Why Politics Make Me Crazy

Take the debt ceiling argument.  Both sides need to get real.  I had to agree with the President when he admonished Congress for being away on recess too much of the time.  Of course he's out and about campaigning much of the time too.

Then there is the Republicans refusing to raise the debt ceiling without concessions from the Democrats, like no tax increases.  They say it's what the people want.  Well, I'm a people and it isn't what I want.

They're listening too much to the Tea Party activists rather than the principles of the Tea Party movement.  And they're listening to their inner need to remain in Congress because they've never had it so good.

The Dems are putting out too much inaccurate information.  The world is not going to end as we know it on August 21 as the Secretary of the Treasury would have us believe.  And people making over $250,000 a year are not necessarily the corporate jet set.

If I were the one in charge, I'd throw it back on the Congress.  One, they hold the purse strings and they passed everything they are now belly aching about being too costly.  Okay guys and gals.  They're your programs.  Agree among yourselves which ones to cut! Bet you can't agree on even one, but try.  How about starting with farm subsidies.  No more paying farmers not to grow certain crops!  No more to grow corn for ethanol which is the ruination of many an engine!  How about eliminating entitlements, formerly known as pork.  No more bike paths in Nancy Pelosi's district.  No more bridges to no where.

Remember too, no matter what this Congress does, the next one will not be held to it.  With that in mind, anything and everything is ripe for reversal.

My guess?  The debt ceiling will be raised.  Somewhere along the line taxes will be increased.  It's how government is funded.  Cuts in spending will be token.  And the Congress will go right on creating and funding programs we can well do without.  It's the nature of the beast.

I had high hopes when the Republicans won the House.  Hope that they would bring some balance to the debate. I forgot 'hope' was an Obamaism.  I forgot there is no debate.  There is no balance and never will be as long as the people we elect become slaves to special interests to keep their jobs. This is an indictment of both parties.  They share in it equally.

Did Lincoln abolish slavery?  Only one kind, my friends. Only one kind.

The Political Views Of Grandma

Remember the commercial decrying the proposed budget cuts put forth by the Republicans? The one where Grandma is pushed off a cliff, wheelchair and all?

Of course that's not what's going to happen, but considering what the Democrats are really doing to Grandma, I may have just stumbled across a campaign issue.  It seems like Democrats must hate grandmothers.

Consider this. 95 years old.  105 pounds.  Wheelchair bound.  Wearing an adult diaper.

This elderly woman, no, old woman, was submitted to a 45 minute search including having to remove the diaper because an alarm was supposedly triggered.  And it was soiled and was impeding their search.

After filing a complaint, a spokesman for the TSA explained the procedures are the same for everyone because it is known from intelligence that terrorists would take advantage of the vulnerable.  Right.  A 95 year old woman with her daughter is going to have explosives in a body cavity.

Every time there is an incident like this, be it children or the elderly, or anyone else for that matter, the response is always the same.  The "highly trained professionals" were properly following procedure.

I have two thoughts.  Too bad the "intelligence" they have about terrorists doesn't equate with the intelligence of those in the TSA that make the rules.

And two.  The election issue.  Get rid of the TSA or reform it.  Ask the question.  You know as well as I do if Michelle Obama's mother, who lives with them at the White House, had to go through such a procedure there would be hell to pay.

I think I've been looking at this from the wrong end.  I've blamed the "highly trained professionals" who are stuck doing the searches rather than the "highly trained professionals" who come up with this stuff.

It's time to change it.  If this administration won't, be sure the next one does.  Between Obamacare and this type of treatment of the elderly, it's obvious that they're thought of as inconsequential.

Death with dignity is often talked about in conversations about assisted suicide.  Well, how about life with dignity?  There should be no limit on that.  Those who insist there is no other way "to keep us safe" aren't looking very hard.

These Guys Are Scary!

Where have I been?  Our favorite companions for wine tasting had a few free days so we got together in Chelan to try the juice of the fruit.  More on that later.

From there we headed for Seattle then on to Canada to meet our friend the gallery owner to pick up a piece of art.  We had agreed to meet in Delta which is a small burg south of Vancouver.

Crossing the border is not our favorite activity, especially coming home.  I guess they resent the fact that we might have spent money in Canada rather than here or some such.  Who knows.

One thing we never expected, however, was to be stopped on our side of the border by our security people on our way to Canada!  As we approached the Peace Arch we saw the road was barricaded and a half dozen men with automatic rifles and flak jackets were stopping each car.  The two in front of us were waved through.  We were not.  We were driving our van.  What the...?

As one grilled Hub the others were busy checking out the vehicle including "patting down" the sides.  The security officer, from Customs and Border Security according to their caps, was especially interested in how much cash we had with us.  It seemed odd in this day of credit cards.  Hmmm.  He had trouble with the intent of our trip.  To meet the owner of a gallery from Port McNeill and pick up a totem pole.  Would it fit in the van?  Yes.  It is a small one - 5 feet or so.  Did we commission it?  No.  We just saw it and liked it and bought it.    We had been looking for one for quite awhile.  Did we have a place for it on our property?  It's going in our great room.  And so it went.

We got a similar grilling on the way home.  Curious.  Who could possibly have manufactured a tale about picking up a totem pole?

We asked our friend if he had any idea what it was all about.  It seems that one thing it could be is that since the Canadian dollar is now stronger than ours, they're coming to the states to shop.  While at the big malls smugglers hide drugs in or on their vehicles.  When they leave the smugglers follow them.  If they get caught, the smugglers get off scott free while some unsuspecting shopper is subjected to the drill or worse.  If they aren't caught the smugglers follow them to their destination, retrieve the drugs and go on their way.

Pretty neat, eh?  The only problem with that theory and what we went through is that they seek out cars with B.C. plates.  Ours, obviously, are not and who knows where our destination might have been!

'Tis a puzzlement.  What were the CBP agents looking for?  A couple of elderly gray hairs on an outing?  If we fit some type of profile, I'd sure like to know what the heck it is!

Maybe ALL Religions Need Scrutiny

When I saw the headline  'Jewish court sentences dog to death by stoning', I did a double take. I know Orthodox Jews live in a world of which I have no knowledge.  I didn't realize they also live in a different century and have beliefs that could certainly use some reinterpretation.

One wouldn't think a dog wandering into a court room, even a large one, would frighten adults.  But apparently one did.  Not that he was threatening or anything, but because he was a dog!

It seems that by Jewish tradition a dog is impure.  Not being able to get the dog to budge, one of the judges recalled a curse they had bestowed on a secular judge two decades prior because he insulted them.  They remanded his spirit into the body of a dog.  This one?

His spirit must pass from dog to dog because few live to be twenty years old and if they do they aren't likely to wreck havoc I wouldn't think.  Or whatever else the judges thought he might do.

Of course by now they were all worked up so one of the judges sentenced the poor dog to death.  By stoning.  By children.

Fortunately while all this was going on the dog went on his way.  Smart dog.

It just goes to show it isn't only Islam that harbors those with radical interpretations of their religion!  But having children stone a dog to death?  That they were even capable of thinking of that gives me the chills!

Is ANYONE Running The Country?

Who in their right mind would allow nearly  two thousand military grade weapons to be illegally bought and shipped to Mexico knowing they were going to the drug cartels?

Our Department of Justice in an operation called "Fast and Furious".

The theory was to link the weapons, by tracing serial numbers, to various crime scenes in order to scope out various drug cartels and eventually lead to high-level arrests.

When ATF agents objected they were threatened with punishment and retaliation.

I've got to say that's a heck of a lot of guns to keep track of considering our ability to track where our foreign aid goes, mostly to corrupt officials.  Even worse, these guns were let go knowing they would be used in crimes where people would be killed.  They were, including  Border Patrol guard Brian Terry. 1730 guns.  38,000 deaths since 2007.  Supervisors who retorted when  asked about possible loss of life in this operation, "If you are going to make an omelet, you need to scramble some eggs," and "If you don't think this is fun, you are in the wrong line of work, period."

Other than the 38,000 deaths over time, what was accomplished?   A few arrests of small-time crooks while the rest of the weapons were in the hands of criminals leading to a huge spike in the ongoing violence.

It's hard to believe the President would have given the go ahead to such an ill conceived plan.  What?  He didn't? According to Press Secretary Jay Carney, "He did not know about or authorize this operation."

Just who is in charge when it comes to an operation of this magnitude?  It's not Who.  He's on first. It obviously isn't Obama either.  He was probably on vacation or the golf course.

Beauty And The Beasts

The Stanley Cup goes to Boston; the clean up crews go to Vancouver, B.C.  What is it about supposed adults, mostly male, that turns them into uncontrollable monsters after sporting events?

Vancouver is a beautiful city.  At least it was until last night.  It has one of the most breathtaking settings a city could have.  They got through the Olympics, a far larger venue the final game of the Stanley Cup series with no major violence nor destruction of property for that sake and that sake alone.  So why after a hockey game?

Oh, sure, the home team lost.  It would have happened had they won.  Look at the mob violence that comes after soccer games.  It's a trait  common to no particular country and yet every country and for a variety of reasons.  Look at the rioting in Greece over their economic situation.  The only work that will come out of it is overtime for jailers and clean up crews.  I really don't understand it.  It will solve nothing.

People gather in mobs for all sorts of reasons.  In Greece as I just mentioned.  All over the middle east is another example.  They, at least, with good cause and non-violent.  In return their own governments fired on them.  Not rubber bullets to quell the crowds.  Live ammunition to kill the crowds.

Canadian hockey fans should be thankful they are in Canada, known for being nice!  In other parts of the world even the losing team might have been under threat of violence from their governments.

So come on sports fans.  Grow up.  Be thankful for the good things you have rather than destroying them because your team lost.  It's so unimportant in the grand scheme of things. Who will even remember this years Stanley Cup in six months?

 The violence and destruction, however, are another thing.

Lame Stream Media, For Sure

I'm no fan of Sarah Palin, but when she refers to the media as "lame stream" she just may have a point.  She also showed a hint of wisdom for not appearing in what was laughingly called a "debate".

When Michelle Bachmann comes away the winner, one has to wonder.  And be thankful it's early in the campaign process and hope the candidates wise up and refuse to fall prey to the silliness of CNN again.

Little is left to the imagination as to where CNN's politics are, just like NBC's.  Left.  Liberal.  None the less you'd think they'd take a Republican debate with at least a modicum of seriousness.

John King set the tone with his 'assume the position' remark. He should be fired for that and what followed. And/or whoever vetted the questions to be asked.

Maybe I take politics too seriously, but when I take the time to tune in to a debate I'm not really interested  whether Bachmann prefers Elvis or Johnny Cash or whether Pawlenty is a Coke or Pepsie man. Save the levity for the White House Correspondents Dinner.  It's a slippery slope to the Clinton campaign where the iconic question was 'boxers or briefs'.  It's a good thing Anthony Weiner wasn't on stage - or for that matter, asking the questions! Must politics be demeaned any further?

I'm really glad Bachmann has fostered 23 kids and is a mother of an additional five.  I'm glad Santorum fathered seven kids.  And the happy the other candidates also have their progeny to brag about, but I could care less when I've tuned in to listen to ideas, policies, possible soilutions.

Somehow when a reporter crows that the evening produced a cadidate that truly belonged there, Michelle Bachmann, and that she will drive the debate, I would at least like to hear a debate.

Like what would she do about the situation in Pakistan where the men who helped our CIA in the pursuit of bin Laden have been arrested.  Or what would any of them do differently than Obama and more importantly how they expect to succeed.

Maybe one network should host one night of chit chat with the candidates, answer all the nonsense, then get on with real debate.  Or has that already happened?

Not China Too! There's A Lesson Here

One has to wonder about a country that builds a wall like the Great Wall of China.  Was it to keep the people in or the enemy out?  By today's standards, it would definitely be to keep the people in.

A story in this morning's  Wall Street Journal tells of a great wave of unrest that is spreading across the country.  The public unrest is stemming from economic and government grievances.  Sound familiar?

Consider the Arab Spring ranging from Syria to Egypt.  Both are huge hunks of real estate with inhabitants in turmoil.

Like the Arab countries, we've been harping at the Chinese about their human rights record for what seems like forever.  And for just as long they tell us "don't go there" - so we don't.  Well, the people have finally taken it upon themselves to deal with it.  The interesting thing in China is that the unrest does not seem to be organized, it's just happening and spreading.

With campaign season already upon us in this country, politicians take note.  Right now especially Obama and the Democrats who want as much government control over us as is possible.  When we rebel, someone gets punished.  Like Boeing trying to move a plant to South Carolina, a right to work state which the unions do not like one little bit and are doing everything possible to block.  Oh, if all those potential hires wanted to join unions there would be no problem. Unions.  Obama's favorite support group.  Financial support that is.  For his campaign.

When James Carville, one of the Democrats own, warns that civil unrest is imminently possible if our economic situation doesn't improve, one has to wonder. I think we've learned since the last two years of Bush's term having both houses of Congress held by one party and the presidency the other, negates progress and civil debate.  With Obama in office and the same party in the same place for the past two years has seen any semblance of balance - and civil debate disappear.  The ideologues worked the system against the will of the people.

If that doesn't change and there are more things like Obamamobiles and Obamacare shoved down our throats while jobs and opportunity remain in a drought, there may well be civil unrest.

We need balance.  Enough of both parties in both houses to make debate and compromise not only possible but mandatory.  And we need a President who wants to reinstate this country into the leadership role it has always held.  Not content to go along to get along, just be one of the boys.

Unrest in China.  If you think the Mid East unrest is ugly, wait until China unleashes its army against its own people.  The thought that it could happen here for the same reasons is about as sobering as it gets.

Through The Eye Of The Beholder

Do you ever wonder how the rest of the world views our government?  We  know many of the world leaders consider our President a lightweight; weak.  It isn't widely known what they think of Joe Biden or Hillary Clinton.  The photo ops are always programmed to show everyone smiling and shaking hands.

The only member of the Cabinet that really says it like it is seems to be Bob Gates and unfortunately he's leaving the end of the month.

Then we drop down a tier.  To Congress.  They often go off on junkets to learn first hand about various situations around the world.  I wonder how they're viewed.  Do they give men like men like Anthony Weiner a pass because they too are a little loose when it comes to proper behavior with women?  I really don't know.

The bigger question is how we feel about such men.  Everyone and his pet dog has suggested Weiner resign but somehow he thinks going into therapy is going to solve all his problems.  And continue to draw his salary while he's away.  That's all fine and dandy.  What bothers me is this man is one of the faces of the United States government.  Is he acceptable to us in that role?  Will therapy erase the image we have of him? Is it sincere or merely diversionary tactic?  Who's to know?

During the time we were agonizing about how we extract information from enemies, it was often said, "That's not us, we're better than that."

Not that I expect everyone to be perfect, but I expect more from our Representatives than what we're getting from too many of them.  What ever happened to respect and common decency, be it toward a spouse or a constituent?  I'd like to think, "That's not us, we're better than that."

But what does the rest of the world think?  Does it apply at all any more?

Political Wives

This whole Weiner affair has prompted me to think once again about the wives of such men.  Ole Anthony bit off quite a bit considering his wife, pregnant and supportive, is a close and long time associate of Hillary Clinton.  I imagine he is dreading the next time he has to meet Hillary face to face!  I remember how she was after the Lewinsky episode hit the news.  Frosty would be a polite description.

On the other hand, considering she is still Mrs. Clinton, emphasis on the Clinton, may mean that the biggest talking to went to Huma Abedin, his wife.  Remember Hillary's famous statement when Bill was running for office?  "I'm not sitting here, some little woman standing by her man.  I'm sitting here because I love him and respect him."  Well, there is sometimes no understanding the personal dynamics between a husband and wife.

Political wives are an interesting breed.  We've seen them standing by their men, tears in their eyes, while the men confessed to the most hurtful indiscretions a marriage be asked to withstand. It interests me that most stay.  In reality, I think, they are enablers.  Elizabeth Edwards was.  She knew of John's affair yet still campaigned vigorously for his presidential bid.

Hillary was the biggest enabler of all.  No matter what Bill did, she stood right by him, no matter what she said.  I wonder about calling it love.

Isn't love and marriage about trust and fidelity rather than betrayal and hurt?  I don't understand their concept of hurt.  Or are they as addicted to the perks of their husbands positions as their husbands are?  The hurt is placed on the back burner.  I imagine it like my back pain.  Bearable yet always there.

I can imagine Hillary counseling Mrs. Weiner on that basis.  Can she twist love into an acceptance of his behavior?  Does she respect his political skills and what she gains from them?

It's a level of relationship I don't pretend to understand.   Hub and I've always thought the strength of our relationship has been our ability to survive with just the two of us in the household.  No kids, no kids activities through the years to hide behind during rough patches.  Just each other.  Angry.  Sad.  Not on the same page.  It was all there.  Under one roof, between the two of us.

What made it work was, yes, the respect.  The idea that we both had our areas in which we excelled and we celebrate that for and with each other.  That's the key maybe.  For and with each other, to the extent we'd never purposely do anything to hurt the other.  That's the kind of love I know.  Not the power or position or perks.  They fade in time.  The limelight dims.

You age.  It is a bittersweet time that should be enjoyed for having lived your life together well.  The ending of that time begins to become palpable. I'm not sure I could live it harboring the hurt so many political wives do. I wonder if their glory days will be worth it.

Social Media And The Ugly American

I've been posting less frequently on my blog.  My Facebook page is 99% the game I play.  I do not have a Twitter account.

All three are due, somewhat, to time restraints.  Like right now.  I should be out in the yard and will be as soon as I finish.   However, there is a lot more to it.

As for the blog, I'm getting tired of railing about politics.  Even using it as a way to vent is getting  old because that's all I'm doing.  Venting. I'm contributing absolutely nothing to the national dialog which is comprised of people who already have their own opinions and will continue to do so no matter what I may think.

Twitter and Facebook are another story entirely.  Of the nearly 200 hundred friends on my Facebook page, most are fellow game players.  The next largest chunk come from our local blogging community.  They are acquaintances, not friends.  I find I have little in common with most of them and rarely check their pages.  The remainder are my real friends.  People I actually know and care for.  It seems a shame the numbers aren't reversed, but I've no one to blame for that but myself.

Twitter?  Other than not having a device other that a prepaid phone and my computer, I'm not really able to participate.  I wouldn't if I could.  Just look at the Weiner affair.  Did he or didn't he send tasteless photos of himself?  It's hard to believe he could be stupid enough to do so, but then he is a politician.

If he didn't, and was hacked as he says, what kind of people have we become?  How could anyone do that to another?  This isn't a bunch of kids harassing their favorite nerd, which is bad enough and often has a tragic end in and of itself.  This is adults destroying a man's life, his reputation, his career.  If it could happen to him, it could happen to any of us.  By people we don't even know.  Wow.  It makes my skin crawl at the very thought of it.

I'm less than a week away from entering a new decade.  I don't have many left, if any.  I think back on conversations with my Mother during her later years as she'd shake her head in wonderment regarding the state of the world and the people in it.  I'm doing exactly the same thing, only my thoughts aren't wonderment as much as disgust.

When you hear people say they like animals better than they do people, believe them.  There's good reason for it.

I rarely return to a post to add something but today I feel compelled.  Congressman Anthony Weiner, D-NY has admitted to everything reported thus far in the Twitter scandal.  This has nothing to do with party and everything to do with character.  There are too many like Mr. Weiner serving in Congress.  What is it that attracts voters to such men.  If it's a reflection of ourselves, that we can 'identify' with them, we need to take a good hard look at who we are and what the world sees.

Redistribution Of Wealth Won't Work

Have you noticed every time the monthly stats come out showing the economy continuing to slide the government always says it's "unexpected"?  Is it getting tiresome?  Do you wonder,  really wonder, if they know what they're doing?  Don't blame it on Bush.  We're three and a half years into this administration and none of their ideas have worked.

What's worrisome is, according to Gallup, that the nation seems to be split nearly down the middle as to whether or not we should tax the rich .  Remember that's those who make over $250,000.  This day and age it is not an exorbitant salary - for those lucky enough to be working.  Place an undue tax burden on them and they'll quit spending.  Just like the rest of us.  That is the Democrat's plan. Tax, tax, tax.

The solicitor general even went so far as to suggest if you're balking at the mandate to buy insurance in the Obama care scheme, which is a tax, make less money!  What kind of advice is that from a government official?  It's reprehensible and totally alien to the American way of self reliance.

As time passes I'm getting more and more worried about another four years of Obama.  He doesn't listen except to his own drummer.  His people are snide and condescending.  And nothing they've put forward, be it cash for clunkers which decimated the used car market, to the bank bailout that has made the banks so gun shy they won't lend money to help clear up the housing market mess, has worked.

There is one plan out there.  It is Paul Ryan's.  Yes, it will change medicare but in truth that isn't bad.  It doesn't eliminate it, it merely becomes a voucher system.  It will not affect those currently in the system or those who will be before legislation is enacted.  At least take a look at it. Don't listen to the Democrat scare tactics.  Medicare as it is now or would be under Obama is no great shakes itself.  Just try to find a doctor who will take you and if you do what kind of time they give you.  Trust me.  It's less than adequate to say the least.

How is redistributing wealth going to help any of this?  Before the next election rolls around we need to do our homework on proposed solutions and, as I harp on often, find out the 'how'.  Ryan has done that.

The Republican field is still shaping up.  Beware the "personalities".  We have one in office now and are witnessing what inexperience can do.  We need an experienced steady hand on the tiller. A person knowledgeable about both our own problems and those we face throughout the world. Knowledgeable!  Get that?

Or am I once again witnessing the generational shift where it's so much easier to let the government do it in it's own way without challenge?

 Hub and I have worked hard for everything we have.  We've had no government hand outs.  Success was achieved through knowledge, read education, ability, perseverance and hard work.  To have that taken from us because someone else doesn't want to put forth the effort makes me angry.  And sad.  It's not the America in which I grew up nor expected in which to live.

The pendulum can swing back.  I'm seeing few signs that it will.

Palin's Roll Of The Dice

Is it just me or is Sarah Palin's shtick getting old?  If it's just me so be it.

I don't care that her tour bus bears the American flag.  I don't think looking into the constitutionality of it, as one MSNBC reporter seems to be doing, is worth the effort. It seems to me to be an exercise in ho hum.  Another monumental ego needing attention.

Palin is a tease.  Is she or isn't she going to run? Maybe, as has been suggested, this is her version of a campaign.  Getting down and dirty with real people like the bikers ride into D.C.  "Coincidentally" arriving in New Hampshire the same day Mitt Romney announces his presidential bid and immediately attacking him over Massachusetts care.

As cheerleader-in-chief of all things anti-Obama  and anti-conservatism she has no peer.  As a serious presidential pretender?  Well, I'm still waiting for substance and candor.  Her new found wealth has allowed her to hire better speech writers.  She hits all the right buttons, but why won't she defend what she says in question and answer sessions?  Or is there really no there there?

I just wish she would make her intentions clear.  If she's just going to cheer lead, fine.  Go ahead.  If she's going to run, then get with the program.  I'm getting really tired of her.  Her voice is beginning to grate on my nerves.  Her mannerisms and sound bites are predictable and becoming irritating with their continuing vagueness and sameness.

I don't see her making any headway with the independents who aren't into her family values bit.  She can't win without a good portion of them.  As a flamboyant personality/celebrity has she reached her peak?  She has with me.

As serious Presidential material she isn't even on the chart.  Showmanship doesn't equate substance, intellect or ability.  Maybe the announced candidates aren't the most flashy of groups but most of them have something to offer.

Somehow blaming all our ills on those who don't agree with all the Conservatives are demanding and the "lame stream" media isn't a foundation for being able to govern.  And that is the thrust.  What I want to know is what she'd do in the middle east and other trouble spots.  China.  North Korea.  Has anyone heard one single word on any of it?

It's time.  Time to say something.  Or nothing.

The Joy Of Gardening And Other Generational Differences

I finally got around to reading an article Hub had printed out for me awhile ago.  It has the foreboding title of Standard and Poor's Downgrade and the Death of American Exceptionalism.

The contents reminded me of just what we've been doing for the last several days that has kept me away from the computer.  Working.  Hard.  For the pure pleasure of enjoying the end result.

Every spring we have a ritual.  We buy a myriad of bare root trees to plant on our acreage.  Our effort to reforest this dismal prairie.  We're tree people and shouldn't be here, but we are.  So we dig the holes, buy the trees, plant them and nurture them like children until they set down their roots.  It's exhausting, especially for folks our age with our variety of aches and pains.  Yet it's a good tired, one from a job well done and the pride that comes from watching our efforts flourish.

It ties in directly to the point of the article.  The generational difference between those of my own who grew up being taught to work for what we want, to earn it and then to enjoy the fruit of our efforts.  That work ethic let to American exceptionalism.

Now we are leaning to an entitlement mentality.  We want the government to do more and more for us.  Obviously the case with the resistance to change in medicare and social security.  Education.  With it comes the end of individualism, innovation and yes, our exceptionalism.  President Obama has made it clear time and again this is his vision for our country. But what happens when the money runs out? Our money. That's how it's paid for.  Our taxes and an ever increasing debt ceiling until no one will lend to us because the dollar no longer has any value.   Nor will the country.

We could have hired a landscaping firm come in and plant our trees.  They would even choose them I'm sure.  They'd be just as pleasing to the eye or would they?  We'd have a sense of detachment because it wasn't our effort, no matter how pleasing they may appear.  Yes, the landscapers would do their job and move on.  To get them back if a tree got sick would be nearly impossible.  We'd either have to educate ourselves on the care and maintenance or lose it.  After all, weren't we entitled to a job properly done even though we had no input as to how that should be?  No idea that recourse would be time consuming, probably less than satisfactory ~ and expensive?

It seems to be little different than giving up our individuality and independence to the government.  Like airline security where we allow ourselves to he herded like sheep and manhandled beyond all decency in the name of safety.  Like health care where decisions will be broad based  without considering individual needs.

Maybe we should all plant trees and gardens and learn all over again what exceptionalism feels like.  That puff of satisfaction that comes from a drooping plant that resuscitates. By our own skill, caring and possibly innovation.

My hands are dirty even though washed a thousand times.  It will take days to get all the dirt out from under my nails.  My back has felt better for sure.  But we got it done.  With a lot of laughter and good humor even as shovels  hit rock sending reverberations running through our spines.

I feel good.  I feel proud that we old folks still have it in us.  We'll have left our mark on our little bit of the prairie.  Our mark.  Not someone or something elses.  That's the only entitlement I want.  As a reward for our own exceptionalism.