Wednesday, January 28, 2010

The State of the Union address is over. The President tried to reassure the American people that he was on their side. Mr. President, the campaign is over. You must start the governing process. President Obama hasn't changed one iota. What is he trying to prove? He is a great campaigner, a great academic, but a poor leader. A leader is strong, self-assured and eager to meet the other side halfway. President Obama seems to be deficient in these categories. That is definitely too bad. Too bad for America. The administration will continue to try to bully their way with backroom shady deals to promote their selfish agenda. The Republicans will continue to say, "No". The American people will be the ultimate losers. In November the congress will feel the wrath of the voters. In 2012, President Obama's job performance will be assessed and he will be given a pass or a pink slip. In the meantime, we, the American people will be the losers. The 2010 midterm election is very important. The voters must assessed the performance of their congressional representatives and render a verdict. The same process will be reapplied in 2012. I do agree with the President that America will survive. America will weather this storm and become stronger. In the meantime, we the American people must be vigilant, involved and ready to act in the subsequent elections that will determine the future track of our American government. 

Sunday, January 24, 2010

Pope Benedict has issued a suggestion to priests. Use the Internet to spread God's Word. Good idea, but make sure you spread God's Word, not your own. How do we know if it's God's Word? We don't. Each of us, priests, laity and even evangelicals have the right to spread our own interpretation of what we think is God's message. None of us has the right to impose our words on any other human being. We must always preface any of our remarks by words meaning, "In my opinion." Many times people chose to relinquish the originality of their beliefs to the elders of their particular religious sect. As members of a religious group we entrust our religious leaders with the responsibility of interpreting and imposing God's message on the members of the community. That's organized religion. While being a member of the Catholic Church, I retain my right of free thinking. In other words, I follow the Catholic Church in matters of faith and doctrine, but the application of such dogma to current contemporary life issues is my responsibility and my right. In the end, salvation is uniquely personal to the individual. 

Some people are so perplexed by the current tragedy in Haiti. The ask, "Why does a loving God allow such evil things to happen." My answer is simple. Because God and man are not functioning on equal playing fields. God is divine, spiritual. Man is human and of this world. It's our human fate to struggle in this life. This is reality. This is our life. God doesn't interfere with our earthly existence. It's God's job to merely be. We must live and then die. That is our fate. The important aspect of our life is not what happens to us in life. Rather, what we do about what happens to us. I see God as an observer not a player in our lives. Doesn't it say in the Bible many times that God saw what was happening and said that it was good? Or something to that effect? Religious leaders are aware of these truths. However, they very seldom express them to us. They prefer to keep the authoritative stance when dealing with the common man and woman. Sounds a little hypocritical to me. When you think about it, government is very similar to religion. 

Friday, January 22, 2010

Hello again. Long time no see. I thought I was getting a little blogged out, so I stopped for awhile. I do get bored sometimes, but just as soon as I do, I usually bounce right back. Oh well. Let's talk about the Massachusetts special election to fill the Senate seat of Ted Kennedy. At first I was a little upset that the Democrat had lost the election. It was mostly nostalgic remembrance. That seat was held by Ted Kennedy for over 40 years. Before that it was held by John F. Kennedy, my childhood hero. Time does go on and it's for the better that it does. Senator-elect Scott Brown may have saved the Democrats from self destruction. The Democrats in the midterm election as well as the Obama presidency may survive. If the Democrats take heed from the voters' message, then they will retain the control of congress and perhaps become most successful. The choice is theirs and theirs alone. Congress will change their tactics, but the president? I don't think so. Something tells me that President Obama will not heed the will of the people. President Obama has an agenda. An agenda that is becoming clearer and clearer to be not of my liking or the liking of a majority of Americans. Time will tell. 

Sunday, January 3, 2010

If it's Sunday, then it must be the conservative Republicans attacking President Obama on anything, it doesn't matter what. The loyal opposition, in this case the Republicans, are trying hard to derail the Obama agenda and presidency. They are continuing their concerted attack on the president. On September 11, 2001 the country united with President Bush to recover from the attack on America. Former Vice-president Al Gore said, "George W. Bush is my president". He led the Democratic support for the president and the nation. On Christmas 2009, the Republicans immediately initiated unfounded assault on President Obama and the Obama administration. And they have not let up. True to form the Republicans continue to partisan-ize everything that happens in or out of the United States under the Obama watch. They continue to criticize President Obama's handling of the Christmas terrorism attempt. I believe President Obama wants to present a cool and thoughtful handling of any type of emergency that may develop. He doesn't want to react hastily and possibly imprudently to emergency situations. Rather he prefers to take the time necessary and "get it right". To bad President Bush didn't act in a similar manner. If he had done so, then we would not be in Iraq today and the real masterminds of 9/11 would have been the target of the war on terror. The most regrettable aspect of all of this is the fact that the Republicans are attacking the administration and undermining it's effectiveness for one reason - politics. They think that this attack will prove beneficial for their party in the mid-term elections in November 2010, subsequently in the presidential election in 2012. This action is reprehensible, unfortunate and un-American. I hope that the American people will see the Republicans as they are and call them on their misdeeds.

I will say that the initial comment of Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano was unfortunate. The system did not work. As President Obama said after he had obtained all of the facts, the foiled attack occurring on Christmas was "a result of systematic and human failure". In my opinion this failure did not develop on January 20, 2009. It is the result of failed tactics since 9/11. The president is taking charge of the situation and will have a National Security Meeting this week. Make no mistake, when it comes to national security we are all called to action. In such cases there should be no partisan behavior, thinking or actions. At such times we should consider this an American emergency. Do the Republicans have the integrity to act in a nonpartisan fashion in this matter of national security and safety?   

Saturday, January 2, 2010

Rush Limbaugh says that the United States Health Care is great. There's not a thing wrong with American Health Care. He received excellent care when he was in an Hawaiian hospital over New Years. There's no need for any kind of reform. Of course Rush, you make millions of dollars and probably have the most complete and most desirable health insurance available. What about the millions of Americans who have no health insurance? Health Care is great, but the insurance situation is the problem. Reform is at hand, thanks to the Obama administration. The Health Care Reform Bill is not perfect, but it will provide affordable health insurance to millions of otherwise uninsured Americans. People with low or moderate income levels with no employer sponsored insurance will be eligible for subsidies from the federal government to cover their premiums. Discriminatory practices such as denying coverage of pre-existing conditions as well as limiting coverage due to maximum limits will be outlawed. Yes, Rush, soon millions of poor Americans those who have been forgotten by the conservatives will be receiving fair and equitable health insurance coverage. Old white cranky men, like yourself, Rush, are very upset about any provisions to help those less fortunate Americans share the basic freedoms and rights entitled to all Americans. Move over Rush, the world is changing. Right wing, allegedly God fearing conservatives like yourself must make room for all the Americans who have been forgotten by our government over the years. President Obama will see to it that the basic freedoms and rights of all Americans will be delivered and be delivered in an equitable, fair and just manner. Now that's change that you, Rush, along with your cronies may fear. But it's change that is fair and balanced. 

Friday, January 1, 2010

Happy New Year!