QUIT WITH THE TANTRUMS AND THE TAUNTS

Honestly, enough is enough.

Because I’m neither democrat nor republican, I might be justified in feeling a bit of an outsider in mine own nation.

Watching the two political parties has gotten beyond entertaining, believe you me.

The democrats are behaving like spoiled brats who have been denied what they want but think pitching fits every which way from Tuesday might get them their way.

It won’t.

The republicans are taunting and gloating, which is reprehensible and serves no good purpose but to retaliate against people who are already down for the count. Since when is it okay to kick someone when they’re down?

Stop it.

Just stop it.

There is no reason in God’s green world that all this stuff has to be happening.

More than half of us were labeled ‘deplorable’ last year. We didn’t appreciate that, not the republicans nor we independents. Do we want to taunt? Of course we do. That doesn’t mean it’s the right thing to do. Justice has already been served up in generous portions to the one who spat in our faces. We can smirk and snicker all we want, but we don’t have to do it publicly.

So stop.

The vindication has been, is, and will be self-evident. It doesn’t need to be rubbed in.

No, it’s not to be expected that the tantrums will stop any time soon, but we don’t have to react to them as though they’re even worth our notice.

There are, you know, many valuable issues that do deserve attention.

That’s what we want to see more of.

We want updates on the progress that’s being made in the background while the tots are trying to keep themselves center stage with one dramatic fit after another after another.

Parents: when your toddler is pitching a fit, the last thing in this whole wide world you want to do is pay attention to it, other than to make sure it’s not doing actual harm to said toddler or anyone else.

The democrat party can cry if it wants to cry if it wants to cry if it wants to; you might cry too if it happened to you. Which it hasn’t but it’s not going to help anything to keep giving in to their craving for attention. It’s flat not worth it when our energy could and should be spent on better things.

Like what?

Pick a spot, any spot, and start there.

We’ve got a war on, in case nobody’s noticed lately.

We’ve got jobs growing and being filled.

We’ve got violently-disposed individuals about to be checkmated.

We’ve got technology ramping up to take on the renewables and get them into play – putting to use our non-renewable resources to get that job done. In case you weren’t aware of that.

We’ve got new options coming at us on the education front, as the current system has dramatically failed.

We’ve got agricultural choices to make.

We’ve got financial decisions to tackle.

We’ve got independent, individual, freedoms to define and to defend. Yours stop BEFORE your fist hits my nose; mine stop BEFORE I hit you back.

You know, stuff like that.

The times we live in are some of the most exciting in the lifetime of Earth.

Why in the name of anything you might hold dear would we choose to focus on drivel when the universe is unfolding before us and we could be celebrating all of the above and a whole lot more?

Balance will be restored and yes we do need to do our part to help that happen. Tantrums and taunts don’t help.

Change the focus.

If the media doesn’t, change your own focus and forget about watching or listening to the tantrums and the taunts. Look around yourself and see what you can see. If you’re going to go on line, check to see what’s going on in some of those marvelous and changing areas. If you’re interested in one or more of them, for goodness sake educate yourself.

The tantrums aren’t worth our attention. Neither are the taunts.

We get to live in a time that’s truly worth paying attention to, so start paying attention to things that are worth it.

2020 Candidates Sought : Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn!

THERE IS NO HYPHEN IN AMERICAN.

Where are the Candidates who actually get that?

We have to find them in all of our fifty States.

Whoever thinks they can do in 2020 what Ronald Reagan did (in terms of landing 49 out of fifty states in 1984) had darned well better start getting themselves some public attention NOW.

I was looking into the whole thing, trying to figure out what seems to have worked ... and wondering if there are any others among us who are doing the same thing. Said others being people who might actually be able to find a way to do what he did - unify this nation.

In the process of looking at things I was barely aware of at the time I realized that what Reagan did was essentially convince We the People that he believed in us. He believed in us so hard that we started believing in ourselves.

Back in my oh-so-long-ago-now school days I did pick up on a concept or two.

One of my favorites, and one of the most useful ones, was what they called 'The Halo Effect'. It works, truly.

What 'The Halo Effect' says is that people will live up to (or down to) your expectations of them. Works with kids, works with elders, works with friends, works with colleagues ... it flat out works. The key is that you have to mean it.

Example: I work now mainly with elders. I go into it expecting myself to give it my best effort - and so I do. I also go into it expecting said elders to know that their best effort is also just as important as mine. I expect cooperation and respect, the same as I give them, and I get it. 

Once they realize that I fully intend to do my best, and they see that I AM, and that I fully expect the same from them, they kind of automatically become more active in the teamwork it takes to make things work the way they're supposed to. Because I believe that they're going to, it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy, so to speak.

You don't get that by telling them they can't do whatever it is.

You don't get that by telling them they're afraid to try whatever it is.

You don't get that by telling them that you're going to have to do it for them.

No.

You get it by first of all knowing exactly what they realistically can and cannot do. 

If you know they CAN do something, you expect it of them. Even if they whine and try to get out of it, you know they can, you tell them you're going to do this thing together, and so you do. Together. Or if it's something they don't need your help with, they do it themselves. You believe in them, they believe in you, and they end up believing in themselves. And whatever it is gets done the way it's supposed to get done. People stare and say, 'How did you get them to do that?' Well gee. I didn't. They did. Or we did. Whichever. It got done.

Halo Effect.

Same coin, flip side. Tell someone they're helpless, can't do this or that or the other thing (so you have to do it for them), often enough and guess what. Even though they can do it, they aren't going to. And pretty soon they aren't going to be able to. Tell someone often enough, verbally or by your actions or facial expressions, that they're scared of trying something (or should be), and guess what.

Halo Effect.

So pretty darned soon here somebody better step up to the plate and start telling We the People something kind of different from what we've been hearing. 

Not all of us actually know, any more, that we can do stuff. See, it's been a good while since anybody seems to have believed in us or had much of any kind of positive expectations. We're 'living down to' what's expected of us. 

Whole generations are doing that. We are a hyphen-hated nation.

Labels, I tell ya. I've got a few that apply to me.

I'm an American Boomer. I'm an American getting-up-there-in-years white woman. I'm an American INFJ/P personality type. I'm an American O Negative. I have physical limitations that are only going to get worse. I'm an Alpha Chi. I'm a little over halfway intelligent. I'm one of the 'poor folk'. I'm an American college graduate. I'm in one of the numerous Who's Who books. I'm what used to be called a WASP. My folks back in the day were Quaker-Americans. I'm an American author. I'm an American artist. I'm a Daughter of the American Revolution and a Daughter of the Confederacy (or could be if I were the 'joining' type) I'm working a job instead of having a career, what they call under-employed. There's no Future for me, only years of bare survival before I call it a life and ease on into whatever comes next. I can't do this and I can't do that and I can't do the other thing because because because.

I tell you true.

I'm maybe one of the most hyphen-hated Americans you'll ever meet. Everyone has at least one reason to not like me.

Rich folk look down on my because I'm poor.
Other poor folk look down on me because I'm educated.
Lots of folk look down on me because I've got the infamous INFJ/P personality traits.
Prospective employers look down on me because I'm old and under-employed.
My current employers look down on me because I'm at the bottom of their food chain.
Feminist type folk sneered at me because I belonged a sorority; sorority sisters wondered why I would choose to work at the Women's Center.
People of color might automatically lock me into a 'white' file.
Younger Americans might resent me because I'm a Boomer.
Strong people might look down on me because I'm not as strong as they are.
Some folk might look down on me because I'm Christian.
Others look down on me because I don't belong to a church and therefore am not Christian enough.

Yada yada. There's no way in the world I can make people happy. There's always at least one 'issue' lurking.

Me, I agree with the movie's Rhett Butler: Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn. And even that quote is politically incorrect these days. 

I repeat: Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn.

Who says education has to be an issue, or income level?

And who says race has to be an issue?

Who says religion has to be an issue?

Who says personal preferences have to be an issue?

Who says age has to be an issue?

Who says we all have to be wanting the exact same things?

Who says it's not 'good enough' to save up for what you want, even if it takes longer to get it?

Pfffft.

The 'who' people that say those things are ... um ... I try really hard to not use that kind language out loud. You'll have to read my mind about what I think of the 'who' people that say such things.

If you're physically and mentally able, are good at something, and like it - why aren't you doing it? 

Call me old-fashioned. I happen to think that everyone is good at something, enjoys something, and ought to be doing it. It doesn't necessarily have to be your bread-and-butter only-thing-you-do ... mine isn't, not by a long shot. I happen to not hate my bread-and-butter job (which is nice) but the primary reason I do what I do on that front is to allow me to do the books and the art.

Ha.

If I had someone else to pay my bills and provide me with room and board so I could spend all my time writing and doing artwork ... 

*sigh*

Ain't gonna happen.

I have to do it myself.

And so I do.

Back to topic:

Where is the Candidate who will believe in us?

Where is the one (or the many) who will pay attention to what actually works?

I'm biased but you know what? Business-wise, Sir Richard Branson has some pretty good ideas that work pretty well. So does Jim Bradshaw of Strata Corporation out of Grand Forks. So does Johnny Nolon's of Cripple Creek. Why does it seem to be such a minority view, when it's obviously effective? 

I've never worked for Branson, but the other two I can speak about first-hand. The guiding principles are mighty close in practice. 

In both instances it had a definite 'family' tone, from the top down. And it was 'family first' - from the emphasis on the caring for the families of individuals straight through that sensation of belonging to a big family in the workplace. 'Take care of your people and they will take care of your business' - something like that - it's a quote from Branson. 

The diversity within our 'families' was enormous - but our unity was universal. To this day when I see the Strata logo I think, 'Mine!' And I still feel as though I could walk into Johnny Nolon's as comfortably as I walk into my own home. 'Mine!'

Is there anybody out there who can even see the logic of instilling that kind of feeling in the same across-the-board way that those businesses have? Not even instilling it - more like acknowledging it, nurturing it, and celebrating it?

Diversity notwithstanding, we are all Americans.

When did it become politically incorrect to be patriotic? 

When did it become a shameful thing to be educated? Or talented? Or rich? Or ambitious? Or satisfied as long as the ends are meeting? Or helpful? Or poor? Or 'creative'? Or kind? Or hard-working? Or proud of your heritage (even if it's colonial)? 

I am not Scottish-American. I am not English-American. I am not French-American. I am not German-American. I'm quite very proud of the heritage(s) that the elder generations bring to the table, don't get me wrong here - but I myself am not those generations and nor would they want for me to claim to be. That's NOT what caused them to help found a nation here. They wanted me to claim the legacy they lived and fought and died for.

And so I do.

I say to you:

I am American. 

If you're an American citizen, so are you. That makes us kin.

So tell me: who is going to de-hyphen-hate America?

Who will say to our diversity, instead of using it against us to divide us: "Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn!" 

Who will say to us: What are you good at, what do you like to do, and are you physically and mentally able to do it? Good. Here's a list of available options. Go train for it. Do it. Do yourself proud and this great big family will take pride in what you do, no matter what it is (so long as it is useful and not harmful).

*BIG SIGH*

I'm beginning to think there is no such person or people. It would take a lot more than one, you know.

It would take all of us.

And it's going to take all of us, not just one person, or the handful who fill the seats of our Houses and our Senates, or the even smaller handful who sit on our judicial benches.

Of course, if you're happy with things the way they are, good for you. I'm kind of happy with mine own little life, truth be told. But I'm all too aware that there are a lot of us who aren't as lucky as I am. I'm happy with what very little I have, probably because being miserable is the only alternative - and too many people would like to see me miserable for me to think that's any kind of a good idea. 

At any rate, I'm not blind, deaf, or dumb (yet). With any luck at all, we'll see a bunch of our folk taking some initiative and maybe coming right out and saying to us: "Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn!" What divides us is not nearly as important as what unites us. You're an American citizen? Pleased to meet you, cousin - or Grandpa - or niece - or whoever ...

THERE IS NO HYPHEN IN AMERICAN.

Where are the Candidates who actually get that?

We have to find them in all of our fifty States.

It's called the Tenth Amendment

"The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people."

Now, much as we hate to admit it, most of us are indeed somewhat intimidated by the sheer size of our Federal Government, and even the power of our States.

We're a whole lot more comfortable dealing with our own local folk, the ones we see on a regular basis in the course of our daily lives, at the grocery store, at church maybe, at the post office, walking down the street, at a local ballgame.

And that's the way it's supposed to be.

Ultimately, we really do, each and all of us, have the power of our own protection in our own hands. 

We the People really do elect, within our own local counties, the people who can and should, and hopefully will, stand for us in the face of ANY threat. 

In our County, NOBODY can threaten us in any way, shape, or form without our own duly elected Sheriff having the Authority to tell them to take a hike or go to jail.

In response to a recent local 'incident' I posted the account. Here's what I had to say to a comment by a friend:

"They high-tailed it when/before the actual Authority of Sheridan County showed up. I'm thinking that the first words out of our mouths should any such thing occur in our presence ought to be, 'I want the Sheriff, right here, right now." And be bloody sure that our duly elected Sheriffs know from the get-go that we expect them to protect us from ANYONE who threatens us. End of rant."

We as citizens are supposed to have rights. If/when those rights are threatened or directly violated, as happened, our first (and maybe only) line of defense is our County Sheriff. So we'd best be almighty careful about who we choose.

Just sayin'.

We as a Nation are too huge for most of us to be able to wrap our heads around. It's incredibly comforting to know that, within the confines of our own home turf, we really do have someone to whom we ourselves have given the Authority to stand for us. 

And, lest we or anyone else forget, it is indeed our own Authority which s/he represents. Whom we elect we can also un-elect if our will isn't represented.

Yep.

We're NOT REALLY as much at the mercy of 'the government' as we've been led to believe we are.

What an odd notion it is going to seem to us, when we finally come to understand more clearly, as a people, exactly what our elder generations wanted for us. 

We're going to have to figure it out for ourselves, and it will have to begin right here, in our own homes, our own communities, our own Counties.

But it is a beginning. As we at long last begin to feel and to exercise our own rights, our own responsibilities, our own prerogatives as We the People, you can bet it's liable to make some people a little nervous. So be it. What begins in our own homes, our own communities, our own Counties will not go unnoticed by our States. They too will begin to take a closer look at their own role. Eventually, God willing, the wisdom of our so-very-local choices will make itself a part of our bigger world.

You see, when we begin to understand that We the People actually DO have the power to elect our own local Sheriffs, imbuing them with the power of our collective will - and when said duly elected Sheriffs get it that their job is to protect us from ANYONE who might threaten us - we will have us the beginning of a mighty strong pool of people from whom to choose for the next rung up the ladder. A Sheriff who proves himself ready willing and able to do the job he's elected to do is going to be a natural choice to trust to carry that same commitment and determination into the State arena. From there, it would be on to Washington.

Wow.

Can you imagine a State/Federal government filled with those who actually know and respect what it means to represent US? Who have proven themselves in our own communities? Who will come back to us once their terms are done with, resuming their lives among us, the ones they've represented?

Yeah. That's the way it's supposed to be.

And we can make it happen, just we our own little selves in our own little homes, communities, Counties.

The Constitution re Supreme Court Appointments

Guess what, folks.

Even if we don't particularly like or appreciate any given part of our Constitution at a particular time or in a particular circumstance, it is still the Law of our Land and abide by it we must.

If I've been derelict in my duty as a citizen of this nation, so have a lot of us.

In the past couple of hours I've learned a lot about a man I honestly knew nothing about until he died.

Probably the most important thing I learned about this man is that he was as true to our Constitution and as savvy about its intent and purpose as anyone could be who wasn't there at the time it was written. What I've gotten out of my 'education' here is that no we do not have to personally agree with every last word of it but we are by golly required to abide by it anyway.

Whether or not you and/or I happen to think it would be in the best interest of our nation for our current President to nominate/appoint a Judge of the Supreme Court is irrelevant. Whether or not ANYBODY, including any currently seated Senator, agrees is moot. 

The President of the United States is the one who nominates the Judges of the Supreme Court and, with the consent of the Senate, appoints said Judges.

That being an unequivocal given, why in the world anyone would even bother to dispute the point is beyond me. It's right there, in the Constitution, if you care to look.

If a Senator, or whoever, has a problem with it, too bad. Lots of us might have a problem with it. That doesn't change the fact of the matter. The President nominates, the Senate consents (or not), and onward we go.

I don't know about you, but I find it distasteful, disrespectful, and downright tacky that 1) said current President would so immediately jump on the replacement issue, and 2) our politicians of the opposing party would react so immediately and emphatically. That, to me, is being flat out bad-mannered.

For someone like me, who didn't know or appreciate that this man, the one who died so suddenly, had been devoting his life to protecting and preserving my rights under the Constitution for all that time, it feels distinctly wrong somehow. Here I am, barely getting to know this guy, when it's too late to get to shake his hand and say thank you, and they're already fighting. 

It smacks of a bunch of nuts starting a fist-fight at a funeral. Tacky. Nasty. Totally disrespectful.

The kicker of it is that each and all of said fighting nuts is sworn to protect and uphold the very Constitution this man fought for - ALL the time, not just when it happens to suit their fancy.

Much as it hurts my soul and embarrasses me to say it, not a one of them is acting worthy of the oath they've given. 

Not a one of them ought to be allowed to attend the funeral of this man.

Me, I couldn't go to said funeral even if I was entitled to. 

But I can show a little respect. 
I can respect the man and what he stood for. 
I can grieve. 
I can be grateful. 
And I can pray that there are more like him, out there somewhere.

I never met Antonin Scalia and now it's too late. 

I'll never get to tell him thank you for protecting ME.

Yes, me.

And you.

I'm kind of ashamed at the behavior of the 'leaders' of our nation right about now.

If I could, I would apologize to the family of this man. If I feel such an unexpected sense of loss, what must they be feeling? His job must have cost him so much time with them ... what he was doing on behalf of me, and of you, that was a cost to his family. For that we owe them big time. It hurts me to think that they might think we're all as disrespectful as some.

Anyway, the Constitution he loved and respected is also loved and respected by a lot more of us than a person might expect, given the ones who are pretty blatant in their disrespect. The fact that he has played a part in keeping that legacy intact for us does matter. It matters to me and it had better matter to you. 

Here's a New York Times Headline:

'In State of the Union, Obama Confronts Americans’ Fears'

And me, I'm going, 'What in the heck IS this?'

Who keeps coming up with this load of crap and where in this whole wide big world is it coming from?

I mean, really.

I look in the mirror and ask myself, 'Self, are you afraid?' The answer is, 'Nope.'

I look around me at my friends,neighbors, family, co-workers, people I see on the street.

You know what?

I'm not seeing any fear.

When politicians and/or media use words like 'fear' the implication is that we as a nation are afraid of something.

Excuse me, but their somewhat (geez I can't even think of a word to describe it) attempt to plant fear where there is none seems to be falling flat.

We might be frustrated, irritated, infuriated - but I'm not finding any fear among us.

So what in bloody blue blazes are these references to 'fear' all about?

Me, I think it's probably a case of projection (it's a psych term, look it up).

Somebody might be afraid, but it sure as heck ain't We the People.

Here's a 'politically incorrect' perspective:

A quick on line search popped some numbers that sort of made me blink.

"Estimates of the size of the illegal alien population currently living in the U.S. range from about 12 million to over 20 million."

The only states of our fifty that exceed or even come close to the lower number are California, Texas, Florida, New York,(exceed) Illinois, Pennsylvania, and Ohio (come close).

Splitting the difference and going with 16 million, that's more than the combined populations of North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, Montana, Wyoming, and Utah.

I dunno what to think about this, I truly don't. 

We've got an ILLEGAL population that out-numbers all but seven of our fifty states.

Mexico's population is about 122.3 million. Canada's is about 35.16. 

Huh. 

If ten percent of our 320 million just up and go to Canada (I heard they have better health care) we'd almost double their population. Not that we will. But if we did ... I don't think anybody has to wonder much what kind of reaction there would be. We might try to make all of them stop saying 'Eh' because it annoys us; if they objected we could just move another percent or two on up on our behalf and have them out-numbered so we could pass a law stating that saying 'Eh' is henceforth illegal.

They might get so fed up with us that they'd move to Mexico and we'd have us a fine game of musical countries.

Okay, maybe I'm a little feverish from that god-awful medicine.


Hopefully I'll be back to my normal self soon and stop thinking about trivial things so I can focus on which shoes I'm going to wear to work.

Of What Faith Are WE THE PEOPLE?

See that center circle right up there? That's our Faith. All of those circles are linked and cannot be separated. All are bound by that center circle - Faith.

Now, what the heck, right?

We here in the United States have all kinds of differences in our Faith. It's the truth - we do have a lot of differences among us. And that's okay, has been okay, generally speaking, for as long as there's been a United States. 

There's room for the differences among us, so long as one basic rule is followed: Believe what you choose, but you will will not do harm to others.

Our witch-hunting days were short-lived and are long past. We do not burn people here. We do not behead people. We do not mutilate people. We do not consider deceit and murder admirable.

There are all sorts here. We've got Pagans, Jews, Christians of all kinds, Wiccans, Hindi, Atheists, Traditionalists, Non-conformists, Scientists, Futurists, Buddhists,  and every other kind of '-ist'  and '-ism' you could possibly think of, with variations abounding among each and all of them. Lots and lots of sorts we've got, all different from one another.

Beneath the differences, through them, over-riding them, is that one basic rule. That is our fundamental Faith ... in one another ... whatever our differences, however much we can and do rant and rave and cuss blue streaks if we want to, there's a darned solid line in place between your fist and my nose so to speak. You cross that line and you're in trouble.

See, here's the deal.

If I were by chance sitting in a church pew and you came in, I would scoot over to make space for you, no matter what religion you are. If you want to sit alongside of whoever else happens to be at that service, you're certainly welcome. If, however, you came in and started shooting, somebody would shoot you because you just crossed that line. Whether we scoot or shoot is entirely up to you.

Because, as the kids would say, that's just how we roll here in the United States. Generally speaking, at least.

Our Faith is strong - in God, in one another, and in our own selves.

Those of us who live in well-armed snoopy little communities, we aren't particularly afraid of much of anything. The fact that everybody in town knows everybody else's business can be annoying as all get-out. It is also very much an effective security measure. 

The bad guys are better off just leaving us alone here in Small Town USA.

For one thing, we aren't all that interesting to anybody except ourselves. For another thing we don't have much of anything that anybody else might want. But mostly, what kind of publicity would get generated for the bad guys if all we did was shoot 'em when they opened fire on us? No media hoopla, no big deal - just like if a coyote threatened one of our kids. Bang, and the varmint ain't gonna bother us no more. 

Then there's that 'snoopy' factor. We are downright nosy. Somebody moves into town, we're gonna know it. We're gonna snoop and poke and pry and watch to see if they eat the bacon we're all so fond of. Even 'just passing through' people get the same treatment, yep. Call us paranoid if you want; we're okay with that. We've always been like this, you know. My family moved here fifty-odd years ago and we're still kind of the new folks in town, relatively speaking.

So yeah, we have our Faith. We also have Family, Friends, Freedom, and the Future - all linked securely together.

Our own Small Town USA is kind of a microcosm of our much larger national community. We can fuss and fret and call each other bad names and poke and prod each other over piddly stuff and make fun of folks for whatever ... but when push comes to shove we'll up and shoot whatever bad guy takes a shot at any of us, even if it's the guy we felt like shooting our own selves just yesterday because he's so damn dumb about lutefisk and thinks everybody ought to like it just because he does. He's been harping about that lutefisk for forty years or more and ain't nobody shot him yet. We aren't about to let anyone else shoot him. Feeling like doing something is a far cry from actually doing it.

Now don't think we aren't compassionate toward those who don't get to live out here among us. We are. We feel right sorry for you. And you're welcome to come sit beside us on that church pew any time you want. You are not welcome to come out here and start shooting us. We shoot back. And we eat a lot of bacon; lutefisk not so much, although some people do claim to like it.

These Words Are For You: Help Them

These words are for you:

If you’re reading this it’s because you’re supposed to be reading it.

Half of Syria’s civilians have left their homes for a good reason. Almost half of those have left their country for a good reason.

Help them. Help those who are still there to get out.

I tell you: get the civilians out of there because wrath will rain down on that place.

Women, children, fathers, brothers, sisters, grandparents … get them out of there, all who wish to go.

Yes I know how many are already doing everything they can; and no I’m not some crazy nut. I’m a little old gramma lady in the middle of nowhere who cannot herself go and help, who cannot even contribute but with my Voice.

People who are abusing this situation for your own gain, stop it. Help them; just help them.

People who are able to help but are not, stop dicking around about it and pitch in.

People who are fretting about terrorists coming among us, cut it out already. These are families who are FLEEING terrorism. Do you really think they’re on the side of those from whom they flee? Get real.

From around the globe come the pleas of people like me, for those who can get innocent civilians out of a war zone to do so and to do it quickly. So many have already come out; so many more remain in danger.

If I had the means … alas I do not … perhaps you do … perhaps you will be the one to find a way to help one of those families, just one of them.

And I weep.

I weep for them, and for a world which has allowed such things to come into being.

I weep for Russia.

I weep for the United States.

I weep for China.

I weep for Germany who cannot alone stem this tide. I weep for those who are helping, overwhelmed at every turn.

I weep for Europe.

I weep.

Not that it does any good for me to weep. My tears will not put food into a child’s belly. It will not ease the heart of a mother who fears for her family.

If I’m this affected from so great a distance, how must those be affected who are in the midst of it all?

Already the tide begins to turn; it is in the very air of our world.

‘Hurry, hurry,’ comes the message, through me to you. ‘Help them, help them. Get them out of there.’

If that place is to run red, let it not be with civilian blood, let it not be innocent blood that runs. 

Hurry, hurry. Russia, China, United States, Europe … all who are already pushed to the limit, bear up for a little longer … help is coming.

Can you not feel the rising of the wind? Can you not sense the turning of the tide? Can you not hear the coming of a whirlwind? Can you not see into the hearts of the people of our world, the compassion fused with outrage?

Yes.

If you are reading this, yes you can feel, sense, hear, and see.

If you are reading this and happen to be INFJ, turn not away from the winds that now ride the air, nor from the tides that would overwhelm you, nor from the sound of the whirling wind, nor from the sight of our hearts. Instead, embrace it all, let it pass through you strengthened and send it back out again. Yes I know it hurts. But it passes as it needs to.

Help them.

Get them out of there.

These people too have roles to play in the future of our world; this fragmented nation of civilians in flight from their own homeland, at the mercy of our bigger world.

Show mercy.

Help them.

Hurry.

Uffda. From whence come these words? I cannot help but think they are not entirely mine own. They belong to all of us I think. 

Fourth of July Celebrations

I risk offending a few folks here but am going to go ahead with this anyhow, because it's on my mind and in my heart.

It's just past eleven in the evening of this July 1, 2015. America celebrates her Independence Day in just a couple of days and a couple of hours.

There will be gatherings, and picnics, and fireworks, and Flag waving going on every which way from Tuesday, all of which I happen to love a lot.

I posted photos of some of our Founding Fathers on my Facebook page, and a few of our National icons - the eagle and the Flag, the Liberty Bell, the Statue of Liberty ... people and things that every American ought to be familiar with.

But why is it that I seem to be the only one who is posting this type of thing? 

With all the hoop-la about flags these days, our Flag is everywhere - and that's a good thing, don't get me wrong here - but that Flag didn't just happen, folks. It didn't appear out of nowhere, and the Nation it represents didn't just fall down onto the North American continent out of thin air.

While everyone is planning their picnics and fireworks, how many of us are thinking about WHY we're having picnics and fireworks? I mean really thinking about it, not just kind of knowing ... 

Back in the day those guys did what they had to do when they had to do it in order for us to - WHAT? Have a picnic? Shoot off fireworks? Yes. Indeed yes. That we are able to do so in safety and freedom would no doubt please them immensely. Other things, probably not so much.

We're reaping the benefits of what they did over 200 years ago.

Do we not get it that their choices clear back then are impacting us TODAY?

Do we not get it that our own choices are going to be impacting the generations who will be living here more than 200 years down the road?

So, as we're eating our steaks or hot dogs, munching on potato salad, and seeing who can spit watermelon seeds the furthest, maybe the thought ought to cross our minds that doing these things, having the safety and freedom to do them, might be something we want for our future generations to be able to enjoy doing too.

We can say, 'Boy, I'm sure glad those guys did what they did way back more than two hundred years ago!'

Two hundred years from now, will Americans be saying those words about us?

Has America Found Her Voice?

I seem to hear the stirring of an echo in the air. 

Could it be a refrain from an old song we had long forgotten?

I hope so.

I really really hope so, because the melody is lovely in my ears.

It is the sound of many many Voices Singing.

It is the Song of America and We The People of the United States of America have begun to Sing it.

We are many.

We are diverse.

Our Voices rise in distinctly differing ranges, each and all separately beautiful; when they join it is a Symphony of Unity.

And so I say: 

SING together, People of the United States - please please don't stop Singing. 

Your Song is strong, and proud, and so beautiful, so very beautiful.

UNITED States of America : A Call to Unity : Fifty Voices Are Needed

Here's a comment from one of my Facebook posts; it's my own:

Patrick Henry issued a Call to Arms. We could sure use somebody ready, willing, and able to issue not a literal Call to Arms but a Call to Unite, to set aside personal issues for once and prove to ourselves and the rest of the world that we know what the words UNITED States of America are supposed to mean.

And yeah I realize the photo shows the North American Continent. That's because the United States of America is not alone in this world and the UNITY is aimed not just at us but expands to include all. It only seems impossible.

Because you know what?

The United States of America seemed impossible to many at one time too.  

I'm not advocating a world-wide universal culture, mind you, nor even a nation-wide United States culture - our diversity is one of our greatest strengths if we could only bring ourselves to 'get' that concept.

But a unity of purpose, a united effort to make our nation and our world the best it can be, without constantly bickering and fighting all over the place - THAT'S a worthwhile goal, isn't it? Something to work toward?

You think our 'Founding Fathers (and Mothers)' didn't have differences of opinion? 

They did. 

Serious ones.

Somehow they managed to work those differences out - not without a struggle, and not without hot words going back and forth - and those Colonies became the States of a new Nation, one whose bottom line strength rests in her people ... that would be us. 

Each and all of us, equally. 

Just sayin' ... 

If they could do it, so can we. We don't even have to start from scratch the way they did. Those guys gave us some damned powerful tools, if we could only bring ourselves to use them the way they were designed to be used. 

What if we just started small?

What if even just one person from each State was ready, willing, and able to say flat out, and mean it, 'I am an American.'

What if even just one Voice from each State left out the rest of it, the politics, the religions, the age, the color, the gender, the divisive adjectives of all kinds, and simply focused on what it means, bottom line, to be an American? 

Can we find even ONE VOICE from each of the fifty States willing to set it all aside enough to Speak in Unity with 49 other Voices and say, 'I am an American.'?

And leave it at that.

No adding 'I'm a woman. I'm a Democrat. I'm rich. I'm a businessman. I'm a stay at home mom. I'm gay. I'm Lutheran. I'm from Texas. I'm eighty years old. I'm this or that or the other thing yada yada yada.'

Just for once to take hold of the concept of what it means to be an American ...  and to be ready, willing, and able to accept 49 others, no matter who they are, absolutely and without reservations, just because they too are ready, willing, and able to say right alongside of you, 'I am an American.'

Not in an attempt to negate our individuality and differences but to celebrate our diversity within the framework of our Nation.

Can we do this?

I am from North Dakota.

I will accept my own challenge and Speak, alone if no other Voices can be found from any of the other States.

And so North Dakota Speaks:

'I am an American.'

Who will add their Voice?

Think carefully what it means to add your Voice to this list. It means you are ready, willing, and able to stand shoulder to shoulder with 49 total strangers whose individual choices and affiliations may be radically different from your own. 

For our purposes, the ONLY thing that matters is that they too are ready, willing, and able to stand shoulder to shoulder with 49 total strangers whose individual choices and affiliations may be radically different from theirs.

Because, my friend, that is what we are supposed to be all about here in the USA, isn't it? 

Can we do it?

Can even ONE from each State, just fifty of us, accept 49 others as Americans no matter what our individual choices and affiliations are? With none of us trying to change one another's minds, with none of us turning aside from what we have agreed to do, with none of us saying to another you don't belong here among us? 

Can we do it?

Frankly, I have my doubts.

Please prove me wrong.

After all, the only thing we have to agree on is four little words:

'I am an American.'