Presidential Woes

I am posting this in response to something on Men's Health Forums. Someone there asked:

Kiddo says "If you had to choose the next president from the candidates battling for the two parties nominations right now who would you choose?

If you can give a brief reason why you want them in the White House that would be cool too."

So there it is. I will put that to anyone that wants to respond and get into it. Free for all massacre. Bring it.

An old, well known, wise orb.

The answer to ALL your questions, is here.

Stuart: Livin La Vida Loca

Ok, before you all start shaking your “bon bons,” I’m wanted to throw up a short post that is light in its fare. Lighter seemed appropriate since it is hot enough outside to give a thermometer heatstroke. I seem to be recovering from life itself, that is, I am a recent victim of life overload: too much to do and not enough immediate reward/payout to keep me motivated. It has occurred to me, for life to enjoyable and to succeed at getting what we want to accomplish, we need some craziness in our life to throw us out of our comfort zones.

I was curious, and wanted to put it to anyone that still is visiting out site during our summer lull, what are those crazy surprises that you don’t expect but that keep your life fun? One of the major signs of burnout is lack of interest in telling stories from one’s own life, nothing seems new or interesting. I want this post to be a chance for anyone who wants to share an experience that still puts a smile on your face and made going back to work/school the next day that much more fun.

There was a time when most of my stories would have started with “me and my friends were so wasted that…” or something similar. But as I’ve gotten older I’ve managed to find that we should look for unpredictability all around us, not just in the bars. A short, and probably unaffordable, trip to Orange County has been fueling my fire this week. The sun was awesome, unpredictable eek-a-mouse concerts, 2am late night movies, closing the bar out, strong rip tide, $15,000,000 beach houses, all of that made a memorable few days that gives my batteries some recharge to get through the next month.

So what is getting all of you through the occasional routines of life?

Happy
4th of
July



I'm sure the founding fathers would be a little disappointed that we gauge our present legislative actions, to what they would want, or do. They were smart enough to know their own limitations, biases, and inability to correct the problems (slavery) that would hold back the unity for the country, they sought. They created a government with a legal process that could be amended, with the hope that future generations would do better. So lets stop aiming for what these great men might have wanted, and set the goals for our government higher than the limits of their great deliberative compromise.

As we celebrate the signing of the Declaration of Independence (and the long, bloody war to follow) that set this country on it's way, lets do better for our people and our country. Lets dare to set our sights higher, than even the founding fathers could have imagined.

As hard as they fought each other, they knew the key to success, was compromise. Our partisan bickering and party line votes, are holding us back from real progress for all the people of our country.

It's easy for the left to sit back and be critics, but where are their ideas to move the country forward? It's easy to show the party in power is abusing its power. It's easy to mudsling hate and create fear against the party in power, but does that create the change we need, or just add to the poisoned debate? It's proper and necessary to investigate the abuses of the party in power, but do we stop at just holding people accountable, or is our responsibility to achieve change and progress? As Ralph Nader said in his review of Michael Moore's movie, Sicko, "Good movie, now where's the movement?"

It should be no surprise that the party in power, uses that power, to manipulate the processes of government to their ideology. Both sides do that (when they are in power) that's what politicians do.

One of the things that is missing, is the involvement of the people. We have abdicated our power, to the power of the money of the special interests groups, and the influence that has over our representatives. We must help our representatives fight off that influence, by reinstating our role as good, civic minded citizens. If only half the people vote (and even less do more than vote) its no surprise that there is wide spread dissatisfaction with our representatives, and the legislation they write.

We need major changes. Change is not easy, and is sometimes violent. In fact, if we look at the major changes for good that have happened in our country, few were without violence. The Revolutionary War, the Civil War, the violence to fight for better working conditions in the early 20th century, the Civil Rights movement, the Vietnam protests, and on, and on. Violence is part of what started this great country, and part of what has kept this great country safe and free. So for all you "peace-nicks" out their that say violence solves nothing, History is not on your side. That doesn't mean we have to have violence, just stating the facts.

The founding fathers were still living the Puritan values of the people who first settled this land. It was their forefathers who burned people at the stake for being witches. It was the founding fathers who fostered slavery, in the face of their good words. It was our forefathers who killed the American Indians, and made discrimination against blacks legal. We have moved far away from that thinking, but we are still human and have not, yet, learned how to communicate with each other without fear, hate, and arrogance.

The light of truth, being better human beings and a more peaceful world; is ahead of us, not behind us. We must progress, move forward; not look to the past for our values, or the key to being better people. For those who think only their way is the correct way, they are the ones who must be rejected, if we are to improve ourselves. Peaceful forward progress will only be made through compromise and moderation with each other.