Anyone miss Obama yet?

 I'm not sure what country I am living in anymore...

Three of our sitting Supreme Court justices were appointed by a man who was impeached twice and is being investigated for violations of the espionage act...The US Justice Department is investigating whether former President Donald Trump violated the Espionage Act, which prohibits retaining national security information that could harm the United States or aid a foreign adversary, The New York Times, Politico, and The Guardian report. Per an FBI warrant obtained by the outlets, Trump is also being investigated for violating additional statutes relating to obstruction of justice and destroying federal government records. The FBI recovered 11 sets of classified documents from its search, including some materials marked as "top secret/SCI" -- one of the highest levels of classification, according to records from the search warrant that were released Friday. Reports are that the documents seized at Mar-a-Lago are being fingerprinted to see who handled the papers.

Meanwhile, in NY, Trump took the fifth in a civil suit deposition, one of many civil suits he will be forced to defend himself against.

We now have missing Secret Service texts that could establish contacts between Donald Trump and the domestic terrorists of Stop the Steal, missing DHS texts that would reveal secret lobbying by Trump’s ‘legal team,’ and possibly missing Pentagon texts about *martial law.

CNN is reporting that "The Defense Department wiped the phones of top departing DOD and Army officials at the end of the Trump administration, deleting any texts from key witnesses to events surrounding the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol, according to court filings.

Meanwhile, our country is being run by a geriatric nightmare, the ranking member of the judiciary committee is a doddering old fool, Speaker Pelosi enraged China with a meaningless visit to Taiwan and our Vice President is nothing more than a congressional tie breaker. 

Sadly, the only 2024 possible Presidential candidates I can get excited about, are Republican Liz Cheney and Mayor Pete, current Secretary of Transportation. 

I don't know what country I live in anymore. 

MY PERSONAL PHILOSOPHY

LIFE PLANNING 101

I have spent my career (and life) in management or supervision in one form or another, and in the course of counseling the many employees under my charge, have boiled down my personal philosophy for living down to four basic questions. I think if the young people of today truly put some time into these questions, they might just see the big picture that will unlock their futures.

1. Who are you?
2. Who do you want to be?
3. How will you get there?
4. What mark do you want to leave on the world?

Who are you? Be honest with yourself, if with no other. Truly who are you? Write it down. The beauty, the scars, the hurts and the fears. Take a personal inventory. Write it down. This is the embarking point for your journey called life. You in no way are stuck here. It really doesn't matter where you start, it's where you are when you quit that matters.

Who do you want to be? Not only what you want to be, or what you want to do, or what you want to own, but who do you want to be? If you are lucky, you have some good role models in your life to emulate. But be your own self, be the best YOU you can possibly be. What, and who you are right now is not the end of it. You can improve and aspire, and change. The only people who are the sum total of their finished personal devlopement and growth, and ultimately, their realistic full potential, are those who have quit. Those who gave up. Those who stopped dreaming and yearning, and those who have allowed themselves to grow cynical. Those who stopped believing that with effort and a modicum of planning, dreams can come true at any age.

How will you get there? Chart a specific course. Very specific. Write it down. Winners plan and make things happen. Lesser achievers sit back and allow things to happen. Losers wonder what happened. Create a personal road map to guide you along the way. List the people who can help you, the resources you can utilize, the places you need to be, and the education you will need to be ready for the opportunity. This is a living document; amend, delete, add to, and improve it as you grow in maturity and wisdom. There are many paths in life that will take you through your journey. You must keep referring to your map and chart your progress, and look at the direction you are headed. Sometimes you might half to take a step back or two, to go forward in the right direction, and that's OK. It's not where you are, it's where you are going that matters.

There it is. Simplistic yes, but effective as the first step for any young person to begin to decipher who they will fit in, or lead, or be in life. A quick, motivational tool that can be used at nearly any age. I will stop here. I have had my employees create personal philosophies, and business credos to help their self-awareness; but for now, just four simple, yet complex life questions.

Be sure to put it on paper, and reread it over and over. Say it out loud. And believe. Believe, and aspire, and reach for the heavens.....and never, ever, give up. Dreams do come true, once you stop dreaming, and start doing 

WHY DO LIBERALS THINK TRUMP SUPPORTERS ARE STUPID...copied & pasted at the authors request.

THIS WAS ON A FRIEND’S PAGE: An anguished question from a Trump supporter:

‘Why do liberals think Trump supporters are stupid?

THE SERIOUS ANSWER: Here’s what the majority of anti-Trump voters honestly feel about Trump supporters en masse:

That when you saw a man who had owned a fraudulent University, intent on scamming poor people, you thought "Fine." (https://www.usatoday.com/.../trump-university.../502387002/)

That when you saw a man who had made it his business practice to stiff his creditors, you said, "Okay." (https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-hotel-paid-millions...)

That when you heard him proudly brag about his own history of sexual abuse, you said, "No problem." (https://abcnews.go.com/.../list-trumps-accusers.../story...

That when he made up stories about seeing Muslim-Americans in the thousands cheering the destruction of the World Trade Center, you said, "Not an issue." (https://www.washingtonpost.com/.../donald-trumps.../)

That when you saw him brag that he could shoot a man on Fifth Avenue and you wouldn't care, you exclaimed, "He sure knows me." (https://www.usatoday.com/.../president-donald.../4073405002/

That when you heard him relating a story of an elderly guest of his country club, an 80-year old man, who fell off a stage and hit his head, to Trump replied: “‘Oh my God, that’s disgusting,’ and I turned away. I couldn’t—you know, he was right in front of me, and I turned away. I didn’t want to touch him. He was bleeding all over the place. And I felt terrible, because it was a beautiful white marble floor, and now it had changed color. Became very red.” You said, "That's cool!" (https://www.gq.com/story/donald-trump-howard-stern-story)

That when you saw him mock the disabled, you thought it was the funniest thing you ever saw. (https://www.nbcnews.com/.../donald-trump-criticized-after...

That when you heard him brag that he doesn't read books, you said, "Well, who has the time?" (https://www.theatlantic.com/.../americas-first.../549794/

That when the Central Park Five were compensated as innocent men convicted of a crime they didn't commit, and he angrily said that they should still be in prison, you said, "That makes sense." (https://www.usatoday.com/.../what-trump-has.../1501321001/)

That when you heard him tell his supporters to beat up protesters and that he would hire attorneys, you thought, "Yes!" (https://www.latimes.com/.../la-na-trump-campaign-protests...)

That when you heard him tell one rally to confiscate a man's coat before throwing him out into the freezing cold, you said, "What a great guy!" (https://www.independent.co.uk/.../donald-trump-orders...)

That you have watched the parade of neo-Nazis and white supremacists with whom he curries favor, while refusing to condemn outright Nazis, and you have said, "Thumbs up!" (https://www.theatlantic.com/.../why-cant-trump.../567320/)

That you hear him unable to talk to foreign dignitaries without insulting their countries and demanding that they praise his electoral win, you said, "That's the way I want my President to be." (https://www.huffpost.com/.../trump-insult-foreign...)

That you have watched him remove expertise from all layers of government in favor of people who make money off of eliminating protections in the industries they're supposed to be regulating and you have said, "What a genius!" (https://www.politico.com/.../138-trump-policy-changes...)

That you have heard him continue to profit from his businesses, in part by leveraging his position as President, to the point of overcharging the Secret Service for space in the properties he owns, and you have said, "That's smart!" (https://www.usnews.com/.../how-is-donald-trump-profiting...)

That you have heard him say that it was difficult to help Puerto Rico because it was in the middle of water and you have said, "That makes sense." (https://www.washingtonpost.com/.../the-very-big-ocean.../)

That you have seen him start fights with every country from Canada to New Zealand while praising Russia and quote, "falling in love" with the dictator of North Korea, and you have said, "That's statesmanship!" (https://www.cnn.com/.../donald-trump-dictators.../index.html)

That Trump separated children from their families and put them in cages, managed to lose track of 1500 kids, has opened a tent city incarceration camp in the desert in Texas - he explains that they’re just “animals” - and you say, “Well, OK then.” (https://www.nbcnews.com/.../more-5-400-children-split...)

That you have witnessed all the thousand and one other manifestations of corruption and low moral character and outright animalistic rudeness and contempt for you, the working American voter, and you still show up grinning and wearing your MAGA hats and threatening to beat up anybody who says otherwise. (https://www.americanprogress.org/.../confronting-cost.../

What you don't get, Trump supporters is that our succumbing to frustration and shaking our heads, thinking of you as stupid, may very well be wrong and unhelpful, but it's also...hear me...charitable.

Because if you're NOT stupid, we must turn to other explanations, and most of them are less flattering.

- Adam-Troy Castro

2020 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION: A BATTLE OF (T)WITS?

Rarely, if ever, do I even consider not voting. In my advancing years, I have never missed an election. Ever. Not once, and I have been a registered voter for 46 years.
I could always find candidates I can get behind and publically support, someone I can feel hopeful and passionate about. Someone I feel can right the ship and get us back on the right path. I never totally agree with them, but I could understand and support their vision, their platform, their plan for our collective future.
But this time I am subjected to three final candidates who are an unfortunate collection of geriatric numbskulls. One wants to run on what his former boss did, one who brags about how he only takes donations from the ones who can least afford it (and then attempts to buy your vote with impossible "free stuff"...free college, free healthcare and on and on)...and one who gets his intelligence briefings from television and rarely listens to anyone (and if his closest advisors dare to disagree, they are sent packing). 
I deserve better. We deserve better. Unfortunately, we are the victims of redlining districts, the lack of term limits and a congress chucked full of spineless kissasses.
We desperately need a unifying voice; someone intelligent and charismatic enough to energize the nation away from their leather recliners long enough to cast a ballot. Someone who embraces what is best from both parties, a moderate who realizes the answers always emanates from the middle and never from the extreme left or right. Someone who wants to affect change one low hanging fruit at a time. Someone who embraces success, not by their latest tweet, but by pushing the nation forward. Making it a little easier for the people who need the help most. Someone who understands the least fortunate of us needs a hand up...not a handout.
The two-party political system is killing us, one election term after another.
The lack of competition is killing us...in our health insurance system, in our public schools and yes, in our political system.
And that's the world...The World According to Kimba. Thanks for reading.

CAN WE SURVIVE FOUR MORE YEARS?

We have weathered the storm of the Trump administration so far. The full-on Trumpian assault on the English language, the complete unassailable attacks on the truth, the endless barrage of his tweeting, consisting almost entirely of his childish attacks on his detractors and his insistence on using his position and power in order to use the country as his personal piggy bank. We have survived...or become numb to his excentricities...or has the country simply stopped caring?

He once was quoted as saying he could shoot someone in Times Square and not lose a single vote, and truer words were never spoken. His supporters simply turn a blind eye towards all of these.  His one crowning achievement, tax cuts promised to spur on our economy, has only rewarded the rich and ramped up the deficit. But no one cares. Fiscal conservatives are a dying breed. The voices of conservative leaders, who in private detest his actions, sit blithely by in silence, in fear of personally weathering the certainty of a Trump storm of personal attacks. Rather than speak sense to power, they sit back in silence, some have swallowed their integrity to become Trumpian sycophants as abhorrent as that may be.

For many of his supporters, he has become a leader; not in chief, but in hate. Hatred of minorities, hatred for the poor and hatred of anyone not representing the American ideal as he sees it. 

Many love his irreverence, his willingness to call out his political opponents with his un-presidential rhetoric and his unabiding hate for all those he has designated as the enemy. Others simply vote their 401k, which in truth, has continued to grow since the final two years of the Obama administration.

But now his foreign policy as commander in chief (if you want to so designate) has seriously affected our standing in the world. The loss of allies, who cannot abide his personal attacks and vendettas. He continues to attack our most favored nations such as Canada and the entire European Union, yet shows love and expresses his respect for dictators like Kim and Putin. He has severely tarnished our relations with China with exorbitant tariffs, and the American economy is worse off for it.

But now he is hell-bent on starting yet another war in the middle east, putting more and more of America's finest in harm's way. Now he has stopped being our American cartoon character and is making decisions on the world stage that may well put the country in real danger. Terrorist threats are ramping up again, and a future attack seems to be a near certainty.

One has to wonder if he even listens to cooler, more experienced heads such as the joint chiefs before he acts. He expresses his respect and admiration for our troops, but not even our military leaders are exempt from his attacks when they dare cross him in public with a dissenting view.

So I have to wonder if we can survive four more years with this made for TV reality star at the helm. In my opinion and based on his actions and rhetoric, he seems to be teetering on a mental breakdown.

So I have to ask...what will this country be in four years if he is allowed to remain in office?

Don't get me wrong, it is not as if I see anyone running in 2020 that I consider worthy of my vote, but certainly, someone more moderate would be a huge improvement.

These are becoming serious times, and the actions of our president could severely affect the course of our country for decades.

And that is my world...the "World According to Kimba." Thanks for reading.

BREAKING THE SILENCE

Happy New Year all,

I cannot believe it has been a year of silence. A year spent in a political stupor of sorts, as I come to grips with the Trump administration and the day by day un-presidential goings on in Washington.

A cabinet that now boasts a well crafted revolving door.
A stock market that doesn't know which end is up, but fortunately seems to be running on auto-pilot.
A world that shares my stunned silence and abject horror of a once proud nation.
A foreign leader that loves Trump in two separate meetings yet continues to manufacture nukes.
Two of the presidents closest political insiders sentenced to prison for multiple felony counts.
A tax plan that only benefitted the rich, cannot be paid for and only served to ratchet up the deficit.
And I could go on. And on. And on.

And yet, for the hundreds of political horrors, he remains in power.
He remains a hero in the minds of his supporters.
How you may ask?
It's simple.
They don't care.
They don't care that he is using his power and his family to get rich off from his position.
They don't care that he lies and fabricates everything in an attempt to claim victories.
They don't care that he uses FEMA to reward his red states and punish the blue states.
They don't care that he uses ICE to separate families and didn't even have the decency to take inventory of them so that they could reunite once the children get out of their cages.
They don't care he is a laughing stock.
They just don't care.
Because his racist agenda is their agendas.
He empowers the worst in them all and boldly goes where smarter, cooler heads never dare.

The only truth he has ever spoken was said during the campaign...he truly could go to Times Square, shoot someone and not lose any of his political base.

And so one year later, I come begrudgingly out of my political coma...my stupor of sorts.
And one year later, his red hat wearing political supporters continue in theirs.
Lord help us all.

And that is the world...the "World According to Kimba."
Thanks for reading.

MONGER ME THIS

To say we are about to enter into a new era of US foreign policy is a huge understatement. To shift the former CIA chief hard liner Mike Pompeo into the Secretary of State role is disconcerting. But we could live with the pick. This is not as dangerous as is the appointment of form UN Ambassador John Bolton into the role of National Security Advisor.

This is a man who is historically against diplomacy. This is a man who wants to ramp up military spending, not a deterrent to others, but for its potential to be used throughout the world. This is a man who has advised for the military attacks on Iraq and North Korea as well. He is against the meeting between Trump and Kim as a waste of time, as well as is against a two party state for Israel. 

I should mention here that John Bolton is a right wing, dogmatic asshole who couldn't receive a Senate confirmation for the position of White House dog catcher. He couldn't as UN Ambassador, so they appointed him as a temp of sorts. Certainly he couldn't get Congressional approval as any member of the cabinet. Fortunately for him, the role of National Security Advisor requires only a Presidential appointment. 

He is certainly a war monger. What on earth he was doing in the UN is beyond me. Fortunately for us, the UN is a powerless, vapid organization that has little power or importance other than occasionally achieving column inches in the media. But with his appointment to be NSA, Trump's third in fourteen months, will give him the ear and attention of someone with little to no experience with foreign affairs. And given his naivete in diplomatic affairs on the world's stage, Trump will be seeking his advice on a daily basis. 

In many ways, Bolton is the perfect man for the job in the Trump administration, as his fiery, who gives a shit attitude, both in private and in the media matches that of President Trump. Bolton will certainly fire up our critics around the globe and further increase foreign alienation from our allies across the world. Certainly many will criticize the US for their future decisions as team Trump/Bolton go lockstep into the future of the world like bulls in china shops. 

Will they lead us to war? Will Trump lead us into a trade war? The world breathlessly awaits...hoping for the best, but aware of the catastrophe these appointments could signal.

There is one thing for certain...Trump's many cabinet changes (firings and resultive hirings) in no way simulate a coherent plan or policy. His moves seem to revolve around his daily whims and paranoid reactive movements regarding whomever he deems to have peed in his corn flakes the previous day....and this is no way to behave when you are the perceived "most powerful man on the planet." It is certainly not a confidence booster to our European allies who have in the past looked toward the United States as a protector and world leader. The world shutters in disbelief at the goings on and the dizzying directions (or lack thereof) of the clown car of an administration Trump is driving. 

And that is the world...the "World According to Kimba." Thanks for reading. 

A TRAGIC HISTORY THAT UNFORTUNATELY WILL BE REPEATED

I used to engage in debates after school shootings...gun control, mental illness, video games, poor parental guidance, metal detectors, armed guards... but I stopped because nothing is going to change.
The fact is this is what we have become. This is America. This is the new normal.
No one is ever going to do anything about this.
I, like you, grieve for the victims and families involved but I have become a cynical pragmatist.

This country will do nothing about these repeated travesties. Sandy Hook? Nothing. San Bernardino? Nothing. Columbine? Nothing. Conyers, Middletown, Rancho Tehama, Marshall county, Marysville, Roseberg? Nothing. And nothing will be done after Parkland. Yes, modern day gun technology has made it easier to kill more people faster, but these school shootings have gone on for decades...centuries even. And we have done...nothing.

Here is a link to a comprehensive accounting of all school shootings. You will see what I mean.
It's our history...and unfortunately, our future as well.

I wish I could be optimistic. I wish I could tell you our leadership will do anything but tweet their "thoughts and prayers" then sit blithely by doing nothing until the latest incident fades from our memory but they won't.

History documents their inaction. Their history is our history. Our past, our present and our future.

So, tweet away, ramp up the Facebook posts, have a lively debate on Google Plus, but nothing will change.

Weapons are too easily purchased.Weapons are accessible to our children, our criminal element and the mentally ill.

Personally, I don't think the Parkland killer was even certifiable.

It was the cold, calculated act of a child with access to assault weapons.

He planned it and carried it out. He took an Uber, then entered the school and indiscriminately shot everyone he came in contact with. He knew full well what he was about to do, he planned it then did it.

Cold hearted mass murder. And there are others waiting to go off just like the orchestrator of Parkland.

Lots of people knew of this kid, and did...nothing. People like this leave clues, they give warnings.
But if those in the know choose to do...nothing, then we are defenseless.And innocent people perish.
Young people perish before they even get a chance to live. And this country will do nothing about it. 

God bless their memories, God bless the grieving families attempting to cope with the aftermath of this latest atrocity.I wish someone could do something about it. I wish I could do something about it.
I wish there was an easy answer.
Thanks for reading. Thanks for caring. Thanks for grieving.
Sometimes I hate the world...the "World According to Kimba."
If you feel powerless at present, join the club. 

LEADING FROM (HIS) BEHIND

I am not one of those bark at the moon Trump haters...he is now my President (like it or not--and I don't) and as a loyal American, it is my responsibility to support him and hope he succeeds.

I am not surprised at his priorities, as much as I despise all that he hopes to do, as well as the entire Republican agenda. His tax plan takes the corporate tax reduction way too far and favors the rich far too much. His domestic policies are racial biased and he has done nothing but hurt our efforts to bolster education and infrastructure.

Where I disagree with the Trump administration is his complete lack of leadership. His public childish rants, his threats and attacks on anyone he dislikes, his revolving door approach to hiring and firing his closest advisers and his inability to work with anyone who disagrees with him. In fact, any fact that disagrees with his line of thinking is completely dismissed as "fake news," even when it is obvious it is true. He is crass, vulgar and completely self-absorbed.

Whether he doesn't appreciate or even understand the inherit leadership vacuum he has created, he has led this nation down into the gutter by communicating not with press conferences but tweets in social media. He has taken the gap between red and blue and made it a chasm. He has made political preconceived notions and cynicism to outright hatred of all those who disagree the order of the day.
He embodies the kind of crass, vulgar, ugly American qualities that the rest of the world despises.

He needs to take stock of his leadership skills. He needs to see how his behavior affects the nation...and to a certain extent...the world. He needs to hire some close advisers with leadership skills. It wouldn't hurt if he even adopted a little positivism and optimism.

Kennedy once told the nation he believed in us and we would go to the moon...and we did.  Obama stated that he believed in this nation and told us we could cure cancer in ten years.

Trump is too busy attacking his enemies. All he does is state not what revolves around the nation, but himself. He will make us great again. He will win so much we will get tired of winning. It's the Trump opera...me, me, me, me, me.

"It took Trump less than a year to destroy America's good name around the globe." "Trump personifies everything the rest of the world despises about America: casual racism, crass materialism, relentless self-aggrandizement, vulgarity on an epic scale; he is the ugly American excel-sis."
Paul Thomas has it right...and we are stuck with the ugly American for at least three more years. Lord help us.
And that's the world...the "World According to Kimba." Thanks for reading.

A DEFICIT OF THINKING

Funny, but mostly true.
Personally I would have liked to see Mr. Wharton come up with something revenue neutral that wouldn't blow up our already insurmountable deficit. Of course, he didn't write the bill...I doubt if the President has the aptitude or where with all to even attempt to author a piece of legislation.

So who writes bills? It certainly isn't McConnell, or Pelosi, or Ryan...or anyone else in Congress either. These people do not even READ pieces of legislation, let alone write them. Underlings might help, but mostly it's lobbyists and very smart people hired by lobbying firms. And they do this to insure the legislation serves their, and not our, best interests. Add in some pork or provision intended to get enough votes for passage, then scream to the hills how the minuscule benefit to the common man is a victory for the party..all the while knowing the fat cats are going to rake it in (and keep the political donations pouring in as a result).  They live on a "quid pro quo" basis.

Personally, I would like to see an across the board 5% decrease in funding for every department in government. Show me a department head who cannot reduce spending, or find 5% of funds squandered, and I'll show you someone who should be fired. Add a five year cap on tax free donations to a 401k and you might have a revenue neutral bill that would pass.

It would be nice to eliminate a few hundred pages of the tax code, but that would require someone...anyone to actually read the tax code. Why does it have to be sooo painfully long and full of legal jargon? Is it so no one will read it....and why does it take literally years to audit a rich persons tax returns? Flatten the tax, eliminate so many deductions and get everyone to pay their fair share and you have my vote.

The tax bill itself, which will eventually be passed in both houses is a 600 page behemoth...a labyrinth of political jargon and bullshit designed to help corporations and the well to do while offering crumbs to you and me.

The worst part: eliminating the provision of Obamacare mandating everyone get some sort of health insurance.  You see health insurance is a sort of ponzi scheme where we need the healthy to pay into a fund so the least healthy of us can be covered for the horrendous cost of hospitalization and after care.

Is this unfair? Maybe...but the healthy should take solace in the fact that when they get sick, there will be a new crop of healthy people who are paying in to cover their expenses. But the entire system will collapse if we don't continuously get in a healthy crop of investors / insured.

Taking thirteen million people off from healthcare roles is not wise or even humane. But it is what I have come to expect from Congress..and especially the conservatives.

And it is going to pass. It will pass with the usual crap about if they line the pockets of the rich and corporations, whose pockets are already burgeoning with profits...will somehow invest the tax saving windfall into additional labor, or higher wages. Ridiculous blather that seems to work time and time again. Ridiculous because it has never worked ever.

History shows time and time again that the Republican "trickle down" theory never works. What's more.. our economy always works better with a liberal in charge. Who was the last President to balance a budget? Bill Clinton. Everyone else blew up the deficit...including Obama (although in his defense, he created stimulus packages to avoid a Bush snowball of an economy headed for a huge great depression).

I certainly do not know every portion of the tax bill (I wonder who does?), and an not an economic scholar...but it seems to me that this bill is being rushed through so no one can read it before the vote, and for the simple fact that the Trump administration needed a win. They needed a win because they haven't done anything of use...except play golf and fire people from their cabinet.

So, here it is...the 2017 tax bill...destined to pass, with its 600 pages no one will read, up to and including the handwritten provisions in the margins...hastily added to ensure they get the votes needed for passage. Because it is such a piece of crap they couldn't even get their majority members to vote for it without a piece of self serving pork added to it.

And the deficit goes up $1.7 TRILLION DOLLARS as a result of this "win." Good job, Mr. Wharton...if you really even graduated from that prestigious business school at all. The way I see it...your graduation from Wharton is on the same bar of plausibility as a drug and alcohol addicted George Bush graduating from Yale...doubtful at best.

But that is the way it goes in our great country...and in
"The World According to Kimba." Thanks for reading.

FOUR PILLARS FOR SELF-IMPROVEMENT

I have spent my career (and life) in management or supervision in one form or another, and in the course of counseling the many employees under my charge, have boiled down my personal philosophy for living down to four basic questions. I think if the young people of today truly put some time into these questions, they might just see the big picture that will unlock their futures.

1. Who are you?
2. Who do you want to be?
3. How will you get there?
4. What mark do you want to leave on the world?

Who are you? Be honest with yourself, if with no other. Truly who are you? Write it down. The beauty, the scars, the hurts and the fears. Take a personal inventory. Write it down. This is the embarking point for your journey called life. You in no way are stuck here. It really doesn't matter where you start, it's where you are when you quit that matters.

Who do you want to be? Not only what you want to be, or what you want to do, or what you want to own, but who do you want to be? If you are lucky, you have some good role models in your life to emulate. But be your own self, be the best YOU you can possibly be. What, and who you are right now is not the end of it. You can improve and aspire, and change. The only people who are the sum total of their finished personal devlopement and growth, and ultimately, their realistic full potential, are those who have quit. Those who gave up. Those who stopped dreaming and yearning, and those who have allowed themselves to grow cynical. Those who stopped believing that with effort and a modicum of planning, dreams can come true at any age.

How will you get there? Chart a specific course. Very specific. Write it down. Winners plan, and make things happen. Lesser achievers sit back and allow things to happen. Losers wonder what happened. Fail to plan and plan to fail. Create a personal road map to guide you along the way. List the people who can help you, the resources you can utilize, the places you need to be, and the education you will need to be ready for the opportunity. This is a living document; amend, delete, add to, and improve it as you grow in maturity and wisdom. There are many paths in life that will take you through your journey. You must keep referring to your map and chart your progress, and look at the direction you are header. Sometimes you might half to take a step back or two, to go forward in the right direction, and that's OK. It's not where you are, it's where you are going that matters.

There it is. Simplistic yes, but effective as a first step for any young person to begin to begin to decipher who they will fit in, or lead, or be in life. A quick, motivational tool that can be used at nearly any age. I will stop here. I have had my employees create personal philosophies, and business credos to help their self awareness; but for now, just four simple, yet complex life questions.

Be sure to put it on paper, and reread it over and over. Say it out loud. And believe. Believe, and aspire, and reach for the heavens.....and never, ever, give up. Dreams do come true, once you stop dreaming, and start doing.

PUT THIS ON MY BILL

I may be sticking my head into the lions mouth, but I believe that a bill insuring revenue-neutral tax reform which provides for a more vibrant growth of the middle class would sail through Congress. I am not an economic scholar but in my mind if you strengthen the lower and middle classes you would increase their ability to spend creating additional revenue through economic growth rather than increases in taxation. Increase their ability to spend and you increase the need to hire, manufacture goods and the economy grows. Include a five per-cent across the board governmental spending reduction and a temporary reduction in the percentage of 401k contributions that are tax free down to four per-cent would be a good start.

Do we spend in ways that HARM US? Absolutely. Too many loopholes, too much money spent interfering in the worlds affairs, too many pork filled add-ons to appropriation bills thrown into the ass end of legislation merely to insure they get the votes they need for passage.

It seems easy to me. Reduce the size of the behemoth tax code by eliminating ridiculous rhetoric and creative exemptions to aid the well to do. Flatten the tax code. Reduce the corporate tax rate down to 28 percent, eliminate all taxes for anyone under the poverty level, and stop using the tax code to affect the behavior of its citizens. So called "sin taxes" should be eliminated as unconstitutional as well.

You cannot fix healthcare until you fix and stabilize the tax code. Put that into a bill and you may get some sense of bipartisanship back on the Beltway. It seems easy to me.
At least in the "World According to Kimba." Thanks for reading.

TRUDEAU THE POLITICAL MORALIST

"We are determined to build an economy which works for everyone, not only for the richest 1%… We are going to refuse to give in to pressure to change our most profound innermost ideas to win easy votes. People of the world expect more from us and we expect more from ourselves. There is a choice to made. Strong, diverse, resilient countries like Canada didn’t happen by accident and they won’t continue without effort. Every single day, we need to choose hope over fear, diversity over division. Fear has never created a single job or fed a single family. And those who exploit it will never solve the problems that have created such anxiety."

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, October 1, 2016 to the UN Assembly

There is nothing I can possibly add, except that is the kind of leadership I have wanted here, for a very long time.

CRUZ: TRADES HIS SOUL TO AVOID POLITICAL SUICIDE

“Fools! who from hence into the notion fall / That vice or virtue there is none at all,” he wrote. “Is there no black or white? / Ask your own heart, and nothing is so plain; / ’Tis to mistake them, costs the time and pain.” “Yet seen too oft, familiar with her face, / we first endure, then pity, then embrace.”

"We endure, we pity, then embrace"...wise words from Alexander Pope.

His words were foretelling of these political times. Times when a major political party gets hijacked. Times when major leaders of said party publically refuse to follow, to accept or endorse its candidate...then grow silent. Then acquiesce. They fall in line losing what is left of their dignity.

Ted Cruz, now of the bad taste in his mouth club will soon endorse the very man who insulted him and marked him inexorably as a political liar. "Lying Ted!" Lying Ted is about to endorse that madman. That political gaffe machine, the one who claimed Cruz's father was somehow involved in the assassination of a Kennedy. The one who publically shamed your wife as an ugly pig.

Oh you tried to stand on principles...you tried to stand on your two feet...but here we are. You have gotten off your two feet with dignity and now are shamefully on your knees. Nothing is worth this,

Ted. I didn't agree with damn near any of your policies, but I respected you. You were what you presented yourself as. You were not playing a game. You ran on an agenda and set of principles you believed in...and win or lose, your message hardly wavered. You attempted to stand up to the GOP machine and refuse to lower yourself to endorsing your party's candidate...even when facing the entire party at your convention. You seemed to have what so few political insiders have any more...a backbone.

But those days are over. They have won. You traded your dignity and your political soul...for a continued political life. A chance to again stand in the well of Congress and bark at the moon.

I once thought you were an ultra religious, right wing, neo-conservative, nutbag James Stewart...an odd combination of Bailey and Smith...and Bachmann. A man who stood on deeply held principles. I was wrong. Because when push came to shove, your softened, you took the abuse, you overlooked the insults and lies about your immediate family and will give them (him) what he wants.

You endured, you pitied and now you embrace. You disgust me.

And that's the World...The World According to Kimba.

FALSE PROFITS

No disrespect to former First Lady Nancy Reagan...she led a life accomplishing some amazing work; especially for abusers of drugs and alcohol.

 

She devoted herself to her man, the result of which was one of the classic, unbreakable marriage / partnerships of all time. Truly one of the greatest love stories of my lifetime. God rest her soul.

 

Having said that...and hopefully adequately expressing my well-deserved respect for her life and work, and mourning her death. An untimely death...and I do understand that at this precise moment the nation grieves her passing...I really do understand the incredibly poor timing of the following remark, but...

 

I don't understand why every conservative considers Reagan a God...he opposed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (and only signed the bill establishing MLK day as an official holiday when it became obvious the congressional approval vote could easily crush his veto), the Voting Rights Act of 1965, tripled the deficit, failed to respond to the Aids epidemic for years, and sold weapons to the US embargoed Iran in order to raise funds....to assist the contra rebels in civil war torn Nicaragua.

 

I voted for him twice as a governor of California. I voted for his presidency at least once. But I remember his faults. His record of some deeds which can only be described as regrettable, if not repugnant. 

 

I loved the man, but couldn't possibly hold up his presidency as God-like. I don't get it.

PRIMARILY ABSURD

Just a few quick notes based on my observations leading up to Super Tuesday....

Jeb Bush didn't deserve to be treated that way. He didn't deserve to have a career in public service irreparably scarred and finished as a result of running for president. He didn't deserve to be permanently tattooed as soft or weak. But that is how the GOP does it--they eat their young. Don't misunderstand me--Jeb Bush is a terrible campaigner--but he was a sane, nuanced voice in a race in seriously in need.

Speaking of which...I love the back and forth between Trump and Cruz...Trump calls him a baby and Cruz responds with a video of Fat Bastard....they are both correct.

The GOP's refusal to consider any appointee for SCOTUS is the ultimate in low. To go a full year with a four to four deadlock is unconscionable. Obama must appoint a reasoned, moderate appointee that would make the GOP look like the ridiculous gamesman they are...with the cost going directly to the nation, not that they care.

How can Marco Rubio do so poorly in Nevada? He is a former resident, a former Mormon, a Hispanic and a reasoned voice from a party that has none. How could he possibly lose in every voter differentiator? To a bigoted blowhard like Donald Trump? The Mormons and Hispanics should have voted you in by a landslide.

Asking Hillary to provide the notes from her every speaking gig without mandating any other candidate to do so proves what has been obvious for three decades--if your name is Clinton, you will be subject to effort after effort, slur after slur, investigation after investigation based on nothing, and more unjustified attacks--baseless attacks than any politician in American history. And she survives. Trey Gowdy and Darrel Issa have spent every second of the past three years trying to get something--anything--to stick...and have wound up looking like impotent fools.

Why on earth is Bernie Sanders doing so well? A Democrat in name only so he could run for president--a man whose only platform is Wall Street sucks, a man who promises the world and can deliver nothing. A man who consistently fails to say he will need Congress to pass his every promise--promises that will cost billions and billions? Initiatives that will be dead on arrival on Congress's doorstep.  He is trying to play the electorate for fools--Wall Street is going to pay for everyone's college tuition? Do you think we are stupid? Do you really think your every answer for every problem is to throw money at it is going to work in the long run? Sanders for a much bigger government? Great platform to run on...

Why is the main opposition to Clinton a "trust" issue when she is the only one giving nuanced answers and plans to improve without promising "pie in the sky?"

The GOP has to get losers Ben Carson, Kasich and Cruz off the stage as soon as possible. Especially if they want to defeat the ignorant juggernaut named Trump. Or they can continue their decade of nominating unelectable candidates such as Romney, McCain et al.

Have you looked at the people actually behind Trump? No wonder he was screaming "I LOVE THE POORLY EDUCATED!" the other night. Water seeks it's own level. Right--Mexico is saving up to build your wall--just in case you get elected. And oh, by the way you vapid ignorant prick, have you noticed the drug runners have become quite the tunnel engineers?

 As Obama was fond of saying, it is silly season. And I am getting a migraine. What has happened to this country? What has happened to the collective intelligence of the voting electorate? Because unlike the leading GOP contender...I do not like the poorly educated.

And that is the world..my world. The "World According to Kimba." Thanks for reading...and voting and caring...and for gawd sakes...for thinking.

HUNTSMAN...A MAN WORTHY OF SCALIA'S ROBE

You might not believe that I, a dyed in the wool liberal is about to say this, but it's time to nominate a moderate who can get confirmed to replace Justice Scalia.. A moderate, yes.... Republican with unquestioned qualifications.

The Senate couldn't possibly reject a man of Jon Huntsman's experience and intelligence.

I am very confident he would rule based on the constitution and the rule of law instead of pressing his political agenda.

Controversial? Yes, but it would make the conservatives heads explode because it would be yet another instance when we put the country ahead of party. A true man of principle.

 

 "Jon Huntsman, former governor of Utah and U.S. Ambassador to China became a candidate for the Republican Party nomination for President in 2012.

After serving as vice chairman of the Huntsman Corporation, he was appointed deputy U.S. Trade representative and U.S Trade ambassador by George W. Bush. His busy schedule resulted in traveling over 40 weeks a year. In 2004, he and his family returned to Utah, where he successfully ran to become the 16th Governor of Utah. His popular policies won him reelection in 2008 with over 78 percent of the state-wide vote.

In 2009, Huntsman was unanimously confirmed as the Ambassador to China, resigning the Governorship of Utah to accept the post. He impressed his hosts with his immense knowledge of their culture; fluency in Mandarin; and by his riding a bicycle to meetings, rather than travelling by motorcade.

Shortly after a disappointing third-place finish in the 2012 New Hampshire Republican Primary, Huntsman resigned from the race. He chastised his fellow candidates, and the race itself, for the personal attacks and negative campaigning. "At its core, the Republican Party is a party of ideas, but the current toxic form of our political discourse does not help our cause."
While he endorsed Mitt Romney for president, Huntsman has continued to criticize his party. He has refused to attend the 2012 Republican Convention, telling the Salt Lake City Tribune that he will not go this or any future party convention "until the party focuses on a bigger, bolder, more confident future for the United States—a future based on problem solving, inclusiveness, and a willingness to address the trust deficit, which is every bit as corrosive as our fiscal and economic deficits."

FEEL THE BURN

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, at the debate Thursday night to Senator Bernie Sanders....

"There is this attack that he is putting forth, which really comes down to: Anybody who ever took donations or speaking fees has to be bought. And I just reject that senator," Clinton said. "I really don't think these kind of attacks by insinuation are worthy of you. Enough is enough, if you've got something to say: Say it."
"You will not find that I ever changed a view or a vote because of any donation that I ever received," Clinton said. "So I think it's time to end the very artful smear that you and your campaign have been carrying out in recent weeks, and lets talk about the issues."

Hillary, the victim? Sounds odd, but it's true.

The so called "clean machine" Bernie Sanders, has not run a clean campaign as he would like everyone to believe. Hacking into Hillary's campaign donors list, falsely claiming endorsements which were not true, and aides running around claiming to be members of a union to gain access. And claiming that you can buy an election.

No one has ever bought my vote. The Koch brothers can donate ten billion dollars on advertising...my vote is my vote and it is not for sale.

Back to Hillary's charge? One of many exchanges during the last debate in New Hampshire, and to be fair, Sanders got in a few good licks himself.

But towards the end he looked beat. Mentally and physically. He looked addled and old. He left the stage long before Hillary and looked elderly compared to the energetic and youthful (for her age) Clinton, who was clearly in her sweet spot of a comfort zone.

They say politics is retail, and this last debate was worth every penny.
And I am now in full political mode....bring on more like this one!
God bless America.

THE 2016 WORLD ACCORDING TO KIMBA PERSON OF THE YEAR

Many of my readers may be surprised at my pick for person of the year...some may be appalled (and I sincerely hope you are). But one person has done more for this country than any other. As the leading candidate for one of our two major political parties in all polls, he has proven that you need not have any political experience at all to be considered for the office. None at all. But that is not why I nominate him as my person of the year.

 

In 2016, he came roaring out on the presidential campaign trail with his unfettered personal views...anti-immigrant, anti-minority, misogynistic, bigoted and hateful. He calls nearly everyone stupid and incompetent, slanders every opponent in his way, and bends the truth like an old fashioned blacksmith bends a molten hot piece of metal.

 

He has waged the lowest, most hateful campaign every seen in modern times, all the while egotistically boasting of his enormous talents as if he were the messiah. Everything will be fixed, everything will be huge. No nuance, no specific plans, just empty promises and an endless supply of attacks. But obviously this isn't why I name him my person of the year.

 

My nominee has done this country an enormous favor. He, and his staggering amount of  pre-primary supporters have given us a gift...a sobering look at what our country...at least nearly a third of it is.. truly is at the moment. A scared, bigoted, hate filled populous willing to follow a man who looks down on women, hates minorities and criticizes every portion of our government. He spews his venom from the top of the mountaintop and people follow. And a lot of people are following...and the rest of the country shudders at the thought that so many people might actually agree with him. Might actually vote for him.

 

He has, in a very short period of time, shown us what this once great nation has become...at least what its lowest common denominator believes in their hearts. And for that reason alone, I name Donald Trump as my 2016 person of the year. Good Lord help us all...

 

THE NY TIMES GOT IT RIGHT

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/05/opinion/end-the-gun-epidemic-in-america.html?action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=opinion-c-col-top-region&region=opinion-c-col-top-region&WT.nav=opinion-c-col-top-region&_r=0

"Opponents of gun control are saying, as they do after every killing, that no law can unfailingly forestall a specific criminal. That is true. They are talking, many with sincerity, about the constitutional challenges to effective gun regulation. Those challenges exist. They point out that determined killers obtained weapons illegally in places like France, England and Norway that have strict gun laws. Yes, they did.

But at least those countries are trying. The United States is not. Worse, politicians abet would-be killers by creating gun markets for them, and voters allow those politicians to keep their jobs. It is past time to stop talking about halting the spread of firearms, and instead to reduce their number drastically — eliminating some large categories of weapons and ammunition."

 

Click on the link and read the editorial in its entirety. It isn't long, but it is powerful. It represents editorial journalism at its best...the kind I wish I were capable of. Bravo, N.Y. Times for getting it right.

CAN YOU WAIT UNTIL THE BODIES GO COLD IN SAN BERNARDINO?

Another mass shooting, another opportunity. Another opportunity for the social media to assault our eyes with an endless stream of posts regaling us with their political views.
YOU NEED TO STOP...FOR A MINUTE.
Would it be so bad to agree on a 72 hour moratorium on the endless stream of political blather and allow us to reflect and grieve?
Would it be OK if you waited a few days before you see another mass shooting tragedy as an opportunity to publish your opinions on guns?
Would it be all right if you waited a few days before you danced on the victims graves waving your political banners?
Could I, as a human being, be allowed to reflect and grieve and be numb with emotion over another tragedy in what was once a proud nation?
Because, I don't know if you heartless bastards noticed...but people died yesterday. Fourteen of them, including two peace officers. Heroes all. And for every death there is twenty to thirty people at minimum who are grieving their losses...families trying to cope in stunned horror as their lives were inexcusably changed for the worse. Children longing for their parent. Spouses trying to cope with the loss of their life partners.
Because, I don't know if you heartless bastards noticed...but people died yesterday.
And so would it be OK if you resisted the opportunity to express your political blather until the bodies cooled?
There were 355 instances of mass shootings in this country this year alone. Didn't you get your point across immediately after the first 354?

Could you find it in your cold, unfeeling heart of hearts and first and foremost realized that the important thing about yesterday is that innocent lives were lost....before you published your continuous stream of crap about how you...own guns, want to keep your guns, want to control guns, want to hug your guns, want to outlaw guns, want to remind us that the guns didn't trigger themselves or how everyone should have one strapped to their waists along with their cell phones?

You think the perpetrators are cold? Look into the mirror and stop. Just stop.

LOOKING AFTER THE WELFARE...OF THE AMERICAN PUBLIC

I read a variety of materials, even the ultra right wing, flame thrower, election time rhetoric on the internet. One such article is linked below. Read it in it's entirety if you wish, it's not long and will take you very little time to absorb.

The basic tenet of his thesis is that President Obama, that master Marist, has devoted his two terms to setting up two Americas in a classic showdown...a class struggle that will ruin this nation. His infuriating quotes are "He seeks a lowest common denominator society in which the government besieges the successful and productive and fosters equality through mediocrity." "It’s not about income inequality, it’s about civic irresponsibility. It’s about a political party that preaches hatred, greed and victimization in order to win elective office. It’s about a political party that loves power more than it loves its country."

Read more: http://www.wham1180.com/onair/bob-lonsberry-3440/two-americas-11890777/#ixzz3su7Q5zJp

 

In my opinion, it's not about handouts. It's about equal opportunities for all...the goal of giving all persons an equal chance to an education and employment, and to protect their civil rights, regardless of their race, religious beliefs, or gender. If you take welfare and food stamps it is a relatively small portion of the budget compared to defense spending. Want to reduce the SNAP program? raise the minimum wage from where it is now to $10 across the board, which will reduce food stamp spending by $4.6 billion. Want to reduce welfare? Invest in education...early education for low income families (Head Start), invest in inner city schools...invest in education period, make college affordable to all, make it truly available to all...it's not about being Robin Hood, it's about giving opportunity to all. The middle class is shrinking. Obama didn't do it, it's been happening for decades now. Should surplus corporate profits, much of which are the result of government involvement and favoritism further line the pockets of the uber rich, or will it go towards improving the quality of life of the working majority who actually produce the wealth? No one seeks a "lowest common denominator society in which the government besieges the successful and productive to foster equality through mediocrity." That would be economic suicide. But by refusing to equal the playing field of opportunity, you weaken the majority of America. We are becoming the nation of stupid. Uneducated lower class who will increasing qualify for public assistance because they are unqualified to do anything more than menial work. Crackpots like Bob Lonsberry never mention this...of course, he's rich...and it'selection time.
And that's my world...the "World According to Kimba." Thanks for reading.

BEYOND MY COMPREHENSION

I apologize for my pitiful lack of postings of late. Selfish really as I note the repeated and consistent viewings I witness, many coming directly to this blog and not by finding me through a search engine. The majority of readers of this one man blog do not come here by happenstance or accident, but as a deliberate desire, and for that I give you my heartfelt thanks.

The reason for my inaction of late? It is not because I have suddenly become lethargic or uncaring, and not because I have distanced myself from the current political landscape...it is because I just don't get it anymore. I watch, mostly in horror, the current political goings on and sit blithely by in a stunned silence. I can't believe my eyes...I can't believe my ears. It is like I am watching a massive automobile accident over and over in the slowest of motion. I don't get it.

I watch a major political party apparently led in the polls by the most unprepared candidate for major political office I have seen in my lifetime, and he leads in every political polling. Every one. And armed with this knowledge and fueled by this popularity, he ascends on one political event after another and spouts the most crude and un-nuanced blather ostensibly consisting entirely of his ego-driven boasts, world changing promises that he has no idea how to accomplish, and unending attacks of seemingly every public servant holding office. He even attacks the intelligence of entire American states and world countries, many of which have been our allies since before two world wars. He is unquestionably a bigot (his remarks against Hispanics are well documented), a misogynist who sees women as sexual objects, and a self touted business expert who has filed for bankruptcy no less than three times. He frequently brags about spreading his cash out to politicians from all parties because that's how he gets things done for him. Let's be clear...this is a man so painfully stupid he actually thinks he can deport over thirteen million illegal aliens...and keep them out with a thousand mile long wall which Mexico will pay for...and as ignorant as this all sounds...doesn't he even read a paper? The California Mexico border has more tunnels than an ant hill. There are tunnels with lighting, pumped in air and a friggin tram system. He is a complete bat-shit crazy moron...and it's working.

Surely there is a candidate following closely behind him of some weight, someone worthy of serious consideration for the most powerful position on the face of the earth...but sadly, the answer is no. Second in every political poll of late is a man with zero political experience. Zero. And not only is he a political neophyte, he is a raging lunatic who consistently lies and makes up stories incapable of intelligent consideration...a man who he himself has admitted in his writings to be certifiable. An extremely troubled youth, dyslexic, a pathological liar and someone who has demonstrated on multiple instances uncontrollable fits of rage culminating in going after his own mother with a hammer, hitting a childhood friend with a padlock to the face  and attempting to stab a relative with a knife. Admitted to at least two cases of attempted murder as a child and he is in serious consideration to be President of the United States by a major political party? And a solid second in the polls? Really? A man who seriously thinks the pyramids were built to hold grain??

If this were a movie, no one would believe it. But it is most certainly not...and I don't get it. Good Lord give me the wisdom to understand...

And that's my world...the "World According to Kimba." Thanks for reading.

FECKLESS NEAR SEATTLE

Feckless: lacking initiative or strength of character; irresponsible

Another month, another mass shooting. This one killing ten in an Oregonian community college, and hardly anyone bats an eye. Welcome to the new normal.

President Obama summed it up distinctly..."Somehow this has become routine. The reporting is routine. My response here at this podium ends up being routine, the conversation in the aftermath of it ... We have become numb to this,"

Every time a new mass murder is inflicted upon our fellow Americans, the President takes the podium and does what he does best...speaks from the heart. he berates Congress, he berates the powerful gun lobby. He berates our nation in comparison to others...that's right, the leader of the free world...our leader, berates the country that elected him...unheard of. But Obama repeatedly does so after shootings -- saying Britain and Australia, for instance, had passed gun control laws to prevent new massacres.

"We are not the only country on Earth that has people with mental illnesses or want to do harm to other people,"  Obama said. "We are the only advanced country on Earth that sees these kinds of mass shootings every few months," (editors note: this marks 294 mass murders in the U.S. this year alone) Obama said, and hammered Congress for even blocking the collection of data on shooting incidents. "This is a political choice that we make, to allow this to happen every few months in America. We collectively are answerable to those families who lose their loved ones."

 

I agree wholeheartedly to his message. Maybe common sense gun controls would not have prevented this tragedy, or the one at Columbine, or Aurora, or Sandy Hood, or Virginia Tech....but if they could have...if they could have and our lawmakers did nothing...they have blood on their hands.

 

I could understand if Obama has given up. Given up pushing for gun control with a GOP controlled Congress in bed with the powerful gun lobbyists. I get it. You would be flailing away for a fools folly mission that certainly would come to an anticipated early death. But if he could have gained some ground, gained some traction, negotiated some small measure of reform by sending Congress a barrage of bills to change the laws...if he stood by his convictions and pushed legislation towards Congress until their expense accounts bled...if he could have made even a modicum of difference, and gave up...then there is blood on his hands as well.

It's not a matter of intelligence...everyone agrees we need gun reform...common sense gun reform. The problem is Washington progressives have given up. They have lost themselves...lost their ideals, lost their integrity. They have become a feckless, gutless collection of cowards.

And not one of them...not even one of them has the gumption, the convictions or the courage to stand up and scream to the hills that this must stop. The willingness to put it all on the line, stand on the Senate floor that once heard patriots like Douglas, Webster, Lincoln, Calhoun and Clay...and wake that body up. Wake them up with the hard cold fact that the current Congressional inactivity...or apathy towards these mass murders is inexcusable. They sit blithely by while our fellow Americans are gunned down without a tear. Page one today, page two tomorrow, forgotten next week.

I've had enough. I bet you have as well. I'm old enough to know what this country stood for once, and has now become. And Congress sits by scared shitless...that if they so much as suggest that maybe, just maybe we should find out if someone is a felon, on the run from the law or just plain old bat shit crazy before selling someone a weapon...they will lose votes, then I say the hell with you. You feckless, gutless coward.

I urge them to stand up. Stand up for something...hell, stand up for anything...anything other than the people stuffing your pockets full of re-election money for gawd sakes. Pretend you have something inside. Some caring, some empathy for your constituents. Maybe even a muffled voice deep, deep down inside that a human life is worth more than a vote, or a campaign contribution. Many of you claim to be pro life...here is your chance.

If you have had enough...vote your conscience. I urge you to stand up as well. Voice your dismay. Maybe someone will be listening. I have had enough...how about you?

And that's my world...the "World According to Kimba." Thanks for reading. Sorry for the shouting.

CONTEMPTUS MODIFI

I have kept silent over the past few months in regards to the few religious business owners who refuse to have anything to do with gay marriage....conduct the ceremony, make the cake, take the pictures. I get it, it is against your religious beliefs and the core principles that make up the "free to choose" you. I do get it. Shame on you, but I get it.
It's one thing to deny gay couples their rights, it's good fodder for discussions in eighth grade Ethics classes all over the country. It's been going on forever...in fact they are the last class of Americans whom the government openly discriminated against, until recently. Until now, it was merely the inconvenience of finding an open minded baker, or photographer, or clergyman.
But if your chosen profession is to carry out the law, if your sworn responsibility is to follow the directives of the courts and the established law of the land...then you don't get to pick and choose which laws you will follow as if you were at a cheap Vegas buffet. No one gives a shit about your religious beliefs...do your sworn duty. Upholding the law does not have a religious preference clause.
So a clerk in a southern state refuses to issue gay marriage permits. That is bad (and illegal) enough, but apparently this clerk is taking her illegal actions to the next level. Reports are coming out that this governmental clerk is now modifying official paperwork rendering gay marriage licenses worthless.

 

Her name is Kim Davis and just look at her. She couldn't possibly have had a good childhood. You can see it. She wasn't voted "most likely to succeed," or danced with the football star at the prom. She wasn't the most popular at school, or any where else for that matter. You can see it in her face. But she, like many others, had the church. And we can now see just how thoroughly devoted and compliant she is to her religion.
Personally I think the lawyers have gotten to her. And religious leaders as well (she is pictured below with Mike Huckabee, erstwhile Presidential candidate and self appointed political religious keeper of the guard) . She is going to have one chance for fame, one chance for respect, one chance for some recognition in her shitty little life, and here it is. And she is going to hold onto the brass ring for dear life.

She has the chance for fame, possibly write a book and make a ton of money, be a hero, go on Oprah...or even better in religious circles...be a martyr. Look at the look at her face above...she is being led to believe she is the next Rosa Parks or something. She thinks she has the opportunity to go from trailer park to the history books. But, truth be told, the only place she should be headed is to jail. You can't use your Bible to disobey judges and their orders.
But having said that, does anyone really think jail is a deterrent to her compared to her (perceived) potential rewards? She is an unattractive middle aged nothing clerk in Tennessee and she is married to a man who, when hearing that he is about to be on television...slips into his "good" overalls.
I think three things...jail doesn't mean a damn thing to Kim Davis,  this isn't going away anytime soon and if you are Mike Huckabee and are running for an office which requires an absolute sworn oath to the Constitution of the United States, maybe, just maybe you should stay the hell out of it.
That's my world...the "World According to Kimba." Thanks for reading.