You know you're a redneck if......

Every once in a while I come across something that just seems like it could never be surpassed.  There just simply is no way to top it.  Well, just the other day I found myself behind a beater of a pick'em-up that made me reach for my camera.  As I crept up on his bumper at a railroad crossing...being careful not to annoy or otherwise piss him off, in view of what I was looking at....I almost could not believe my eyes.

It should be noted that there have been bullet-hole decals and stickers in auto-parts stores for decades. Apparently there is a certain 'je ne sais quoi' about at least having the appearance of being shot at.  I'm not exactly sure why that should be so.  Is it the implication that a jealous husband took a couple of whacks at you as you drove off into the night...his wife's panties flagging from the rear-view mirror?  Is it--even more daring--that the cops were chasing you and, unlike Bonnie and Clyde, you escaped with only a few large caliber perforations in your truck.  BTW: it is always a pick-up truck that has these faux missile impacts.  They even make decals that simulate bullet-holes in glass, with all the little spidering around them.  Pretty cool, huh?

But, as I drifted perilously close to this truck the other day, I could clearly see that these were definitely real bullet-holes, most likely from a .38 caliber or 9mm pistol.  So, I naturally began to wonder how they got there.  Was it indeed an angry rival in a love triangle?  It seemed too far-fetched that he'd be casually riding around town in a truck that had been involved with the discharge of a cop's gun.  I imagined a variety of titillating scenarios, and, then ........ I noticed how evenly spaced the holes were, and how conveniently they missed anything of functional relevance. In fact, they were placed just about where I would have put them if I were putting DECALS on a truck. Suddenly, it occurred to me that the driver of the truck had most likely shot his truck himself.  Maybe he'd had a little too much Allen's Coffee Brandy, the 'anti-freeze' of choice in these parts.  Maybe he took a good hard look at his ride and realized it was a rolling shit-heap. Perhaps one of his buddies remarked how cool the old Dodge Ram would look with some 'gen-u-ine 9mm holes' in it.

Whatever the case, as a piece of art it succeeds magnificently.  It is a statement about rural America, about backwoods Maine, about trucks and the proudly red-neck dudes who own them. It is even a clear-cut statement about the Second Amendment.  It is also extremely capable of evoking a strong reaction from anybody who finds themselves behind this vehicle....as I did.  I mean, do you really want to piss this guy off? 

So, real or not, shots fired in anger, or just some coy tinkering around with a pistol, I give this guy good marks for being creative and making a gesture that communicates so effectively....accompanied by the license frame, which lends an even more cryptic and yet authentic feeling, "I'd rather be getting TATOOED".  

Which, on reading it, cause me to ask, "Do you mean you'd rather be tatooed than shot...or rather be tatooed than driving your shit-heap around town?"

Ah, folk art, eh?

Guns.....a Third Category of Disqualification

By now, in the ongoing debate over guns in America, it is beginning to be apparent that the conservative and liberal viewpoints are in such extreme opposition that any kind of agreement on what laws will be made is unlikely, perhaps impossible.

But, there is an area of overlap.  Both sides seem clear about the fact that we need to keep guns out of the hands of convicted felons, and the mentally unstable who could be dangerous.  It's just so utterly obvious that for either of these groups to have access to firearms is going to lead to more crime and mayhem.  At least we agree on this one point, although the far extreme right and left will remain stuck in their positions of supporting 'no gun laws whatsoever', and 'confiscate all guns'.  They are both unrealistic and just plain stupid.

Speaking of stupid, however, there is a third category of people who should not have access to firearms and they popped-up in the news just the other day:  people who are just too g-d dumb to handle a gun safely.  At a gun show in NC, a man brought a shotgun in a case, intending to sell it privately at the show.  At the table where all weapons are to be checked and rendered 'clear', he managed to discharge the shotgun as it was apparently being removed from the case.  He's the type of person I am referring to.

This was not the only such incident to marr, "Gun Appreciation Day" nationwide.  A man shot himself in the hand loading his .45 at another gun show, and two other equally inexcusable breeches of common sense, gun handling protocol and basic human intelligence happened.  In each case, people were needlessly yet unintentionally wounded.  It boggles the mind.

Too many years ago, when I was an EMT on our local rescue squad, we responded to a call in which another such fool had pulled a deer-rifle out from under his mattress, grasping it by the barrel, and shooting himself in the groin.  Clearly, he had stored the rifle there in a loaded condition and with a round in the chamber.....ready to fire.  It was one of the bloodiest scenes our squad ever encountered, but the fool lived. 

The point is: stories of this kind of massive stupidity are all too common.  It's not that there are too many guns in the country, but that there are far too many people who do not exercise even a tiny modicum of common sense in how they use, handle and store them.  Were I so inclined, I could write a grand tome describing such instances....and I wouldn't even have to draw on incidents from outside of my own state. 

It has been my contention, indeed, my hope, that the 'dumbing' of America has just about culminated, that it will not continue much further lest we become a nation of Alfred E. Neumans.  But, the fact is, there is already a vast host of people who do stupid things as a matter of routine. 

Here in Maine we have a recitation of their antics on the local news every evening.  They drive their snow-machines on lakes with large sections of open water, and thereby drown.  They fly down the country roads in their vehicles without seat-belts on, and are inevitably flung from said vehicles, hit solid objects....like roads and trees....and die.  They ride around on Harleys without exhaust mufflers, frequently bouncing their heads off roads and cars and become broccoli.  They drink heavily and then amuse themselves by undertaking activities in which having at least some bodily awareness would seem necessary....and they die.  But....there are still plenty of them left to carry on the grand tradition of Social Darwinism.  We seem to have an inexhaustible reservoir of idiots.

So, all you lawmakers out there who are clamoring to do SOMETHING, hell, ANYTHING about our gun rights....how 'bout figuring out how to keep guns out of the hands of idiots? 

Now there's a challenge for you.....

The Face of Evil...

This is a mug-shot of William Spengler, the man who set fire to his house and a vehicle in order to set a trap that would bring firefighters to the scene in Webster NY....so he could, in his own words, (via a note he left), "Do what I like doing best, killing people."

This same monstrous creature beat his 92 y.o. grandmother to death with a hammer in 1980, and he served a long prison term as a result....but, apparently not long enough.  We will learn in the next few weeks how it was that a convicted felon obtained at least 3 guns, one of which was the same type of weapon used in Newtown, and in Aurora by the mass-killers in those tragedies.

What I want to know is this: What did his neighbors know about him?  Did they not have a clue that he was a convicted murderer, that he was in a mental state leading to more murderous behavior?

For God's sake, LOOK AT HIM!!!  Does this look like a person that you would want in your neighborhood, someone you would trust to act in a civil and law-biding fashion?  His insanity is written all over his face.  So, why was he not on anybody's law-enforcement radar?  How was he able to buy those weapons....which, it will be noted, he was forbidden to own by New York state law?

So, in the midst of the furious conflict that is already arising about how to control GUNS, what can be done to address this man and those like him?   How do we prevent him from being the living equivalent of a raging beast in our midst?  This is the real question.

I have yet to see a mug-shot of one of these deranged maniacs who looks like anything other than......wait for it......a DERANGED MANIAC.  We have laws specifically put on the books to keep people like this from obtaining the means to commit mayhem.  How can any reasonable person think putting more of the same laws on the books will make any difference whatsoever?

You can direct all the rage you want at the NRA.  You can point your finger at us, carry signs saying we are killers.  But, to any intelligent person, it must eventually become clear that it is people like this man, Spengler, who are the land-mines in the minefield that we walk across every day of our lives.

STOP THE MANIACS!  Somebody tell me how we can do that, and stop wasting time whining about the fact that there are too many guns.  They are simply a fact of life in America, have been since we were colonists....and, ya know what?  That was not a major problem until people began to decide that punishing innocent people for their own pain is okay.

How we got here is a good question.  A better one is now what are we going to do about it?

Our National Heartbreak.....

I was driving home from an appointment when the news came over the radio of the massacre in Newtown CT.  At first, I just could not comprehend the scope of it....but, as it sunk in, tears came and a deep sense of sadness settled into my heart.  We have a grandson just the age of some of the victims, and a son whose first name is shared with another one of them.  These facts just made it that much more clear that this happened to ALL OF US.  Yes, of course, nobody can take on or relieve the grief of those parents who lost children on Friday.  But, unless one's heart is in a state of relative torpor, the impact of these murders is immense.

Adam Lanza, the killer, was, according to all accounts extraordinarily bright, something he appears to share with James Holmes, the Aurora theater killer, and many others who have suddenly decided to inflict monstrous acts of violence on people around them.  In many cases, as in Newtown and Aurora, the killer has not even known the people he attacked. It appears they are just 'targets' for his rage,  symbolic souls that I believe represent all of us to some degree.  In the Newtown rampage, the killer seems to have gone out of his way to choose victims that were innocent and young, surely hoping that this would vastly increase the pain created by his actions.  He was right; it worked. 

So, is this the last straw?  Is this event so far beyond the pale that we will finally stop setting aside the question they have all demanded be asked: how do we stop the carnage?  Is this slaughter of innocent young children finally going to force us to recognize that something is dreadfully wrong in our society?  Will we now come to face the terrible fact that we have a society that is somehow causing these human-beings to decide to become monsters?  For surely nobody in their right mind can continue to assume that these are just the appearance of random deviant personalities.  People are raised in families, but also in villages, in tribes, in a society that has both expectations and influences on who they become.

Well, we have pretty much excised the idea of a village or tribe being an extended family. And, with two parent families now on shaky footing, it is becoming apparent that at least some children are growing-up with a proclivity towards deviance.....on a grand scale, not just 'being a little odd'.  How is this happening?  It is way too easy to jump to conclusions; perhaps the best we can do right now is to make a list of factors that seem to be implicated.

I would start with a good hard, side-long look at the fact that so many kids have traded-in such pastimes as 'sand-lot baseball' for sitting in front of a flat-screen playing games like World of Warcraft.  A couple of years ago, I wrote how this 'game' has stolen the normalcy of my grandson, and essentially ruined his life.  I have not changed that opinion, and I ask you to consider how it would be possible for a young and impressionable person to fantasize killing for eight hours a day....and NOT HAVE IT CHANGE THEM PROFOUNDLY.

The 'experts' can opine for the next few decades as to whether or not such violent fantasy games, and equally violent movies, television shows, etc. have egregious effects on developing personalities.  That is what they do: offer opinions, usually in line with some agenda.  I know in the depths of my being that this is a major factor in how young people are learning to see the world around them.

The other element that is implicated...although, yes, there are many and it's not my intent to imply that this is all very clear and simple.....is the growing deficit of COMPASSION.  In many circles now, compassion is regarded as being something for weak-minded people.  I recently saw a group photo of a sorority at my alma mater--dear old and now bedraggled Penn State--of the young women dressed in mock Mexican garb....sombreros, and serapes....holding up signs that said such things as: "We don't cut grass, we smoke it."  WTF?  Apparently, these all white middle-class young women had no clue that this might be both racist and entirely offensive to latinos. Again, wtf?

If you have the eyes to see it, look around you, and notice how the quality of compassion is being trampled in favor of both self-interest, and voluntary self-isolation of groups.  Only when something like Newtown happens do the people who are clinging to their own humanity come forward and remind us that it is PRIMARILY compassion that renders us human.  Without it, we are in danger of falling far short of the ideals that term implies.  Spend some time listening to Rush Limbaugh if you really want to understand the passionate viewpoint of pure selfishness.  He models it as well as anybody out there.

Now a few words for all those whose immediate reaction to this latest atrocity is that we should impose strict gun control laws.  We are a gun-saturated society, have been since our inception.  The true number of guns in America is somewhere in the neighborhood of 350 million, though it might even be as high as half a BILLION.  Unless you want to have a police-state, there is no possible way that we will even reduce that number, much less get rid of them.  Do not waste our time suggesting that we become England, Canada, Japan or name your 'gunless' society.  IT WON'T HAPPEN HERE. There are just too many factors in play that will prevent a return to innocence, a miraculous state of harmlessness.  It's nice to contemplate....but it's a pipe-dream.  Connecticut has some of the strictest gun laws in the U.S.  It made no difference to Adam Lanza.  He was a time-bomb; his mother knew it, and yet, he was able to steal her firearms and commit mayhem.  How do you stop that?  We will never get an explanation from her as to why her guns were not under lock and key.  And, yet, she even warned a baby-sitter to never turn his back on the then 9 y.o. Adam.  WTF.....again.

So, what we must do is learn how to live with guns being available and we need to start learning how to identify high-risk individuals and get help for them.  We can no longer say, "Well, we knew he would do this someday. But, what could we do about it?"  That is now-I fervently hope-
unacceptable.  These shooters have almost unanimously been isolated, rejected, shunned, regarded as 'outsiders' and their intent in planning and executing such monstrous atrocities is to punish us, to make us feel pain in the extreme.  It is the biggest, most powerful way they can conceive of telling us, "FUCK ALL OF YOU."

So, what are we going to do about that?

Secession....again.

Well, it has been over a century and a half since it last came up in a meaningful way, which is to say, more than a few tax dodgers in places like rural Idaho.  So, I suppose it was bound to come back around at some point.  The movement to leave the Union of States seems to be gathering the most momentum in Texas.  Go figure, eh.  One Texan argues that Texas has an economy larger than that of Australia, and will, therefore, have no trouble going it on its own.  Some fellow is promising to run for governor in 2014 purely on a secessionist ticket; he's even changing his middle-name to 'secession'.  Wow.

As I read these reports of people who are so determined to break-up the United States, to fragment it into minor republics that each have their own issues to complain about, my mind drifts back to descriptions of Civil War battles.  An eye-witness account of the Corn Field, at the battle of Antietam, on the evening of September 17th, 1862, comes to mind.  A Union captain had to dismount his horse in order to carefully lead it through the carnage of corpses and wounded. He described stepping in puddles of blood. Thousands of men lay dead and dying, calling out to God, their mothers, and the din of these cries was undergirded by a general moan issuing from the throats of both Confederate and Union men who lay where they had fallen this day. It was the bloodiest single day in American history, still is.

A few hundred yards away, bodies were layered four deep in the soon to be called, "Bloody Lane", most of them Confederates who had died trying to stop a Union advance up the hill towards this sunken wagon road.  All these many decades and four generations later, the descriptions tear at my heart, rend my soul.  My great-grandfather was a Union drummer boy who witnessed Pickett's Charge at Gettysburg the next summer.  He described to my boyhood grandfather seeing a cannon-ball bounding across the field, whereupon a Yank put his foot out, thinking anything so easily visible could be stopped....and it took his leg off at the femur.

This stunning violence and suffering, on both sides went on and on, for four endless years. More than 220,000 Americans above the number who died in World War II were killed, a total of approximately 620.000, making it far and away the most devastating war in our nation's history. And, while conventional wisdom that is being passed along in high-school history classes mostly would have you believe the Civil War was fought over slavery, that was more of an 'add-on' to the primary issue which was whether the United States of America would remain united.

In the minds of the majority of southerners, the issue was 'states rights', which was a way of saying, "Y'all ain't gonna tell us what to do."  And, of course, that included the right to own other human beings.  Many a rebel private or corporal resented the fact that he was fighting 'a rich man's war'.  Desertion was a huge problem for the south as the war ground on.  Johnny Reb, in great numbers, no longer felt that suffering and dying so that 'Massa' could have his slaves was a bargain worth making.

As you drive around the south today, particularly Virginia, where by far the preponderance of battles were fought, you would never guess that this resentment existed back then.  In a humble roadside restaurant you are quite likely to see Civil War mementos for sale.  This includes everything from little cases with 'genuine battleground' bullets, complete with engraved rifling marks from some poor soldier's musket, made in the heat of a struggle to survive....to nicely framed portraits of southern saints, Nathan Bedford Forrest, Jeb Stuart, Stonewall Jackson, and of course, the saintliest of all, Robert E. Lee...."Massa Rob't" himself.

To a casual observer, it might seem that the Civil War, had ended favorably for the south, that issues once in doubt had been resolved, perhaps laid to rest for all time.  They, we now learn, apparently were not.  But, here's the deal: there are now over 310 million Americans.  Now they come in all colors and all faiths; back then, not so much.  'The deciders' were, and down through the generations have always been, 'Old White Men'.....until now. 

We are changing, in exactly the same way that we have been since our inception.  America is a work of art in progress.  It is also a masterpiece that relies on its resilience, our stunning ability to adapt to the challenges that face us.  And we will continue changing; it's a fact of life and a product of who we are in the world community.  Those souls who cannot accept this reality, who are so short-sighted and selfish as to suppose that things will be frozen in an old and now obsolete paradigm, should not think for even a second that the solution to their discontent is to dissolve a union for which hundreds of thousands have already died. That decision has already been made...and sealed in blood, lots of it. Nobody will break away and take land, and unwilling others, with them.  Never going to happen....not again.

If they are that dissatisfied with the direction America has chosen, the best and proper response is simply to leave.  You may recall the red-neck, faux patriotic, bumper-sticker that started showing up on the bumpers of mostly ratty pick-up trucks in the late 60s: "America Love It Or Leave It"

Well, there it is: if you cannot love our democracy and respect its process of self-determining democratic rule.........then GET THE HELL OUT!  And, leave us to continue this inspired and magnificent process of becoming our fullest potential, because that is exactly what is happening.

So, how did 'chicken' become a pejorative?

Last April, we decided that the time had come to finally put-up or shut-up, and get some chickens.  We had been talking about this for at least two years, and it just felt like a good time to move ahead with things.  So, we approached a friend, Linda, who is a farmer, and asked for some guidance.  A few weeks later we went to her farm and picked-up five 'Golden Comets', which, as it turns out, are a hybrid breed expressly bred for egg-laying.  They were 'pullets', immature hens, not yet laying, but more or less approaching adult size. 

We had, in the interim, built a chicken-coop inside our two-car garage, with an exit to an outside enclosure that would allow them to be outside and still not become food for all the critters who live in the woods behind our house.  That includes some  rather vociferous coyotes, sly foxes, very wide-stripped skunks, racoons, hawks, owls and other assorted denizens who would very much appreciate having a ready source of fresh chicken.  We also have fishers, which are members of the mustelid family, i.e. wolverines, badgers, mink, martins, weasels etc. and they would be the biggest threat of all.  So, alas, our new red birds would not be 'free range', but still have lots of outside time.

After a few weeks, the first small brown egg appeared, and then, in short order, all five hens started laying and the eggs grew in size.  Now, we get five a day, almost without fail, and they are what the grocery store would call, extra-large, for the most part.  All of this is no big deal really.  Tons of folks are now raising and keeping backyard chickens, to the point where one must consider it a kind of fad.  Even in cities people have taken up keeping chickens, on  roof-tops, in backyards, wherever they can.  Zoning boards are increasingly accepting that having a few chickens doesn't mean that you have suddenly taken up farming.

The surprise in all of this, for me, was  that I never expected our russet little beauties to be who they are: intelligent, curious, expressive, playful, easily bored, willing to connect with us on a level that most reserve for pets like dogs and cats.  I just did not expect chickens to have much going in the 'personality' department.  But, I was wrong. 

When either of us gets anywhere near the outside run, they all come piling outside and over to the nearest place to where we are.  There is a constant chatter of sounds, few of which could be called 'clucking'.  Most of their varied vocabulary is comprised of tiny little 'mewing' and chortling sounds. Yes, there is a wide variety of greater calls and sounds, some of which are so surprising that it makes us laugh when a hen gets wound up and on a noisy bender.  My favorite--and I haven't figured out what its meaning is yet--is a kind of ' bok, bok, bok, bok...BEGOK!!!", repeated many times over, until she runs it out and is done.  There are also the classic, 'cluck', and even something that sounds distinctly like 'purring', which we have witnessed when they are having a really grand time during a dust-bath.

Of course, the question arises as to whether or not 'pet' chickens will end-up on the dinner table when they have finally reached the end of their careers as layers.  For us, the answer is decidedly 'no'.  As soon as we brought these sweet birds home, my wife named them, after the 'Golden Girls' from long ago on the t-v, plus 'Violet' because our granddaughter loves purple.  I told Abby that I was never going to kill an animal of ours  that has a name...so the deal is done.   They will be 'retired', fed, stroked and admired...but no heads will roll. 

In fact, just knowing them is tweaking my sensibilities towards becoming a vegetarian....never thought I'd say that.  But, then, I never thought I would meet such amazing chickens either. 

The Angry Americans

Well, we have survived another presidential election.  There were times when the avalanche of negative ads, in both directions, seemed almost intolerable, verging on overwhelming my sensibilities as a voter, as an American, and as a participant in democracy.  Finally, I had to resort to having the remote in my hand with my finger on the 'mute' button.  Alternatively, I limited myself to watching programs I had recorded....and felt a strange sense of smug satisfaction as I fast-forwarded through the visual collage of nay-sayers, finger waggers, pseudo-sad lamenters.....and good ol' LIARS.

I have to admit that while it appeared that Romney and Ryan had momentum and were becoming likely winners, I felt a palpable sense of dread.  Was it really possible that working class Americans could be snookered into thinking a true 1%er, vulture capitalist, and an Ayn Rand disciple were on their side?  But, far worse, for me at least, was the specter of having a pair of individuals leading our nation who seemed as comfortable with lies as they did with anything resembling factual truth. Some comedian pointed out that Romney and the entire GOP were waging war on the truth.  It would have been funnier if it weren't so scary.

Ah, but all that is behind us now, isn't it?  Mitt and Ann will go drown their sorrows in a beautiful swimming pool at one of their multi-million dollar homes.  His ego has suffered some serious bruises, but, then, he just needed to reach for the one thing in his life that was missing: ultimate power.  He craved being the most powerful man on the planet, as the president is so frequently referred to.  And, because he has the personality of a faux aristocrat (a fact of which we were reminded by his own gaffs at every turn in the road, i.e. the 47% tape and so many more), has character issues around at least telling the truth, he got his ass royally kicked.

Unfortunately, I am certain we haven't seen the last of Ryan, and his wolfish gaze.  The man really does remind me of the currently popular t-v show, "Grimm", in which characters morph into hidden archetypal 'beasts' of mythical origins.  Some say he looks like Eddie Munster, an allusion that perhaps only folks of my generation will recognize.  But, I think he's way too sinister for such a comparison.  In his eyes and his physiognomy as a whole, I see a hungry wolf, one who insisted that his congressional staff members read 'Atlas Shrugged', the novel by Ayn Rand who espoused self-interest and dominance over less capable or less aggressive souls.  I do not hear him saying that he's a representative of ordinary people, but rather that he's a champion of the 'haves'....and "...it sucks to be you", if you aren't one of them. He, like Romney, also is a big fan of saying whatever he feels will plead his case...whether or not it is true, or factual.  He lies his ass off.  And, I am not even sure he knows when he's doing it.

But, in the aftermath of the political season, one thing has become crystal-clear: we are a nation divided.  Some of us are liberals, or progressives--both terms used as epithets on Fox News--and some of us are conservatives.  And there is a vast reservoir of anger, even rage, that is hovering in our midst. Clearly,  because of losing the election in a surprise defeat that almost swept every so-called 'battleground state', a preponderance of that rage is residing with the right.  Some of what is being written on the web is so hateful, racist, venomous, and odious that it doesn't even bear repeating.  It is like sewage spewing from a broken sewer-main.....all over Main Street.  And, while apparently the people who are spewing, feel that it is their right to do so, some of it is even espousing assassination or violent overthrow of our government.....which is a felony, a fact they seem oblivious to.

Despite what these enraged spewers seem to think, Free Speech does have certain limits, and fomenting violent revolution or murdering our elected leaders is not a right or a privilege, it's just plain unacceptable.  They are perhaps a cocktail mixture of not caring what impact their words might have, and being so stupid that they really believe anything goes.

As a person who has studied and observed ethics in action for my entire adult life, I do not have a good feeling about what all of this portends.  When people are so invested in their own point of view, so absolutely certain that they are right and those who believe differently are wrong, it means the potential for compromise--any solution that requires accepting some give and take--is diminished, even impossible.  This means a situation where harmony, carrying on with life as a normal and positive undertaking, is also not possible.  Some people, in the wake of this election, are saying our country is dead.  This is a dramatic statement by any measure.  It is dramatic for it's stark negativity, and for its sheer stupidity....and for the complete absence of any faith that our democracy is flexible and resiliant, that it has durability and endurance.  It is perhaps the most un-patriotic statement I can imagine a person making.  And....it is BULLSHIT, pure and simple.

I don't know what it will take for Americans of all outlooks, all ethnic persuasions, all socio-economic levels to understand.....that sink or swim, WE ARE ALL IN THE SAME LIFE-BOAT. If we insist that in order to move forward, the 'other' guy has to surrender his or her sense of what is right for them, that one viewpoint, right of left, must entirely dominate how we conduct our nations affairs...then we are in a world of hurt.  This is self-interest and intellectual block-headedness on a level that will have a corrosive effect on all of us.

It seems worth noting that the burners under these enraged souls, are seemingly pleased to play an inflammatory role.  Whether it is Fox New (".....fair and balanced", yeah right!)  or MSNBC with equally biased commentators, pushing their views to an audience hungry for validation that what they believe is 'right' and what those 'others' believe is trash....the net result is the same.  We are living in a time when apparently it is more important to be 'right' than to be truthful or reasonable, and we are in a downward spiral of negativity--on both sides--that will not result in any kind of happy landing, for anybody.  Being in the same life-boat, means that hatred and venom is the enemy of BOTH SIDES.

If we are so busy punching holes in the bottom, in order to prove that the other side is 'wrong', the water will continue to rise....until we are all swimming in shark infested waters.

I steadfastly cling to my conviction that we are being asked to do better, to rise to the occasion and to avoid creating a disaster.......just to prove we're 'right'.  C'mon America!  I know you can do better than this.