POTUS Gut Check

Last night my wife and I watched the FRONTLINE program in the attachment about the CHOICES IN 2016. It was, as always, excellently produced and researched. It is a parallel of the Trump / Clinton history that shows clearly the founding and inclinations and drives we so blatantly see today.

For me the most resounding reality of watching the FRONTLINE was that truly we have come to a sad state of politics in America is these two are the best this nation can produce to lead it, We the People. If you watch this and leave your political boots and spurs at the front door, you can begin to see that both these people have invested a lifetime in themselves under the pretense of wanting to serve our nation.

Arrogance, narcissism, opulence, above the law, immoral, ungodly are only a few of the traits both these candidates have devoted their lives to investing in. You may or may not like my comments but I have invested much time in prayer for our nation, this election and these candidates which, please know, has not been easy. The Debate was certainly not a surprise to me and especially the apparent wire HRC wore meaning she was being coached from off stage somewhere. True or not true, for me, it perfectly matched the biographies of the Clintons. Trump's fumbling showed clearly he had not prepared for he probably have never prepared for anything in his life. So, at the aggregate, neither of these people surprised me nor can I imagine they will for history is always a great predictor of future behavior!

So as I sit here I find no sorrow, no pity, no remorse, no great, grand hopes for either of the marginal candidates and I find that sad for I should be really excited about the leader of my nation but I find myself with that same bland feeling I felt in 2008 in that race. So maybe I am the problem and everybody is is right or better or smarter!

Here is my fundamental belief! I believe what we are given as choice to lead our nation is precisely what we deserve as a People for as a People, we have for over a generation has pulled farther and farther from God's principles in His Word, the Bible. Societal decay is now rationalized as a "right" and we see how well that is working out. I believe God has had enough of this godless nation and is allowing all of this to happen to remind us of the bad choices we are making as a nation.

Our world is perhaps the most toxic and dangerous in our history thus we need leadership at the national level that is clear-eyed, future thinking and strategic.  It is that prism through which I look for a POTUS and it is the prism that greatly concerns me with these two. Clinton is experienced no doubt and having traveled in 122 countries doeth not a successful leader make. Look at John Kerry for proof.

In other words, America is facing a choice and that choice simply is if we want to "Make America Great Again, it is not Trump nor Clinton that can rightly lead that journey, but God and His People can and must. 

We need a national revival pleading with God to embrace our nation once more!

Please take the time to watch this FRONTLINE:http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/film/the-choice-2016/

The Election

Good morning. It has been two months since I wrote my last blog and I have chosen to step back from the blogosphere to season, assess and evaluate and thus project this crucial election coming in November.  Never have I felt the stakes greater in selecting the next POTUS as I view the whole demographic, societal and global landscape shifting in a very dangerous vector.  My words are not about a specific candidate but most reading this know now who you will cast your vote for and next to nothing will change your mind.  As I understand it now roughly forty percent will vote for the Republican and forty percent will vote Democrat.  That, for me, takes us to my age old prism of Pareto and his 80/20 view of life on this planet; a view I full embrace and believe.

Of all the partisan mind games, media poison spreading and misquotes and twisting that have been thrust upon us, We the People, perhaps that most concerning for is is a statistical assessment that the Millennials will be the most apathetic generation on voting in the history of your nation.  The Vote is a right earned through blood too many of us take for granted. I will admit there were times in my earlier years that I fell into that same void and for that I am regretful.  That is made more acute to me when I realize I have been more involve, more invested and more concerned about this election than any other in my life. I realize the reason for this is my escalating concern for my young teenage grand children and the world we are creating for them as our legacy.

There are three fundamental sea changes that have brought us to this place in world history and America is front and center in that massive village is choosing via our leadership to step back from leading this village.  The infamous adage, either lead, follow or get out of the way, sums up my view on our position in the international stage for, through this current resident of the White House plus the tepid, do nothing Congress and a very dangerous Supreme Court, America has stepped away from our post WWII leadership. role.  These fundamentals are:  1.  social media.  2.  weakened military presence and use. 3.  a generation of politicians vested in themselves and not for public service.

The advent of Social Media has taken on a life of its own.  I continue to be baffled by the term "radicalize" when referring to ISIL ability to cause a young person to leave family and friends and future to travel to war zones to take up arms, enjoy beheading and mass killing.   I keep hearing it is via social media but I believe that medium is an enabler but not a cause. I believe the cause is a much deeper caustic cauldron we have yet to fathom. But Social Media certainly is part of it allure of some insane pull to go do what we are seeing now daily in our own nation.  Isn't it interesting that something so good on the front end can so rapidly be turned into a vicious weapon!

Our military is stretched my immeasurable deployment with the over use of equipment wearing out and not being replaced and upgraded. I place this wreath squarely at the feet of Obama and this "strange" Secretary of Defense which I sense is simply a pawn to this boss. There is purpose for civilian leadership of the military but it is my belief that the civilian leadership has failed the leadership in uniform and chooses to not see nor hear their concerns and needs. As a Commander-in-Chief, that is unacceptable on a grand scale. The recent coup d'etat in Turkey is recent evidence of how nations deal with populace fears and concerns and I realized as I watched that unfold that the fervor, venom and populational unrest in our own nation is perhaps heading this that same corrective direction.  This POTUS, in my humble opinion, has been a disaster as Commander-in-Chief for his reign will be tagged by historians as an Appeaser instead of a leader. Appeasers are always dangerous!

If the sixteen candidates in the GOP were the best America had to go after one not their on, Trump as a non-politicians, then we are in serious generational trouble. Watching the weaknesses and fear of these Gang wither to him was surprising yes but worrisome even more.  But specifically to Mr. Trump. I have watched him, listened to him, prayed for him, pondered him. I have watched cable news media show their true Liberal bias on a scale I would never have imagined. It has sickened me so much I rarely watch CNN for it is overwhelmingly sickening to me to watch these famous "panel of experts" pander to minorities, against police and attack, not debate, but attack any semblance of a sane, rational comment by a Conservative. For me CNN should be remove from the airwaves and I have always loved CNN's global reach and professionalism; no longer.

I will close by stating that the very thought of another Clinton in the White House is anathema to me and I simply cannot understand how a sane, normal, intelligent human being could be swayed to that cesspool of criminal behavior and corruption via the view they are above the law. But apparently forty percent of Americans are still soaked in the kool aid. I want only the best for my grand children and this election will be a step forward or backward on a scale I could never have imagined. Trump has been duly selected as the GOP candidate and then to watch the GOP plays its evil games to undercut him thus assuring a Clinton ascendancy is worthy of criminal indictment.

So yes, this Election has two generations  riding on it and please do not forget the now $20 trillion debt by our government, the largest employer on earth, that my grandchildren will be burdened with.  Never forget this morsel;  When it comes to free stuff, never forget that nothing is free!  

Across the Horizon

It has been just over two months since I published my last blog. I decided to step back and just drink the water of our world to assess direction, pitfalls and concerns.  We have just gone through a GOP Convention  and Trump, I feel, presented his case well.  I think the greatest and overshadowing reality is seeing so boldfaced the bias in the  media.  It is not wonder We the People are misrepresented, confused and angry.  The racial reporting by the talking heads and the police hating in print and on cable news leaves no doubt when our nation is residing in a cesspool sadly.

In seeing this bias via observant assessing, my stomach turns on CNN which is really sad yet eyeopening after so many years.  We are now facing a Democratic Convention so I will have more of a sense of the Liberal bias by the media.  In my whole life I have never felt more strongly that the Clintons back in the White House after this last eight Obama years would be a global disaster with corruption in the mainstream.  Perhaps I am wrong and frankly hope I am but my gut and my heart says Trump and the GOP, as divided as it is, must be the new resident.

With all this choppy water with sharks swimming everywhere, my greatest concern is for my grandchildren and their world. Too much national debt and rising, drugs galore, societal values eroding; yes my concern is great for Logan, Isabella, Noah, Gracie and Hopie.

I am absolutely convinced that America has turned so far from God that we are witnessing life without God after so many years of ridding schools, churches and lives of God's principles.  There are those that will read this that will scoff or rationalize I am just an old man ranting but in my heart, I believe my sentence of this paragraph is exactly what is happening.

So we will see what Philadelphia provides but my greater concern is the deterioration for the rest of the Obama presidency as the Middle East melts via ISIL.  This is inexcusable and will be a black mark on the Obama legacy as will the Iran Nuke debacle so prepare for nuclear weapons in the hands of terrorist soon if not already.

Your thoughts on my comments are appreciated.

The Values from the Post WWII Era

 A little earlier I was watching through tears a Charlie Rose interview with Michael Kinsley who now has latter stage Parkisons Disease. I have watched him many times in interviews and contributions and always appreciated his insight and energy. To see the devastation of this terrible disease was cutting to my heart in realizing we are both basically the same age.  In one of his responses to Rose, he spoke of the four stages of life which always interests me. Sadly, he never spoke of Heaven nor anything spiritually but that is a choice he has made. 

Interestingly and thus what caught my attention was about the "value" he had been given and experienced from his parents for he was a typical, whatever that means, Baby Boomer with two parents at home, calmness in the home and time investment by both parents into his young life.  He is a brilliant man thus I found myself probing and prodding the canals of my own childhood looking into the mirror he described to see if I could see mine in there any where.  Mr. Kinsley's childhood and mine are sort of but not very similar.  

Please keep in mind the predicate of my mindset is on the horrific nature of that dread disease for but for the grace of God I would be there as well as would be each of you reading this.  His closing comments fundamentally were about with only minutes of life remaining, what becomes most important?

All the cars, the wealth, the desires that tend to fallow our lives on the journey turn to mist and what you are left with are memories in snapshots.  Wow, think about that!  I have no doubt that when my time is no more on this earth that that next moment I will be transformed to my heavenly home in my heavenly body so it only gets better from here and I believe that in my Faith in God.  For those that do not share that faith, I realized per Mr. Kinsley that one moment after end of life, there is no hope and that really purged me into the reservoir of what the essence of life is and why. 

The values I derived from my childhood are certainly unique to me and quite ununique to Kinsley. He was reared in wealth, two parents doting on him, assured of college at Harvard where his father attended.  He was apparently smothered in love and adoration by both his parents and that yielded a scholar with amazing writing skills that loves his family and even more is that love as the reallity of the Parkinsons looms ever near his time remaining on earth. Watching him through this lens took me to tears and near sobs.

My life, destiny and journey based on experiences is quite different and in fact completely different. Yes I had two parents but being doted on, loved on, energized, pushed, etc, were not the verbs I can recall.  Alcohol was a major force in my upbringing due to my father. My mother was a hard charging, tough love, saving, work for every nickel lady that I admired for her drive.  A value she bestowed on me which lasted me to this moment was "always work hard for your boss and he will always take good care of you."  Well, that did not always hold water through the trajectory of my life but still the value equation was sound and I still adhere to its merit. Another value was always be on time and never quit. Amen to both as those that know me will attest.

There was never discussion nor expectation of a college education as to my parents being financial partners in the journey.  Basketball provided me the means to get my college thus I poured my heart and soul into that venture. The force that fueled I realized in retrospect was the overwhelming desire to leave the place where I was, to be part of something big and good to experience the nations of the world. I knew that by age twelve or so. Happily I can say that I got to experience all of those in that last sentence but it came with a cost and it came with much good so while Kinsley's value source was quite different than mine, I would not change one thing, now, about what I was given to work with.

The Values of the post WWI, the Baby Boomers some call us are a vast list to accomplishments based on pushing and driving to accomplish and then to thoroughly enjoy the pleasures of the accomplishments. Some chose to use their bodies versus their brains and that never turns out well. But what I see lacking so vividly today is a lack of driving, pushing to accomplish and a desire to succeed.  I do believe social media, electronics and the economy are part and parcel to the why but the value to accomplish through hard work is direly missing. My wife and I are so blessed to see that push and drive in both our children and in their chosen spouses so we know our grandchildren are being filled with the Post WWII values still.

So the question, what are your Values you are instilling into your children and grand children for this is a generational matter?

B R E A K I N G N E W S

Good morning with now cup one under my belt, I am emboldened to venture to the cave of words that I have remained distant from for too long some say. Let me first say that it is still amazing to me to realize in so many ways and places that people actually read what I write and even more strangely to seek my thoughts and advice; kind of creates a glow in my belly when those times fly by.  

Our world is a vineyard of dichotomies and misadventures that is fraught with the minefield of a bitter and embittering election cycle for President of the United States. People may wish or choose to ignore the unignorable but the POTUS election 2016 is epic and will be studied by historians long after I am gone and the ignition cap is spelled T R U M P.

Even inside my family there is angst with any hint of a comment that might have an odor of supporting Trump. It is actually quite funny to me to watch people on tv that will posture their comment with a smirk or insinuation of negative about Trump, worthwhile I wish to add, but then as the words flow you realize that at the root of what I think is a majority of the electorate is that they are less for Trump the man and more for the disgust with the others still in the race. I know that is the category where I reside.  

For me, I cannot envision another Obama-type in the White House but then I could not imagine that Obama that is in the House now being there so the old adage about politics creates strange bedfellows is so very true.

Last night as Trump cleaned out by landslides five states, it is my belief we will see the caustic rhetoric subside, perhaps, as I believe there is a clear view that Trump might actually have a clear path to the convention with going above the 1237.  

The shenanigan pulled by Cruz and Kasich showed the degree of desperation and the results of last night I am quite sure have both of them reeling rightly this morning. For me the real concern I have for my nation is with the Clinton Machine and that is, by any other term, what it is in getting a two-for-one package with huge dollops of corruption, criminal activities, heavy baggage and then then age old Bill issues and societal values that will be rolled out yet again for the camera lights of the world to drink from the overflowing well of salaciousness the Clintons provide. 

Please know I am certainly not over sighting Trump's history of wives and no doubt other dealings we will learn about but it all shapes up to be a Trump / Clinton Duel at El Diablo that the Americans will be sickened by and the world will scoff about and in the end, it will be We as a Nation that will be pushed further toward the scrapyard of greatest we once were.

If there is an absolute reality of this POTUS slug-fest it is this; AMERICANS ARE SICK OF THE ESTABLISHMENT and I am one of those. I sincerely believe the entire Congress should be given a sixty day moratorium under threat of impeachment for nonperformance on any piece of legislation that is not heavily bipartisan with a metric on how much legislation time is spent each day working on crafting. To learn of across the street from the Capitol huge, fancy call centers where Congressmen are directed to spend several hours each day calling for donors since law prevents them from calling from the House, I find that deplorable and rancid of a grand scale.

As I have written many times, there is simply too much money and too many lobbyists in an ever bloating Federal government and I think the conglomeration has surpassed manageability. Look at the VA for just one example.  The VA is a metaphor for what I believe is the impossible task of bringing true accountability to the table thus making it a political pawn in a sickening, embarrassing game. There are so many VA-types that is just inspires this sick feeling in the pit of my stomach at the thought and impact on millions of veterans and their families.

I began this write with BREAKING NEWS for that is a new tv event to get your attention.  Our nation is sick and the populace sees Trump, because he is bold and blunt and not part of the infamous Establishment as a hoped for fix for this ever growing cancer of a government made more cancerous over these two terms with Obama and a truly inept Congress. Americans want change out of sheer desperation and Trump appears the tallest of the pygmies; that is truly sad but very true I believe.

At the root of all of this, I believe, is the result of a nation that has grown more European meaning more godless.  Heroin, abortion, suicides, aberrant behavior and lifestyles have and are becoming the sick norm in our nation.  Never forget Sodom for reference. America has walked away from God; THAT IS THE BREAKING NEWS.

The Rhetoric of our Today

Scorched earth, bodies in shallow graves, Cleveland in flames ... This is representative of the discourse in our America I hear more and more by the pundits, talking heads and the world is listening. As I listen to this poisonous use of the language, I am disheartened and frankly, quite disappointed for when you factor in rhetoric like that against the context of a world that needs the traditional American leadership and assistance and oversight, the real gravity of the legacy of this environment strikes at the heart of who we are or were is probably a better grammatical expression.

As I have sought to distance myself from the never ending BREAKING NEWS and other bright light approach to saying the same thing in different hues every fifteen minutes designed to stoke the fires of worry and concern, cable news, I have found this sense of calm, better sleep and enjoying the other things of my life via my detachment from the news. But the reality still remains that our essence as Americans is under threat from outside as well as from inside.  

We as a nation are growingly, apparently, liking each other much less. The scourge of drug addiction, suicide, premature deaths, bursting jails and prisons, the infamous "Movements" that breed and feed on themselves; all are cancerous polyps eating away at the internal structures of who we are or once were. Social media has been an enabler and a catalyst for people to bash each other, attack other's thoughts and opinions mercilessly. The politics of our time is truly startling and down right distasteful.

In today's WSJ, Mr. Trump has an op-ed that I have read three times. Whether you like Trump or not, forget the man for a moment but reading his words or somebody's words with his name on them, he captures the realities of where we have come.  Ducking and weaving, shuffling, cheating, berating, attacking for the sake and the joy of attacking has become a new norm in America politics it was seem. 

I still believe there is more than enough blame to go around but at the head of the line, for me at least, resides this most ineffective and disruptive presidency under which we now struggle plus this absolutely worthless Congress.  It is simply amazing to just try and figure out what Congress is doing. I would highly suggest taking a few days and just watch the live feeds on CSPAN channels asking yourself what is really happening and and why is this not about the major issues chewing our future as a nation to shreds.  I honestly believe the system and the institution has been so corrupted over time and the precedents and procedures of Congress preempts even the feasibility to working as an effective lawmaking body.

In other words, I have decided our Constitutionally-based three branch system is in need to a major overhaul for when I see smart,  good, well intentioned people go to Washington and become part of the money-fueled swamp of ineffectiveness, then it is, for me, a systemic cancer that triggers and sucks in the newbies lead by the veterans. The blind leading the blind seems appropriate to describe what is a Biblical statement of this current reality.  When I have smart friends that work in the political realm tell me "not to worry for this is all quite normal and it will all work out .." I find myself getting really angry for what is not said is "hey idiot, we got it so not to worry." Well, an idiot I am not and I want answers to my questions and I demand solutions to the problems. 

Please know, I am not angry but just concerned and fed up with the whole mess.  I think Trump has done one thing and that is to cast a bright light on the political class and creates the explosives that implodes all great empires through the ages. For that I give him full credit.  In this lighting of the torches for Americans to see for the first time the depth of the graft and manipulations of the legislative system and body, the too long silent majority are speaking and thus the political class are circling the wagons to protect the class; not to enhance the nation. THAT IS CRIMINAL!

The Facets of this Thing Called Life

Yesterday I was deeply moved by watching a television interview by Charlie Rose with the writer for the New York Times, David Brooks. I have always found Brooks to be a clear minded, precise, incisive wordsmith. I have watched him in interviews many times before with each time causing me to drill more deeply into my own heart, life, being. Yesterday was an especially much deeper drilling to the point I recorded the hour interview so my wife and I could watch it together as we did last night.  I will say right up front that I do not embrace the whole of Brook's responses and ramblings but the essence of this comments and the amazing questions tossed to him by Rose put me on a much deeper and, I believe, richer plain spiritually and emotionally.

As I lay in bed after having awoke somewhere around 2 am, I lay there in the quiet darkness pondering what I had experienced viewing the Brooks interview. I even made some copious notes on my planning calendar during the interview hardly none of which I can read this early morning. I decided to start my day about 3:30 am even though I was basking in the black quiet of the laying down time serenaded by the breathing and small movements of my sleeping wife.  Yes, I even found myself in the darkness listening to her breathing patterns with this smile of thanks for the years she has invested in me and the many, many things, places, events we have shared together.  I recommend this therapy and it will only cost you some sleep but worth every breath.

Many years ago I heard of Viktor Frankl that wrote many books about his horrific experiences at Auschwitz; a place I have trod on four different, unique occasions.  Frankl was a brilliant Jewish doctor and reduced, in essence, via his writings after the experience of the daily hell hole of the death camp, to looking at the experience through the eyes of a sociologist meaning its impact on people and how they individually dealt with the unimaginable daily doses of torture, pain and suffering.  As I listened to Brooks' comments, my mind kept retracing the steps to Frankl's learning and teaching.  I will paste in a link that will give you a broader and deeper insight into Dr Frankl's view from the inside which, turned out, was quite learned and unique.  The essence being that even in the midst of an existence a normal person could not imagine, focusing on the value of the work and the contribution from the work was a means to stand above the pain and suffering of the Holocaust.  His work was groundbreaking and relevant to this day I believe.  http://www.pursuit-of-happiness.org/history-of-happiness/viktor-frankl/.

Perhaps, for me at least, the most predominate take-away from the Brooks interview was framed in the question; What would you do if you were not afraid?  That question literally changed my breathing pattern as I began the personal drilling of my heart and soul with a dull drill bit. My wife has always described me to others as "fearless" which can be a two edged sword as you can imagine. But we all, as humans, have fears that serve to create boundaries, flashing lights and stop signs. True, we can choose to ignore the eminent danger but still, the warning signs are there. So the question, if all the warnings, lights and signs were psychologically removed, what would each of us do differently?

For me, in reflection, I believe what spoke most loudly to me through the hour was about what are the priorities we set for our lives.  Those that know me realize very quickly I am driven, ever hungry to understand, love to encourage those on my journey, love to see people encouraged even in the tough days and times and want the best for every person I know and will do what I can do to be part of getting them to meet their capability and potential. Brooks spoke of men and their masculine and feminine components with both being vital to the man as his life meanders through the cycles and channels of life.  Four major priorities Brooks spoke of for a man; choosing a spouse, selecting a vocation, determining one's faith and integrating into a very personal community. I have found myself, now sixty-eight years old retracing in my own life and journey how very telling and true those four phases truly are for me personally.

There was much spoken of on the topic of emotional connectivity  and sensitivity to others which is where the vital reality of the blending of the masculine and feminine traits meet the grinding wheel of life. I think it was the first time in my life where I fully processed the whole concept of a man having and needing feminine reservoirs from which to drink at pertinent times.  

I have known people, many people, in my life, that have developed such a hard edge to people, issues and events that I came to realize that edge was constructed from the hurts and scarring of past hurts. Brooks also rightly spoke of and with example the amazing implication's success in life and vocation being directly linked to the degree of love that person was imbued with from one's mother. The special type of love is amazingly vital to the channels demanded of effectively working with others as life goes forward. I fully believe that and see that love abounding in my grand kids by their mothers and their grandmother, Alicia, that loves in so many and so deeply ways. I realized in what I get to see within my own family, easily taken for granted, is the arming mechanism for these five grand children's lives and interfaces with thousands of other humans on their journey. It is truly an awesome thought process to seek to fully grasp but I believe absolutely correct.

I will conclude with what Brooks and Rose spoke much about which was C.S. Lewis's works especially in his book, Four Loves. I have researched that this morning and have ordered a paperback copy to read. I look forward to what will be revealed in me and about me when that reading is done.  It is my belief that my faith has been deepened in other's, about life and my relationship with Jesus Christ.  Given that alone the time to put some words from my heart together and the deep pondering these last twelve hours have been invaluable.

We are blessed to walk this journey together though we may not always see it or realize it. I see so many people in my life, now, some imprisoned behind bars, some imprisoned in the jail cell of aging and disease and some by just choosing to imprison themselves via drugs, hate, dissension.  I feel completely free of cells of constraint due in full measure to my belief that there is a life after this one that will far exceed anything I can imagine. I believe, as well, God is not done with me yet as more and more doors of opportunity and challenge continue to be opened and I never met a door I would would not walk through if I believe others would be made better as a result.

We live in a world more transparent that any of us can remember and this both a good thing and ac curse I am realizing. The current presidential campaign is proof positive of that assertion.  But just yesterday via FB an interesting dialog ensued with a former very special, most unique student that I have utmost respect for. I pushed back on a post the put up on FB for it, the post, was not reflective of the person and the woman I know her to be.  Add to that as I preached semester after semester, is that employers now immediately go to social media when assessing the potential hiring of a person so what is on FB becomes a mirror of what the employer sees and assesses.  I addressed that directly with this student and she pushed back on my comments defending her "right" to be who she is and it is "unfair" to be assessed by an employer from a social media post.  Others were chiming in supporting her position. I chose to address this more personally in a private FB message which turned into an amazng, uplifting dialog between two people that respect and admire each other. 

I use that to say that we all need each other even though we may need see it, realize it or even choose to ignore it but the fact still remains, People need  People more than ever before. Thank you for taking the time to read this rendering from my heart. I feel closer to my family, my wife, my friends, my Lord than I have in quite a period of time. I wish you the best and hope something in this rendering has touched your heart as well.