  Honest.  Strong.  Open.  Civil.  Fact Based.  Respectful.  Accountable.  Good Listeners. Great Problem Solvers!

Random Acts of Kindness

Do you agree with these ideas? What is one thing you would do?

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/need-to-know/video/first-look-how-to-fix-america/5846/ 

After watching this video clip imagine you have been granted one thing to help the U.S. during this time of crisis. What would it be?

DADT Update

Today a bill is being put to the Senate to again try to repeal DADT. Some in our military leadership are concerned that if the repeal is not passed in Congress, it could be ruled on by the Supreme Court. This could cause the repeal to take effect immediately, rather than over a period of time or in stages which some prefer.

Several European countries, along with Australia have already lifted any type of ban on gays in there military and have found little if any negative affects. In fact for some they have actively begun recruiting in the gay community.

Their is no proof that repealing DADT will cause any significant negative affect on our military effectiveness, preparedness, or troop moral. Our soldiers are well trained and are governed by strict rules of conduct. They can be expected to do the same with this issue.

In other countries that do not discriminate against gays openly serving, they have found that the vast majority still did not rush to share their sexual preference or activities during off duty time with their peers, but they were greatly relieved that they did not have to hide or lie for fear of losing their jobs and being publicly disgraced.

We are a country based on equality, fairness and strong human rights values. It is time that military show this respect and appreciation to ALL of our brave and loyal troops.

Tell congress to repeal DADT now!