Why we all need to listen to our elders…

Why Glenn Beck is an Arrogant Wimp…

“Cut his mic.”

“Cut his mic!”

Hmmmmm…

Thanks for listening;)

Give the Big Three the Big Boot

This is what I have been saying for the longest time.  I said the same thing about the banks, and now agree with the author about the auto industry:

http://www.american.com/archive/2008/november-11-08/dont-bail-out-the-big-three

Capitalism is survival of the fittest, not survival of the worst managers but best beggars.

Thanks for listening;)

Happy Halloween…

 

 

Thanks for listening;)

You Decide…

…how much can you save:

Tax Calculator

Thanks for listening;)

Nightly Wrap-Up

John Dean is an amazing writer and speaker.  This is a great way to end the first day of D&B Politics.

http://writ.news.findlaw.com/dean/20080905.html

The Constitution is an amazing document written by ordinary men with an incredible vision.

This quote is currently the closing for my sister’s emails, she is a lawyer like Dean:

The laws and Constitution are designed to survive, and remain in force, in extraordinary times.

– Justice Kennedy, writing for the 5-4 majority, in Boumediene v. Bush, June 12, 2008

Thanks for listening;)

Hello world!

Hello to all!

This is my new blog for politics.  My personal blog was getting a little political for my taste so I have branched out.  Please and enjoy, and comment as you feel necessary, I am always willing to listen.

I will re-post the poltically based entries from my original site www.donnerandblitzen.wordpress.com .

So for now that is where you will find the about section.

Thanks for listening;)

Welcome to WordPress.com.

Who can choose what?!?

While this site can be a little of kilter from time to time, this issue is just too important to pass up.

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/9/6/161324/6723/561/589293

Thanks for listening;)

Freedom of…what did you just say?!?

OK.  I have some thoughts on some things that really get my goatee.

People always are talking about freedom and democracy, but what do they really mean, and I am not talking about the dictionary version of these words.  Usually I would rely on my reference manuals, dictionaries, encyclopedias, and such, although many of you know that I am not the best speller or spell checker for that matter, I will leave that area to my beloved sister, but this time it is about principles.

This past fall I went back to my alma mater and met a whole lot of people that I had no idea existed in this world.  Sadly, most of them are my fraternity brothers of the present.  My close friends will tell you that I suck at keeping in touch, hell, my family will tell you that, but the point is that I have decided in the last year to try and keep in touch, or at least hang out and drink, with more of the people that mean something to me.  Yes, these individuals up in the great state of Maryland mean something to me.  There is a bond that is beyond miles and years.  We all have shared in similar experiences without having to be in the same place at the same time.  My reason for bringing them up is the word principle.  My fraternity has three cardinal principles, Virtue, Diligence, and Brotherly Love.  No, this isn’t some secret you can look it up in the Library of Congress.  These principles guide the way for the organization.  My particular chapter got lost along the way about three years ago.  Some will tell you that it happened much before that.  I will tell you it happened the semester after my pledge class was inducted. 

In the past 3-5 years the organization fell into disarray.  Money was coming in, but not going to the right places, and by the time the fraternity reached out to the alumni it was too late.  So, now they are underground.  For the uninitiated, both figuratively and literally, underground means that they are no longer recognized by the national organization or the college community, officially.  There were many directions the local organization could go, but somehow they managed to stay together and create the next generation of SigEp.  Don’t get me wrong, I know that they had plenty of opportunity to make things right officially, but they chose not to, and had more alumni like myself been more involved this might have been avoided.  The point is that the principles of the fraternity live on in this group of young men.

I had the opportunity to have a pretty heavy conversation with two of the Executive Council members after a long day of Homecoming.  We talked about what they saw happen, what they thought happened, and what I heard happened.  The conversation allowed me to replay part of the great years that I had in MD.  The resolution of the discussion was the fact that the principles haven’t changed.  These young men that I met only hours before let me into their world without question.  They allowed a complete stranger into their house, which is ironic because had they been and official organization they would not be allowed to have a house on campus, and we drank from the same cup, yes, both literally and figuratively.  We share principles that have and continue to stand the test of time, the most important being Brotherly Love. 

The idea that a group of men can share the same ideals is as old as man himself.  This leads us to the expression of those ideals.  We have created civilization upon civilization on this fact.  Men, and when I say that I do mean men, I am not completely naive of he sexism that has existed for thousands of years, have congregated together in a brotherhood based on their ideals and principles.  Throughout history men have also gone to war over the expression of these ideals and principles.  The expression of these self-truisms is what I speak of today.

Speech is not just spoken word, it is the outward communication of one’s thoughts.  Whether it be in oration, written word, or art, man has longed to bring out the ideas in his head.  Heck, I’m trying to do that right now.  The question has always been what is ok to express and what is not.  My belief is the the first sign of intellectual demise is the censure of that ability.  When our founding fathers put together the Bill of Rights the first thing they tackled was this ability:

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

Yes, they speak of religion first, mainly because that is why a large number of people had migrated to this foreign land, but this has to do with the expression of one’s ideals and principles.  Religion is a topic I am sure that I will tackle in a future blog.  Abridging being the shortening/editing of one’s speech, just ask Readers’ Digest. 

We live in a world where we are constantly monitoring the expression of each sect of individuals.  I think that the reporting of this monitoring is great.  Why should we not report one speech and not another?  We should.  Everyone has a voice.  There are some that are recorded louder than others,  but we each have the ability to express ourselves.  This is a birth-right.  Is there a line to be drawn? It depends.  We look at things through our own perception, but there is a collection of perceptions that create the rules that we live under.  There is no perfectly free arena.  This is the puzzle within the freedom of speech.  If everyone is allowed to speak their mind in anyway they choose would this not lead to complete anarchy?  Probably.  Should people only be allowed to speak only in the voice that is decided upon by whatever rule is dictated to them?  Most certainly not.  But the evolution of man has led us to a point where we have some decency, mostly.  The voice of opposition has led to the helio-centric idea of the world, the belief that people should not be forced into slavery, and that religion is a personal decision.  I realize that the latter two, and unfortunately the former at times, are not fully embraced by every living person, but the point is that without the ability to have are speech unabridged we might still be solely writing on cave walls, or worse, extinct through ignorance.

We, being the human species, have become very vocal in our ways.  We seek first to be heard and then to be understood.  Quite the opposite of what should happen, first seek to understand, then to be understood (thanks Covey).  This is where I see us erring.  I am the first to enter a lively discussion into just about anything, but I will always listen to your side of the discussion.  Thomas Jefferson said, and I am paraphrasing, that I may disagree with what you say, but I will fight to the death for your right to say it.  This is a truth that I hold dear.  I am very opinionated, but I think that you should be opinionated too.  Tell me I’m wrong.  Tell me I’m an idiot, but at least listen to me the same way I listen to you.  I will hold someone in higher regard for this than for just agreeing with whatever is said.

We have an amazing cognitive ability to communicate with each other in a variety of ways.  We should embrace that ability as the chance to change the world.  Whether it be in a coaching moment, or in a revolution, we have the chance to effect and affect the world around us.  Please, just listen.

Carry On;)