Archive for the ‘Politics’ Category

>     After following the Romney win in Michigan and the dialog on the Democrat side as of late, I am concerned that despite identifying the challenges we face there is still a lack of understanding and unwillingness to prioritize the “how” of how we meet these challenges. 
    In the last week or two the economy has become the number one issue…as it frequently does in election years. This fact is an indication that we continue to focus on what I would call the “quantity” of our lives rather than the “quality” of them.
    The stock market is getting shaky and so Mitt Romney, successful Governor and CEO, is rising to the top because of his record of fiscal responsibility, not to mention turning around an Olympic Committee mess. Not to take anything away from him, he also seems to be a decent and ethical man (although I still can’t get over that “tying the family dog to the top of the SUV for a fun vacation” thing). On the Democrat side, the major players are now talking about “stimulus packages” (a.k.a. more taxes)as their proffered solution to what looks like a pending recession.
    OK. The wheel turns. The days of the unbridled stock and housing markets are winding down to a slow crawl. This is life and this is how it happens. Everything changes.
    The issue is not how we address it in the short run…how we bail out the greedy banks, mortgage and insurance companies as well as the unrealistic homeowners who grabbed for the brass ring and fell flat on their faces…but how we address the deeper and extended challenge of making our future work force, the children of today, more able to be part of both a national and a global economy by being educated to contribute to both with needed and marketable skills.
    Yesterday I was listening to a special report on National Public Radio. It was an interview with a man in Massachusetts who sells typewriters. Yes, that’s right. Typewriters. Not computers. What he said was that there is a certain percentage of his business that is the 16-24 year olds who want a typewriter. What he is hearing from these young people is that while they enjoy the slowed pace, the sound of the keys striking the page and even the bell at the end of each line…it’s the absence of temptation when at the keyboard to access the internet that allows them more focused attention and less stress.
    We have to educate and prepare our children, not stress and brow-beat them into thinking that more is never enough and faster is never fast enough.
    I remember in 1992 when James Carville, political strategist for then Presidential candidate Bill Clinton, coined the phrase “Its’ the economy, stupid” to underscore then President George H. W. Bush’s lack of understanding for fiscal issues. Well, it’s not the economy. It’s the type of society we continue to create by thinking and acting as if the future doesn’t matter in pursuit of short-term satisfaction.
    Our very creative and bright 14-year-old daughter is a whiz on the computer, cell phone, and ipod. And she has a required $150 Casio calculator for 9th grade Algebra. She also has a tutor for math. It’s not her strongest subject. Recently, we realized that while she can perform some very advanced technological tasks, she doesn’t know her multiplication tables 1 through 12. Now, you may not think that’s a big thing in today’s world but I can assure you that “the building blocks of a foundation” are always important…although that’s never really apparent until things start to collapse.
    Which brings me back to the election of 2008.
    I am not interested in quick fixes, magic formulas, bailing out stupidity and greed or any other superficial panaceas that address symptoms, not root causes. I’m looking for a candidate who is schooled in the fundamental building blocks of Life and Responsibility and has the courage not only to speak to them but to apply them and ask that we apply them as well.
    Until such a candidate appears, I’ll be practicing times tables with my 14-year-old.

>     There is so much talk these days from the Conservative Right likening what is happening in the United States, and globally, to Fascism that I think some perspective might be of value.  Yes, I am certain there are those in today’s world who would like to wield the power of the few over the control of the many. Such people have always existed. What changes is simply their methodology of choice and our willingness, or unwillingness, to play by their rules.
    Fascism’s method of choice is to convince us that we are indistinguishable from one another, interchangeable, and subject to the opinions of a ruling elite as to what each of us has and has access to achieving. Under Fascism, the rights of the individual are subordinated to the rights of the State. Perhaps its overriding characteristic is zero tolerance for anyone who thinks or acts “outside the box” of that which is legally and societally mandated to be “correct” thought and “correct” behavior. And yes, Fascists exist here and now.
    However, the more important issue is where, exactly, is your Here and Now? For where you “Are” in your consciousness determines the experiences you will have. So, naturally, those people who are motivated by fear and living in a world where victimization is the result of circumstances beyond their control rather than the outcomes caused by their own choices, see the evolving concept of world unity within the confines of their narrow and fear-based view. The enemy is out to get them.
    The evolving concept of Unity, or Oneness, to which I and so many others have awakened, exists in opposition to all that Fascism strives to create. Oneness is not an abdication of personal rights, responsibilities and identity. To the contrary, it is a heightened awareness of what each of those States of Being means. Guidance under Fascism is externally imposed by others while guidance in Oneness is an internal choice directed by one’s own preferences. Where Fascism is intolerant of deviation from the “norm”, Oneness celebrates diversity in every form as a unique expression and experience of Itself.
    The “oneness” of Oneness is simply a knowing that we all originate from One Source of Creative Energy that has as its only intention Love of Self. This is, admittedly, a huge understanding. If it is also a frightening and overwhelming concept to some, for all that it implies about the magnitude of our own choices, perhaps they are more comfortable creating a reality where they must stand alert for Fascists and others who would rob them of their personal power.
    In the State of Oneness, nothing can be taken from you other than that which you relinquish by failing to take responsibility for your every thought, word and deed. When that intellectual realization becomes a conscious knowing, then there are no Fascists, Communists, terrorists, or “others” by any name who hold power and direction over your life and the fulfillment of it’s unique purpose.
    We are each end-points of light shining brilliantly at the outermost tips of an infinite number of light-beams emanating from One Source of Divinely Inspired Energy.
    Not Fascists.
    
    

>     Several months ago I wrote a blog that included the observation “I don’t know if Barack Obama is the man but he certainly has the message.” It seems that Iowans think so too. Maybe even the majority of all voters come November 2008. But it’s early and easy to get lost in a groundswell of collective thought. So, let’s just step back for a moment and see what’s going on and what, exactly, is our part in the manner of things.
    Barack Obama is new, relatively speaking. He’s young, he’s inexperienced (untried and untested) in matters of State, having served but one term in the United States Senate. He is also of a minority background having been educated and raised (at least in his early years) both outside the United States and in a culture that now seems to be an adversary to the very ideas and ideals he seeks to command as President. Yet, his increasing popularity among American voters is undeniable. So, what’s up?
    Change is up.
    Obama is proof that Democracy, as an agent of change, works. Like his politics or not, you have to marvel at a young man, seemingly out of nowhere, who has stepped up and given seasoned political veterans like the Clinton’s a run for their money. It’s not that he doesn’t have huge financial backing of his own, or the support of important individuals, it’s the very fact that he has been able to amass that support in the face of the odds that is energizing.
    What’s also energizing is his message. His very presence speaks to diversity and his message is one of unity. Unity amidst diversity. That’s the “winning combo” if you will. And we as a nation, perhaps as a world, have begun to hunger for it. So much so that he’s the man of the hour.
    One caution.
    Democracy demands that we remain conscious and informed through our choices. It is not enough that Obama, or any candidate, looks good and has a one or two line resounding message. The stuff of leadership is daunting and few are suited for the job, although many aspire to it. It is for us to weigh the benefits of radical change (and his election would be just that) with the need for the intelligence, common sense, skill, passion, thoughtfulness and above all, patience, required to get the job done.
    After the disappointing and frustrating events of the 2000 election, we, the people, slowly began to wake up and realize that it was time to take back responsibility for our lives again. Time to be citizens of Democracy. The phenomenon of Barack Obama is part of that awakening. In the end, however, it is we who will have to make the final choice, and by so doing, live with the consequences.
    Two interesting asides.    
    First, when a close friend and adviser to Barack Obama suggested he wait until 2016 and give himself a chance to garner experience and build a political machine, his reply was “My time is now.” He has seemingly made his choice based upon some inner knowing and a sense of destiny.
    Secondly, when an Iowa caucus voter was asked by a reporter why he was voting for Obama, the man replied, “I’m not sure I want to take the chance, but I feel I must take the chance.”
    Both of those men made their choices from a core place within themselves and an instinct for the tides of change.
    Soon we will each be called upon to make our choice around this very issue. Weigh that choice with both your mind and your heart.
    That’s another winning combo.
    

>     They’re caucusing (whatever that means) in Iowa today and the media is holding it’s collective breath as if this were the actual election for President that will take place later in the year. While we should be concerned about the outcome in Iowa to some extent, I think our focus needs adjusting. It’s not about which one of the many potential candidates will come out on top, but rather which of them most closely reflects who we are and how we want to see ourselves mirrored. You see, the choice we make about who should lead us is simply a reflection of where we are at any given point in time.
    The process around electing representatives and leaders is in flux… as are so many of our processes and institutions at this time. As each of us realizes the extent to which we create our own reality, the corresponding realization is that we are also responsible for that reality. So, it’s no longer enough to sit back and say either 1) I’m voting for the lesser of two evils, or, 2) I’m not voting. I mean, yes, it’s certainly possible to still choose either of those options, as long as one realizes that the outcome of one’s choice will be the reality one lives.
    George Bush will likely be the last President to have been chosen by an unconscious and irresponsible electorate. Even those who voted for him find themselves in a position of having regretted it. Mainly, because he failed to follow through, to have integrity, around the things he said he would do if elected. And, because that was OK with us, he and those with whom he shares power felt emboldened to proceed in ways in which they had not only little mandate, but in ways in which they had no mandate at all. They understood that we didn’t want responsibility for the truth of our choices and would pay any price to circumvent that responsibility.
    We owe a debt of gratitude to George Bush, as we do to all of those people in our lives who, by their actions, challenge us and prod us to look more closely at who we really are and what it is we are really creating. For, in the end, it is never about them but always about us. Earlier today I heard someone say in referring to two other people, “They are ruining my life.” Well, no one has that power. Only we have the power to create from, or destroy through disregard, the life we have been gifted.
    The state of the nation, and it’s leaders, are just the macrocosm of the microcosm that is our individual lives comprised of the choices we make each day. Where we look out and see greed, apathy, self-indulgence, and aggression we must turn inward and eradicate the seeds of those outgrowths that were first planted, then cultivated, within.
    I am an optimist. I look around, listen, and am heartened by the sights and sounds of people awakening from the unconscious state of personal abdication of responsibility and choosing none-the-less, although on shaky limbs, to move into a new reality where harmony and unity are the destinations and responsibility to truth the vehicle used to get there.
    Yes, Iowa matters. But not nearly as much as we do.

>     Some things cannot be silenced. Truth and the human quest for Freedom are two that come to mind. The assassination today of Benazir Bhutto, former Prime Minister of Pakistan, will not change this fact of life, it will only re-direct the energies around those principles down an alternative path. I don’t want to idolize Bhutto for she was a politician and made her share of mistakes and questionable alliances. But she was also one of those “magnetic” beings who drew to her, particularly in recent days, those of her country who not only search for Truth and Freedom, but those who are willing to stand up and be counted in that search regardless of the price.
    Bhutto knew her time here was limited and the end of that time close at hand. Recent statements by her evidenced this fact. She knew the way Martin Luther King knew. One does not consciously march into Hell for a Heavenly cause without an awareness of the consequences. But throughout time immemorial the presence, or even likelihood, of such danger has never succeeded in deterring those whose life’s work is to speak not only their own Truth but also one that holds the possibility of liberating many. For true Freedom, and the liberation that is part of Freedom, can only be attained by recognizing, speaking and living Truth as we experience it for ourselves.
    Many would say that this is a dangerous philosophy to espouse for what may be Truth to me, and therefore how I choose to live, may simultaneously cause another harm. What better example of this do we have than the forces that assassinated Mrs. Bhutto? Islamist extremists say they know and represent the Truth as founded in the Koran. It is that Truth that necessitated the silencing of Benazir Bhutto and many others before her. The response is so simple as to almost be overlooked.
    We all have a core Truth from which everything else flows. That core is Love. Love never harms, inflicts suffering or pain on anyone or anything. So, when one’s thoughts, speech and actions are the impetus for harm, they are never coming from that origin of Love. When harm is the result, it is a self-serving truth, designed and manipulated to achieve a pre-determined end…and in such moments, neither Truth nor Freedom are honorably served.
    There is another glaring difference between Truth and the smaller, self-serving kind. Truth inspires individuals to greatness. It reaches in and tugs on both heart and mind with an irresistible lure and calls out “Follow your inner guidance and it will see you home” Alternatively, that smaller self-serving truth demands and bullies and threatens and oppresses until it achieves what it wants at the expense of the many. And in the end, all who have been frightened into submission find themselves abandoned and far from home. The differences are glaring.
    We are all perfectly imperfect and Benazir Bhutto was no exception. But she dared to move out in front holding the torch that will light the way for so many others to follow. Bhutto may be gone, but the torch is passed on to others now and it is a light that will not be extinguished.
    It is the Light of Truth.

>     In fairness to full disclosure, I need to say right up front that we have an adopted 14-year-old daughter from China, so writing about adoption is always quite personal for me.
    Writing about this particular one is infuriating.
    It seems that 7 years ago Dutch vice consul Raymond Poetaray (posted in Hong Kong) and his wife adopted a then 4-month old Korean baby girl named Jade. Now, 7 years later, having never attempted to obtain Dutch citizenship for the child, the Poetarays have returned their child to Hong Kong’s Social Welfare Department citing her “emotional remoteness” as the reason why they can no longer care for her. While I have neither doubts nor illusions concerning the challenges inherent in raising an adopted child, particularly one that may not have benefited from nurturing pre-and post-natal care, it almost defies imagination that two educated people would “return” a child as one might an appliance or a toy.
    So perhaps this case is about common sense and compassion…not about education. In fact, this might just be a very strong argument in favor of why academic degrees and professional accomplishments mean nothing if not balanced with a healthy dose of common sense and compassion for all living things.
    We adopted our daughter from China when she was 2 years old. While we will never know what those first two years of her life were like, we can make a reasoned assumption that she missed out on all kinds of nourishment, physical as well as emotional. Such lack takes it toll. To think, or expect, otherwise is delusional and harmful for all concerned. We have had our own share of challenges in raising our daughter but are they any more or less than they would have been had we given birth to her? In either case, it is a roll of the dice.
    What for us (and the Peotarays) have been emotional challenges could just have easily been emotional and/or physical challenges had we given birth to these girls. It really matters not. What matters is that when you reach out and embrace a child, you do it fully with an understanding of what your part of the bargain is to be. And even if, as in my case and the Poetarays, you underestimate the responsibility as well as the challenges, you none-the-less stand your ground in the name of love.
    I often wonder what will become of a world where we disrespect and disregard the rights of children, for as I often say, “they are the future.” Usually, I pose this question in light of child slavery, child abuse, or genocide in Africa. But now I must add yet another category to this tragedy. Now I must acknowledge that for some people, children are like property to be traded in when the model does not suit one’s needs.
    What gives me hope is that behind all the human failings that we are capable of, I believe in a Higher Order that is always moving towards the highest good. It appears that Jade, now in the custody of Hong Kong’s Social Welfare Department, has been placed with an English-speaking foster family and is going to a Hong Kong school while the Department looks to make a permanent placement for her in the future.
    I believe that Jade will find a family that loves and appreciates her for the gift she is and that life will reward her in ways as yet unimagined by all concerned. While I deeply regret what she has had to endure in 7 short years, she has a whole lifetime ahead of her to overcome her experiences and use them to her benefit.
    As for the Poetarays, who I am certain wanted to quietly dismiss and disregard this precious life they took on in a most careless and callous manner…well, they are now and forever infamous for what they lack.

>New Jersey today became the first state in more than three decades to abolish the death penalty. I live in New Jersey and have a 14-year-old daughter so this was not an easy subject for me to find my bearings on. If you recall, it was in 1994 that 7-year-old Meagan Kanka was abducted, raped and then strangled to death by 46-year-old Jesse Timmendequas. It was that horrific crime that led to the passage of “Meagan’s Law” and the federal “Sex Offender Act of 1994” both of which place post-incarceration restrictions and reporting duties upon persons convicted of sexual crimes against children.
    This is a tough subject and one not easily approached by someone who has never had a loved one harmed, violated or murdered. I cannot imagine how a parent feels who loses a child or (if lucky enough to have their child survive an attack) lives with a child who was subject to such inhumanity and abuse. It would be easy to understand why parents, under those conditions, might want to see “justice done” by knowing the perpetrator, if captured, was put to death.
    Yet I marvel when I see parents or loved ones of a murder victim on television, or in print interviews, express their “forgiveness” and advocate that no higher purpose would be served by executing the murderer. It’s a natural reaction if one wonders, “Where do those people get that kind of strength?”
    I think I know.
    It comes from a deep knowing that there are Universal Laws that provide us with the opportunity to heal not only ourselves but all of humankind as well. One of those laws is surely that killing another human being for any reason carries with it consequences and ramifications that go well beyond both the individuals and the moment. Violence begets violence. Even if you couch it in “humane” terms and conditions…lethal injections, blindfolds, whatever…the veil is transparent and serves only to hide the truth from those who are determined not to see it. Yes, violence begets violence.
    One of the 8 men who have been on death row in New Jersey is Jesse Timmendequas, Megan Kanka’s murderer. He will now spend the rest of his life in prison without possibility of parole. I have thought about the two alternatives, death vs. life imprisonment, in light of this particular case and here is how I see it.
    If we, as a people, put Jesse Timmendequas to death, we violate one of those Universal laws we know in our hearts to be true…and with some distinction (although not enough) we become somewhat more like him than not. If, however, he lives out his life in prison, there are two possibilities.
    The first is that unenlightened and without remorse, his freedom and quality of life are taken away and he remains like a caged animal for whatever time is his by design. If, on the other hand, he gains some enlightenment and feels some level of remorse, then he will live every waking moment and breath every life-sustaining breath with the knowledge and reality of the heinous and inhuman act he committed. Either way, imprisoned for life, his is a damned fate.
    Which leaves me with Megan’s family. How to justify the continued life of the man who took the one gifted to their daughter? I would not begin to try.
    What I would say to them is that another of those Universal Laws is that failing to forgive is a prison of it’s own making…one in which they would keep themselves bound for no reason at all. The murderer’s prison is real and necessary. Not so theirs. They are free not only to forgive him but to forgive Life as well for such seeming injustice.
    We are human and because of that limitation too often see only part of the picture, thereby missing what the whole canvas portrays. Megan Kanka gave her life so that countless other children might be spared suffering and harm. It was a life so very well spent.
    May her family live on, and move on, with both honor and forgiveness in their hearts.

>     Well, it appears that Arkansas Governor and Republican Presidential candidate Mike Huckabee is very sorry for an indelicate question he recently posed during an interview with a New York Times reporter. After discussing whether or not Mitt Romney’s Mormon faith should influence a voter’s choice, Huckabee apparently offered up, unsolicited, the question/comment, “Don’t Mormons believe that Jesus and the devil are brothers?”
    I have always believed that being a good listener is an art. When you know how to truly listen, you can learn a great deal about a person by what they say, what they don’t say, and what lies unsaid between their spoken words. So, listening to Mike Huckabee’s quote was, for me, not unlike listening to Mel Gibson rant anti-Semitic profanities after being pulled over for DUI. 
    Now your first reaction may be that this isn’t a valid comparison because Gibson was drunk at the time of his hateful speech and Huckabee was not. But I would say they are exactly alike in that both men revealed what is in their minds, and more importantly, their hearts. Any recovering alcoholic will tell you that it’s “never the alcohol speaking”…it’s you. While being drunk may cause you to be louder (or sometimes softer) than you would be sober…or have you make more of a fool of yourself than you would otherwise…it won’t cause you to say something that, substantively, you don’t think and/or believe. And while running for President of the United States may cause you to try and please too many for the sake of a vote, it won’t make you say what you do not think and/or believe.
    Even if I give Mike Huckabee the benefit of the doubt, which I must do as a spiritual Being, and conclude that his was an honest question in search of an honest answer, the fact that he posed it in such an inappropriate venue and directed it to such an inappropriate person, tells me that his judgment and common sense are simply not Presidential.  
    So what can we learn from Governor Huckabee’s indiscretion? I think a lot…particularly about right speech. It’s the origin of the saying “If you can’t say something nice don’t say anything at all.” But it goes much deeper than the adage appears on it’s face. Because we literally create what we think, when we give “body” to thought by wrapping it in speech we manifest into our world that which we are thinking. That makes it pretty important that we be vigilant about both what we think and what we say.
    Mel Gibson and Mike Huckabee were both contrite when what they thought and said created a public backlash. That, at least, is a good thing. It is important to stop evil speech in it’s tracks so that we do not feed the beast and perpetuate a world of separation and baseless hatred.
    I repeatedly say that we are living in extraordinary times as human consciousness expands and evolves. I also repeatedly say that as the expansion is occurring, it becomes more and more difficult to hide truth and manipulate others.
    Governor Huckabee has told us who he is and what he thinks by what he said and how he chose to say it.
    Properly seen, it is a gift of truth that now frees up the Governor to re-evaluate what is in his heart and frees up the rest of us to vote for someone else.
    

>  Driving in my car earlier this week, I happened to hear live National Public Radio coverage of a Democrat Presidential debate. It was certainly interesting to hear it without seeing it…having watched two prior Democrat debates on television. What was striking was the reduced tone of the candidates rhetoric. I suppose no cameras meant no need for dramatic body language or “puffing.” 
    What caught my attention was Senator Joe Biden’s response to a question about immigration and the borders.  In true Biden fashion, the Senator pulled no punches, and both the thoughtfulness as well as the straightforwardness of his reply were refreshing and appreciated. Senator Biden likened the 12 million illegal aliens already in the U.S. and the need to address health care for their children to the issue of physical abuse of women who are in the U.S. illegally. He stated, in no uncertain terms, that “sometimes the humanitarian issue trumps the law.” By way of example, he referenced a bill he drafted and passed into law with bi-partisan support that grants immunity from deportation to any woman illegally in the U.S. who comes forward to report the crime of physical abuse. Biden’s point was that things are rarely as black and white as we would like them to be.
    Whether it’s a public policy issue or a disagreement with a friend or relative, resolutions are more often than not found in the “gray” middle ground between two polar opposites. As a former practicing lawyer who spent 13 years representing individuals going through divorce, I can tell you with certainty that as much as I may have liked my clients and believed in their “version” of the facts, it was a rare occurrence when both sides didn’t have merit and a just solution needed to take both versions into account. That’s why we have judges.
    So, it has me thinking about the tension between the United States and Iran over the alleged production of nuclear materials. We in the U.S have been told by our government that Iran has been relentlessly and surreptitiously pursuing production of weapons grade uranium with a passion. That belief is the basis for the present Administration’s foreign policy towards Iran as well as the basis for much media-enhanced fear. Iran, to the contrary, has been denying that it is pursuing a nuclear weapons program and accusing the U.S. of lying when claiming otherwise.
    Just this past week the U.S. Intelligence Report, compiled by 16 governmental agencies, has concluded that in fact Iran ceased pursuit of it’s nuclear program in 2003. Since issuance of the findings, the Bush Administration has been scurrying around to justify it’s prior allegations while the President of Iran has been telling the world, “See, I told you so” and demanding a formal apology from the U.S.
    There are, of course, proponents on both sides claiming “foul” and continuing to reassert their respective positions.
    But as in all things, it’s less black and white than gray.
    President Bush either knowingly or unwittingly misled the American people about the Iranian nuclear program. But it’s also true that Iran remains a volatile threat to the world with it’s religious zealotry, support of terrorism, and inflamed rhetoric. So, while both sides are right in some aspects, both are also wrong as well.
    In the end, it’s not right and wrong that matter anyway. It’s how to get to that gray middle ground where truth resides and peace is found that is of utmost importance.
    We are living through challenging times that present the opportunity for evolution, as opposed to revolution. It is the enlightened mind and the enlightened Soul that can see past positions to the heart of a matter where black and white become historical perspectives.
    

>     Today the declassified findings of the National Intelligence Estimate, a study by 16 U.S. governmental agencies, concluded that Iran suspended it’s nuclear weapons program in 2003. Tomorrow, I will be one of thousands of people writing blogs, articles and commentaries on President Bush and his administration (i.e. Dick Cheyney, the Neocons and the Christian Coalition) on what now seems to be either the 1) incompetent or 2) deceitful manner in which the assertion that the program was in full swing has been “marketed” to we the people of the United States.
    I suspect that most of the writing will attempt to “hang this President out to dry” for either #1 or #2 above. And while I have neither trust in this President’s assertions nor peace of mind in his competency level, I prefer to focus instead on we the people.
    We the People are responsible for the leaders we have.
    We the People have allowed ourselves to be distracted.
     We the People have failed to vigorously question rationale as well as purpose when questioning was too laborious or difficult.
     We the People have failed to educate ourselves on the issues.
     We the People have been enabling participants in a web of confusion.<
    It is through our inaction and willingness to relinquish our autonomy and our inherent right to be free in exchange for the imprisonment of being cared for and the privilege of not having to make difficult choices that we have earned this President. There are no free rides.
    I was raised by a loving but misguided father who believed that because he was the source of financial wellbeing in our family, that empowered him to control other family members behavior and proceed unilaterally in regard to issues and decisions that affected not just him but all of us. And you know what? He was right. I learned that the hard way. When you trade your sovereignty for comfort, convenience and protection…your trading in your Soul as well. And over time, you lose the ability…even the capability…to act wisely in your own behalf simply because you’ve forgotten how to.
    I know what I’m talking about because I’ve been there. I also know how hard it is to wrestle back autonomy when you’ve lingered too long at the fairground.
    George Bush and his Presidency are a wake-up call.
    We the People have been unconscious for a very long time now. We need to awaken to that call for if we do not, there will surely come a time, in the not too distant future, when it will be not just too hard but too late to take back that which is inherently ours as the sparks of Divine Intelligence that we are.
    We the People have certain unalienable rights and among those rights are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
         We the People also have certain unalienable duties and among those duties are truth, personal responsibility and courage.
    Only when We the People live our unalienable duties will our leaders live theirs.