And more on words

Some may be upset by the words of members of the left or the right in this country. I am more conservative, so I disagree more with the comments of the left, like Jimmy Hoffa, Jr. . Maxine Waters, Joe Biden, President Obama or many others, in part because I disagree with them, but also because they use language that is harsh and assaultive, while they are the first to wring their hands when conservatives talk in any way similar. I have even seen movies and books about the assassination of President George W. Bush or 'comedy sketches about shooting him on Air America.

However, in the long run, that does not bother me.




Why their words don't really concern me is that I have seen how reasonably the tea party members have acted at rallies and have watched the right and the left, to see what they have said in recent years. While the left has repeatedly called the right many names and called for the tea party to 'go to hell' or for leftist followers to take the 'tea baggers' out, the conservatives have said little, other than that we need to stop growing the federal government, the spending more than we have and the control of big government.

Those cursing the tea partiers are concerned that the big government handouts will be reigned in. They claim that the goal of the tea party is to have the government disappear, but I have never seen this goal expressed by the tea party. I have seen them ask for the growth of the government and its deficits and grasping at power be reigned in, and that government act in a 'reasonable' way, as they view reasonable. This is during a time that the government and its deficits have grown so large as to scare the strongest believers in large government.

Why I am not concerned by the language and hyperbole used is that I believe in the freedom of speech, unless someone is specifically calling for harm to be done to someone else. And, even more, I believe that if we allow everyone to speak their minds, they tell us who they are.

In recent decades, I have been able to see who wants the government to grow so large that it can become what we were warned of by authors such as George Orwell, in books like '1984' and 'Animal Farm'. We can also see who is civil, and who is not. And we can see who does not care what the government does, unless the 'wrong person' has won an election.

At times I have been disgusted by their comments, but I have also been enlightened. And I sincerely hope we continue to let them speak their minds. We may not truly know them by their words, but in the end, we shall know them by their fruits. I appreciate seeing them for who they are.

Posting a comment

Just wanted to tell anyone that, to post a comment you need to sign up with this service, but you don't have to do anything else. It is easy and for the past couple years, they have not been a bother to me at all. I appreciate how easy it is. You won't even have to do a blog to sign up to post responses. :-)

Talking too much

Although I might agree with the core beliefs of some of the national talk show hosts, I have a couple disagreements with what they do at times while in the performance of 'their duties'. One is that they have to talk for so long each week, usually at least 15 hours, that they at times fall in love with their own voice, or at least give that impression. They bluster in the directions of their beliefs, and I am so put off, that I can clearly see why they would never be able to convince people who normally hold contrary beliefs, as they are so over the line that it is a euphoria born of their belief they have found "the truth" and can never be wrong or questioned. Perhaps this is the failing of being popular. But it is a failing, none the less.

My other complaint is how many of them have embraced the approach made popular by Paul Harvey and then Howard Stern, where they do the advertisements themselves, and strive to make you feel they are 'in love' with the company and their product and approach to doing business. This is meant to have you embrace and trust the company as you do the talk show host. For me, it does the opposite, as I trust the company and talk show host less. If this practice was rare, I might not feel this way. As the practice has become common, I have come to be irritated each time the ads are aired.

Our words

I believe in freedom of speech and don't support the efforts in recent decades to limit what is okay for us to say, what is politically correct. But I despise those who try to use the politically correct speech hammer against those they disagree with politically, while ignoring such standards when someone with whom they agree crosses these imaginary lines.

A lot of this occured in the recent fights over the debt and debt limit ceiling for the Federal Government. Tea Party congressmen and supporters were called terrorists and hostage takers and were said to be holding a gun to the country's head, all things their opponents would have screamed about if the tables were turned. MSNBC commentator Martin Bashir even had a psychologist and addiction expert on to tell us how Tea Party members are suffering psychosis and may well lash out like the recent Norway killer.

Sticks and Stones may break my bones, but I don't happen to think words are actually as bad, and I draw the line more at someone really doing harm, like if someone tells others to go kill someone or the famous yelling fire in a crowded theater.

But I did think it was refreshing this week when someone who had called the Tea Party crowd terrorists, after being against such speech in the past, actually apologized. New York Times Business columnist Joe Nocera said that he agreed that he had been intemperate in his remarks and he apologized.

As for me, I just don't like hypocrisy. You say what you mean and mean what you say, and I will do the same.

Back home

After a couple years, I have decided to bring my real comments back off of Facebook and to my blog, and possibly even to a second blog I may create.

I've enjoyed some debates on Facebook, but 90% of the friends there don't seem interested in the kinds of things I might put in my blog. Those who are interested can read the blog. As in the past, the blog will deal with a number of things, certainly not just politics.

Farrah and Michael make three

Though the title of this post refers to the oft cited belief that famous deaths come in threes, my focus is instead about the lives. After Ed McMahon passed, we didn't have to wait long for Farrah Fawcett and even less time for Michael Jackson to follow.
Focusing on Jackson, I have long felt sorry for him, as I feel he was another young star who, like many, proceeded to have a very difficult life. He was such a good singer and dancer, and undoubtedly the king of pop for a long time, but we're all aware how his life seemed such a tangled mess.
After very successful careers, Ed McMahon and Farrah Fawcett experienced great difficulties later in life, but all too frequently it seems in popular culture that those who soar the highest at a young age find they are floating up there with no real support, no connection to reality. Their fall back to
Earth is all the more perilous than the mere mortals around them. Michael Jackson was an enigma in life. In death, I hope he rests in peace.

Hurry up and waste

Beginning, at least, with the fiasco which was the TARP bailout last October, the Federal Government has undertaken a series of initiatives which can not wait. The stimulus package a few months ago had to be passed so quickly that no one could even read it before they voted on almost 800 billion dollars. That bill alone was almost $3,000.00 for each and every man, woman and child in the United States. They would most likely have been better off in stimulating the economy if they had just given that amount to each person in the U. S.
Instead, the money went to a wide variety of special interest projects, many of which won't kick in for a couple more years. And, like the TARP last year, we don't even have any idea where much of it is going.
Now, at the same time that we are told Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor has the largest amount of experience of any recent nominee to the court, the Democrats insist the vote must take place soon. Any delay is obstructionist. And healthcare reform has to happen now, regardless of the cost, which may be between one and two trillion dollars, according to the OMB (the president's Office of Managemnent and Budget) and the CBO (Congressional Budget Office). This while we are looking at having a budget deficit which might approach two trillion dollars this year alone, and twelve trillion dollars total.
This approach, of pressing everyone into panic and rushed votes without time to investigate and debate the merits of opposing ideas, is used when someone feels that the light of day and the scrutiny that debate would bring will not serve their purposes. Everyone needs to slow it down and take a breath, look into what is being proposed and cast an educated vote. Then, may the best ideas win.