Section 9
1: The Migration or Importation of such Persons as any of the States now existing shall think proper to admit, shall not be prohibited by the Congress prior to the Year one thousand eight hundred and eight, but a Tax or duty may be imposed on such Importation, not exceeding ten dollars for each Person.
Interesting!
Monday, January 31, 2011
DOES THE CONSTITUTION GIVE OUR GOVERNMENT THE RIGHT TO SPEND OUR TAX MONEY ON PROGRAMS WANTING TO BE ELIMINATED BY THE TEA PARTY?
A friend of mine rose this question "I have read the Constitution, as I am sure you have too. Can you tell me what part of the Constitution gives our government the right to spend our tax money on those specific endeavors?" these were some of the endeavors he was referring to"the Affordable Housing Program, the Commission on Fine Arts, the Consumer Product Safety Commission, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities and the State Justice Institute. " I decided to take this challenge and post parts that I believe does. Starting with Section 8, 1: The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States; Section 8, 8: To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries; this is a start and I will be posting more as I go through it.
Our Preamble
We the people of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
TOP 9 REASONS YOU COULD BE A RE-THUG-LICAN
I LOVE POLITICAL HUMOR, BUT I THINK THERE IS SOME TRUTH TO THIS.
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
The Tea Party Budget wants to eliminate the Affordable Housing Program!
I would have been part of the tea party revolution back in History. The Tea Party org. today, is a far cry from this. Read "What a Tea Party Budget Looks Like." Tea Party Favorites Rep. Michele Bachmann and Sen. Rand Paul budget proposals are like bulls in a china cabinet. They have no clue as to the damage that will be done to the American people. Here are some of the programs they want to eliminate: the Affordable Housing Program, the Commission on Fine Arts, the Consumer Product Safety Commission, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities and the State Justice Institute. Instead of reinstating taxes on the extremely rich who would not feel the blow, they prefer to leave millions of Americans homeless...perhaps saying, "Let them eat cake!"...They need to go back and take a history course...study the American Revolution and the French Revolution. In history the American Revolution was sparked by Taxation without representation.They paid Taxes but never got anything back. Government starved the people. So they refused to pay Taxes. French Revolution they Taxed the poor and gave nothing back, and when the people starved they rose up and took it out on the elite. The wealthy. Republican Party has not supported legislation that helps the working man and you can see where they are headed. Rich get Richer, and the Poor?
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
America Needs Legal Reform not Mal practice, friviolous lawsuit reform
Tell your story of your legal experience, whether it be you were not given justice by judge or jury and your attorneys were the ones who got the bulk of the money. Tell your story of any lawsuit that was anything but frivolous. Your result. Please any experience with a court system that did not allow you to have a fair shake. Perhaps a lawsuit that could never be heard because of lack of funds or technicalities or an attorney who did nothing and lost for lack of diligence. How about attorney's who do not return calls for months at a time.We need to have a place to be fairly heard and judged without bias or corruption.
Obama's State Of The Address
I enjoyed listening to this. Obama always trying to be a fair President. It was great until he open the door and said he was willing to address frivolous lawsuits. that was a bump in the road for me, but all and all a wonderful speech, by a great President. I have a very strong stand on this issue. I think I need to have a little talk with the Prez. It does not cost the government money or effect our deficit by placing caps on peoples damages. I believe it is unconstitutional to take away or make it difficult for people to pursue there only recourse when seeking justice. It is already burdensome to seek or get justice. Where is it OK to tell people there is limits upon your damages.Only thing that should be reformed is Legal fees, and an easier recourse for those seeking justice. Un complicate the court system. Put some rules and control on judges that act like dictators , and expect respect but don't show it. They are there to listen to the whole story and rule according to law. In most court hearings especially probate they don't even want to here what you have to say, and all the while your goodly attorney who probably barley gave your case thought (and that's if you can afford one) until the day of court. I have experienced this. Not saying all lawyers, but if I have experienced this then I am sure there are thousands out there with the same problem. An attorney can get paid up to 400 and hour just to show an appearance and then not to mention your friendly calls and driving time, and billing everyone whom they represented that day the same,even if they did not just handle their case individually in that time frame. I had an attorney named Brain Tanko in Nevada Probate that ran up 50, 000.00 in legal fee's in less than 1 year. Take a guess how many times he went to court. Then we were charged for having to call and email requesting things we already had requested. Lawyers, judges...stick together...Then you can loose on a technicality. When a court does not even try to get to the truth...what good is it? When a Probate commissioner keeps repeating "this is a 25 year old estate" and does not give weight to anything but the fact he wants it closed quickly never mind anything else including thew law...you wonder why anyone would ever make a law that would effect the every day person from a fair hearing , judgment, and ruling...which would include all damages...The court system and it's fiduciaries fail people everyday..lets work on changing that!It's the everyday guy who gets the shaft in lawsuits. Obama, do not support this kind of action and be a louder voice for public option. You can not ask people to buy health insurance from privatized companies who do not have a limit on how high a premium can go. You do not protect the people when you do this. Provide a public option that never goes up in premiums and is reasonable to what people can afford along with all their other bills and taxes.
Politics on FB topic s that stem from left and righty labeling, Sarah Palin,women voters, immigrants, and healthcare reform
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Matthew C. Rankin
The typical low blow, factless attacks by the left on Sarah Palin have accomplished one thing. You won't see a woman President for at least 20 more years. Hmmmm, why are womwns libbers so hard on each other???
January 20 at 3:10pm via BlackBerry · LikeUnlike · Comment
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Linda Franklin likes this.
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Linda Franklin Hillary will most likely run.
January 20 at 3:13pm · LikeUnlike
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Ashley Ann Wheeler Because at the heart of it is not "woman" or "liberalism" or anything but unbridled hate and anger, that's why.
January 20 at 3:18pm · LikeUnlike · 2 peopleLoading...
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Matthew C. Rankin Nah, not after all this. The media has ruined the credibilty of all female candidates by their moronic accusatons. They have anadvertantly knocked the womens movement back decades. Yet, she still has more executive experience than Obama
January 20 at 3:20pm · LikeUnlike
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Matthew C. Rankin Yes, and senselessly too. Might just do in the libs. No excuse for their nasty attacks. No substance results in grade school behavior
January 20 at 3:30pm · LikeUnlike
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Pamela Hartman I have found in my years of business that women do not like competition and will not mentor other women to their position or higher. I am praying that the Lord will speak to all womens hearts on this issue. It is a self esteem issue. Without being comfortable in our skin we cannot reach out to help others.
January 21 at 6:37am · LikeUnlike
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Ashley Ann Wheeler You are right about that too, Pamela. I've never understood it.
January 21 at 7:26am · LikeUnlike
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Matthew C. Rankin Isn't that sad? Lifting one another up is far more rewarding than tearing people down. The womens lib movement has destroyed so much of the nurturing spirit in women these days......
January 21 at 8:53am · LikeUnlike
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Thomas Neiley Pam nails it to a T.A lot of it anyway.As a staunch conservative let me make this observation.People revile her not because she's a female conservative.They revile her because of her narcisistic behavior.She bails on her constituants up in Alaska so she can go promote...Sarah Palin,books ,reality show and all.Total fame whore.Who can take her seriously? I can't ,that's for sure.
January 21 at 9:46pm · LikeUnlike · 1 personLoading...
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Dorothy Hartman And that is what we are called to be helpers of others! without this mentoring and help ......the Kiingdom of Heaven...........♥
Saturday at 6:32am · LikeUnlike
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Matthew C. Rankin I'm no big fan of Palin myself, but, what the left wing media has been doing to her is destructive to all women. Keep pounding something in to peoples heads and sooner or later they equate all as one and the same. Dangerous game.
Saturday at 6:48am · LikeUnlike · 1 personLoading...
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Matthew C. Rankin Nothing really to do with that, but how she is demonized by the press and the far left..............the very ones who say they stand for equal rights
Saturday at 8:00am · LikeUnlike
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Greg Guardiano I think you're wrong, Matt. The credibility of a woman as a presidential candidate has only been diminished by Sarah Palin herself. She is NOT presidential material by a long shot. Everything Tom said above plus the fact that she just in'st very bright, tactful, or knowledgeable, is why no one should ever take her seriously.
Saturday at 2:30pm · UnlikeLike · 1 personLoading...
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Greg Guardiano There are many other women qualified to become president, whether conservative or otherwise. The only reason Sarah Palin got as far as she did is that republicans wanted to win at any cost and were willing to vote her in despite the inherent danger in doing so.
Saturday at 2:32pm · UnlikeLike · 1 personLoading...
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Greg Guardiano Personally, I hope she somehow does become the republican nominee - that could pave the way for Obama winning every single state.
Saturday at 2:33pm · UnlikeLike · 1 personLoading...
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Michael Swisher I think that there are reasons that Obama will quite possibly get another term, however it will primarily be if he gets amnesty for all of the illegal immigrants to be in the country, as this will be the first time they will be able to vote. Being grateful for all the money and rights he just gave them and all of the other parties with their hands out for a government check, he will then accomplish his second term. Shortly after that you can say goodbye to big business in the United States.
Saturday at 2:46pm · LikeUnlike
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Matthew C. Rankin Jeb Bush all the way!!!
Saturday at 3:58pm · LikeUnlike
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Greg Guardiano Haven't we already had enough damage to the US from the Bushes?!?
Saturday at 4:34pm · UnlikeLike · 1 personLoading...
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Michael Swisher
Jeb Bush will never win an office, Daddy and W made sure to ruin that name. I truly don't see Obama getting another term, nor do I see the Change he promised in his campaigns. But like all other politicians, he never intended to keep those ...promises. Remember all of the CSPAN coverage we were supposed to get, HA HA!!!!! He has a snowballs chance in Hades of pulling off another term, but all you lefties want more change, well that is exactly what he intends to let you have out of your hard earned paycheck. But you will get to see it if he does get that second term, when more Americans than in the history of this country's existence end up on welfare and using food stamps.See More
Saturday at 4:42pm · LikeUnlike
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Matthew C. Rankin
The Lefts problem is only 20% of Americans consider themselves liberal and they are all on either coast. In the Midwest, here in Ohio, quite the movement heading right. Ohio Repubs won big in November and the state will do so in 2012. Every... woman I know is insulted the way the media is treating Palin whether you like her or not. Moderate women in the middle of the country will be the deciding votes and sorry....I expect Obama to be one term and the Senate to switch hands in 2012. The left has vastly under estimated the damage it did to itself by their socialist agenda.See More
Saturday at 7:09pm · LikeUnlike
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Michael Swisher Here Here, Well said Mathew!
Sunday at 8:25am · LikeUnlike
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Gillian Busard you know, I hear more about 'reducing Palin exposure' than I hear from Sarah Palin...weird?
Sunday at 11:40am · LikeUnlike
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Debbie Ilunga
Wow....to think I missed all this.... Gee there is so much to say on different issues that I hardly know where to start.
1. Obama= an amazing president..if you want to know why go to my blog Trueblueparty.blogspot.com, can't say enough great... things about him. Just glad we finally got someone who cares about the workers rights and benifits instead of the 1% wealthy. All you Obama grippers supported the regime that put your country into the problems that you grip about. What kind of logic would make you want to go back?
2. Sarah Palin = Someone I would not vote for to be president. Not because I do not like competition as I voted for Hillary. I love to see my own gender succeed and grow.Although I do respect anyone including Sarah, who stands up for what they believe, whether I agree or not, it takes some guts. An admirable quality. The reason I would not vote for her is because she does not support the issues that I support. When you talk about left wing media bashing on Sarah Palin, what do you think of the typical low blow, fact-less attacks by the right wing media on Obama that stirs hate? How about some of the factless low blows she dishes out toward our Prez. and other democratic party members that lead to a shooting. Not blaming her, but she did arouse anger toward innocent people, by statements that hold no weight.
3. Women = a conglomerate of things. Not one is the same. That is why it can be insulting to some women for someone to make a generalized statement that "women do not like competition and will not mentor other women."There are some that don't like competition, and fear being replaced, but then there are some who would give you the shirt off their back to help you succeed. There are men who fall into these same lines. Women and men represent so many wonderful things. Women give life..women are just amazing!See More
22 hours ago · LikeUnlike · 2 peopleMark Steven Szkoda and Greg Guardiano like this.
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Matthew C. Rankin
Don"t have too much time tonight, but the majority of the country disagrees via the recent elections. NO president can take any real blame or claim to the American economy as it is the PEOPLE of the country who make it or break it. Greed in... general by the masses lead us to where we are, no one held a gun to anyones head to sign a mortgage or make risky bets in the stock market. Obama is waaaaaay left, yet the waaaaay left brutalizes those who disagree with them, no love loss there. Trash talk on both sides is pathetic, but the lefties forget what they said about Bush? Give me a break Debbie! if ya can't take it, don't dish it out. I think in 2012 we shall see what these disgruntled moderate women think :)See More
22 hours ago · LikeUnlike
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Debbie Ilunga
4. Women's Lib= Women's liberation. Liberation = Freedom. I can only say thank you to the movement, the women's suffrage, as if not for them Sarah would never have become governor of Alaska, and I could not vote or own land. I am a daughte...r of liberty. Terri Bloch would be a great insight to Sarah, she lives in her hometown and was Governor of her state, we should ask Terri what she thinks. Women should stand behind those who stand behind them. Did you know that it took about 90 years for women to get the right to vote Susan B Anthony once said "It would be ridiculous to talk of male and female atmospheres, male and female springs or rains, male and female sunshine.... how much more ridiculous is it in relation to mind, to soul, to thought, where there is as undeniably no such thing as sex, to talk of male and female education and of male and female schools." I would hope all women would have a mind to be free, to ask for fairness, to be given the same opportunity, to be treated with respect, and given equality. To give "Men - their rights and nothing more; Women - their rights and nothing less." S.B. Anthony and she said "The fact is, women are in chains, and their servitude is all the more debasing because they do not realize it" Do I support women being liberated...YOU BET.See More
21 hours ago · LikeUnlike · 2 peopleMark Steven Szkoda and Greg Guardiano like this.
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Matthew C. Rankin Then why.................do women bash each other like they do with Palin? Ridiculous, high school theatrics that reek of vile stupidity.
21 hours ago · LikeUnlike
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Debbie Ilunga
Damage done by socialist agenda? What agenda did you call the bush years? I think people will rise up and vote who never did before to say thank you for not letting me and my family starve, Thanks for giving back some since I gave so much t...o my jobs for many years" the vote for the extension of unemployment" Right wing voted against this extension. If helping people through tough times is socialistic than Jesus must have been a socialist and asked us to be one too. All you anti social program people...just opt out...no social security, no right offs on taxes, no medical, no scholarships, NO No NO..that is what the Republican Party has been saying quite often..and yes, sometimes we should say no...but all the time? It gets old when you already know how they will vote, when it comes to helping the working class.See More
21 hours ago · LikeUnlike
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Debbie Ilunga Why do some men bash each other like they do Obama? Not all women do, just like not all men do.
21 hours ago · LikeUnlike · 1 personLoading...
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Debbie Ilunga Some people are still immature, but hopefully they will grow. I think if your into bashing you could easily bash a guy as well as a girl.
21 hours ago · LikeUnlike
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Matthew C. Rankin
It is a matter of the financial stability of this country. 78 million boomers will be on the docket over the next 15 years......we cannot afford the entitlements as there is no money left in them now. Families......need to take care of thei...r own when this is possible, just like they used too. You are not "entitled" to anything under the constitution but the "pursuit" of happiness. Side bar issue. We call the Bush years the free market years just like they were under Clintons second term..........only Bush had to clean up his lack of attention to foreign affairs that lead to 911.See More
21 hours ago · LikeUnlike
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Debbie Ilunga I have to run...but lets have a conversation about entitlements later. u have some points but need some clarification.I do have my thought s (of coarse)...talk at ya soon Matt..it's been fun playing! EEEk your kidding on the foreign affairs right? Will u explain to me why Bush was dining with Osama Bin Ladens father the Arabian oil tycoon when this happened? They had to be flown out of America immediately during a no fly zone..... BIG BUSINESS.
20 hours ago · LikeUnlike · 1 personLoading...
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Matthew C. Rankin Always fun Debbie!! Someone had to keep an eye on the rest of them! I have a HES ( home energy system ) that will put the oil producing nations back in the stone ages, lol. Hope to have our first in operation this summer!
20 hours ago · LikeUnlike
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Greg Guardiano Matt, you are a funny guy!!! "The majority of the country disagrees via the recent elections"? Hahaha!!! The senate only lost a few seats, the house barely turned over... All because people don't understand economic principles - jobs weren't coming back fast enough, yet jobs lag in a recovery.
16 hours ago · UnlikeLike · 1 personLoading...
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Greg Guardiano From the right I constantly hear things like "the left brutalizes those who disagree with them", yet I hear no sound, solid facts or evidence, only rhetoric and opinion. Greed was part of what nearly did us in. Bad policies also contributed. HUGE unfunded programs (thank you Bush), unfunded wars (thank you Bush), etc.
16 hours ago · UnlikeLike · 1 personLoading...
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Greg Guardiano Yea, we can criticize Bush for many reasons, all founded in FACTS.
16 hours ago · UnlikeLike · 1 personLoading...
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Greg Guardiano I don't see women bashing each other. I do see many bashing Sarah Palin. Not because she's a rotten person, but she is NOT presidential material!!! ANYONE that believes she is, ONLY wants to win at ANY cost - even to the detriment of the country. Or they think she is sexy - again, NOT a quality justifying presidential candidacy.
16 hours ago · UnlikeLike · 1 personLoading...
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Matthew C. Rankin
The Senate only had 1/3 of its members up for re-election. "To what you measure others will be measured unto you". Reap what you sow, what comes around goes around??? The insults Bush endured are far more than what Obama has gotten in retur...n....so far. Entitlements of the huge sort are all gifts from the left, those that are unsustainable like SS and Medicare, That's why Obamacare is simply a huge tax to cover it. Palin has more experience as an executive than Obama....still. He has done nothing in foreign policy and nothing to create favorable conditions for business. Now......he is running to the center not for the good of the country, but for his re-election. Both sides do this and that is why we are where we are. Selfish politicians that are only interested in their careers and the millions they will earn after leaving office. We'll see in 2012 who is Right :)See More
8 hours ago · LikeUnlike
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Greg Guardiano Bus DESERVED far more insults that Obama! To think otherwise is to ignore history, truth, facts. "SS and Medicare ARE entitlements for the very reason that PEOPLE PAID INTO THEM - they are not even remotely "gifts from the left".
5 hours ago · UnlikeLike · 1 personYou and Terri Farmer Block like this.
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Greg Guardiano "Obamacare" is not a "tax"; it is an improvement to the lives of most Americans, and time will prove it to be a lower cost alternative to what we currently have. I know you earlier claimed that Obamacare has increased the debt by $5 trillion (what a comedian you are!), but in all seriousness, just how much has the government actually spent so far on the new health care plan?
5 hours ago · UnlikeLike · 2 peopleLoading...
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Greg Guardiano (That was "Bush" that DESERVED far more insults.)
5 hours ago · UnlikeLike · 2 peopleYou and Terri Farmer Block like this.
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Matthew C. Rankin Really? And what percentage does the emplyer pay? Privatize it all and you'll get more and get more back. The gov is the most inefficient entity in the world.
5 hours ago · LikeUnlike
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Matthew C. Rankin I forgot, 911 should have been ignored. But don't cry to me when a nuke lands upon your city. National defense, what a waste of money pfffffffff
4 hours ago · LikeUnlike
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Terri Farmer Block
I would not vote for Sarah Palin as President because I do not believe she would represent Americas well. I felt she made a good mayor of my city, and started out being a good Govenor of my State..then quickly failed us. I Support women who... deserve to be supported...I would vote for Hillary Clinton if she ran for President.
President Obama is one of the best humanitarians of our time. Keeping and creating our safety nets (Medicare/Medicaid) are not hand outs...they are in place to help the vulnerable people of our society.
Some people do not have family to take care of them. Those that do, the family needs recourses to do so as caring for someone with medical issues for life is a huge cost and are not often covered by a family members insurance. Our safety nets were created because disabled people were abused and mistreated...often times killed for not being a productive member of society...so Matthew...I do not know why you want to go back to "how we used to" care for the vulnerable.
It has only been since the Kennedy family had a disabled sister born that laws have been inacted to protect the disabled from living in places not fit for a dog.
We need to concentrate on preventing FRAUD within the systems we have set up to keep people safe...not ELIMINATE the system.
We need to make a simpler way to help immigrants to become citizens...then they will have a way to pay taxes and all the drama with them will stop.
We need to stop paying insurance companies our premiums, they exist only to make a profit..not help the people they insure. We need to pool our money in a GOVERNMENT OPTION to ensure all Americans have access to affordable health care.
We need to ditch the IRS and all pay into the FAIR TAX.
I am not a "lefty" or a "righty"....stupid stupid stupid labels...I am for treating people decently and getting the nation out of debt. I will vote for the one who can help do that...no matter what race/gender/religion/party affiliation.See More
2 hours ago · UnlikeLike · 1 personLoading...
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Mark Steven Szkoda
Matt, you have an incredible need to lump people together. There has never been more opportunity for individualism than now , with the advent of the internet. Blogs,immediate response to any political decision,polling on any issue. People a...re more liberal on some issues than they ever have been eg. homosexuality,racism,gender equality.
People are also more sensitive to the problems facing the world,global warming (however it was/is caused)financial armegeddon,dwindling energy supplies etc.
In this current age of information enlightenment you feel that a woman President could never happen? Women have never been as powerful as they are now,they outnumber men,they have greater numbers graduating university than men. They are a force, such a force that it may be strange to see men holding any major political office withen twenty years.See More
2 hours ago · UnlikeLike · 2 peopleLoading...
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Mark Steven Szkoda Matt, America's healthcare system is flawed and leaves too many citizens without basic care. You do not have to go to a Canadian system or a French or British or Dutch or or or. But you have the opportunity to devolop a system that is uniquely American and that encompasses all its citizens. Maybe Obamacare is not the answer but the answer is what? There have been no proposals on how to improve the existing system from the right and they seem to be in no hurry to find any.
2 hours ago · UnlikeLike · 1 personLoading...
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Matthew C. Rankin Short on time tonight, but I will lay out a common sense health care plan, which includes "individual responsibility" and address some of the other things. We have energy out the ying yang and finding new sources every day. This Spring we will have a working prototype of a home energy system that will eliminate the need for crude oil.....even in your car.
about an hour ago · LikeUnlike
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Terri Farmer Block
Matthew, I look forward to reading your healthcare plan of personal accountability for people who can not walk, talk, toilet themselves, feed themselves, bathe themselves, brush their teeth, brush thier hair, turn over/adjust themselves. I ...know you said earlier...families should take care of them...what if they have no living family members? What is the plan if they outllive thier family? If they have family..how is the family to be compensated for caring for someone with the magtitude of those needs requiring 24/7 care? How is the family to pay for all the specialists (family doctors refuse to take on a patient with high needs), supplies and medications for the high need family member?
I am so very interested in what your plan is if you want to replace medicare/medicaid.
Thank YouSee More
about an hour ago · UnlikeLike · 2 peopleLoading...
Matthew C. Rankin
The typical low blow, factless attacks by the left on Sarah Palin have accomplished one thing. You won't see a woman President for at least 20 more years. Hmmmm, why are womwns libbers so hard on each other???
January 20 at 3:10pm via BlackBerry · LikeUnlike · Comment
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Linda Franklin likes this.
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Linda Franklin Hillary will most likely run.
January 20 at 3:13pm · LikeUnlike
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Ashley Ann Wheeler Because at the heart of it is not "woman" or "liberalism" or anything but unbridled hate and anger, that's why.
January 20 at 3:18pm · LikeUnlike · 2 peopleLoading...
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Matthew C. Rankin Nah, not after all this. The media has ruined the credibilty of all female candidates by their moronic accusatons. They have anadvertantly knocked the womens movement back decades. Yet, she still has more executive experience than Obama
January 20 at 3:20pm · LikeUnlike
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Matthew C. Rankin Yes, and senselessly too. Might just do in the libs. No excuse for their nasty attacks. No substance results in grade school behavior
January 20 at 3:30pm · LikeUnlike
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Pamela Hartman I have found in my years of business that women do not like competition and will not mentor other women to their position or higher. I am praying that the Lord will speak to all womens hearts on this issue. It is a self esteem issue. Without being comfortable in our skin we cannot reach out to help others.
January 21 at 6:37am · LikeUnlike
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Ashley Ann Wheeler You are right about that too, Pamela. I've never understood it.
January 21 at 7:26am · LikeUnlike
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Matthew C. Rankin Isn't that sad? Lifting one another up is far more rewarding than tearing people down. The womens lib movement has destroyed so much of the nurturing spirit in women these days......
January 21 at 8:53am · LikeUnlike
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Thomas Neiley Pam nails it to a T.A lot of it anyway.As a staunch conservative let me make this observation.People revile her not because she's a female conservative.They revile her because of her narcisistic behavior.She bails on her constituants up in Alaska so she can go promote...Sarah Palin,books ,reality show and all.Total fame whore.Who can take her seriously? I can't ,that's for sure.
January 21 at 9:46pm · LikeUnlike · 1 personLoading...
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Dorothy Hartman And that is what we are called to be helpers of others! without this mentoring and help ......the Kiingdom of Heaven...........♥
Saturday at 6:32am · LikeUnlike
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Matthew C. Rankin I'm no big fan of Palin myself, but, what the left wing media has been doing to her is destructive to all women. Keep pounding something in to peoples heads and sooner or later they equate all as one and the same. Dangerous game.
Saturday at 6:48am · LikeUnlike · 1 personLoading...
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Matthew C. Rankin Nothing really to do with that, but how she is demonized by the press and the far left..............the very ones who say they stand for equal rights
Saturday at 8:00am · LikeUnlike
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Greg Guardiano I think you're wrong, Matt. The credibility of a woman as a presidential candidate has only been diminished by Sarah Palin herself. She is NOT presidential material by a long shot. Everything Tom said above plus the fact that she just in'st very bright, tactful, or knowledgeable, is why no one should ever take her seriously.
Saturday at 2:30pm · UnlikeLike · 1 personLoading...
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Greg Guardiano There are many other women qualified to become president, whether conservative or otherwise. The only reason Sarah Palin got as far as she did is that republicans wanted to win at any cost and were willing to vote her in despite the inherent danger in doing so.
Saturday at 2:32pm · UnlikeLike · 1 personLoading...
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Greg Guardiano Personally, I hope she somehow does become the republican nominee - that could pave the way for Obama winning every single state.
Saturday at 2:33pm · UnlikeLike · 1 personLoading...
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Michael Swisher I think that there are reasons that Obama will quite possibly get another term, however it will primarily be if he gets amnesty for all of the illegal immigrants to be in the country, as this will be the first time they will be able to vote. Being grateful for all the money and rights he just gave them and all of the other parties with their hands out for a government check, he will then accomplish his second term. Shortly after that you can say goodbye to big business in the United States.
Saturday at 2:46pm · LikeUnlike
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Matthew C. Rankin Jeb Bush all the way!!!
Saturday at 3:58pm · LikeUnlike
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Greg Guardiano Haven't we already had enough damage to the US from the Bushes?!?
Saturday at 4:34pm · UnlikeLike · 1 personLoading...
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Michael Swisher
Jeb Bush will never win an office, Daddy and W made sure to ruin that name. I truly don't see Obama getting another term, nor do I see the Change he promised in his campaigns. But like all other politicians, he never intended to keep those ...promises. Remember all of the CSPAN coverage we were supposed to get, HA HA!!!!! He has a snowballs chance in Hades of pulling off another term, but all you lefties want more change, well that is exactly what he intends to let you have out of your hard earned paycheck. But you will get to see it if he does get that second term, when more Americans than in the history of this country's existence end up on welfare and using food stamps.See More
Saturday at 4:42pm · LikeUnlike
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Matthew C. Rankin
The Lefts problem is only 20% of Americans consider themselves liberal and they are all on either coast. In the Midwest, here in Ohio, quite the movement heading right. Ohio Repubs won big in November and the state will do so in 2012. Every... woman I know is insulted the way the media is treating Palin whether you like her or not. Moderate women in the middle of the country will be the deciding votes and sorry....I expect Obama to be one term and the Senate to switch hands in 2012. The left has vastly under estimated the damage it did to itself by their socialist agenda.See More
Saturday at 7:09pm · LikeUnlike
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Michael Swisher Here Here, Well said Mathew!
Sunday at 8:25am · LikeUnlike
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Gillian Busard you know, I hear more about 'reducing Palin exposure' than I hear from Sarah Palin...weird?
Sunday at 11:40am · LikeUnlike
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Debbie Ilunga
Wow....to think I missed all this.... Gee there is so much to say on different issues that I hardly know where to start.
1. Obama= an amazing president..if you want to know why go to my blog Trueblueparty.blogspot.com, can't say enough great... things about him. Just glad we finally got someone who cares about the workers rights and benifits instead of the 1% wealthy. All you Obama grippers supported the regime that put your country into the problems that you grip about. What kind of logic would make you want to go back?
2. Sarah Palin = Someone I would not vote for to be president. Not because I do not like competition as I voted for Hillary. I love to see my own gender succeed and grow.Although I do respect anyone including Sarah, who stands up for what they believe, whether I agree or not, it takes some guts. An admirable quality. The reason I would not vote for her is because she does not support the issues that I support. When you talk about left wing media bashing on Sarah Palin, what do you think of the typical low blow, fact-less attacks by the right wing media on Obama that stirs hate? How about some of the factless low blows she dishes out toward our Prez. and other democratic party members that lead to a shooting. Not blaming her, but she did arouse anger toward innocent people, by statements that hold no weight.
3. Women = a conglomerate of things. Not one is the same. That is why it can be insulting to some women for someone to make a generalized statement that "women do not like competition and will not mentor other women."There are some that don't like competition, and fear being replaced, but then there are some who would give you the shirt off their back to help you succeed. There are men who fall into these same lines. Women and men represent so many wonderful things. Women give life..women are just amazing!See More
22 hours ago · LikeUnlike · 2 peopleMark Steven Szkoda and Greg Guardiano like this.
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Matthew C. Rankin
Don"t have too much time tonight, but the majority of the country disagrees via the recent elections. NO president can take any real blame or claim to the American economy as it is the PEOPLE of the country who make it or break it. Greed in... general by the masses lead us to where we are, no one held a gun to anyones head to sign a mortgage or make risky bets in the stock market. Obama is waaaaaay left, yet the waaaaay left brutalizes those who disagree with them, no love loss there. Trash talk on both sides is pathetic, but the lefties forget what they said about Bush? Give me a break Debbie! if ya can't take it, don't dish it out. I think in 2012 we shall see what these disgruntled moderate women think :)See More
22 hours ago · LikeUnlike
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Debbie Ilunga
4. Women's Lib= Women's liberation. Liberation = Freedom. I can only say thank you to the movement, the women's suffrage, as if not for them Sarah would never have become governor of Alaska, and I could not vote or own land. I am a daughte...r of liberty. Terri Bloch would be a great insight to Sarah, she lives in her hometown and was Governor of her state, we should ask Terri what she thinks. Women should stand behind those who stand behind them. Did you know that it took about 90 years for women to get the right to vote Susan B Anthony once said "It would be ridiculous to talk of male and female atmospheres, male and female springs or rains, male and female sunshine.... how much more ridiculous is it in relation to mind, to soul, to thought, where there is as undeniably no such thing as sex, to talk of male and female education and of male and female schools." I would hope all women would have a mind to be free, to ask for fairness, to be given the same opportunity, to be treated with respect, and given equality. To give "Men - their rights and nothing more; Women - their rights and nothing less." S.B. Anthony and she said "The fact is, women are in chains, and their servitude is all the more debasing because they do not realize it" Do I support women being liberated...YOU BET.See More
21 hours ago · LikeUnlike · 2 peopleMark Steven Szkoda and Greg Guardiano like this.
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Matthew C. Rankin Then why.................do women bash each other like they do with Palin? Ridiculous, high school theatrics that reek of vile stupidity.
21 hours ago · LikeUnlike
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Debbie Ilunga
Damage done by socialist agenda? What agenda did you call the bush years? I think people will rise up and vote who never did before to say thank you for not letting me and my family starve, Thanks for giving back some since I gave so much t...o my jobs for many years" the vote for the extension of unemployment" Right wing voted against this extension. If helping people through tough times is socialistic than Jesus must have been a socialist and asked us to be one too. All you anti social program people...just opt out...no social security, no right offs on taxes, no medical, no scholarships, NO No NO..that is what the Republican Party has been saying quite often..and yes, sometimes we should say no...but all the time? It gets old when you already know how they will vote, when it comes to helping the working class.See More
21 hours ago · LikeUnlike
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Debbie Ilunga Why do some men bash each other like they do Obama? Not all women do, just like not all men do.
21 hours ago · LikeUnlike · 1 personLoading...
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Debbie Ilunga Some people are still immature, but hopefully they will grow. I think if your into bashing you could easily bash a guy as well as a girl.
21 hours ago · LikeUnlike
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Matthew C. Rankin
It is a matter of the financial stability of this country. 78 million boomers will be on the docket over the next 15 years......we cannot afford the entitlements as there is no money left in them now. Families......need to take care of thei...r own when this is possible, just like they used too. You are not "entitled" to anything under the constitution but the "pursuit" of happiness. Side bar issue. We call the Bush years the free market years just like they were under Clintons second term..........only Bush had to clean up his lack of attention to foreign affairs that lead to 911.See More
21 hours ago · LikeUnlike
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Debbie Ilunga I have to run...but lets have a conversation about entitlements later. u have some points but need some clarification.I do have my thought s (of coarse)...talk at ya soon Matt..it's been fun playing! EEEk your kidding on the foreign affairs right? Will u explain to me why Bush was dining with Osama Bin Ladens father the Arabian oil tycoon when this happened? They had to be flown out of America immediately during a no fly zone..... BIG BUSINESS.
20 hours ago · LikeUnlike · 1 personLoading...
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Matthew C. Rankin Always fun Debbie!! Someone had to keep an eye on the rest of them! I have a HES ( home energy system ) that will put the oil producing nations back in the stone ages, lol. Hope to have our first in operation this summer!
20 hours ago · LikeUnlike
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Greg Guardiano Matt, you are a funny guy!!! "The majority of the country disagrees via the recent elections"? Hahaha!!! The senate only lost a few seats, the house barely turned over... All because people don't understand economic principles - jobs weren't coming back fast enough, yet jobs lag in a recovery.
16 hours ago · UnlikeLike · 1 personLoading...
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Greg Guardiano From the right I constantly hear things like "the left brutalizes those who disagree with them", yet I hear no sound, solid facts or evidence, only rhetoric and opinion. Greed was part of what nearly did us in. Bad policies also contributed. HUGE unfunded programs (thank you Bush), unfunded wars (thank you Bush), etc.
16 hours ago · UnlikeLike · 1 personLoading...
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Greg Guardiano Yea, we can criticize Bush for many reasons, all founded in FACTS.
16 hours ago · UnlikeLike · 1 personLoading...
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Greg Guardiano I don't see women bashing each other. I do see many bashing Sarah Palin. Not because she's a rotten person, but she is NOT presidential material!!! ANYONE that believes she is, ONLY wants to win at ANY cost - even to the detriment of the country. Or they think she is sexy - again, NOT a quality justifying presidential candidacy.
16 hours ago · UnlikeLike · 1 personLoading...
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Matthew C. Rankin
The Senate only had 1/3 of its members up for re-election. "To what you measure others will be measured unto you". Reap what you sow, what comes around goes around??? The insults Bush endured are far more than what Obama has gotten in retur...n....so far. Entitlements of the huge sort are all gifts from the left, those that are unsustainable like SS and Medicare, That's why Obamacare is simply a huge tax to cover it. Palin has more experience as an executive than Obama....still. He has done nothing in foreign policy and nothing to create favorable conditions for business. Now......he is running to the center not for the good of the country, but for his re-election. Both sides do this and that is why we are where we are. Selfish politicians that are only interested in their careers and the millions they will earn after leaving office. We'll see in 2012 who is Right :)See More
8 hours ago · LikeUnlike
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Greg Guardiano Bus DESERVED far more insults that Obama! To think otherwise is to ignore history, truth, facts. "SS and Medicare ARE entitlements for the very reason that PEOPLE PAID INTO THEM - they are not even remotely "gifts from the left".
5 hours ago · UnlikeLike · 1 personYou and Terri Farmer Block like this.
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Greg Guardiano "Obamacare" is not a "tax"; it is an improvement to the lives of most Americans, and time will prove it to be a lower cost alternative to what we currently have. I know you earlier claimed that Obamacare has increased the debt by $5 trillion (what a comedian you are!), but in all seriousness, just how much has the government actually spent so far on the new health care plan?
5 hours ago · UnlikeLike · 2 peopleLoading...
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Greg Guardiano (That was "Bush" that DESERVED far more insults.)
5 hours ago · UnlikeLike · 2 peopleYou and Terri Farmer Block like this.
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Matthew C. Rankin Really? And what percentage does the emplyer pay? Privatize it all and you'll get more and get more back. The gov is the most inefficient entity in the world.
5 hours ago · LikeUnlike
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Matthew C. Rankin I forgot, 911 should have been ignored. But don't cry to me when a nuke lands upon your city. National defense, what a waste of money pfffffffff
4 hours ago · LikeUnlike
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Terri Farmer Block
I would not vote for Sarah Palin as President because I do not believe she would represent Americas well. I felt she made a good mayor of my city, and started out being a good Govenor of my State..then quickly failed us. I Support women who... deserve to be supported...I would vote for Hillary Clinton if she ran for President.
President Obama is one of the best humanitarians of our time. Keeping and creating our safety nets (Medicare/Medicaid) are not hand outs...they are in place to help the vulnerable people of our society.
Some people do not have family to take care of them. Those that do, the family needs recourses to do so as caring for someone with medical issues for life is a huge cost and are not often covered by a family members insurance. Our safety nets were created because disabled people were abused and mistreated...often times killed for not being a productive member of society...so Matthew...I do not know why you want to go back to "how we used to" care for the vulnerable.
It has only been since the Kennedy family had a disabled sister born that laws have been inacted to protect the disabled from living in places not fit for a dog.
We need to concentrate on preventing FRAUD within the systems we have set up to keep people safe...not ELIMINATE the system.
We need to make a simpler way to help immigrants to become citizens...then they will have a way to pay taxes and all the drama with them will stop.
We need to stop paying insurance companies our premiums, they exist only to make a profit..not help the people they insure. We need to pool our money in a GOVERNMENT OPTION to ensure all Americans have access to affordable health care.
We need to ditch the IRS and all pay into the FAIR TAX.
I am not a "lefty" or a "righty"....stupid stupid stupid labels...I am for treating people decently and getting the nation out of debt. I will vote for the one who can help do that...no matter what race/gender/religion/party affiliation.See More
2 hours ago · UnlikeLike · 1 personLoading...
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Mark Steven Szkoda
Matt, you have an incredible need to lump people together. There has never been more opportunity for individualism than now , with the advent of the internet. Blogs,immediate response to any political decision,polling on any issue. People a...re more liberal on some issues than they ever have been eg. homosexuality,racism,gender equality.
People are also more sensitive to the problems facing the world,global warming (however it was/is caused)financial armegeddon,dwindling energy supplies etc.
In this current age of information enlightenment you feel that a woman President could never happen? Women have never been as powerful as they are now,they outnumber men,they have greater numbers graduating university than men. They are a force, such a force that it may be strange to see men holding any major political office withen twenty years.See More
2 hours ago · UnlikeLike · 2 peopleLoading...
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Mark Steven Szkoda Matt, America's healthcare system is flawed and leaves too many citizens without basic care. You do not have to go to a Canadian system or a French or British or Dutch or or or. But you have the opportunity to devolop a system that is uniquely American and that encompasses all its citizens. Maybe Obamacare is not the answer but the answer is what? There have been no proposals on how to improve the existing system from the right and they seem to be in no hurry to find any.
2 hours ago · UnlikeLike · 1 personLoading...
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Matthew C. Rankin Short on time tonight, but I will lay out a common sense health care plan, which includes "individual responsibility" and address some of the other things. We have energy out the ying yang and finding new sources every day. This Spring we will have a working prototype of a home energy system that will eliminate the need for crude oil.....even in your car.
about an hour ago · LikeUnlike
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Terri Farmer Block
Matthew, I look forward to reading your healthcare plan of personal accountability for people who can not walk, talk, toilet themselves, feed themselves, bathe themselves, brush their teeth, brush thier hair, turn over/adjust themselves. I ...know you said earlier...families should take care of them...what if they have no living family members? What is the plan if they outllive thier family? If they have family..how is the family to be compensated for caring for someone with the magtitude of those needs requiring 24/7 care? How is the family to pay for all the specialists (family doctors refuse to take on a patient with high needs), supplies and medications for the high need family member?
I am so very interested in what your plan is if you want to replace medicare/medicaid.
Thank YouSee More
about an hour ago · UnlikeLike · 2 peopleLoading...
Friday, January 14, 2011
TEA PARTY WANTS CENSORSHIP IN HISTORY
TEA PARTY WANTS CENSORSHIP IN HISTORY Funny that I would come across this post, as we were just talking about Censorship. This kind of mentality appears to be against progress. Some quotes that express what I feel about this kind of censorship.
"I am opposed to any form of tyranny over the mind of man."
-- Thomas Jefferson
"You have not converted a man because you have silenced him."
--John Morley
"...this is precisely the purpose of censorship- not only to block unwanted views, but to keep people who are unhappy from knowing how many millions of others share their unhappiness; to keep the dormant opposition from awakening to its own developing strength."
- Hedrick Smith
"Freedom of the Press, if it means anything at all, means the freedom to criticize and oppose."
-- George Orwell
"Censorship reflects society's lack of confidence in itself. It is a hallmark of an authoritarian regime."
-- Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart
"As long as I don't write about the government, religion, politics, and other institutions, I am free to print anything."
-- Pierre-Augustin Beaumarchais (French comedy writer)
"A censor is a man who knows more than he thinks you ought to."
-- Granville Hicks
"This is slavery, not to speak one's thought."
--Euripedes [Greek tragic poet]
And this is my answer to members in the tea party group whom think censorship is appropriate.
""For whatever deserves to exist also deserves to be known, for knowledge is the image of existence; and things mean and splendid exist alike."
--Francis Bacon
"The ultimate form of censorship is assassination."
--George Bernard Shaw
I shall oppose this type of silencing, as it does not promote truth! You can never really control one's mind unless they let you.
"I am opposed to any form of tyranny over the mind of man."
-- Thomas Jefferson
"You have not converted a man because you have silenced him."
--John Morley
"...this is precisely the purpose of censorship- not only to block unwanted views, but to keep people who are unhappy from knowing how many millions of others share their unhappiness; to keep the dormant opposition from awakening to its own developing strength."
- Hedrick Smith
"Freedom of the Press, if it means anything at all, means the freedom to criticize and oppose."
-- George Orwell
"Censorship reflects society's lack of confidence in itself. It is a hallmark of an authoritarian regime."
-- Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart
"As long as I don't write about the government, religion, politics, and other institutions, I am free to print anything."
-- Pierre-Augustin Beaumarchais (French comedy writer)
"A censor is a man who knows more than he thinks you ought to."
-- Granville Hicks
"This is slavery, not to speak one's thought."
--Euripedes [Greek tragic poet]
And this is my answer to members in the tea party group whom think censorship is appropriate.
""For whatever deserves to exist also deserves to be known, for knowledge is the image of existence; and things mean and splendid exist alike."
--Francis Bacon
"The ultimate form of censorship is assassination."
--George Bernard Shaw
I shall oppose this type of silencing, as it does not promote truth! You can never really control one's mind unless they let you.
Thursday, January 13, 2011
President Obama's Tucson Memorial Speech
President Obama's Tucson Memorial Speech
"To the families of those we've lost; to all who called them friends; to the students of this university, the public servants gathered tonight, and the people of Tucson and Arizona: I have come here tonight as an American who, like all Americans, kneels to pray with you today, and will stand by you tomorrow.
There is nothing I can say that will fill the sudden hole torn in your hearts. But know this: the hopes of a nation are here tonight. We mourn with you for the fallen. We join you in your grief. And we add our faith to yours that Representative Gabrielle Giffords and the other living victims of this tragedy pull through.
As Scripture tells us:
There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
the holy place where the Most High dwells.
God is within her, she will not fall;
God will help her at break of day.
On Saturday morning, Gabby, her staff, and many of her constituents gathered outside a supermarket to exercise their right to peaceful assembly and free speech. They were fulfilling a central tenet of the democracy envisioned by our founders - representatives of the people answering to their constituents, so as to carry their concerns to our nation's capital. Gabby called it "Congress on Your Corner" - just an updated version of government of and by and for the people.
That is the quintessentially American scene that was shattered by a gunman's bullets. And the six people who lost their lives on Saturday - they too represented what is best in America.
Judge John Roll served our legal system for nearly 40 years. A graduate of this university and its law school, Judge Roll was recommended for the federal bench by John McCain twenty years ago, appointed by President George H.W. Bush, and rose to become Arizona's chief federal judge. His colleagues described him as the hardest-working judge within the Ninth Circuit. He was on his way back from attending Mass, as he did every day, when he decided to stop by and say hi to his Representative. John is survived by his loving wife, Maureen, his three sons, and his five grandchildren.
George and Dorothy Morris - "Dot" to her friends - were high school sweethearts who got married and had two daughters. They did everything together, traveling the open road in their RV, enjoying what their friends called a 50-year honeymoon. Saturday morning, they went by the Safeway to hear what their Congresswoman had to say. When gunfire rang out, George, a former Marine, instinctively tried to shield his wife. Both were shot. Dot passed away.
A New Jersey native, Phyllis Schneck retired to Tucson to beat the snow. But in the summer, she would return East, where her world revolved around her 3 children, 7 grandchildren, and 2 year-old great-granddaughter. A gifted quilter, she'd often work under her favorite tree, or sometimes sew aprons with the logos of the Jets and the Giants to give out at the church where she volunteered. A Republican, she took a liking to Gabby, and wanted to get to know her better.
Dorwan and Mavy Stoddard grew up in Tucson together - about seventy years ago. They moved apart and started their own respective families, but after both were widowed they found their way back here, to, as one of Mavy's daughters put it, "be boyfriend and girlfriend again." When they weren't out on the road in their motor home, you could find them just up the road, helping folks in need at the Mountain Avenue Church of Christ. A retired construction worker, Dorwan spent his spare time fixing up the church along with their dog, Tux. His final act of selflessness was to dive on top of his wife, sacrificing his life for hers.
Everything Gabe Zimmerman did, he did with passion - but his true passion was people. As Gabby's outreach director, he made the cares of thousands of her constituents his own, seeing to it that seniors got the Medicare benefits they had earned, that veterans got the medals and care they deserved, that government was working for ordinary folks. He died doing what he loved - talking with people and seeing how he could help. Gabe is survived by his parents, Ross and Emily, his brother, Ben, and his fianc??©e, Kelly, who he planned to marry next year.
And then there is nine year-old Christina Taylor Green. Christina was an A student, a dancer, a gymnast, and a swimmer. She often proclaimed that she wanted to be the first woman to play in the major leagues, and as the only girl on her Little League team, no one put it past her. She showed an appreciation for life uncommon for a girl her age, and would remind her mother, "We are so blessed. We have the best life." And she'd pay those blessings back by participating in a charity that helped children who were less fortunate.
Our hearts are broken by their sudden passing. Our hearts are broken - and yet, our hearts also have reason for fullness.
Our hearts are full of hope and thanks for the 13 Americans who survived the shooting, including the congresswoman many of them went to see on Saturday. I have just come from the University Medical Center, just a mile from here, where our friend Gabby courageously fights to recover even as we speak. And I can tell you this - she knows we're here and she knows we love her and she knows that we will be rooting for her throughout what will be a difficult journey.
And our hearts are full of gratitude for those who saved others. We are grateful for Daniel Hernandez, a volunteer in Gabby's office who ran through the chaos to minister to his boss, tending to her wounds to keep her alive. We are grateful for the men who tackled the gunman as he stopped to reload. We are grateful for a petite 61 year-old, Patricia Maisch, who wrestled away the killer's ammunition, undoubtedly saving some lives. And we are grateful for the doctors and nurses and emergency medics who worked wonders to heal those who'd been hurt.
These men and women remind us that heroism is found not only on the fields of battle. They remind us that heroism does not require special training or physical strength. Heroism is here, all around us, in the hearts of so many of our fellow citizens, just waiting to be summoned - as it was on Saturday morning.
Their actions, their selflessness, also pose a challenge to each of us. It raises the question of what, beyond the prayers and expressions of concern, is required of us going forward. How can we honor the fallen? How can we be true to their memory?
You see, when a tragedy like this strikes, it is part of our nature to demand explanations - to try to impose some order on the chaos, and make sense out of that which seems senseless. Already we've seen a national conversation commence, not only about the motivations behind these killings, but about everything from the merits of gun safety laws to the adequacy of our mental health systems. Much of this process, of debating what might be done to prevent such tragedies in the future, is an essential ingredient in our exercise of self-government.
But at a time when our discourse has become so sharply polarized - at a time when we are far too eager to lay the blame for all that ails the world at the feet of those who think differently than we do - it's important for us to pause for a moment and make sure that we are talking with each other in a way that heals, not a way that wounds.
Scripture tells us that there is evil in the world, and that terrible things happen for reasons that defy human understanding. In the words of Job, "when I looked for light, then came darkness." Bad things happen, and we must guard against simple explanations in the aftermath.
For the truth is that none of us can know exactly what triggered this vicious attack. None of us can know with any certainty what might have stopped those shots from being fired, or what thoughts lurked in the inner recesses of a violent man's mind.
So yes, we must examine all the facts behind this tragedy. We cannot and will not be passive in the face of such violence. We should be willing to challenge old assumptions in order to lessen the prospects of violence in the future.
But what we can't do is use this tragedy as one more occasion to turn on one another. As we discuss these issues, let each of us do so with a good dose of humility. Rather than pointing fingers or assigning blame, let us use this occasion to expand our moral imaginations, to listen to each other more carefully, to sharpen our instincts for empathy, and remind ourselves of all the ways our hopes and dreams are bound together.
After all, that's what most of us do when we lose someone in our family - especially if the loss is unexpected. We're shaken from our routines, and forced to look inward. We reflect on the past. Did we spend enough time with an aging parent, we wonder. Did we express our gratitude for all the sacrifices they made for us? Did we tell a spouse just how desperately we loved them, not just once in awhile but every single day?
So sudden loss causes us to look backward - but it also forces us to look forward, to reflect on the present and the future, on the manner in which we live our lives and nurture our relationships with those who are still with us. We may ask ourselves if we've shown enough kindness and generosity and compassion to the people in our lives. Perhaps we question whether we are doing right by our children, or our community, and whether our priorities are in order. We recognize our own mortality, and are reminded that in the fleeting time we have on this earth, what matters is not wealth, or status, or power, or fame - but rather, how well we have loved, and what small part we have played in bettering the lives of others.
That process of reflection, of making sure we align our values with our actions - that, I believe, is what a tragedy like this requires. For those who were harmed, those who were killed - they are part of our family, an American family 300 million strong. We may not have known them personally, but we surely see ourselves in them. In George and Dot, in Dorwan and Mavy, we sense the abiding love we have for our own husbands, our own wives, our own life partners. Phyllis - she's our mom or grandma; Gabe our brother or son. In Judge Roll, we recognize not only a man who prized his family and doing his job well, but also a man who embodied America's fidelity to the law. In Gabby, we see a reflection of our public spiritedness, that desire to participate in that sometimes frustrating, sometimes contentious, but always necessary and never-ending process to form a more perfect union.
And in Christina...in Christina we see all of our children. So curious, so trusting, so energetic and full of magic.
So deserving of our love.
And so deserving of our good example. If this tragedy prompts reflection and debate, as it should, let's make sure it's worthy of those we have lost. Let's make sure it's not on the usual plane of politics and point scoring and pettiness that drifts away with the next news cycle.
The loss of these wonderful people should make every one of us strive to be better in our private lives - to be better friends and neighbors, co-workers and parents. And if, as has been discussed in recent days, their deaths help usher in more civility in our public discourse, let's remember that it is not because a simple lack of civility caused this tragedy, but rather because only a more civil and honest public discourse can help us face up to our challenges as a nation, in a way that would make them proud. It should be because we want to live up to the example of public servants like John Roll and Gabby Giffords, who knew first and foremost that we are all Americans, and that we can question each other's ideas without questioning each other's love of country, and that our task, working together, is to constantly widen the circle of our concern so that we bequeath the American dream to future generations.
I believe we can be better. Those who died here, those who saved lives here - they help me believe. We may not be able to stop all evil in the world, but I know that how we treat one another is entirely up to us. I believe that for all our imperfections, we are full of decency and goodness, and that the forces that divide us are not as strong as those that unite us.
That's what I believe, in part because that's what a child like Christina Taylor Green believed. Imagine: here was a young girl who was just becoming aware of our democracy; just beginning to understand the obligations of citizenship; just starting to glimpse the fact that someday she too might play a part in shaping her nation's future. She had been elected to her student council; she saw public service as something exciting, something hopeful. She was off to meet her congresswoman, someone she was sure was good and important and might be a role model. She saw all this through the eyes of a child, undimmed by the cynicism or vitriol that we adults all too often just take for granted.
I want us to live up to her expectations. I want our democracy to be as good as she imagined it. All of us - we should do everything we can to make sure this country lives up to our children's expectations.
Christina was given to us on September 11th, 2001, one of 50 babies born that day to be pictured in a book called "Faces of Hope." On either side of her photo in that book were simple wishes for a child's life. "I hope you help those in need," read one. "I hope you know all of the words to the National Anthem and sing it with your hand over your heart. I hope you jump in rain puddles."
If there are rain puddles in heaven, Christina is jumping in them today. And here on Earth, we place our hands over our hearts, and commit ourselves as Americans to forging a country that is forever worthy of her gentle, happy spirit.
May God bless and keep those we've lost in restful and eternal peace. May He love and watch over the survivors. And may He bless the United States of America."
"To the families of those we've lost; to all who called them friends; to the students of this university, the public servants gathered tonight, and the people of Tucson and Arizona: I have come here tonight as an American who, like all Americans, kneels to pray with you today, and will stand by you tomorrow.
There is nothing I can say that will fill the sudden hole torn in your hearts. But know this: the hopes of a nation are here tonight. We mourn with you for the fallen. We join you in your grief. And we add our faith to yours that Representative Gabrielle Giffords and the other living victims of this tragedy pull through.
As Scripture tells us:
There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
the holy place where the Most High dwells.
God is within her, she will not fall;
God will help her at break of day.
On Saturday morning, Gabby, her staff, and many of her constituents gathered outside a supermarket to exercise their right to peaceful assembly and free speech. They were fulfilling a central tenet of the democracy envisioned by our founders - representatives of the people answering to their constituents, so as to carry their concerns to our nation's capital. Gabby called it "Congress on Your Corner" - just an updated version of government of and by and for the people.
That is the quintessentially American scene that was shattered by a gunman's bullets. And the six people who lost their lives on Saturday - they too represented what is best in America.
Judge John Roll served our legal system for nearly 40 years. A graduate of this university and its law school, Judge Roll was recommended for the federal bench by John McCain twenty years ago, appointed by President George H.W. Bush, and rose to become Arizona's chief federal judge. His colleagues described him as the hardest-working judge within the Ninth Circuit. He was on his way back from attending Mass, as he did every day, when he decided to stop by and say hi to his Representative. John is survived by his loving wife, Maureen, his three sons, and his five grandchildren.
George and Dorothy Morris - "Dot" to her friends - were high school sweethearts who got married and had two daughters. They did everything together, traveling the open road in their RV, enjoying what their friends called a 50-year honeymoon. Saturday morning, they went by the Safeway to hear what their Congresswoman had to say. When gunfire rang out, George, a former Marine, instinctively tried to shield his wife. Both were shot. Dot passed away.
A New Jersey native, Phyllis Schneck retired to Tucson to beat the snow. But in the summer, she would return East, where her world revolved around her 3 children, 7 grandchildren, and 2 year-old great-granddaughter. A gifted quilter, she'd often work under her favorite tree, or sometimes sew aprons with the logos of the Jets and the Giants to give out at the church where she volunteered. A Republican, she took a liking to Gabby, and wanted to get to know her better.
Dorwan and Mavy Stoddard grew up in Tucson together - about seventy years ago. They moved apart and started their own respective families, but after both were widowed they found their way back here, to, as one of Mavy's daughters put it, "be boyfriend and girlfriend again." When they weren't out on the road in their motor home, you could find them just up the road, helping folks in need at the Mountain Avenue Church of Christ. A retired construction worker, Dorwan spent his spare time fixing up the church along with their dog, Tux. His final act of selflessness was to dive on top of his wife, sacrificing his life for hers.
Everything Gabe Zimmerman did, he did with passion - but his true passion was people. As Gabby's outreach director, he made the cares of thousands of her constituents his own, seeing to it that seniors got the Medicare benefits they had earned, that veterans got the medals and care they deserved, that government was working for ordinary folks. He died doing what he loved - talking with people and seeing how he could help. Gabe is survived by his parents, Ross and Emily, his brother, Ben, and his fianc??©e, Kelly, who he planned to marry next year.
And then there is nine year-old Christina Taylor Green. Christina was an A student, a dancer, a gymnast, and a swimmer. She often proclaimed that she wanted to be the first woman to play in the major leagues, and as the only girl on her Little League team, no one put it past her. She showed an appreciation for life uncommon for a girl her age, and would remind her mother, "We are so blessed. We have the best life." And she'd pay those blessings back by participating in a charity that helped children who were less fortunate.
Our hearts are broken by their sudden passing. Our hearts are broken - and yet, our hearts also have reason for fullness.
Our hearts are full of hope and thanks for the 13 Americans who survived the shooting, including the congresswoman many of them went to see on Saturday. I have just come from the University Medical Center, just a mile from here, where our friend Gabby courageously fights to recover even as we speak. And I can tell you this - she knows we're here and she knows we love her and she knows that we will be rooting for her throughout what will be a difficult journey.
And our hearts are full of gratitude for those who saved others. We are grateful for Daniel Hernandez, a volunteer in Gabby's office who ran through the chaos to minister to his boss, tending to her wounds to keep her alive. We are grateful for the men who tackled the gunman as he stopped to reload. We are grateful for a petite 61 year-old, Patricia Maisch, who wrestled away the killer's ammunition, undoubtedly saving some lives. And we are grateful for the doctors and nurses and emergency medics who worked wonders to heal those who'd been hurt.
These men and women remind us that heroism is found not only on the fields of battle. They remind us that heroism does not require special training or physical strength. Heroism is here, all around us, in the hearts of so many of our fellow citizens, just waiting to be summoned - as it was on Saturday morning.
Their actions, their selflessness, also pose a challenge to each of us. It raises the question of what, beyond the prayers and expressions of concern, is required of us going forward. How can we honor the fallen? How can we be true to their memory?
You see, when a tragedy like this strikes, it is part of our nature to demand explanations - to try to impose some order on the chaos, and make sense out of that which seems senseless. Already we've seen a national conversation commence, not only about the motivations behind these killings, but about everything from the merits of gun safety laws to the adequacy of our mental health systems. Much of this process, of debating what might be done to prevent such tragedies in the future, is an essential ingredient in our exercise of self-government.
But at a time when our discourse has become so sharply polarized - at a time when we are far too eager to lay the blame for all that ails the world at the feet of those who think differently than we do - it's important for us to pause for a moment and make sure that we are talking with each other in a way that heals, not a way that wounds.
Scripture tells us that there is evil in the world, and that terrible things happen for reasons that defy human understanding. In the words of Job, "when I looked for light, then came darkness." Bad things happen, and we must guard against simple explanations in the aftermath.
For the truth is that none of us can know exactly what triggered this vicious attack. None of us can know with any certainty what might have stopped those shots from being fired, or what thoughts lurked in the inner recesses of a violent man's mind.
So yes, we must examine all the facts behind this tragedy. We cannot and will not be passive in the face of such violence. We should be willing to challenge old assumptions in order to lessen the prospects of violence in the future.
But what we can't do is use this tragedy as one more occasion to turn on one another. As we discuss these issues, let each of us do so with a good dose of humility. Rather than pointing fingers or assigning blame, let us use this occasion to expand our moral imaginations, to listen to each other more carefully, to sharpen our instincts for empathy, and remind ourselves of all the ways our hopes and dreams are bound together.
After all, that's what most of us do when we lose someone in our family - especially if the loss is unexpected. We're shaken from our routines, and forced to look inward. We reflect on the past. Did we spend enough time with an aging parent, we wonder. Did we express our gratitude for all the sacrifices they made for us? Did we tell a spouse just how desperately we loved them, not just once in awhile but every single day?
So sudden loss causes us to look backward - but it also forces us to look forward, to reflect on the present and the future, on the manner in which we live our lives and nurture our relationships with those who are still with us. We may ask ourselves if we've shown enough kindness and generosity and compassion to the people in our lives. Perhaps we question whether we are doing right by our children, or our community, and whether our priorities are in order. We recognize our own mortality, and are reminded that in the fleeting time we have on this earth, what matters is not wealth, or status, or power, or fame - but rather, how well we have loved, and what small part we have played in bettering the lives of others.
That process of reflection, of making sure we align our values with our actions - that, I believe, is what a tragedy like this requires. For those who were harmed, those who were killed - they are part of our family, an American family 300 million strong. We may not have known them personally, but we surely see ourselves in them. In George and Dot, in Dorwan and Mavy, we sense the abiding love we have for our own husbands, our own wives, our own life partners. Phyllis - she's our mom or grandma; Gabe our brother or son. In Judge Roll, we recognize not only a man who prized his family and doing his job well, but also a man who embodied America's fidelity to the law. In Gabby, we see a reflection of our public spiritedness, that desire to participate in that sometimes frustrating, sometimes contentious, but always necessary and never-ending process to form a more perfect union.
And in Christina...in Christina we see all of our children. So curious, so trusting, so energetic and full of magic.
So deserving of our love.
And so deserving of our good example. If this tragedy prompts reflection and debate, as it should, let's make sure it's worthy of those we have lost. Let's make sure it's not on the usual plane of politics and point scoring and pettiness that drifts away with the next news cycle.
The loss of these wonderful people should make every one of us strive to be better in our private lives - to be better friends and neighbors, co-workers and parents. And if, as has been discussed in recent days, their deaths help usher in more civility in our public discourse, let's remember that it is not because a simple lack of civility caused this tragedy, but rather because only a more civil and honest public discourse can help us face up to our challenges as a nation, in a way that would make them proud. It should be because we want to live up to the example of public servants like John Roll and Gabby Giffords, who knew first and foremost that we are all Americans, and that we can question each other's ideas without questioning each other's love of country, and that our task, working together, is to constantly widen the circle of our concern so that we bequeath the American dream to future generations.
I believe we can be better. Those who died here, those who saved lives here - they help me believe. We may not be able to stop all evil in the world, but I know that how we treat one another is entirely up to us. I believe that for all our imperfections, we are full of decency and goodness, and that the forces that divide us are not as strong as those that unite us.
That's what I believe, in part because that's what a child like Christina Taylor Green believed. Imagine: here was a young girl who was just becoming aware of our democracy; just beginning to understand the obligations of citizenship; just starting to glimpse the fact that someday she too might play a part in shaping her nation's future. She had been elected to her student council; she saw public service as something exciting, something hopeful. She was off to meet her congresswoman, someone she was sure was good and important and might be a role model. She saw all this through the eyes of a child, undimmed by the cynicism or vitriol that we adults all too often just take for granted.
I want us to live up to her expectations. I want our democracy to be as good as she imagined it. All of us - we should do everything we can to make sure this country lives up to our children's expectations.
Christina was given to us on September 11th, 2001, one of 50 babies born that day to be pictured in a book called "Faces of Hope." On either side of her photo in that book were simple wishes for a child's life. "I hope you help those in need," read one. "I hope you know all of the words to the National Anthem and sing it with your hand over your heart. I hope you jump in rain puddles."
If there are rain puddles in heaven, Christina is jumping in them today. And here on Earth, we place our hands over our hearts, and commit ourselves as Americans to forging a country that is forever worthy of her gentle, happy spirit.
May God bless and keep those we've lost in restful and eternal peace. May He love and watch over the survivors. And may He bless the United States of America."
Sunday, January 9, 2011
HOW FAR INTO THE RABBIT HOLE DO YOU WANT TO GO? Coalition to stop gun violence!
Coalition to stop gun violence! I saw stats that I was not aware of and very disturbing. Please be a part of stopping gun violence! Sometimes ignorance is bliss! Was I ready to take the pill that would let me see how far into the rabbit hole I could go. The more I know the more I feel how many of us need to wake up! I think of the Matrix. Maybe I should have taken the blue pill
The Matrix
written by Andy Wachowski & Larry Wachowski
Morpheus: I imagine that right now you're feeling a bit like Alice. Tumbling down the rabbit hole?
Neo: You could say that.
Morpheus: I can see it in your eyes. You have the look of a man who accepts what he sees because he's expecting to wake up. Ironically, this is not far from the truth. Do you believe in fate, Neo?
Neo: No.
Morpheus: Why not?
Neo: 'Cause I don't like the idea that I'm not in control of my life.
Morpheus: I know exactly what you mean. Let me tell you why you're here. You're here because you know something. What you know, you can't explain. But you feel it. You felt it your entire life. That there's something wrong with the world. You don't know what it is, but it's there. Like a splinter in your mind -- driving you mad. It is this feeling that has brought you to me. Do you know what I'm talking about?
Neo: The Matrix?
Morpheus: Do you want to know what it is?
(Neo nods his head.)
Morpheus: The Matrix is everywhere, it is all around us. Even now, in this very room. You can see it when you look out your window, or when you turn on your television. You can feel it when you go to work, or when go to church or when you pay your taxes. It is the world that has been pulled over your eyes to blind you from the truth.
Neo: What truth?
Morpheus: That you are a slave, Neo. Like everyone else, you were born into bondage, born inside a prison that you cannot smell, taste, or touch. A prison for your mind. (long pause, sighs) Unfortunately, no one can be told what the Matrix is. You have to see it for yourself. This is your last chance. After this, there is no turning back.
(In his left hand, Morpheus shows a blue pill.)
Morpheus: You take the blue pill and the story ends. You wake in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. (a red pill is shown in his other hand) You take the red pill and you stay in Wonderland and I show you how deep the rabbit-hole goes. (Long pause; Neo begins to reach for the red pill) Remember -- all I am offering is the truth, nothing more.
(Neo takes the red pill and swallows it with a glass of water)
jumping into this political arena I feel much like Neo in the Matrix, and I am becoming more aware of my surroundings and the people in it. True blue is just offering you the truth.
I am not saying we take away the right to bear arms but what do you think of this? "On June 26, 2008, the U.S. Supreme Court embraced the National Rifle Association's contention that the Second Amendment provides individuals with the right to take violent action against our government should it become "tyrannical." The following timeline catalogues incidents of insurrectionist violence (or the promotion of such violence) Think of the many interpretations of this. Does a death always have to happen for us to get it.
The Matrix
written by Andy Wachowski & Larry Wachowski
Morpheus: I imagine that right now you're feeling a bit like Alice. Tumbling down the rabbit hole?
Neo: You could say that.
Morpheus: I can see it in your eyes. You have the look of a man who accepts what he sees because he's expecting to wake up. Ironically, this is not far from the truth. Do you believe in fate, Neo?
Neo: No.
Morpheus: Why not?
Neo: 'Cause I don't like the idea that I'm not in control of my life.
Morpheus: I know exactly what you mean. Let me tell you why you're here. You're here because you know something. What you know, you can't explain. But you feel it. You felt it your entire life. That there's something wrong with the world. You don't know what it is, but it's there. Like a splinter in your mind -- driving you mad. It is this feeling that has brought you to me. Do you know what I'm talking about?
Neo: The Matrix?
Morpheus: Do you want to know what it is?
(Neo nods his head.)
Morpheus: The Matrix is everywhere, it is all around us. Even now, in this very room. You can see it when you look out your window, or when you turn on your television. You can feel it when you go to work, or when go to church or when you pay your taxes. It is the world that has been pulled over your eyes to blind you from the truth.
Neo: What truth?
Morpheus: That you are a slave, Neo. Like everyone else, you were born into bondage, born inside a prison that you cannot smell, taste, or touch. A prison for your mind. (long pause, sighs) Unfortunately, no one can be told what the Matrix is. You have to see it for yourself. This is your last chance. After this, there is no turning back.
(In his left hand, Morpheus shows a blue pill.)
Morpheus: You take the blue pill and the story ends. You wake in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. (a red pill is shown in his other hand) You take the red pill and you stay in Wonderland and I show you how deep the rabbit-hole goes. (Long pause; Neo begins to reach for the red pill) Remember -- all I am offering is the truth, nothing more.
(Neo takes the red pill and swallows it with a glass of water)
jumping into this political arena I feel much like Neo in the Matrix, and I am becoming more aware of my surroundings and the people in it. True blue is just offering you the truth.
I am not saying we take away the right to bear arms but what do you think of this? "On June 26, 2008, the U.S. Supreme Court embraced the National Rifle Association's contention that the Second Amendment provides individuals with the right to take violent action against our government should it become "tyrannical." The following timeline catalogues incidents of insurrectionist violence (or the promotion of such violence) Think of the many interpretations of this. Does a death always have to happen for us to get it.
What motivated the Shooting?
Violence is not the answer, "What motivated the shooting" perhaps once we get a look into the mind of Jared , we will find out what motivated his actions. Is the greatest motivator in violence "Hate", lack of understanding,blame, drugs? The more we think money is more important than life, the more we miss the solutions. A safe with a letter has been found were he states "I planned a head." A profile is being put together.
Doctor gives up update on victims of shooting
A surgeon gives up date on Gabby and victims. Thoughts and Prayers to all victims of this tragedy.
Republican Governor Jan Brewers Heartfelt comments on the shooting tragedy!
Governor Brewer describes this assault as an "unbelievable tragedy". She also calls Gabby a "friend" and a "noble" servant.
Remarks by Obama on the Shooting Tragedy in Arizona Today!
Obama asks for all Americans to come together in this tragedy.Obama mentions all who were killed and gives condolences. He describes Gabriel as a personal friend and a warm and caring, and well liked person saying that it was "Not surprising that today Gabby was doing what she always does listening to the hopes and concerns of her neighbors." Her Husband was a Navy Capt Mark Kelly and an Astronaut. It was said she tweeted this message before the assault "My first congress on your corner starts now please stop by to let me know what is on your mind or tweet me later." Obama asks that our prayers go out to all those hurt in this tragedy, and I ask the same.
Arizona Democratic Congress Women Shot and battles for life!
After reading this story Congresswoman Giffords battles for life after shooting I stopped to think about how things people say and do can evoke violence in a mind that is filled with hate. This story is about a Democratic congress women who was shot, along with others. A nine year old child life was taken in this shooting. I thought "What kind of world do we live in?" What kind of human would justify this kind of action? I also realized how important the message "Hope not Hate"and "Love one another" is. We need to take a stronger stand in nonviolent actions to make change. If a person insights hate, what can the outcome be? I hope that my words will only bring thoughts of how we can do better, how we can grow as humans, how we can use reason instead of anger, how we can extend love and friendship to those who are different than ourselves, and look to the good in others. I do not say to turn a blind eye to the violence and hate, as it should be addressed. I do not say pretend it does not exits. I do say govern your actions. Think before you act. If your religious beliefs dictate to love one another, then make that your action.
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