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Jun 18, 2008

Recent Posts

Where's the Proof?

Here we are with an election year chugging along and billions being spent while ,for you and me there's an economy that one day we are told is recovering and the next is either stagnant or sluggish again. Both sides say their ideas to help pull us out of the economic hole are sound and strong. Each claims to have different ideas – the right ideas - about what to do regarding what comes after Election Day. But what about either a liberal or conservative strategy, if they would implement policies that in action were really that divergent, would put us back on track? Have we seen real differences?

The party that doesn't have control of the White House currently claims to be the party that would radically move in another direction, or at least enough of a different direction ...

Where's the “Us?”

Patriotism is never a bad thing in and of itself. Having pride in one's country and a sense of belonging to the nation in which one lives or originates from can be a very positive thing. It can denote a feeling of being part of the best qualities of a particular nation, and a kinship with the ideals borne out of a place. It has brought nations together at times when they needed it most. I was born in America, and am proud to be an American, for example.

Conversely, patriotism can be something used by people with less than honorable intentions. In Germany during WWII for example Hitler and the Nazis famously used it to round up Germany's people and ...

Mushy Center

In politics the tendency for candidates to move to the center when things get tough for them has become increasingly popular. The move helps them to side step and deflect heat coming at them from things that they have done or that have been done to them causing their popularity to wane. It also can appease a segment of folks that typically are not their constituency when members of their own base are looking at them unfavorably in hopes of making up lost ground regarding supporters. Come election time this can be especially important as it can help garner support. However, this still requires strong support from at least most of your base, and when they are fed up with a politician it is usually a good idea to get them behind that person to have not only guaranteed votes, but so as to look as if you are who you say you are. Bizarre schizophrenic personality shifts that try and say “I am no longer the person I was just four years ago” can seem – off.

When a politician starts their original campaign making things not as much about their personality as the issues, this can be different. In such cases for them to develop more of a personality can be a good thing. If they won on the issues the emergence of a stronger or strengthening character ...

But Where Did It Go?

There is so much talk from all corners about the stimulus bills that went through Congress in 2008 and 2009. There are people that supported them both and thought they were precisely what we needed to stave off far greater financial repercussions as a result of the sub-prime mortgage bond fueled collapse. There are those that supported just the Bush stimulus saying either we needed that, but not the Obama stimulus, or that they were wrong to have supported even that and that we needed neither. Those that supported both are almost universally from the left side of the isle and criticize the right for what they call not having the courage to go further.

There was the passage of what some have called a quiet stimulus since then happening at the end of 2010 passed by both Democrats and Republicans under the radar while the nation ...

The Heart of the Movement

The driving forces behind any movement are sometimes seen as external forces that push and pull on them using a variety of methods. We view things like say the money funding a movement (if there is much) to be the driving force behind specific movements. At other times we get sidetracked into believing various elements vying to be the faces of the movements are what keep them going. Outside influences seeking to tap into and take credit for the gains and messages of movements are often mistakenly given credit for being the forces behind or inspirations for these movements. None of these are the true soul of a movement.

The deepest part of any movement is the many people that comprise it. The multitude of the believers propelling it forward by giving of themselves for nothing more than to see a cause they believe in furthered are what lay at the core of any movement. They spread the message and spirit of the movement ...