I'm over it.

I'm over it.  The facebook soapbox debate team.  The multiple screen new millennium day dream.  The "how can you like that band?"   The John Sayles Good, John Hughes Bad.  The 10 reasons why Patton Oswald should replace JJ Abrams fad.  But there's more to be had.... Bees are dying because of pesticides on genetically modified crops made mandatory by our food supply, privatized.  Bring on the poison!  Bring on the 14 year old mcdonald's hamburger!  For the children.  Strollers equal progress, no matter what is dies in the process.  Culture? Who needs it?  Dissent?  Who heeds it? You want to argue whether bush II was a bad president?  Seriously, you need the evidence repeated?  American Amnesia.  I need to defend what President Obama has done, again and immediately after the Definite majority of the American Votes were won.  The American Argument. Yell until it's moot.   It's good for the incompetent "news", reporting all the tunes that keep us hitting snooze.  A major US city Shut Down, because two crazies bomb a marathon leaving three dead and 30 missing limb.  The bomb? A mix of metal objects and firework gun powder in a pressure cooker.  Back at the house an arsenal of bombs and guns. An AR-15 wielding mad man shoots up a first grade leaving 21 Dead and we still can't get the government to even give every person a background check that wants to buy one, to see if they're crazy, a felon, or a turrist on the run.  Is there a problem that the bombers (from Dagestan outside of Chechnya, though some in the American Intelligentsia have confused that with the Czech Republic) had guns or just the bombs?  Did they listen to an extremist Muslim cleric?  Did they listen to extremist alex jones? Did they differentiate the ingredients of today's violently fear mongering conspiracy soup?  You can make Damn sure they didn't listen to Liberal extremist Dennis Kucinich. Was the younger following the older one's orders?  He was under 9 years old when he moved here.  A hail of gun fire at a landlocked boat, and he wasn't armed at the time to boot.  Rendered speechless once the rights We have in Our Country were read. Why sequester Our debates there? How about the laid off, the furloughed, the dramatically affected. It's Our inept congress's sequester's  White House tour pause and flight delays that have Our patience tested.  Oh No Not Fleet Week too!  What are Our heroes to do?  Filibuster hero, ayn randy paul, droning on for twelve hours about the way a drone flies now says drones are fine if they are shooting down the bad guy, that stole $50 from a liquor store or anyone he agrees is enemy aligned.  The American Constitutionalists' cry to keep the bits they like at all costs, but if they don't like you, that parchment is tossed.  That's a shoe that fits several outfits.  No need to look passed Leviticus.  So that's it.  I quit.  Who am I kidding?  I'm adDickted too it.  But a breath.  A breather.  Breathe in nature's ether.  Avoid the over-stimulation.  The under-simplification.  New Status Update: Freeing mind from occupation.

same boat

We're all in it together.  This reality.  Show.  Gay.  Straight.  Man.  Woman.  Black.  White.  Green.  Greedy.  Jewish.  Muslim.  Taoist.  Christian.  Atheist.  Spinning in circles.  This boat.  Opposite sides paddling in opposite directions.  Checks balanced by obstruction.  You decide.  We decided.  No one abided.  What would the Dude do?  It's none of his business.  It's none of my business.  It's all about business.  Their business.  The hypocrisy.  The indecency.  The intolerant "religious”.  Enshrouded.  Undoubted.  Longing for a time that never existed.  Where privacy consisted.  And questions weren't insisted.  Before the fbi lingerie and the blue dress had its day.  Light a candle in the wind for the days of your.  Own perspective.  Taught to remember the way it wasn't.  When everyone was pure of heart and never lusted.  Hearts and minds.  Clinically.  Cynically blind.  To a "small" government peeping through a bedroom keyhole.  Shouting from internet soapboxes and arm chairs well twitted.  Showing solidarity from the comfort of our own bed.  I-deologies.  Lock step.  Same book's tussle.  The Bible Shuffle.  Holy fiction.  Man written assuming god's diction.  But we are all the same blood, bone, muscle.  Love thy neighbor.  Give them your coat.  Donate your riches.  We are all here.  Now.  And that's all there is.  It's harder to breath past the outrage than it is to continue it.  To find accord than to see the difference.  Scape goat jump rope.  A feudal routine.  The New Bill of Who's Right.  Wrong.  Loud like a Swans song.  Deafening. The whisper in the grass below.  Worker ants just trying to help the queen grow.  Back to nature.  Turned into a stranger.  Walk through the woods.  Breath.  Let your mind go.  Open.  Facing the horizon.  An ocean.  Up from the center of a stand of trees.  Nature’s notion.  The sound of a stream's water splashing can land you on your knees.  Reflections of a blue sky's sunlight.  Bubbling.   From rock to rock.  Watching branches bend.  The breeze.  Enveloped by the sound of trees.  Looking for the creatures that live in their fallen.  The ecological, biological circle of life.  An old tree’s fallen.  Through which a chipmunk's crawling.  A grub's feast.  Shrooms entomb.   Tree to nutrients to a soil.   For new plants.  For a new tree to rise in the light left by the fallen.  Nothing wasted.  Nothing gained.  Efficient.  Sustainable.  Reused.  Recycled.  Made up of the same.  Matter.  Of fact.  Neither created nor destroyed.  The sun rises.  The Earth spins.  The alarm clock sounds.  The next day dawns.  On us all. For one.  And Love for All. 

Tricked.

We've been tricked.  Bamboozled.  Conned.  Into believing the better for them, the better for Us.  That we just haven't worked hard enough.  Don't want It as bad.  It.  The It thing.  It's gotta have It.  Swindled by snakes selling their oil with the hiss that it doesn't matter your generation in riches, in poverty, in working, in middle class.  It's the same level playground.  Our bootstraps are all just as low.  Any of the fooled can be an Idol with the right reality tv show.  The bigger they get the cheaper it is.  The cheaper the poison the better.  Poison our bodies.  Poison our minds.  Our Air.  Our Jobs.  Let them eat soda!   Only 99 cents!  Pennies in the jar.  The Newest.  Latest.  Largest!  Smallest!  Sold!  Sold on needing a $400 dollar "phone" at only $100 a month.  The phone.  Get the phone.  Need the phone.  The question answering, map making, alarm clock, egg timer, video game. The tv show,  guitar tuning, audio and video recording, still photo camera. The image touching, radio, record collection, photo album.  It's gone Viral.  Festering in my pocket.  An itch I can not help but scratch.  From screen to screen to screen.  The power generated by and for the almighty screen.  Make those pictures move.  Shiny keys to the kingdom.  A better place.  The money's always greener.  Envy sells soap.  So does Inclusion.  So does Hope.  Soap to wash the us or them off from the our way or the highway.  Soap to wash the monkey do as i say not monkey see what I do off.  Standing there.  Eyes stinging.  Somebody dam up that river so I can rinse this lather off.  I'd rather see clearly what they've done to me.  To us.  With their prada shoes.  The leer jet blues.  Close my eyes so I can't hear it.  Plug my ears so I can't feel it.  Numb. Self Medicated. Zoloft. Paxil. Xanax.  Self intoxicated to avoid the panic.  May cause shortness of breath or heart attack.  We'll take those odds.  Our delusion of sanity back.  Food.  Water.  Shelter.  Love.  It's all you need.

For Jack Kerouac...

For Jack Kerouac from Hoboken, NJ, 3.12.13:

The mundane. The rainy Tuesday morning when the coffee can’t come quick enough or strong enough. On the bus with the cold damp stares. iPhones and ipads. Dumb looks at smart phones. Squeaking breaks get under my skin when the melatonin hasn’t quite worn off yet. Funny how you can go to sleep so inspired and wake up so disheartened. In the office above the garage the smell of garbage and diesel greets. No One Made Coffee yet?!?!? I’m on it. Voicemail. Email. Email. Facebook. Check. Check. Check. Check. What’s news? Who cares about the pope? Jack Kerouac does. Maybe I should have a side of empathy with my disgust for the catholic church. Next up… the rich and powerful don’t give a shit about anyone, but themselves. Maybe one of the bamboozled and fooled gun totin’ tea bagger will realize and shoot ‘em in their bottom line. Where are those walls I use to build so well? My own world makes so much sense. Outside. Or inside this dog eat dog, reality tv, boot strapped, freedom means you’re on your own, world. Where more people still give more of a shit about American Idol then about their neighbor who is starving to death among the world’s wealthiest. Maybe the quarterback can teach our kids the new math. One plus one equals google. Kids told to read while adults play video games. Safety surfaced sidewalks marked by the heels of last night’s indecipherable drunks. The only ones left who make sense to me. Born and raised homeless pleading for change from the people they sold their home to. Ah, to be a fly on the sheetrock… when stick ball was the national past time. Who needs bleachers when we got stoops. Avoiding needle park on the way to a swim in the poisoned Hudson. From dock workers, to artists, to automated everywhere USA cyborgs. Sinatra to Valastro. I wonder what the Beats would Think. Write. Dream. Piss. Drink. In this day at their age. The baton passed to the long lost hippies then dropped. Laying on the dirty ground for decades. Where’s the LOVE, as my rock club manager friend would say. Where’s the love? There’s Lust. There’s Gluttony. There’s Greed. But Love…

Seems harder to come by these days. Left right left to the beat of their drummer. All on the same beat. Handed down from those who can to those who are convinced they don’t have the time to. Have to pay for what used to be free. Just listen to the closest screen you can see. They must know best. They’re the place to be. Right between the world’s worst chefs and three hours of zombies. Still the flowers rise regardless of their power. Look past the glower. The Fear. The Resentment. The Tired. The Bored. The uninspired. Look up past the drones. The clouds are still animals. The Sun still shines, cutting through rain drops to make bows across the sky. Open your eyes. Empty your ears. Your mind. Our mind. That’s where it’s at. The pot may be gold but this kettle’s still black. So much bullshit to set aside. So much beauty they try to hide, replace, emulate. It’s out there. Everywhere. Walk slowly. Breathe Deeply. Drink Heartily. Hear the beat. The beat beneath. Feel the beat in your chest. The Beat. Bumpbump. Bumpbump… bumpbump bumpbump. The boat we’re all in. Oars coming out of our ears. Stroke. Stroke. Stroke. For a new tomorrow. For a Change. Stroke. Stroke. Stroke. Toward a more rational destination. A more together nation. Stroke. Stroke. Stroke. Toward a brave new world. A greener horizon. Jump in to the deep water. Flail. Kick. Get that head up. Let the grind stone sink. The group think. They lied. We imbibed. Drunk on nonsense and paranoia. Fuck it. The little voice in my head knows better than that. The voice. The mind. The Heart. Dig… Deep… Dig the Beat. Thanks Jack. Love Dave.

Three out of Five murderers agree....

There were over 30,000 deaths from bullets shot by people using a gun in America in 2011.  There have been over 1,500 people killed in this manner since the massacre that took place on December 14, 2012.  I say "bullets shot by people using a gun", because "guns don't kill people" people use guns to shoot projectiles to kill people.  In fact, guns make killing people easier than other weapons, like knives or ropes or hammers.  A gun can be used from a distance, where knives and ropes are more "up close and personal".  Ex-Navy sniper Chris Kyle may have been able to attest to this had he not been tragically shot and killed along with veteran Chad Littlefield at a shooting range by an ex-Marine.  At Sandy Hook Elementary school in Newtown, CT, 26 children and adults had bullets fatally shot into them by a person using an AR-15 (a gun that would be banned by legislation currently being proposed) as his preferred tool to propel multiple projectiles at high speeds.  Twenty six people died. Twenty of them were First Grade children.  That same day a person in China stabbed 23 children with a knife.  No one was killed. That's not to say you can't kill someone with a knife. Of the 12,500+ murders in the United States in 2011, over 1,500 were from stabbings.  Over 8,500 deaths by murder were due to the victim being shot with a bullet from a gun.  In more than 60% of homicides (that's 3 out of 5) in the US the murderer used a gun.  The ease with which people can use bullets shot from guns to kill or maim, is one of the arguments for why people should have them for protection.   The relative ease with which you can pull a trigger and have an aerodynamically designed projectile pierce a target, alive or not, hasn't stopped people from ridiculously failing to do it right.  It's not difficult to understand why some of us think people should be trained and tested before owning and operating a fire arm.

To listen to the seemingly paranoid head of the national rifle association, you would think, as Paul Krugman has recently put it, we were "living in a Mad Max movie".  Of course, the nra head was For universal background checks before he was against them.  President Obama and his administration are not trying to take away anyone's guns.  You will still be able to defend yourself without an "assault weapon" or an ammunition clip of more than 10 bullets.  And "assault weapon" is not just some media scare tactic term.  "Assault weapons" are defined by the laws that ban them (see NY's recent SAFE Act gun law and the "Federal assault weapon ban" that was adopted in 1994 and expired September 14, 2004).  When it comes to high capacity ammunition clips, it is easier and quicker to spray a classroom, police headquarters, or movie theater with bullets, killing everyone around you, with an automatic or semi-automatic weapon with 30 bullets in the clip.  If the reason to keep all assault weapons without restriction is the way they look, as gayle trotter recently referred to in her Congressional testimony, I'd have to say a shot gun, or as a veteran friend of mine referred to it a "boom stick", would instill a very similar fear in an intruder.

The Bill of Rights was adopted and attached to the Constitution of the United States.  The Bill's Second Amendment states "A well-regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed".  What was meant by "a well regulated militia"?  The only military established at the time the U. S. Constitution was written was the US Navy, and the Navy's most powerful weapon was a cannon that shot balls of iron one at a time.  So the framers of the Bill of Rights could have been talking about people being armed to protect the "security of a free State" from outside forces, like say if the English struck back.  Neither the word "gun" nor "fire arm" is mentioned in the U.S. Constitution or the Bill of Rights.  At the time of the framing of the Bill of Rights, muskets were being used, again one shot at a time.  The Second Amendment does not say right to bear ANY arms.  It does not mention the right to Conceal your arms.  Do regulations necessarily "infringe" on rights?  Marches in NYC and elsewhere in Our Nation require permits issued by local governments, yet the First Amendment still stands as it pertains to assembly.  There are laws and regulations that limit Freedom of Speech when it comes to things like harassment, or inciting violence, or threatening the President. There are already regulations in many States regarding guns, and the Second Amendment still stands.

The idea that we should not have laws or regulations, because criminals may break them is ridiculous.  We have laws for murder. Now substitute the word "laws" for "regulations" and "murder" for "the most frequently used tool in committing murder".  The "only outlaws will have guns" argument is one that continues to come up in the pro-guns crowd.  The fact is that people break laws and regulations and when they are caught doing so, they are convicted as criminals and consequences are sentenced.  Do some criminals "get away with murder"?  Yes.  Should there not be a law or regulation on it, because they do?  No.

President Obama has made a proposal to deal with gun violence based on the recommendations of Vice President Biden's task force, who met with representatives on multiple sides of the gun violence issue.  President Obama issued 23 Executive orders primarily having to do with data sharing, incentivising gun safety practices, and opening up gun violence research to government health organizations.  The President also has urged Congress to take action on back ground checks for All gun sales, banning high capacity ammunition clips, and certain types of "assault weapons".  President Obama's plan to reduce gun violence can be found here.   The "skeet shooting" president will certainly have opposition on any new criminal or mental health background checks for purchasing a gun, as well as on any bans on any particular fire arm or ammunition.  Some in the nra think that if they wait for the "Connecticut Effect" to wear off, the popular push for new gun relations will fade with it.   Proud assault weapon owners occupied the Oregon State Building recently.   Nothing makes elected officials, their staff , security, and visitors safer than a bunch of people they know nothing about (outside of the concealed carry Permit they got that allows weapons in public buildings) walking around the building with military style weapons strapped to them.  None of these gunmen used their gun to fire bullets like a man recently did in a courthouse in Delaware, shooting four people including two armed police officers.  Two women, including his "target", were killed.  The fact that the murderer hit his target despite the armed police, and that two policemen were shot (before the armed assailant was killed by bullets fired by guns used by the police), goes to the argument that "good guys with guns" are the solution, as does the story of the Los Angeles Police Department mistakenly killing a woman by using their guns to shoot bullets into her.  Of course, the police are not the only people to make mistakes or have accidents with guns. Recently a woman's gun  fell out of her pocket in a mcdonald's.  When the gun hit the floor it went off, shooting her husband.  I guess, in this case, the gun shot the person, though pro-gunners will surely blame the floor.  Failures, mistakes, and accidents with guns are easily searchable, as are intentional shootings using guns to fire bullets to kill people.

There are those in Congress who are against additional criminal and mental health background checks or any other restriction or regulation on purchasing these instruments of death.  Some have several thousand reasons (insert wink emoticon) for their opinion.  Thanks to the nra, there is also a list of people and organizations that support laws and regulations on the weapon of choice for murderers in this Country, which of course was "scrubbed" from the nra's website. Regulating guns and ammunition will not solve the problem of gun violence on its own, but arguments like "video games are more dangerous than guns" do not help.  We live in a society that makes a much bigger deal about the human body on screens big and small than the destroying of them through violence on the very same screens.  We are shown by Our government that guns and ammo is the go to way to resolve conflict. The idea that we make it easy for someone, criminal or not, mentally challenged or not, to purchase and load any gun they want is mentally challenged.  Law abiding citizens have to constantly jump through legal hoops and regulations for a lot of what we do "legally" in this Country. We can regulate it like we do driving.  Test and license operators and register and insure the operated. Do we really need limitless check free internet selling of guns to be perfectly legal to preserve Our Freedoms?

"Each of these proposals deserves a vote in Congress. If you want to vote no, that’s your choice. But these proposals deserve a vote. Because in the two months since Newtown, more than a thousand birthdays, graduations, and anniversaries have been stolen from our lives by a bullet from a gun...."Hadiya’s parents, Nate and Cleo, are in this chamber tonight, along with more than two dozen Americans whose lives have been torn apart by gun violence. They deserve a vote.....Gabby Giffords deserves a vote.  The families of Newtown deserve a vote.  The families of Aurora deserve a vote.  The families of Oak Creek, and Tucson, and Blacksburg, and the countless other communities ripped open by gun violence – they deserve a simple vote."  

 - President Barack Obama 2013 State of The Union Speech

The 2nd Inauguration of President Barack Obama (I Heart DC)

I came to the Second Inauguration of President Barack Obama looking for inspiration. When I crossed Constitution Ave. for the first time of the weekend, I had already begun to find it. President Abraham Lincoln's Memorial stands strong and stoic on the western end of the National Mall. The Great Emancipator sitting on his throne, silently reflecting. I wonder if he ever dreamed that an American with the skin color of those whom he emancipated would hold the Nation’s top office some 28 President's later. The Jefferson Memorial is my favorite and always brings out my inner romantic. Jefferson sits on the water’s edge, somewhat separate from the others. Absent the sharp edges of his counterparts the round, softer monument is the perfect place to catch the D.C. sunset. On the Eastern end of the Mall is the most iconic building in Washington, the United States Capitol building with it’s the cathedralic dome and President Ulysses S Grant out front on horseback ready to lead the legislature inside to glory. The White House, the Capitol Building, the Statue of President Abraham Lincoln, and the statue of President Thomas Jefferson all face the Monument built to Our first President, President George Washington. The Washington Monument is a striking, rigid obelisk. It is the lynch pin that holds the whole thing together. The American Heroes for whom these monuments were built stood up in the face of diversity. They refused to simply adhere to the norm and profoundly changed the country around them. They did it with and through Strength, Intelligence, Creativity, and Perseverance. None of them are without fault, but these legendary figures weren't doing what they did thinking about how many cities, towns, states, schools, streets, and airports would be named after them. It's wasn't for the millions they would make. It was for the good of the Country. Their Country. Our Country.

It was fitting that the Second Inauguration of the first African American President of the United States was on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Standing in the shadow of the Martin Luther King Jr. monument, I watched as an elderly African American woman looked up at the larger than life granite Reverend with tears streaming down the sides of her face. It's said it all. Those who think differently are missing the big picture and I'm sure would be ready with a list of smaller ones. Barack Obama did not use race in either of the elections he won. There are those who say that the United States is “post racial”. Whatever your stance on race in Our country, electing and re-electing the First Black President is an important, historic achievement for Our Country, and I for one am Proud to be a part of that.

The 1776 Declaration of Independence, the 1787 United States Constitution and the actual Emancipation Proclamation securely housed at the National Archives are shining examples of Our history, Our strength, Our courage, Our intelligence, and Our power through words of action. Great men, gathering to debate, discuss, and form a country that less than 200 years later would be the most powerful in the world. In Our 237 years as a nation, we have already developed quite a rich and diverse history that is on display and well archived in Our Nation's capital. Washington D.C. has an incredible amount of American artifacts. In two days, I saw microphones President Franklin Delano Roosevelt used for his fireside chats, President Dwight Eisenhower's golf clubs, rough drafts of the Bill of Rights with handwritten edits, Kermit the Frog, Dorothy's Ruby Red Slippers, Muhammad Ali's boxing gloves, Archie Bunker's chair, The Spirit of St. Louis, the Wright Brothers plane, the Apollo 11 command module, Original Lincoln Logs, a broken into file cabinet from Watergate and the recording device that blew the lid off the President Richard Nixon's legacy, Edison's light bulb, President Washington's walking stick, and so much more.

The diverse nature of Our history was also on display on the walkways and sidewalks of the Capital. There were boy scouts, girl scouts, soldiers, Gospel choirs, families, hippies, suits, and what I’m sure are the regular few spouting conspiracy and redress. Different accents and languages filled the air. Old and young Americans filled the National Mall, finding history, and witnessing it. And let's not forget the button pushers. The merch army was STRONG on the streets of D.C. Stronger than any parking lot of any concert or event I've ever been to. Obama hats, coffee mugs, travel mugs, baseballs, coins, cell phone covers, bobble heads, t-shirts, sweat shirts, pajamas and lots and lots of buttons.

I was here for President Barack Obama's First Inauguration four years ago, a much colder weekend to be sure. In the subsequent four years, much has been accomplished. There was the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, one part tax breaks, one part aid to State and Local governments, and one part investment mostly for infrastructure and green energy. The recovery since its passage has not been as fast as any of us had wanted, but it is going in the right direction by almost every indicator at this point. Most of the blame for the reduced speed of the recovery should be placed on the failures who determined, the day of the First Inauguration of President Obama to make Barack Obama a one term President and have obstructed ever since. The Affordable Care Act was passed. Whether you think “Obamacare” goes too far or doesn’t go far enough, it’s the first meaningful Health Care legislation I’ve ever seen. And I’m sure there are 21-25 year olds, people with pre-existing conditions, and people who were worried about hitting their insurance limit that would agree with me. The ill-conceived Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy for Our military was repealed. President Obama gave his vocal support to same-sex marriage. The long pre-emptive war of choice in Iraq has ended (for real this time), osama bin laden is dead and the President (with Congress) cut discretionary spending by $1,500,000,000,000+ (over 10 years). At the end of his first four years, President Obama made the $400,000+'ers pay a little more in taxes while not increasing Federal Income tax on anyone else from what they paid in 2009 and increasing the Capital gains tax on income from investments, totalling over $600,000,000,000 in increased revenue. It makes me think about what I accomplished over the past 4 years, and inspires to think of what I want to accomplish in the next four?

Standing in the crowd, listening to President Barack Obama deliver his Second Inaugural address filled me with such political and civic pride the tears welled up in my eyes, as well as the diverse eyes around me. It was a powerful speech at a powerful moment. President Obama's Second Inaugural Address was a call to action, on climate change, on immigration, and on equal rights for All Americans, be they women, Our "Gay brothers and sisters", or Our "vulnerable". It was an inclusive speech. A "We the People" speech. A "you and I as citizens" speech. The President was telling the Americans standing there in the cold and watching around the world that now is the time for action. Telling us, and the rest of the US government, that now is the time to stop perpetually arguing over what will work for all time and "Act in Our time". That Our acting as citizens is essential to accomplishing what we want to accomplish. When the President puts forth policy or initiatives, like say gun control, immigration, climate change, or clean energy, he needs Our vocal support to push that agenda politically. Putting aside its dubious financial backing, the Tea Party pushed and continues to push the policy agenda and elections for one of the two major political parties. The Occupy Wall Street movement changed the National economic conversation to income inequality. Popular movements work, they just never go far enough for some. By referencing Seneca Falls, Selma, and Stonewall the President effectively said radical action by the public makes things happen in a government made by, for and of the people. If We the People want something done we need to help to do it. We the People need to be out there in front of it. The “Bully Pulpit” and Executive orders are strong, but without serious public support not enough of what we want will be achieved, especially if the current House of Representatives continues to act how they've been acting. There were lines for his opponents in the speech, discounting the “taker” meme his presidential opponents tried to attach to Social Security and Medicare and discrediting “the privileges of a few or the rule of a mob”. But more than anything else, this speech was about Americans coming together to get the job done.

As the sun went down on my Second Inauguration weekend, I stood at the Lincoln Memorial, on the stone etched with the words "I Have A Dream" - Martin Luther King Jr. - March on Washington - August 1963 and watched Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. deliver that speech on (of all things) my phone to celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. day. Before I was done watching, two young black men and what I think was their mother gathered behind me to watch over my shoulder, looking out onto the reflecting pool as we watched how filled with people the mall was that day. At the end of the speech, the woman hugged me and said "God Bless You". I was so moved that the mention of god had floated right by me. It didn't matter. She was saying thank you to me for helping her say thank you to Dr. King on a day that I think he would have felt proud to see the First African American President Barack Hussein Obama have his SECOND Inauguration.


SQUID’s NOTE: On the cab ride back to Union Station, I realized once again that Washington D.C. a large varied city. I, of course, am drawn to the historic, governmental part of it. But D.C. is always good for good eats. A bowl of noodle at one of one of the many Vietnamese or Thai restaurants, not to mention Chinatown is always a good call. Georgetown's restaurants, shops, and bars are pretty damn good too. Set on streets lined with old brownstones, the Daily Grill boasts freshness because "nothing is kept overnight", Paradiso has some fine craft beers and brick oven pizzas you can watch them create. The pizza really is good, and I don’t usually try outside of the NJ/NY area. The District Commons also boasts good microbrew, and it goes great with a "Pig Board". I think every American should go to Our Nation’s Capital at least once. You will not be disappointed.

poor willard

And by poor I mean ridiculously rich, but seriously folks, have you all seen the "secret romney video" at Mother Jones?  Let's start with the 47% comment.  There are several offensive elements in:

"There are 47 percent of the people who will vote for the president no matter what. All right, there are 47 percent who are with him, who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe that government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you name it. That that's an entitlement. And the government should give it to them. And they will vote for this president no matter what. And I mean, the president starts off with 48, 49, 48—he starts off with a huge number. These are people who pay no income tax. Forty-seven percent of Americans pay no income tax. So our message of low taxes doesn't connect. And he'll be out there talking about tax cuts for the rich. I mean that's what they sell every four years. And so my job is not to worry about those people—I'll never convince them that they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives. What I have to do is convince the 5 to 10 percent in the center that are independents that are thoughtful, that look at voting one way or the other depending upon in some cases emotion, whether they like the guy or not, what it looks like. "   

First off(ense), the 47 % willard is talking about is the 47%, out of the current 48.3%, that support the Re-Election of President Barack Obama.  According to willard that 47% is completely made up of self-proclaimed "victims" who are "dependent on the government".  To all those who do support the President and aren't a retired senior, veteran, student, unemployed or working poor, I'm sure willard didn't mean you.  If he ever speaks to you I'm sure he'll say the opposite. The 47% of people who do not pay federal income tax, which does not mean they do not pay taxes, are broken down like this according to the Tax Policy Center.  44% are paying no income tax due to Elderly tax benefits, 30.4% due to credits for children and earned income tax credits, 5.6% for education credits, and the remaining 19.9% are due to tax exemptions, deductions, capital gains and dividend rates.  If willard releases his tax returns for years prior to 2010, we may find out that he is part of the 47% that support the President.  There's something else wrong with this statement, which is even more offensive when heard/seen than read.  More Americans paying no federal income tax live in states that support willard than states that support the President.  It isn't even close.  The people that do not pay federal income tax include seniors, students, veterans, and those making than $30,000 in income.  Imagine for a second, living on less than $30,000 per year.  Now imagine it with a family.  Middle class and wealthy families are also included in the 47% that pay no taxes. The most offensive part of candidate willard's statement is that his "job is to not worry about those people" and that they will never be "convinced that they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives".  Tell that to a senior who paid into social security and medicaid there whole lives.  Tell it to a student trying to pay their way through college.  Tell it to veteran home from serving his or her country.  Tell it to a poor person working any job they can to keep food in their children's mouth. Yes, I believe that All people are Entitled to food.  I assume by his statement willard thinks the We should just let people starve.

Candidate romney claims that "95% of life is settled if you're born in America".    Not everyone was given  stocks and money from their car company owning, Governor father when they graduated from their provided for Ivy League education, willard.  I thought you and yours said that you build your own success and it has nothing to do with the United States government or it's policies. The video from the $50,000 a plate event continues with willard giving his fatalistic, "kick the ball down the field" example of leadership when it comes to striving for peace between Israelis and Palestinians, and more of his foreign policy (not) know how when it comes to diplomacy.  His saber rattling on Iran's still non-existent nuclear program was much less believable and much more rehearsed than his republican presidential predecessor.  Candidate willard called the President's foreign policy approach naive.  This from the foreign policy wizard who undermined the United States Government and its Commander in Chief while Our embassies were under attack and who's stance on Russia (yes folks we are still in the cold war) has lead to vlad putin thanking him.  His dillusions actually have him and his believing violence won't occur simply by him being in office.  Now that's naive.

Perhaps the most ridiculous statement in the "secret video" was willard's comment on how much better he would have it if his father was Mexican born:

"my dad, you probably know, was the governor of Michigan and was the head of a car company, but he was born in Mexico. And had he been born of Mexican parents I'd have a better shot at winning this, but he was [audience laughs] unfortunately born of Americans living in Mexico. They'd lived there for a number of years, and, uh, I mean I say that jokingly, but it'd be helpful if they'd been Latino…"

First, his father was born in Mexico because his American born father (willard's grandfather) moved there to be a polygamist, fleeing the United States laws against it.  Secondly, the idea that the current republican nominee would be better off if his father was a Mexican is ludicrous and unbelievably out of touch with the malevolence with which Mexicans and other immigrants are treated in this country, particularly by his party (see immigration policy and birther movement).  And of course it assumes that Latinos will automatically vote for a Latino candidate no matter their position on say... immigration.

Candidate willard is a man concerned about taxes but thinks we have no right to be concerned about his.  A man whose father put him on third base with a world class education and stocks and cash to get him started, but claims to have built it all by himself.  A "man" who built his success by the gordon gekko method.  First, you put as little of a down payment on a company as possible.  Then borrow hundreds of millions to purchase full control of said company.  Saddle the company with the debt from that loan, and then charge the company a management fee to tell them who to lay off and fire until they inevitably go bankrupt.  A process by which willard made millions, ceo's and management got nice bonuses and workers lost their jobs and their pensions.  Candidate willard is a "man" who won't mention his republican presidential predecessor but surrounds himself with the same advisers that got Us into this mess in the first place.  A "man" who rattles his sabre about America's strength, even though he avoided fighting for his country in Vietnam by living in a castle in France to push his religion.  I thought Vietnam Veteran John Kerry seemed French (or should I say Freedom).  Candidate willard offers no specifics on any policy, no tax returns from before 2010, and no fight accept for cutting taxes even more for the wealthiest Americans and corporations.  Candidate willard is an empty corporate suit, the last choice of his party's primary (and there were some doozies!), and a weather vane on almost every issue.  He is Not who I want running My Country.