The new American conundrum

Our conundrum: People have a constitutional right to protest, I get that. Right, left, pro-life or pro-choice, Pro-Bernie, Pro-Donald, etc, sure.  Wall Street elites and the Occupy Wall Street movement go after each other every day, too. How can we pick and choose who to deny? 

If anyone deserves to be silenced, it's these White Supremacist's and neo-Nazi's. But the courts have said the right to protest is an all or nothing thing. Who should get the right to decide how much is too much?  The Supreme Court?  And who chooses them?  Right wing or left wing politicians, depending on which is in control at the time, that's who.  Justices are supposed to be impartial, but that line is becoming more blurred every day.

Maybe we could put them all in an arena, the pro's and anti's on any subject, and let them duke it out.  They could be 21st Century Gladiators, winner take all.  

No, wait....Charlottesville.  Bad Idea.

S

I'll get the coat hangers, you get the marshmallows

I think many of us are scared to look over our shoulder, afraid of what we might see.  And as more evidence of the denial we are in (IMO), here's what nobody dares say out loud:  Our country is crumbling before our very eyes.  And worse, violence may not be far behind.

Things are near a boiling point.  For years the approval rating of Congress has been less than 10%.  Republicans and Democrats will almost never sit down and find common ground.  Republicans say "no" to President Obama before even hearing what he has to say, and if a President Trump is in our future, I'm sure Democrats will treat him the same.

African Americans feel they are being profiled and abused by the police, and many are quick to take to the streets.  The Donald has said, and apparently many agree, that Mexicans are thieves and murderers and rapists and should be kept out by a tall wall.  The threat of Islamic terrorism has us willingly (?) giving up our civil liberties.  Remember the Occupy Wall Street movement? 

Police are ambushed and killed somewhere almost every day.  It is becoming increasingly difficult for them to protect us when they must first think of protecting themselves.  There is little respect left for "law and order".  "Patriots" are occupying Federal property at gunpoint in Oregon.  The Second Amendment is sacred; guns are bad, blah, blah, blah.  There is no tolerance, and the chasm is getting wider.

Americans don't normally think in terms of armed revolutions.  Those things only happen in Argentina, Eastern Europe, and some of those far-away countries that end in "stan".  We're above all that, right?

I say "don't be so sure."

"Oh Scott, you're paranoid.  You watch too much TV, and you know how the media sensationalizes."

Really?  I live in Ted Cruz country, where 1.2 million people voted for him just yesterday.  He's brilliant and totally without scruples, I don't care how much Scripture he quotes.  I'm around many of his believers every day, and I can tell you that far too many of them are pissed-off knuckle-dragging zealots.  They are emblematic of the underlying anger simmering everywhere.

While it might be good politics to preach love and tolerance, it's unlikely to dissuade the guy hurling a Molotov cocktail at you or taking pot-shots at your car.

Sure, most of us just put in our 40 hours at work, watch a little TV, and coach the kids little league team.  We're not the problem.  But there seems to be no shortage of anger across the country, and it doesn't take many malcontents to set a few fires, randomly kill a few innocents, and intimidate the majority to send our society into a tailspin.  (Then multiply by 10 when you figure in the copycats and the publicity sicko's.)  That's what mobs do, and it works!

I'm just advising you to stay alert and take nothing for granted.   And hope I'm wrong.

S

Anything for a buck (almost)

They're baaaaaaack!  Early Saturday I took the dog out for her morning dootie call and found...you guessed it...yet another 5K run being set up, complete with circus tents in the streets, loudspeakers, balloon arches, sponsor tables, and street barricades.  And a few thousand runners milling about.  I need to find a way to capitalize on all these people invading my neighborhood every other weekend.  Maybe I could sell them "Miracle Quick-Energy Bars" that I doubt many of these skinny-minnies have ever heard of....they're more commonly known as Snickers.  (It's all about the marketing.  ;)


I really hated going to work yesterday as the weather was absolutely perfect.  I would have loved to have done something fun outside instead, but I'm glad I went as I met a promising client who might want to build a new custom home.  I'm meeting them again Tuesday afternoon to provide them with some more specific info I think might help persuade them.  *Fingers crossed*  Back home later, dinner of barbecued spare ribs made me forget about having to work all afternoon.


And finally....I actually have a great deal of sympathy for some of the Occupy Wall Street grievances, specifically the one's about dislodging the banker's grip from around Congress' neck and getting our economy going again and creating jobs.  Unfortunately, many people think the protesters are just a bunch of wackos and dismiss them out of hand.  I don't think this lady, for one, is helping their image:

She needs to learn to say, "Would you like fries with that, sir?"

Have a great week, everyone.

S

  

Nature's sweet spot

This is the day I've been waiting for.  After enduring all those 100+ degree days, fall has finally arrived in north Texas.  The low this morning was in the upper 40's, and the high today should top out around 67.  Sweater weather for sure, but not anywhere near cold enough to get out he big LL Bean down parka.  Warm enough to get outside and do something, but not warm enough to work up a sweat doing it. 


And it's World Series time, too.  I'm not a baseball fan, but to be able to participate in the water cooler conversation the next few weeks I'm going to have to be at least semi-well versed in the World Series.  I've always been for whichever team wins the first game of the series in the hopes that they can win 4 straight and get it all over with.  I personally think it was highly inconsiderate of Major League Baseball to schedule the World Series right in the middle of football season.  They obviously didn't get my letter.


And finally, I read in the paper a quote from a long-time New York money manager (referring to the Occupy Wall Street movement) who said that "....he was disappointed that members of Congress from New York, especially Senator Charles E. Schumer and Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, had not come out swinging for an industry that donates heavily to their campaigns.  'They need to understand who their constituency is,' he said."  Duh....he might as well have just said, "They need to understand who's payroll they're on."


Happy hump day.


S