An Era of Shame.  Webster defines an era as “a period of time having some special characteristic”.  In this instance, I am referring to the two presidential terms of Barrack Obama.    This indictment is not meant to be a comparison to a previous President; the George W. Bush administration, along with Congress, also spent money like drunken sailors and demonstrated little, if any, fiscal sanity.  Instead, I am simply observing what our nation and our government have devolved down to during the reign of Obama.

During his terms, we have seen a complete departure from fiscal responsibility; ranging from presenting ludicrous budgets to presenting no budget.  We have seen perversions of the truth, shadings of the truth, and complete falsehoods; all in the name of pursuing an agenda of bigger government.  We have witnessed, through the use of extraordinary Congressional means, and against the clear majority opinion of Americans, the passage and implementation of Obamacare.  My issue here is not the policy (although I do have some issues with that), but rather the arrogant and dictatorial fashion in which it was foisted upon the nation.  We have seen our government take sides in the emotional and explosive issue of abortion, to the point of forcing those who have sincere reservations about abortion to support it with their tax dollars and their business operations.  We have seen a President, blinded by his own ego and narcissism,  repeatedly refuse to work in a bipartisan fashion and instead play “win or lose” politics when the opportunity for “win/win” is clearly present.  We have seen our President diminish the office in which he serves by using children as political props, by savagely attacking those who have legitimate policy disagreements with him, and by consistently treating the American people in a patronizing, dishonest,  and condescending manner.

I predict that Obama, unless he becomes the bipartisan leader that he has the unique opportunity to be, will end up his two terms as one of the most unpopular presidents in our nation’s history.  That is on him.  Unfortunately, the ruin that he and his minions will leave on this nation will be on all of us, and our children, and our children’s children.

Shame On You, Mr. President.  What in heaven’s name is our President up to?  After a “validation re-election”, he is continuing to operate as though he will be eligible to serve a third term in office.  For God’s sake, Mr. President….quit campaigning and start governing!

Taking at face value your arguments for gun law revisions, it is nothing short of pathetic and sad to see your shameless use of children to promote your positions.  Have you really reached the point in your career of great political accomplishments where you are no longer competent to engage in a debate based on merit and substance?  Your continued manipulation of your adoring press and “three blind mice” staff is demeaning to a man of your standing.  Surely you are not concerned about what you will be doing for living after this second term?  A man of your obvious communication and social skills, accompanied by your resume, should provide you with a myriad of money-making possibilities upon retirement from the White House.  You are acting as if you must squeeze every drop of juice from your imperial position as President of this great nation.  Stop…playing…games.

May I humbly suggest that you thoughtfully discount the words of your adoring hoards and narcissistic inner workings and realize that you have not really accomplished that much so far and your time in the catbird seat is growing short.  History, as it is wont to do, will judge your performance from a healthy distance and will likely rely on facts and not rhetoric.  Even after squandering a historic opportunity to make positive and significant changes in this government during your first term, you still have a marvelous opportunity to be a bridge of reason between the two parties and do some real business in WDC.  Please…for the sake of our country and your legacy, begin to mature into a President of substance, understand that compromise is the art of good faith negotiations, and start to address the great issues of the people…national debt, chronic unemployment, the challenge of international diplomacy, entitlement reforms, and most importantly, a semblance of a return to statesmanship, effectiveness, efficiency, and bipartisanship in our government.

Gun Control: A Starting Point.  As part of the preamble to this conversation, we must indict about 75-85 percent of the vocal critics of gun owners due their hypocrisy.  Any actor, musician, or tech game marketer has no moral validity in criticizing gun owners.  Clean up your own house and shut the $#@ up!

Like many of the emotional issues that are currently swirling in our country these days (abortion, capital punishment, gay rights), the debate on gun control is dominated by the extremists on either side of the argument.  It is entirely possible that the broad swath of people in the middle could agree on many steps that could actually improve the gun environment in our nation.  Let’s attempt to seek that middle ground.

Gun ownership is a right; but it is also a privilege.  And as with any privilege, it carries responsibility with it.  Any responsible gun owner should be willing to register their weapons and report sales or transfers.  The fear that action of this type is a “foot in the door” to confiscation is valid given the extremism of the anti-gun lobby, but that argument is insufficient to the principle of holding gun owners responsible for movement of their weapons.

Automatic weapons should not be legally owned by the public.  I am defining automatic weapons as one that can have its trigger depressed, held, and thus empty the clip.  There is no place in the private sector for this type of gun and its ownership should be restricted to military, police, and selected security applications.  A serious debate should take place regarding semi-automatic weapons; those that require successive trigger pulls for firing (this category would include many assault rifles).  It is a knee-jerk reaction to include these guns in the same breath as automatics, since a practiced gunperson can fire just about as quickly with a lever-action rifle or other types of guns.  There is also a legitimate place in sport for semi-automatic guns; whether you agree with the sport or not. 

Existing gun laws must be enforced; uniformly and consistently across our entire nation.  If this requires some type of federal precedence over state law, so be it.  There has to be improved co-ordination and communication between law enforcement agencies from state to state and inter-agency at the federal level.  This can only be accomplished if the set of laws applying to the purchase, ownership, and transfer of guns are uniform across the country.  The commission of crimes with guns must have mandatory sentences and these sentences must also be applied uniformly across the country, regardless of the political leaning of the judge.  As this area is explored, our lawmakers must take a minimalist approach, starting first with a careful discussion and examination of existing gun law before adding new layers of bureaucracy to legal enforcement.  There must be a balance between the rights of gun ownership with the right to public safety.

It is patently ridiculous that gun shows do not conform to the same law as gun shops within the same state.  This loophole must be closed.  Gun and sporting shows will survive, but the process of gun transfer will simply be more restrictive and burdensome.  Once again…This should not be prohibitive and should respect the right of free trade, within the confines of the same laws that apply to the gun shops.

There is so much hyperbole floating around in the gun control discussion.   It is true that people kill, not guns.  Last year, more homicides were committed with hammers and clubs than with guns.  It is also true that an unbalanced sociopath can walk out of a gun show with a lethal weapon with little or no trouble at all.  Each side must begin to respect the concerns of the other without staking out “lines in the sand” prior to debate.  If the middle does not find a way to bring a semblance of reason to this debate, I fear one side or the other will eventually realize a false victory that is misconceived as righteous.

The Perversion of Our Government.  It is now obvious to anyone who has been paying attention that we have a Charlatan in the White House and Drama Queens in Congress.  At a time in our nation’s being when leadership is dearly needed, there is none.  At a time when our nation should be turning to its founding principles, it is devolving towards social and cultural dependency.  At a time when our two political parties should be laying out fundamental agendas that are clear and concise, they engage in childish games of one-upsmanship and adolescent behavior.

Let’s start with President Glitz who, faced with a unique opportunity to meet a crisis armed with good will from the public and a semi-mandate from re-election, chooses instead to remain in perpetual campaign mode and continue governing through his selected media outlets.  Has any elected official ever done a better job of squandering an opportunity to make real changes?

Then we have John Boehner who gets partial credit for at least passing actual legislation and sending it over the Senate, but apparently only has sufficient principles in those areas strategically selected to retain his Speaker’s role.  He appears to be the classic example of the old saying …“If you don’t stand for something, you’ll fall for anything”.

Then of course there is the one I consider the most culpable in the devolution of governmental function and that would be Harry Reid.  In spite of holding the most powerful legislative position in our country for an extended period of time, he seems determined to insure that no action of substance comes out of the Senate.  Failing to meet the bare minimum fiscal responsibilities assigned to his body, he continues to refine the parody of himself and fall deeper into senseless buffoonery.

When did we get to the point where the Senate does nothing, the House passes bills that appeal pretty much only to their regimented base, and the President plies his rhetorical style of administration by issuing ultimatums or populist pap and then, when crunch time arrives, heads out to the links?  Can we not get back to doing the people’s business in a statesman-like fashion and focusing on what the primary responsibilities of our government are?  My friends, hope is fading rapidly.

My wish for you this holiday season is a Christmas moment, like…..

·        On a long, hot summer day at sundown when the sun sinks in the west and that first cool breeze comes snaking through the trees like wisps of smoke…

·        Like when a child who has been tearing around like a tornado inexplicably becomes very quiet, lays their head against you, and says “I Love You”…

·        Like at the tail end of a long and trying day, week, or even month when you have been battle-tested and when looking back over what was accomplished, you can smile and say silently to yourself “Well Done”…

·        Like when you watch a sentimental Hallmark movie with the ever-expected happy ending and even though you know it’s corny as all get out, your eyes well up, confirming that you do, in fact, still have a heart and retain the ability to feel something real…

·        Perhaps you realize while sharing a meal, or a drink, or just a quiet moment with friends or family how very lucky you are to have these people in your life.  And if you can’t be with someone, your memories of them bring them there with you, if just for a brief time…

·        Or that day in the Kentucky fall when you see the ripened crops of the west, or the rolling hills of the north, or the beautiful mountains of the east and you realize how lucky you are to be living here…

·        Or you see someone in the world who is just trying to get by, just looking for a warm place or a bite to eat, and you are here with a job and a paycheck…

·        You might be putting hay out for the cattle, or just walking to the car in a parking lot, or maybe just stop on the parkway beyond the city lights, and you gaze on the heavens and the stars are scattered like diamonds on black velvet and they go on forever and forever, and you feel so very small…

·        Somewhere in your day you see someone do something out of the ordinary…open a door, pick up a paper, help with a coat, hold a package for a moment, give up their place in line, open a car door, put a dollar or two in the bucket or plate, speak kindly to a stranger, yield in traffic, and you realize there is some good left in most people and they have not forgotten how to use it…

·        Or you have survived a sufficient number of years in the business so that they put you out to pasture and you have time to enjoy some of the things you passed by earlier in your life and… you have time to write stuff like this…

And most of all….on Christmas Eve, when all the hustle and bustle has ceased, the house is quiet and dark, all those Christmas smells like evergreen, cookies, and wrapping paper are still in the air, and everyone but you is settled in for the big day to come…you reflect on things and realize how very blessed you are to have this life, your loves, your things, and….moments like these. 

A very sincere Merry Christmas to you and yours.

The Ghost of Christmas Future???   For this holiday season, when one’s hope for the world and the potential goodness in mankind is met with the least resistance, I am left with an empty feeling and disillusionment. I have just celebrated half of my family Christmas and my clan is fully blessed with life, love, and possessions.  For my young adults, young families, and children full of innocence, I see in their faces the promise of a wonderful world to come.  However, I cannot escape the nagging worry in the back of my mind that this country went down a rabbit hole early last month and the prospects of escape are frighteningly daunting.

I am certainly not the man I should be in a religious sense, but even I of diminished moral character can sense the erosion of simple values and ethics in our nation.  We have allowed our elections to become contests of wit, wile, and deceit; with the victor oftentimes not the best candidate, just the sharpest.  And this devolution of our founder’s principles has gone on for a sufficiently long period of time that now these victors openly embrace this strategy and have no compunction whatsoever about openly celebrating their skullduggery.  We, the voting public, have been, and are being, played for fools and have become pawns in a game of “shape the message”, rather than the recipients of serious debate and ideas.

With our nation facing perhaps the most serious financial challenge since the great depression, our President’s last three budget proposals have failed to garner even a single vote from his own party.  Our duly elected Senators have failed to pass a budget in over two years.  And how do we react to these performances?  We extend their contracts, of course.  We gladly fulfill the role of the fool who is told nonsense for the truth and then expected to actually become the fool. 

I fear for our nation.  I fear for my children and grandchildren.  I fear for the principles of self-reliance and accountability.  I fear for our future.

Fiscal Cliff Observations.  You know, when I was a kid, we got a big thrill about standing at the top of a cliff and peering over the side; looking at the bottom, flirting with vertigo, and seeing who might get the closest to the edge.  As I got older, I became more wary of the edge.  Not sure why this happened.  It might be because I have come to realize that older bones take longer to heal.  It might be because the bravado of getting closest to edge has lost it value.  But I think the real reason is because I realized that I have a lot more to lose now if I were to slip over the edge.  We would all like to think that our Government would have grasped that same concept, but it appears they are still motivated mainly by those initial adolescent incentives.

I truly believe that among the many bipartisan failures of our Government over the last couple of decades, the most damning is the failure to do their jobs and let…government…work.  Whether we agree with them ideologically or not, credit must be given to the House for their record on passing legislation over the last four years.  The Senate on the hand has failed abysmally to function as a legislative body.  Even though I feel the President shares a good deal of the blame for this breakdown in primary function by failing to provide effective and practical leadership, I will confine my indictments to the legislative bodies.  It can be argued that the President’s proper role is post-passage and is therefore dependent on the performance of Congress. 

I have to think that the majority of Americans who care about such things would strongly embrace a return to a legislative process that was envisioned by our nation’s founders.  A very simple process where the House writes and passes legislation, the Senate then considers that document and either agrees or passes its own version.  In the case of two different bills, we go to conference and then back to each body for confirmation of the grand compromise.  The President then has his opportunity to veto and see just how broad and deep the support is or he can play his role of chief administrator and simply implement the new legislation.  My, what a wonderful system…House members elected every two years to insure they remain in touch with the people and pass legislation that is timely and relevant; a Senate where seasoned legislators can thoroughly vet the bill from the House and attempt to perfect the document; and an opportunity for the President to rarely use that veto power to test the validity of principle.  Why aren’t we doing this?