Gun Violence and Finger Pointing

Yesterday’s tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School saddens all of us, and today’s bickering and finger pointing between liberals and conservatives should anger all of us. This should NOT be political. A post that I read on my facebook feed today said that liberals blame guns and conservatives blame criminals for gun violence. Well I guess that sums it up for a lot of folks, but if each side draws a line in the sand separating those two simplistic viewpoints we will never solve the problem. Instead of blaming just the guns, or just the criminals, why don’t we work on keeping the two apart… As far apart as possible.

Lock up criminals, and lock up guns when they’re not under the direct control of their legal owners... and for God's sake let's get a handle on the mental illness problem in this country. Also, we need to change our mindset about guns, especially among young people. A gun is just a tool. There is nothing inherently cool about one, so let’s stop glorifying them in video games and movies. Hey kid! It’s a gun damn it, not a superpower! Treat it with respect.

2¢

I know, I know, every time I say I’m gonna add my two cents worth, I spit out a buck and change, but I promise, if you'll indulge me for just another minute or two I'll shut up for awhile…

We are all being told by big money interest groups today that America is failing and that we should blame the Democrats; but if you look objectively and thoroughly at the facts, their claims begin to fall apart pretty quickly. America was at the brink of financial collapse when Barack Obama took office, and while our recovery has been slow, we ARE recovering, and we’re recovering from the very policies that the big money interest groups want to reinstate via the election of Mitt Romney. If you look at the broad scope of activities and actions that each branch of our government, and each political party has participated in over the past four years a clear picture will emerge of who is actually on the side of average American citizens, and who is on the side of billionaires and multinational corporations who have absolutely no allegiance to you or me, and very questionable allegiance to the United States.

Consider how The Supreme Court has changed the political landscape of America with the Citizens United decision, and imagine how they will change the social landscape of our nation if allowed to lean even further to the right in the next four years. That’s toothpaste that won’t be put back in the tube in our lifetime.

Also consider (especially if you’re a Republican) the actions of the Republican Party over the past four years. This is not your father’s Republican Party, or Ronald Reagan’s Republican Party. This is the Koch Brother’s Republican Party, directed by money and fueled by hatred for our first African American President, and don’t believe for a second that that hatred evolved over the past four years because Barack was somehow not up to the task. This ugly hatred for Barack Obama began on inauguration night as memberships in (and the total number of) white supremacist groups immediately began to swell across America. This hatred and hunger to topple our president began on day one when Paul Ryan and top Republican leaders met in Washington DC to plan the downfall of Barack Obama, vowing to make him a one term President before he had even moved into the Whitehouse.

The Republican Party, and the Supreme Court have not always been, and will not always be controlled by the Neocons, the Koch Brothers and the radical right, but right now THEY ARE, and while not all Republicans hate their President, and while most Republicans are not racists, nearly all racists are Republicans (and will be for as long as Barack is in office) so if you’re a moderate Republican or a Reagan Republican maybe it’s time to take your Republican Party back instead of blindly chanting along with them that you want to “take your country back!” In fact when the chanting begins, ask them “Back from what?” You’ll find that that’s a question most folks in the mob cannot articulate an answer to. But I can articulate what you need to take The Republican Party back from (if you must remain a Republican) and it will do your party, and your country good. But in the meantime you could follow Chris Christie’s lead and accept Barack’s leadership, even if you do not vote for him, or follow Colin Powell’s lead and cross party lines until sanity returns to the GOP.

Well, that’s my two cents worth.

 

A Stone Unturned

Her life came

Her death came

 

Her thoughts

Her dreams

Her words

Her deeds

Lie unwritten

Unrecorded

Unrecalled

 

Her face

Smiles only

In the memory

Of a mirror

On a wall

In a hallway

Irretrievable

 

She was a stone

Unturned

Thank You Mr. President

 

Thank you President Obama. Thank you for fighting so hard for so many Americans during these past four years. Thank you for toiling day and night to clean up the mess that was left to you by the previous administration, and by Republicans that to this day continue to throw their shit on the floor, and taunt you as you continue to mop it up. Thank you for being consistent in your message, and unwavering in your commitment. Thank you for leading we the American people who still have respect for the office of the Presidency, and for attempting to lead those who do not. Thank you for pushing tirelessly against the immovable obstructionists in Congress in order to repair a nation that they are so willing to further damage for their own political gain. Thank you for working to improve the lives of the millions of Americans who blindly reject every policy that you seek to enact on their behalf. Thank you for continuing to speak to all of your constituents, even though so many of them now cover their ears when you talk.

 

Most of all Mr. President, thank you for being willing to sacrifice four more years of your life to continue taking on this task on behalf of your country. You dream for those with minds too closed to dream. Like Jackie Robinson, you put up with vilest sentiments that still exist in American society, even as you inspire America to be better.

 

Thank you President Obama. You have my confidence and my vote.
 

Burning Season

The wood stove needs a cleaning,
And the stove pipe needs it too.
I got a big wire brush on a long thin pole
That I shove right down the flue.

And the soot gets on the rooftop,
And the soot gets in the air,
And the soot gets all over both o’ my hands.
There are fingerprints everywhere!

And the wood pile needs refilling,
And the kindling bin does too,
And the chain saw needs a brand new chain,
But the old one will have to do.

So I head out to the back lot,
With my saw and a pickaroon,
To cut down a tree, that between you and me,
I shoulda cut down last June.

And the sawdust gets in my eyeballs,
And the sawdust gets in my hair,
And the sawdust goes right down the back of my shirt,
And from there it goes God knows where!

And my boots are filled with wood chips,
And my hands are smeared with pitch,
And I’ll shout hallelujah when the springtime comes!
"Cause burning season is such a, ...drag!
 

An American Modern

I’d rather be wealthy than healthy.
I’d rather be lucky than wise.
Book learnin’ page turnin’ grade earnin’
Would surely be hard on my eyes.

So I choose to sit here on my sofa,
Right in front of my high def. TV,
With a cat in my lap, watching hours of crap,
Getting up on occasion to pee.

Yes I’m an American Modern.
The son of a man who worked hard,
So that I could sit here drinking cases of beer,
While the dog shit piles up in my yard.

Yes I’m an American Modern,
And I live the American dream,
Eating Big Mac’s and fries while absorbing the lies,
Fast becoming as dumb as I seem.
  

A Few Words About Sacrifice

While watching Meet the Press today I heard Republican Governor Bob McDonald of Virginia say something very telling and I’m wondering if anyone else heard it. As he was praising the Paul Ryan budget he said (and I double checked the transcript): “It takes big ideas, and-- and things that are going to take some sacrifice for a lot of people in order to get our country back on track.” and I immediately noticed that he said “sacrifice for a lot of people” and not sacrifice for ALL Americans. After the segment ended I stopped and thought, is this the new paradigm for America? Are the days when we all sacrificed really over for good? Are we now and forevermore to be a two class society? Do we now have one class of people who are too rich to sacrifice, too rich to fail, too rich to jail, too rich to fight in the wars that they so eagerly support, too rich to be bothered with the problems of the masses, too rich to be burdened with higher taxes? And do we now have another class of people who are to be called upon forevermore to do the dirty work, to do the fighting and the dying, to take the fall, and make up the shortfall, and pay the higher taxes in order to keep our country on track? Is this the conservative vision of the Natural Order of Things? Is it the result of a generation of trickledown economics? Or is this a wakeup call to the 99% who with only a modicum of self preservation have the power to turn our country back into a nation where we all sacrifice in times of hardship, and where a rising economic tide does indeed raise all ships … including the boats and rafts of the middle class and poor. Yes, if only the 99% would serve themselves instead of their masters, we could have that country back, and we could tell Governor McDonald, and Paul Ryan, and their ilk that “you sirs will share in our sacrifice, and together we will ALL get our country back on track.”

  

Lowlife (a poem)

After catching up on the Sandusky trial and reading in the news today that Steven Powel will be out of jail in just 21 months, I had to write this:

To: Steven Powel
Cc: Jerry Sandusky

I’ve got to think a guy like this
Is the lowest of the low.
From where he sits I can’t imagine
Anything below.

So I asked God “Hey why do you
Let creeps like this keep livin’?
Aren’t there people even you
Would say aren’t worth forgivin’?”

And God told me “The paperwork
Has already been done.
Signed and notarized” he said
“The devil gets this one.”

And so I asked the devil “Hey,
What’s up? Are you reneging?”
And he said “No, this guy’s so low
That I’m still busy digging!”

And so you see now guys like this
Sandusky, Powell and others
Would have been dead long ago
If we’d all had our druthers.

But like I said up there on top
These guys are so damned low
That hell is not beneath them yet.
The devil told me so.

The Evolution of Intolerance:

With their cloaks of fear and ignorance wearing thin,
Those who stand against gay equality
Will soon stand before the world
As they stand before their God,
Wrapped only in the tattered cloth of bigotry.

Though less recognizable
Than the white sheets of another era,
The cloth still chafes;
Bleeding, infecting, and scarring
All who continue to wear it.
  

The Fading Tales of Heroes

World War II novels

With tattered covers

Worn out bindings

And faded pages

Are put up each night

But by day

You can find them

Out in the halls

Sitting on benches

Walking on pathways

I saw them last week

At the Old Soldier's Home

With their thin necks

Like bookmarks tucked

Into real life war stories

Eagle Watching

For all you birdwatchers and patriots,
I've added some recent photos of our
National Symbol to Moody’s Photo Album.
To view our feathered friend click HERE.

The Next Big Idea

It seems like the world is always looking for the next big idea: the internet, cloning, Viagra, facebook, smart phones, iPads, and other exciting stuff to be announced soon. Yes, the big ideas list that begins with fire, followed closely by something to put fire out with, and continues with the pointy stick, the handle, prostitution, the wheel, and other innovations from the dawn of man to modern times seems almost endless. “What’s next?” you might ask. I sure wish I knew. I can’t tell you how many times when I was growing up someone would yell at me “Hey kid! What’s the big idea?” or “What the hell’s the big idea?” or something to that effect. Well for crying out loud, it’s kinda hard to think with that kind of pressure, so I usually just stood there looking stupid.

Now looking back on it, I realize that for a good part of my youth the world was looking to me to come up with the next big idea, and I can’t help but think that I let the world down. If just once when some older person had queried “Hey you! What's the the big idea?” I had thought a little quicker on my feet. If just once I had studied the clues around me and thought “okay - slingshot, rock, broken window” and yelled out “laser pointer!” or “global positioning system!” or anything other than “gulp!” Yes just once. Maybe I could have changed the world.

But now that I’m well into the second half of my life I’ll have to… “Viagra!” Oh, that one’s already on the list? Damn! Where was I? …Oh yeah, second half of my life I’ll have to resign myself to the fact that it’s up to the next generation to change the world. I’m afraid I’ve used up all my chances. Nobody ever asks me anymore “Hey! What’s the big idea?”… Well except when I’m drinking, but I’m sure not gonna come up with it then.

I guess all I can do now is walk out on my front lawn and yell at neighbor kids as they go by. “HEY!! WHAT’S THE BIG IDEA?” Who knows, maybe I’ll discover the next Steve Jobs.
  

End of Days

A friend reminded me today that the end is near, so I thought I'd better write this poem while I still have time:

The ends of days is almost here
I heard it from a Mayan
Their calendar makes it quite clear
That soon we’ll all be dyin’

Long ago they carved it down
In stone with ancient tools
That December 21st this year
Is Mayan April Fools!

When it comes to someone with enough patience to pull off a good practical joke, ya can’t beat a Mayan!
  

Library of the Mind

So many dusty memories

Rest on such high shelves

That my stooping brain

Can no longer reach them.

And there are low ones too.

I just can’t seem to bend down

Far enough to grasp them

As easily as I once could.

But some volumes remain
With dog-eared pages

Right here in the middle

That I can still reach with ease.

And so I will tell you

The same old stories

Over and over again

Until my library closes.
  

New photos are up... click over there →

If anyone's interested...
Photos of our recent ice storm are now posted in Moody's Photo Album.
Best viewed with hot chocolate!