a new kind of fear

I don't remember when or where I lost that feeling of being safe and secure as a citizen in our country.  It probably was right about the time of the big Watergate scandal where I was, as a teenager, dismayed to witness a sitting president impeached for lying through his teeth and covering it all up.  Woodward and Bernstein remain my heroes to this day.  I also distinctly remember the murder of JFK and my fascination with the Zapruder film years later.  These events, coupled with my dislike for the Vietnam war served to help me form a somewhat healthy "distrust" of authority especially where constitutional freedoms are involved.  Big brother and all that, ya know?

I read in horror today various accounts of how some deranged radical thinking idiot on a mission to make a political statement gunned down innocent people in broad daylight at a public place, killing many.  Thank god a couple of guys had the guts to tackle him before he took out anybody else.  The incident has spawned much speculation about what effect the state of our two party system (and all the hatred and corruption that lies therein) has had on the increase in political violence in our country.  There is seldom a kind word spoken over the party line fence and never much room for compromise. This is wrong, folks.  Our elected representatives are not the college football team to be worshiped and franchised.  They are accountable to us for every vote and every day that they are in office.  Yet they do not represent us, per se.  They represent THEIR party.

There are so many things wrong that it's easy to eliminate what I think are the biggest temptations for lawmakers to remember from "whence they came."  Lobbying by paid employees for profit driven corporations is something that I've never approved of.  Like....duh.  Who isn't gonna give the contract to the sleaze who buys him a hooker and a steak????  Puleez, ya'll.  Remember who you are, umkay?

This war is all about oil and always will be until we cut our dependence on the asshats who sit over there and jack with the price while they blow themselves up and take our service people with them.  Wrap the damn thing up, already.  There will never be peace in those lands and if there is it certainly won't be by the hands of the US military.  It will be because they choose it for themselves.  Our homeland security is seriously lacking because all of the resources are being used to fight over there.  Sheesh.

Within our country, I see areas of great need reaching from food pantries to healthcare.  Instead of sending money to other countries to build churches, why not spend some of that dough on improving the 'hood that you are in, thus being Jesus to those you live around?   As a member of the UMC, payment of apportionments has always been both a thorn in the side and a blessing to me.  A paradox, if you will.  Sure, you help do bible school for kids in Africa, but what about the ones in your town or neighborhood?   Just a thought.  How about all ya'll healthcare professionals getting together across denominational lines and putting together a faith based health center for the uninsured?   I marvel daily at the fact that so many elderly people have no family to care for them and are institutionalized in places where money is the bottom line.  I could go on and on, but I won't.

Gotta get out the snow shovel ^j^