I am constantly astounded by human nature.
We can be “good” beyond imagination. But we also have a dark side.
Me? I sort of bounce around between the two.
Here are some examples:
Stephan Hoyer, a German exchange student that went to high school with me is now a doctor. Is he sitting in a big office in downtown Frankfurt? No. Stephan works for the World Health Organization. The last I heard from him, a few years ago, he was treating people in Cambodia for malaria.
Thank goodness for people like that.
On the other hand, a guy burns a book in Florida and a mob, in retribution, kills seven people in Afghanistan. I can’t imagine them going home after that feeling satisfied and that they have just done the will of God. “How was your day dear? – You know, same-ol-same-ol. I did stop by the embassy on the way home and killed a few infidels. You know, just some people that don’t believe in the same things I do.”
In my opinion, if you want to play The Wrath of God card, let’s see what a little napalm drop will do to disperse a crowd bent on killing innocent people.
See, I told you I bounce between good and evil.
I’m also astounded by the fact that people think that something is true, simply because someone else said it.
For example: The Republican Party talks daily about how Obama is ruining the economy. Remember, this is a party whose stated main goal is to make sure Obama fails.
Here are the facts. The Tarp was approved on Bush’s watch, not Obama’s. The economic stimulus was only half spent but seen by College professors and Nobel laureates as a good thing (It should be noted that the Republican chief economist seems to be Glenn Beck with his high school diploma). More than a million new jobs have been created in the last year; 230,000 in March alone.
Now, if your goal is for Obama to fail and then 230,000 new jobs are created, you have to be disappointed. I can see the Republicans having an emergency strategy meeting: “I’ like to call the meeting to order. I have bad news to report. The economy continues to improve in spite of our best efforts to stifle it.”
Another thing that astounds me is the Republican insistence that we take out Kaddafi. They seem to forget that this guy was there through 20 years of Republican presidencies. Why take him out now? This made no sense at first but I think I have figured it out. The Bush Wars ruined the Republican Party. They would like Obama to have his own war so they can blame it on him.
I have to make a comment on the budget impasse. First of all, I don’t care if the government shuts down. I say this because it won’t. It may, symbolically, but for all practical purposes, it will keep running and we won’t notice a thing. However, they are now arguing over the last 10 billion. The GOP is pretending that “a penny saved is a penny earned.” But the reality is that they are going after the Planned Parenthood funding. This is really an abortion issue.
I have my own opinion on abortion and, like most of my opinions, there is a bit of a tidal effect. I go back and forth, depending on the location of the moon. However, it is the law of the land so live with it until it is no longer the law.
How can we not all stand up as one as scream at the HYPOCROSY.
I should organize a “shout out” where at a certain point in time, the entire country stops what they’re doing, walks outside and yells, “How can you quibble over 10 billion for family planning for poor people when just 3 months ago you gave a $750 billion dollar tax cut extension to the richest 2% of the population?”
The Republican response will be, “First of all, let’s say a prayer of thanks for our troops.”
People will nod, once again satisfied that God and the Troops have been mentioned and therefore, the GOP is right and just.
That, my friends, is possibly more spooky than astounding.
I’m on my way home. I’ve just finished a project and plan on taking some time off. The economy is recovering. We are getting out of wars, not in them. The world is once again looking to us for leadership instead of turning away in disgust.
And I hear it has stopped raining in Novato, where I live.
Although I will be on vacation, I will continue to be available for world saving. I wear my outfit under my clothes all the time anyway. The spandex makes me feel…well, you know.
Up, up and away…
jim
