Some Men Lead, Then There Are Others...

I remember when I was doing publicity for a charity many years ago. The president of the organization intrigued me. The position was held by a lady, very attractive and very distant. Unlike what you would expect a leader to be. No rah, rah cheering on the army of volunteers, but rather a distant, cool persona. After a while I realized why. She hadn't a clue as to how to do her job.

That's how I'm seeing Obama these days. He seems to be two dimensional. He is either apologizing to our friends and enemies alike for sins past, or bullying them. There is no touch. No finesse. Nothing that a true leader usually displays. As I've observed before, he seems to have a penchant for playing catch up while trying to disguise it with bravado.

He's getting what he wants - more and more government intervention. If anyone is more clueless than Obama it's government and it's layer upon layer of bureaucracy. I honestly felt the politicizing of his speech to the nation last night was disgraceful and an insult to all the people, be they small entrepreneurs or large corporate enterprises who stepped forward at the onset offering help.

Where was the apology for not having the government's emergency plan staffed, equipped and ready to respond? Don't blame Bush. Flowery speeches and the consumption of snow cones does not a leader make. Yeah, he seems a nice enough guy but he's Peter principled out. He wanted the job, he got it, but it seems more than he can handle. I don't recall at the moment who said he seems paralyzed when it comes to decision making, but he does, so commissions are formed and another czar appointed.

In some ways I'm glad he's the way he is. The dreamer. Enough damage has already been done to our country by those who know how to control him. Were he more effective matters could be even worse.

The one man who has stood out as far as having passion is Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal. He is engaged, he is angry. He has been acting like a leader. He has not been afraid of taking on the government's response. Or lack thereof.

Ahem, Republicans. You're looking for a face to put on that figure of leadership you so desperately need. You might give him a more serious look. One bad speech shouldn't end one's career. Don't get hung up on how far to the right he is or isn't but observe what the man does in the face of crisis. Stepping in to salvage what should have been the government's responsibility has him looking worthy of consideration to me.

A Ray Of Sunshine

The weather has been gray, wet and chilly. I ache more and my mood reflects it. Gray. The news has been so black (no pun intended about oil) I've not felt like commenting on it. Even the birds around here are gray. Or brown. Except the occasional Meadowlark or Western Bluebird. Even they aren't as colorful as their eastern cousins.

I miss having my dear old Bacchus to dote on so I've been taking particular delight with the onslaught of baby birds. The shrubs surrounding our house have become an entire neighborhood for them. At last count I found two Blackbird nests and one Robin's all full of new borns. There was the Killdeer nest with young a few weeks back. I take my life in my hands from protective parents when I get anywhere near. Lawn mowing has become quite a challenge. But you know what? They too are, well, gray.

So imagine my delight this morning as I looked out the window to see if the rain had eased enough to check on the plants in my green house. A rustle of wings and swaying of branches in a willow and a small bird appeared. Then another. And they weren't gray! They were brilliant. They were beautiful. I rushed to the den and dug out my bird book and hurried through the pages.

Western Tanagers. Oh, how I hope they become part of the 'hood!

The Meek Shall Inherit The Earth And The Garbage That Comes With It!

Is anyone other than myself getting tired of our government apologizing for the immigration law Arizona recently passed. First we listened to President Calderon of Mexico scold us. The photo is of a mess left behind at one of the way lays on a route out of Mexico heading toward Tucson. His people fleeing his country. Imagine that along all the routes smugglers use out of Mexico.

By their own admission neither Big Sis Napolitano nor AG Holder had read the bill before criticizing it. Napolitano even said the borders are as secure as they've ever been. She had the previous watch and is telling us, though I doubt she intended it this way, the borders are not secure now and never have been. But we're hung up on hurt feelings if asked to produce proof of legal stature in this country.

The last straw was Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy and Human Rights and Labor, Michael Posner, being told by the Chinese, of all people, this was a trend they found "troubling".

With primary elections under way for the next Congress, I hope the voters are paying close attention to what the candidates stand for. If it's for a strong America, one had best not vote for a supporter of Obama's policies.

I'm to the point I'm not sure I can vote for our Blue Dog. Sarah Palin, campaigning for a challenger, summed it up when she said, "...Walt, it's who you're hanging with...". I really don't think this country can recover from continuing one party rule. Actually, the ailment has to cease before it can recover and as long as the Democrats hold sway, everything we once were is going to continue to disintegrate.

The solution to the immigration problem doesn't have to be all that "comprehensive". Part of it, yes, the part about the illegals already in the country. The part about securing the borders should be a totally different issue. Do it. It's not rocket science.

If the Feds had done it instead of politicizing it way back when Reagan issued amnesty Arizona would not have had to do as it did. I hope the other states contemplating similar measures follow through and through and through until the Federal government gets the message. Don't apologize to the oppressive, don't scold Arizona, don't support those who are trying to make it into something it's not and do do your job. Secure the border!

To Be Or Not To Be - Gay

I've been watching the media agonizing over Supreme Court Justice nominee Elena Kagan's sexual preferences. Is she or isn't she? The same has been asked, without the fervor, of Janet Napolitano and Janet Reno. None have decided to say so everyone assumes they are. What does all this mean?

For one thing it dispels the myth that gays or lesbians are less able than the straight world! Heck, with the positions these three hold (or held) you might even say they are more able! I know, that's too much of a generalization. I also know it will be argued Ms. Kagan's sexual identity could influence her opinions on gay marriage and "don't ask, don't tell". Sure it will, just like Justice Sotomayor's ethnic background may influence her thinking on issues pertaining to Latinos. Or women's issues. Let's face it, who we are has a lot to do with how we think concerning just about everything. So why the big deal on sexuality?

It seems to me one's sexual preferences should be a most private matter unless the person wishes it known. It should not be a litmus test for anything. I've often felt the gay community would be a lot better off if they'd lay off the semantics and settle for substance but that doesn't seem to be their agenda. Equality at all cost. It's really all in a word.

I don't think even the "marriage is between a man and a woman" mantra holds the weight it once did when you have churches elevating gay clergy to high positions. The Episcopalians just ordained their first lesbian bishop!

Actually having gays and lesbians form marriage-like relationships isn't all bad. With the state of over population in the world, they are more likely to adopt than father or mother their own. Two mother and two father families takes a little getting used to, but if it's a loving family unit why not? It's happening so why not support it as you would an interracial family? The obstacles the children will face are not unalike!

Slowly the tide is turning and I expect it will continue to do so. What would be of great help is with all the DNA research that's being conducted, they would come up with a marker that identifies a homosexual gene. That would put the argument as to whether or not one is born "that way" to rest.

I happen to believe you are. I won't even begin to argue with anyone who disagrees. Until such a marker is found, either could be correct. In the meantime, why don't we just live and let live. It matters not if you're a potential Supreme Court Justice or the kid next door trying to figure it all out.

Shuttle Scuttled!

For those of us who have grown up with the space program, yesterday was a sad day. The shuttle Atlantis blasted off on it's final mission. There will be two more - one by Endeavor, the other Discovery. Then it's over. Thirty years of thrills and chills. Over. We leave manned space to others. Personally, I think Obama's aim for Mars is less than visionary but rather an offhanded slap at the exceptional accomplishments of the U.S. space program.

Maybe you had to grow up with it. Remember the competition between the Soviets and ourselve? Do you remember the name of the first satellite? Sputnik. Russian. Remember the awe that was inspired by the first chimpanzee in space? Ham. Then the first man. A man! A Russian. Do you remember the name? I do. Yuri Gargarin. John Glenn was our first orbiter. Then the moon landing and the exploration that followed. Our national pride couldn't be contained.

Back in those days the names of the astronauts were as well know as the tabloid stars are today. I remember most of them. How many current astonauts can you name?

The program was not without tragedy. The loss of Gus Grisson, Ed White and Roger Chaffee in a pre-launch test. The nation mourned but the program continued.

The Challenger with the first teacher on board was next then the Columbia. Again the nation mourned yet the program continued. We still have the unbelievable Hubble telescope and the Mars rovers to brag about. Both succeeded beyond our wildest expectations. And the shuttle. The old reliable work horse that repaired satelites and shuttled crews and supplies to and from the space station as it was being built.

It is all being left to others. No more will we watch, fascinated, as crew members would leave the safe confines of the ship to do their daring space walks. No more will we be witness to the corny jokes between Houston and the crews. No more of those spectacular pictures of earth that were so often beamed back. No more.

It is ironic to me that the lead now returns to the Russians. Our astronauts will be hitching rides with them. Space. The final frontier, to borrow a phrase. And we're relinquishing our lead in manned participation to others. This administration seems determined to be the great equalizer. The country I grew up in is slowly changing in character. We're no longer the leader of the pack. We're edging ever closer to being the outcast. A lonely, ostricized figment of what had once been the envy of the world. Even Russia.

When The Media Gets It Wrong

If I were a Tea Party member and saw these guys coming down the street toward me, I too would be a tad bit unnerved. The headlines, shortly after, blared that Obama and the secret service called out the swat team to keep the Partiers under control.

Nothing could be further from the truth though I must say the riot gear is a bit of over kill. The secret service did indeed ask for police, not the SWAT team, to clear the roadway for the Pressident's motorcade. No one was there to threaten the Tea Partiers into submission.

The same type of hyperbole is accompanying the new Arizona law to weed out illegals. It's just like the Gestapo they scream. What is more like the Gestapo than asking for ones "papers"? Please. When you go to Europe you are advised to keep your passport with you at all times and it is perfectly legal to be asked to produce it. Me. A white, anglo saxon atheist! What should I make of that?

Then there is the cry that the law is unconstitutional. I've heard it over and over! Pundits, letters to the editor, you'd think the sky was falling. I have yet, however, to hear just exactly what in the law is unconstitutional! Spelled out by those who claim it as an absolute truth!

All this over reaction is exhausting. When listening to the talking heads, and our august Senators, talk about finance reform, it's easy to see how many people don't understand how the system works. Just listen to the questions coming from the Senators if you can get past the profanity!

People are confused, anxious or down right angry because the media isn't doing it's job. The papers are disappearing. NBC news is a joke. Ann Curry visiting a submarine is not news!

It seems to matter little, however. More don't care than do. I'm willing to wager people spend more time on Facebook and Twitter then they do following the news. That, my friends, is for the birds. Tweet!

Adoption - A Point Of View

There has been a fair amount in the papers of late regarding adoption of kids from other countries. There was the mess in Haiti and now the mother who sent her son back to Russia causing the country to ban all adoptions by Americans.

It is certainly an arduous route at best. For both the children, who often are not in the best of health and the prospective parents who often aren't screened sufficiently. The process can take years.

Why, then, do these people choose to adopt foreign children rather than one of the multitude of kids needing homes in this country? It is hard for me to believe the process here could be any more difficult then elsewhere.

I understand that the need is great world wide, but some of these youngsters are not mere babies who will be learning language and culture from scratch. They will be foreigners in a strange land, many speaking a different language. How well are they assimilated into the community once away from family?

I'm curious how Oriental and black kids manage. Look at the conflicts Obama had over his identity, being raised by his white grandparents while he bore the features of his father's race. And that was his own family.

It's a subject close to my heart, having been adopted myself. As was my brother before me. From different families. Needless to say I have a lot of respect for those who are willing to adopt. I'm so grateful a young couple chose me, housed and clothed me, educated me and most importantly - loved me.

I just wish I could understand why this day and age American kids seem to take a back seat.

Earth Day Is A Gas!

Earth Day. A time to remind ourselves to do all we can to save the earth. Recycle, use reusable shopping bags, grow our own food, cut down on emissions. What? Cut down on emissions? Of course that applies to we little people, not our globe hopping President.

Let's see. Where is he today. New York bashing the banking industry. That means a helicopter ride to Andrews AFB, the flight itself to JFK. We mustn't forget all the gas being used by planes in a holding pattern because of restricted air space regulations. Then there is the motorcade to Wall Street and the attending support vehicles and air support. Don't forget the gas being burned while cars are halted to let said motorcade pass. Reverse the procedure for his departure.

Maybe the speech is a worthy undertaking. It depends on where you stand. It just strikes me funny it's taking place on Earth Day by a President who is gung-ho on climate change. It reminds me how tone deaf the administration can be. You don't agree? Add this to the mix.

Joe Biden is on the road today also. Where? New York. Why? To appear on The View . Ahem. That entails a helicopter to Andrews. The flight to La Guardia. The holding pattern for planes waiting for air space to clear. The motorcade and it's attending security detail. Reverse the the procedure for his departure.

Okay. They do not fly on the same plane for obvious reasons which the recent Polish tragedy underscores. During this time of fiscal restraint we're all forced to abide by, however, can we not ask the same from the administration? Especially when he's addressing money men? If the impact of Obama's speech is of national importance, give an address from the Oval Office.

As for Biden, The View? Please. On our dollar. Dollars.

Sure, all Presidents make frivolous trips. But this one; it's the timing and the fact both the President's and the Vice President's destination was but a few miles apart. It actually mocks the whole point of Earth Day. Talk about mixed messages.

Earth Day. For me it stands for, "What on earth have we done!"

Something To Think About

There's something about the small towns of Montana that intrigues me. You never know what you're going to find. Take Big Timber for instance. It's a relatively sleepy little town, quite typical of those around the state. It has, however, the Grand Hotel. One of those wonderful old places that devoted owners pour tons of money into to preserve the history. We stay in them often.

The Grand also has a grand dining room and the chef is one of the best self taught chefs you'll find anywhere. It has been the reason we've gone there quite often. You'd be surprised at how many of them there are! It's a culinary delight when you find them!

The town also boasts the manufacturer of Sharps rifles. Beautiful hand made replicas of the rifles that helped win the west. Hub had always wanted to see how they were made so we stopped in and were offered a tour which we eagerly accepted. It is also Montana gun country. It's political, oh yes. As you can imagine. While there I picked up my free copy of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, a little booklet distributed by the Heritage Foundation. Various fliers were also on the table sporting jokes and other bits of information to contemplate. One in particular caught my attention. I found it thought provoking enough to devote a post to it.

If you cross the North Korean border illegally you get 12 months of hard labor. Iran - you're detained indefinitely, Afghanistan you get shot, Saudi Arabia you get jailed, China you may never be heard from again, Venezuela you are branded a spy and your fate is sealed, Cuba you'll be thrown into a political prison to rot.

Think about recent happenings around the world where these fates have befallen Americans!

If you cross the U.S. border illegally you get a job, a driver's license, a social security card, food stamps, a credit card, subsidized rent or a loan to buy a house, free education, free health care, a lobbyist in Washington, billions of $ worth of documents printed in your language because you don't speak ours and the right to carry your flag while protesting that you don't get enough respect.

This is an unusual post for me. It's more like one of the multitudes of forwards we get daily in our e-mail. With the debate on immigration reform looming, however, I thought it worthwhile seeing this in one spot just as a reminder of how it works.

Buyer's Remorse?

Stranger things have happened! With Obama's poll numbers continuing to slide, one might say that even Democrats are becoming disenchanted with the way his administration is conducting the business of the country. According to the L.A. Times he's barely holding his own against potential Republican opponents, whoever they might be. Heck, he only leads Ron Paul by one percentage point!

It's still early, though it seems troublesome that none of the Republicans seem to be gaining any sort of foothold. So Obama really doesn't have to worry, right? Wrong. Who is out polling every name mentioned? Hillary!

I've been debating with myself about the likelihood of Hillary challenging Obama. I think she just might. Where the Times suggests she's "free of political tussles", I don't agree. As Secretary of State she is steward of a weak foreign policy even if it's not her own. They are spot on, however, when they say she now has an "enhanced resume burnished on the world stage".

The one thing she needs to heed. Being true to the dictates of the administration when she strongly disagrees. If she disagrees. A recent example is the credibility lost by Colin Powell, another who could have been President, by buying into the Bush administration's stand on Iraq's owning weapons of mass destruction. He wasn't sure of the evidence but caved to administration pressures. Had he resigned I think he could have challenged Bush and perhaps won. I would suggest the same could be true for Hillary.

This is political theater that is fun to watch. If she steps down after the 2010 mid-terms I'd expect to see her run. You can expect all the denials that go with the territory. She would want to resign on her terms; have it her show; not Obama's.

I have a hunch she still has a burning desire to be the first woman President. I don't know if she'd be good or not. I think she'd have a very different Presidency than what we're living through now. I think she might right the ship of state to a less precarious angle.

I wasn't a supporter of Hillary, but in a sentimental sort of way, I'd rather like to see her achieve her goal. Especially if Sarah Palin were to be her opponent. Hillary had worked her entire life toward getting Bill to the Presidency. By the time that was achieved the political climate in the country had changed to the point a woman could, too, be a viable candidate and she set for herself a new goal.

I think she's earned at least another chance at it. Unlike Sarah Palin who was plucked from obscurity for reasons that have always eluded me; who's strength is the ability to deliver stinging one liners. No. The first woman to reach that height, if it's to be in my life time, should be Hillary. No one else has come close to climbing that mountain!

Color Coded

Remember back when Obama gave his now famous "One America" speech at the 2004 Democratic Convention? The one where he caught the attention of many of us. "There is not a black America and a white America..." Remember how we thought here perhaps was a young man who could raise America's racial issues to a higher plain? It hasn't worked out quite the way I had hoped but I find the man who uttered those words an interesting case regarding race and how he uses it.

This is not criticism but curiosity. According to an article in The Wall Street Journal Obama checked "black" on his census form. He had the option to write anything he wanted. Tiger Woods certainly did, claiming to be "Cablinsian"! Caucasian, black, Indian, Asian. What a mouth full!

Why did Obama not claim his true heritage which is Caucasian and black? It only increases my curiosity about just who and what this man really is. His father, the black, abandoned him. He was raised by his white mother and white grandparents. I wonder if Barack Obama would be our President today had he borne the physical characteristics of his mother or would he just be Berry Obama, the kid with the funny last name?

Was he really an exceptional student during his University years or was he a mediocre candidate elevated by affirmative action? If he was truly the exceptional student why has he had all his academic records sealed? He certainly did nothing beyond his graduation to distinguish himself to the extent of being Presidential material except deliver one very good speech!

Then again, he did nothing, before being awarded it, to merit the Nobel Peace Prize! Maybe this is his destiny; playing catch up to high expectations!

Whatever his reasoning, a man who would literally throw half his heritage under the bus is an enigma to me. The half that raised him, housed him, fed and educated him. Or is he strictly being politically expedient? After all, we've found that America is not yet color blind. We're reminded of that in the strangest of ways!

The Pope And The President - They Are Merely Men!

I'm beginning to get annoyed by two things. One, the current defense of the Pope accompanying denial that he could have possibly had anything to do with pedophile priests while he was a Bishop in Germany. The other is the accusation that by criticizing the President one is a radical or racist.

Look, these are both men. Mortals. Period. Neither is exempted from what he did throughout his lifetime just because of the position he now holds. Both are capable of bad judgement now just as they were as children and adults before attaining these positions.

The Pope wears Prada while his third world followers starve. The President is having trouble breaking his smoking habit and is deaf to the mood of the nation. Neither, as a human being, is any different than anyone else. Circumstance brought them to where they are. And well thought out campaigns which were not necessarily of their own making.

Heck, we don't even know if the President was indeed a scholar or merely a successful affirmative action candidate. Since he refuses to release his college and law school transcripts it is easily assumable that he is not what he'd like us to believe.

Two things need to happen. We need to quite building pedestals for mere men and they need to quit believing the hype that puts them on one.

If we could do that then maybe a degree of mutual understanding could be re-established. Easter is just around the corner. Recognizing the difference between the individual and his office might be as idea worth raising from the dead.

Hate Crime Or Free Speech?

Volumes could be written about the happenings of the day but it all takes it's place behind a headline in Wichita Eagle, Marine's dad ordered to pay protesters' court fees.

Remember the funeral for the young Marine being protested by a bunch of religious zealots calling themselves Baptists who do so as a practice in their belief that the war is God's "divine retribution" for America's sins, Catholics and Gays ?

The Supreme Court is to decide whether they can do so under the right of free speech or if they are violating privacy and religious rights. The Court should also also consider if what they are doing could be considered a hate crime!

The story doesn't stop with this. On the way up the judicial ladder, judgements were made and appealed. The young Marine's father, Albert Snyder, is having difficulty paying fees already brought to bear, yet the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals has ordered him to pay $16,000 to the lead protester and head of the "church", Fred Phelps.

When one of Snyder's lawyers commented the decision adds "insult to injury" it is an understatement.

It's bad enough the military hierarchy is is taking away the few reminders of home the soldiers have in Afghanistan. You'd think the family would at least be able to bury their loved one with the dignity and peace deserved after having given one's life for his/her country!

I would like to know, you legal eagles out there, why Phelps and his followers' actions aren't considered a hate crime? Their message is nothing but hate delivered upon those who are most likely neither gay nor Catholic! If the law is in his favor, it needs to be changed!

You Congressmen who have been accusing Tea Party members and even Sarah Palin and her innocuous cross-hairs comments as inciting hate, how about this? Ladies and gentlemen, and I use that term loosely these days, this is hate!

History - Fact Or Fiction?

We've all heard of revisionist history; we all know that Iran's President Ahmedinejad denies the Holocaust ever happened. We know that people without sufficient background for the task are often asked to approve or disapprove books our children have access to in schools. One off none of this may seem important but, you know, I believe it is.

When people with agendas begin meddling in what can and cannot be taught, history gets skewed. What do we know of it unless we've actually lived it? Hearsay. It goes back as far as the written word. The Bible in all it's incarnations. Parables confused with fact. Or not so confused if one has an agenda other than teaching or learning.

The disturbing thing is how manipulation is being used to this day. A controversy is ongoing in Texas right now regarding what should and should not be included in their social studies curriculum. When I think about it I couldn't begin to tell you what my 11 and 13 year old nieces believe to be history. I would be willing to wager it's not quite the same as what I was taught.

Here are a few of the recommendations from Texas as reported on the texasinsider.org site.

1st grade: In the section on holidays it removes Veterans' Day and Independence Day. The 4th of July? On customs it removes the anthems and motto's of Texas and the U.S. and from patriotic symbols it removes the Liberty Bell.

3rd grade: Removes a children's biography of Stephen F. Austin.

High school: Removes John Locke's Two Treatises of Government and English common law and changes the phrase "Free enterprise system" to "capitalist system".

Presidents Roosevelt and Eisenhower were referred to as "dead white guys" in discussions on phasing them out and not adding any more.

Needless to say there has been tremendous push back on these recommendations. Thank heavens. But I can see where such could pass virtually unnoticed in the not too distant future. What with the blurring of reality in movie embodiments of history, writers, actors, producers lending their own slant and photo shop altering any and everything, perhaps one day we will have no history at all. Existence will be nothing more than an epic work of fiction. Reality will be but for a fleeting moment.

So. As Bob Schrum said about Obama today in a conversation with Andrea Mitchell, he needs to stand before us and tell us just who he is. Why? It will all be altered anyway. There will be no truth.

Will the real Davy Crockett please stand up? Did he even exist?

Whistling Past The Graveyard

What else is the administration to do? Let's see now. Ben Bernanke's once sound renomination to head the Fed is on shaky ground. Treasury Secretary Geitner's enabling activity with AIG when he was head of the New York Fed is coming to light. Beau Biden is not going to run for Senate seat his father had held. Health care is all but dead in its present form. The Democrats are deserting the sinking ship of state in uncomfortable numbers. They've just lost a crucial Senate seat in a state so blue it's almost black!

Yet...yet. The assessment coming out of the Sunday talk shows was pure defiance. Even while the surrogates were making the rounds, they couldn't even come up with the same, or even similar, numbers when talking about jobs saved or created by the stimulus yet they charged ahead. This is fascinating to watch. To hear it said they haven't talked to us enough to make us understand was laughable. All they've done is talk!

What they didn't count on is the fact we listened. I don't think they understand the concept. You talk, we listen. That's pretty elementary. The next step apparently isn't. We don't like what we hear, we tell you!

Nothing at the moment is looking rosy. Lieberman and Snowe now want Gitmo kept open. We have 18,000 Marines now in Haiti. That's half the number needed for the surge in Afghanistan. Where is the difference going to be made up? Or are we going to let those still in Afghanistan hang out to dry?

Foreign countries and aid groups are criticizing how we're handling the relief effort. Well, let them step up to the plate! They won't fight with us so let them do the heavy lifting in Haiti.

Times are really tough because everything is interconnected. Just like with our intelligence community, the dots have to be connected yet there are huge gaps.

Nope. No one in the administration is whistling a happy tune at the moment. I just hope this verse from The King and I is an unintentional anthem!

The result of this deception

Is very strange to tell

For when I fool the people

I fear I fool myself as well!

Plural Progress

I don't get sick often, but whatever I have now has really knocked the pegs out from under me. Hub knew I was in trouble when he came home from running errands last Tuesday to find me sound asleep on the couch instead of on my computer. It went downhill from there to two solid days in bed. I never knew I could sleep so soundly for so long.

It would seem to be not quite the flu, not quite a bad cold and not quite whooping cough which is making the rounds locally, but rather a sampler. I'm upright today and even have clothes on. If it weren't for football I'd probably head back to bed, though I am slept out. Also wiped out. So. We'll see how it goes.

One thing, I've listened to a lot of news. When I feel too sick to make my way to the computer to comment on the events of the week just past, trust me, I'm sick.

Of many stand out subjects, one thing struck me as extremely important. I think Americans, as a whole, are coming of age. No longer are we a complacent bunch content to let those in Washington have their way with us. We elected Obama because we were tired of it. We've also sent him a message. Don't fall into the same pattern of patronizing and/or bullying us or we'll turn you and yours out too.

I listen with interest while the few hard core ideologues stick to the same mode of bullying even as their world is collapsing around them. I guess there are those who will never get it. Not to worry. The people do.

It's one reason not to be overly concerned about the Supreme Court's decision on campaign finance allowing corporations to have a say. We do. Unions do. Special interests do. Why shouldn't corporations?

I'd be a lot more concerned if the people weren't showing that we are now capable of seeing through the spin. This is a huge step forward when it comes to taking the country back from those who would force upon us their own ways.

The time since 9/11 is often referred to as the new normal. I hope that's what we are now seeing, this coming of age of the citizenry. That old style politics becomes the anomaly.

I hope too, as I head back to the couch, that whatever it is I have soon becomes the anomaly, not the new norm!

Economic Indicators Western Style

If you spend much time driving around Montana one of the first things you notice is that the highways, for the most part, follow the rivers as do the railroads. Because of this it is difficult to miss when freight traffic is down. The first indicator is when you just don't see trains. The next is when empty, out of use cars are mothballed on siding after siding.

We were over there yesterday and on our way home we passed a coal train - full. Car after car. What a joy to behold!

The fact that Warren Buffet recently spent a tidy $34 billion for the Burlington Northern Santa Fe might also be considered a hint things are looking up.

I wonder if there is a little Ayn Rand at play here. In 1957 she published Atlas Shrugged, her longest and last novel. It has an eerily familiar ring to it. A kind of deja vu in reverse. It tells the story of the collapse of our society as our government asserts more and more control over industry. The auto industry? The greening of America? The banking industry? Cap and trade? Health care "reform"?

Soon the minds that drive society and productivity begin to mysteriously disappear. It is hero John Galt's theory that without the rational and creative minds that drive productivity the country would be lead to total collapse. So, ever so slowly and ever so surely they simply (or not so) disappear!

The railroads reigned supreme in the days of the story. See what I mean about eerie? The ambition of the current administration is becoming more and more apparent. It is parallelling Atlas Shrugged.

This is not a situation where life imitates art, but where life is mirroring art. The prospect is frightening. What is even more so, to me, is that we have no John Galt!

Mixed Message From The U.S.

Anytime you see these three together expect trouble! President for Life wannabe's Manuel Zelaya, deposed President of Honduras, Daniel Ortega, about to be President for Life in Nicaragua, and their mentor, Hugo Chavez, successful President for Life in Venezuela.

Mr. Ortega recently packed his Supreme Court with like minded judges who circumvented their constitution limiting presidential terms to two. He then declared the ruling could not be challenged. The door is now open for him to run as often as he wants, and like Chavez, literally become President for life.

Our State Department and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, to their credit, wasted little time in questioning this action.

Mr. Zelaya tried to do the same thing not so long ago in Honduras. The Congress and the Supreme Court of that country put a stop to it. Their duty was to uphold the Constitution of their country and they did. With the help of the military Mr. Zelaya was escorted out of the country and though back on Honduran soil, is less than welcome.

The U.S. soundly condemned legal activity in Honduras calling it a coup. I have yet to figure out why. The military, from all I've been able to find, had no role in the decision to remove Zelaya from office yet the U.S. is calling it a coup.

We've even gone so far as to cut off aid.

We now have two anti-American dictatorships brewing in South America. Why is it we aren't supporting the country that rejected it? Legally? According to their laws and their constitution? It was not a military coup!

It makes me wonder just what side we are on and why. Do you suppose entire countries may be wondering the same thing?

Who Are The Oath Keepers?

Another Drudge headline caught my eye today. Should it be of concern? READY TO REVOLT: Oath Keepers pledges to prevent dictatorship in USA...

We know there has been an upsurge of militant groups of late. We've a few around here trying to resurface but have yet to get traction. Thank goodness!

So who are the Oath Keepers? They say they're dedicated to preventing a dictatorship from overtaking the United States. As much as I distrust what the administration and Congress are doing, I don't think it is an imminent threat. I could be mistaken.

So here's the gist. They think the government is coming after us and stating emphatically, "Not on our watch." Nothing new here.

Off to their web site. They state quite clearly what steps they are willing to take and speak of a like minded group known as the Three Percenters, who are are apparently of the "I'm mad as Hell and I'm not gonna take it anymore" mode, prepared to back it up with guns.

Of interest is the claim they are successfully recruiting fire and policemen as well as veterans and active military. The photo supposedly shows a GI in Iraq wearing their tabs on his uniform. Personally, I don't buy it. One, the uniform is too clean and two, I cannot believe the military would allow it! Am I wrong?

As for successful recruiting, I can envision disillusioned GI's fighting without a mission as fair game. Then there's the story of the firefighter in Philadelphia who was suspended for refusing to peel an American flag sticker off his locker in the adult equivalent of zero tolerance policies being found in schools.

A lot of these men are ex-military and take the symbolism American flag quite seriously. It has nothing to do with politics. It has everything to do with country.

What seems like a minor infraction of rules can spark interesting consequences. So can the lack of common sense. It's a militia recruiter's paradise!

There's Nothing Noble About The Nobel...

...if you've done nothing to earn it! It was a travesty when Al Gore won it in 2007 for espousing faulty science and a bad movie. Never mind it had nothing to do with "peace" except in the most abstract of terms.

Now Obama has won it on the come. Nominations closed February 2. He took his oath of office January 20. He got the award based on campaign rhetoric. The award has been diminished to the point of being meaningless no matter how hard the committee tries to justify it.

In response to the curiosity expressed by a friend in New Zealand, here's one American's take on the whole situation. I see Obama as a man with few convictions beyond raw ambition, a vision of the country that frightens most of us, a timetable meant to overwhelm opponents into paralysis, and a man unable or unwilling to make tough decisions.

I'm going to ignore everything the pundits are saying as to how this award will help or hinder his presidency. This is what I observe. If he's not out campaigning, he's dithering. He campaigns for a concept in health care reform that has the country up in arms and his own party at odds with themselves. He campaigns for a bill that has yet to be finalized, making promises that cannot be kept.

He has abrogated responsibility to Congress. This is not leadership. Pork abounds. Threats of veto's are non-existent.

He has Czars roaming the country dictating pay for executives while ignoring contract law. This isn't leadership, this is abrogating responsibility to unelected individuals who consider their dictates to be above the law.

He sits at the head of the table while his security advisers haggle over strategy for Afghanistan. Again, there is discord within his own party. Say what you will about Bush, he was able to make a decision. Obama agonizes while troops continue to die for a cause yet undefined. This is not leadership.

If he spent as much time with health care and insurance experts defining and redefining our health care needs as he is with his national security team, I might feel better. I fear though, the reason why he hasn't is because his expertise is in selling rather than formulation.

I listened to a pundit complain about his Sunday's spent on the golf course. What difference does it make? He's not governing. I wonder how long it takes him to play a round. There are decisions to be made. How long does it take for him to decide which club to use? Or is his caddy named Rahm? He'll call the shot.

There once was a time the Nobel Peace Prize was a coveted award based on extraordinary accomplishment. Those days appear to be gone forever. Like so much else this country used to hold dear.

Never again will I be swayed by rhetoric alone. Friends who questioned my passionate defense of Obama warned me. But like the country, we saw what we wanted to see rather than what really was.

I've learned and I fear the country has too. It's going to hurt.