The True Meaning Of Christmas??

We wonder why the rest of the world has a rather skewed view of America.  We preach one thing and do another.  It isn't just the politicians either. It's what our culture has become.

I'm sure as Christmas nears my mood will lift, but as an example here are some of the headlines on today's Drudge.  Cheers!

 SEASON'S BEATINGS!
KENTUCKY MALL BRAWL KICKS OFF VIOLENCE...
BRUTAL FIGHTS ACROSS AMERICA...
WOMAN STEALS VEGGIE STEAMER FROM CHILD, WRESTLES MOTHER...
SANTA STAMPEDE...
Swarms raid discount TV display; Cop punched...
Man caught trying to snatch shopper's child at WALMART...
Top day for theft... 

A Most Personal and Heartfelt Thanksgiving Message

Last year at this time I was anxiously awaiting Hub's recovery after having  had a baseball sized tumor removed from his colon. I didn't think Thanksgiving could be any worse.  But things have a way of proving me wrong.

Last night I had a phone message from my niece asking me to call asap.  She had terrible news.  Her Mom or Dad?  Both our age and it wouldn't surprise me.  One of their daughters?  Oh, please, no. But no.  The worst possible news one could ever get.  Her husband had committed suicide that morning.

I was beyond words.  I still am.  It came out of the blue.  No one expected anything. Yet he hanged himself in the woods near their home.  Why? For the love of God, why?  He leaves his wife and two daughters and a multitude of family and friends who loved him.

We are all in a state of shock.  It's surreal.  Answers no doubt will come once the shock wears off and the necessary business begins but it will forever alter Thanksgiving for his family.

I guess my point is you just never know when  tragedy will strike.  It pays no attention to things like holidays and family get togethers and what should be times of joy and celebration. It has a mind of its own.

I'm thankful Hub came home last Thanksgiving day and we've had a wonderful year since for which I am  greatly thankful.  It is, however, overshadowed by the grief, disbelief and even anger of a young widow who I happen to love very much.

So when you think of Thanksgiving, be thankful for all you have and mean it.  You never know when in an instant it can all be gone. In this case death took a holiday; it took a holiday away forever.  The finality of it is devastating and unnerving yet oh so real.

Life is  precious yet vulnerable to forces we don't necessarily comprehend. The end of that precious life is part of the cycle, expected in time and of course final.  It's difficult for those left behind. But to have a loved one driven to it prematurely is a tragedy beyond words.

Of Course I'm Afraid!

 Don't mock me, Mr. President, because you're the one who planted my fear under the guise of keeping us safe.  Now you want me to believe we have nothing to fear from refugees who can't even be proven to be Syrian, whether Muslim or otherwise? People from an area who are at war with themselves and it would seem everyone else who doesn't believe as they do?

You can't have it both ways.  When I can go to a Federal office building and enter without going through a metal detector and being patted down, then maybe I'll relax.  If at my age, sex and race I can go to an airport and board a plane without being molested by TSA personnel, maybe I'll relax.

When TSA personnel quit stealing from my luggage and can catch contraband being smuggled as a test, maybe then I'll relax.

When ISIS closes it's schools that teach kids and women how to be suicide bombers maybe I'll relax.
Maybe too when enough Imams say enough is enough and put some clout behind it maybe I'll relax.

Maybe too, when the cops are once again the good guys, professors actually teach rather than pander and students apply themselves to learning rather than self aggrandizement based on their "world views" I'll relax.

Until then Mr. President, keep your snarky criticisms to yourself.  If you were more interested in the well being of the American people more than your own legacy I'd feel a whole lot better.

If you'd show that the bloody slaughter of hundreds of innocent people by people who wish us all dead is of more concern to us than your view of climate change than I might have some respect for you.

As it is, I do not. So yes.  I'm afraid.  For myself, for my community and most of all for my country and I have you and your ilk to thank for it.  In all fairness it isn't just you, the individual, but also of previous administrations who couldn't be bothered and a Congress who's greatest talent is burying its  head in the sand and a military/intelligence community willing to lie about statistics to protect your agenda.

You, sir, are however the voice of it all and yes, I am afraid of you, of what you've done and what you may yet do.

Are We Finally Waking Up?

With the likes of CBS's Jake Tapper and the Sentate's Diane Feinstein challenging what the President has to say about our ISIS strategy and governors are putting their collective foot down and saying no to taking in Syrian refugees I'm given a modicum of hope.

Today in Turkey the President held firm his stance that there will be no change in our strategy.  Well,  that's easy to believe since there isn't one.  Unless you consider doing the least amount possible a strategy.

Slowly but surely the pro President press and Democrats are beginning to hedge their bets.  They are beginning to see that the Presidential rhetoric is false and that the truth of the situation with Islamic terrorists has once again shown itself in Paris.  Before that the Russian air bus, before that in Lebanon.  Should it happen again here they would all be culpable.

Nine eleven was 14 years ago.  If you believe what goes 'round comes 'round it is only a matter of time until the cells in this country put whatever they're planning into action.  And remember there are groups being watched in all 50 states.

The President would have us believe he listens to his generals.  The generals tell us he doesn't read the intelligence reports made available to him.  I believe the generals.

We've put up with Presidential arrogance for quite awhile now and shrug it off because there is little we can do especially since the Congress seems not to have the ability nor the will to intervene.  The time has now come for that arrogance to be called out.  No one man knows better than the rest of the world combined.  When the vast majority of leaders, scholars and the military are in disagreement with the choices the President makes we need beware.

It was Paris on Friday.  Someone will be next sooner rather than later.  Will it be us? You?  Me?  We deserve more from those we've chosen to lead this country and so does the rest of the world which has always looked to America for leadership and now finds no more than betrayal, false promises and desertion.

What have we done?

Here's To French Resolve

I'm taking French President Hollande at his word when he states the response to the terrorist attacks will be merciless.  I hope he takes it further than the Jordanians did after one of their young pilots was burned alive.  A few air strikes and gone.

Perhaps the difference will be the fact France is not a Muslim country.  Jordan is.

More importantly, someone needs to take the lead in the fight against Islamic radicalism and it sure isn't going to be us. Who better than the French since they've been on the receiving end of terror strikes twice within this calendar year!

What gives me great pause is wondering what would be happening if those attacks had happened here.  I think a lot of breast beating and woe is us for a few news cycles until the furor died down then as is usual with this administration - nothing.

Whatever we've become as a nation will be revealed in no uncertain terms come next November.  Have we really become a "selfie" nation that care more about our personal wants than the good of the nation as a whole?  Have we really come to believe a group of students on college campuses who are still wet behind the ears know better than adults who have lived life and seen the world?

Have we really come to believe that the government is the end all and that no matter how burdensome taxes may be we will get it all back in the form of entitlements?

Have we really come to believe that a Donald Trump will do us proud over a Ben Carson who is belittled because he's a gentleman and a gentle man?  Or that the conviction of a Ted Cruz or or Marco Rubio is offensive?  Why?  Because they seem, at least, to love their country and have ideas on how to put it back on track.

Are we so blase about the abilities of women we're willing to lionize a Hillary Clinton with all her baggage yet won't even offer Carly Fiorina a bowl of milk because she's a Republican?

I hope we have a year to sort it out.  But as France has found out, there are no guarantees no matter the effort.  Those running for office, I am sure, are listening to what former diplomats, military personnel and students of the history of those who oppose us have to say.  The Democrats are not but surely most of the Republicans are.  I hope so; not only listening but actually hearing.

What remains to be seen is if the candidates who would love to lead us not only state their convictions,  it's politically expedient, but also have the courage of them.

In the meantime we must look to France and the allies it can pull together to keep us safe. If anything is un-American it's cowering behind others.  It's time to admit there is no such thing as leading from behind and remedy it.