Only people who have seen or read the Wizard of Oz would know that's another name for skipping along the road of life with all kinds of scary critters to get in the way. Just imagine..in fifty years, there will be very few who know what a munchkin is. How sad. What is even sadder is the state of our economy and politics in general, world (non) peace notwithstanding. I tried to imagine a million soldiers at war for ten years giving their lives so that we could take this country and hand it over to the bad guys. I don't expect a full troop withdrawal. What I do expect to see is more of our service people stationed in our country protecting their own citizens and families than defending foreign countries because there's oil there. To hell with that excuse. An orderly drawdown of troops implemented by wise people who aren't worried about their income from defense contracts should do the trick. Just think..all that defense spending would go to US HERE!! Win, win, if you ask me. If somebody wants to plot and scheme to blow us up from halfway across the country, it will happen anyway so why not tighten up those borders and find out who's in charge where. We've got Canada to the north and Mexico to the south so I'm thinking I'll head north. Because, well. Ya'll know I hate to sweat.
Society has always been littered with pits of evil and destruction. When a human spirit is tortured or denied the basic right of being loved unconditionally there is sure to be a snake around somewhere, I'm telling you. The media have become the ones who strut around on multi-million dollar contracts telling us their version of the story. There's this guy at work who has a bumper sticker that reads: "I don't believe the liberal media." Oh..so does that mean you believe Dick Cheney??? Puleeeez. One of the defining moments of my political roots came during Terri Schiavo's fight to end her life gracefully and peacefully on her own terms. Her husband knew how she felt and tried to honor her wishes but her parents did not. Bill Frist, former Tennessee politician and healthcare tycoon, jumped out there into the fray and urged the country to believe that if she were allowed to die, it would be murder and that's just wrongwrongwrong. Especially when if affects your own bottom dollar, right? He's one that I can't wait to see at the gates when the sheep and goats get separated. I'm just sayin'
Another, oddly enough, was the whole Katrina thing. Sure the people knew there was a chance of flooding and they chose to live there but REALLY????? I remember watching in horror as our country found out in bits and pieces what kind of chaos there really was going on down there and Lord have mercy. OH. And, you-know-who was on a golf trip or at an AA meeting or something. No. I don't "miss you yet" The key to being a successful leader, to me, seems to be surrounding yourself with people in whom your trust is safe and working across party lines to accept differences and enhance strengths. Democrats are masters are figuring out social programs to fund, they just tend to farm them out to untrustworthy people. Republicans are security aware and could use that to our advantage if they'd stop trying to conquer the world.
The flooding of the Mississippi and Missouri rivers this year has devastated the heritage and livelihood of many who live along that route. One of my old shuttle buddies sends me pictures of his beagle Snoop every time they go out camping. This beagle has his own personalized life jacket. I met him in Arkansas last year when I picked Tony and Bob up from their great adventure. Even got to share a cold Budweiser with them while Snoop slept in my lap in the back seat of a Dodge truck with the windows open. Good times :)
There is a peculiar peace that comes with trusting Big Ernie to have it all planned out so that all we have to do is show up. If I had a penny for every time I've tried to make something happen that wasn't meant to be, I'd be in Fiji. And with my luck, there would be a freakin' volcano!
^j^
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