Sunday, March 6, 2011

Lessons from my Friend - from Miles

"" gimme your love -- so I'll give my love to you--- but please don't ever forget to feed me, okay." Thank you Miles. Isn't this a cute puppy!

I wonder about Republicans...

Hello Friends; I guess I have to confess something to you. A long time back, when Bill Clinton was in office, I would have counted myself as a Republican. I was fairly conservative in my views...still am in many, and I even thought Rush Limbaugh had some really great ideas. Then, some very strange things happened. First, ole Rush lost whatever objectivity he had. I noticed that he couldn't conceive of an idea that the Democrats had as being anything but disastrous, ridiculous, or theft. It didn't matter what the idea was, he downed it. The very inverse was true of Republican ideas... they were all gold. Well, you can't be that partisan in your thoughts. The two words can't coexist; and there died Rush, with lips firmly attached to the GOP's backside. (Someone please pull him to the side and clue him in that he's irrelevant, irritating and polluting the air. Let Glenn Beck and Bill Oriely in on the conversation, too.) I don't know if I consider myself a democrat. I have held such strong beliefs that they are all crooks that I often don't know what to think. But, as time goes, I am finding that there are a great deal of Republican values currently in the news that go far beyond what is ethical or even reasonable. We are in a time of necessary change. The fact that Obama ran on this issue is not escaping me, but not my point. We are moving into a realm of world economy and world workforce conflicting with national interests, technological advancements conflicting with current infrastructure and methodology, and personal greed conflicting with public need. I don't claim to have any even remotely reasonable answers to the problems we face in this country, except to say that if we don't accept the fact that vast changes need to be made we will doom our succeeding generations to poverty and chaos. Right now the Republicans seem to be a pack of rats eating away at the hull of a ship. Intent on becoming fat at whatever the cost, they are willing to sink the ship in the process. The obvious war with the EPA comes very much to light on this one. Why would you choose to allow someone to destroy the environment? It makes no sense in the long run. Do you republicans have some rocket ship to another planet on standby and just need more money to make your trip? Health care. Right now, hospitals will treat someone despite their ability to pay. So, Obama finds a way to get everyone to pay and thereby reduce the costs to those who already have insurance. Ought to be a Republican issue. Nope. Do you suppose the insurance companies, who are now at risk of losing this particular cash cow, have any influence? Do you? Union Busting vs. Corporate greed. Did you see the duplicity exemplified by this issue? The very same words that are being used to back the CEO's getting huge bonuses and other Wall Street bailouts are turned about and used to bash a teacher's expectation to fair wage. I guess the teachers need to buy them some republicans. They are obviously for sale. Energy. There is no reason in the world outside of greed that we do not have windmills dotting the landscape like those dandelions that fill my lawn in the summer. Wind energy is free once the initial outlay is made. Likewise, there is no further pollution. Similar with solar energy. And, what may sound silly: Can we capture lightning energy? Seems like we out to be able to do so. Then also there is the need for electric cars.....Obama should have done clunkers for hybrids. My belief is that if everyone owned at least one electric...and perhaps rented a gas car if needing a long drive...the savings would be huge. We sure wouldn't be worried about where our oil was coming from. All this likely doesn't matter. I don't know enough about political issues. In fact, as I finished this today I felt like a mouse roaring in the dark; who'd notice. But, let me say this: If the people who are so very much smarter than I don't pull their heads out of their asses and start looking farther down the road than their wallets, we are never going to get anywhere but to the bottom of this particular sea.