In The Spirit Of The Holiday - Congress Go Home

I've been thinking lately, I've never seen Harry Reid look like a nice man.  His usual countenance, frowning, colorless and cold seems to reflect his view of leadership. Oh, yeah, and doing nothing.  He's good at that.

Now if only the Republicans would learn how to capitalize on that.  But they won't.  They live in a bubble of their own making and don't see things that are obvious to those of us outside looking in.

One, the President does not want to avoid the fiscal cliff that really isn't a cliff.  Why?  Because he would have to give something and that is not in his nature.  He is Lucy to Boehner's Charlie Brown. And Charlie falls for the ploy every time.

It's time the Republicans realize some truths.  No matter how many promises are made to discuss spending cuts and tax reform down the road they are empty promises.  It won't happen, or if they do it will be the same football and the same game.

The President isn't all that unlike Egypt's Morsi.  He wants unprecedented and unfettered powers to tax, borrow and spend as he pleases.  Period.  Harry Reid is complicit in the scheme by refusing to bring anything to the floor that is sent up from the House.  I think it should be mandatory, actually, for the Senate to vote on legislation originated in the House and let the chips fall where they may.  I also think members of both Houses should not be intimidated by their leadership.  Committee assignments and chairmanships should not be the determining factor of their votes.  It should be what their constituents want.

The Republicans on the other hand want some balance and have actually come up with some feasible ideas on how to accomplish it.  Their problem is they don't know how to articulate it to the American people.  I've never seen politicians so tongue tied about important issues yet so verbose when it comes to accusations and name calling. The Republicans need a face and a voice.  If Jeb Bush wants to be President next go round then he should take the bull by the horns now and start talking.  Or any of the potential candidates.

If someone doesn't, we're doomed to more of the same game playing for the next four years.

For now, however, I hope what I read is correct. That Boehner is going to pass Plan B which at least makes the tax hikes eminently more fair by raising the level to earners of over $1 million.  Too much is still off the table but one thing else they need to learn is it's better to take small chunks as they can get them than to hold out and get nothing.

Well, I can dream can't I?  Realistically I know it's going to be more of the same and ugly.  I know our country is changing drastically.  I'm of the school that thinks it's for the worse and  do not see it changing for the better for a long time to come if ever.

But 'tis the season for dreams.  Maybe I can conjure up some sugar plum fairies.

The Wrath Of God

If there is anything that frightens me more than a wacked out person with guns, bullets and a rage, it's those who tell us 26 people in Connecticut were killed because we as a people have turned our back on God.

Everyone from James Dobson to Mike Huckabee have alluded to that idea.  We've rejected God so what do you expect?  We've accepted gay marriage.  We've accepted abortion.  We don't allow prayer in public schools.

According to Operation Save America, a fundamental Christian organization, the interfaith service was an "affront to almighty God." They go on to tell us the reason is that we have "violently removed the fear of almighty God from the hearts of our children."

So He sanctioned some nut case to go out and slaughter them?  Please.  Or maybe He didn't sanction it but just turned His back while it was happening.  After all, Bryan Fischer,  tells us He didn't intervene because He doesn't go where He's not wanted.  It might help if the children would start every day with a prayer.

You know, I think these people are terrorists in their own right.  They are so sanctimonious they actually believe this.  I have to ask, then, why would any one cater to God's teachings?  We question what kind of god Islamists believe in.  What kind of god calls for the extermination of all infidels and relegates women to being little more than property with which to propagate. Who will shoot innocent little girls because they want an education. In his name.

Is this God so different?  Is this what is meant when they claim we've removed the fear of almighty God? I didn't think that's what God-fearing meant.  I thought it meant being fervently religious.  Not being scared to death.

Scared to death indeed.  That God would reign such horror upon innocent children because some adults have snubbed Him or have dared question Him? No, that's no one that deserves a capital G in his name.  Whoever he is and those who would force his will upon us are monsters every bit as horrible as the shooter.  Conjecture tells me it's also blasphemy.  What happened to the loving and benevolent God who died for our sins? Is He really now killing our children for them?

It's So Much More Than Guns

When traveling the west there are places where, if you want to listen to the radio, there are few choices.  That is why we happened to be listening to Rush Limbaugh when the news broke about the shootings in Newtown, CT.

I give him credit.  He promised to update his listeners when there were substantiated facts.  Then Hannity came on already armed with Mark Furman who lives in Idaho and Ann Coulter who was already expressing the need for more people to have carry permits.  Okay, none of these people are reporters but they are forces in the media.

What could Mark Furman add to the dialog?  What could Ann Coulter add? Or any of the other talking heads that came in a steady stream throughout the day spewing misinformation.  The media did not and is still not doing itself proud.

It seems strange to me that this same media could not press our government to bring forth the facts regarding a terrorist attack in Benghazi where our ambassador and three other Americans were killed when the facts were right in front of their faces, yet rush to the fore with tons of misinformation and speculation about a devastating occurrence in small town America.  They couldn't even let the people involved have a chance to catch their breath.

We have friends in New York who had dinner with friends from Newtown Saturday evening and were told the media was even trying to get access to Facebook pages of the dead children to see what they might dig up.  I don't know how many 6 and 7 year olds actually have Facebook pages, but assuming they do, what could possibly be found?  Please!  Have they no decency?  No.

You see, it is about so much more than guns.  Today they are looking to see if they can criminalize the mother because she had guns.  Demonize everyone,  warranted or not, it sells.

When you come right down to it, there are more people who own guns than you can count.  Many own more than one.  In much of the west it's a way of life. Trying to deny them would be an exercise in futility just as trying to deny the gangs in Chicago that wage war on each other and the citizens on a daily basis.

What is there even more of than guns?  How about electronic devices loaded with violent games where young people in particular play them all day?  Does that contribute?  What about the mind bending drugs unruly kids are routinely put on because the parents can't or won't control them?  Could that be a contributing factor?  Or alcohol or other drugs the young people themselves may add to the mix?

We have a problem in this country.  Incidents like this most recent one brings it home in the most hideous of manners.  But rushing to judgement and blaming it all on guns is burying our head in the sand.  Let's look at our society as a whole.  We are polarized and filled with hate toward our fellow citizens.  Listen to the political dialog.  There is nothing uplifting to be heard.

There have been too many of these incidents over the past several years.  That is the truth.  We're being told to take a look at ourselves, not just guns.  Anyone with the intent to do mass damage to others will find a way without guns.  It's what drives them to it that matters.

It might be worth noting that a lot of these murderers we deem monsters turn their weapons on themselves.  Could it be that somewhere in the fog in which they live they realize what could have been an extreme scream for help was a step too far?

Let the media explore something other than the anguish of the families and the community.  They deserve the time and privacy they need to grieve.  Many may never heal and lives have been forever altered.  They don't need the media perpetuating it.

Leave Santa Be!

Is nothing sacred?  How could anyone spend $200,000 of their own money to self publish their own edited version of The Night Before Christmas in hopes of sparing children and their parents from the ravages of smoking?

Well, a lady from British Columbia felt obligated.  The offending passage, of course,  are the lines, "The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth. And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath." She eliminated them in her version.

One woman's revisionist history of a Christmas classic. She even credited it as being from Santa for the benefit of 21st century kids! She went even further claiming all that smoking business was behind him and that his fur trim was faux out of respect for the animals.  Oh, please. what's next?  His weight?  What a way to ruin a story. Why bother with Santa at all?  Or is that her intent?

It's hard for me to believe two lines in a poem are going to have the kids it's aimed at thinking, wow, smoking is soooo cool.  I think I'll light up!  She claims they don't have the same Santa filters as the rest of us.  Do you suppose it's because they don't need them?  Does anyone?

She claims that three year olds look at him as a real person coming down the chimney and that he's smoking.  A three year old is going to note he's smoking?  I know kids are getting smarter at earlier ages these days, but three?  I don't think so.  If the did, however, they'd probably be thinking about pot rather than pipes.  By the way, I love the smell of a pipe.  My Dad smoked one.  It didn't kill him either.  And I never once thought about trying it myself.

On the other hand, perhaps she knows of what she speaks when she says that's how three year olds think.  She would appear to have about the same mentality.  My apologies to all the three year olds who might happen to read this.

Forget The Handbook!

We have long known of the cultural divide between ourselves and the Afghans.  We've tried for decades to bridge it in our efforts to make the Afghans self sufficient against intruders, including ourselves.  I cannot help but wonder why.

President Karzai is quick to take us to task for our efforts.  I've complained about it for what seems an eternity.  Beyond that we get killed by those we train.  It's blamed on that cultural divide.

So what to do to make us more sensitive?  Produce a handbook for ready reference.  It is in the process of being reviewed for good reason.   The Wall Street Journal suggests there are some problems that should not be swept under the rug.  Never.  Ever.

Sure, I understand the Afghans might resent being considered gutless in combat and basically stupid.  After all, they are an uneducated lot.  I can even understand their resentment for having been found out for having colluded with and formed alliances with the enemies.  Whichever side does the best job of buttering their bread I would guess.

Such must be fairly common between cultures as different as our when being forced to work together when the will isn't there.  But it gets worse.  Far worse.  There is a list of taboo subjects like making disparaging remarks about the Taliban,  criticising  Afghans and just about anything Islam.  That too is to be expected.

But it gets worse.  Far worse.  Nix advocating women's rights.  Check.  Do not mention homosexual conduct.  What?  Do not criticise in any way, shape or form pedophilia.  WHAT?

That our soldiers are often solicited by Afghans for homosexual activity seems a bit off the Islamic path, but I guess you are what you are.  Bold though, don't you think?  What would happen if a GI accepted?

Worse though, is the wide spread practice of pedophilia.  Especially among the Pashtuns of whom Karzai is one.  Is his constant criticism of us an attempt to divert attention from these practices?  Too late.  It's out there.

They have gone so far as to defend it by claiming it's their segregation from women.  Whose fault is that? Their economy is bad and marriage is expensive.  If their President wasn't squirreling away our aid perhaps the economy would be better.  Then there is the romantic Islamic poetry that speaks to their infatuation with young boys.

We put up with an awful lot from the Afghans.  Their treatment of women and girls has garnered most of the headlines.  Now we must include the boys and the despicable  embracing of pedophilia.

I don't agree with President Obama about much.  I do agree with the withdrawal of our troops but it's imperative to bring all of them home.  Don't leave any behind.  Withdraw all financial aid. Let the Afghans fend for themselves and let the chips fall where they may.

We don't tolerate pedophilia among our priests.  We don't tolerate pedophilia by a football coach.  How can we in good conscience tolerate it in an entire culture?  Can we allow ourselves to be that hypocritical all in the name of a cultural divide?