Make no mistake Romney is "the Man"

 

Mitt Romney is making a concerted effort to wear "casual" clothes like jeans and polo shirts.  His attempt to blend in and attract the middle class voters is laughable.  Somehow there is just a little too much starch in that polo shirt Mitt.

I am always mystified by voters that think that being a God-fearing servant equates to plain old American values.  This country was originally settled by people that lived in harmony with their environment.  It was later settled by IMMIGRANTS that were escaping some sort of  religious or economic oppression.  The colonists then enslaved people from Africa and stole the land from the original inhabitants in the name of financial success.  We then put many other immigrants in sweat shops and further built our way to a World superpower on the backs of our economic poor.

Today's poor and middle class may not work in sweat shops anymore, but we still make everything happen in this country.  The 20th century saw massive reform in civil rights and labor reform but I am afraid that now the reform is going to stop in the name of Christianity.  Many people equate being a good christian to being a Republican. 

Good people of America, being a good person isn't always being a Christian.  There are many great people in the world that believe in a different religion or perhaps even love someone that also has a penis.  Stop thinking that people like Mitt Romney care about the average Joe. 

If we want this country to rise to the top again we need to stop being greedy. We learned that not everyone needs a McMansion in order to be a middle class family. We need to remember that a majority of the people are the working class and they need a fair shake in order to survive.  Entitlement programs like Social Security, Medicaid, WIC, food stamps and Medicare were not suggestions of the Republican party.  The minimum wage was fought for by those now-feared labor unions.  These are ideas were primarily established by our "bleeding heart" Democrats to help level the playing field between the haves and the have-nots.

I don't believe that Mitt Romney truly cares about the economically disadvantaged.  There is nothing in his demeanor or more-importantly his platform that shows any sympathy for the real people that are in trouble from the great recession.  Don't drink the Jesus juice folks- please take this election seriously.  Mitt Romney is the Man!

Beasts of the Southern Wild

Every once in a great while you see a movie that makes you say to yourself- That is why I go to the movies!  Beasts of the Southern Wild is that movie this year.  The star is a little girl named Quvenzhane Wallis.  She is simply mesmerizing. 

The magical part of this movie is that it takes you into the world of a completely different culture of people and helps you to understand a whole different way of life.  For the first time you understand why people didn't want to be rescued during Katrina.  My favorite two lines of the movie were descriptions of the evacuation center- "It isn't a prison so much as an empty fish tank."  She also describes the patients being treated by the hospital staff as "being hooked into a wall".  This reference describes how someone who has never seen a fast food place or a supermarket would view the tubes,IV etc. being used to treat a critically ill patient in the hospital. 

This movie weaves the magical thread between reality and fantasy as seen through the eyes of a six year old child.  She was truly a beast in every positive connotation of the word!

Best Wishes to Robin

We just learned that Robin Roberts will be taking a rest for a few weeks.  Robin is someone that I admire.  She has gone through so much and kept her sense of humor and her dignity all the while being in the public eye.  She has helped get many people to sign up for the bone marrow registry.  If you want to help out- look up Be the Match and just a warning you have to donate $100 to cover the cost of your medical tests.  It is a really great way to help out others in need.  The test is simple- just a cheek swab.  Have a well-deserved rest Robin- we love ya!

Teaching Tolerance

As a supplement to my rant about Chic-Fil-A the other day, I wanted to make a comment about tolerance.  In this politically correct age-we have developed plans to educate our children about diversity and we call this teaching tolerance.  I have no problem with this-but I think we really need to broaden the word tolerance to acceptance.

Just think about it.  We tolerate babies crying on planes and other public places.  We do this because we all understand that babies can't help crying.  They communicate their uncomfortable circumstances by crying.  We tolerate this-but we don't like it. 

I personally grew up in a very isolated world. I didn't know any openly gay, African American, Hispanic or Asian people.  I went to college in Atlanta and was introduced to the world of diversity.  There were a few students that were very close- minded at my school.  I learned how much everyone just wants to be accepted.  Isn't it a shame that many of us don't understand that we are  racists or bigots  until we become friends or have family members that are gay or black and then we learn they are just like us and crave a life of acceptance. 

Hate Fil-A

Well- this week brought some very disturbing news-Colorado shooting,Penn State Sanctions, and our favorite fast food joint isn't quite the place we thought it was.

First of all- I used to admire Chic-Fil-A.  They are closed on Sunday and that shows a level of devotion to their Christian beliefs.  They must take a quite a financial hit by missing out on the revenue from only six business days.

 On the other hand-I believe that to be a Christian means to follow Jesus and I really don't think that Jesus passed judgement on any person.  Contributing millions to anti- Gay organizations really sends a message of hate. Was Jesus a hater?

  I also don't think that any community has the right to ban Chic-Fil-A's from starting up in their town(ie. Chicago), but Chic-Fil-A will not be receiving my business any more. 

I was talking with my friend yesterday about all of this.  He is gay and used to work at Chic-Fil-A in high school.  He was like come on- this is old news. The gay community knew about this first, then it made the Advocate and finally hit the main-stream news.  I am heart-sick because Chic-Fil-A was always the go to place to get biscuits for school fund-raisers, nuggets for celebrations after initiation ceremonies etc.  If I knew this earlier- I would have never given Chic-Fil-A my business in the name of my high school.  Some people say- it is just chicken- who cares?  I think if you throw your money at organizations that are discriminating against a group of individuals, then it becomes more than chicken. 

Remember when Medger Evers was assassinated?  He had organized a campaign to not buy gasoline at stations where you weren't allowed to go to the bathroom.  Civil rights is not just for African Americans.  It applies to gays, Muslims, Hispanics etc.  How will gay marriage hurt our country? People that are gay are not hurting anyone.  Don't be HATE-FIL -A ,  I have faith that you can come around and realize that we can all Co-exist and just be good to each other- as my friend Ellen likes to say!

Bob Scheiffer is my hero!

I just want to take a moment to encourage people to look up the commentaries made by Bob the last two weeks on Face the Nation.  I congratulate him on his frank comments on both the inadequate nature of congress and the importance of support of the ban on assault weapons.  I routinely watch both Sunday Morning and Face the Nation and my wish would be that more people would consider listening in on these insightful news programs.  Bob Scheiffer asks the tough questions and he asks them again when most politicians try to side step past them. 

Please take a couple of minutes and at least watch his commentaries for the past two weeks.  He is "spot on"  with both of them.  Thanks Bob-  you have demonstrated grace and character throughout the years and I really admire your style of news!

The Dark Shooting

I woke up to the news of the shooting at the movie theatre in Colorado last night.  I can't imagine being a parent of a teenager that probably purchased advanced tickets 2 weeks ago and now isn't coming home. We don't have any details about the shooter yet but let me make some speculations.  He has always been a loner, probably was teased in high school and may have some undiagnosed case of schizophrenia.  Perhaps he has been diagnosed with a mental disorder but has gone off his medication.

Why is this the only country where we hear about this type of shooting?  This is unique to us because we have interpreted the antiquated second amendment as a right to bear arms for all 24 year old nuts, not just the militia that the law was originally intended.  Our second amendment was modelled after a British law - from the Bill of Rights in 1689.  The difference is that the Brits have realized that allowing every citizen to have guns is not a good idea in our modern times.

Other countries have terrorist bombings and fighting, but this is usually related to some sort of difference in ideology- NOT a spoiled, 24-year old nut job that wants attention because he was able to sneak an arsenal into a movie theatre and shoot a bunch of innocent children and young adults much akin to throwing a grenade in a coy pond.

Sorry to all of you that believe in the right to bear arms- I just can't agree.  How many of the possible 300+ people in the theatre had their guns with them and were able to pull them out to save themselves and others?  None-why?  We you are in this type of situation you really can't Rambo your way out of it.  I just don't believe that having a gun really affords you protection.  I would like to see some statistics on this NRA fans.  I know that countries that have gun control laws have a lot less violence.

If we are going to have "background checks" when guns are purchased, there needs to be more attention to mental illness.  It is scary that someone like this kid was able to build up an arsenal and  have tear gas?  How is this possible?  Yes I am angry and I am reacting before knowing all the details, but that could have been my nerdy daughter at the theatre and I am very upset for the victims of this senseless crime.