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Can Anything Really Change After the Election: 5 Ugly Truths

   

      As red and blue candidates (and a few indies) make their final bandstand for office, today, the American people have to wonder, "Will anything really change?"  National politics continue to take center stage as the popular media sensationalizes marijuana legalization, a vague war on women, and a semi-pseudo-probably-unlikely economic recovery.  Pull the string on the back of these candidates, and they'll spout whatever company line their respective party is delivering.  The puppeteering is just asinine.

      Here's the bottom line up front: nothing is going to change.
   
Until America elects candidates of character, the country's tailspin will continue.  These are five ugly truths that Americans won't hear today.

1)  Spending will continue to increase.  With the national debt approaching $18 trillion and the national debt to GDP ratio exceeding 100%, young Americans face a certain, terrifying truth.  Their country will stay in debt FOREVER.  Unfunded federal liabilities, such as social security, will eventually get the axe.  Hardworking, young Americans will remain a slave to national debt.  Maybe we should be talking about passing a budget this year?

2)  Border security will not be resolved.  With an ever-growing hispanic and latino population residing within the United States, red and blue politicians eager to court this voting demographic will stonewall this debate indefinitely.  Serious dialogue on immigration reform does not exist in this country.  Lots of lip service, but no substance.  The ugly truth is that politicians are not willing to wager the political capital necessary to secure our national borders.

3)  Social security will stay mismanaged.  This is shocking, right?  Social security, which is bankrupt and merely leveraged from the contributions of America's working youth, will continue its idiotic existence.  Not only will America's youth suffer a lifetime of bondage to its country's national debt, it will also forfeit any reasonable future receipt of social security.  Worst Ponzi scheme in America.  Working Americans face the sour truth that their hard-earned dollars will continue to fund an unsustainable entitlement program.

4)  Obamacare won't be repealed.  Much ado about nothing, here.  Even if reds take control of the House and Senate during the mid-term election, POTUS will block any chance at repeal.  This is the proverbial train wreck that onlookers cannot look away from.  The exasperating truth is that the Obamacare train is coming to America... in slow motion... with the full weight of another highly leveraged and economically unsustainable federal entitlement program.

5)  High unemployment remains with few jobs created.  Quantitative easing is over.  The Federal Reserve will begin raising key interest rates in FY '15.  The 6-year money printing factory is closing. More expensive home, auto, and school loans will initially put a downward pressure on individuals' purchasing power.  If the Fed couldn't manufacture jobs and income growth when it was nearly free to borrow money, what makes anyone think that businesses will miraculously provide more jobs when its costs more to levy the loans necessary for expansion?  It's a hard truth to swallow... unemployment will stay high as job creation stalls under rising interest rates.

      Have fun at the polls today, America.  Take comfort in knowing that your vote matters in changing nothing. #Vote4Character #NothingChangesWithThesePoliticians

Ten Facebook Friends You Won't Unfriend

   

      Zuckerberg wins.  Facebook rules our lives.  Unless you live on a remote island in the Pacific Ocean or work aboard the International Space Station, you've become an avid follower of your thousand closest friends on Facebook.  You scroll your news feed at lightning speed and "like" at least 100 posts each day.  Hash tags, text-type, and buzz proliferate your page.  You don't know why you just "liked" your best friend's food pic, but it's too late.  You're already responding to your high school girlfriend's husband's politically insensitive meme.  It's life... well, at least it's somebody's life.  

      The jungle that is called a "social network" thrives on the egotism, drama, and satire of everyday folks.  Without the self-inflation, zealotry, and voyeurism that makes the web spin, The Facebook would be a social disaster.  Here's a tribute to the ten people you won't unfriend even though they drive you crazy...

1)  The Crossfitter.  A serious, Workout-aholic.  Affiliated with at least one Crossfit gym.  
Today, I completed the WOD in 6:27.  PR.  I couldn't do another burpee even if I tried.  Protein shake, cool down, and snuggles with my bulldog for me.  I'm exhausted.

2)  Foodie.  Literally, thinks they're the next best thing since sliced bread.  
I just whipped up a batch of my Grandma's peanut butter cookies.  Mmmmm... they smell so good... I'm thinking about submitting this recipe to Food Network.

3)  Whiner.  Self-explanatory... a chronic, public whiner.  
Woke up at 5 am for work today, was pulled over for speeding because I spilled my coffee on the dash and couldn't reset cruise control, and then I got to work to realize I wasn't scheduled today after all.

4)  Politician.  Politically illogical, dramatic, and usually overly zealous pseudo pundits.  
The American voting system would be better off if land owners were the only citizens that could vote.

5)  Troll.  Ignorantly inflammatory drive-by posters.  
Ferguson cops want to kill black people.

6)  Frequent texter.  No filter on stupid or inane mini-posts.  
woke up, but still tired ...  yummy breakfast with hubby ... morning yoga always brightens my day ... I LOVE TLC ... should probably get groceries, hubby used up the eggs on my yummy breakfast!

7)  Selfie.  Always a pic of themselves, anywhere, anytime.  
Me and my bro at Chili's ... check out the Grand Canyon behind me... didn't think I could photo bomb myself

8)  New Parent.  Proud, obsessive guardians of a new, impressionable life.  
definitely preggers... coming soon, another little baby next February... anyone need baby advice?  I'm only brand-new to this whole thing, but I'll post on your page a laundry list of advice along with every book (two) I've ever read on raising children...

9)  Hash tagger.  Serial tagger... doesn't have to make sense... ever!  
#Merica  #Crazy4Waffles  #WillWork4Food  #WorkStrong  #MericaStrong #Merica4WafflesWillWork4CrazyStrong

10)  Gamer.  Weirdos that link their gaming habits to their Facebook profiles.  
Henry has invited you to play Candy Crush... Jim has invited you to water his corn in farmville... Kim has spent nine straight hours killing zombies with plants she grew from sunshine.

      Crazy Facebook friends, you make this whole social networking thing work.  Zuckerberg owns you.  Stay crazy, friends.  #NeverUnfriend

The War on (Bearded) Men

      American political hilarity reaches an all-time high as blue political leaders expose reds' alleged "war on women."  The Democratic National Chairman (woman, whoops!), Debbie Wasserman Schultz, sounds the alarm on red politicians that would legislate in favor of pro-life policies.  Said policies would carefully examine women's access to publicly funded reproductive health services, birth control methods and abortion services.
      For-profit companies such as Hobby Lobby cover their employees for 16 of the FDA's 20 approved contraceptions, yet their refusal to provide the morning-after pill has become the animus which fuels liberal scorn.  Apparently, limitations on publicly paid contraceptives has now become the new face of liberal politicking, thereby instigating a war on all women... an obvious slap to all women who would expect their taxpayer friends to pay for baby-killing contraception.
      I'm sorry but politics has hit an all-time low.  This constitutes a "war on women?"  For real?
      Well, if we're speaking seriously, then I want to levy my own war.  This war is against male politicians.  Dudes, where are your BEARDS?!  Reds and blues continue to lose favor in the eyes of their constituents for being weasly, weak-kneed, out-of-touch, elitist bums (no offense, bums).  Gents, perception is reality.  Your constituents think these things because you guys look like lifeless, asexual, storeroom mannequins.  It's time to buck the trend, and win the war... the war against bearded men!
      Attention all dude politicians, beards look manly.  Even bad ones (enter Mark Wahlberg).  During your 6-week vacation from the Hill, please give the razors a break.  In fact, while you're at it, partake in some other manly ventures.  Hammer some nails, bench press a lot of iron, start a campfire, break up a bar fight, off road in an old Jeep.  Given the increasing desperation Americans' carry for strong governmental leaders, please consider looking like an Alpha male.  Grow a beard.  It's what tough men do.
      Women, forgive this sexist post.  If you're offended then please hang up the pantsuit... I'm clearly waging war on you.  #Beards4Politics
     

How to Fight a Bully if You Must

   

Seven years since the vaunted "troop surge" in Iraq, Americans still confront an increasingly hostile terrorist threat in the region.  In the wake of a controversial withdrawal from a land once believed to harbor weapons of mass destruction, U.S. combat troops and air support have been called on again to suppress the enemy.  Who America is officially at war with is still undecided.  While politicians take a break from Capitol Hill to flirt with their constituents ahead of the November mid-term election, White House executive order commands America's finest to tickle-bomb a non-Islamic, semi-enemy in the Levant.  Without a Congressional declaration of war, a comprehensive strategy for victory, or a foreseeable entry or exit for successful combat operations in Iraq and Syria, "boots on the ground" and airstrikes pursue a seemingly unattainable resolution in the Middle East.  Politicians take a 6-week campaigning vacation even as an evil bully, named ISIS, cuts off the heads of Western journalists, traffics Christian women and children for sex, inspires lone-wolf terrorism in America, and openly vows to slaughter Christians, Westerners, and U.S. Military families.
      Battle-worn Americans, I'm sorry to break this to you, but we can't win the hearts and minds of bullies.  There is no private mercenary, no foreign militia, no economic sanction, or United Nations speech that can defeat this bully.  This bully won't go away when the November elections are over and the media gets tired of politicizing Middle East atrocities.  This isn't the type of bully that responds to peace talks, three cups of tea, or multilateral/cultural/national intervention.  This bully doesn't just want to stick your head in a toilet, steal your lunch money, and scribble profanities in your school notebook.
      So, it's time for America to stop pandering and Ned Flander-ing.  We need to pick up our dignity, find our national pride, and buckle up for a helluva fight.

To fight this bully we need to:

1).  Be constitutional:  Congress must declare war on ISIS.  This serves as the constitutional precursor to levy funds in support of combat troops, training, and resources.

2).  Be a leader:  POTUS needs to bench press a couple hundred pounds and then address the teleprompter with a little testosterone.  Speak to the world, speak for America...  "America will avenge injustice, protect the persecuted, and kill all terrorists."  Say it with your chest like a grown-ass man.

3).  Be accountable:  "Moderate Muslims" from every country must publicly condemn ISIS's egregious perversion of Islam.  If ISIS isn't really Islamic, then it shouldn't be difficult for the Muslim community to openly refute such radicalism.  This serves to undermine ISIS's radical ideology and deter truth-seeking muslims from fostering violent misconceptions about Islam.

4).  Be brave:  Military leaders need to be given the go-ahead to execute a comprehensive military strategy that includes conventional and unconventional boots on the ground, targeted airstrikes, and persistent intelligence-surveillance-reconnaissance.  Political weakness is hamstringing the most powerful military in the history of the world.  Take the handcuffs off of our troops and let them win this fight for America.

5).  Be American:  Every American needs to cue Toby Keith's "Courtesy of the Red, White, and Blue," post an American flag in their front lawn, and honor those that fight bullies to secure their privilege to live in a free country.  Live #AmericaStrong.  #AmericaFightsBullies.
     
     

Border Security Is Not Always About Illegals

     

      There, on a modest, bronze plaque in the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty, a poem is etched.  The words bring life to the towering monument it serves as awe-inspired visitors silently hang on the meaning of every written line.  The American essence, if for just a moment, finds perfect perspective in a sonnet...

Give me your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed, to me:

I lift my lamp beside the golden door.

      But how should the visitor interpret this, today?  Is this a carte blanche call for amnesty of illegal immigrants living inside the U.S.?  Should suspected affiliates of terrorist organizations be permitted reentry into America?  Is it permissible for gravely ill Ebola victims to be admitted for medical treatment?  

      Politicians frequently cite the language in this poem to rally emotional support for immigration reform.  Often inspiring pro-amnesty sentiments, these politicians encumber America with a perverse moral obligation to accept illegal entrants to this country.  With little realistic concern for national security or the general health and wellness of American public works, politicians sensationalize the desperation of immigrants intruding upon our borders and strive to increase their civil protections.  In a humiliating effort to reduce federal law in a sovereign country and court the ever-increasing hispanic vote in America, red and blue politicians downplay the importance of the naturalization process and avoid any fear-mongering reference to "border security."

      Well, here's a wake up call, America.  Border security isn't just about illegal migrant workers, refugee children, and expired work visas.  It's also about terrorism, drug trade, sex trafficking, and healthcare!  Do the people involved in terrorist acts, exportation of drugs, sale of women and children, and spread of deathly illnesses sound like "your huddled masses yearning to breathe free?"  Politicians need to get serious about border control and give the Emma Lazarus "Huddled Masses" soundtrack a breather. 

      Emma Lazarus, the poet of the afore written poem, was not a constitutional scholar.  Neither was she a TSA agent, a law enforcement officer, a uniformed service member, or a healthcare practitioner.  She wouldn't have to frisk a bomb-laden airline passenger, interdict a shipment of drugs, or disinfect the sores of an Ebola victim.   

      A well-intending and inspirational writer, Lazarus rightly captures America's longstanding reputation to charitably and hospitably welcome the world's endangered, disaffected, and persecuted.  But a reasonable reader should avoid the overly romantic belief that all of the world's people come here to obey American laws, speak the national language, and become proud U.S. citizens.  There are very real threats to the health and security of this country.  Reducing the importance of border security with a 36-word sonnet seems a bit shallow.  Don't you think?

      Politicians would more deftly serve their constituents by playing the Francis Scott Key "Miraculous Flag of My Awesome Country" soundtrack.  The final stanza of his Defence of Fort McHenry ("The Star-Spangled Banner") reads like a thankful and proud free man...

O!  thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand

Between their loved home and the war's desolation!

Blest with victory and peace, may the heav'n rescued land

Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.

Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,

And this be our motto: 'In God is our trust.'

And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave

O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

      

Exceptionalism VS Elitism: American Greatness in Perspective

   

      A lot of hot air is being spewed at the United Nations General Assembly this week.  Leaders from around the world gather to perform on the global stage.  The geopolitical friction is almost palpable as countries representing every race, ethnicity, religion, and creed, descend upon the hall of the General Assembly.  Attending countries naturally feel at odds with the entire event.  For most, it must feel like being invited to the birthday party of a despised friend... showing up to save face but hanging out with the other likable friends and eating the free birthday cake.  Perhaps, Switzerland takes a pass on this analogy.  For Americans, however, who contribute well over 20 percent of the entire United Nations annual budget, the United Nations General Assembly looks more like a pot-luck dinner gone wrong.
      While the host (the U.S.) supplies filet mignon and his finest bottles of red wine, his guests (Rest of World) bring half-eaten Twinkies and stale Cheetos to share.  Furthermore, the host tells the guests how honored he is that they attended his shebang, how his filet mignon tastes just like Cheetos, and, in fact, that Cheetos and Twinkies really are the preferred pot-luck contribution to any fine-dining event.  After pumping up the greatness of Cheetos for some inordinate amount of time, he allows each guest the opportunity to speak on the greatness of Cheetos while also railing against the pretentiousness of filet mignon and fine red wine.  When his guests depart after the party has concluded, the host bows and reiterates how supreme Cheetos really are.
      That's what it feels like to be an American spectator during the United Nations General Assembly.  What a pompous charade.
      I don't know when Americans first started confusing elitism with exceptionalism, but it needs to end, now.  In recent history, politicians and White House leadership have tried to marginalize what it means to be exceptional.  Implying an egotism and self-interest not properly defined in the term, academically cheap and socially manipulative politicians have engineered a movement against the unique greatness of America. These folks would have you (and the rest of the world) believe that American exceptionalism means that we are better than other countries, and that this auspicious comparison creates undesirable geopolitical tension.  This form of exceptionalism (to them) suggests that we would prefer to go it alone and damn the rest of the world.
      Let me be clear (sound familiar), that is not exceptionalism.  That is actually elitism.  Elitism refers to pride in being a part of a favored group.  People we deem to be elitist usually exhibit errs of being too good to associate with people of other socio-economic groups.  Elitism discriminates on the possession and being of other members of their group.  Like a ritzy version of Gangs of New York, elitists still believe that they too are a part of a certain group.  They just don't want you in their group (unless you bring Twinkies and Cheetos to their elegant pot-luck dinner).

Elitism = Associated by what you have and don't have

      Instead of defining identity within a certain group, exceptionalism compares actions against the norm.  This implies that exceptional individuals, groups, and countries don't count themselves a part of any certain group (the way elitists do), they just insist on being distinguished from the acts of the status quo.  Through excellence in achievement and steadfast action, exceptional people (and countries) elevate expectations for conduct and governance.  They rise above the fray by commonly demonstrating uncommon behavior.  This is what it means to be above the norm.  This is the definitional truth of the term exceptionalism. 
      

Exceptionalism = Differentiated by what you do and don't do 

      During future United Nations General Assemblies, American leadership should confidently accept this important distinction.  As the single presiding superpower of the world, America naturally embodies the term exceptionalism.  Therfore, instead of handing out participation trophies to all of our birthday party friends and championing their pot-luck Twinkies and Cheetos, let's call it like it is.  Cool the hot air, speak softly and carry a big stick.  Remain exceptional.  Be great.  America. #AmericanExceptionalism #ExceptionalismISgreatness

   

   
      

Character Building: Dads Needed (Some Assembly Required)

      Old-fashioned character is hard to find these days.  It seems that the day has passed when American men of steel struck giant rivets into the weighty beams of towering skyscrapers.  Yesterday was the man who plowed his field by hand, protected his land from predators and trespassers, sowing his crop in faith and diligence, only to reap that which he'd rightfully sowed himself.  Once a man existed that believed in God, studied the bible, and prayed over his family at dinner time.  Not so long ago, sons knew fathers who were tough, character-rich men.
        Whether you follow NFL drama, National news sensationalism, or reality TV provocations, one thing is certain: America needs better character.  Roughly half of Americans actually pay into the federal tax system, while more than half of Americans receive some form of federal entitlement.  Over two-thirds of Americans are classified as obese distressing the fact that less than 10 percent of Americans can medically and physically qualify for military service.  More than a fourth of American children are born to single parent homes of which 80 percent of single parents are women.  Nearly a half of these mothers are divorced while another third of these women have never been married.  Alongside these statistics, cases of domestic violence, sexual assault, corruption, bigotry, and self-indulgence flood the news.  Hope for a stronger America seems desperate.
       Some will say that perception is reality.  In our case, reality is reality.  America's character issues haven't just magically conceived themselves from some behaviorally-twisted, psychologically perverse netherworld.  A scarcity of public leadership combined with increasing media liberalism fosters an ever-selfish culture of American men.  A legacy takes root.  Families lacking male leadership perpetuate America's tragic moral vacuum.
      Go ahead, feminists and progressives, complain about how politically incorrect and sexist that statement is.  This one is for dads and wannabe dads.  Learn how to be an uppercase "Dad."  America's character problem has little to do with public sentiment and everything to do with fundamentals at home.  Kids need Dads.  They need dominant male role models that exemplify physical strength and ethical fortitude.  For both sons and daughters, resilient men inspire the provision and protection that make them feel safe and confident.  A child's moral compass steadies on the course their patriarch sets.  It's simple, innate, and arguably ordained.  Men speak life or death into the hearts of their children.  Every word and deed an act of construction or destruction, character building starts with Dads.
       America is breaking but not broken.  Before public schools will improve or political corruption will wane, American Dads must lead the charge in renewing American character.  This is not a matter of race or religion, but responsibility.  Men, you have a responsibility to your children to build them strong and character-rich.  It's not complicated.  Institute faith in your homes, be masculine and hard-working, love your wife, and cherish your children.  You may not pound rivets into skyscrapers, but your ironclad ethic can build morally-rich children and restore old-fashioned character.  American character. 

Post 9/11: The 1% That Keep Us Safe

   

     September 11 comes again.  For many, the sensationalism fades.  After all, thirteen years at war can do that to a country.  Keeping perspective on an old injury without marginalizing the scars seems an increasingly difficult task.  Understanding our purpose has never been tougher.  Americans have changed.
    One year after Y2K, Americans reveled in the achievements of art, science, and entertainment.  Wikipedia debuted the first open-source, online encyclopedia.  'Gladiator' claimed an Academy Award for best motion picture.  Barry Bonds broke Mark McGwire's vaunted single-season home run record with 73 home runs.  And Apple introduced the very first iPod.  For all intents and purposes, 2001 proved a vintage year for the United States of America.
     This is important to note because children entering junior high school, today, may not fully understand the twist in this story.  An entire generation of Americans have entered this world without this one vivid memory: innocent Americans jumping from twisted metal and fiery blaze, a pair of gigantic skyscrapers collapsing, an ashen cloud of debris and human life suffocating greater New York City.  America humbled, this, the memory that brings instant nausea to pre-9/11 Americans.
      Yet, from this fateful day one decade and three years ago, a special 1% of America was called upon.  They were not techies, Hollywood stars, or professional athletes.  Nor were they investment bankers or business tycoons.  America doesn't tend to call the folks with the big bucks or the big mouths when they need really dangerous problems solved.  Instead, they call the less than 1% of the American population, whose solemn oath to the U.S. Constitution, places them on Presidential speed dial to avenge such hostilities.  This brave and modest minority, our U.S. Armed Service Members.
     Regardless of your race, religion, or political affiliation, these service members stand ever-ready to deliver the knockout punch for you.  Bound by their ever-abiding sense of duty, they will stand watch tonight.  They, the providers of your common defense, will protect the 99%.
     For those being born into the post-9/11 world, we owe them our story.  America has changed... it is always changing.  Remembering those Americans who paid ultimately the price for being envied an American, we cherish what it means to be American.  Honoring our service members, our top 1%, we demonstrate appreciation for that often trivialized and yet most sacred constitutional provision, the common defense.  We owe them our eternal gratitude.  #TheReal1%

   
     

Five Job Truths that Have Everything to Do with Federal Minimum Wage

 

     Like many of America's working class, I began my work history in a restaurant.  Unlike those who found work as a fry cook at McDonald's or a food server at Chili's, I was born into the restaurant.  It wasn't a matter of "if" I'd work for the restaurant, it was "when" and "how much."  As early as nine years-old (no exaggeration), I recall being added to my father's payroll to clean toilets.  Against all modern perception, I thought it was cool to be in third grade and already have a job!  This, of course, is what I thought prior to cleaning restaurant toilets.  I would have to spend a lifetime coming to grips with the notion...

Job truth #1: ... not all work is cool, but cool people have jobs.

     My old-school father believed that employees should earn their position and prove themselves trustworthy of more responsibility.  Therefore, each of his children followed the same career path in his restaurant.  When we were young, we were hired to clean toilets.  When we had mastered this job and proven ourselves trustworthy in that duty, we were promoted to dishwasher.  From there, we became bus boys, food runners, waiters, cooks, and bartenders.  The pinnacle of our restaurant career would come when our father would hand us the keys to the store and bestow upon us the sacrosanct title, "shift manager."  Our job progression taught us that...

Job truth #2: ...when you work hard, prove yourself trustworthy, and gain workplace skills, you can promote. 

     We learned that we could become more.  The more we learned and the harder we worked, the greater the responsibilities we were given.  We could achieve anything.  This work-thing didn't seem so complicated after all.  We were kids with no financial responsibilities... clean slates to impress ethics upon... ideologues before our time.  Yet, as we readied ourselves for college, the veil slowly lifting, we came to understand...

Job truth #3: ...that what you know is critical in determining how much you can earn.

     A free-market society thrives in the constant ebb-and-flow of supply and demand.  High supply and low demand jobs tend to offer minimum wages.  It is not difficult to hire a new fry cook.  It is a low-skill, entry-level job with no education requirement.  Most high school teens already demonstrate the necessary competency to work this job.  And what about professional athletes... they don't always need prior education and yet they get paid so much?  Professional sports tend to carry large demand for skills (hitting home runs) while only supplying a small number of employees (athletes) capable of meeting that demand.  The competition is tremendously stiff for a skill that society deems extremely necessary.  Microeconomics prevails.  Supply and demand sets wages.
     Therefore, your potential for income growth relies heavily on your ability to learn a high-demand skill.  Obtaining a college degree in Psychology, Golf Course Management, or Prehistoric Literature doesn't entitle you to a high-paying job.  If your education and accompanying skill set are not in high demand, expect to assume a low-wage, entry-level job.  It's all about what you know.  And even when you work your butt off, commit to arduous education in a lucrative field of employment, you still have to know...

Job truth #4: ...that high-paying, cool jobs go to the hard-working, well-qualified applicants that relentlessly work hard and prove themselves qualified. 

     Education and pedigree alone will not earn you a high-paying job.  The free market does not work off of charity.  It is driven by performance.  So, be a performer... a hard-working, ever-qualified performer... and make sure others know that.  You are your own best advocate.  Life in the real world requires continued education, relentless work ethic, and persistent pursuit of employment opportunities.  After all, living as a productive member of society in the U.S. continues to reinforce the most central and important socio-economic privilege of our country...

Job truth #5: ... that it's not about where you start, but where you end.

     The federal minimum wage dispute in America continues to overlook and condescend the achievements of the working class.  Mistaking minimum wage as an ultimate end for some Americans, blue politicians patronize hard-working Americans.  Instead of empowering working Americans with these five job truths, they convince them that they are only worth minimum wage.  It's a cheap parlor trick, smoke-and-mirrors, obvious straw man.  As real, hard-working Americans know, working folks don't champion minimum wage, they seek the American dream.      
     Brought up in a highly impoverished home, my father was the oldest of six children.  No luxury.  No inheritance.  No entitlement.  He worked dozens of jobs paying nothing more than minimum wage... onion fields, construction, restaurant service.  After completing three years of college, he returned home to tend to his brothers and sisters when his mother had passed away.  Despite not graduating from college, he worked countless restaurant management jobs.  After spending two decades shadowing other restaurant leaders, he ventured out on his own and began his own restaurant.  A self-made man who returned to college in his early 50's to finish what he'd started three and half decades earlier, he always knew that hard work was the gateway to the American Dream.  He never let his beginnings define him.  Instead, he remained steadfast in his vision of where he wanted to be.  A father, an entrepreneur, a life coach.
     So, if you want to earn more than federal minimum wage, then get off your duff and start living these five job truths!

2014 Mid-Term Elections: Why We Can't Get Tough on ISIS

   

     Radical Muslims marauding Iraq and Syria want to cut off your American head.  A fundamental Islamic terrorist group identified as ISIS (or ISIL), the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, seeks to unify Sunni Muslims in conquest of critical Middle Eastern regions.  Amidst their furious pursuit of Middle Eastern dominance, these thugs brutally slay all dissenters... women, children, Arabs, Westerners.  Whatever you're thinking, it's much worse.  Search "what is ISIS" on the internet, and let your brain bleed as you come to know the depth of evil this group is capable of.
     Is this a big deal, though?  America is familiar with plenty of brutal terrorist groups, which daily vow to our destruction.  Terrorist groups across the Middle East, North Africa, East Africa, and Southeast Asia claim the lives of innocent people everyday.  Most Americans remain blissfully unaware of the country's on-going "War on Terror," which now spans nearly every region of the world.  Bluntly, there are and have been tons of bad dudes all over the world working for our demise since we stirred the hornet's nest in 2001.  What makes ISIS different?
     ISIS lays claim to their namesake, Iraq and Syria.  These countries represent political gambles by the Obama Administration... the evacuation of Iraq by U.S. troops in 2011 and the arming of Syrian rebels in opposition to President Bashar al-Assad in 2012.  Coincidentally, these two events prove devastatingly related.  The U.S. prematurely departs Iraq against the wishes of top military leadership, and then begins funneling military arms into a volatile Syria to support lesser known Syrian "opposition groups" of which ISIS plays a major role.  A short two years later, ISIS emerges in U.S. news as a terrorist power player exhibiting sophisticated military tactics and organization, financial assets nearing $1B, and ownership of half of Iraq.  What the crap!  I'm no conspiracy theorist, but this sounds like a serious foreign policy screw-up to me.
     Ahead of the 2014 mid-term elections, red and blue political machines alike operate in full damage-control mode.  Blues will hush the seriousness of ISIS with a few well-timed media shots of precision-guided bombs blowing up trucks in the Iraqi desert.  All the while, most foreign policy issues will simmer in the background.  Realistically, it's too far away from the average American home to make a difference at the ballot box.
     Wasting no social capital on controversial topics like the legitimacy of lunatic terrorists who cut off American journalists' heads and globally broadcast these evil acts, reds and blues bloviate about sexism, racism, minimum wage, pot legalization, evil rich people, leaked nude photos, and poor immigrant children.  The world burns and popular media mourns Joan Rivers.
   
   
   
      

All the Wrong Answers in All the Right Places

      In his poem "The Black Cottage", Robert Frost declares, "Most of the change we think we see in life is due to truths being in and out of favor".  Notionally, truth proves an impressionable force on social norms, whether by its existence or its delinquency.  Yet, where should we find "truth"?

      Any dozen philosophers, pundits, and theologians contest that truth remains the hallmark cornerstone of justice, law, and religion.  Without it, our qualitative judgments prove subjective, discriminatory, and prejudicious to sound reasoning.  Such ambiguity would render government, order, and citizenship meaningless.  Without a standard (a truth), every measure of currency, tenant of law, and expectation of authority would subjugate humans to the temptable egos of their peers.  Truth interweaves the fabric of our society making each thread stronger.

      Even computer programmers would be lost without truth.  The "boolean expression" captures this sentiment with its If/then/true/false syllogisms.  Represented in binary code, we may see this expressed as a "1"(true) or "0"(false).  While truth (the behavior) often suffers the liberalizations of truth (the concept), its importance can be found in any avenue of civil society.

      As the Dow Jones continues to set record breaking highs on Wall Street and politicians rally behind a tenuous socio-economic recovery in America, our country's cultural foundation lacks its quintessential cornerstone: Truth.  In all the seemingly right places to search for truth, we find it missing.  Search the public schools and find tired teachers and cozy coaches unwilling to hold our youth accountable to the moral, ethical, and scholastic responsibilities of this world.  Attend many of our Christian churches and find that the gospel of Jesus Christ has been diluted or misconstrued.  Sit at your family's kitchen table for dinner and realize a lack of substantive discussion.

      While some may indicate that increases in social networking, the advancement of technology, and popular media influence has contributed to such rapacious change in American culture,  I defer these protests.  The Hollywood movie set, the mudslinging-pandering politician, the iTunes "explicit" artist, the vulgar video gamer, and the self-inflating professional sports athlete.  These figures don't blossom from a sterile state of nature.  Instead, they manifest themselves from our family, educational, and religious structures.  Once pillars of our cultural-behavioral norms (truth), their recent brittleness lends itself to a fracturing of the firm social foundation upon which this country has invested heavy freedoms.

      Arguably, these are the right places to search for truth: family, school, church.  The truth found in these places emphasizes disciplined behavior, impeccable ethics, and the highest sense of morality.  In and of itself, truth is a concept.  When associated with action, it becomes an expectation, a habit, a norm, a culture.  And what happens when truth seems conceptual or unimportant?  Concept without action devolves into a semantic liberalization, a frumpish scholastic pursuit, a trite-Socratic half-truth, a numbing and dumbing of existing culture.

      America, it's time to get it in gear!  People need to find truth in all the right places.  Otherwise, what hope should we have that they'll find it in the wrong ones?  Our country's social structures (and robust culture) depend on the fortification of its truth epicenters: family, school, and Church.  A truth-centered culture doesn't require Aristotelian genius, just ethical courage.  Truth-filled culture does not imply that everyone is blameless, just the opposite.  From truth comes personal accountability, self-government, and the ultimate sense of citizenship.

     

        

Survive Sequestration: Lift Big, Run Long

      I am bewildered by pundits' recent analysis on sequestration.  Pundits from both the Left and the Right argue the repercussions of such fiscal folly.  Republicans revel that sequestration did not immediately damage the economy.  Democrats insist that projected monetary harms will destroy an already ailing economy.  All the while, stockbrokers on Wall Street rally the Dow Jones above previous market highs.  Frankly, I don't think politicians, economists, or pundits have a clue why sequestration didn't assail the country in notably, predictable ways.  Not a comforting notion.

      As America traverses uncharted social, political, and economic territory, each citizen ought to expect the unexpected.  An economy dependent on psychology and not fiscal science, a government dependent on partisanship and not principle, a society dependent on instant gratification and not posterity, injects unavoidable volatility into our everyday lives.  While sequestration may not have delivered the doomsday consequences Democrats wanted us to believe it would, it will surely carry more tragic results than Republicans would concede.

      As the military continues to suffer deep, bias cuts in the wake of sequestration, politicians sanctify fiscally weightier entitlements like social security and medicare (which individually outspend our annual defense budget).  What does this mean?  A country unable to support its constitutional obligation to common defense, must determine how it will safeguard its national sovereignty.  Don't want to support a professional military man to do that for you?  No problem.  I have a few suggestions.

      America, it's time for you to start lifting big and running long.  Want to know how others are safeguarding your entitled lifestyle?  Want to know why it's possible for you to receive your federally unconstitutional "rights" to social security, medicare, or universal healthcare?  Let me enlighten you.  It's because servicemen and women voluntarily deploy to the world's cesspools to secure the nation's most vital diplomatic and economic assets.  These folks earn a simple but sufficient compensation to operate the country's most sophisticated equipment and maintain the nation's most tenuous alliances.  Life at the tip of the sword (and beyond) requires these service members to be elite, professional, and ever-resilient.  Unprecedented tactical prowess did not stumble upon America.  It was sacrificed for...  sacrifices from an all-volunteer military yielding unparalleled camaraderie, tradition, and expertise.

      Many of these fine service members go above and beyond to prepare themselves for the crucibles their country may require them to endure.  Most will adopt strenuous mental and physical routines demanding the entirety of their effort.  All the while, like any other humble American citizen, they will kiss their spouse on the cheek, tuck their children into bed, and balance their checkbook.  Then, they will lace up their boots, and prepare to lift big and run long.

      Want to survive a sequestration that indiscriminately reduces our military's ability to train, equip, and man the world's preeminent superpower?  Get tough like a service member.  Lift big and run long.

      

No Such Thing as Quiet Leadership

       A once popular term has re-surfaced: "quiet leadership".  The term refers specifically to the good people who do right without verbalizing it.  Often, we find these "quiet leaders" to be earnest and soft-spoken while also earning trust through moral consistency and dependable industry.  Today's Christian youth aptly capture this notion: always preach the gospel and, when necessary, use words.  Quiet leadership represents a beautiful concept, but does it work?

      What America has observed in recent years corroborates what humanity has always known... what we do not openly condemn, we tacitly condone.  The fundamental transformation of American culture did not occur in a vacuum, but in the hearts and minds of each and every individual.  Captive to the academic manipulations of intellectual elitists and the power tactics of overly compensated politicians, the average American suffers the slings and arrows of its embattled social structures.  Our cultural heritage, belittled by politically motivated men and revised by selectively intelligent educators, becomes unrecognizable.  Our peoples' culture assumes one identity today, and appears dynamically different tomorrow.  Even to be an "American" doesn't assume a particular definition.  We find ways to muddle our Americanism by establishing nationally more palpable cliques of people known as Hispanic-, Black-, Asian-, Arab-, Latin-American (and the combinations don't stop there).  

      This didn't happen overnight, though.  The seemingly covert marginalization of our national identity is not exclusive to this presidency or our newest generation.  No, it has always been and seeks to keep being.  It is man's natural propensity toward temptation, deception, and pride that ultimately consummate his willingness to compromise his fellows in a civilized society.  Give a man an inch and he'll take a yard.  Observe this idiom in motion when our politicians convene with lobbyists, when corporations meet with union reps, when teachers meet with the school board.  Each group doesn't fairly negotiate.  Instead, they seek to steal territory, usurp money and goods, leverage vital assets, and compromise emotion, fairness, and legalism to fulfill their ultimate political agendas.

      These things do not manifest themselves in solitude.  They overtly influence our everyday lives by impacting the taxes we pay, the type of TV shows we watch, the churches we attend (or don't), the groceries we buy, the cars we drive, etc.  Daily, Americans confront a subtle but sobering reality... we don't find contentment in our equality.  We want to be richer and more popular.  We want to be bigger and stronger.  We want to work less and play more.  Plainly, we just want to BE more.  We are human... we are sinful... this is our innate, unsatisfiable nature.

           So, who should lead such a people?  Who can lead such a people?

      With the buzz of selfish politicians and selectively intelligent pundits growing ever-louder on today's mind-numbingly, provocative popular media networks, the expectation for good people who do right grows even larger.  Our nation cannot afford quiet, do-gooders.  Frankly, we just need good people to speak up.  Speak up and stand up for what is right and good in this world!

      Ironically, I've never seen a quiet leader because I've never seen a quiet person followed.  The iconic leaders of our American heritage were men and women of great oration and demonstration.  They not only acted, but they spoke.  Show me someone who has led, and I will show you that they did not lead in silence.  That's because there's no such thing as quiet leadership!

      America's tipping point is near.  A time for good and selfless leaders, who do right and speak up, is now.  What America's leadership does not openly condemn, it will silently permit.  Wanted: Real leaders to build a lasting America.

Instant Immigration Reform: Collapse the U.S. Economy

      Illegal immigration endangers America's domestic social infrastructures. Even immigrants who earnestly seek work and abide by the law place drains on education and healthcare systems, which rarely receive full compensation for services provided to illegal immigrants. The darker side of illegal immigration reveals overt national security concerns... terrorism, human trafficking, sexual enslavement, drug smuggling. All in all, illegal (and I emphasize ILLEGAL) immigration jeopardizes the sovereignty of this nation.

      Yet, why have politicians, pundits, and popular media networks reignited the immigration debate? Sure, immigration reform presents a very important social issue in American domestic (and collaterally foreign) policy, but it has been an important issue for decades. So, why now?

      Our politicians' ability to multitask has never proven effective. With so many legislative claims currently proliferating headline news, it makes one wonder what the real aim is. Can the House and Senate collaborate with the White House to solve gun control, the fiscal cliff, expanded military efforts in Africa, aid to Hurricane Sandy victims, social security protection, AND immigration reform? Whoa, folks! Let's knock these down one at a time. Let's attack the gator closest to the boat, please!

      America's immigration policies must be reformed. I believe this wholeheartedly. Yet, shouldn't we first figure out how to stabilize our country's rapidly deteriorating economic condition? The U.S. economy remains a terminally ill patient barely surviving on hokey monetary policy and promises of stronger consumer confidence. The effects of an economic collapse appear far more apocalyptic than deciding whether we should build fences on the border or grant blanket-amnesty.

      What are our politicians fighting so hard to distract our attention from? With one more legislative gator in the water, how's America's working class to know which issue presents a greater harm to our national vessel? While immigration reform embodies a noble and essential American need, it also unnecessarily distracts the country from more transformative legislative works like gun control and the fiscal cliff.

      But who knows? Perhaps that's the grand design. Tank the economy, repeal our amendment rights, and strip America of its exceptionalism. Then, no one would want to come here (legally or illegally). That would solve illegal immigration!

Dumb Politics: A Road Map to the Effectiveness of Public Ignorance

      Has someone ever pranked you? Perhaps, you've been the object of a practical joke. As the recipient of such chicanery, you probably realized later that your own gullibility and self-induced ignorance masked the obvious signs of something fishy. Somehow your self-delusional perceptions (conscious naïveté) subdued your innate survival instincts (subconscious alerts) resulting in your hilarious (albeit embarrassing) foolishness. Your trust, violated by the perpetrators of the prank, regenerates slowly as you vow not to be deceived again!

      Modern politics have become the new (though time-honored) social prank. A conspicuous manipulation of our good faith and self-induced ignorance. It would all be so funny if the stakes weren't so high. Yet, politicians don't just shake our soda can before we drink it or put superglue in our office chair. They impact the social, economic, and judicial expectations of our everyday life.

      It's time to defend ourselves against the practical jokes our politicians are playing on us. Listed below are five of our politicians most recently and frequently played shenanigans... the dumb politics (what they want you to believe), eventual prank, and effectual reality.

#1) Social Security to Provide Your Retirement Income
Dumb Politics: It is an essential retirement and disability income for all Americans distributed fairly to those who contribute to it.

Prank: The benefit income is stupidly low compared to each American's individual contribution and discriminates against individuals who receive supplementary retirement income from personal 401(k)'s, TSP's, or IRA's.  Furthermore, increasing numbers of beneficiaries strain the system's shrinking number of benefactors resulting in the government's leveraging of tomorrow's social security contributors to pay for today's social security recipients.

Effectual reality: The "benefit income" masks itself as another federal tax to support a welfare entitlement program as citizens receive its benefits disproportionately to the amount they paid into the program.  Additionally, prospective insolvency proves to strip America's youth of hard-earned money futilely paid into the program.

#2) Gun Control to Protect You

Dumb Politics: Assault weapons proliferate the streets and lead to an increase in violent, gun-related homicides.  An issue of this magnitude requires federal intervention.

Prank: According to the CDC, Americans are more likely to cause unintentional harm to themselves than to commit/fall-victim-of gun-related crimes (see the following for amplifying statistical support http://platoandpopculture.blogspot.com/2012/12/connecticut-challenging-view-on.html).  Marginally (or  unarmed) citizens bid less resistance against harsh infringements on civil liberties and eventual tyrannical governmental regimes (consult American Revolution, 1776).  

Effectual reality:  Emotionally motivating the rescinding of our 2nd amendment rights avoids the intellectual and physical implications of a disarmed citizenry.  An unarmed and impoverished populace ventures into pre-Nazi German territory... a slippery slope by which any government consolidating political power within a single party may exercise unchallenged infringements upon our civil liberties.

#3) Universal Healthcare Required for All

Dumb Politics:  Private insurance companies and stingy private businesses make personal health insurance unaffordable and/or non-existent.  Elderly women, children of impoverished families, and indebted, part-time working youths suffer from the impractically priced private-sector healthcare.

Prank:  Government programs such as medicare and medicaid inflate hospital costs and shrink compensation for medical practitioners seeking coverage for pricey operations and routine check-ups.  Private healthcare strains to marginalize costs by imposing slightly higher prices on corollary insurance companies and private healthcare recipients.  Despite inflated costs of private healthcare induced by federal government entitlement programs, private healthcare remains affordable for those that prioritize their health.  * Give up the cable television, the dining out, and the pleasure-seeking, and save some money toward your own health insurance.  Otherwise, quit your complaining when you enjoy a weighty doctor bill because you spent your insurance money on HBO.  Sophisticated healthcare ain't free!

Effectual reality: A further entitled country expects top-notch healthcare nearly free-of-cost, while aspiring medical practitioners stray from a federalized profession that  will compensate much lower individual wages.  Consequently lower wages dissuades prospective practitioners from entering the field due to a fear of accruing un-repayable student loans.  Medical field strains to recruit practitioners, accepts suitable alternatives (registered nurses vice medical doctors), and reduces specialty practices and independent research currently benefitting American healthcare recipients.  Private healthcare still exists but only for the tremendously wealthy.  Working class America receives an equitable but crappy quality of healthcare.

#4) Higher Taxes on the Rich to Alleviate National Debt

Dumb Politics: The rich pay disproportionately lower taxes than working-class America.  Difficult economic times requires those who have prospered more from the labors of America's working class to contribute more to remedy her economic sufferings.  It's a patriotic duty.

Prank:  America's total National Debt exceeds 16.4 trillion dollars (expected to add nearly 2 trillion dollars to this number by the end of 2013).  The top 50% of U.S. wage earners pay over 97% of U.S. taxes.  The top tax brackets (top 1% of American wage earners) contribute 37% of the country's taxes.  In that upper tier exists people like Warren Buffett (the world's third richest man) who even if he paid all that his net worth amounted to (a whopping $50 Billion), he'd only reduce our national debt by one-third of 1%.  Our national debt requires more than levying higher taxes on the rich.  We must also reduce governmental spending on pricey entitlement programs (i.e. social security and medicare, which outweigh defense spending).

Effectual reality:  Stigmatizing the rich by demonizing their tax contributions and legislating tax increases thereby instigating class warfare only penalizes the working class.  Working class wage earners suffer the repercussions of wealthy Americans who must pay less to their employees, afford lower company dividends, or shelter money overseas (by sheltering money off-shore or by investing in foreign businesses) due to aggressively disproportionate federal income taxes.  In the end middle class America suffers the most during class warfare.  The timeless adage remains: you cannot take from someone who has earned and give to someone who has not and expect each to work equally.

#5) Foreign Policy: Benghazi Doesn't Matter

Dumb Politics:  The incident on September 11, 2012 in Benghazi, Libya represented the backlash from a discriminatory documentary maker who's vile condescension of the Prophet Muhammed riled an angry mob to violently overthrow a U.S. embassy and kills several American embassy workers.

Prank:  The attack on Benghazi was later determined to be pre-meditated, sophisticated, and terrorist-backed.  The assault on a sovereign U.S. government structure received little public media attention and accrued no legislative or executive accountability.  Investigation into the shortcomings of our foreign policy and associative international security measures in this region would not be assessed until four months later.  

Effectual reality:  A four month-delayed hearing with our Secretary of State to account for the Benghazi attack revealed how weak-hearted and disinterested our elected officials have become as few questions were poised to establish the veracity of our reported standing in that region of the world.  Consequently, North African militancy and Islamic extremism grows bolder as countries like Mali, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, and Egypt test the ideological resolve of America.  Not only has our involvement in the Mediterranean and North Africa been complicated by conspicuous gutlessness, but our elected officials seem indifferent to holding our Executors responsible for flawed policy.  Politicians piss on our legs and tell us it's raining without fear of repercussion.  Such political nonchalance endangers our servicemen and women serving abroad in hostile parts of the world.  Violence and terrorism resurges as America demonstrates political impotence in response to conspicuous acts of evil.  Safeguarding domestic and allied economic interests abroad grows more tenuous.  Alliances weaken.  America regresses to pre-superpower status as power projection abroad diminishes behind cavalier politicians and a willingly pranked populace.

***  Stand against political pranking, America!  These D.C. shenanigans have gotten out of control.  Stop the public ignorance... stop submitting to DUMB POLITICS! ***

Tebow, Manning: Who's Better For the Broncos?

      The Denver Broncos bid their Super Bowl hopes goodbye this past weekend as the Baltimore Ravens narrowly beat them 38-35 in a nail-biting double-overtime football game.  The Ravens who seemed to limp into the playoffs with a 10-6 record (1-4 in their final five games) managed to produce over 330 yards passing to cap the elite Broncos.  Despite the Broncos' astounding 13-3 regular season record (10-0 in their final ten games of play), which afforded them the AFC's number one seed and a  first-round playoff bye, their brilliant regular season efforts would be marginalized with a second-round playoff loss... a similar storyline to last season.

      For all of the hoopla that surrounded Peyton Manning during his valiant return from a seemingly career-ending injury last season, popular sports networks have nearly swept Tim Tebow under the rug.  Manning who suffered a traumatic neck injury during the Indianapolis Colts' 2011 football season and remained sideline for most of that year, appeared old and brow-beat.  After an emotional departure from the Colts' at the end of the 2011 season, Manning avoided early retirement and dated the Denver Broncos.  Crazed with Tebow-mania, Denver fans, who witnessed a storybook season in 2011, would come to love the notion of a mechanically sound quarterback.  Faith removed, fickle Denver fans promoted Manning.  The organization complied.  Tebow was dropped.  Manning was gained.  

      Sportscasters, fans, and haters would begin to say that Tim Tebow held the Broncos back from realizing their potential during the 2011 "miracle season".  His poor throwing mechanics and overly simplified offensive scheme throttled down gifted offensive players.  Manning was to change all of that... bringing experience, passing complexity, and superb throwing accuracy.  The Broncos would capitalize on the upgrade... Super Bowl bound.

      Now, with history noting the Broncos' second consecutive loss in the divisional playoff round, what should we think of Tebow and Manning?  Who was better for the Broncos?

      Check the sports headlines.  Media favoritism prevails.  Manning, a tough but aging quarterback, poises himself to duplicate another successful season with the Broncos.  Approaching a gallant twilight to his Pro-football career, Manning has proven how capable he is during a short-offseason.  See how he performs with a year of experience and locker room leadership. Tebow, on the other hand, appears young and all-but-homeless on the sidelines of the New York Jets restrained by a lukewarm fan-base, a mediocre coaching staff, and a diseased football organization.  The "saga continues"... who wants to gamble on a guy who can't throw the football... not even the Jacksonville Jaguars want this hometown hero!

      Sure, if given the opportunity to make a comparison between these two athletes, sports pundits would argue persuasively on behalf of Manning.  They've done it all year....  Manning's an iconic professional quarterback...  Tebow's a gifted but polarizing athlete.  Apparently, Manning hung Denver's moon, even though Tebow poised to set it.  Tebow hater-ade remains a favored beverage by today's sportscasters.  Frankly, the media's singular oppositional bias to Tim Tebow leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

      I do not suppose that Tim Tebow is a prospective Hall of Fame Quarterback (though he may surprise you), but I do think the pundits and haters are scared of owning obvious facts.  Tebow inherited a team during his second professional season (sophomore year... no slump... ask Cam Newton about that) with a 1-4 record and miraculously inspired them to finish the year with a playoff victory.  As his prize for reviving a previously weakened fan base and saving a decaying football organization, he was swiftly traded, slandered, and pushed to the second-string.  

      Call me crazy, but I don't think Manning is better for the Broncos.  I think he's a stud and will doubtlessly proliferate Pro Football's Hall of Fame after he retires.  Was he worth the investment though?  A weighty salary spent on an aging quarterback hoping at all costs to avert aggravation of a career ending neck injury... all so that the club can "best" its impressive previous season performance?

      When the sun sets on the Denver Broncos and Peyton Manning, they may wish they'd kept their salary cap freer... retained Tim Tebow, sold some jerseys and seasons tickets, converted a few people to Christ (and perhaps even to root for the Broncos), and rolled the dice on another "miracle season".  

       

Constitutional Exceptions: Guns and God

      Restrict cruel and unusual punishment of pedophiles, and the media will support you.  Provide a homicidal maniac trial by jury and afford him due process and the media will sensationalize you.  Throw out a criminal case when incriminating evidence was found without probable cause, and the media will badger the police force (and then idolize your wisdom).  Each of these processes, afforded by constitutional amendments, protect U.S. citizens from corruption, savagery, and police-state actions... a model of an intellectual judicial body... brilliant legislation crafted by our founding fathers and grounded in the Bill of Rights of our Constitution (the Bill of Rights refer to the first ten amendments of the U.S. Constitution and were ratified nearly two and half years after the original signing of the Constitution, 1789 & 1791 respectively). 

      Politicians, Pundits, and Popular Media appear to support the judiciary unequivocally when issues of humanity, justice, and legal fairness are concerned. Perhaps you're familiar with these common legal protections, but do you remember where they come from?  Here are a few examples: protection from unreasonable search and seizure without probable cause (4th amendment)... protection from self-incrimination and the right to due process (5th amendment)... the right to trial by jury (6th amendment)... protection against cruel and unusual punishment (8th amendment).  

      These protections don't represent whimsical humanitarian aims or progressive legislative adaptations.  Instead, these amendments represent impressive foresight by our founding fathers over 220 years ago to legislatively prohibit certain legal processes that if left to corrupt actors may perpetuate brutal and unfair treatment of U.S. citizens.  Popularly, the country agrees that such amendments deserve full support and judicial commitment.  We believe that a judiciary left to its own devices (unbound by legislative protocol) may be coerced by extortion, special interests, or political power... resulting in justice brokered at a price, a favor, or a particular bias.  The citizens of this country know this because we see this type of endemic corruption in the legal systems of Russia, China, and Central America (to name a few).  Hence, we support with sobering awareness the amendments that protect us from a corrupt legal system.

      Yet, when it comes to issues of free speech (1st amendment) and gun ownership (2nd amendment), our country cowers in the corner of the legal tool shed looking for a one-size-fits-all device to permit or abolish these constitutionally expressed rights.  The controversies brew and sensitivities turn emotional rather than intellectual (or even legal).

      Freedom of speech and public expression go without provocation until "God" is spoken, written, or evoked.  A Nativity scene constructed to celebrate Christmas but placed on a privately owned residential thoroughfare agitates an atheist family... a public school offers a moment for prayer which is replaced by a school-wide "moment of silence" and is eventually prohibited altogether because students observed praying during the "moment of silence" may offend those that don't believe in it... the U.S. pledge of allegiance adds "God" ("one nation under God"), remains intact for over 50 years, and continues to be recited in U.S. public schools... yet, now the pledge is rarely recited in public schools, "God" is not typically mentioned, and students no longer have to stand or place their hands on their hearts while "optionally" participating in the pledge.  

      Furthermore, the country untethers itself from more provocative public speech delivered on nationally syndicated TV networks like CBS, NBC, ABC, which now permit words like "damn"and "bitch" to be used in primetime sitcoms and TV shows.  Yet, we polarize when expressions of God, Jesus, or religious faith are expressed on these same networks.  We concern about the humanity of our criminal trials and legal punishment, but marginalize the importance of our right to free speech.  With moral repugnance, atheist activists, secular media networks, and manipulative progressive politicians, make every expression of God appear like a public establishment of religion thereby prohibited by the first amendment.  These tactics unfortunately prove effective, transformative, and contagious.  

      The constitutionally expressed right to bear arms takes cover from a barrage of intellectually insignificant attacks.  The politically liberal trinity of special interest groups, secular media, and progressive politicians, shallowly narrow the scope of this second amendment debate (see a previous writing on this site for a specific, statistical comparison of firearms homicides in the U.S. with other annual U.S. fatalities, http://platoandpopculture.blogspot.com/2012/12/connecticut-challenging-view-on.html).  School shootings and maniacally contrived homicides stir panic in the citizenry.  Perpetuating fear and arousing executive intervention, the White House seeks to consolidate greater federal power at the expense of our individual liberties.  Focus deviates to the poles... sensational exceptions to responsible gun ownership populate media headlines and deceive the ill-informed.  The ignorance proves painful... emotionally charged rhetoric dumbs our society like an episode of Jersey Shore. 

      Seriously, have you heard of a sensible solution to crazy people killing sane people?  Take the guns away?  That really works.  NOT!  We couldn't successfully take away alcohol during prohibition (and who was that killing?), how are we going to take away guns?  The Vice President is meeting with video game makers to prevent the production of violent video games.  Yet, we will condone "bitch" and "damn" on public television?  The moral compass seems pretty selective to me.

      As previously written on this site ("Connecticut: A Challenging View on Political Agenda"), America's first and second amendment arms her citizens with essential tools to protect herself from dictatorship.  Sound radical?  Read about German government prior to Hitler's rise of Naziism.  The country seems pretty normal until a decaying economic system and an impoverished people are swept up in an unchecked, violent national overthrow.  No need to rehash the end of that story... not pretty.  

      America's revolutionary independence from an abusive colonizer inspired constitutional rights that would prevent such oppression from enslaving its people again.  The right to free speech empowers our individual intellectualism.  Our right to bear arms strengthens our individual might.  Together, the right to free speech and bear arms promotes significant individual brain and brawn, which no violent governmental movement could suppress.

      Some have focused on specific solutions to preventing mass atrocities such as the recent school shootings and large-area homicides.  While these talks encourage future prevention of heinous acts, I argue that collective (or individual) think tanks on these subjects will generate very little public inertia.  This is because progressive politicians and media networks don't really care about isolated incidents and the solutions that may remedy their occurrences.  The CDC reports that more people die annually by accidental falls than from firearms, yet politicians aren't boycotting ladders, bridges, and cliff sides.  

      

      This debate remains impassioned by emotion and not intellect... fueled by special interest and not realistic interest.  The battlefield for our 2nd Amendment right means more than finding a way to sensibly restrict guns from bad people, employ more adequate tactics for suppressing mass shootings, or delivering ultimatums on the size and scope of our firearms and munitions.  If such decisions were decentralized to the individual (municipality or state), then the individual would institute an environmentally reasonable constraint (or prevention) on the sale, use, or criminality of firearms.  Humans always find ways to individually secure their own safety, shelter, and belongings.

      The real war is not of guns and God.  Instead, we battle the ideology that ensues a lack of either.  Our founding fathers appeared to have known this... capable of true intuition and respectably aware of the tyranny that oppresses a defenseless, voiceless people.  They seem to warn us: permit the government to take your guns today, they will take your due process tomorrow... if they take your God today, you'll suffer cruel and unusual punishment tomorrow.

      

       

Service Explained

Though our days are numbered to some unknown sum, we spend each one confidently in the company of our fellows.  For some unrevealed purpose but unsatisfied conviction, we rise each day with a will to work for the greater good of humanity.  Even when we may not fully understand the essential good we strive to provide, we diligently traverse through fire and briar to insure that when the day is done at least some good has been accomplished in the world.

To us, a call to service is not simply an order to be followed, it is a conviction to live by.  Deep within our hearts exists a God-inspired passion to commit ourselves fully and wholly to the welfare of mankind.  The gospel reigns truth on our souls: to whom much is given, much is required. Requiring ourselves in gold or in blood, in sweat or in tears, in wealth or in poverty, in fame or in exile, we defend the ideals of service... integrity above indecency, humility before pride, faith instead of doubt.

In essence, our call to service is not a flattering compilation of rhetoric fashioned for the skeptic’s ear.  Neither pretentiously pious talk nor limp-wristed church offering can honor real service.  Service rings truer.  

We serve as a humble recognition of others who have already modeled their life in selflessness and goodwill, and who daily encourage us to live bravely in service.  For none other than the man who has observed another’s life fulfilled in duty can realize the positive influence of a servant’s work—work that calls other to live honorably, morally, and courageously for the benefit of his or her fellows.  Service... a legacy inspired by boldness and preserved with grit... a common need provided by uncommon people.

Thus, guided by faith and obedient to conviction, servants, past and present, embody a special charge: to serve is not an obligation, but an opportunity... an opportunity to forge a more perfect future... a servant's future... mutually reinforced by shared grace and willing humility. 

An America Worth Fighting For

     An unmistakable identity crisis plagues America.  Who are we?  What are we?  Popular media both instigates concern for our country's eventual fiscal erosion and also allays our fear of national economic insolvency.  Morality and ethics become a discussion of convenience... the responsibility to provide for those in need or speak against injustice rests in the hands of the government... our personal accountability substituted for a collective one.  Children of the same home and upbringing grow to adopt dynamically different perspectives on American citizenship and personal responsibility.  A never-before-seen expectation for privileged entitlements polarizes its recipients from its donors.  Political bandstands such as "change" and "hope" now sing like sirens...  hypnotizing ships to fatally veer off course.

     Forget trite political cliches and grand legislative promises... let's be frank.  What type of people are we?  What does it mean to be American anymore?  What would you fight for?

     America in reality is very different from historical (or perceptual) America.  Perceptually, America remains the last bastion of economic and social freedom... a refuge for the socially, religiously, or economically persecuted... an icon of financial mobility, preeminent industrialism, and epic innovation... a dominant but benevolent world leader capable of promoting safety at sea, the safeguarding of foreign trade, and the munificent supply of humanitarian assistance to countries in need.  In theory America embodies every fairytale description of an omnipotent yet altruistic global benefactor.

     In reality, this once-appropriate description fades at an exponential rate.  Domestic America, besieged by pretentious elitists and politically motivated intellectuals, struggles to dignify a national identity.  Greedy politicians collect the spoils of special interest groups and weighty lifetime pensions, while insulating themselves from the legislation affecting their constituents.  Pundits and Professors of higher learning institutions construct outspoken soapboxes conveying ideologies radically contrary to the liberties they've reaped in America.  Spineless popular media networks willingly forego independent journalism while advocating tacit state-ownership (a critical tenant of communism).  Individuals divorce their families and neighbors while conceding these personal responsibilities to the government.

     Simply put... America won't get its act together!  Internally, socially, intellectually, and economically imploding.  Whether you're a Republican, Democrat, or Independent, you have to be concerned about some alarming numbers... numbers that make us look like global buffoons:

$16.4 trillions dollars of national debt

National debt to GDP ratio exceeding 100%

Annual deficit growing (adding more to the national debt)

Unemployment/Underemployment numbers growing

Job market decreasing

     These simple numbers hardly confront other disconcerting national issues: legislative unconstitutionality, endemic governmental corruption, and over-leveraged foreign policy.  Yet, they appear on our individual "American" identities like a tramp-stamp tattoo after a hangover...  Embarrassing and immature.

     Honestly, "Real America" offers little to fight for or fight over as much of our personal finance and individual liberty will be usurped by the federal government in the years to come.  Only an intelligent and willing people, devoted to governmental decentralization, personal responsibility, and virtuous rule, will save this country from the manipulative, political machinations of power-hungry people.  The naive citizens of this country may dwell in the bliss of ignorant entitlement, but for most of us, this isn't the America we're proud of.  A quiet but unmistakable revolution brews... America's ultimate identity weighs in the balance... when will we determine an America worth fighting for?