The Clinton presidency was plagued with deceit.  Things were said to have been done by Clinton’s staffers to silence critics of the president.  Some may have lost their lives over it.  Stories of illicit affairs are whispered through the halls of government.  Scandal is nothing new to Washington.  Power corrupts.  We expect that as Americans.  We know that campaign promises are lies, we just vote for the person who is the rockstar.  Mitt has a chance.  He is charismatic, handsome,   and panders a little bit to both sides.  But what is he running on?  He has been hunting, we know that he has shot small, furry things, therefore he is now electable. 

 

This is the type of system that our soldiers are dying to bring to other nations.  We talk about prosperity in this nation.  We talk about a growing economy.  We fail to mention a shrinking middle class.  We fail to bring America’s enormous debt to the forefront of the political arena.  In this administration, a rising tide sinks those boats anchored to the muck at the bottom of the lake.  We the people deserve more.  We should demand that our politicians be honest with us.  We should demand term limits for congress.  We should demand social programs that work.  We have to find a candidate that we can rally behind, someone who works for the people and not for themselves.  That person for me is Obama.  The American people need to back the candidate that best represents their own beliefs and issues.  Please find that candidate for you. 

Do the research. 

 And then exercise your right and duty as an American…VOTE.

Reid also insists it is easier for a Democrat to be a good Latter-day Saint than it is for a Republican to be a good Latter-day Saint.

"One of the reasons I feel so strongly about the philosophy of the Democratic Party is that we're concerned about people who have little," Reid said. "Look at the programs we've pushed: Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid. Republicans opposed those, every one of them. ... I don't see how a person who cares about their fellow man could oppose these programs."

Another Latter-day Saint, Republican Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah, disagrees.

"Let's put it this way. I think that's pure bunk," Hatch said.

Without Republicans to control federal spending by Democrats, Hatch said, the country would be far worse off economically.

"Look how they're spending now and how it's just like a bunch of drunken sailors around here," Hatch said. "All I can say is true religion means living within your means. True religion means doing what is in the best interest of the country as a whole. True religion, it seems to me, is being honest about what has to be done around here."

 

 

What is the national debt today?

http://www.brillig.com/debt_clock/

Artist: Martina McBride
	Song: Blessed
	Blessed I get kissed by the sun Each morning Put my feet on a hardwood floor I get to hear my children laughing Down the hall through the Bedroom door Sometimes I sit on my Front porch swing Just soaking up the day I think to myself, I think to myself This world is a beautiful place I have been blessed And I feel like I’ve found my way I thank God for all I’ve been given At the end of every day I have been blessed With so much more than I deserve To be here with the ones That love me To love them so much it hurts I have been blessed Across a crowded room, I know you know what I’m thinking By the way I look at you And when we’re lying in the quiet and No words have to be said I think to myself, I think to myself This love is a beautiful gift Repeat chorus When I’m singing my kids to sleep When I feel you holding me I know Repeat chorus

I feel that I must be missing something.  I can’t fathom that the President of the United States keeps a war going for political reasons.  When do we pull out?  The voices of the world have told us to get out of that bad situation.  I feel that this is a no-brainer.  Have you ever been at someone’s house and a fight breaks out.  You can’t get out of there fast enough.  We are in someone else’s country and they want us to leave.  A centralized government is not working.  If we stick around for a civil war, whose side do we take?  We have to pick.  We can’t fight for stabilization and not take sides.   In my opinion (which is what this blog is all about) our form of government will not work in Iraq.  Our constitution is Christian-based and is written for a Christian people.  The Iraqis are obviously not Christian.  Who are we to tell them how to run their own lives?  To say that these people hate freedom is a distortion of the truth.  They do not want the freedom that we have.  They do not want a country where playboy magazine can be sold at the quick-e-mart.   I really don’t either, but that is the compromise we make in a free society.  I you look at it that way, maybe I hate our freedom or maybe you do.  This society is not majority rules; but is based on the concept that majority rules if it does not infringe on the rights of others.  I believe that Iraq can survive as a theocracy, but not as a democracy. 

            I wonder what it would like to live in a theocracy.  In a country like Iraq, where almost a people are of one faith, it works, but here, in America, where we all worship differently, would we grant the power to set the religion according to the state?  We use the articles of faith as our constitution and Georgia use the Ten Commandments.  Would holy wars be fought amongst the states and the country fall into a civil war?

            I find that living in the valley, in this state, and in this country to be a great blessing.  I find that my religion provides the roadmap and the course that provides happiness for me and my family.  I believe that if the world would adopt just one small piece of my religion and live by it, how great we could all be together, this one line of scripture, lived by the LDS faith and others could create world piece.  I hope we all can learn to live by it: We claim the ^aprivilege of worshiping Almighty God according to the ^bdictates of our own ^cconscience, and allow all men the same privilege, let them ^dworship how, where, or what they may.

Finally on the sight , will write more next week.  I have soooo much to say.

Does he have to apologize?  Did he tell a lie?  Most of the soldiers in Iraq are there because they could not get a job here.  There are some psychos who went there to kill, and there are some genuine heroes, there for love of God, country and corps who are performing a selfless act of bravery.  But most are there because of a lack of options.  Some want to go to college, but can not pay for it.  Some need jobs skills training to get a job that makes enough to support a family.  A few were ordered there by a judge.  The statement is true, study hard to stay out of Iraq.  I am afraid that I need to give that same advice to my 12 year-old son.  I don’t see us out of Iraq in the next 6 years.  Study Hard.

Jim Matheson is working to retain his congressional seat.  Part of that work is to advertise on T.V.  We see him there, talking about education, talking about his distrust of government, and his stand against nuclear testing and for the environment.  I agree with him on all these issues.  LaVar Christensen is also running.  He is a republican.  That’s it.  No issues, no record.  I am a republican, vote for me Utah.  And some of you will.  Based on nothing but the little “r” by his name.  Politics in America.

Sometimes I feel the urge to just sit at my keyboard and pour my heart out.  One of those times could be now, we have to wait and see.  I moved from my parent’s home permanently when I was 17 years old.  I had not really been living there since I bought my first car at 16.  I bought a van a few months later and lived wherever it was parked.  I could not stand to be home with my parents.  They are very conservative Mormons.  I struggle with my religion on a daily basis.  I believe that people should be able to marry whoever they want.  I believe that a polygamous lifestyle is a religious right and therefore should not be banned by government and do not understand, given the history of the church, why our church does not fight for that right.  I often wonder if polygamy is legalized, will our leaders again embrace it?  Not the perverted version that is practiced by the illegitimate off shoots of Mormonism, but in its pure form, men being called to take in a widow or someone else in need.  In its pure form, polygamy is a beautiful fulfillment of Christ-like love in helping our fellow man, not dropping off boys in the desert so that old men can marry their sisters.

            Anyway, back to my youth.  It has now caught up to me as an adult.  My parents have come to live with my family.  My lovely wife suggested that we help them out by moving them into our home.  We have the room.  I have 5 bedrooms and my family only takes up 3 of them.  Right before the folks moved in, we had made the boys and the girls share rooms and were toying with the idea of bringing in foster children.  There would have been much less maintenance with the foster kids.  My mother sneaks us a little money each month to help pay the mortgage.   My dad flipped out and said that if she gave us any of HIS money, he would quit his job.  I cannot believe how selfish he is.  When we were children he never kept a steady job.  He would work somewhere for a while and then quit or get fired.  We lived off the government or the church through most of my adolescent life.  I have not had a day with out a job since I was 15 years old.  I always had another job before I quit the one I was at.  I was fired once, but only after I had obtained other employment.  When they first came to live here, we sat down to dinner and started filling his plate with food.  When one of the children asked him to pass something he stated that the adults ate first.  We quickly informed him that the children ate first in our house and that he could eat if there was any food left after the children were finished.  He grumped around a bit and then he was made to understand.         

            The point of this rambling is that I just can’t get rid of them.  I feel totally guilty about throwing them out, but they have to leave.  They are only around 60 years old but they act helpless.  They feel the need to tell my children what to do when I am standing right there.  They think that because they are my parents, I share their same ideals.  My father gets himself fired from every real job he gets and only works temp jobs.  He sleeps when he gets home and then wakes up at 3 am and wanders the house.  I don’t know what to do.  I feel trapped.

I returned from the city of sin this weekend and watched an episode of CSI last night.  I think the point was made about teaching our children responsibility.  What would it be like growing up in Las Vegas?  The motto of the town is what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.  We can leave our morals and responsibilities at home and come here and enjoy gambling and sex freely although we would denounce it at home.  Kids there must have a distortion of real life.  People flock there for the booze, promise of easy money and sex.  Is that what these kids see as normal life in America?         

            I believe that we repress our sexuality in this valley and maybe in this country a little too much.  I have heard that in Europe nudity is the norm.  Topless beaches and nudity on TV contribute to that norm.  A friend of mine said that when on his mission, girls came to the door topless quite a bit.  Is that better?  When such a vital part of life is not hidden away and treated as a bad thing, is there less curiosity and therefore less of a chance of experimentation?  Or if it’s out there is everyone going to try it???   

O.K., enough political commentary for a day or two.  I am listening to a duo named “Boy meets Girl”.  The song that some of you will recognize (most of you won’t) is “Waiting for a star to fall”, a great 80’s tune.  My music runs the gamut from Metallica to Barry Manilow, from the Black Eyed Peas to the Dixie Chicks.  I finally have a job where I can listen to music while I work.  I listen all day except when I have to set my headphones down for an occasional phone call.  I never learned to play any instrument as a kid.  I really wish that I had, I wish that I had that outlet now.  I tried to get my son to play piano, but he did not have the dedication to practice.  He is now in jr. high and has taken up the trumpet, hopefully this will stick.  

            I love music as a means of bringing out emotion from deep within ourselves.  I have felt strongly influenced by music, both in church and from entertainment.  I almost broke down once while singing “Come, Come ye Saints.”  A version of “Show Me the Way” by Styx came out during the first gulf war that intercut messages from soldiers to their families into the music.  Every time I hear that song, it stirs up memories of the military and friends at war.  “Butterfly Kisses” and “Father of Mine” cause me to reflect on my relationship with my children and renew my commitment to never leave them.  “How Do I Live Without You” speaks to me and my marriage.  I have now been married longer than I was single (and I am only 35).  I do not know what life would have been like if I had not married early, but I shudder to think about it.  I cannot imagine life without my wife by my side, and I certainly do not understand how she puts up with me.

            Some music just makes my heart pound.  Bands like Metallica, Guns n Roses and Poison are just pure entertainment (good work-out music too).  Of course, these songs can have special meaning as well.  Our song (my wife’s and mine) is “Patience” from Guns n Roses.  This song had special meaning while I was in boot camp and waiting to get married.

            I try not to get stuck in any one genre.  I listen to metal, country, easy listening and just whatever I like to hear.  Some people say that they hate a certain type of music, i.e. country, but I think that there are songs out there in every category to fit everyone’s taste.  Kind of like people; despite the labels we put on them, I think that everyone deserves a chance.

           

I watched our president come off the plane and talk to the people of Utah last night,  I thought that was a very classy move for him to make.  I thought that it was great that he took the time to speak to those who still support him.  The speech, on the other hand made my blood boil.  Again naming the war on Iraq as the war on terror.  I don’t recall Iraq’s involvement in the terror attacks on the U.S.  Maybe I am missing something.  He also said, as he has before, that we are fighting them there so that we do not have to fight them here.  It’s a good thing, because of the overly stretched military, we do not have the means to fight them here. 

I also watched a sound bite with a member of the American Legion who stated that we (meaning members of the legion) fought so that they (Rocky and the boys) could protest.  Well, I fought too.  I was in the navy during the first bush war and feel that has at least earned me the right not to be called they.  The fox people showed the patriotism of the people who rallied and then implied that those who protested were un-patriotic.  I think that Thomas Jefferson would disagree and so do I.  I love this country.  I love our government.  I think that the electoral college has out-lived it’s usefulness, but that is another story. 

I think that this president does not realize what a lot of poor people do, that joining the military is a patriotic and very brave thing to do for some people; it is often the only available option for some.  It comes down to turning to life of crime or joining the military to survive.  A lot of people have no other choice.   I think that anyone who joins now is a hero, but some are more heroic than others.  I do not think that a lot of them join because they support the war and want to “free Iraq”.  I think most join for the insurance, the home loan, and a chance to get an education and a job for a few years.

I don’t think that a stable middle east is possible.  The people in that region has issues that date back thousands of years, and we cannot possibly understand, let alone fix them.  The problem with a democracy is that it has to have the support of the people.   A country formed of rival tribes cannot work in a democracy.  If a tribe within the country will never bow to the rule of someone from another tribe, and the rival gets elected, how odes that work?  Ask Palestine how well a democratic election worked for them.

The economy is growing but the same amounts of people are living in poverty within our borders.  There must be a republican in office.  What good does it do us as a country to gain economically and leave some people behind?  The party in power states that they will support a bill that helps bring people out of poverty by raising the minimum wage, but only if it includes language to eliminate the estate tax.  This tax affects less than 1% of the population, only the richest of the rich.  But why try to help those who need it?  A raise in the minimum wage would cut into corporate profits, and we can’t have that.  Mexicans will still work under the table, so it won’t affect them much.  Gas prices have gone up over 100% since the oil man from Texas took office, but I am sure there is no correlation between the two. 

            Is it too much of me, as a tax-paying American citizen, to ask for an exit strategy.  The people of Iraq don’t seem to want us to leave now (at least some of them) but how long are we going to be the police force in the Middle East?    As guess as long as the gas prices stay up.

So much has happened, where to begin? 

I volunteered to assist the Women's Premier Soccer League throw thier final four party in sandy and found out just how mean and aggresive women can be.  I thought that each game was exiting and fun, and I have never been this close to an actual (above the age of 8) soccer game and enjoyed it.  The first lady came and opened the first game, told everyone how important soccer is to the State of Utah, how much we should all support it, and how much fun it was.  Then, she and her entourage left almost before the game started.  Thanks for the support. 

Chris Cannon got elected again(not quite, but we all know he's in).  What are you people thinking?  I will just let it go at that for now.

We are still in Iraq.  I received an e-mail requesting that I wear red on Friday to show my support for the troups.  I don't know how to feel about that.  It is Friday, I am wearing blue.  Not for lack of patriotism, just for lack of red shirts.  I would buy a red shirt just for Fridays, but I don't want people to get the wrong idea.  While I support the troups, and believe that they are doing the best they can in a messed up situation, I do not support the war.  Can I support the troups without supporting the war? I think so, but does my wearing of the red imply that I support the administration and their middle-east quagmire? 

As summer is winding down I will attempt to write more, I miss the feedback. 

Thanks for listening.

My prophet has said stand for something.  I think that this advice was meant for the Democratic Party.  Stand for the environment; stand against wasteful government spending, stand for national health care, and stand against tax cuts and benefits for the richest 1% of our population.  Al Gore should have taken a stand for what he believed in the election against Bush.  This party cannot be the