| Another Point Of View We're not where anymore? |
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A communist recently wrote, “You’re not in Nebraska anymore, Barack,” and he’s right our President is not. The
November election for President brought excitement and in some cases jubilation to America. The expectation was
that there was a change in the wind, a new way of doing business in Washington and reaffirmation that the only
impediments to success are talent and will, not color and sex, and that an era of “good old boy” politics would soon
be over.
No we’re not in Nebraska anymore and some change die hard. President Obama tried to opened up to the
Republican Party on the Stimulus Bill by physically going to them. The President went to their house and asked for
their support and in return what did he get on that initial vote? He got a straight party vote, all Democrats voting yes
and all Republicans voting no. It’s hard to believe that not one Republican felt the need to support the President;
not one Republican had the courage to break from the party and support the President. I find it equally interesting
that not one Democrat voted against it either. I guess its politics as usual in Washington—party politics.
No we’re not in Nebraska anymore and just when you thought there was hope that politicians could change
people like Richard Shelby speaks out. During a period of significant financial turmoil in this country, the Senator
from Alabama chose the following as his most important issue when he recently said about President Obama, “..his
father was Kenyan and they said he (Obama) was born in Hawaii… You have to be born in America to be
President.” Perhaps Senator Shelby went to the same schools as Governor Palin. Africa is a continent and Hawaii
is a state.
Judd Gregg, Republican Senator of New Hampshire, withdrew his name from nomination for the post of
Commerce Secretary because “I began to wonder if I could be an effective team player.” He accepts the nomination
then suddenly has a revelation that he’s not a team player—and he expects people to believe that. It may have
been a mystery to him but it took me about a nanosecond to come to my conclusion—he is a team player, and his
team is not the American team but his party team and that is more than a disappointment. No we’re not in Nebraska
anymore.
On the positive side of change, when asked if his own party had national leaders Republican Governor Charlie
Crist said, “I think there is a national leader, his name is President Obama. The people elected him. And I'm willing
to give him a good shot and try to help make this work. We're in a tough time, as we talked about before. I think we
do need to be bipartisan. We need to be, in fact, nonpartisan. We're all Americans. Our country is at a dire point
and we need to do everything we can to work together to get America through this." I appreciate he is a leading
candidate for the Republican nomination in 2012 and he this may have been “politic speak” but it is encouraging
none the less.
Back on the other side of positive there is Rush Limbaugh who said about the stimulus package, “I hope Obama
fails.” There are many people out there in the political world and in our little Highlands community that would rather
see a nation fail or a town fail then to admit they were wrong. For them it’s not about doing the right thing, its getting
credit for doing my thing. They remind me of the basketball star that would rather score 30 points and lose the
game then score five points and have their team win. Limbaugh is on the team of ultra conservative panic mongers
who pontificate that there is only one way to live in America-the Limbaugh way. And don’t even get me started on
Ann Coulter.
A communist recently wrote, “You’re not in Nebraska anymore, Barack,” and he’s right our President is not. But, I
think the writer meant to parody the Wizard of Oz and say, “You’re not in Kansas anymore, Barack.” In the 1939
film Wizard of Oz, the movie starts off, in stark back and white, with Dorothy and her dog trying to escape from the
evil Elmira Gulch. During her escape attempt, Dorothy gets caught in a tornado, hits her head and is then
transported Over the Rainbow where she lands in a magical land of Munchkins where the world is full of color,
happiness and song—and not to forget the Evil Witch of the East, whom Dorothy killed when her house landed on
her, for which the Munchkins were then really happy. Dorothy then journeys to the wonderful land of Oz to see its
wizard so he can tell her how to find her way home. It is a magical tale of friendship and courage that both warms
the heart and entertains us. The lion found courage, the scarecrow found a brain and the tin man found a heart,
but that was just a movie and this is life.
Some people say that, “We’re not in Kansas anymore,” has come to mean that things are not the way things were,
you’re out of your element, and you’re about to be smacked in the face with reality and fail. They believe as
Dorothy said, “There’s no place like home,” so click your heels three times and go there. But I have another point
of view on that; no we’re not in Kansas anymore and thank God for that. I believe that government, like our homes,
needs a little fixing up from time to time, and this is that time. This will be a difficult journey from where we are now
to where we want to be, and people can’t click their heels three times and just go home, our politicians, our leaders,
all of us must work together to do it. Our country needs leadership and people working together to find the right
path to fix our economy, and so does our little town. I hope we all find the heart, the brain and the courage to take
us there.
In two weeks I’ll have Another Point Of View.
November election for President brought excitement and in some cases jubilation to America. The expectation was
that there was a change in the wind, a new way of doing business in Washington and reaffirmation that the only
impediments to success are talent and will, not color and sex, and that an era of “good old boy” politics would soon
be over.
No we’re not in Nebraska anymore and some change die hard. President Obama tried to opened up to the
Republican Party on the Stimulus Bill by physically going to them. The President went to their house and asked for
their support and in return what did he get on that initial vote? He got a straight party vote, all Democrats voting yes
and all Republicans voting no. It’s hard to believe that not one Republican felt the need to support the President;
not one Republican had the courage to break from the party and support the President. I find it equally interesting
that not one Democrat voted against it either. I guess its politics as usual in Washington—party politics.
No we’re not in Nebraska anymore and just when you thought there was hope that politicians could change
people like Richard Shelby speaks out. During a period of significant financial turmoil in this country, the Senator
from Alabama chose the following as his most important issue when he recently said about President Obama, “..his
father was Kenyan and they said he (Obama) was born in Hawaii… You have to be born in America to be
President.” Perhaps Senator Shelby went to the same schools as Governor Palin. Africa is a continent and Hawaii
is a state.
Judd Gregg, Republican Senator of New Hampshire, withdrew his name from nomination for the post of
Commerce Secretary because “I began to wonder if I could be an effective team player.” He accepts the nomination
then suddenly has a revelation that he’s not a team player—and he expects people to believe that. It may have
been a mystery to him but it took me about a nanosecond to come to my conclusion—he is a team player, and his
team is not the American team but his party team and that is more than a disappointment. No we’re not in Nebraska
anymore.
On the positive side of change, when asked if his own party had national leaders Republican Governor Charlie
Crist said, “I think there is a national leader, his name is President Obama. The people elected him. And I'm willing
to give him a good shot and try to help make this work. We're in a tough time, as we talked about before. I think we
do need to be bipartisan. We need to be, in fact, nonpartisan. We're all Americans. Our country is at a dire point
and we need to do everything we can to work together to get America through this." I appreciate he is a leading
candidate for the Republican nomination in 2012 and he this may have been “politic speak” but it is encouraging
none the less.
Back on the other side of positive there is Rush Limbaugh who said about the stimulus package, “I hope Obama
fails.” There are many people out there in the political world and in our little Highlands community that would rather
see a nation fail or a town fail then to admit they were wrong. For them it’s not about doing the right thing, its getting
credit for doing my thing. They remind me of the basketball star that would rather score 30 points and lose the
game then score five points and have their team win. Limbaugh is on the team of ultra conservative panic mongers
who pontificate that there is only one way to live in America-the Limbaugh way. And don’t even get me started on
Ann Coulter.
A communist recently wrote, “You’re not in Nebraska anymore, Barack,” and he’s right our President is not. But, I
think the writer meant to parody the Wizard of Oz and say, “You’re not in Kansas anymore, Barack.” In the 1939
film Wizard of Oz, the movie starts off, in stark back and white, with Dorothy and her dog trying to escape from the
evil Elmira Gulch. During her escape attempt, Dorothy gets caught in a tornado, hits her head and is then
transported Over the Rainbow where she lands in a magical land of Munchkins where the world is full of color,
happiness and song—and not to forget the Evil Witch of the East, whom Dorothy killed when her house landed on
her, for which the Munchkins were then really happy. Dorothy then journeys to the wonderful land of Oz to see its
wizard so he can tell her how to find her way home. It is a magical tale of friendship and courage that both warms
the heart and entertains us. The lion found courage, the scarecrow found a brain and the tin man found a heart,
but that was just a movie and this is life.
Some people say that, “We’re not in Kansas anymore,” has come to mean that things are not the way things were,
you’re out of your element, and you’re about to be smacked in the face with reality and fail. They believe as
Dorothy said, “There’s no place like home,” so click your heels three times and go there. But I have another point
of view on that; no we’re not in Kansas anymore and thank God for that. I believe that government, like our homes,
needs a little fixing up from time to time, and this is that time. This will be a difficult journey from where we are now
to where we want to be, and people can’t click their heels three times and just go home, our politicians, our leaders,
all of us must work together to do it. Our country needs leadership and people working together to find the right
path to fix our economy, and so does our little town. I hope we all find the heart, the brain and the courage to take
us there.
In two weeks I’ll have Another Point Of View.