Author Chris Brady's Leadership Blog

Options for Political Involvement

"Hurray for our side!" they yell with screetched voices.  "Think like us or be wrong," they imply with barely veiled anger.  Signs are stuck in front yards, bumper stickers adorn cars, and "nuetral" commentators and newspapers are making their "nuetral" statements that seem to support one side way more than the other.

What is the cause of all this?  Ah, yes, my friend, it's election time again in the good ol' US of A.  

So what is a normal, emotionally stable, average everyday person supposed to do in the middle of this firestorm?  As far as I can tell there are several options.

1. go on a television talk show and use your best interrupting skills.  Smirk and shake your head, and just as your host is about to make a point, raise your voice and act all offended.  

2. figure out how to cheat.  Get involved in a campaign to register dead, drunk, or mentally disabled voters and volunteer to drive herds of 'em down to the voting booths come Tuesday.

3.  pepper the polls with false results so your side can proclaim an early victory and dishearten the other side from even showing up

4.  help raise money from famous people so your side can make annoying infomercials that last forever and show all the time

5.  find special interest groups to make promises to and thereby broker for blocks of votes.  

6. fan the flames of hate, envy, or greed, being sure to divide people into "groups" and make them feel like victims.  This can be done in many different categories, such as race, sexual orientation, class, income level, decendancy, gender, and many other fine distinctions that can be found to divide people.

7.  do your best to make the election about a choice between personalities, being sure to steer the discussions far away from those dangerous things like "the actual issues" and "realistic plans and strategies."  

8. get involved in name calling and character assasination.  This again is much safer and easier than having an actual intelligent position on any issues.

9.  Use broad words such as "hope" and "change" and "vision" 

10. make sure that people do not vote their Bibles or their beliefs.  Keep them embroiled in partisian politics, voting the way "they are supposed to."

And while these may be the actual activities of some, thank GOD that most of you out there will simply do the most massive thing on Tuesday, and that is . . .

VOTE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What Happens Immediately After Bubba says, "Watch This . . . ."

When I saw these photos (and others that were too graphic to post!) I just thought of the saying, "Sometimes the dragon wins."  

Positive Pessimisms

Okay, that's enough serious stuff on this blog for a while.  It's time to have some fun.

Erik Weihenmayer, an extraordinary individual, is an author, speaker, and a mountaineer who has climbed the top seven highest peaks in the world.  He's also completely blind.  I had the pleasure of hearing him speak at a recent convention and laughed and cried at his story. One of the things he touched on made me chuckle, and every since I haven't been able to avoid using such statements in my daily life.  This has been a lot of fun (and perhaps annoying to those around me).

Here's the concept:  Erik said he has a climbing partner who utters what he calls "Positivie Pessimisms."  I didn't understand what that meant, at first, either.  But once Erik explained it, I couldn't stop laughing.  Erik said in the middle of some difficult passage on the mountain, at just the right moment, his friend would utter something like the following:

"Well, it might be freezing cold out here, but at least its windy." 

or

"Erik, you might be out of shape, but at least you're slow."

Get it?  Statements that are positively pessimistic!  Just the kind of thing I hate to love!

Anyway, since trying my hand at this little word game, I have heard the following:

"We might be about to elect a man to the Whitehouse that hates America, but at least he doesn't have any experience!"

and

"One of the candidates for president is pretty old, but at least he doesn't have any personality!"

and

"Your momma may be ugly, but at least she's mean."

You get the idea.  So, in the spirit of collaboration and having just a little fun once in a while, I JUST KNOW that all three of you readers out there will be able to come up with some good ones! Please, let us hear it!  Just how "positively pessimistic" are you? 

545 People in a Representative Government

I received this comment from a reader, Brett Oyer.  I found it so interesting that I read it again and again.  I wanted to post it here so everyone would have a chance to read it and comment upon it.  Very interesting!  (Thanks Brett, for passing it along).  By the way, I like the first sentence the best!

545 PEOPLE... by Charlie Reese
 
Politicians are the only people in the world who create problems and then campaign against them.
 
Have you ever wondered why, if both the Democrats and the
Republicans are against deficits, WHY do we have deficits?
 
Have you ever wondered why, if all the politicians are against
inflation and high taxes, WHY do we have inflation and high taxes?
 
You and I don't propose a federal budget. The president does.
 
You and I don't have the Constitutional authority to vote on
appropriations. The House of Representatives does.
 
You and I don't write the tax code, Congress does.
 
You and I don't set fiscal policy, Congress does.
You and I don't control monetary policy, the Federal Reserve Bank does.
 
One hundred senators, 435 congressmen, one president, and nine
Supreme C ourt justices. 545 human beings out of the 300 million are directly, legally, morally, and individually responsible for the domestic problems that plague this country.
 
I excluded the members of the Federal Reserve Board because that
problem was created by the Congress. In 1913, Congress delegated its Constitutional duty to provide a sound currency to a federally chartered, but private, central bank.
 
I excluded all the special interests and lobbyists for a sound reason. They have no legal authority. They have no ability to coerce a senator, a congressman, or a president to do one cotton-picking thing. I don't care if they offer a politician $1 million dollars in cash. The politician has the power to accept or reject it. No matter what the lobbyist promises, it is the legislator's responsibility to determine how he votes.
 
Those 545 human beings spend much of their energy convincing you that what they did is not their f ault. They cooperate in this common con regardless of party.
 
What separates a politician from a normal human being is an
excessive amount of gall. No normal human being would have the gall of a Speaker, who stood up and criticized the President for creating deficits. The president can only propose a budget. He cannot force the Congress to accept it.
 
The Constitution, which is the supreme law of the land, gives sole
responsibility to the House of Representatives for originating and approving appropriations and taxes.
 
Who is the speaker of the House?...She is the leader of the majority
party. She and fellow House members, not the president, can approve any budget they want. If the president vetoes it, they can pass it over his veto if they agree to.
 
It seems inconceivable to me that a nation of 300 million cannot
replace 545 people who stand convicted -- by present facts -- of incompetence and irresponsibility.
 
I can't think of a single domestic problem that is not traceable
directly to those 545 people.
 
When you fully grasp the plain truth that 545 people exercise the
power of the federal government, then it must follow that what exists is what they want to exist.
 
If the tax code is unfair, it's because they want it unfair.
 
If the budget is in the red, it's because they want it in the red.
 
If the Army & Marines are in IRAQ , it's because they want them in
IRAQ.
 
If they do not receive social security but are on an elite retirement plan not available to the people, it's because they want it that way.
 
There are no insoluble government problems.
 
Do not let these 545 people shift the blame to bureaucrats, whom
they hire and whose jobs they can abolish; to lobbyists, whose gifts and advice they can reject; to regulators, to whom they give the power to regulate and from whom they can take this power.
 
Above all, do not let them con you into the belief that there exists
disembodied mystical forces like 'the economy,' 'inflation,' or 'politics' that prevent them from doing what they take an oath to do.
 
Those 545 people, and they alone, are responsible.
 
They, and they alone, have the power.
 
They, and they alone, should be held accountable by the people who are their bosses provided the voters have the gumption to manage their own employees.
 
We should vote all of them out of office and clean up their mess!

Brett Oyer

Terri Doing Well

I thought it might be appropriate to share here the great news that Terri's brain surgery went very well and she is presently in ICU beginning the road to recovery.  Continued prayers are asked for as infection, bleeding, and leaking of the brain's fluid can still occur.  Also, she will have significant pain and muscle stiffness as she presses through the coming days.

The outpouring of friendship, cards, letters, emails, blog postings, and prayers has been truly overwhelming!  I thank you all from the bottom of my heart.  We could not have gotten this far in this ordeal without God, to Him be the glory, and without all of you and your warm friendship and encouragement.  We have learned who our true friends are, and they are legion!

I will probably not post about this again on this blog, but will direct anyone interested to a blog Terri's brother Tim established to share information about her surgery and recovery.  The URL is www.terribrady.info     

Thank you all once again!  

A Two Party System?

Update:  Once again, reader input on this topic has been excellent and thoughtful.  Please be sure to read the comments below!

Reader input has been overwhelming, and the comments have been informative and thoughtful since I decided to post a few politically-minded articles on this blog.  This is quite a change from the normal pace, what with the marvelous literary content and Pulitzer Prize-worthy content normally to be found here.  But hey, I get it.  So here's one more thing to think about, and should you have intelligent contributions to make to this discourse, by all means, let's hear what's on your mind!

Question #1: Why do we have a two-party-only system in our government? 

Question #2: What if those two parties aren't far enough apart?  (i.e. Would that mean we really only have a one party system)?

Question #3: What would your ideal political party platform consist of?

I can't wait to read your inputs.  Too bad we can't get answers to these kinds of questions to show up in the way we place our votes!

Thanks for participating!

A Slide to the Left

Many conservatives feel duped by George W. Bush, who campaigned from a position more to the "right" than where he governs (in particular when it comes to massive government bailouts and grants).  In short, he is more of a Democrat than most Republicans bargained on.  Someone said the same thing to me the other day about Barrack O'Bama; he is more to the left, and much more of a liberal, than most Democrats desire. One could make the argument that today's Republican party holds about the same position the Democratic party held forty years ago.  Meanwhile, the Democratic party has moved way to the left.

Based on the last post and the very intelligent and interesting comments that resulted, I thought I would once again ask for reader input.  Here is the question(s): Is America moving consistently to "the left?"  And if so, why?  Finally, how is such a thing possible in a country where the average person polled is "center to right-of-center?"  Let me hear your thoughts.