After leaving church last Sunday, my wife and I passed my mom and step dad who had pulled off the road to check out some vegetables & meat a local farmer had for sale.  Later on they told us that no one was manning the table.  You simply looked at the price list (ex. $1 per pound for fresh tomatoes), picked out what you want and then put your money in a drop box.  That's it.  Talk about trust!  It makes me smile that places like that still exist in our country.  I will definitely be stopping there next week.

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Recently, John Mackey - CEO of Whole Foods - wrote an op-ed expressing opposition to the President and Congress's health care plan(s) and offering some alternatives instead (it's well worth the read - regardless of where you stand).  Shortly thereafter, the UFCW decided to pick a fight with Mackey and Whole Foods.  They are handing out fliers similar to the one below:

Ufcw

So - who is Mackey?  I pulled this from the Whole Foods forum:

• Mackey lectures at Universities about the horrors of factory farming
• He says "Right now, Americans have to pretend factory farms don't exist. They turn their eyes away, because there's no alternative, there's no choice.  Once there is a choice, we will allow ourselves to be outraged."
• He makes $1 a year and donates his stock portfolio to charity.
• He set up a $100,00 [sic] fund to help his employees with personal problems.
• He's a vegetarian and his company will not buy from producers that treat their animals unethically.
• He flies commercial, rents the smallest cars, and stays in the cheapest hotel rooms - not because he's cheap, but because he has no need for largesse
• He and his wife participate in yoga
• He gives over $1 million a year to animal welfare groups, education, relief work, and spiritual movements.
• Employees have full say in who they work with - a new employee must receive a 2/3 vote in order to make it past probation.
• Employees also vote on all company-wide initiatives
• There's a salary book in every store - "no secrets" management believes everyone should know how much everyone else is making
• Executive salaries are capped at 14 times the lowest workers salary - If they want more money, everyone else has to get more money first
• Non-executive employees hold 94% of company stock options
• Pay is linked to team performance - profit sharing
• At least 5% of annual profits go to local charities
• Full-timers get 100% of their health care costs paid for - under plans the employees have selected
• "They just have a lot more respect for you as a person here" says an employee

 And because he had a different idea about how the United States can fix it health care situation, none of this matters?  He's a caring person and many of you want to treat him like a monster.  Why?  Not because he opposes reform, but because he's bringing more ideas to the table.

I was actually surprised after I read that list.  My respect for him and his company grew tremendously, even if I don't agree with everything he says.  That a company would index executive salary based  the lowest worker's salary is astounding in and of itself.  I absolutely love that Mackey shatters the typical "political categories" - on both sides of the aisle.  The post from which I pulled that list closes with the following:

"If the country had more CEO's like Mackey, this country would be a greater place."

To which I wholeheartedly agree and would add "Let's not stop at CEOs.  Can we get some politicians with character and ideas like this?!"

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Identifying the Potential for Great Friendships

After my first post, a friend commented to me: “I'd be very interested to hear your process of developing those friendships, from how you identify the potential for a great friendship to how you build it”.  For this post, I’ll focus on the second thing she mentioned – identifying the potential for a great friendship.

While it’s certainly not formulaic, I do believe I’ve seen patterns in my life of the kinds of ways I have initially connected with those who became close friends, and the ‘ingredients’ that needed to exist before becoming close friends was a possibility.  Before I move on I should probably mention that I’m aware that what I view as a close/successful friendship is highly colored by how I perceive love from others.  If you haven’t ever checked out the book “The Five Love Languages” – I’d recommend it.  In short, the author has identified what he believes to be 5 primary ways we communicate and receive love: Words of Affirmation, Quality Time, Receiving Gifts, Acts of Service and Physical Touch.  “Quality Time” definitely ranks as my highest, so my observations on friendships are going to heavily reflect that.  However, any of those ‘love languages’ require time interacting, so hopefully anything I have to offer will be helpful no matter what language you speak.

Respect
Respect covers a lot of ground.  A great example of respect in the small things:  You’re in a conversation with your friend, and you get interrupted (could be for any reason).  After the interruption, your friend turns back to you and says “So, you were saying something about <insert last topic discussed>…”  That says that they were listening and want to hear more.  I consider that type of respect foundational to any real friendship.  My wife and I had some friends to whom we would have loved to have been closer, but consistently we would get into deep discussion and their kids would (as kids tend to do) interrupt us just as one of us was really pouring our hearts out.  After the interruption passed, there was never a “So you were saying …?” moment – in fact, they usually took the opportunity to change the subject to something as trivial as the weather or some new item they’d just purchased.  As friendships grow – especially with men – respect also grows to include knowing when to & when not to confront.  It includes not using humor to ‘slam’ or belittle your friends in any way (especially to be funny in front of others).  It means doing everything you can to keep your word and commitments – and being willing to own it honestly when you don’t.  But when it comes to indentifying those relationships that have the potential for great friendship, if the person shows the simple respect of listening, and asking you to pick up where you left off, then there’s definitely potential.

Fluidity
One of the definitions of fluidity is “the ability of a substance to flow”.  I often use this term to describe the ability of friends to move seamlessly back and forth between humor and serious, heartfelt conversation.  I’m a passionate person with intense opinions, but I love to laugh.  If someone can never relax and simply laugh, you run the risk of becoming burned out.  If they always run to humor whenever serious conversation looms, I often see that as either 1.) they’re not interested in really talking or 2.) they’re not secure in having deep conversation.  However, when friends feel comfortable enough to let conversation simply wind its way through humor and intense thought, and all the stages in between, that – to me – is the most rewarding kind of interaction.  You might laugh, you might cry, but you always come away the better for it.  You feel warmly received and embraced, and you enjoy having given the same to someone else.

Depth
This dove-tails into the above point.  As I am indentifying the potential for close friendship, I definitely look for someone who is not afraid to discuss serious issues.  “Serious issues” is a large umbrella – it could be parenting, when does life begin, work, marriage, politics, faith – you name it.  It also includes discussing subjects on which you may disagree.  Overall, it means being willing to have honest discussion outside “safe” subjects like the weather, sports, traffic and TV.

Empathy
Empathy is defined as “the intellectual identification with or vicarious experiencing of the feelings, thoughts, or attitudes of another”.  I almost called this point “Common Interests”, but I think that fails to describe it.  It’s not that I look for people who are necessarily interested in the same things I am.  Instead, I am looking for people who are simply interested in me and my life, since I am looking to be interested in them and their life.  Shared interests are definitely a great place to connect and start a friendship.  I can easily strike up conversations with fellow musicians, programmers, political pundits, ‘worldviewers’ and canoe-campers.  But “single interest” friendships are like a match and not the candle.  Empathy, on the other hand, means you’re interested in the other person because you want to relate and understand their experiences, even if it’s nothing like your life.  We all grow and change so much through the course of our lives, that it’s no wonder that life-long friendships require a firm basis in genuine empathy, rather than depend on interests that change and fade over time

Humility
This is perhaps the glue that holds everything else together.  All of us, no matter how well-intentioned and no matter how hard we try, will eventually let someone down.  After all, it's unrealistic to expect ourselves (or anyone else) to exhibit all these traits perfectly all the time!  Humility means you not only own your mistakes, but you seek your friends out to set things right.  Humility means you are teachable.  Close friends always have something to teach you – about their life, or their perspective on a situation, or a skill they possess.  If I sense that someone isn’t teachable, or if they are more interested in elevating themselves, then I definitely do not see potential for great friendship there.  You cannot give trust to someone who is conceited, self-absorbed, or who has an issue admitting that they don’t know something.

These qualities are only a handful of traits that readily lend themselves to deep and lasting friendships.  What do you think?  Have you run across traits you would add to this list in your own experience?

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What do you think are the ideal qualities in close friendships?

I've been thinking about this a lot lately, and had a long and involved post all written in my mind, but forget all that.  What do you think makes a friendship timeless? What makes it transcendent of shared or not-so-shared interests?  What qualities have you found both in yourself and in your friends that you think have contributed to the "hitting it off" factor?

It's a subject I feel like I could one day write a book about.  Looking back over my life, I realize how blessed I have been to have had good friends at nearly every age.  Growing up, my rough-and-tumble friend was Michael.  Practically adopted brothers, we rode our bikes all over the neighborhood, explored every creek, nearly burnt down half the trees in his backyard, and we learned both how to throw and take punches.  At 14 - quite the awkward age for me - having just run away from home for a couple of days, going to a different high school than all my other friends, I was fortunate enough to connect with Frank, Keith, William, Tami, Alan and Alan (yep, two Alans!).  I had no idea how critical those friendships would be when, at the end of that year, my parents separated.  Not long after, I met Jaime who would soon become my step-brother.  High school turned to college, and I met Jon, Dawn & Micah (to name a few).  In the years to come I would meet Shawn, Kyle, Josh & my best friend and wife Stephanie.

I often wonder which friendships will remain timeless.  I am also constantly amazed at how resilient friendships can be (how many girls did we fight over, Alan?), and how quickly people can pleasantly surprise you (Jon, admit it, you wanted to punch me when we were on the road in St. Louis....I'm sure I deserved it.).

No two friendships are alike, of course.  But I think there are qualities that are common to all the successful frienships I've experienced.  I welcome your input on this list:

• Courage to be vulnerable, and the grace to allow others to feel safe in their vulnerability.
• Humility, and it's close companion, forgiveness.
• Willingness to let the other teach you about their life and experience, and equal willingness to teach them as well.  Many of my closest friends do not necessarily share my deepest passions, but they've never been afraid to ask and listen, and I get the privilege of learning from (and listening to) them as well - even if their passions aren't exactly mine.
• Shared moral values, and a commitment to stick to them.  Yes, this may sound quaint, but a common moral framework makes it possible to show respect, loyalty & love.  Without it, trust cannot exist, and everything boils down to pretense, manipulation and insecurity.
• Frequent communication.  (I might be biased here since "Time" is the primary way I perceive love according to the "Five Love Langauges" book....but I've never seen a relationship thrive that didn't include time interacting.)

So - what do you think?  What would you add or remove from my list?

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In a recent White House blog, this was posted:

"There is a lot of disinformation about health insurance reform out there, spanning from control of personal finances to end of life care.  These rumors often travel just below the surface via chain emails or through casual conversation.  Since we can’t keep track of all of them here at the White House, we’re asking for your help. If you get an email or see something on the web about health insurance reform that seems fishy, send it to flag@whitehouse.gov."

Not to bore with you the labyrinth of legality (which I don't even fully understand), but if the White House commences with such a "data gathering" program, the information collected will be kept secret - and that information will be around a long time, if not permanently.  This amounts to an enemies list being kept at the White House!  Enough is enough, people - this nonsense has got to stop.  Anyway, being the concerned citizen I am, I felt compelled to report myself to the White House, here is my message:

To Whom It May Concern:

 

     Hello, I'd like to report on some "fishy" information regarding Health Care.  Apparently, someone has been promising that we can keep our private plans, but this is clearly fishy and false.  On page 16 of the House's health care bill, it plainly states "Except as provided in this paragraph, the individual health insurance issuer offering such coverage does not enroll any individual in such coverage if the first effective date of coverage is on or after the first day" that the bill becomes law.  Want to know what's fishy about that?  That the President says "First of all, if you’ve got health insurance, you like your doctors, you like your plan, you can keep your doctor, you can keep your plan.  Nobody is talking about taking that away from you.", when that's clearly a lie.  The House bill would make private insurance illegal.  If I chose to leave my job, or change my plan, or buy a private plan outside my job, this bill would make that illegal.  The President has claimed that his health care plan would "be paid for" and that his budget "reduced federal spending over the next 10 years by $2.2 trillion".  However, the CBO says that it projects a $2.7 trillion increase, not cut.  Since a majority of Americans elected President Obama, I find it odd that his health care plan would go against that majority - which is pro-life, by the way - by making abortions part of the government option.  That certainly sounds fishy.  Will the President's plan also cover the grief & suicide counseling for the abortive mothers since, of course, the suicide rate among women who've had abortions is at least 6 times higher?  Will the government plan also cover breast cancer treatment since the argument has been made that abortion raises the risk of breast cancer anywhere from 2-4 times for women who've had abortions?  In fact, doesn't abortion coverage actually cost the country more in health care costs since 65% of women who've had abortions experienced multiple symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, 31% had health complications afterward, 42% have experienced major depression in the last 4 years?  Fishiest of all the fishies is General Electric's involvement in this process.  GE stands to be the major beneficiary from both Cap and Trade (should I email another White House address to report fishy behavior on that?) and Health Care.  What's fishy is that while there was justifiable outcry at Haliburton having no-bid-contract-access to the former administration, no one is acknowledging GE's back-door involvement with this administration, nor are the names of pharmaceutical & health care companies that have met with the administration being released.  The lack of transparency is really fishy.

 

     But the biggest fish in the pond seems to be the fact that the President, himself, said "I happen to be a proponent of a single payer universal health care program. I see no reason why the United States of America, the wealthiest country in the history of the world, spending 14 percent of its Gross National Product on health care cannot provide basic health insurance to everybody."  Could you be so kind as to pass this on to the President?  Here's a couple of reasons why, Mr. President:  We, the people, do not want a government option.  We, the people, favor private competition, and we think the best reform would start with tort reform and a move away from a 3rd party payment system to direct payment where patients pick their own providers, have the choice of insurance companies that can cross state lines, have wider range of flexibility in MSA/HSA accounts.  We, the people, want you and Congress to address the more than $50 trillion in unfunded liabilities our nation is facing in our national debt, Social Security and Medicare alone (and address it without inflating the value of our dollar via printing trillions more).  Enough with the bailouts, enough with talk of making us the cleanest Third World country (via Cap and Trade) and enough with the lies about how much "universal" health care will cost, keeping our own plans, and it all paying for itself.  Enough with hiding the reality of comparative effectiveness research, which would empower you to deny treatment and ration care under a universal plan.  Please go ahead and add my name alongside the other 75% of Americans who oppose the plan, since surely we must be basing our views on "fishy" information as opposed to our own intelligence and experience.

 

Sincerely,

Jim

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My mom forwarded me this photo, and I have to say, it truly leaves you speechless.

God bless you - men and women who've served our country.  Words cannot carry the full weight of our thanks and our indebtedness to you.  It is the honor of the ages that we should be your beneficiaries.  The flame you keep alive is something we cherish with all our might.

Honor and Sacrifice

...But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate -- we can not consecrate -- we can not hallow -- this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.
-Abraham Lincoln

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Rant alert.  I'm livid and not likely to be so kind.

No offense to the supposed 'millions' of people devastated by Michael Jackson's death.  Believe me, but I don't think anyone's death should be belittled.  However, enough is enough.  The world is on fire with changes that will have terrifying consequences for us and our children, and yet we want to watch washed up has-beens sing at the ticketed funeral of a pop-icon who, while arguably a musical genius, was also obviously conflicted, tortured and misguided person.  Enough doubt lingered over his life to convince many that his relationship with children was anything but appropriate.  <Cue screeching halt and screaming fans />  WHY did I mention that last item?  Because political figures with more power and influence have had their lives destroyed on the basis of mere accusations less controversial than what Michael Jackson was accused of, and yet we have members of the lowest rated Congress in history proposing House Resolutions to honor him??!

Yes, that's right.  Our Representatives - who apparently don't have time to read a 1200 (oh, wait, they added 300 more pages only hours before the vote), make that 1500 page Cap and Trade bill that will literally transfer our wealth to other nations simply by making us pay offsets in a sham-of-an-energy-derivatives market - but they have time to write and bring to the floor a bill honoring Michael Jackson.

Meanwhile, North Korea fired 7 more missiles on our Independence Day - a clear sign of defiance by a rogue state who has a proven history of bullying and bombast (albeit, now backed up by nuclear capability).  Japan - clearly concerned about North Korea, will most likely build up its military capabilities (and some have hinted at a nuclear option).

Then there's Iran.  Simultaneously aiding raids against our forces in Iraq, ruthlessly crushing the people's hopes for freedom (warning: graphic) and still working to build a nuclear weapon, Iran has made utter fools of the US in the eyes of the world.  Some believe that other states, like Saudi Arabia, will seek to arm themselves with nuclear weapons if Iran succeeds in building one.

And....Honduras.  The situation is not as cut and dry as the US Administration says.  Zelaya is not a "good guy" - and the people there are begging for prayer and assistance.  They don't want their government to become yet another pawn of Hugo Chavez.  So, we ignore the cries of Iranians for assistance as they are beaten and shot in the streets, and yet we immediately side with Chavez and Zelaya on Honduras.  "Dude - where's my country?!"

Our government is racked with corruption - from sweetheart mortgages for Senators, to increased pleasure travel on taxpayer money (while condemning auto executives for flying their private jets), to Argentinian affairs - all the while the Federal government has extended its power beyond anything ever intended (and beyond what our system can actually sustain)....and yet, here we are with wall-to-wall coverage of Michael Jackson.

My God, America, get a grip.  You now owe a minimum of $516k per household with our current debt....and that debt is growing (thanks to interest) at least $1.2 BILLION PER DAY.  Oh, and all that money we've been printing?  Is it any wonder that China, Russia and India are just the latest in a line of nations calling for the dollar to no longer be the 'dominant' (i.e. - reserve) currency?  Does ANYONE get what this means?  If our treasury "debt auction" sales drop, we have no way to finance the out of control spending....and we'll be left with an inflated currency, insane interest rates and the inability to fund all the entitlements so many hold dear (social security, medicare, etc.).

But that's ok.  Go watch the Michael Jackson memorial and memorize every fricking detail - because you better be able to describe in utter detail to your children and grandchildren what you were doing when you sold them into peasantry and slavery.

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Pulled this from Beck's newsletter:

Of the 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence:

Five were captured by the British as traitors, and tortured before they died. Twelve had their homes burned to the ground. Two lost sons serving in the Revolutionary Army, and two more had sons captured. Nine fought and died in the Revolutionary War.

If you ever feel like your lone voice can never be heard, that the political system isn't set up for "regular" Americans to change the course of history, remember: The signers were flesh and blood, mortal men with a divinely-inspired aim.
 
Twenty-four were lawyers and jurists, eleven were merchants, and nine were farmers and large plantation owners. They were well educated, smart enough to know that by signing the Declaration of Independence, they were signing their own death warrants. They did it anyway, and God bless them for it.

Some Edmund Burke for reflection:

Men are qualified for civil liberty in exact proportion to their disposition to put moral chains upon their own appetites,in proportion as their love to justice is above their rapacity,in proportion as their soundness and sobriety of understanding is above their vanity and presumption,in proportion as they are more disposed to listen to the counsels of the wise and good, in preference to the flattery of knaves. Society cannot exist, unless a controlling power upon will and appetite be placed somewhere; and the less of it there is within, the more there must be without. It is ordained in the eternal constitution of things, that men of intemperate minds cannot be free. Their passions forge their fetters.

A government big enough to give you everything you want, is strong enough to take everything you have.

I would only add to Jefferson's warning that history has no shortage of examples proving him correct, and absolutely no examples of a government that strong not taking liberty from its citizens.

Finally, it's popular to throw around the terms "republic" and "democracy" in an interchangeable fashion these days.  It would do us well to recognize how this came to be.  Since the start of the Progressive movement, its adherents have elevated the needs of the "collective" (embodied, of course, by the state) over individual liberty.  Our founders amazingly foresaw this danger and crafted, as best as they could, the structure of our government to resist a push towards centralization/consolidation of power.   Progressives have viewed these checks on power as an annoyance at best, and despised them at worst.  The terms "democracy" and "socialism" were fairly interchangeable during the pre-WWII era (and "democracy" was often a code word the New Left used for so-called "democratic-socialism" even post WWII), since Progressives assumed the people wanted socialism and that if they could just bypass the 'old' and 'antiquated' republican system and move straight towards direct democracy, then they'd get their way.  Our founders realized that where a monarchy meant tyranny, direct democracy meant mob rule.  So while we are a democratic nation, we are specifically a representative republic.  We should beware of any leader that dismisses that core attribute of our national character - for without that foundation our nation would ultimately crumble into the special place of history reserved for victims of "useful myths" (as Sorel called Marx's theories).

When Benjamin Franklin left Independence Hall on the last day of deliberations on the Constitutional Convention, a lady asked him, "Well Doctor, what have we got - a Republic or a Monarchy?"

Franklin's response:  "A Republic, if you can keep it."

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A 53-year-old woman by the name of Janet Contreras wrote this letter, and it's definitely worth a read.  She sums up how so many are feeling so well:

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

AN OPEN LETTER TO OUR NATION'S LEADERSHIP:

I'm a home grown American citizen, 53, registered Democrat all my life. Before the last presidential election I registered as a Republican because I no longer felt the Democratic Party represents my views or works to pursue issues important to me. Now I no longer feel the Republican Party represents my views or works to pursue issues important to me. The fact is I no longer feel any political party or representative in Washington represents my views or works to pursue the issues important to me. There must be someone. Please tell me who you are. Please stand up and tell me that you are there and that you're willing to fight for our Constitution as it was written. Please stand up now. You might ask yourself what my views and issues are that I would horribly feel so disenfranchised by both major political parties. What kind of nut job am I? Will you please tell me?

Well, these are briefly my views and issues for which I seek representation:

One, illegal immigration. I want you to stop coddling illegal immigrants and secure our borders. Close the underground tunnels. Stop the violence and the trafficking in drugs and people. No amnesty, not again. Been there, done that, no resolution. P.S., I'm not a racist. This isn't to be confused with legal immigration.

Two, the TARP bill, I want it repealed and I want no further funding supplied to it. We told you no, but you did it anyway. I want the remaining unfunded 95% repealed. Freeze, repeal.

Three: Czars, I want the circumvention of our checks and balances stopped immediately. Fire the czars. No more czars. Government officials answer to the process, not to the president. Stop trampling on our Constitution and honor it.

Four, cap and trade. The debate on global warming is not over. There is more to say.

Five, universal healthcare. I will not be rushed into another expensive decision. Don't you dare try to pass this in the middle of the night and then go on break. Slow down!

Six, growing government control. I want states rights and sovereignty fully restored. I want less government in my life, not more. Shrink it down. Mind your own business. You have enough to take care of with your real obligations. Why don't you start there.

Seven, ACORN. I do not want ACORN and its affiliates in charge of our 2010 census. I want them investigated. I also do not want mandatory escrow fees contributed to them every time on every real estate deal that closes. Stop the funding to ACORN and its affiliates pending impartial audits and investigations. I do not trust them with taking the census over with our taxpayer money. I don't trust them with our taxpayer money. Face up to the allegations against them and get it resolved before taxpayers get any more involved with them. If it walks like a duck and talks like a duck, hello. Stop protecting your political buddies. You work for us, the people. Investigate.

Eight, redistribution of wealth. No, no, no. I work for my money. It is mine. I have always worked for people with more money than I have because they gave me jobs. That is the only redistribution of wealth that I will support. I never got a job from a poor person. Why do you want me to hate my employers? Why ‑‑ what do you have against shareholders making a profit?

Nine, charitable contributions. Although I never got a job from a poor person, I have helped many in need. Charity belongs in our local communities, where we know our needs best and can use our local talent and our local resources. Butt out, please. We want to do it ourselves.

Ten, corporate bailouts. Knock it off. Sink or swim like the rest of us. If there are hard times ahead, we'll be better off just getting into it and letting the strong survive. Quick and painful. Have you ever ripped off a Band‑Aid? We will pull together. Great things happen in America under great hardship. Give us the chance to innovate. We cannot disappoint you more than you have disappointed us.

Eleven, transparency and accountability. How about it? No, really, how about it? Let's have it. Let's say we give the buzzwords a rest and have some straight honest talk. Please try ‑‑ please stop manipulating and trying to appease me with clever wording. I am not the idiot you obviously take me for. Stop sneaking around and meeting in back rooms making deals with your friends. It will only be a prelude to your criminal investigation. Stop hiding things from me.

Twelve, unprecedented quick spending. Stop it now.

Take a breath. Listen to the people. Let's just slow down and get some input from some nonpoliticians on the subject. Stop making everything an emergency. Stop speed reading our bills into law. I am not an activist. I am not a community organizer. Nor am I a terrorist, a militant or a violent person. I am a parent and a grandparent. I work. I'm busy. I'm busy. I am busy, and I am tired. I thought we elected competent people to take care of the business of government so that we could work, raise our families, pay our bills, have a little recreation, complain about taxes, endure our hardships, pursue our personal goals, cut our lawn, wash our cars on the weekends and be responsible contributing members of society and teach our children to be the same all while living in the home of the free and land of the brave.

I entrusted you with upholding the Constitution. I believed in the checks and balances to keep from getting far off course. What happened? You are very far off course. Do you really think I find humor in the hiring of a speed reader to unintelligently ramble all through a bill that you signed into law without knowing what it contained? I do not. It is a mockery of the responsibility I have entrusted to you. It is a slap in the face. I am not laughing at your arrogance. Why is it that I feel as if you would not trust me to make a single decision about my own life and how I would live it but you should expect that I should trust you with the debt that you have laid on all of us and our children. We did not want the TARP bill. We said no. We would repeal it if we could. I am sure that we still cannot. There is such urgency and recklessness in all of the recent spending.

From my perspective, it seems that all of you have gone insane. I also know that I am far from alone in these feelings. Do you honestly feel that your current pursuits have merit to patriotic Americans? We want it to stop. We want to put the brakes on everything that is being rushed by us and forced upon us. We want our voice back. You have forced us to put our lives on hold to straighten out the mess that you are making. We will have to give up our vacations, our time spent with our children, any relaxation time we may have had and money we cannot afford to spend on you to bring our concerns to Washington. Our president often knows all the right buzzword is unsustainable. Well, no kidding. How many tens of thousands of dollars did the focus group cost to come up with that word? We don't want your overpriced words. Stop treating us like we're morons.

We want all of you to stop focusing on your reelection and do the job we want done, not the job you want done or the job your party wants done. You work for us and at this rate I guarantee you not for long because we are coming. We will be heard and we will be represented. You think we're so busy with our lives that we will never come for you? We are the formerly silent majority, all of us who quietly work , pay taxes, obey the law, vote, save money, keep our noses to the grindstone and we are now looking up at you. You have awakened us, the patriotic spirit so strong and so powerful that it had been sleeping too long. You have pushed us too far. Our numbers are great. They may surprise you. For every one of us who will be there, there will be hundreds more that could not come. Unlike you, we have their trust. We will represent them honestly, rest assured. They will be at the polls on voting day to usher you out of office. We have cancelled vacations. We will use our last few dollars saved. We will find the representation among us and a grassroots campaign will flourish. We didn't ask for this fight. But the gloves are coming off. We do not come in violence, but we are angry. You will represent us or you will be replaced with someone who will. There are candidates among us when hewill rise like a Phoenix from the ashes that you have made of our constitution.

Democrat, Republican, independent, libertarian. Understand this. We don't care. Political parties are meaningless to us. Patriotic Americans are willing to do right by us and our Constitution and that is all that matters to us now. We are going to fire all of you who abuse power and seek more. It is not your power. It is ours and we want it back. We entrusted you with it and you abused it. You are dishonorable. You are dishonest. As Americans we are ashamed of you. You have brought shame to us. If you are not representing the wants and needs of your constituency loudly and consistently, in spite of the objections of your party, you will be fired. Did you hear? We no longer care about your political parties. You need to be loyal to us, not to them. Because we will get you fired and they will not save you. If you do or can represent me, my issues, my views, please stand up. Make your identity known. You need to make some noise about it. Speak up. I need to know who you are. If you do not speak up, you will be herded out with the rest of the sheep and we will replace the whole damn congress if need be one by one. We are coming. Are we coming for you? Who do you represent? What do you represent? Listen. Because we are coming. We the people are coming.

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