Tag Archives: obama

You and Politics

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I do not enjoy politics. Writing about politics is even less enjoyable. In the past I payed as little attention as possible to day to day affairs of our Government. My hands off watching went from the Federal to local level. I thought all of our Elected Officials would do what was best for all people. Not do what is the best for Big Business, or a select few people. Times have changed and I am forced to stop being  naive.

Business from a business ethics standpoint is: If it is not illegal, it should be done if it benefits the business. The true purpose of business is to make as much money as possible. In most small business because decisions rest on the shoulders of one individual, rarely is everything done with focus on maximum profit.

Small business owners live in the community they are doing business in. Rarely is this the case in big business. No matter who is blamed, there is always finger pointing to another area of the business. First line Managers point out demands of Upper Management for increased output and decreased costs. Upper Management blames the CEO. The CEO points at the Board of Directors, and the Board of Directors point to the faceless stockholders. This way no one is responsible for the actions of the company.

Not all multinational companies operate in this manner, but enough do that it effects politics down to a local level. In recent years some elected officials have gone from doing what is right for the people to doing what lines their pockets the best. Special interests and lobbyists throw money around like it is worthless. Sooner or later a few small gray area deals are made by a few elected officials, and personal and political ethics bloom into something different, namely getting richer.

Political blogs, hard line blogs of the Right and Left, politically oriented news services, and radio talk shows, the list goes on. Some are dropping what is best for America and promoting what is best for them. Political talk shows never air views opposite the host. It interrupts the message and the format. If a political retort comment is written on a X Wing blog, it is not approved. It is not part of the agenda.

Truth and lies are becoming more difficult to separate in political rhetoric. Mud is slung back and forth by the minute. Preemptive strikes are becoming the norm, as is blaming the other party for creating a situation that does not yest exist. Perhaps writing it did not exist until it was released to sympathetic media ears who released it to sympathetic listeners, who talked it up enough to become a story is more precise. As spawned groundless rhetoric gains momentum, fiction becomes truth, solidifying out of thin air and nothingness.

The most recent presidential election had whispers of racism, and hints of racism will cut their way into the next Presidential election, turning it into a Race Issue. It does not matter President Obama is an American, that is not good enough. Which party fired the first shot over the bow of the other will never be decided. It won’t matter the Race Card was created out of vapor to swing votes, and fear as a weapon.

Race Laced Cannon Balls are starting to fly in both directions. The next Presidential election is being turned into a Race War. It won’t matter current issues are very complex, and have their roots in decisions made decades earlier.

http://venagozar.com

Who is going to ride the Government Horse

We are going to be subjected from many subtle angles an idea our President is only in office because of “The Race Card”. I for one, am sick and tired of it already. I bet you are too, even if you have only the slightest interest in the goings on of the Republican Party preliminaries.

This election will be a campaign is intended to make you sick of politics as a whole. Government for business can not have a free reign if Americans are not only voting, but paying attention to what is happening between voting sessions.

Almost half of Americans are near the income poverty line. A very large percentage of Americans are homeless compared to a few years ago when rampant greed had undue influence over Government Policy. Nothing improves because we want it to. All of us need to start paying attention to what our Officials are doing what and why. Don’t allow this election to hinge on the Race Card with so many serious issues facing all Americans

Nor does it matter the Republican Party has viable candidates, who defer running for office when Our Country Is In Trouble. It would not look good, having to try and solve multiple problems and keep the big money that elected them happy at the same time. Especially when the election platform is based on the poor job the current President is doing.

Politics of today is no longer based on party lines. Politics of today is based on business influence. Business influence coming into politics both at home and from abroad, China for example. Big Business wants more freedom, more profit, and more politicians doing their bidding. They want you to be quiet and complacent.

The only line in the sand against big business owning America is you and I paying close attention to what is happening, and using your vote wisely. Without you and I paying close attention, there will be politicians will vote in their best interests, to include the best interests of the big money backing them. Our interests and wishes will cease to be important. Not voting is casting your vote, except you are saying it does not matter who or what decides your future.

Don’t be put off by the smoke and mirror race card. The serious state of the economy, and the problems we face as a people are far more important than skin color. Don’t think not voting shows what you feel about the political system. Good or bad, it is the best and only system we have.

Sit on the side of the road, and big business will be the only winner in the next Presidential Election. We average Americans have been squeezed to the point there is no more to give, and our political affiliations are of no matter. We all need to pay attention and make our wishes known.

It is of no importance the Republican Party front runners can not go a week without saying something that can only be called utterly stupid. It won’t matter Republican Party candidates are so busy assassinating each other, they can not keep their own house in order.

It does matter right now, politicians are refusing to take action to improve the economic state of America. We are now entering in a Presidential Race War. Let us stop it now, and cry Wolf. Let us really hope it does not hit the average person in the street. This Race Card nonsense is playing with fire, and the fire is quite hot, and the tinder is very dry.

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President elect Obama and the Ugly American

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The presidential election is over and we the American people have said our piece via our votes. In my little part of America it seems some people are not through having their say. It has been less than twenty-four hours since the election winner was declared, and I am hearing some ugly utterances I shall not be repeating.

What I heard today was from people who have very strong feelings about our choice of who is to run our country for the next four years. ‘Our country’ is two key words which should be foremost in every American’s thoughts when thinking about America. Our country is in an economic turmoil. How bad it is depends on how wisely you managed your life to this point, and how lucky you are.

We have other serious issues besides our economic problems which others have covered far better than I could. Our country, our president, our future – we are one people. Some of the more emotional people around me feel that we have been duped. They speak post election and are saying some shocking things. More than one person has declared that they have seceded from our country, and will not support or participate in anything political for the next four years at least.

Non-participation, choosing not to take an action, seems silly at best. These individuals who condemn our president elect as if he is someone who is not fit to be part of the process, now choose to sit out their own future. If this is typical of how these Americans who did not vote for our president elect are going to act, we are in for a tough four years.

What can a half group accomplish as well as a whole group can? Are only some the people in our country going to participate in making changes, while the rest of us, stand by and refuse to participate? This sounds like a pretty sad plan to me. I believe that is how we end up in turmoil as individuals, by choosing not to participate in our own lives.

I hope what I am seeing and hearing today is short lived, and not a first step down the road of non-participation. I am personally shamed seeing and hearing people I know and given my respect to act this way. I believe all of us are needed to accomplish what needs to be done, and no single group can bring forth the correct balance with the strength and resolve all of us can.

As much as I dislike doing it myself, on occasion, I have seen the fruits that come from participating even if it is something I personally do not agree with. Right now more than any other time in our recent history, right now is a time to disagree and commit; not the time to disagree and refuse to participate. If there ever was a time to stand up and be counted now is that time. Are we all Americans, or are some of us more American than others? Will we allow un-named fears and ignorance distort what we as Americans claim as a right for all Americans.

I dislike fear mongering and the speaking ignorant things. I have seen too many people destroy their life, or the lives of others through fear mongering and ignorance. Our enemies cheer over our fear mongering and ignorance. They will do everything in their power to create even more fear and ignorance, and introduce chaos into our lives.

To think this election and the next four years are not partially about skin color and our true beliefs is wrong. It is time to come off the bench and show the world we stand behind what we say America is about. For better or worse we Americans have set a course for our future. Let us all do our part to make it better.

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Biggest failure?

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I am back from my trip where I studied as if I were in college again. It was only a week at a vendor class, but I worked hard every minute I was there. By Thursday when I went to sleep a little after midnight with my alarm set for five, I remembered how it was in college. In college it was much easier, because at that time, a class was just a class it was not my career path and my future. I suppose I have had a paradigm change over the years. Each and every class was my future; I did not have the experience to understand at that time of my life. With some things I am a slow learner.

Everyone in the class with was responsible in their behavior both in and away from the training. I made a contrast comparison one evening while enjoying a Japanese style dinner, how it was when I was in the military and we were half way around the world. Some people who at home, were community pillars, and role models did a one hundred and eighty degree turn when they realized that what they did would never be discovered by their social circle back home. It was quite surprising to see how a few people really act when there is no direct consequence to their behavior. Similar to, ‘What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas’ commercials.

The Olympics are going full steam and it is always amazing watching  talented dedicated athletes complete sets, or finish runs and swims in times that were thought impossible a few decades ago. When I watch the Olympics and think we have reached the pinnacle of what is possible for a human is shattered by the time the next Olympic meet. I remember when the four minute mile was shattered; it was thought to be a one time one person phenomenon.

It was thought that there would never be another boxer who could compete at the level Mohammad Ali had reached, nor a gymnast of Mary Lou Retton’s caliber, and never another swimmer like Mark Spitz. ‘Never say never’, is one constant I have learned. The ultimate moment people spent their whole life trying to achieve makes a new dream possible for hundreds, perhaps thousands of others who are struggling with the basics of their endeavors. Those struggling so hard have now raised their own personal expectations to the level those before them achieve with so much struggle, sweat, and tears.

I was watching CNN this morning, and one story caught my eye, and fired up my thinking. The presidential candidates, Senators McCain, and Obama were at a Q & A of a certain bent, and were answering identical questions. Senator McCain in response to a question stated that he saw the biggest failure of his life as his first failed marriage.

I really hope Senator McCain expanded on his answer more than the few seconds the news story gave it. Claiming a failed marriage is the biggest failure of ones life is selling oneself short in the value of all things. I would suggest that if Senator McCain really failed at his first marriage and did not learn a single thing from it, why is his current marriage a success? Without going into the obvious negative response to that question, I would suggest that Senator McCain learned more from his failed marriage than he learned in any and all relationships that preceded his failed marriage.

It may be a stretch to suggest that the Senator’s previous relationships were all failures too as he took something away from all previous relationships he had to arrive at the point where marriage was the next formal step. That being said, failing at a first marriage, the Senator gained (after a time of course) everything he needed to make a second marriage more successful.

Learning through failure is the biggest part of our emotional and spiritual life. If we never experience failure, we would never grow, and most of us would never discover those things we need to bring our life journey to a satisfying end. If we never experience a failure whether it is something as major as an Olympic event, failed relationship, or even a game during recess as a child, we have failed ourselves. The worst part of failure is never having tried in the first place.

I am sure all Athletes in this Olympic event, Senators McCain and Obama, and many others have learned at least as much from their failures as they have from their successes, if not more. We should never be afraid to fail. Failure is one of the greatest opportunities we have in our lifetime to learn and grow. If you observe the statistics of any successful individual from the world of any chosen field, if their rate of success is not at least matched by their rate of failure, they have not challenged themselves to their full potential, and have cheated themselves of possibilities that never came to fruition.

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