The Enemy Within

Two days ago, there was a drive-by type shooting incident in the small town where I live.

It wasn't gang related and didn't quite meet the criteria of "drive-by".  What happened was a guy broke up with a girl, she didn't take this well so she drove while a friend took shots at the ex as they sped through town.  The shooter actually stood up through the sun roof to get  a better shot.

Everyone was caught.

My son witnessed this.  I am here to tell you that if he had been shot, I would have immediately shed my pacifist demeanor and taken up hunting.

Now, we have invested a lot of money in bringing peace to the Middle East, that place where we went to kill and be killed in the name of P.O.F. (positive oil flow).  I am wondering if the trillion dollars spent on this little "oops there is no threat after all" event were spent elsewhere, how could they have been better put to use.

I suggest we look within.  There are a lot more threats to us inside our borders than there are over there (wherever that may be).  We have gangs everywhere.  Why is that?  We have drugs everywhere.  Why is that?  We kids dropping out of school.  We have prisons bursting at the seams.

As a country, we have acute appendicitis (<- hard word to spell) and are ignoring it in favor of helping another country with its bout with the common cold. Why?  Well, if you don't stop the cold there, someone may bring it here."

Let's suppose you could measure "Bad".  For example, terrorism has a Bad Value of X.  We arrived at that number by looking at costs, fear factors, future implications etc.  Everything we could measure goes into the pot.  This gives up a Bad Value of X.

Now, let's calculate the Bad Value of drugs.  Throw in the gang violence.  The impact on families.  The cost.  The jails.  The killings.  Throw it all in there.  When you are done, lets call this Bad Value Z.

My guess is that the Bad Value of Z is a hundred times greater than the Bad Value of X.

We need a Department of Homeland Security that protects us from ourselves.  How many drug busts went unbusted because we spent money hiring people to make sure I take my shoes off when I go through airport security.

The troubles of Mexico are coming.  Like a Stephen King novel - the evil is heading our way.

It's coming because we are calling to it.   We are the consumers.  Those drugs they cook - those are for us.

They are coming unless we chose otherwise.

This should be the issue.  Not fences.  Not laws.  The issue should be action - not against those that would come in, but against those that are already here.  This is not an immigration issue.  This is our issue.  This is about us and our very own enemy within.

J

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Fallen Gods

I saw yesterday where Tiger Woods' swing coach dropped him as a client.  Seems he had a problem with Tiger's - appetite.

Tiger has joined the ranks of Fallen God's.  This group is made up of those we have held in high esteem only to find they are mere mortals with good publicists.

We, as in "we the people" not the we of you and me, tend to hold those basking in the light of fame as something greater than ourselves.  It's as if fame imbues them with godlike powers.

I can see you saying, "No Jim. While you are right on nearly everything, you are not right on this one."

Perhaps.

But, how can we explain why people start to rent from National once they find out John McEnroe endorses them?  Why do we buy, vote or dress like the famous tell us to if we didn't somehow think their opinion matters more than say, the guy next door?

I had a company approach me as say that William Shatner was interested in doing a commercial for my company.  Imagine that!  Captain James T. Kirk was surfing the web and came across me.  He then did some research and was sold.  I am his man.

Turns out, he does this standard promotional thing and they basically insert the name of your company and it looks like he is endorsing it.  He does it once and then some underlings try to sell the fake endorsement.

So, it's fake.  Does this mean everything is fake?  Well, if the Captain of the Starship Enterprise is willing to sell his name for a buck, to endorse something he knows nothing about, then I say, "Yep, it's all fake."

This brings me to our elected officials.  Bush was a C student with a powerful dad.  Cheney worked for oil and "all things Halliburton."  Were they truly Gods amongst us or were they mere mortals, subject to the temptations and failings we non-famous endure?  Sarah Palin is another C student (albeit a very hot one).  She is barely qualified to be a spokesperson for dishwashing soap and yet, she is famous and therefore, qualified to run for president.

There are no gods among us.  We are all frail and faulted.  We are all perfectly human.

We want gods.  We want to believe that Tiger Woods is perfect or that our elected officials are honest and not self-serving.  That is just not the case - not with any of them.

I can say this because I walk amongst the non-gods.  I am one of the masses.  And when I come across a large stone to climb upon, I do so only to see that there are no heads higher than mine.  I want there to be but alas, we, you and I, are as good as it gets.

What's the moral of this story?  Don't vote for the most familiar face.  Don't listen to the one that talks the loudest.  Listen for the truth.  You will know it when you hear it.

http://www.worldgratitudelist.com   Leave a list.  Read a list.  Be happy.

j