The Long Hard Truth of the Matter

You and I are our own worse enemies as we have forsaken Lincoln’s proclamation that a house divided cannot endure. The fractures run through cultural and social communities, are spread as a living virus throughout the entire religious and economic strata of America and visibly exists in the political factions. Compromise is no longer a word of honor and now means abject surrender, and is to be avoided and feared, for if one gives ground, power is lost.

There are those who believe that power is a physical commodity in finite terms. That when a opponent loses power, there is gain to be made in their own commodity. As in all material pursuits, human behavior is often guided by greed, and power as a commodity lives and breaths as a living reminder of that fact.

The failure to reach out and compromise, to understand the needs of others, to give comfort and compassion, all long held American values, no longer exist. In their place, lies, distrust, and disrespect have taken not only deep root, but are flourishing.

As a People, we are deeply divided. As People, we are not  bad nor cruel of heart with deceiving intentions. In our daily lives, most desire nothing more than to live their lives, to work hard, to be secure and to be free. Yet, as a people we hold responsibility and accountability for the divisions among us for we have left the moral ground that our forefathers established. Each of us, in our refusal to put our Nation before our personal desires have turned our back on our fathers and mothers who struggled daily amid constant and continuing hardship and agony, to make this Nation great.

We have come to a time and a place, that in a way, is unrecognizable to our founding fathers. Unrecognizable in the sense that their Nation, a Government of, by and for the People, no longer exists. In it’s place exists a Nation not of People, but a nation of Government! A Government that holds contempt for the welfare of it’s People and praise for those who hold power and undistributed wealth. A Government that has traveled far in it’s ability to spread division.

A Government that propagates unresolvable moral and ethical issues. A Government that actively participates and insures separation of economic classes. A Government that bases it’s decisions not on what is best for it’s People, but what is best for it’s own sustained lust for wealth and power. A Government  that believes the wealthy, the strong and the powerful will take care of the needs of those who are less fortunate when in fact, they have stole our rights and our freedoms. A Government that distorts facts and offers opinion as fact in total disregard for the intellect of the People. A government that will not speak of issues, of problems and possible solutions, yet will speak often and loudly to thrust upon the People, a dismal and foreboding sense of fear and distrust. That sense of fear and distrust is meant not only for those who live outside our borders, but those within who seek change, who seek answers. Truth has become a tangled nightmare to never end, forever to haunt our lives.

A truth that no one speaks, that you and I are accountable. It is the best kept secret in America that we all know and never mention. From local Government to County Government to State Government to Federal Government, all are influenced not by what is right for the people they represent, but they are influenced by a belief that what is good for the City, for the County, for the State, for the Federal Government, is good for the people they represent.

At heart, it is an easy belief system to grasp a hold of, to invest ones dreams in. Yet it is a system that can only work when all levels of Government listen to it’s constituents on an equal footing as they listen to the voices of the local contractors. All levels of Government must balance the needs of the Community as a whole with the needs of the People.

Our economic troubles began at the local level, this too is a unspeakable truth that we do not hear. Our troubles began with City Governments allowing vast tracts of land to be developed without asking who will buy these houses and instead looked at Tax revenue and plunged those numbers in their annual budgets. When local citizens asked, ‘Who will buy these houses?’, they were ignored. When no one came to buy, local banks found a way out by offering up dreams to those who were in no financial position to dream. Just as it is true in the housing market, so is it true of other issues. Much of the cost of Health Care can be attributed to what is known as the Medical Arms Race at the local level. Look around your community and count the number of medical facilities and services. In many Communities, we have isolated the poor into apartment complexes clustered in a specific part of town, turning that section into a virtual prison for the poor, with no hope of redemption, no hope of escape and many of us have the despicable gall to blame the poor and yet, the poor too, are accountable for their lives.

We are a people who have turned the corner in that we desire to be entertained as opposed to being informed, who accept opinion and speculation as fact as long as those opinions and speculations agree with individual beliefs. We have become a people that allow a black American running for President to be called a traitor, a terrorist, an Arab, along with calls for his lynching and murder. And if such a terrible thing were to happen, who would be accountable? Those who purposefully spread such hate for political gain, those who repeat such hate or those who remain silent in it’s presence.

We are a good and honest people. We are hard working, inventive, innovative and I believe we actually care about our neighbors. The truth is simple in that we all have much more in common than we have differences. The commonalities of desired equality and security, of earned respect, and the right to prove that I can work as hard as the next person, to have house and home within means, to have access to my medical needs as my neighbor, to have a financial future, to see my children admitted to college, are not bad things and remain a common thread among all People. Yet our refusal to understand the way to these obtainable goals is through compromise, through the sacrifice of individual desires and even long held morals for the benefit of all People, divides us on all levels and in all aspects of our lives.

There is blame enough to go around but it is, essentially, you and I who hold the solutions to the trials and tribulations this Great Nation is enduring. It is time for each American to ask what is more important, my beliefs, my desires, my wants, my needs, ...or my Nation? Not that we need to give these dear and precious things up on an individual basis. Never!

But it is time to ask what you can sacrifice to unite our Nation. And that needs to start with people speaking out and participating at the local level all the way to the state and federal Level.

What The Fu*K

Sometimes, that’s all you can say about life. Sometimes, there's just no other explanation other than an exclamation. Consider, Gary Hegna, 45, who forces a little girl of seven to wear costumes and perform sex acts for five years and walks away without a prison sentence. Remember that affluent defense a while back. Let’s not forget, Ricky Vitte, Jr, an esteemed Ohio State Trooper who taught a pre teen how to jerk off to porn. When investigated, his excuse was that he didn't want the teen to feel pressured into having sex before he was ready. Apparently, even with his history, the investigators thought the act, justified and good ol’ boy Ricky Vitte remains an officer in good standing.
I mean, really! What the fuck is wrong with our judicial system?

I’ll tell you a secret, this is nothing new.

Some thirty years back in my wild and woolly days I was waiting for my turn in front of a local judge for a D-dub. Now it was bad enough that this particular judge really had no business setting on the bench because he was popping nitro pills and slobbering all over the bench (true!) and when he spoke, you didn’t have a clue what he was saying. The only saving grace was that the bailiff pretty much repeated everything he said.

Turns out, the guy just before me was Chester the Molester. Judge banged his gavel, mumbled and dribbled spittle and the bailiff decreed 6 months probation. I thought, ‘Hmmm, strange. Easy going judge’.

I meandered respectfully up and stood before the judge and I no sooner said ‘guilty’ than he slammed his hammer down and pronounced a six month sentence. Yep! Go figure? I can't. Chester walks and I set 6 months.

You know as well as I do, our judicial system isn't fair, isn't about what is right. You know as well as I do, it treats those of color differently, it treats people of class differently. Our courts are not about justice! They are about the rule of law, the word of law and how that law has been and is, interpreted.

You will see Mr. Pervert in court again, but it will be too late. Another victim will have suffered, and I ask you, who is the guilty party?

Like I said, some days, all you can say is , what the fuuuck! 

We Are More Alike than Not!

Are we humans as varied and different from each other as we believe or do the ties that bind us together, damn us as a species? No, I don't think there's enough variation in our species to set any of us apart. Just as there are obvious similarities between myself and everyone else, similarities like number of eyes, ears, how we breath, the fact that we have hair, there are emotional similarities as well. We all feel hurt, guilt, shame, joy, sadness... These are all human traits. There are of course, different levels of emotion and just like the physical aspect where there are differences, in the scope of things the differences are minor. You have blue eyes, I have brown, so what?

So if you're looking down on us from above, you're not going to parse the human race into specific categories unless you have some specific (and weird) need.

An argument could be made that our thoughts, and our actions set us apart from each other. You are a serial killer, I am not! I would listen to that argument, I'm not sure God or any other intelligent being would. Why, because in a sense we are all serial killers of something, in some way. Even being responsible for participating in a society, in a culture, that creates murderers, rapists, thieves and cons is an indictment on all of us. And we are all alike when we call out that it is not our fault, when we claim there is nothing we can do.

Most of us don't! Most of us won't.

I have always said that we are more alike than different, and that while we should recognize the differences we should not let those few and minute differences divide us. We do!

We search out differences, we struggle and fight to retain them and indeed we celebrate those differences because in reality, they are few and far between, and meaningless to all except the individual. And to the individual, his history, his culture, his belief system, his skin color is paramount. We are all the same in that regard.

Life as a Simple Thing

Life is not a simple thing yet many, and by many I mean most, live their lives as a simple thing. To be brunt, people have a tendency to take the easy way out, to do what is safe, what is comfortable, what is acceptable. I'm not a lot different although I'm beginning to not like that well traveled path. I mean, the dividends are nice, the end results are OK. I've got a good life, a decent house, a nice wife, good kids, and I'm somewhat respected.

That's not enough?

Don't misunderstand me. I'm not exactly unhappy, I don't have that right. For whatever reason, I've ended up in a pretty fortunate position. While I'm sure hard work had a lot to do with where I'm at, I'm well aware luck had quite a bit to do with me and my lot. So, I am grateful!

Yet, there's something missing, something I can't quite put my finger on, something left undone. Now anyone who has ever spent time reading anything I've ever wrote, knows that in my younger years, I believed in manifest destiny, not yours, mine. That's not what this is. It's not about saving the world, the whales, feeding the poor or spreading liberalism across the land.

That sense of leaving something undone is cause for a sense of guilt I can't justify. I think it's because I took the easy way out, I took that path that lead here. I could have done more but didn't want to. I'm not going to lie about it, that's the truth.

The question is, why didn't I care? It's not that I wasn't busy working, not that I wasn't busy raising a family, not that I wasn't busy in politics, not that I wasn't busy in building my life... I certainly was.

I've done everything I was supposed to.

But see, the thing is, I've always been a radical, I've always thought in radical terms, and it turns out, I'm not even close to being a radical. I've done everything right, everything to help myself out, help my family out, but I've done very little, if anything to change anything, to make anything better.

I've kept it simple, kept it safe.

Through the Tunnel and Around the Bend (or financially, things are starting to suck)

Yes, my pickled, pie eyed friends, while you were snoozing off your lustful, wanton night of debauchery and cheap whisky, thieves broke into your abodes, raped your women, abused your children and took off with your new 60 inch, high def moving picture screen, so their is no football today.

Uh, why did Fred just put a bullet through his brain?

Oh, I'm sorry, took the easy way out, did he? Well, seems the sensible thing to do when you can't see the forest through the trees. What? Dave's left his wife and kids and is running for the hills?

Sheeeeeesh..., over a tv!

I think very slowly, but surely, people are waking up to how much financial trouble we are in. Before you go wild and beat my thin ass, I'm not talking about the poor, the homeless, the tea partiers, the occupiers, as much as I'm talking about hard working, middle class Americans, the backbone folks. People I hang with!

Middle class America knew there were problems, and in fact were tightening their belts just as I have. I've cut back on groceries, changed how I pay bills, tried to work some overtime, don't go out to eat or a movie at all, anymore! We've cut a lot of the fat. OK, I've still got my smart phone but I'm seriousely thinking that will be going when my contract is up in April.

And now my property taxes are going up, substantially!

After 17 years of never really missing a mortgage payment, I'm wondering if it's all worth it. I don't want to spend the last half of my life struggling financially. I guess I'd be allright if I saw the light at the end of the tunnel, or even a bit beyond, but I don't. What I do see is everything getting worse, and a lot worse.

I don't see anyone paying attention. Yes, I get the nightly news but screaming about the financial ills and political diatribe isn't paying attention.  Really! Who gives a shit if Hermain pinched a girls ass some twenty years ago? I don't! Politicians are not dealing with the problems. At both state and federal levels, our politicians are playing political games and you and I, are the game pieces.

When will you have had enough? When will it be imporatant to you, that your voice be heard? Probably when it's too late and no one cares. I almost don't care now.

I would hope that our media is asking tough questions, and I mean some god damn, ball splitting, holdin' 'em accountable type of questions. Questions that don't let politicians run from the facts. That's not happening cuz the media, and all of the media, is part of the problem. They care about ratings and entertainment or in their language, profit.

It's up to us, the backbone, the working class to stand up and change things. No one else will.

If you don't speak, no one else will.