TIME OUT FOR A SERMONETTE...

Consumer spending drives 2/3 of our economy.  The nation needs people to spend money, even if they don't have it or have to borrow it.  Advertising is designed to get us to spend that money on products we don't need, and brands that cost more while providing the same function as something less expensive.  At this moment, Americans are surrendering their privacy to Google and Facebook and offering themselves up as lab rats in a battle to see who can use your most private thoughts and desires as hooks to pitch various products and services.  Billions of dollars are riding on who is more successful invading your space and attention to sell you something.

     I understand how crass it is and it always reminds me of Marx's comment about how a capitalist would sell the rope to be used to hang him with.  I'm not naive.  Google and Facebook and network television are not free.  You pay a huge price when you use them.  You are a part of the culture of the next hot thing or gizmo.  Cynicism runs rampant as every psychological trick is used to create desire and cause you to buy out of envy, peer pressure and social rewards.  I get it.

     However, a recent Lexus commercial has riled and saddened me for what its premise says about our culture and us and I pass along these thoughts.  The ad has snippets of a couple engaging in various activities.  They are sumptuously dressed entering a nightclub...sitting near a high fashion show runway...attending a glittering party or driving through gorgeous scenery.  The buttery voiceover kicks in, "...someday your life will flash before your eyes.  (pause for effect)  Make sure it's worth watching."  (I wanted to add, "and abandon hope all ye who watch this.")

     The tag-line plays on the popular myth that just before you die your whole life is going to flash before your eyes.  We will get a chance to see a quick summary of what we have done and how we have lived.  This last ephiphanous moment is where judgment is rendered on the quality, or lack thereof, which is the compilation of our time on earth.  According to Lexus, if this flash does not include a luxurious car; glittering dressed and high-end entertainment; rich food, friends and fun all supported by a lifestyle of conspicuous consumption, it is neither worth viewing nor successfully lived.

     Yes, it's only an ad and yes, it is one of thousands shown each day.  Yes, it is aimed at a population that has the money to purchase the car and yes, I am not naive and understand what goes into selling a product.  However, I would wager this ad did not ruffle as much as a single feather for most of those who viewed or listened to it.

     Perhaps my current surroundings and circumstances make me more sensitive to all of this than I would have been otherwise.  Is it possible my, or any life, could be worth watching which doesn't include a Lexus, Mercedes, Audi or BMW...Stella McCartney, Dior, Alexander McQueen or Vera Wang...Cabo, St. Bart's, Jackson Hole or the Big Island...iPhone, iPad, or Macbook?  Am I taking this too seriously and overreacting?  According to Lexus, how would we view the flash of lives of people like Mother Theresa, Dorothy Day, Martin Luther King Jr. or the people who volunteer at St. Anthony's or Sacred Heart Community Services?  What value judgment would we put on the last view of a life like Susan Prather's?

     On one hand, I know I'm blowing this out of proportion, but on the other these ads wouldn't be run if their author, did not believe this pitch would resonate with audiences they are targeting.  They sat in a room spit-balling tag lines and hooks until they hit on this one.  This one that says if you don't buy the expensive car and aren't living the luxurious life, your life isn't worth watching or living.  They believe this approach will sell cars to Americans who have bought this intellectual baby-pool school of thought to values and living in the past.  Maybe, only after everything of "value" is taken from you, do your eyes see and ears hear for the first time in years...maybe that is what has happened to me.

     I want to believe our culture, and we who occupy it, are better than this.  I acknowledge the seduction of rich things, but hope and pray we are teaching our children how success and happiness are not dependant on who dies with the most stuff.  I have failed as a parent if my children are not loving, compassionate and empathetic and see value in how we actually live life, not the car we arrive in.
 

     Perhaps, like George Bailey, I have been given a chance to see life differently.  My sins and failings and punishment have me dreaming of a walk with my wife or hanging out with my children and see that as living life large.  Maybe this ad struck such a discordant note because I see and hear now and was blind and deaf before.  Whatever the answer, if these types of commercials and pitches are like water off a duck's back to you, it might be time to pay attention anew.

     When was the last time you were really happy...filled with joy, awash in feelings of satisfaction and peace?  If the answer is not quickly forthcoming, maybe together we can seek out the real thing instead of the artificial trappings of success.  It seems to me it would be worth it.

FOUR YEARS...

 On January 20,2009, from a prison in Beaumont, Texas, I called my youngest son's cell phone.  It was about 11am, and when he answered I could barely hear him due to the background noise.  He was standing on the Capital Mall amidst more than one million others celebrating the inauguration of Barack Obama.  I was in tears as I spoke to him...my voice cracking with emotion.  He was present where history was being made.  He had attended a concert in Obama's honor the day before and stood at the front of the stage listening to everyone from Springsteen to James Taylor serenade the President.  I could tell in his voice he was tired and moved and excited at being there.  My emotions were on my sleeve because I was talking to him...sharing with him his observations and reactions...wishing I could be there with him.  He will always remember where he was that day just as I will always remember the joy of connecting with him for a brief moment which we can both cherish forever.

     He won't attend this year's inauguration.  Estimates are the crowd will be smaller and the event less emotionally intense.  It has been a long 4 years and many people are tired of the combat and brinksmanship which characterized much of the first term.  Obama was re-elected because his opponent could not rally enough angry white people to put him in the White House.  Americans have no illusions about a second term.  If there were some reason to anticipate an audacity of hope in the first term, most Americans would settle for a modicum of competency in the second.  The ongoing uber-partisanship exhibited already does not bode well for hope or competency.  No one has asked, but I will offer some hopes and wishes for a second term and I invite you, in your comments, to add to the list.  We do this knowing full well, if we don't get involved...lobby...agitate..write...call and stir things up, nothing we desire will be attained.

     Despite all the talk about Obama being a socialist..communist...anti-capitalist Muslim from Indonesia...a stealth weapon aimed at the rich and prosperous, Obama's first term saw an economic bailout and stimulus aimed directly at Wall Street and almost ignoring Main Street.  (which makes it even more stupefying to see Wall Street pouring millions into the campaign coffers of Mitt Romney to defeat Obama...I sure hope he holds grudges)  A banking industry which caused the worst depression since 1929 has been made whole with profits rising.  No one has gone to jail.  Investigations were bought off with a few billion-dollar fines.  The Dodd/Frank financial services legislation has been gelded by the moneyed lobbyists and the same banks refuse to ease lending rules stifling an economic recovery.  Hardly the record of a raving socialist.

     In his second term, Obama needs a grand economic bargain.  He needs to increase tax rates and close loopholes for the 1%, not one or the other.  He needs to reform the tax code so "carried interest", the millions Romney receives in income from investments each year, is taxed like ordinary income.  Capital gains taxes need to go up if corporate rates are going to go down.  Tax breaks worth billions for oil and gas companies need to end along with ethanol, water and other subsidies.

At the same time, spending has to decrease.  The deficit is a real danger.  Obama needs to start with the war department.  Its budget needs to be reduced dramatically.  A 10%-15% cut could easily be absorbed as its budget has seen double digit increases for at least the last 10 years.  (getting all the troops out of Afghanistan will help as will ending a number of white elephant procurement programs.  Personnel must be eliminated) Medicare spending must be reduced, but that goes part and parse with my second recommendation.  Means testing Medicare and Social Security shouldn't be anathema.  Removing the earnings cap for Social Security will put it on firm financial ground well into the future.

     In his second term, Obama has to make sure his health care reforms work.  Health care is the main driver of a fiscal time bomb which could derail any recovery.  He has to be committed to the establishment of real and competitive health exchanges in every state.  Exchanges which force health insurance companies to compete for customers and drive down rates.  He has to stop insurance companies from double digit rate increases using loopholes in the law.  There is going to be a huge shortage of primary care doctors for all the new patients his plan covers, and Obama needs to require more and larger medical school classes with a promise to forgive tuition loans if graduates specialize in primary care disciplines.  If he does this well...if Americans can get affordable insurance and access to doctors...if innovation in health care is encouraged...Obama's legacy will be assured right next to Lyndon Johnson, who started Medicare, as presidents who served the nation well.

     Obama loves Wall Street.  (just look at his economic team)  Big money can sway him and his people.  However, he has a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to rebuild the manufacturing base in America creating tens of thousands of new jobs and improve the environment at the same time.  Obama has to resist the siren call to export natural gas.  Natural gas prices are so low, companies are moving back to America to set up manufacturing plants.  Low energy costs, combined with lower transportation costs, make America a manufacturing winner and counters the low labor costs of China et.al.  There will be tremendous pressure on Obama to approve natural gas exports.  It will literally kill the golden goose if he succumbs.  It will drive up the cost and undercut the appeal of made in America.  The nation's oil and gas companies will put great pressure on him to agree to exports.  They don't care about national needs or security.  The bottom line is their god.  If Obama gets this wrong, his legacy goes up in smoke from coal fired plants.

     Despite all the heated rhetoric around immigration, the facts are plain.  America benefits from immigration.  In many other parts of the industrialized world, populations are aging and not maintaining a sustainable birth rate.  Demographers recently announced California's birth rate has dropped below the level which sustains the population.  Immigrants have higher birthrates and infuse youth into the country.  Immigrants with skills also benefit the nation.  Immigrants bring a solid work ethic and desire to belong and to contribute.  An immigration bill which allows all immigrants to have a path to citizenship is an economic necessity.  They are already contributing.  It's time to welcome them.

     National security is one place we can hope a second term differs in some way from the first.  It is difficult to see where George Bush stops and Obama begins when it comes to national security.  Obama has fought for increased government spying and used national security to prevent citizens from suing the government for abuses.  He fought for renewal of the Patriot Act and is pushing for the creation of a new huge data collection center in Utah, which will allow the government to finally destroy the 4th amendment.  He has sanctioned more drone strikes than Bush could have imagined and he supports the belief the president can order the killing of any American deemed an "enemy" without due process.  His first four years have seen Guantanamo still open, a willingness to saber rattle with regards to Iran and no clear policy on dealing with China or Pakistan let alone the nations of the Arab Spring.  His national security record is a disaster from the most modest of civil liberty views.  It will continue in the next four years unless someone, like Chuck Hegel, can act as a counterbalance in the Pentagon.

 

     We are told the President has about an 18-month window to accomplish these goals before the race to replace him sucks all the oxygen out of Washington.  He needs to settle the fiscal debates quickly.  He should call out obstructionists in both parties and govern for all the people, not just the ones who can afford to lobby him.

     I can feel the emotion well up inside me as I think of the call to my son that day.  Despite my shortcomings and failure, he was able to be present for history in the making and soaked up the rays of hope emanating from the West side of the Capital.  I was able to share it with him for a few minutes.  These next four years will be the proof of the pudding as to whether or not that hope was justified.  God I hope it was.

CONFESSION IS GOOD FOR THE SOUL!

 If the reports are to be believed, Lance Armstrong has admitted to Oprah Winfrey, our national confessor 'n chief, he engaged in an elaborate scheme to illegally enhance his performance during his years as a professional cyclist.  If true, he would have a boatload of company, as professional cycling appears to have had the same problem as baseball...everyone was doing it.  So what happens to Lance now?

     The condemnations will follow at light speed.  Armstrong's name will be mud in athletic circles.   He couldn't' endorse mom, apple pie or Chevrolet if his life depended on it, nor would anyone want him as a spokesperson.  He is going to have to pay out millions in civil suits and possible face a criminal probe.  (although its my belief the confession is part of an orchestrated deal to avoid a criminal trial for fraud or trials over perjured statements denying he ever doped.)  At the end of the day, the best he can hope for is after a few years, the public is willing to give him a second chance.  He is hoping there is such a thing as redemption.

     Armstrong has valid reasons to think redemption is possible.  He looks to the case of Philadelphia Eagle's quarterback Michael Vick as a hopeful sign.  Vick ran a dog fighting business.  Dogs fought, sometimes to the death, and any which were weak or not aggressive enough were murdered.  Vick personally killed dogs.  He too denied, denied, denied until he get a deal with the Feds.  He went to federal prison, came out, was hired by the Eagles and eventually signed to a multi-year, multi-million dollar contract.  Vick recently even purchased a dog for his family with little negative reaction from the public.  He has been redeemed.

     Vick has company.  Elliott Spitzer, former governor of New York, was buying sex from high priced hookers.  He too denied it until confronted with proof.  He resigned in disgrace and went into exile.  Yet, a few years later he had a show on CNN and on Current TV.  He is redeemed.  Marc Sanford, the former governor of South Carolina, who " hiked the Appalachian trail", had an adulterous affair with a woman in South America.  He lied about where he was...lied about a fact finding trip...lied and used taxpayer money for his travel...lied when he got back.  His wife left him and he became the butt of every late night comedian on the planet.  This week he is re-entering politics in South Carolina.  He has been redeemed.

     Bill Clinton treated women like tissue paper and his vows as if they were written in invisible ink.  It was so well known he cheated that in 1984, at the Democratic convention in San Francisco, Dwayne Garrett told me Clinton asked him and other democratic heavy weights about his chances for running for president.  Dwayne told him it couldn't happen if he didn't keep his fly shut.  Yet, he was elected president and then lied to the American people, lies under oath, lies to his wife and family and is impeached.  Today, he is credited with playing a huge role in the re-election of President Obama, is a multi-millionaire and an international figure of repute.  He is redeemed.

     I'm sure you could come up with other examples.  I'm sure Armstrong knows the list by heart.  He is hoping people will forget.  He is hoping Americans love a comeback story and second acts.  He is hoping American's short attention span will enable him to keep his head low, hunker down and ride out the storm, only to emerge with a book deal, (Living Strong with Disaster?), rise again, rehabilitate his image and maybe get a job on ESPN as a color commentator for the Tour de France.  You and I know this scenario is very possible.

     I don't begrudge anyone redemption.  I believe we live in a redeemed world.  Good for Michael Vick, Elliott Spitzer, Bill Clinton, Marc Sanford and many others.  No one should be crushed by a mistake or a bad judgment or because of an overheated libido or because they wanted to win and if everyone else was cheating, they would too.  (I think Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens will end up in the hall of fame...both redeemed)

     However, there is an hypocrisy or double standard here which makes me wonder why we are so willing to forgive animal cruelty...serial philandering...lying...perjury...national damage...prostitution and other disreputable, illegal choices, these men made, but on a daily basis, Americans are released from prisons chastened, punished and committed to living good productive lives, and they face a series of hurdles and obstacles designed to make redemption almost impossible?  Why have we built a system which almost guarantees people who have shown similar poor judgment, made similar mistakes, and wish to do nothing more than live their lives, support their families and re-emerge back in society, are treated as pariahs, unworthy of either forgiveness or redemption.

     Lance Armstrong is hoping he will get a second chance.  Vick, Spitzer, Clinton, Sanford et.al. have already gotten theirs.  Yet, in America, people do their time only to be released into a world where jobs are almost impossible to find.  What they may know best, or the skills they have developed over years of work, they are prohibited from accessing.  (commit a financial crime and you are banned from the industry...medical fraud and you can never be a doctor again...nor can a lawyer ever practice again.)  Many employers will categorically refuse to hire someone who has been in prison...landlords refuse to rent to them...probation officers deliberately engage in behavior to which causes them to lose jobs.  The only reason Lance Armstrong is confessing in public is because he believes redemption is an attainable goal, yet it's not a goal for most of those who have spent time in prison who believe it is neither possible or probable.

     It is easy to say criminals deserve what they get, but the double standard, which exists for famous offenders who are rich or athletic, is clear.  Arnold Schwarzenegger (affectionately known as the "boobengrabber" to me) lied to the people of California, cheated on his wife, fathered a child with his maid and denied his existence, abused women on numerous movie sets and used his star status to get away with it all.  He is now writing books and has a new movie coming out this month.  He didn't even have to hang his head in shame and refused to answer questions about past abuses.  Yes he is redeemed.

     Over 1,000,000 people occupy the nation's prisons.  How have we allowed a system to be built in which all the economic incentives are wrong and which seems more geared to encouraging re-offending and returning to prison?  (the recidivism rate in federal prisons is 69% after 5 years.)  Shouldn't redemption be available to all?  Shouldn't second chances be offered to anyone willing to try again avoiding the mistakes and poor choices of past behavior?

     For those of you seething and chomping at the bit to accuse me of being self-serving, save your breath.  I will be fine.  I have an amazing family and I am loved. I've asked everyone of importance to me for forgiveness and apologized.  I have wonderful friends and acquaintances who stand by me.  I can return to my former profession, and expect to do so, and I will never make a stupid choice like this ever again.  I am very lucky.  The vast majority of those going home face a system you, and your representatives, have constructed and it's one long minefield designed to explode in their faces.  The irony is, it hurts you and society as much as it does them.  It eats up billions of tax dollars...forces you to spend more on prisons than on the entire U.C. system...is a perpetual money machine, which will continue to drain resources forever with no long-term benefit to you, whatsoever.

     I promise you this.  If you ever screw up or make a mistake or a bad choice or poor judgment, I will offer you any help I am capable of and will be happy to let you use any talents, any skills, any professional training to reenter the job market and society and stabilize your family and yourself so you too can be redeemed.  Am I alone?

THE WAY OF THE DODO...

 Happy New Year to everyone and I apologize for not writing for the last two weeks.  I haven't got a good excuse, but I'm trying to get back in the saddle and this is the first for the New Year.

 

     I will eagerly place my chair near the TV in anticipation of the game between the Forty Niners and the Green Bay Packers.  It's a playoff game with all the implications and a victory moves the Niners one step closer to the Super Bowl.  I have a pizza-bowl all prepared.  (layers of tortillas, sausage, pepperoni and cheese which is then micro waved)  It's as close to a real pizza as we can get here.  (Tortillas are not an adequate substitute for fresh pizza crust, but we make do)  All of this to carry me through the 3-plus hours of the game.  Oh yes, it is possible this could be one of the last football games I watch.

     Junior Seau played for 20 seasons as an all-pro linebacker for San Diego, Miami and New England.  He retired in 2009 and last year committed suicide by shooting himself in the chest.  The results of a post-mortem examination of his brain concluded he suffered from Traumatic Encephalopathy.  His brain was damaged by repeated blows to the head.  This can lead to premature dementia, depression and suicide.  Seau gave his life entertaining me and millions of other fans.  He was paid allot of money to take the field each week and it led to his death at a young age.  Unfortunately, he is not the first, and won't be the last, to suffer so we can sit in front of the television on Sunday with a pizza bowl, wings, sub-sandwich and all varieties of beer and beverages.

     With what we know about brain trauma, it appears the number of blows one has to endure to be affected are much less than you might think.  We have examples of this condition occurring in high school and college football players who had only played for a few years.  The science is clear.  Blows to the head, which jar the brain, have serious consequences.  It is also clear each blow does not have to result in a concussion for it to be a contributing factor to traumatic encephalopathy.

     So, now it begins to feel more like Rome than it does America in the 21st century.   How many of us saw Spartacus, Ben Hur or The Gladiator and cringed at the idea of men being put into an arena to fight to the death for the entertainment of the masses?  What kind of a society...what sick person...what immoral culture would be entertained by a "death sport"?  We watch these movies with an air of moral superiority because we would never go back to the gladiator age...we would be repulsed by the suggestion of pitting men against each other for amusement...we are above the idea of bread and circuses aren't we?

     Yet, we now know every week millions gather to watch in person, or on TV, athletic contests which are killing the players.  It isn't so crass as to have them killed each Sunday.  Instead, it's a slow death which takes a number of years and devastates not only the specific athlete, but also his family, wife and children.  We don't extend our thumbs up or down on Sunday, but we revel in the great hit...you know the one that make everyone go oooh!  If you didn't get to see it live, we provide highlight shows which repeat the great hits over and over again.  (anyone remember the horrible scene of Joe Theisman's leg bending and twisting in a stomach-churning way and how often it was repeated?  Why do we know the names of Jack Tatum, Ronnie Lott, James Harrison along with Dick Butkus, Ray Nietchke and Lawrence Taylor?)  As much as we love touchdowns, no touchdown in history has ever caused an entire stadium to stop in its tracks and just oooh.

     There is nothing the pooh bahs of football can do about this problem   They run ads about how they are changing the rules at the Pop Warner level so children don't lead with their heads when they tackle.  Given what we now know...given that a child's brain is still growing and developing...given we don't know how many blows are needed...why do we let children play the game at all?  Former Rams and Cardinals quarterback Kurt Warner says he will never let any of his children play football.

     At the professional level you have men who weigh 300 pounds and can run as fast as running backs.  The blows they deliver are akin to getting hit by a speeding truck.  There is no helmet or rule change which can protect someone from the basic physics of the game.  One team physically dominates another until they win.  The irony should not be lost on anyone that helmets and pads and mouthpieces etc. were all mandated because the sport was considered too brutal, but the law of unintended consequences is these changes actually guaranteed more devastating physical confrontations as players became human missiles.

     If you knew to an absolute certainty some of the men you watch each Sunday will die that day, would you still watch?  Would it still be entertaining?  You know to an absolute certainty, some of them will die, just not on this Sunday, or the next, but as they turn 40 and look to the rest of their lives, the chances of reaching old age are drastically reduced.

     Ultimately, football has to go the way of boxing.  People can't continue to see men brutalize each other and themselves and not be affected.  (Boxing is trying to comeback via the mixed martial arts of the Ultimate Fighting franchise, but it will never approach the level of interest of football)  More and more players will sue over injuries and mental impairment.  Those in charge of football will try to tweak the rules, but fail to stop the damage.  Parents cannot be in denial anymore and have to refuse to allow their children to participate which will be the death knell of the sport.

     Meanwhile, I will watch the Forty Niners, and hope they win...that they knock Aaron Rodgers out of the game...have their defense totally dominate Green Bay with an intensity which results in powerful hits and takeaways and turnovers.  However, I will find myself thinking about Junior Seau or Dave Dureson and it will become more and more uncomfortable to be a willing participant in our modern version of gladiatorial combat.

WHY...

Part of the wall-to-wall national coverage of the shooting in Connecticut was fact gathering.  Who, what, where, and when dominated the commentary.  However, all of the media scrutiny was carried forward by a rip current caused by the fifth "W"...why?   Why did a 20 year old apparently kill his mother and then go to her school to kill what she loved most, her students?  Why did he snap?  Why was he angry or depressed or both?  Why did his mother own three powerful weapons, one of which would have been illegal if we still had an assault weapons ban?  Why was there a shooting in an Oregon shopping mall?  Why did an NFL player riddle his girlfriend, and mother of his child, with bullets and shoot himself?  Why a mosque in Wisconsin or a theater in Aurora?  It's a tsunami of whys.

     At the time of the attack in Connecticut, another was happening at a school in China.  A man stormed the school and attacked the children.  20 children were wounded, but none killed, according to CNN.  20 children were also targeted in Newtown and all of them died.  Is it as simple as acknowledging a man with a knife, bat, club, spear, sword, bow and arrow cannot do as much damage as one with modern weapons of destruction?  Which would the parents and residents of Newtown have preferred...the 20 year old having a gun or a knife?

     Why are we so afraid to engage in a discussion about guns?  Our nation resembles a group of people standing waist-deep in gasoline and someone has the brilliant idea of giving everyone a book of matches under the premise this will make everyone safer.  Why do we accept this state of affairs?

     One week ago, USA Today had a cover story about professional athletes and guns.  It seems almost all own one or many guns and see nothing to be alarmed about athletes who earn their living being angry and violent wanting these weapons around their home and in their cars.  What is scarier is to read their comments supporting this position.  The gist is now that they are making a lot of money, and acquiring valuables, they need guns to protect their stuff.  The inclination was not to install sophisticated security in their homes, or hire professionals to protect them...not to build safes or use safe deposit boxes...but instead to strap on and accept that the best way to preserve their property and selves was to obtain multiple guns.  They are so scared of the culture they come from, in this country, as soon as they achieve some success, they fear someone will try to take it from them and they are ready to defend all of this to the death.  There are rich athletes in Canada, Britain, throughout Europe, why don't they feel the same fear and resort to the same solution and why don't they have similar tragedies as occur here?

     We are an angry nation.  You don't have to look any further than the recent presidential election to prove this fact.  We are angry about everything.  Perhaps the anger is a product of the reality we are a terrified nation.  Everyday we are told there is more and more for us to be scared of.  Economically, we are all to be terrified of going over the fiscal cliff...of the lack of jobs and what will happen to us without enough of a pension and medical care.  Workers fear declining wages and a political class which wishes to make it more difficult for them to organize and fight for a share in the enormous profits being generated.  We have to be afraid of terrorism.  We have to be so afraid we watch the government eliminate the 4th amendment and create invasive databases in order to spy on us and we don't raise a finger in protest.  We are told to be afraid of China and terrified of what is going on in the Middle East.  In America's cities, we are bombarded by stories about violence and mayhem and the need for more police and more guns resulting in more tension.  In California, we spend more on the prison system than on the entire U.C. system.  Why?  We are so afraid of each other we think locking people up will save us.  How else do you explain wrecking the premier education system in the world in favor of guards and bars?

     We are afraid of growing old and getting sick and wonder who will take care of us.  We have to defend a social safety net from "them".  "They" will kill it or tear it to shreds leaving us sick and impoverished and operating in a social Darwinism based on survival of the fittest.  We have to be afraid of our own bodies which attack us with various cancers and other diseases.  We have to be afraid of what we eat.  The Wall Street Journal reported on pork producers who fill their pigs with antibiotics creating "super" bugs which resist medicine and infect us.  Refined sugar, and who knows what else, is making us obese and diabetic and this will bankrupt the nation, kill a lot of us, if something isn't done.

     When you are scared, and on edge, and under pressure, the slightest event or provocation can set off a chain reaction which ends in a shopping mall in Oregon, or a school in Connecticut or a village in Afghanistan, (where a soldier walked from house to house killing those inside), to Columbine, Aurora or a schoolyard in Stockton.

     So, the first question is do you agree we are a frightened and tense nation?  (why do we spend billions on anti-depressants and treat mental health problems, as something akin to Astrology, which we don’t believe, is real?)  What is the source of this fear?  Are we an angry nation?  Why and who are we angry with?  If we are tense and angry and scared on a daily basis, does it make sense to flood the country with easily obtainable weapons, kept on our night tables within easy reach when we lose control?  (There are those who also want these triggers in churches and on college campuses and in bars, to make us safer)

     One Connecticut parent told CBS the shootings in Newtown were a parent's worst nightmare.  The reality is parents today are harangued with a thousand similar nightmares every day.  It's a wonder they can sleep at all.  What do we do?  Do we become "preppers" and hoard stuff waiting for Armageddon while hiding behind our deadbolts armed to the teeth?

     I'm not smart enough to offer a comprehensive solution.  I do know when you combine a scared, tense, on-edge population...angry and stampeded by a corporate media which seizes on every opportunity to frighten...with an easy ignition source like guns...we should stop being surprised when something explodes.  20 children are alive in China because their attacker had a knife instead of a gun.  This cannot be ignored.  However, we have to address and confront the origins of our fears and anger and distrust.  If we don't, what happened in Connecticut will continue to occur with increasing frequency.

     Is it too clichéd to remind us all this tragedy too place during a season of Peace on Earth, Good will to all people?  I'm tired of being afraid and tired of being scared of my neighbors and angry with them too.  Are you?

A GIFT OF HOPE...

Here are three new blogs from the Lion of the Left:

It is that time of year to write a Christmas message.  Despite a campaign of commercialism and crass merchandizing, which has turned the smart phone and the flat screen TV into holiday symbols, this is still, at it's core, a celebration of the birth of a Jewish baby who replaced a dark world filled with despair and angst with one filled with hope and light.

     We all too familiar with darkness, despair and fear.  We encounter these on a daily basis as we struggle to cope with all life throws our way.  Some of us are alone while others fight with the family they have.  Some of us are separated from family due to our own stupidity and choices.  Each day carries with it fears of what tomorrow will hold.  Will we still have a job?  Will our children be healthy and happy?  Can our marriage last or can we find someone to share our future with?  Only those with their heads buried deep in the sand can avoid the implications of climate change and how it will affect our weather and environment.  (think of Sandy or the drought which plagues huge regions of this nation)  It is so easy to give in and give up...to embrace the culture which says whoever dies with the most stuff wins...to be overwhelmed with sadness at this time of year because reality does not match the ideal which has been laid out for us over the years.  My message this year is don't give up...the birth of the child is the answer...hope is alive and well.

     Ask any parent their wish for their children and you will consistently hear about how we want them to be happy and to have a full life.  Parents aren't naive enough to believe their children won't face sadness and disappointment and fear, but they hope their children will know how loved they are, how lovingly they were created and how we are there if they need us.  We try to be role models and to show them how to make good choices and to persevere when things don't go their way.  (then there are some of us who make poor choices and don't love them enough and who disappoint them and go away....yet they continue to love us)  Why would God be any different?

     God created us out of love and a desire to know us and feel that love returned.  This is not the classic image of God pushed by fundamentalists.  This is not the all-powerful, all knowing, all present God of traditional orthodoxy.  (that God doesn't need anything, including creation)  God created us to be in relation with us...to talk with us and to listen to us...to have us talk to Her in return and listen to Her.  In the gospel of John, the Jesus born on Christmas gives us His ultimate insight into God.  We were created to have life and life to its fullest.  Christmas is the celebration of the hope we will all discover and the experience of a full life.

     Celebrating Christmas is a faith statement.  We can't prove this is the purpose of life, but we have faith that it's true.  The birth of Jesus is a celebration of the person who finally understood the reason for creation.  He proclaimed the good news that life is full of hope and joy and those living in the darkness will see great light.  He lived a life so intimate with God He saw what God wanted for us...to be filled with joy...not be afraid...treat others like we wish to be treated...forgive even our enemies and be forgiven in return and the result would be the gift of a full life.  Because of the birth of this carpenter's son in Bethlehem, God was finally able to share all Her love and thoughts and dreams with Her creation and because of this experience, She offers the same thing to everyone of us because of the humanity we share with Her Son.

     MERRY CHRISTMAS!!  It is a celebration of a holy night when Christ was born.  Even the name proclaimed on this day tells us what this is all about...Emmanuel...God with us.  We are not alone.  We don't go through this by ourselves.  This is the fifth Christmas I celebrate separated from you and my family.  It would be easy to slip into a funk and let the darkness surround me.  How can I celebrate in a place like this?  What about all the pain and embarrassment I have caused?  Yet, on Christmas, I will celebrate how loved I am and how many people care for me and the gift of life I was given.  I will fight being afraid of the future depending on the promise if I live the best life I can my life will be full.

     Perhaps you could spend a few minutes on Christmas imagining what a full life would look like.  (hint: it doesn't involve a flat screen TV)  If you have lost someone, or are separated from those you love, this is a day to know you are not alone.  The birth of Jesus brought light to an otherwise dark world and brought hope to all of us.

     I miss you all and hope for the day when I can join you and my family in celebration of the hope and joy this day represents.

     To paraphrase St. Francis.....

          God, on this Christmas day bring light to those in darkness and help those in despair to have hope.  Help us to appreciate family and friends who love and care for us.  Thank you for the gift of your Son, and for the good news His life proclaimed.  On this day, we join with the angels and shepherds to sing of your glory and revel in the knowledge we never have to be afraid.  May we understand and experience life, and life to its fullest, knowing the world is alive with the grandeur of God.

CLIFF DIVING...

At the moment, I'm willing to speculate the powers-that-be in Washington will not come to an agreement in time to avoid a swan dive over the fiscal cliff.  Good!!  As I have written before, it would be to the long-term benefit of the nation if no deal is made and the unthinkable happens.  Top tax rates would go back to what they were under Bill Clinton.  (when 27 million jobs were created)  The payroll tax would rise.  (it's not good for Social Security to keep it at its present rate)  Military, and other government spending, would automatically be cut.  (the military can easily absorb these cuts.  They have seen their budgets grow for years to a point where we spend more on the military than all other nations on earth combined.  They have experienced deeper cuts in the past and handled them.  These cuts will barely slow growth.)  The end result would be significant progress in getting our fiscal house in order, reining in out-of-control military spending, increasing the progressivity of the tax code and leaving America in better condition than it is now.

     At the bottom of the fiscal cliff is supposed to be death and destruction.  Many Americans, and small businesses, will be hurt by the re-emergence of the Alternative Minimum Tax.  (This tax was intended for the 1%, but because of the craven cowards in Congress, it wasn't indexed for inflation so it engulfed larger and larger numbers of American taxpayers raising money for government without Congress having to do a thing)  This would force Congress to finally solve this problem and return the AMT to its original purpose.

     The military would no longer get a blank check.  We spend more money on the War Department and get less for it and threaten our fiscal health.  It is not sustainable.  Priorities have to be set.  What kind of wars do we predict in the future?  Where will they occur?  Do we expect traditional conflict or an increase in asymmetrical encounters?  As we shift our emphasis to the Pacific, what are the implications for our commitments to NATO etc.?  (Is Libya the new model where we insisted on other nations carrying a much larger load?)

     American families will see their taxes increase.  Going over the fiscal cliff changes the entire nature of the debate about taxes.  Now we will have the Republicans and Obama arguing over tax cuts not increases.  The increased revenue coming into the government coffers will mean the President can propose finally rebuilding the nation's infrastructure and electrical grid. (resulting in tens of thousands of jobs)  Grover Norquist would crawl back under the rock he emerged from and the "tax pledge" will be a thing of the past.  Republicans would be complicit in raising taxes eliminating one of their favorite attack lines against Democrats.  The entire tenor of the discussion in Washington would dramatically change if we go over the cliff.

     Going over the cliff would make it easier to address Medicare and how to return it to fiscal solvency.  Right now, the Republicans can hold Medicare hostage.  They can use it as a bargaining chip to force Obama to agree to deep cuts in the social safety net in return for their support of some kind of deal to avoid the cliff.  If we go over it, then their leverage is gone.  Repairing Medicare can be debated on the merits and the fixes can actually fix it.  (remember, the Republicans don't want to fix Medicare, they want to end it...privatize it...just like Social Security)

     The point to remember is this cliff is the product of an agreement between Republicans and Democrats.  Everyone signed off on this deal.  There is no one to blame if we go over because that's how this was designed by the two parties last year.  Going over the cliff will result in some fiscal discipline as well as force everyone to compromise.  It is exactly what the rating's agencies and European bankers say must happen.  It may be the only way this happens.  It may be the only way to get some control over military spending and open the door to real entitlement reform.

     If you feel so inclined, write to the President, or email, or tweet or just shout and tell him we are willing to lock arms and jump together.  We are all ready to change our names to Thelma and Louise.