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A Mixed Bag of Feelings:
Good News, Bad News
And no, I’m not really thinking of tea bag or Tea Party people. They do seem a mixed bag that the media keeps trying to define. My perspective regarding them shifted when I heard that they’re funded by the same person who paid people to talk about how John Kerry and his Swift boat history in Vietnam was “unpatriotic.”
A source I have great trust in told me he knows part of the crowd is paid to be there, which adds another dimension to defining them.
Whether it’s the union hiring nonunion people to picket or rich anonymous backers paying people to demonstrate, it certainly makes me wonder about the righteous anger I hear from demonstrators. Their “emotional” reactions lose some of their fire. The only thing for sure is they will do better in some States than in other States.
Prop 19
It’s interesting that in Prop 19 (the initiative to legalize marijuana) the Dems may have a hot issue to attract the younger voters—and Libertarians and old hippies, too? Maybe they noticed that it has always helped GOP voter turnout when there’s a gay, “pro-life” or immigration issue to vote on. We may be voting on pot for years to come.
I like the initiative because it might stop some of the drug-related violence we’ve been seeing in San Diego. Tijuana is too close to us not to notice the damage, terror and heart break the drug cartels cause when fighting for territory.
What’s inspiring is hearing about the 20-year-old student who took over as sheriff in the small town of Praxedis Mexico. They haven’t had a sheriff since the last one was murdered in July 2009. She is still studying criminology in school and she stepped up. The town has only 8500 people and is part of the Juarez valley region, where 2500 people have been killed so far this year. Courageous. To think violence can’t happen here ignores that it already is.
While we certainly don’t need another way for people to be unconscious, isn’t it hypocritical to jail people for MJ and allow tobacco and alcohol use (which is more dangerous by far)? Just as with alcohol, isn’t it most important to punish abuse, not use or possession?
When I heard that the Feds said that no matter what California wants, the Feds won’t allow it, it got even more interesting to me. About time we talked about it and looked at the costs of it, isn’t it? We spend a billion a year to fight it, or it could bring in a little more than that if we taxed it. That’s a $2 billion positive shift that might pay for the cost of cigarette and alcohol abuse.
The Polls
I mentioned last month being suspicious of the polls, and found another good reason. One analyst pointed out that the polls lacked balance because only people with landlines are called. Those who are strictly mobile-phone users, often younger and often Democratic voters, are not polled, but factored in instead. In other words, they guess.
The recent release by Wikileak gave us new numbers from the military regarding civilian fatalities in Iraq—a figure the military said it didn’t keep. That, along with the idea that some tea lovers are paid to party, all makes me think at times that we never really have the evidence to know what’s going on for sure, but our gut feelings about it can still be right on.
Following the money, rather than listening to the rhetoric, often brings more clarity. Too bad it’s often later, as with Iraq, that the media fills in the details.
Did you see this detail? The percentage of city-dwelling Iraqis who live in slums today is 53%? In 2003 it was 20%. The Iraqi’s consistent complaint is that we still haven’t restored reliable electricity or water/plumbing.
Wouldn’t it be great to elect people who question using war and the military to resolve problems?
It’s Our Government
I hope people see that government is not the problem—it’s who controls the government. The Founding Fathers—whom everybody quotes as being great, wonderful and inspired—were, after all, were the government; the politicians who got the ball rolling. It was our job to elect those who would work for the “general welfare.”
Forget the Government?
At the same time, politics isn’t the most important thing in life. We can live a good life and work around the government. We can be happy and create a life of satisfaction. We can have a sense of purpose for our life and move beyond politics. We can participate in society and try our best to ignore the political process as much as possible. We can watch sunsets and celebrate our relationships. Perhaps it’s on that level that we do really live.
Unfortunately when no one watches, those who don’t do much celebrating—I mean those who think that who has the most toys wins—try to make the rules to their advantage and buy our government. They want another piece of us, and then another. Has bad news ever gone away by ignoring it?
While it may seem as if we can live apart from politics and government, there are also life-and-death issues they get involved in. Both business and government determine what health care is available and sometimes it seems that both also determine whether or not we go to war.
Good and Bad
Thinking about that aspect—life and death—can make the political process seem unimportant. It’s been that way for me since I last wrote here.
First there was a time of great joy. My niece Kim gave birth to a baby boy, Kayden. Her first child. It was amazing to me that I could go to the hospital about 12 hours after he was born, and sit down in my niece’s hospital room with her mom, dad and husband Kody. And then be handed Kayden and just sit there holding him for a half hour. What an emotional and wonderful time experiencing this new life.
Then there was a time of loss. My uncle, Byron Nelsen, passed away. He and my Aunt came out early summer, so it wasn’t that long ago that we saw him. We knew he was sick, but not how sick. He was suffering, which made it even more special that they made the trip.
I couldn’t help but remember that he was there when I was born. He came out to California from Salt Lake with my Grandmother. After we moved to Salt Lake, my mom and her sister both worked and they dropped my cousin and I off at Grandma’s for the day. Byron was there, like a older brother really, to play and care for us after his school day. Grandma was a hard worker, but she also had a way of putting people to work, too.
I hope Kayden will experience a good and happy life, and don’t wish him to be anyone but himself; but I have a hunch he may care about people the way my Uncle Byron always cared about people.
He’s got a good start. What is it they say? Don’t bother telling kids what to do or how to be; they’ll just watch and do that. Having seen how big my niece Kim’s heart opens for kids, I think all is well. That was obvious by how much she cared for and played with her younger sister Emily. She’s in her zone with kids.
So it’s been a month of mixed emotions—life and death passages. With politics, who really knows what’s coming? I’d be surprised if too many of us see through all the ads and hype. They used to say, money talks, BS walks. Time to change that, isn’t it? Now days, in this time of free spending, we may be seeing a coming together—the days of both BS and money talking and perhaps walking. Government can get in the way sometimes, and it can level the playing field and open doors other times. It’s important, but compared to some things, ultimately. . . .
It could get pretty boring if that’s all there was.
Have a great month,
