The Cain Disconnect

How many more women are going to emerge before Herman Cain does the honorable thing and bows out of the campaign?

Last night I heard one opinion that suggested he might wait for the Iowa caucuses then fade away after he loses.  To do otherwise might jeopardize his  future earning power.

That may be practical but it doesn't strike me as honorable.  It does strike me as the way a politician would think.  So much for Mr. Cain being an outsider!

He is either the most maligned candidate in recent history when it comes to all things female or he really doesn't understand what is and is not acceptable behavior, even for the powerful and the well to do.  The more this continues the more I'm convinced he doesn't get it, or doesn't want to or thinks he's exempt for some reason.  Wrong on all counts.

Suddenly he's reassessing his campaign.  Talk about living in a fool's paradise.  With his foreign policy faux pas his chances automatically became slim to none.  With the continuation of his alleged sexcapades, take away the slim.

He speaks of worry about what it is doing to his family.  Well? Here's one more similarity between him and so many 'real' politicians.  The ever faithful, bewildered wife standing staunchly by his side.  Have you ever noticed how close Callista stays to Newt?

Nope, Herman, it's time for you to go.  It has nothing to do with people resenting a black Republican.  It has everything to do the Republican himself.  Romney may be boring and a flip flopper and too much a policy wonk but morally speaking he seems a decent man.  Is Newt? I wouldn't take his conversion to Catholicism as proof positive.

I cringe at the thought of another four years of President Obama.  But what I so dislike does not have anything to do with him as a father and a husband. Is it the measure of a man?  At least partially. It should be part of the equation.  How much it counts will be determined by the voters.  But Mr. Cain doesn't even have that going for him.

It was fun while it lasted, but it has lasted too long.

Will The Real American Please Stand Up?

For the past several months the news has been filled with the various versions of  the Occupy Wall Street exercise.  We've watched it evolve from an irritant reminiscent of the hippie 60's peace, love and pot outcasts to anything but.

 Rather than lining parade routes and putting flowers into the gun barrels of our military the crowds have turned ugly.  So ugly even city officials who had been giving them a pass on their law breaking ways decided, for their own political well being, it is time for them to go.

The bodies were buried, the injured cared for, the tent cities and filth which came with them were bull dozed to the ground. Businesses could assess the damage done by the hooligan element and repair it.  Until warm weather returns and they emerge from where ever they went maybe things will be nearly normal. Maybe.  Nearly.

I guess it may depend on how you define normal.  Have you ever wondered just who these people are and where in fact they do go?  It's pretty evident who they are - malcontents for whatever reason.  It doesn't have any coherency to it.  These young people who complain about lack of jobs yet study under water basket weaving.  Complain about the unfair distribution of wealth as they tweet their discontent on iPhones, iPads and every other electronic gadget known to man.

I didn't see many people my age in any of those crowds. We're not blessed to be one of the most wealthy but we do pay our bills and mortgage.  I'm not proud to be equated with these demonstrators.  One needed be wealthy to have a moral code and manners.  I do not expect handouts from anyone nor do I want any one to be forced to share with me what I've not earned.

That's enough moralizing on my part.  I'm not trying to be holier than thou.  Really.  I just don't understand what is happening to our country.  I could blame it on the generation gap but I don't think that's it.  If it is then it's because I've been around long enough to have learned a few things and did, in fact, learn.

So here we are.  A month before Christmas.   Thanksgiving just passed.  The demonstrators must have had a home to go to because they weren't evident at any of the free dinners being provided.

On second thought, I do know where they went.  At least on Black Friday.  They went shopping!  And they took with them all their good sense, manners and behavior with them. Look in the mirror and they are us. The 99% looking for bargains.

Well, maybe you.  Not me.  With all the faults heaped upon them by the 99% I'd much rather identify with the 1.

Needy Or Greedy?

In my last post I was extolling the generosity of my community when it comes to filling the needs of the less fortunate.  Not only do those who are able fill the food banks, restaurants step up to the plate (pardon the pun) with free holiday feeds.

It was not unexpected to read about the numbers those restaurants served yesterday, how many take out meals were delivered to shut ins and how many groceries were available for the taking.

I was dismayed, however, about the number who showed up for a free meal without really needing one.  Some, the article said, just didn't want to spend time alone or didn't feel like cooking for themselves or going to someone elses home.  I don't have a problem with them wanting to go out rather than go through the labor; I do have a problem with them accepting a free meal if they could have paid.

 There are scores of restaurants that serve up Thanksgiving fare in comparison to those serving the needy for free.  There are scores of restaurants with more than reasonable prices.  Restaurants tend to be filled with people if being in the company of people is your goal.  The cooking, serving and clean up is certainly provided for you so you needn't lift a finger.  It's not that there is no choice if going out is what's desired.  It just seems to me that if you can pay you should.

After all, even though volunteer labor eases the burden of generosity, the food the restaurants provide still has to be paid for - by someone.  The help is foregoing pay.  Willingly to be sure, but this day and age even one days worth of tips can put a real dent in a budget.

When one restaurant owner said she wanted to help people at any level of need, perhaps she truly meant those who are no more than lonely or lacking the ambition to do the work.  Maybe that's what community giving is all about.

I just know that I couldn't be on the receiving end for reasons other than real need.  To me that's taking advantage of the very best of intentions for the very worst.

"Thanks" Giving

I spent a large part of yesterday and this morning doing prep work for tomorrow's dinner.  I thought about how we've downscaled the meal over the past several years.  For the best of reasons - we just can't eat as much.  Not because we can't afford it.  We're among the fortunate.

The food banks have had a real struggle this year.  Not just for the holiday, but daily.  There are more and more people in need and fewer able to be as generous as they might like.  Yet, as is typical in our community anyway, the need has been answered to the point there may even be surplus to go toward Christmas.  It's the rule here, rather than the exception.  Whether it be for a holiday meal or warm coats for kids or toys for tots or a family struck by misfortune and becoming financially strapped, the people here step up to the plate and help.  Always.  Generously.

It makes me wonder what Thanksgiving means to our politicians.  I can't see them sharing a meager little turkey as the pilgrims and Indians above without it being a 'taxing' situation.  Do they look around at the people and see the pain caused by greed, be it monetary or ideology?  Would a  Republican pilgrim even think of sharing with a Democrat Indian? Or vice versa.

 When they go home do they see in their communities what I see in ours?  Do they see the people reaching out to help those less fortunate? Or do they only see what is on the table before them, for them; for them to indulge themselves in in lieu of all else?  It's a cynical view, but to me the most likely.

It's going to be cold and blustery here.  The kitchen is already warm and inviting with the sounds and smells of a meal being prepared.  We'll enjoy it and afterward perhaps settle in with a fine brandy to finish off and reflect.  Reflect on the idea that the people, both those who give and who receive, are the heart and soul of this country.  I'd pit any one of them against any ten politicians and bet on the one to solve a problem or get a job done.

I can only hope that a break from politics, away from Washington, might let a little of the reality the rest of us live with seep into their consciousness and prompt them to look beyond themselves.  Even if only for a fleeting minute.   That's all that's needed to pique a conscience isn't it?

Wow.  Now, that would be worthy of thanks giving!

But For One Political Black Sheep!

Of course the super committee was designed to fail  Anyone who thought otherwise need only look at the math.  An even number from each party. Of course had it been an uneven number it too would have failed.  What was needed was one person, just one, who put country before party ideology.  It wasn't going to happen and isn't.

As I write this the super committee has yet to voice it's failure.  If they do come out with a last minute agreement it will be an act of lame desperation and doomed to failure anyway.  They might as well just slink out of town for the Thanksgiving holiday.

And they wonder why the American public has such a low opinion of them.  Both parties were on all the Sunday talk shows spouting about how there is always hope though things didn't look good.  I watched the clips of them looking oh, so smug while blaming each other for the failure.  It was so pathetic it wasn't even worthy of contempt.

The behavior of Congress has brought about good reason for term limits.  We agree they are all bums.  Everyone, at least, except our own.  We need to get over that.  Maybe we need to look at their bank accounts when running versus leaving to drive the point home.  Insider trading and self enrichment.

It's time for them to have to live by the laws they pass with which we have to live.  How do we do that?  How do we find candidates willing to be that black sheep and say, "Stop, enough"? I haven't a clue.  I'm not sure that type of potential candidate is out there.

Is it time to consider love of and faith in our country above all else?  Is it time to give them a pass on their religions?  Is it time to give them a pass on their moral failings?  Does one really effect the ability to govern or should governing for the good of the country trump all other faults?

That the committee failed by design is of little matter other than the principle.  With no one Congress beholden to the prior and the time lapses between decisions and implementation make efforts meaningless.  If the power changes parties.  Otherwise we're doomed to whatever legislation passes whether we like it or not.

I dwell too much on politics.  I hear sound bites from on the street surveys that show me too many people are uninformed and laugh about it.  I wonder if they vote.

 We are in a sense just like a herd of sheep.  We followed Shepard Obama.  We would have followed Shepard Hillary had it not been for Obama.

The Republicans are following the shepard of the week.  Now, of course, it's Newt.  Good thing Iowa kicks things off in January.  They're running out of shepards.

So what will they do?  Return to Obama?  Follow the last shepard standing or spook and run hither and thither until they collapse from sheer exhaustion or run off a cliff?

One of the constant mantras we hear is about how awful it is we're kicking the can down the road to our children and grandchildren.  I've got news for you, it isn't  particularly great for those of us in the here and now.

Maybe we sheep need to stop swaddling the shepards in our warm wool, our insulating wool.  Leave them out in the cold and wet.  Let the wool get wet.  When it does it will not only shrink, it will stink.  Then maybe they'll get an idea of what our lives are like.

Ah, wishful thinking - the spawn of rants.