25 November 2010

Give Thanks, Everyone!

Cancer is an ugly thing. It used to be a sure death sentence. But more and more we're finding ways to make it go away, especially if found and treated in the early stages.
This country has Cancer. We've watched in denial as the tumor grew, and grew, and grew.

This month's "shellacking" of big spenders is an indication a majority of voters have suddenly realized the severity of the problem. The only question?
Is it too late to cure the Cancer?

Treating Cancer is painful.
Surgery. Chemotherapy. Radiation.
No matter the treatment, the patient suffers.
And sometimes, after the passage of time and considerable suffering, the patient still dies.

I love my country.
I've watched fearfully as we denied this economic Cancer was growing.
Have our eyes been opened?
Do we have the discipline to continue striving for a cure, in spite of the pain we'll suffer killing the disease?
I hope so.

Big Bubba is on his way from L.A. and will be here this evening.
We've invited two Navy Trainees to share dinner and the weekend with us. There will be lively conversation, laughter, and joy beneath our roof.
And I'm thankful we still live in a country where this can happen... a country that still produces young people willing to raise their right hands and sign that "blank check".

The election was a great first step...
Let's cure this disease. We can do it!
We still live in the best country on the face of the earth.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

6 comments:

Bob Barbanes: said...

Ummm...am I missing something? I think some people are reading more into this last election than there is. Sure, the House is now (slightly) Republican. But the Senate is still (barely) controlled by the Dems. I see a subtle shift in thinking, but I don't see the "huge mandate" or tidal shift that many Repubs are claiming.

Some of the Republican wins are surely the result of a "vote the incumbents out" mentality.

I disagree that American politics have been riddled with "cancer." I maintain that our system of government is self-correcting. If Big O cannot show *positive* results, and I mean soon, he'll be looking for a new job in two years. I suspect this will happen, but by no means is it a fait accompli

Because I really, really believe that most Americans realize an upleasant truth: that being that "things" would not be too much different right this moment if McCain had won. Even my staunchly Republican boss grudgingly admits that. This ship had gotten too big to turn around quickly. We doubt McCain would have been up to the task either, not with a Democrat House and Senate.

However! The next two years are key. Obama has undoubtedly had a TON on his plate (much like most of us yesterday), and his focus has quite obviously been wrong. Can he correct that and show people that the "change" he promised is working? Maybe...maybe not. Personally, I'm doubtful. But rest assured, whoever wins the *next* presidential election will have just as a big a job as the one Obama faced.

Let's hope Huckabee is up to it!

Anonymous said...

you are so right!! happy thanksgiving back & enjoy your company!! :o)

hugs
bonnie
:o)

Greybeard said...

We'll adamantly agree on one thing Bob...
I'm actually glad McCain wasn't elected so President(?) Obama can take the blame for this mess, 'cause the outcome was gonna be bad no matter who was living in the WH.
(Remember that McCain actually considered changing parties some time back, so he's a questionable "R". That's why I voted for Sarah, not John McAmnesty.)

And I guess I didn't make myself clear. I don't think our politics are cancer-riddled. I think our country is. We've been rewarding negative behavior so long, whole generations have learned to "game" our welfare system and live quite well on it. A blogger friend just did the research and found that 72% of black babies are born to unwed Mothers. The same is true for 41% of babies across the races. HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE?

To my thinking, we've got to get attitudes turned around so folks start taking responsibility for their actions again. If they screw up, there has to be a price to pay. Uncle Sam is broke... he can't take care of everyone from cradle to grave.

And I'll disagree with you on the "mandate".
We no longer have a filibuster-proof Senate.
The Republican tidal wave in the House was the largest since 1938!!!
That's huge... I don't care who ya are.

Dixon Webb said...

Greybeard . . May I throw another two cents in? You use these blogs to order your thoughts, and it works well. You have a disiplined, common sense approach to our problems and you're usually right. But Greybeard, neither our politics nor our country has cancer. We have a growing crisis caused primarily by greed. It too is a sickness and even harder to cure. It's a fault designed into human beings and everyone has it to some degree.

Since our nation's founding, we have sent a lot of good and honest people to represent us in Washington. The very day they arrive they catch a mild case of the greedies. It is the one error our founding fathers neglected to arm us against. The result is the real soft spot in our national shell. It started back in 1776 but I am personally acquainted with it only from 1936. WWII was awful. FDR was responsible for our part and he did well. The effort industrialized us, put our women to work outside the home, and broke the bank. As WWII continued, FDR took the wrong path. He tried to grow government, have government control more of our lives, reduced our traditional freedoms, tried to solve our shortage of money by printing more, and tried to solve our high unemployment by creating government jobs. The net result was that his efforts failed in every adventure. Greed surfaced big time. Graft and corruption ate away at the economy. What we now call "earmarks" went out of control. More and more, politicians purchased votes and power with government money. Excess and waste ran amuck. And most important, senior government jobs that were set up to have short terms began to lengthen. An elected Senator or Congressman was conditioned to believe he or she had and was entitled to a full time permanent position. This relatively small deviance from the founders intent, changed the basic nature of American politics. Instead of serving for the public's good interests - they served first to ensure re-election, then to satisfy their party, then to satisfy their bank account, and LASTLY to represent and serve their constituents. American politics became a nest of greed. Change was desperately needed to correct all of this and set the priorities in proper order again.

Instead, we got Mr. Obama and his group of "hate America first" people in his administration who want to throw out the good and replace it with the bad. I hope we can learn something from all this -but it's doubtful. . . . Bump

Greybeard said...

Dix-
It's impossible to argue with a man that has seen it first hand. All I can say is I'm watching what's happening in Greece, Ireland, Portugal, Spain, and fear that since we're using the same path our fate won't be much different.
The price of precious metals isn't going up because their value has increased...
It's going up because the dollar's value is diving. Our spending is out of control. We're rapidly approaching a time when we won't even be able to cover interest payments on our debt, and our creditors know it.
Cancer? A "growing crisis"? Call it what you will, we're in trouble and the cure will be VERY painful.

Greybeard said...

Wow.
No sooner do I have the words written than someone smarter than me explains why the U.S. is in for big trouble.