You Don't Scare Me, Bully

Bullies are nasty things. Insecure individuals releasing their frustrations on the innocent has no basis in logic. When a child is bullied, our hearts go out to them. We see our own experiences reflected in their tear-filled eyes. But bullying is not quarantined to only the young. One has to ask oneself, what happens to child bullies when they grow up? For that answer, we don't have to look too far, especially right now.

The mainstream media, most liberals, and many other politicians exhibit the classic signs of being bullies in big-people clothes. Jack Conway, the Democratic candidate for Senate in Kentucky, is someone you might expect to find holding another person's head in a toilet. That swirly victim at present is Rand Paul. Being the son of someone so polarizing like Ron Paul can't be easy, small physical stature aside. Rand isn't a stranger to bullying. He seems to be a seasoned pro when dealing with senseless slander, but why should we sit back and let this kind of thing continue? We profess to be a society that's sickened by undeserved violence. We condemn the actions of child bullies, yet when that undeserved violence is wielded by a liberal or a liberal-sympathizing member of the media, we accept it. We shake our heads, say 'tisk tisk' and let it remain. The memory of the event is quickly buried under memories of countless events like it every day.

The 2010 mid-term elections have seen some really sad bullying tactics. An angry male Democrat calls his female Republican opponent a 'whore'. The liberal machine, media in tow, exploits the distant and irrelevant history of an otherwise normal woman, Christine O'Donnell, in order to make sure her liberal opponent is sent to Washington. An angry elitist Democrat resorts to physical contact with his Republican opponent during a debate. Congressional fat cats send their significant others on heckling missions to rattle their opponents. If Washington and the road to Washington were the halls of an elementary school, these politicians would be spending a lot of time in the Principal's office. But if Barack Obama is considered the Principal, I guess that disciplinary trip won't do much good.

And so, it is up to us, the 'parents' of this nation. Our priorities need to be set right. After Rand Paul's first-and potentially only-debate with Jack Conway, he refused to shake Conway's hand. Conway's attack ad was just too grotesque, his methods far too mad. Though some may view this action as rude on Paul's part, I say it's about time. The reason bullies continue to wreak havoc is because the victims don't stand up for themselves. This isn't a case for marshal law, no. Rather, this is a case for common human decency. We're told we have to lead by example, but when the bully is blind, they can't see that example. The media, liberals, and many in the government are blind. They have lost any sense of right and wrong. It's time those of us who are willing to fight to suck it up and do so. The next time someone attacks your faith, your patriotism, your intelligence, or your freedom, give them a lesson in the truth. Bullies are bad, no matter their age, and we can't let their behavior continue.

9/11: What I Learned

I read a Care Bears storybook from my childhood the other day. This story was about a boy who was being bullied at school. Of course, the Care Bears encouraged the child to befriend the bully because the poor bully was just misunderstood. The two became friends and everything was great in the end. Unfortunately, that's not always how it works.

On September 11th, 2001, I was in college. I was walking across the courtyard and caught sight of one of the school maintenance men. He was muttering and cursing to himself. We asked him what was wrong and he told us. Everyone crowded around televisions, tears refusing to fall because the shock was so great. I had seen the World Trade Center only a few months earlier on a visit to New York. My heart and my innocence broke that day as I watched the billowing smoke.

You see, Islamic extremists are bullies of the worst kind. They don't bully because they're calling out for help. They don't bully because they secretly want to be friends. These people bully because the fabric of their fiercely held faith tells them to. They are instructed in no uncertain terms to wage war on those who are different from themselves. That morning, they waged war on people just like you and me. It could have been us choosing a death by falling dozens of stories as opposed to burning alive. It could have been us, killed by debris while trying to search for survivors. It could have been us on those airplanes, hijacked by suicide Jihadists.

When we were children, we were taught that bullies aren't anything to be afraid of. If we 'killed them with kindness,' they would leave us alone, maybe even be our new friends. Perhaps we learned that by reading books like the one I mentioned. But these bullies, we must fear them. We must fear them enough to have no misunderstanding of their motives. In our hearts, we need to have that terrible morning run a loop to remind us of our fleeting freedom and our fleeting lives. Our children and our children's children count on us to be discerning about lessons like these. A school bully? Sure, being friendly and non-confrontational may work. But these people were never interested in being our friends.

If we value our lives as free-living and free-worshiping Americans, we will educate ourselves about these people. We will read the Qur'an instead of burning it. We will set aside our 'live and let live' dreams and wake up to a 'they live and we die' reality. Humans are animals first and animals who have never been taught mercy cannot show it. The more rope we give them, the more rope they have to hang us with. Do not forget that morning, that bright September morning. Do not forget that someone just like you and me took their last breath because of intolerance and hatred at the hands of one of the biggest bullies the earth has ever known.

Do Unto Others

Common decency isn't so common. Manners and kindness seem to have become things of the past. But why? Why don't people think of others anymore? With the rampant trend of 'touchy-feely' liberalism in this country, people should be more considerate; but in truth, it depends on what 'group' in which you belong. If you're in the right group, you get plenty of consideration. But that's not what the Golden Rule is about, now is it?

From simple, everyday things like not saying 'please' and 'thank you', to things like blatant discrimination, we've become heathens. We're all out for ourselves. Even when people show 'consideration' for others, it seems that consideration is out of fear or some kind of personal gain. There's nothing done simply out of kindness anymore. An example of where common decency has lapsed is the Ground Zero mosque.

This country boasts freedom of religion and as one of our founding freedoms, that religious openness is just fine by me. But what about equal respect for everyone and all religions? Favoritism to Muslims out of fear or anything else shouldn't take top-billing over the memory of the people killed on 9/11. This isn't simply a case of free worship, this is a case of Muslims wishing to build in a place they know for a fact will cause irritation and not caring at all about said irritation. And where is the outrage about the Muslim's disrespect? Of course, there's plenty of outrage by the 'public', but not enough where it counts.

We have laws that keep sex offenders away from schools. We have laws that take drivers licenses away from people who have caused deaths by drunk driving. But when it comes to the touchy subject of religion, unless you're Christian, you are allowed to have anything you wish. I say let them build elsewhere, as is their right, but please, if you want us to respect you, respect us as well. That is, after all, how the Golden Rule works. Do unto others...

Sloth, Lust, and Vanity Plates

"Usually, terrible things that are done with the excuse that progress requires them are not really progress at all, but just terrible things." -Russell Baker

When did decency go out of style? What about pride? How did hard work become a dirty concept? These questions are especially apropos today. We live in a society where entitlement is abound. From government subsidies for almost everything to the horrid trend of spoiling children simply for existing, we're a bunch of 'gimmie' junkies. Though the symptoms of this sickness may be invisible to many, there are still some of us who see the signs and are very, very disappointed.

In the last century, we saw a lot of things go the way of the dodo. Ladies stopped wearing gloves and hats. Housework became an offense. Men went from alpha to beta and stopped opening doors for women as not to patronize them. The thought of talking on the phone, much less texting, while at dinner was unheard of. Now, we're lucky if anyone sits down as a family for a meal anymore. With all the advances in technology and general knowledge, we lost more than I fear we can ever regain. The term 'manners' is almost extinct. Who cares if an individual's need to express said individuality offends someone? The person offended is simply a bigot, a rube, or a racist. We've resorted to attacking those who only wish to live in a civil society because we can't stomach the thought of having to be responsible for ourselves or in general, be decent human beings. No one wants to be inconvenienced.

I was raised by an older generation than most of my peers. Some kids my age had grandparents younger than my parents. As I've said in posts previous, both were of the Great Depression/WWII generation. Things were different then. I was taught to have manners, to know my place, to respect elders. Common decency and a strict sense of right and wrong were the lessons of the day for me. We had family meals, we talked about our day, and I wasn't allowed to eat in front of the TV until I was in high school, and then, begrudgingly. I learned to hold my tongue in sensitive matters and certainly mind the feelings of the people around me in conversation. To me, there was nothing wrong with being civil and, God forbid, have normal opinions of things. I suppose, as an artist, this upbringing may have set me up to not circulate well in the art world. You see, I don't think of myself as an art goddess. I wasn't told everything I did was perfect simply because spoiling the child was a trend. I was encouraged to work hard at a goal by myself, and excel the proper way.

One thing that was never appropriate for general public conversation was sexual matters. Sex and things of sexual nature, were private. Don't get me wrong, I don't think moderate sexuality in entertainment is going to send me to hell, but there are some things that just aren't appropriate for the public. Honestly, there are some things that aren't appropriate at all. I don't care how someone may view individuality. I don't care what's deemed okay in other countries. Some behaviors are just inherently wrong. I've learned to ignore some things because the law says I have to. This specific thing of which I will share with you, is not one of those times.

On a trip to the grocery on day last year, I saw something I will never forget. I was walking through the parking lot and spied a vanity plate. Everyone knows, vanity plates can be, well, nasty sometimes, but this one tops the charts. In the world of manga and anime, there are a lot of... odd things. I can understand, to a point, but past that point, I believe the stuff should be sold only in sex shops behind a curtain. There's a kind of manga and anime, a type, if you will, that I discovered unintentionally one day on the fabulous thing called the internet. This type is specifically about children in sexual situations. Art, comics, animated work, and even novel-type fiction, it's all there. You heard me, minors, children, kids, in sexual situations. This is something adults read and pass it off as literature or who knows what. Essentially, the license plate advertised that the owner of the car was into kiddie porn.

Does it make it okay that the kids aren't real? Nope. Fantasy is just one step away from reality. Anyone who's read a crime novel or watched a crime show on TV knows that criminals usually fantasize about committing a crime before they actually commit one. Does it make it okay for them to do this because it's their right to express what they like? Nope. Sorry, but all sorts of rules of the land and rules of decency say no. You wouldn't stand for someone driving around with an 'I like kiddie porn' bumper sticker, would you? I don't care what people in Japan think is okay as entertainment. Here, in this country, child porn is not okay.

Modesty, decorum, manners, human compassion: we're so lacking in these things. We've become obsessed with ourselves and the pleasure we can gain for ourselves that we've turned into slothful, hateful, monsters. We parade our 'individuality' as a banner that says "treat me like royalty because I'm different". But why does different always have to mean super strange and fringe? Why can't different denote a skill, a specialty, or a penchant for perfect manners? In this politically correct world of entitled whiners, some things have been edged out. People must step up and say enough is enough before the damage to our society is irreparable.

Of Rocks and Sand: Words About Faith

"You know, sometimes, when you trade tradition for progress, you wind up with neither." -Rabbi Samuel Garfinkel from USA's In Plain Sight

Faith is one of those things which thrives well on tradition. Along with family and country, faith instills in us the comfort of a higher power, the conviviality of people who believe as we do. Faith gives us reasons for the things that happen and consolation for pain. But just like family and country, when faith is shaken by any force, our lives can be changed forever.

I used to be under the employ of a protestant denomination. I worked in their national headquarters for almost seven years. When I took the job, I wasn't terribly familiar with what made them different than the faiths I knew. I had been raised Baptist and converted to Catholicism in college. This denomination was somewhere in the middle. The longer I worked there, the more understanding I became as to why people referred to them as 'reformed'. Though Baptists and Catholics are far apart on the Christian spectrum, there's one thing that gives them staying power: unyielding tradition.

The area in which I worked wasn't terribly engrossed in the policy-making part of the church. Though I tried to know as little as possible about the political leanings and goings on within this church organization, I couldn't help but know some things. Most of the people were liberal, supporting everything from extreme 'green' legislation to openly condemning Israel for, what it seemed, the simple act of existing. Though some of this liberal bias was merely a preference for the people who worked and worshiped there, some of it had permeated the very structure of the church. Some traditions, carried on for decades, were cast aside like yesterday's biodegradable coffee cup. The next big liberal agenda was the next big church agenda. Doctrine seemed to change like the weather.

As the years went on, I unfortunately learned more and more about this auto-immune illness that had struck the denomination. Their churches were faltering, like many at the time, but when the trend died down in others, this particular sect did not recover. They tried to sugarcoat things, saying there were signs of progress and growth, but like the government's much-hailed 'economic recovery spurred by stimulus,' news of lifting fog could be traced back to a few strategic press releases tinted with rose-colored glasses. Church attendance could be called abysmal at times. Their faith base was aging; the most recent average age of people active within this denomination was listed at 60. The youth were turning away, so were young adults.

Explanations were abound. People in high places struggled to put a name to what was happening, all the while continuing on their progressive path. To a member of the faith, this was a crisis with no clear cause, one that could be allayed by the careful application of new rules or the dismissal of human failure. To me, an outsider looking in, I saw the biggest cause as plain as the sunrise. In their quest to change always with the times, they had abandoned the traditions and beliefs that brought them together as one in the first place. They had changed so often and so drastically in efforts to appease this group or that group, they had begun to appease no one.

In spite of some people's love for spontaneity and ever-changing atmospheres, some things should never change so quickly. Long-standing traditions and beliefs deserve the slow evolution intended by God and nature. Families change, countries change, faith, at it's core, should not change in this way. As Christians, we must take a cue from our grandfather in faith, Judaism. This time-tested, human-tested faith has stood strong for millennia. In the face of evil's attempts to eradicate them, they have remained faithful. To this day, the Jews, specifically of Israel, are the most devout and stalwart people on earth. This strength must come from a strength of tradition in the light of changing times. Small things may have changed, but the important things remain. God's mandates remain.

As membership declined in my employing denomination, the funds to keep the headquarters afloat declined. A massive amount of the blame was shifted to the down economy, which I can see as a partial contributor, but not the main cause. Downsizing had occurred in the years prior to my employ, but in the years since, the downsizing had become almost an annual ritual. I survived three of them before having my position eliminated this year. Some of you may attribute this post to bitterness, but I can promise you, I harbor only a small amount of bitterness. I pity them. I pity them for what they have brought upon themselves. I pity them for the ignorance that will undoubtedly be their downfall. I pity those people whom I grew to love who remain there and what may happen to their livelihood in the months and years to come.

No, this post was in response to something that happened recently with this denomination. I fear one of the cornerstone beliefs of this faith is in real jeopardy, something that if lost, would cause the ultimate loss of membership. Added to the already sparse membership of this church, a hit like this could be fatal. I am a Christian, regardless of my chosen denomination. I believe in God, in Christ, in the church. My faith sustains me and it gives me a sense of oneness with those who share my faith. But I know my faith is built on the rock of Christ, first and foremost. Humans, politics, policy, those things are ever shifting. Christ does not shift. A church bound to stand the test of time, must be careful where they choose to build. This denomination has succumbed to the intoxicating will of weak, attention-seeking human interests and taken their eyes away from the divine. I have heard, a house built on shifting sands cannot stand, something gleaned loosely from Matthew 7:24–27 (see below for complete passage). Divinity and nature dictate this to be true. No house, no family, no country, and certainly no faith can stand if left to ride the shifting sands of human failing.

24"Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. 26But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash." -Matthew 7:24–27 (New International Version)

Lambs and Lions

Where conscious subjectivity is concerned, there is no distinction between the observation and the thing observed. -John Searle

Almost everything humans do is done with intention. The creative endeavors almost always say something, try to convey something. But there's a variable that all creatives must consider: human subjectivity. If two people see or hear the same thing, I guarantee the will get different things out of the experience. Our observations are tinged with history and feelings that an outside force cannot predict. For instance, if two people see a photo of a dog, the animal lover will feel happiness whereas the person who is afraid of dogs will exhibit fear. It doesn't much matter the intention of the photograph at that point. To one, the dog is not a dog, but rather happiness, to the other the dog is fear.

These days, it seems Hollywood is more in the business of propaganda than pure entertainment. From children's programming to late-night comedy, everything is pushing a message. With the loudest voices in Hollywood being liberal ones, that message is usually pro-liberal/anti-conservative. This may serve to wear down softer minds, but a number of us know it's not necessarily about what is overtly presented. The key to being entertained by entertainment is to be objective whenever possible.

Robin Hood opens soon and it's already creating buzz on both sides of the political spectrum. Conservatives see a character who stands up for the rights of everyone, crusading for the advancement of deserving souls, whereas liberals see someone exacting vengeance on the affluent and redistributing their wealth. When broken down, the story ceases to be cut and dry on any issue and it's certainly not 100% for or against either points of view. The minds behind the film have gotten antsy at the thought of Robin Hood being an encouraging force to 'Tea Partiers.' But in spite of all their efforts, viewers are going to have their own opinions. Once the film is taken in by the individual and processed through their unique filters, the message ceases to be as intended and becomes as interpreted.

Hollywood likes to think they are the sighted leading the blind, but I believe the opposite to be true. As I examine my life and the things by which I've been entertained, I find the intended message is not always how I take it. To me, Star Wars was never a working-man's battle against evil capitalists, Star Wars was about the power of honesty, tenacity, and forgiveness. X-Files wasn't a few stalwart liberals facing a corrupt conservative government, it was a pained search for truth against the forces of people who valued only self-preservation. Though I'm disheartened by the talk of what Robin Hood is intended to be, I know only what I feel when I hear things like "It is time for lambs to become lions." For too long, the taxpayer, the Christian, and the middle class worker have been trampled on. For too long, the Constitution has been ignored. If there are any lambs in this country with the strength and will to become lions, conservatives are those lambs. Liberals simply don't have the stomach for it.

Kick Ass!

I saw the movie Kick Ass over the weekend and I liked it a lot. I never doubted that I would, however, seeing as though I'm a huge comic book fan. In a Kick Ass world, regular folks could stand up to drug lords and murderers leaving a trail of scumbag corpses in their wake. But we all know this sort of thing could never be in the real world. The law forbids that kind of justice and instead, we're left with corrupt peacekeepers and slimy lawyers who think we are best served by molding us into the cream-filled weenies depicted on Law & Order.

There's something noble about standing up for basic good when people look only to words in a law textbook for the difference between right and wrong. Few seem to realize these days that some things can't be found in dusty tomes and amendment-addled legislation. Some things are just what they are, as they have been for centuries upon centuries. Perhaps this blind faith in words is due to a evolutionary inability to make decisions. Instead of doing what must be done, people mull their decisions until someone or something talks them out of going down the right road. Unfortunately, liberal ideology is wrought with 'easy way out' shop talk that often leads the weak astray. Just as the hybrid car crazy demonstrates, something may seem like a good idea at first, but really isn't if you examine the basic facts. A hybrid may use less gas, but it costs much more than a regular car and makes little monetary difference in the long run. On top of that, half of the environmental impact is simply displaced to the power companies. Just because you get to plug the car in instead of always filling it with gas doesn't mean you're being any more 'green'.

The Arizona illegal immigrant legislation is a perfect example of taking the reins and making the right decision, no matter what some may think. This move on Arizona's part is a natural, common sense maneuver to protect its citizens, something the federal government doesn't seem to have the stomach for. Either D.C. is bogged down in chewing their 'social justice' cud, or they're scared to step on toes, either way, Arizona beat them to the punch. And just like scalded law enforcement, the 'feds' are irritated that a state dared to take justice (albeit perfectly legal) into their own hands and make them look bad. The Obama administration has been drawing weak-principled lines in the sand for a while. It was high time someone braved to step over.

The arguments against the legislation are many and as most liberal arguments are, they're as noisy as a flock of agitated geese and just as messy. Does it infringe upon basic human rights as they may argue? No, not really. When someone comes across our border, they must abide by our laws of immigration and naturalization and if they don't, they must be removed. Is it hostile? No, if done properly as dictated in the actual legislation, it is not. But the senseless anger continues. None of these protesters seem to care about the welfare of actual U.S. citizens. Arizona is simply doing what it must in a charged climate, but the liberal machine and jelly-spined RINOs, won't have it. Basic good, common sense, these are not things in which they dabble.

In the film, Kick Ass says "with no power comes no responsibility." Later on, he retracts that belief. In some cases, those without power are the ones who must make efforts to be responsible; those with power too easily forget how. Just like Arizona, the conservatives in this country have spent too long believing they are powerless to instigate real change. And just like Arizona, we must wake up and realize that we do, in fact, have power. If evil does truly triumph when good does nothing, we can't watch from our windows any longer as freedom is beaten to death. My friends, it's time to kick ass!

Dear Hollywood: Stop Bullying Me!

When my husband was in lower education, he was bullied quite a bit. He was overweight, wore glasses, and spent a lot of time in shop class. Through the eyes of a jock, he had the geek trifecta. The jocks called my husband names, they knocked his backpack off his shoulders, and one particular bully made a game out of running up behind my husband and knocking his hat off his head nearly every day with a rather violent slap. After months of this behavior, my husband had had enough. When he heard the footsteps behind him one afternoon, he steadied himself, turned, and punched the bully in the face. Shocked by the show of initiative from this 'freak' and nursing a bruised ego, the bully skulked away, never to speak of the incident or repeat the bullying again.

I like to hear that story. Aside from how it makes my husband look (quite manly), it makes me feel better about having stood up for myself over the years. Sure, it's wrong to resort to physical violence most of the time, but it's more wrong to needlessly bully someone. In recent years, people have become more vigilant about bullying. We've all seen PSAs on the subject, from the 'old-fashioned' kind, to the cyber kind. Bullying can do a great deal of damage to a child. But what about adults? What about groups of people? What does bullying do to them?

The liberal media machine is excellent at the art of bullying. No one seems to know better how to sucker punch conservatives and their values. They will do and say almost anything to paint a sad, stupid, or evil picture of the people who oppose their opinions. If it isn't a crime show plot about a right-wing Christian with a sex addiction who abuses children, it's constant one-liner jabs about how stupid Sarah Palin is and how people who like her have to be equally as inept. Of late, the Fox hit Glee amplified its stance on conservatism by blatantly smearing Palin and making veiled jokes about Ann Coulter and Glenn Beck. It wasn't enough they had already blasted conservative principles on numerous occasions. They even went as far as to suggest the stereotypically stuffy, obviously well-off white Christian parents of a teen mother would kick her out of the home for the shameful sin of pre-marital sex. I don't know any Christians who would do such a thing.

Glee is supposed to be about the struggles of outcasts. These are geeks, freaks, and pariahs with issues ranging from dowdiness to obesity to homosexuality. These kids are the epitome of bully fodder, but yet the show continues to senselessly pelt its viewers with hate. Perhaps its the pressure to be 'cool' or the need to 'fit in,' but I find it rather sad. How on earth are you supposed to teach individuality and strength when you go out of your way to run with the crowd?

You'd think as an informed society we would be more opposed to overt bullying. Perhaps it's that trembling child in all of us who takes the punches, just waiting for the beating to subside so we can run away. But I think it's time for us to turn around and face the bullies. It's time to make a statement. If you see something in film or on television that upsets you, complain! If it's bad enough, talk to your friends about it, and stop watching. My husband and I gave up on Family Guy a long time ago. No amount of Star Wars jokes were worth the hate directed at what I believed and who I respected. Though I enjoy a lot about Glee, I'm growing weary of the taunting. It's truly a shame when bullying becomes so strong that an attack on an idea can be as painful as a slap to the head, but I am ready to fight back.

Space: The Wayside Frontier

"Space is the breath of art." -Frank Lloyd Wright

Who among us has not turned their face to the evening sky and wondered what was out there in the deep vastness of space, dotted with firefly-like stars, swathed with the gauze of galaxies. The unknown, which is now known a bit better thanks to the innovations of Americans stands to fade again into the realm of private industry seclusion. Thanks to Obama's cuts to the shuttle program and the cancellation of a possible second NASA moon voyage, things for NASA are looking rather... terrestrial.

It's important to say that I don't believe space travel is completely dead at this juncture. No, private industry will do fine with it as long as the government doesn't interfere, but there's something noble about our country leading the way into the last frontier. The quest for understanding of the heavens brought a unique kind of patriotism to the United States. Children were able to see their fascination with space meld with service of country. Budding scientists and physicists were led down a different path, from development of weapons to development of innovation. One of the most significant human accomplishments was the moon landing. What more proof of forward thinking and hard work could there have been than planting the Stars and Stripes on the moon's surface?

When I was a child, there was still a lot of interest in space. We had lengthy studies in my middle-grade schooling on the subject. One of my science classes actually built a shuttle simulator. Space was the things dreams were made of, it was the wistful impetus of imagination. 'Space Camp' was almost as cool as Disney World and was a huge experience for many children. Though I understand the effort to cut funds, I don't understand the choices of where to cut. We've essentially given up our interest in the last, untamed frontier in favor of yet more entitlement programs. We've tossed aside the pioneering spirit that made us Americans in order to pay for things we should never be paying for.

The quest for the conquest and exploration of space is an ideal, a symbol, like the flag or the bald eagle. There's something uniquely American about it. Now, like many things, Obama has seen to ignore that tradition in favor of things he feels are better traditions: entitlement, repression, and domination. I say we rebel; I say we fight back. Tell Washington what we want, what we need. Let November 2010 and every following November be a testament to American values and dreams. Look up to the sky, lose yourself in the infinity and smile; because as long as there is a canopy of sapphire and diamonds above our great nation, there will be genuine hope.

Sowing Seeds of Self Love

"The biggest problem we have in the world is lack of self love. Every cruelty comes from those who don't understand what they're worth!" -Jim Carrey

Mr. Carrey posted this on twitter recently, smearing his pompous ignorance on the computer and iPhone screens of millions of fans. With these two sentences, he proves he actually does know how to tell a joke. This joke is on him and all those who somehow find sense in his logic. Indeed, self love is the biggest problem we have, but a lack would only be the solution. Theodore Dalrymple on Self-Esteem versus Self-Respect states: "Self-esteem, it appears, is like money or health: you can't have too much of it." I think this is one of the reasons the 'self love' Mr. Carrey speaks of is such a pox on our society. Just like lusting after money, we have a need, an addiction to self-esteem. We crave prop-ups and pedestals, we thirst for mere ounces of praise and when we get them, we thirst for gallons. As the gallons come, we search for easier and easier ways to get more. Like Narcissus and his reflection, we've become unable to tear ourselves away... from ourselves.

Years of liberal indoctrination and preoccupation with 'self love' has seen to the formation of the 'entitlement gene'. This gene is passed from one self-esteem drunken moocher to the next by way of crippling stereotypes and baseless buzzwords. If you break down a great deal of the activism in our society today, you will always find overblown narcissism hiding under a rock in the background. Let's look at some examples.

• ACORN and other community-activist-type groups grew from the notion that by rights of ethnicity or degree of laziness, people are entitled to homes and sneaky tax breaks. We know now the lengths these people would go to in order to get their agenda across. The offenses range from advising a pimp on how to make his 'business' appear legitimate to the US government to registering dead and imaginary voters as default votes for Obama. There was nothing humble about ACORN. Everyone involved saw their cause justly because it's what they would want from the world. Why would they advise law-breaking prostitution-peddlers to clean up their act when they themselves live on the stolen rewards of other people's hard work? Why would they be equal in their voter canvasing when they know the 'other guy' makes no promises where entitlement is concerned? Every decision, every bit of advice, came from their darkened heart of self-adoration.

• Feminist organizations come from the same stock. Most believe women deserve certain things just for being women. If a woman and man were up for the same job, the woman should automatically get the job even though the man may be more qualified. And why would someone believe that? Simple. These women know that's what they would want. They know genuine respect comes from genuine hard work and frankly, they're not ready to do that hard work. They look in the mirror and hear the oft-whispered mantras "women are special, things are harder for women so the world must make consolations, women deserve to this respect because they're women." Humility teaches that in order to surmount obstacles, you must work harder. Vanity uses non-issues as crutches to hop undeservedly into the 'special' line.

• Anti-war fanatics, aside from being grossly undereducated in history and civics, are usually the kind of people who wish nothing more than to rule as dictators over their own life and the lives of those around them. Their crusade against war is a surrogate for the battle they are afraid to wage against their own insecurity. Facing up to the truth of the world would mean facing up to the possible lies they live by and that's just not easy for people who think the world tips on them as an axis. War is a mirror and these people prefer only the mirror that tells them they're the fairest in the land.

Communists, socialists, and entitlement junkies everywhere are little more than vain children. How else could you explain someone's belief that the spoils of hard work and dedication of someone like Bill Gates belongs to them when they've done nothing to deserve it? When I think of entitlement, I recall the folk tale 'The Little Red Hen.' The hen works at planting wheat, cultivating it, harvesting it, and baking to produce a loaf of bread. From the planting stages to the work of baking, she asks for help from her farm friends who all simply say "Not I." When the bread has been baked, the friends are more than happy to help the hen eat it. She, in efforts to teach her friends the errors of their selfish and lazy ways, refuses to share her bread.

Our society today is so poisoned by entitlement it's hard to imagine a future without it. But we must soldier on. Peace, charity, hard work, all of these things have a requirement so many refuse to fulfill: humility. On the hard-labor-bended backs and in the blister-peppered hands of those before us, our country has been carried in humility. Wars have raged, tensions abroad and at home have waxed and waned, tragedies, both man-made and natural have tested us, and we have remained. We must now concoct an anecdote to the self-love epidemic that ails us. We must replace selfish esteem with self respect. You reap what you sow, not what others sow for you. The entitlement gene is pushing the American ideal into extinction. Now is the time to sow humility and accountability before all that remains is ashes and dust.

To Catch a Predator

There are various schools of thought on the psychological impetus for abuse. The most prevalent postulates children who are abused, whether it be emotionally, physically, or sexually, are more prone to becoming abusers themselves. Some theorize that abuse is a 'learned' behavior brought on by stressors. In recent weeks, some have linked the abuse scandals in the Catholic church to the priestly vow of celibacy. In an answer to a 'chicken and egg' question, they've said celibacy causes these men to abuse children. Others believe it isn't the cause, but can certainly add to the stress. I personally don't believe the vow itself causes abuse, but celibacy is only the tip of an iceberg that looms beyond the Vatican's bow.

Celibacy and other 'small d' doctrines of Catholicism, have served not to preserve a humble order, but to propagate one of caste elitism. The 'few and proud' mentality has created a group of demi-gods who reject the 'failings' of humanity in order to become ultimate moral leaders. Clerical hierarchy attitudes can be reprehensible in their hypocrisy, but the attitudes of the 'flock' only exacerbate the problem. People teach their children from birth the members of holy orders are earth-bound saints, incapable of evil and demanding of wordless assent. Children grow to view these figures in a skewed way, not merely as learned elders but as something else entirely.

Leaders and flock alike continue to pantomime an inhuman view of things that are all too human. Perhaps this is one of the major failings of the Catholic church. Having been to the heart of Catholicism, Vatican City, I can attest to the bedazzling royal presentation. St. Peter's alone is the most decorated and imposing place I've ever seen. This basilica doesn't at all convey humility, but rather dominance. Standing in the square, one can feel the oppression, the overwhelming sense that the people who walk those halls believe they are the kings of all things corporeal. Kings who, when given the unconditional support of their followers, feel they have transcended humanity.

So how can a place so perfect, a church so divine, be a haven for men (and sometimes women) who do terrible things to children? I believe the answer lies in the aforementioned psychology. No matter how abusers develop, one trait is present in almost every case, the need for the abuser to dominate. Bullied by their parents, siblings, peers, whomever; these people need to be powerful. They feed on control. Positions of power such as law enforcement, military, and education often seem like an easy way to get that control. The clergy are powerful too and oftentimes clerical power is a position that requires little more than knowledge of doctrine. Too weak, meek, or scared to be in law enforcement or the military? Not patient or extroverted enough to be a teacher? If you study any kind of religion, the answer is obvious. How better to control people than to lead their soul? Nearly every idiosyncrasy will be explained away and accepted as a gift from God. There's almost no accountability. Human laws don't apply.

Some may argue that seminarians go through rigorous psychological evaluations, thus eliminating the potential for abusers to enter the priesthood, but it's not that simple. Almost everyone knows, the best way to catch anything is with the right bait. No amount of psychological testing can eliminate something the church has set itself up to catch in the first place. The Catholic patriarchal system is uniquely tooled to attract those who seek dominance and power. And whether these people choose to emotionally abuse those who trust them young and old or sexually abuse children, the perfect storm of storied divinity, opulent power, and 'fall on your sword' vows make the Catholic Church a collection of emboldened people with severe inferiority complexes.

The Catholic church has a lot of work to do. They must deal with abuse in a manner fitting the crime. No more hiding, no more pardoning, no more whispers. God said the truth would set us free, so tell the truth. And while they do this, they must reevaluate their mindset. A serious look at the discontinuation of celibacy is only the beginning. They must examine their attitude, their means of recruitment, and the kinds of people they're trying to attract. Do they want responsible, even tempered leaders with good values who happen to seek leadership as married clerics or do they want trolls in cassocks who care nothing for love and marriage but instead wish to dominate and destroy? Is an image and an antiquated tradition so important that they would obliterate the loyalty of their future flock to save face?

I was emotionally abused by a priest who desired nothing more than starry-eyed admiration from everyone he met. He didn't care what he had to do to get that admiration. Being a new convert to the church, I had none of the 'cradle Catholic' stigma that kept me from seeing him not as a god, but as a man. Still, I was hypnotized by his power and weakened by my own insecurities. I was eventually able to remove myself from the situation before the abuse became too much to bear. But one thing was clear to me: implied reverence means nothing. The uniform you wear, the letters before your name, they're irrelevant compared to who you are inside. In Matthew 11:29, Jesus says "Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls." Part of humility is accepting the truth. In spite of what the Catholic church believes, man is not divine, not even close. They must accept the truth that power corrupts and adjust accordingly.

Revisionism: Substituting Reality

We all want to belong. In spite of our desires to be 'unique' we harbor the very human need to be part of something. In essence, we want to be accepted for who we are. Our culture has pushed this 'acceptance' trend to the breaking point. No matter the idiosyncrasy, no matter how damaging the behavior may be to others, the rights of the one will always outweigh the rights of the many. The psychological hunger to be accepted has turned into legal mandate. As long as someone has the strongest groups and lawyers behind them, they can force their lifestyle and beliefs on all of us. Call it art, call it expression, you can do anything with the right preamble.

Tarleton State University in Texas is about to stage a play in which Jesus is portrayed as "the King of Queers". The Son of God kisses Judas at Pilate's 'senior prom' and performs a same-sex marriage for two of his all gay disciples. Stories like these are not uncommon. The homosexual community has sought acceptance for decades by staging things just like this, the difference: they're now trying to rewrite history to get their message across.

The past few years have seen the advent of a disturbing trend. If you want to get your stake in the American freedom of expression, you exploit people and things that can't defend themselves. You use the liberal tactic of cleverly worded speculation to impart what you believe on figures in history who are long since gone and have no way of refuting your claims. Revisionist history has been smearing upstanding figures for years. They reject reality and substitute what supports their beliefs. While a little skewing of reality is fine in fiction and art, it's not fine to use skewed reality as fact in the teaching of children or the establishment of history.

Not to be left out from the cash-cow that is revisionism, homosexuals have jumped in with both feet. Did you know that half of our forefathers had covert homosexual affairs? We all know Jefferson had children with a slave girl; but did we know that he was really bisexual? Lincoln was a tortured gay man. He only married Mary because it was what was expected. One of the most recognized and respected people to ever walk this earth, Jesus, was really gay. He never married, hung out with a troupe of guys all the time, wore those smart dresses; he was gay. Why not? The logic is so completely flawed. In order to support their theories, people string together unrelated and irrelevant facts. They arrange things in such a way that the casual, ignorant observer may actually believe them. The duping of fools is something far more dangerous in the long run than honestly championing your cause.

Not only is this play an example of pure propaganda and the use of subjective fiction as a means to purvey a truth, it's a blatant smear on a faith that billions treasure. True to the current American socialistic agenda, Christianity is fair game for slander. No one fears upsetting a Christian because we are a non-violent religion. Christians won't retaliate for a simple jibe by strapping themselves with explosives and taking out a city block. They are notorious for mercy and oddly enough, for acceptance. Perhaps that's why Christians are so easy to attack. And though there is nothing concrete in the factual accounts of Jesus to prove he wasn't homosexual, there is certainly nothing to prove that he was. Established history has held that Jesus, the Holy Son of God, was if anything, asexual.

History is history, but thanks to the fact that hindsight is 20/20, we know some things to be irrefutably true. No matter how hard the revisionists may toil, they can't change what's written in stone. To even attempt such a thing only cheapens their cause. There is no validity in a belief or lifestyle that is wholly supported by conjecture. If you really want to get people's attention, tell the truth. No one does that these days.

Be an Undercover Boss

CBS has a hit on their hands. Their reality show Undercover Boss is doing well in the ratings and bringing a much-needed rosy glow to leadership of business. The premise is simple: the CEO goes undercover as a new employee in their own business. They try out a number of jobs and meet a lot of people along the way. These people help the CEO understand the workings of their business in a way not previously seen. Along the way, we meet people with amazing and touching stories. We see the shining good and shockingly bad. Not only do the 'untouchable' CEOs get a lesson but the employees come to see their leader as someone who really cares about them, not just a shadowy fat-cat only interested in money.

There's a lesson we could all learn from this. When you walk in someone else's shoes you get to know them in a special way. You find out who they really are, what their life is like. Our elected officials have forgotten what it's like to be an 'average' American. They haven't done an honest day's hard work in years, if ever. They lead pampered lives, feasting on the money we provide them in taxes. When you live like that, it's easy to legislate in a way that seems out of touch with America.

The 'historic' passage of Obamacare is an alarm clock; the time has come for an evaluation of the people who supposedly represent us. We have to be the undercover boss. We must do our research, get to know these people as we have never done before. The internet and social media provide for us excellent tools. We're able to see government stripped down, raw, uncensored, and dirty. Reagan's 'shining city on a hill' has become a dark and stormy palace of upper-crust elitists and we are the peasants toiling beyond its gates. Our civic duty is not to work our fingers to the bone and have our livelihood 'spread around'. Our duty is to choose the best employees for the job; the job of representing us in Washington. Don't be afraid, don't let them intimidate you. They are your employees, you are their boss. If you find good, celebrate it. If you find bad, punish it.

A business can only succeed if all the pieces are in place. Good leadership guides good employees and good employees make and sell a good product. The 2008 election proved one thing: we have been bad leaders. We chose our employees poorly and now, they're tearing our business down brick by brick. I say we evaluate their performance before the business that is America ceases to be.

With the stroke of a pen, revolution begins.

Flag of our Fathers
original digital art by x_1013_x

"When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation." -The Declaration of Independence, 1776

America, it's time for separation. The people who govern us no longer represent us. We have, by rights of our own electoral mistakes, allowed people into our government who want only to grow government's power and expand the capacity of their own coffers. In 1776, our founding fathers did the same. They declared their independence from a tyrant who wanted no more than to keep them under his thumb. I'm not purporting succession, but we must pull away from those who wish us harm and draw closer to those who truly support freedom. As the founders outlined in the Declaration of Independence, I will outline here the acts which support my feelings.

Members of Congress and the President have expressly broken the laws of process as put fourth in the Constitution of the United States.

They have convened in partisan, closed-door proceedings to deliberately stifle debate and obfuscate the public.

They have used bribery to coerce votes.

They have falsified findings and documents to erroneously support their efforts.

They have inveigled a once free press into reporting widely only what the government deems acceptable.

They have allowed into the governing process those with threatening beliefs and agendas.

They have supported the use of taxpayer funds to finance propaganda.

They have provided money and protection to organizations who blatantly ignore the law and oftentimes use physical and mental violence as methods of coercion.

They have overstepped their boundaries of commerce by injecting themselves into the private sector.

They have exploited misfortunes to emotionally manipulate the public.

They have slandered the reputation and names of their political foes and gone unpunished.

They have many times ignored the cries for assistance from our allies in order to appear more favorably to our enemies.

They have shown blazon disrespect for our history, our national symbols, and the memory of those who have died for our freedom.

Our outcry for accurate representation has fallen on deaf ears. Our pleas and demonstrations have been met with slander and injury. Our elected leader has exhibited all the traits that could be applied to a socialistic dictator and is in no way fit to represent the interests of a free people.

A revolution is upon us. Not a revolution of muskets and blood but of votes and knowledge. We know our enemy, their injustices have been displayed for us. We must rise up against our oppressors and take back our freedom!

The 3/22 Project

Today I feel much like I did on September 12th, 2001. I was terribly wounded, but filled with a renewed sense of patriotism. I was ready for a fight. Last night's vote on healthcare reform was an act of domestic terrorism. The Democrats abused every tactic they could to get their legislation passed. They ignored the cries of the American people and they ignored the Constitution. You see, we were of no consequence to them. They had an agenda, a goal, and nothing was going to stop them from achieving that goal.

From the smoldering ashes of our Constitution, we must rebuild. We must pick out the strong principles that were placed in our founding documents, principles that are impervious to the selfish fire of socialism. We will rebuild stronger and wiser. That building starts now.

You are very important. No matter who you are or what you do in life, you are important. Participation at all levels is key. We have to start at the bottom in our communities and go from there. If you can work for a campaign, do so. If you can only contribute a little money, do so. If you have a talent you think can get a message across, by all means, use it. Song, art, writing, blogging, anything.

And as important as you are, the next generation is more so. It is imperative that we teach our children about true freedom. They have to know the reward for hard work and the sacrifices we all must make. The greatest lesson we must teach before the liberals have a chance to indoctrinate them is that they are the only guardians of their prosperity. Freedom is up to them, success is up to them. No government promise can sustain their soul.

I am reminded of a scene in "An American Carol" where Michael Malone meets George Washington. The general speaks of freedom and how you cannot take such things for granted. As they walk through St. Paul's chapel, Malone asks why the place is so dusty. The doors open to reveal the source of the dust: the ruins of the World Trade Center. Washington says, "When you meet the almighty, only the truth will do." The truth is this: our country needs us now. Freedom needs us. If we allow our truths to remain silent, we will lose our freedom. Speak now, or forever hold no peace.

Silent Soldier: Our American Flag

Silent Soldier
original poem by x_1013_x

Through musket blast and canon roar,
the crash of bombs on foreign shore,
the flag has flown as it’s flown before;
glorious and tall.

Through hunger, cold, and haunting fear,
soldier’s loss, a mother’s tear,
it stands for all that we hold dear;
heeding freedom’s call.

Though history and years ahead,
what is silent and what is said,
purest blue, white, and red,
the flag will never fall.

Our current President seems to think very little of our flag. The flag was born of our battles for freedom. Without those battles, Obama wouldn't be president. Not just the struggles for racial equality, mind you, but the wars before America was founded and every battle since. After all, you can't be president of something that doesn't exist. He balks at wearing a pin, forgets to salute, and now seems ashamed enough of the stars and stripes that the U.S. military relief workers in Haiti have no colors under which to gather. Why he has this aversion to the flag is anyone's guess, but to me, the flag is everything it should be: a reminder that freedom must be cherished and the sacrifices made to gain that freedom should never be taken for granted.

Placing undue emphasis on the material things in life is rarely a good thing. Men have fought and died for less than cloth, that's for certain. But if someone can't have a little respect for something as storied and gallant as our flag, how can we expect them to respect our founding documents? No matter what happens in the coming months or years, the flag will stand true. It has seen us at our best and now, I fear, it's seeing us at our worst. But as long as there are those of us who remember what the flag symbolizes, there is genuine hope.

Socialism: Now Brewing

Original graphic art by x_1013_x
Insipration: Coffee Parties

Click here to read my thoughts on the coffee parties.

A Smokescreen of Human Compassion

Fear mongering is a foreboding term. It is a tactic used by everyone, from your parents to world powers. Fear mongering is when you use someone's fear of something as a means to a result. For years now, the left has accused conservatives of fear mongering when it comes to matters of national security. Hey, if a heightened wariness of strange, shifty-looking people with suspicious packages keeps a suicide bomber from killing a group of people, I say it's doing a pretty good job. There's nothing wrong with a little fear and there's equally nothing wrong with using that fear to your advantage. God gave animals fear so they would know when to run from a predator, fear is good. What's wrong is when you abuse a different emotion: compassion.

The debate over health care has seen its supporters take to the mat with a disturbing tactic, using human misfortune as a bargaining chip. Congress and the President hide their socialistic agendas behind stories of cancer patients who can't pay for treatments and keep their home. The liberals put on a sad face as the camera chronicles the woes of sick children and people with life-threatening illnesses who just can't get the care they need because of a lack of insurance or the cost of said insurance. Instead of facing the real problems in health care, they hope you'll fall for this pity-party sleight of hand and let them do with health care what they please. And what they please will do nothing to stem the woes of these sick people. If anything, it will make matters much, much worse.

I've covered the issue of health care before, so I won't rehash what I've already said. I will only say this: if someone uses the misfortune of others as a means to manipulate opinion, what kind of person are they? If they hide behind a smoke screen of sick people, hoping you will somehow cave to their wishes, can you really trust them? The simple fact is, the horror stories of socialized medicine far outweigh those of what we have now in this country. And if you think sad stories won't occur if the Democrats get their way, think again. Though it's sad to say, life and death on this earth comes down to one thing: money. And having the government 'pay' your health care costs only means that some other poor American is footing your bill. When they run out of money, the burden will fall to someone else and eventually on you. Obamacare, though it sounds like rainbows and unicorns is the same old hell with the thermostat turned up 100 degrees. If that scares you, good. You can say I'm fear mongering, but you should be afraid.

To Thine Own Self Be True: Respecting Talent in Art

"...there is that quite numerous breed who would like to be artists—that is, long to be something more than to do something—and lacking the talent or the capacity for work and self-discipline exacted by traditional art, find in modernism the perfect answer to their prayers—an easy path to the attention they crave." —Thomas Maitland Cleland, "Progress" in the Graphic Arts

God Bless America and Her Allies by T. M. Cleland

Cleland, known to most as T.M. Cleland, was an American graphic artist and publisher. He saw this country in the heyday of capitalism, shiny with promise. He began his work in the early 1900's and continued until his death in 1963. He was an opinionated man with an eccentric working style. But he knew talent when he saw it, talent and hard work. He knew that craftsmanship and art went hand-in-hand. The above passage, from his 1948 address in Chicago hints at what was to come in the art world and this country as a whole. The paradigm was shifting from hard work to high-brow play and entitlement. The right-wing world of blood, sweat, and tears was now a left-wing paradise of beatnicks, art-o-philes, and posers. Art was no longer a livelihood, art was a hobby, a cheap and easy way to 'express oneself.' Anyone with the courage to misrepresent their abilities was given acclaim, acclaim that should have belonged to the hardworking craftspeople.

Cleland was a perfectionist craftsman. He was a dealer in clean lines and geometric certainty. He saw modern art, especially modern design, as an aberration. Modern art was loose, messy, and lacked proof of genuine talent. His opinion was one of a laborer, someone who's livelihood depended on the respect his art could garner him. In a time when art was becoming more of a fad than a livelihood, he had every right to be protective.

People don't magically develop the ability to recite a long line of prime numbers or paint a perfectly accurate portrait unless they're the victim of some sort of horrid injury to the brain. A spin of the genetic roulette wheel imbues us with certain abilities. If someone wants desperately to be a surgeon, they go to school, do the work, and find out whether they have the skill or not. They learn whether they're fit to be a surgeon hopefully before they get their hands on a live patient. Would you want someone messing around in your body cavities with a scalpel if they didn't have the talent or skill? No, you wouldn't. So why is it acceptable for people who can't draw, paint, design, or sculpt to use 'expression' and 'interpretation' as crutches to encroach on the respect owed to those who are naturally talented? Like it or not, aside from basic functions, humans are not all given the same talents.

From an early age, we learn to incorrectly define the term 'art.' Art can be anything, produced by anyone, even animals. It has been said, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but even then, there are universally accepted 'fundamentals' of art that we should not ignore. As children, we scrawl poorly conceived representations of things and when we show off our 'masterpiece' we're met with standing ovations. The praise happens every time, no matter the quality. This reinforcement makes it easy for us to ignore the fundamentals. Why bother with something if it isn't necessary for success? Society's belief that self-esteem is better than self-realization tells us we can do anything, natural talent notwithstanding.

Author Andrew Klavan wrote in a blog post recently, "sacking the Pantheon doesn’t turn barbarians into gods." Creating a mess and calling it art doesn't make the creator an artist. Screeching out of key and calling it a song doesn't make someone a real singer. The reality show American Idol sheds light on this theory by showing us the difference between real vocal talent and a weightless, animalistic need for attention. Though this is an accurate comparison to my argument, visual art remains a playground for just about anyone who wishes to play. Conversely to singing, visual art fosters the belief that the less talent you have, the more you thumb your nose at convention, the more success you will have.

The rift between craftsmanship and art grew wider as people began to lose their individuality and feel more entitled. The ability to express themselves in their own way withered and they searched for what they thought would be an easy way to stand out. The all-too-human desire to be 'noticed' crossed paths with the arts and usurped the trail. Art, being always viewed as subjective, had little chance of fighting back against those who would abuse it. People just shrugged off the talentless examples as 'subjectively acceptable' and moved on. A craft which was once a way of simply making a living became a pretentious means of self-promotion and hollow praise.

I do not say any of this to be an elitist, rather, I speak as one who respects the niches in life to which we all belong. A poem I read as a child states, "If you is jes' a little tadpole / Don't try to be a frog, / If you is jes' the tail / Don't try and wag the dog." Being an individual doesn't mean you seek out the laurels of others and snatch the crown from their heads. We all have things that make us special, things we are inherently blessed to accomplish. All subjectivism aside, there are those who will always execute their craft better than others. The true path to fulfillment is not in doing passably what others do best, it's doing what you do best exceptionally well.

"Art was once the business of artists and not of writers and was taught to artists by other artists and not professors; and it's rather wholesome definition seems to have been—before anything was said about "art for art's sake"—the doing of anything, from ploughing to painting especially well. Craftsmanship was not suspect or thought to be ruinous to individuality—or perhaps individualities were not so feeble then that they could not survive the rigors imposed by craftsmanship. I do not know when the term "fine art" was invented and the breach between it and craftsmanship began to widen, but I have come to believe that it was a sorry day for both. For then, it seems to me, the spirit of art departed from its body and the body began to decay and the spirit to wander aimlessly in space." —Thomas Maitland Cleland, "Progress" in the Graphic Arts

Of Ropeless Jumps and Scoreless Games

Like crude oil, self-esteem is a hot commodity; heady, pricey, and oftentimes untapped. Used correctly and responsibly, it can make things a lot better. But used unwisely or too liberally, it will cause trouble for yourself and everyone around you. Over the decades, we Americans have become just as obsessed with self-esteem as with the black gold that fuels our life. We cultivate it in ourselves and our children until it grows into a creature from "The Little Shop of Horrors," ready to devour everything in its path.

Cultivation of belligerent self-esteem starts with the belief that everyone should be equal. This socialistic mantra has trickled down from on high, causing us to do ridiculous things like jumping rope with no rope and not keeping score at childrens soccer games. After all, keeping score is harmful to the self-esteem of every child except the ones who score. We can't have little Timmy walk off the field crying because he didn't put the ball in the goal now can we? Parents extend their praise for just about everything from good behavior to scrawled crayon drawings far past the realm of realistic acclaim. Punishment is deferred in favor of bargaining, "If you promise to be good for an hour, I'll give you a treat!" To a developing mind, this fosters the belief that almost anything can be gained with the right amount of manipulation.

When I was a child, we jumped rope with real ropes. Some children weren't too good at it, some fell on their face, but having everyone be equal at jump rope wasn't really the goal. We kept score when we played games. There was disappointment, but that's the way life is. To lie about it would do more disservice to the child in the long run. When I misbehaved, there was no bargain. I wasn't lured with candy or toys to be a 'good girl' no, I was punished. And there is no better way to learn a lesson and learn it good than to have it taught by a swat on the behind. Conversely, I was praised when what I did was actually good. The talent which I rely on today to make a living was carefully monitored and encouraged by those around me, not by empty praise for every drawing, but by honest, constructive criticism. When I accomplished something exceptional, I was treated with exceptional praise, but if what I did was just okay, the response was just okay.

We're treading dangerous waters here. When children are coddled and propped up on undeserved laurels, when reward is given for nothing, those children grow up to be entitled adults. The trickling down that caused parents to over cultivate self-esteem is trickling up to curse our society with raging narcissists. They see themselves worthy of all sorts of things based on very little effort. Self-esteem is important, confidence is key to success, but such things can not be gotten by rights of breathing. We must stop lying to ourselves and to our children. We must know the limits of self-esteem just as oil has its limits. A child may be abysmal at jumping rope, but stellar in chemistry. This does not mean we let the child jump without a rope just to save their self-esteem. And certainly, we don't allow the other children to cheat off of this child's chemistry exam so they will feel just as apt in chemistry.

Kurt Vonnegut Jr. had it right in his short story Harrison Bergeron. Humans are only equal in that we are all human. We were all meant to be something, to do something, and by unjustly shoring up our weaknesses, we tear down what makes us great. Self-esteem is best used conservatively and for its intended purpose. No one wants a vehicle to use too much fuel and when an engine uses too much oil, there's something terribly wrong. Humans have fought and died over oil and believe it or not, they've done the same due to self-esteem. In the long run, conservation of both is best.

Tea, Coffee, and Gunpowder

"Ideas quick-march into motion like battalions of a grand army to its legendary fighting ground, and the battle rages. Memories charge in, bright flags on high; the cavalry of metaphor deploys with a magnificent gallop; the artillery of logic rushes up with clattering wagons and cartridges; on imagination's orders, sharpshooters sight and fire; forms and shapes and characters rear up; the paper is spread with ink - for the nightly labor begins and ends with torrents of this black water, as a battle opens and concludes with black powder." -Honore de Balzac The Pleasures and Pains of Coffee

Tea or Taxed Enough Already Parties sprang up in this country in response to an overwhelming mistrust of the government and a desire to return to what made us great. Concerned Americans of all political backgrounds and ethnicities assembled to make their voices heard. They did so under a historical canopy, emulating the actions of the colonists who tossed a shipment of tea into Boston harbor. These men were sending a message too: no more tyranny. Never was the tea party about the actual drink. The tea party was a symbol and continues to be a symbol for the Americans who desire an end to government abuse of power and oppressive taxation.

After months of disrespectful and ignorant reporting from the liberal media and countless uses of a pornographic term to describe the people who attended the Tea Parties, the left decided to have their own party. Because, well, if someone has something they don't, they get their hipster knickers in a bunch. And in true liberal fashion, their 'party' is spiteful, condescending, and speaks volumes to their ignorance of history. The liberal antithesis of the Taxed Enough Already Parties: 'Coffee Parties.'

See what they've done there? The left-leaning brain theorized: "Tea parties?... tea is a drink... what other drink is like tea, but isn't tea? Oh yes, coffee!" I don't see this as the only reason. In the liberal psyche, there's an unconscious belief that coffee is intellectually superior to every other drink because of its culture. Coffee is a delicacy only befit the kings of screenplay writing at Starbucks. It is the drink that brought us the coffeehouse attitudes of the late 50s and 60s, though I have to add, coffee was rarely the actual drink of choice at those houses. 'Progressives' and 'visionaries' used coffee as a ruse to act foolish in black pencil pants and turtleneck sweaters. Any culture that requires applause be the snapping of one's fingers after a horrid torrent of drug-addled poetry is about as low as you can go on the creative scale. Even still, liberals see coffee as a symbolic gateway to the upper crust of thought. They gather around it like haughty cavemen in tweed coats, alienating everyone who has opinions that slightly differ from their own. Sure, coffee is a beverage of enlightenment, but they use coffee only as a means to an end, not as an end in itself.

This 'Coffee Party' movement and all the coffee-house progressives of times past has sullied the manna-like divinity of the drink. And to what end? What point have they made? They've only managed to behave like bratty children, screaming for something another child has. They covet the strength of the Tea Parties, the influence and power of ordinary, hard-working Americans banding together to make a difference. That 'banding together' is something a liberal mind can't comprehend. Even when they're in a 'party' setting, they're alone. They isolate themselves, hiding behind huge superiority complexes. They dwell in their own minds, where its safe and everyone agrees with them. People like that could never organize anything that shared any solid belief because their own beliefs are ever-shifting and far superior to the beliefs of their peers.

I'm not intimidated by this 'Coffee Party' movement because of the fact that liberals are incapable of true organization. In defense, they may argue they organized to elect this 'eloquent' and 'intellectual' president, but they really didn't. They serendipitously had the same hair-brained idea all at once and naturally, pretentious people are attracted to other pretentious people if only to potentially engage in a 'winner takes all' superiority battle. Essentially, this movement is watered down and stale. It has all the validity of a day-old pot of joe made with expired pre-ground Folgers. There's no need for it and to recognize it, one would have to toss aside good sense and taste. All I know is, there's a holiness to coffee that cannot be destroyed by politics. Coffee is a gift; a source of energy, creativity, and spark. If the left thinks they can usurp those traits for their own purposes, they'll have a devil of a time. Coffee, like freedom and gunpowder, is volatile and best handled by those who respect it.

The Burden of Duty

Who would Jesus bomb?

Isn't that a novel question? A veiled insult and self-righteous laurel wrapped up in a neat, condescending package. That sticker can be found on many a bumper these days, usually alongside a faded something about impeaching Bush or a belligerent rant on the environment. Oddly enough, those 'green' stickers are usually on old Volvo station wagons that rattle and belch oil clouds. But I digress. So what are we supposed to think of the statement: who would Jesus bomb? Outright, I think we're supposed to question the Christian validity of war. After that, we're supposed to question our own Christian validity. Because if we have ever had a human thought about taking care of what we love, we've failed. Our desires to be free and help others be free as well have upset Jesus.

I'm no stranger to religion. I was raised Baptist, attended both Methodist and Christian worship services, converted to Roman Catholic in college, and now work for a different protestant organization. I guess you could say I was washed in the blood... wrung out, washed again and again, and tumble dried. But when I see that sticker, the striking hubris of it, I don't think of religion at all. Not, at least, in the sense of real peace and love. No, the sticker takes my mind immediately to the military and the oftentimes thankless work they do. So many men and women have served, some given the ultimate sacrifice so that you and I could be here today. I think about the injustices and evil that have been deterred by the actions of the military. And though Jesus never actually said 'thou shalt not war' the bumper sticker makes the accusation that if you advocate for military actions or personally violent actions of any kind, you're going against the mandate of God. There is no gray area, no exceptions. Either you're Christ-like or you're not.

My father was in the army. He served in the European theater in WWII. He didn't talk a lot about the war, at least not by the time I was born, but he didn't have to. That experience was etched in every line on his face. I could see the horror in his eyes. And though my mother openly displayed the most vehement faith I've ever known of any human, my father possessed a quiet faith that spoke of the grim responsibility of humans. Just as it can be said to be truly satisfied, you must first go hungry; to know Heaven, you must first know Hell. There can be no more earthly hell than war. But, to deride another famous bumper sticker 'War is not the answer.' I say rather, war is the question. Why do we war? We war so there may be peace. We fight the hard battles so the oppressed can be free. We stare evil in the face, a gun in our trembling hands, knowing that by the Bible's standards we should not kill. But if we don't take some of the burden on our shoulders, evil will go on unchallenged. We are given a lot of responsibility and to whom much is given can be expected the most sacrifice.

A childhood friend of mine once asked my father, "Did you kill anyone?" Everything in the house went silent. My heart stopped as I searched my father's face. He took a deep breath, let it out slowly and answered, "Yes." He never said how many people he killed, but that didn't matter. This man, who kept his faith mostly to himself, had extinguished the life of another human being. I knew that, I wrestled with it, but I also knew in my heart that God forgives. When my father took the action to end the life of that German soldier, God was there. When the gas in the chambers at the concentration camps was turned on, God was there. When those camps were liberated, the emaciated prisoners set free, God was there. We cannot expect God to guide our hands and choices. All we can hope is that God is there with us, we are not alone. And though God can't 'bomb' our tormentors and set us free, there are corporeal beings who can.

There are many unsavory things in this world. War is only one. And if we are truly Christians, we know humans cannot be expected to be perfect. War is the question that asks not how we can be perfect but how we can be less imperfect. Humans are not divine like Jesus and to expect us all to forgo the means to peace in efforts to achieve divinity is bordering on heresy. God gave us all free will and a set of guidelines to best utilize that free will. But nothing is without caveats; if we ignore the calls to police our gift, we are derelict of duty.

Jesus wouldn't bomb anyone; the hypothetical is simply ridiculous. But we are not Jesus, we cannot be Jesus. We are but humans guided by God to be stewards of not just the environment, but of the people who live in it. So instead of asking who Jesus would bomb, ask who Jesus would set free. Who would Jesus feed? Who would Jesus heal? And perhaps the most important, who would Jesus stop? In the garden of Gethsemane, Jesus said "He who lives by the sword shall die by the sword." Some believe this to mean that no one should ever be an aggressor, but I don't believe that. If someone who lives by the sword is meant to die by the sword, someone else must wield the weapon. No one assumes the weapon is carried lightly, but it must be carried nonetheless.

Tenure: A Death Knell for Education

At any stage in life, getting an education is a tricky thing. How people learn differs so, it's difficult to get just the right mix of methods to make it work. In such a volatile world, nothing should be left to chance, nothing taken for granted. Above all, teachers should never miss a beat. Like surgeons guiding the lifeblood of the future, they should be masterful and attentive. But those traits have been neglected in so many instances, allowed to atrophy and die if they ever existed at all. From early education to higher learning, a pedagogical rite of passage has brought teachers down to the realm of mediocrity and thus doomed their students to frustration and failure. This rite of passage of which I speak is tenure.

Just as we trust doctors to our health and peacekeepers with our safety, we trust teachers with our education. They are the leaders on our journey. You want a leader to be knowledgeable, flexible, and attentive. You hope that no matter what comes along, that leader will remain strong. Challenges won't break them and accolades will not soften their drive. But tenure is something that can not only ease a teacher's intensity and passion, but can allow poor educators to remain in the classroom, doing decidedly more harm than good.

If a doctor hasn't studied trends in medicine in decades and trembles uncontrollably should they be allowed to treat patients? If a lawyer knows little of the law and even less about upholding it, should they be allowed to sit as a district attorney? If a professor has a poor track record in the classroom and rarely shows up for class, should they be allowed to continue teaching? The answers to these questions as stated may be blatant, but the last question sheds light on a harsh reality. There are teachers out there who have lost all respect for their field because they have been given a pass to behave as they wish. Their tenure allows them to be lax in their own learning and lax in their teaching. They flit from class to class in an indignant huff, ready to clock out as soon as possible because they know, no matter what they do, tenure keeps them safe from all punishment.

Rare indeed is the teacher who's skill is unchanged by tenure. I recognize there are those who excel with such an honor, but when people abuse a privilege, there should be consequences. I attended a private religious-affiliated university. I was lucky to receive many scholarships so a great deal of my tuition was paid for, but my heart goes out to those who feel they've wasted their own money to pay for lackluster education. The professor in my chosen major was a tenured professor who wanted nothing more than to be as far away from work as possible. When he did show up, he was short in knowledge and even more inept in the skill of sharing it. Had it not been for my independent nature and that of some of my classmates, no one with that degree would have found employment. Those who succeeded made their own way, but those who required more attention from a teacher, failed miserably. And that is truly the face of tenure, students left to fend mostly for themselves because lazy teachers no longer care to run the race. They're left holding the bill for an education they did not receive.

Unions, tenure, and social programs have destroyed the pride of work. People do only what is required for employment security or government money and nothing more. I saw this behavior first hand; I was a victim of it. The professor is still employed and likely still as abysmal as before. With the price of education soaring, he's wasting even more hard-earned money. No one wants to fight the hard fight to remedy the situation. We must not allow these abuses to continue. We must take a larger role in the education of those who will hold the future and find the lacking accountable. Those who no longer wish to do their jobs and those who don't have the skill to begin with must be dismissed. Teachers light a path in the darkness, but those who care not to ignite their lamps risk losing their followers in the chasm of confusion. If they teach only failure, the students will learn only failure. We must expect excellence in education and we must not stop until we get it.

Happy Birthday Adam!

This post is to wish Adam Baldwin a wonderful birthday. Thank you sir for sharing your amazing acting talent and perhaps more importantly, for sharing your intelligence with us. I salute you!

Jayne: Big Damn Hero
original digital painting by x_1013_x

The Man in Black: An Essay on the Anti-Hero

“What's right isn't always popular. What's popular isn't always right.” –Howard Cosell

They’re cold; their deep stares distant. Their methods, actions, and morals enrage because they confound. They exemplify defiance of explanation. Standing tall against a stark sky is the anti-hero, their shadow threatening the pure-hearted hero in all of us. What is it about this person that chills us and puts us on the defensive? Could it be perhaps, they are us, the us we are when no one is looking? Maybe our resentment of the anti-hero isn’t due to them at all, but to our fear and rejection of ourselves.

The human race has never been without critics. There have always been those who judge the actions of others through self-centered glasses. That unjust prejudice has been the catalyst behind our change from honest creatures into loping drones of superficiality. Moral majority has morphed into media majority, what’s good for ratings, is good for the world. Character is based solely on roaring crowds and box-office revenues. If one person’s opinion differs at all from that of the attention-span deficient public, they are deemed wrong and inherently evil. In a world that has tossed aside the basic principles of humanity, those of us who follow outdated “golden rules” are transformed into punching bags. Abnormal is normal, good is evil…and evil is?

Enter the anti-hero atop his arrow-wounded steed. He stands as a testament to unpopular beliefs, those of patriotism, decency, and doing right, no matter how hard. The anti-hero knows in order to arrive at the right conclusion the process may sometimes be unsavory. They have seen the carnage of war, felt the pain of loss, but know war and loss are not without their merits. They learn from mistakes and recognize mistakes are essential to progress. Nothing good is born good; nothing created by man can be done without missteps, for man is not divine.

The anti-hero doesn’t accept things at face value. They’ve been around and know full well peaceful facades can hide many dangers. They believe little of what they read and nothing of what they hear. Instinct and a finely tuned moral compass guide them. They are aloof and contemplative. And that opacity threatens, causing some to condemn them as calculating and cruel. When deeds and decisiveness dictate a person’s path, their intentions are clear, but a public so accustomed to ambiguity has no ability to grasp the clarity. The decisive person becomes brash and uncaring while society darlings flourish in their failure to make a decision at all.

So what does the anti-hero say about us? At first, we are impressed with their bravado, enamored with them perhaps. They laugh in the face of popular convention, thumb their noses at the norm, but in this world, the norm is anything but normal. Hence, the anti-hero is the true hero. Those of us who resent them don’t resent the person per-se, but the principle. If they are brave enough to stand up for what’s right in a world that seems to only value the opposite of right, if they risk reputation, life, and limb when we cannot, what we resent is our own cowardice.

Fairy tales and bedtime stories teach us heroism needs no explanation. The man in white saves the day not because his reasons are genuine or fair, but because he is “good,” the opposite of bad. The black hat will fall because they oppose the “good,” not because they necessarily deserve failure or their rationale is weak. We have grown from disillusioned children into cynical adults, conditioned to see only what is revealed to us. We read only one version of a story and are satisfied. All the while, that little nagging feeling troubles us. This is the feeling there is more to know, more to comprehend. And before we can succumb to our curiosity, we are bombarded again by the mainstream conventions that keep us from free thought in the first place.

If anti-heroes are the true champions of the world, what does that make of the so-called “good guy” heroes? As mentioned before, the term “good” is implied most often because someone is fundamentally opposite of “bad.” On the surface, they stand opposed to what we see as wrong. If someone is against murder, which is expected, they are good. If someone professes to be against the mistreatment of the poor, they are good. Sounds fair, but the logic is flawed. A belief or statement alone does not make someone good or evil. The devil is in the details and the true nature in the deeds.

The anti-hero falls into the watchful gaze of the critic far more than any other figure. Their reasons are questioned with fervent tenacity, though around them, the so-called heroes and villains stand unexamined. Oddly enough, society finds it much easier to victimize evil than to vilify the good. But what really astounds is most people’s inability to see good in the anti-hero. Their methods go down as the methods of madmen, their actions, no matter the outcome, emphasized as cruel. There are no excuses, no pity, for the people who make the decisions no one else is willing to make.

During World War II, one man held the loyalty of scores of people, military and otherwise. He inspired many with his words and passion. Another man was scorned for his nature, considered brash, rude, and dangerous. This man was even ridiculed and sanctioned by his own countrymen.

As history shows us, one of those men, the one who inspired such a following, would be responsible for mass genocide. The other would lead the allies in large strides to defeat the enemy and save lives. Adolf Hitler is regarded today as a villain, a man with a black soul on a crusade born of unadulterated hatred. But in his day he was thought by millions to be a visionary and harbinger of hope. The other man, General George S. Patton was an anti-hero. He was a soldier with true grit who never backed down from a fight, a man with unending patriotism. But his methods, his means to an end, have transformed him into someone ridiculed almost as much as the evil he relentlessly battled.

Now, more than ever, we are faced with tough decisions. To follow the crowd is more seductive than it has ever been. Opposing the ideas of “political correctness” and revisionist history can cause intense verbal onslaughts, get someone fired, blacklisted, and even physically attacked. Peace-mongers hurl firebrands along the paths of soldier’s funerals. The sons and daughters of the “free love” generation place as much value on the life of unborn babies as they do on a vermin pest.

Years of indoctrination have taught us to disregard what we don’t want to face. We address problems by skirting them. We respond only to rewards. Like a dog at the sound of a bell, we are controlled by our need to satisfy ourselves. The supposed issues that flood our senses are best served only when someone sees us doing our part. We brag on ourselves, trumpeting our actions on the Internet and pasting stickers on the bumpers of our cars. We trample each other in order to be the biggest hero.

Now is the time to take a good look at those around you and a long look in the mirror too. What have you done today and more importantly, why did you do what you did? The people who inspire you, the people you idolize, what do they teach you and who are they, really?

“Good guys” rise and fall, villains obfuscate and tantalize, but the world continues to turn. The anti-hero will always be working in the background, fighting the fight that changes the world, not just trying to put a band-aid on an 8-inch gash. Remember, doing what is right doesn’t always garner great rewards. Right and wrong are so much more than black and white. To know real evil, you have to know what it takes to be good, and good isn’t always easy. In the words of Johnny Cash, “I'd love to wear a rainbow every day, and tell the world that everything's okay, but I'll try to carry off a little darkness on my back, 'till things are brighter, I'm the man in black.”