To Not Speak Is To Speak

I have been quiet a while, I know.

I don't know how much I will write, but I am writing again, in more ways than one.

For the first time in years my guitars are coming out of their cases, and I am feeling good about my skills quickly this time. I am no Stevie Ray Vaughan, but I can strum a little, and I have a million thoughts going through my head. Life is good, and I am having fun.

I don't know exactly what it is.

Perhaps it is the beautiful springtime weather here in Phoenix, Arizona. Amazingly sunny and energetic days, cool yet not chilly evenings, and fresh air coming through my windows day & night.

Maybe it's a bit of a good vibe I have going at work; my workplace has some positive and forward thinking changes going on in the midst of the "recovery" we're being told we are experiencing.

Or it could possibly be the beautiful soul that has captured my heart... the woman I am eternally to grateful know, and privileged to call my girlfriend. Every moment I am with her is an adventure, and when I am not with her, I tell her "Baby… you where I want to be."

Duh. Winning.

Yes, I went there. Just when you thought you had heard the last about him.


Charlie Sheen.

Let me tell you something, Mr. Sheen.

(parental advisory, I am about to get honest and a little rough now)

Charlie, you are an asshole. Shut your mouth until you get some respect, you self-absorbed, inconsiderate, irresponsible little...

Boy.

I'd use another word that starts with "B" but I'd be insulting female dogs in the process.

Charlie Sheen experienced addiction. Good for him.

I too experienced addiction, and let me tell you - to stand before the entire world and claim that you are proud of "Banging seven-gram rocks" is just about the most irresponsible thing I have ever seen in my life, and trust me, I have seen and done some extremely irresponsible things.

Extremely. Irresponsible. Things.

Speaking of irresponsible...

I have not been writing because I decided I wanted to step back for a bit, get out of the blogging mindset, and reflect on the degree of my "partisan" attitude.

After a couple months or more of not being an active blogger, I will say with some great humility - there are some who "called me out" for being a bit hyper-partisan sometimes. I concur. Such is the nature of allowing ones self to become consumed with so much politics, I believe.

Yet in some cases, no matter the appearance, I am not a partisan. I am speaking straightforwardly as an American with no political axe to grind, only serious issues to address.

And this brings me to my point, as I come back to irresponsible:

Where the Hell is President Obama, as the world is literally on fire?

Mr. President, I'm damned glad you got your NCAA bracket completed. Now could you maybe pay attention to the millions of displaced, dead, and dying people in Japan?

Show some emotion. Say something inspirational, for God’s sake. Have a "Ronald Reagan moment."

You know, Ronald Reagan. The man who, as our leader, inspired America to greatness after one of the most depressing periods in our nation’s history?

The man who helped the world come together toward a peaceful resolution in the face of the Soviet Communist threat. Not the "Ronnie Raygun" your Huffington Post fan club constantly mocks, as if all he did was take a B-Movie acting career and turn it into political prowess.

Truth stands the test of time, and the truth is President Obama is no Ronald Reagan. Not even close.

I wanted to give this man a chance, since he seemed to get it… for about a minute. Granted his people and his swooning fan base swore the shooter was a right-wing militia type within minutes of the tragic shooting in Tucson, even though we have since come to learn that is the furthest thing from the truth, but nonetheless… I wanted to believe he was finally acting as the leader of all Americans.

I mentioned resolution. Sounds a bit like "revolution."

Say... isn't that what they're calling all that madness in the Middle East, the uprisings that your fan base is claiming you "inspired" with your incredibly intelligent and speeches about how the youth should rise up and "Hope" and Change" things?

Revolution, right?

Perhaps, Mr. President, since you were so inspirational to the youth in the Muslim world, you should take hold of that situation and "lead" those same youth by proxy to strive for real freedom - you know, the kind of freedom you claim you love so much every time you talk about the "rights" of public sector union workers...

Freedom. Freedom is what makes America the greatest nation on God's Earth. Freedom is not the ability for government to take taxes from all citizens through the mandatory collection service known as "Union Dues" and then give that money to a specific political party that "has your back."

That's called corruption.

Oh, and redistribution of wealth.

Certainly it is redistribution of income, since you (the government) take it directly out of the income of taxpayers who really do not realize how you and your cronies have worked the system in your favor. From my paycheck, through taxation, goes my income, into the paycheck of the public sector union member employee. From that person’s paycheck, through “union dues,” goes my income to the union. From the coffers of the union, through donations and other transactions, goes my income to the Democrat party. And from the Democrat Party comes higher taxes and more government employees, creating more unions and more union dues, and the ability to give union member public sector workers pay increases. And the beat goes on…

Freedom is about children having a real and honest opportunity for the best education available regardless of what “tenure” a person has, or the fact that some “collective bargaining agreement” says that someone can't be fired because they have "served" long enough they are untouchable, even if they are detrimental to the possible education of America’s youth..

Real teachers would give up collective bargaining in a minute if they were allowed to be truly concerned about the children and our future. Unfortunately they are instead mis-informed by their "union organizers" that they are being "screwed" by Republicans who are trying to "take away their rights." They then forget their primary concern, which in the case of most front-line educators really is the children. And the truth is that once a person has something, they certainly do not want it taken away, which makes the honest viewpoint of governors like Scott Walker in Wisconsin and John Kasich in Ohio all the more difficult to understand to the masses. Emotionally based arguments always play well with the crowd, and that’s what is going on in the polling on this subject. Anyone who could be put in front of the books of any level of government would soon see that we’re in deep, and it is going to take a lot of sacrifice by each and every one of us to work our way out. And that means “change.”

Remember “change?” We hoped for “change” and well… we got it.

We now have leadership that waits for the world to lead them. We have leadership that plays 18 holes of golf as one of our closest allies suffers one of the most horrific natural disasters in modern history. We have leadership that tells us that we all have to have some “skin in the game,” while dining on meals created of food beyond our wildest dreams and throwing parties like they are the owners of a nightclub or a country club or island resort.

Say a prayer for the people of Japan. Those people are so kind that a man apparently walked into a store and picked up ten bottles of water. As he walked toward the counter, he realized that if he took all ten, then others would not be able to have water, so he kept two bottles and returned eight to the shelf.

Another woman was apparently washing clothes – probably the only clothes she owned anymore, so she was in less than full dress. She reportedly apologized to someone for her “inappropriate” appearance. Can you imagine?

Imagine an American protester in Wisconsin acting with such humility. I struggle to see it as even possible after some of the things I saw them do and hearing the recordings of some of their statements. Not to mention the direct threat on the life of Governor Scott Walker and Republicans in the Wisconsin Legislature.

Yet the Tea Party people are violent, racist, and full of hate… so the media say.

God Bless.