With the stunning defeat of the Republican Party in the recent presidential and legislative elections, the party is yet to reshape itself into the party of the people. Republicans are a minority in both houses of congress and their numbers are likely to shrink once more with upcoming elections in 2010.

Every country needs a strong opposition party. The prowess of any country could be discerned from the strength of its opposition party. The government needs a strong opposition to keep it constantly on its toes and so the confusion within the beleaguered Republican Party should not be a cause for laughter-though the freely given source of laughter is an economic stress reliever.

In an era where partisan politics has hijacked the course of events, reward for loyalty the key to political success and where personal gain is the traceable footprint of many elected officials, voters can no longer afford to dice away the opposition party.

In one of the most historical campaign blunders, the Republican Party chose to fight unity with fear even with the voter’s obvious preference of unity over fear. The Republican Party has shown continued intransigence and disharmony on what policies to articulate, when to articulate them and how to navigate the political subtleties that have often backfired on the party. The party has ceased to be the party of NOW, but remains ever eager to announce it is still the party of YESTERDAY.

Unlike opposition parties in developing countries that suffer from government oppression, the Republican Party suffers from an identity complex. Policy articulation still baffles the GOP. For example, the party fails to distinguish small government from smart government. A small government strives to be small while the goal of a smart government is to stay smart.

This dissonance in articulation is reflected in the GOP’s stand on a host of issues including small tax and smart tax. Although the world rolls round and changes, the GOP still drags its feet and is yet to match the fast and changing dynamics of evolving social principles.

During recessions when many businesses are looking up to the government for mitigating policies, the Republican Party obstinately articulates limited government activity which is in contrast with public expectation.

The Republican Party has taken delight in highlighting terrorism over economic recovery. In times of economic prosperity, terrorism could become a decisive factor as people become more worried of losing anticipated pleasures. During hard economic times, people worry that their livelihood is gliding away.

As one of its peculiarities that it is yet to match the changing pace of time, the Republican Party still has a less than ideally defined role for women in the society. Within the party, equal pay for equal work is a silent taboo. While the treatment of women in other parts of the world or religions are viewed as abhorrent, the reference to women rights within the Republican Party is apparently a reference to better but limited rights-indicating that social evolution is still to attain an optimum progress.

Politics is a clash of ideologies. Ideological clashes often gives rise to a more resilient, dynamic and flexible political process. It is this clash that makes politics fascinating and the exclusion of moderate views prevents the occurrence of any clash and hence any fascination.

No one would dispute the fact that even the Republican platform might not have gone far enough for some people and that it might have gone too far for others. This is a tacit implication of the moderation of ideas and to deny this truth is to deny that politics is not a clash of ideologies. With some Republicans saying the Republican Party has only Republicans and no moderates, it makes one wonder if the party is engaged in a political process or religious adherence.

Conservatives are yet to define for themselves who makes a good representative. When Mike Huckabee a former Baptist Pastor was asked what Jesus would do about the death penalty, he said “Jesus was too smart to ever run for public office.” In a sense, Mr. Huckabee was insinuating that religious faith is not a barometer for smart governance.

Quite ironically during his presidential campaign, Huckabee outfoxed his opponent Mitt Romney in Iowa because of his association with the Mormon faith. Despite dodging the question on death penalty which his faith, Christianity, literally condemns, the religious right still rallied behind him as their candidate in Iowa. To be a party of religious faith today and cease from it tomorrow makes the party look incoherent.

Today, the GOP does more to dig its internal problems than stress how the party’s platform and ideals are starkly different from those the democrats posit. Party discordance is a natural phenomenon which sometimes breeds formidable strategies. Unfortunately, the current disagreement within the Republican Party has not been confined to the party.

With little coordination of internal debates in the GOP, the media has adeptly filled up that vacuum by moving internal debates to acrimonious media sensations leaving the Democrats smiling ear to ear. The media has taken the role of providing the latest round of debates, stirring one controversy over another, and tossing the GOP around like a game of ping-pong.

Winning requires team work and team work comes from studious deliberations. The recent media outbursts portray a party that is inept and incapable of resolving conflicting ideologies through robust discussions. The party only comes across as quick to blame, but lacking the understanding to repair.

To be a sounding cymbal about anything going wrong only works if you do not make cries your main platform. The GOP is increasingly seen as the party to call attention and not the party to offer real solutions even to heal internal wounds.

As conservatives struggle to resurrect themselves and begin to broaden their conservative appeal they would have to accept the bitter truth that as time changes and with the world growing smaller, political ideologies can not afford to be indifferent. It is not the GOP’s message that seems to be the problem, but the GOP’s stubborn adherence to an ineffective way of conveyance, an articulation from several quarters so virulent that the GOP’s message is rendered disagreeable in every sense.

Reference:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_United_States_Republican_Party

http://www.gop.com/2008Platform/NationalSecurity.htm

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/03/AR2008010303824.html?hpid=topnews

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equal_pay_for_equal_wo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OyxWCNh-_FE

This last weekend I spent some time with family. We didn’t fire up the grill or gather at the lake. I was at the cemetery. That might seem dreary or sad, but it really wasn’t.

Armed with lilacs, a trowel, a brush, and a big-ass shovel we set off in search of the relatives. Last year we lost my dad’s side of the family because the tree we used as a landmark by their graves had been removed. But this year we found them easily enough on a hill in the sunshine. My mom’s side of the family is easier to find, at least until the building we use as a landmark comes down.

Cleaning off the graves didn’t seem like a difficult task. I would just use my big-ass shovel and clean up the edges where grass had overgrown the flat headstone. But the dirt was dry and hard and it was funny how quickly it got hot on my sunny hillside. So there I sat, hacking at dirt and grass on my hands and knees because the shovel didn’t work nearly as well as I thought it would. And when you are there, on your hands and knees staring at a headstone it is hard not to contemplate one’s mortality.

When would I die? How long would it be? Would it be a surprise? Painful? Would the last thing I see be someone thumping on my chest and performing rescue breathing? Or, how long would it be before I was cleaning off my parents’ graves, or would they be cleaning mine?

And yet, for all that fatalistic mortality, I wasn’t really sad because I was also thinking of the people whose mortal remains were resting—what they meant to me. I hacked and cut at the stubborn grass, ants swarming over the warm, naked stone and I thought about how many pieces of these people were still alive in memories and stories.

My Grandma Lamon was always scared that people didn’t like her cooking if they didn’t have second and third helpings. My Grandpa Lamon would compare health ailments to different foods, forever tainting brown gravy and Caro syrup by association. My Uncle Larry stayed with me the night my sister was born and was the sole witness to the absolute worst tantrum of my entire childhood, and still liked me. My Grandma Sibinski let me and my sister watch horse races on television after church. My Grandpa Sibinski would call my mom Kid. My Uncle Jerry would study people all year so he could buy them something they would really love for Christmas. I brushed the dirt and debris off the granite headstone, exposing the names and the dates.

The ground was so hard and dry I had to pound a hole into it with the trowel to get the flower holder in the ground. We filled it with soft purple lilacs from our yard and poured water in to the rim. Those flowers won’t last long and the grass will grow over the edge of the headstones again and the ants will recolonize, but for now my flowers are blooming and the headstones are clean. Sometimes you just have to enjoy that one moment.

The power of prayer to cure illness has been in the news lately and is the second part in my rant on alternative treatments. Now I don’t care if you believe in a God or not, I’m not writing this to question anyone’s belief. I’m just questioning when people don’t get the treatment they need because they think a higher power will make them well.

To start if you’re sick and you want to pray that you’ll get better go right ahead. Or if you have a friend who’s sick and you want to pray for their recovery go ahead. However if you start getting sicker or your illness won’t go away in ten days take yourself to the doctor. If you have something like arthritis or diabetes feel free to pray all you want. Just consult a medical professional in conjunction with your prayer regiment.

I’ll give an example of this a Wisconsin woman is now convicted of second degree reckless homicide involving her daughter. Her daughter had diabietes an easily controled condition trough insulin. However this woman belived that the body got sick as a result of sin. So instead of taking her daughter to the doctor she formed a prayer circle and the prayed around the little girl. Anyway she had to pass out before anyone called 911 by then it was to late to do anything.

People it’s great if you want to trust your eternal soul to God. But while your here with your mortal life can you at least listen to a doctor.

Now lets be clear I’m not ragging on alternative treatments, IF THEY WORK! If you have strep throat and willow bark clears it up great however if you are still sick after three days it might be time to look at a more traditional treatment because the herbs or viatamins aren’t working. Also if you do elect alternative treatments make sure you see a professional and not make your decisions by reading a book you got at Borders.

I know I said I was going to post this yesterday, but it was a holiday weekend so I’m posting today. Sorry. Hope that didn’t get anyone’s knickers in a twist. As the fourth post in my series, we are now exploring some of the etiquette involved in a return to the dating world. Funny, for as much as we lie and gloss over, when it comes to saying stupid and insensitive things we are suddenly on the truth bandwagon like it is going out of style. Especially when it comes to talking about our exes. This post addresses the tendency to be an insensitive prick to the new people in our lives.

Refresh Yourself–Part 4:

Three Is a Crowd

Even though you’ve defined a portion of your life by your involvement with your most recent ex, for the love of god, don’t talk about your ex all the damn time when you start dating again. Yes, your ex left an impression on your life and it would be ridiculous to pretend it didn’t happen, but when you continually tell the next person in your life all the wonders and faults of your ex and every little thing you did together it goes beyond being rude to being just plain unfair. Constantly throwing references to you ex into conversation with a new person can make that person feel as if they are in competition and constant comparison.*

While the new person in you life can handle and, doubtless, expects to have to hear a few references to the loves of your past, a steady diet of these references will weigh anyone down. Like the deep-fried cheese curds at the state fair, a little of the ode to your ex goes a very long way. During the “getting to know you” phase a person expects to exchange some history, but you don’t have to progress too far from that phase before that person will want to know whether you want to create new memories (possibly together) rather than constantly reliving adventures you had with your ex—he or she wants to know whether or not you have a future together as something other than your therapist, or a sounding board as you rehash your past relationships.

And there you are, left with the delicate dilemma of when it is appropriate to mention your ex and why. This is dicey because cutting out all things relating to your ex would mean cutting out a chunk of history that has made you you. And, troubled, foolhardy, and idiotic as it may have been, you have a right to your history, even the incredibly stupid parts. Reassuring though that may be, it doesn’t provide much guidance when referring to things in your past.

It can happen so quickly, some innocuous observation or event triggers a memory about something with you and your ex and by the time you realize what you are doing you have already started telling the story. This is a good time to think really fast. Here’s hoping you are capable.

If you’re talking about an event that involved you and your ex consider whether or not your ex is strictly essential to the story—basically, what is the story’s point. Is the story you want to tell that new special someone more about that incredibly romantic trip you and your ex took to Jamaica back when you thought your love wasn’t an elaborate lie concocted to crush your soul? Or, is it more about how you developed a deep and abiding love of hammocks while in Jamaica?

If the story is about hammocks, then don’t beat your poor new love-interest over the head with yet another reference to your ex and the life you had together. If you need to refer to your ex you can mention being there with a person or a friend. While this runs the risk of dipping into a shaded area of truth, consider whether, for the purpose of telling someone how much you like hammocks, you are interested in being insensitive with a ham-fisted full-disclosure that throws your ex in this poor new person’s face yet again.

Incidentally, it is also an important moving-on step to be able to give up referring to your ex with words like “my boyfriend” or “my girlfriend”. They aren’t yours anymore. It is possible that they never were yours. Changing the way you refer to an ex can be an important element in letting go.

However, if the point of the story is not about hammocks, but to drone on and on about the romantic trip you and your ex took, reliving your last relationship’s glory days and how absolutely great things were, then this is a good time to brush up on the Golden Rule. It may be that you are so used to being the wronged party that you don’t realize just what an incredible prick you are being to the new person in you life and the Golden Rule can provide perspective. For those with only a vague notion of the Golden Rule it is:  Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. You don’t have to be down with religion to see that what this idea proposes is nothing more than good manners and considering the other person’s feelings. In this case, ask yourself how you’d feel hearing your new/potential significant other wax eloquent about intimate or romantic moments with his or her ex—and then shut the hell up about your own. If you really can’t keep from constantly talking about your ex, it’s time to reconsider whether you’re ready to start dating again.

*To be completely honest, the new person actually is in competition and constant comparison with your ex. That’s just the way it is. We analyze and scrutinize the new things in our life in relation to the past, judging the unknown by the known. That said, keep in mind, oh comparison Grand Mucky-Mucks out there, this new person is comparing you too and if you keep up a constant commentary about your former loves you are not likely to stack up very well. Probably somewhere below people who share their very graphic health histories with perfect strangers in public places.

As always, thank you for reading and please join us next Monday for Part 5 where we’ll explore the wonders of breaking up and the modern mania to stay friends.

You know I swear to God I don’t know what in the hell is wrong with a majority of people these days. I’ll give you two examples.

I’m not sure if anyone outside MN knows but there’s a 13 year old boy that has Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. With treatment he has a 95% chance of survival. So after being diagnosed and getting a treatment plan set up he goes for his first round of treatment. Like most people how have Chemo he got sick. After seeing their son in such a state the parents and the kid decided on no more Chemo instead opting for a natural holistic approach. Just so you know without Chemo the kid’s survival chances drop to around 5%.

So the kids docs try to force him into to treatment with a court order. He and his family respond by saying that it’s against his religious belief system to have Chemo. I believe he said “I want to meet my creator with a clean body and having Chemo would make me unclean” And the natural methods involved little more than willow bark and ginger tea from what I gathered in the paper. So after a court fight the judge ordered the kid into treatment. He ordered a X Ray be taken to see if the natural remedies had any effect and a new Chemo plan be drawn up. He also stipulated that the Chemo would be in conjunction with a natural regiment as well. He ended the hearing by saying to the boy “You may not think you’re that sick and you don’t look sick but trust me you are very very sick”

The doctors were comprised of six oncologist 3 pediatricians and even acupuncturists and herbalists that all said the same thing “The kid needs treatment natural remedies are not going to do it”.  The Parents and the kid had almost nothing concrete to offer except for religious beliefs. Oh and a public outcry of support which left my mouth hanging open. Thousands of people with signs that said “Say no to Drugs” and “Natural remedies work” touting personnel freedoms and patient rights and parental rights in deciding what’s best for their kids. Did any of these people bother to look at the medical evidence.

Now if the kid was an adult I’d have no problem with him refusing treatment. It’d be his personnel right to refuse Chemo against all logic. But he’s not an adult and his parents are basing their decision on fear and a desire not to see their son suffering. Well sometimes you have to go through hell to get better. Well anyway the X Ray was taken and guess what the cancer’s grown back to it’s original size and is still expanding. What amazes me is even with all this there are still people that are pissed about the judge decision to save the kids life.

They constantly write into the paper or call in on talk shows. Saying that the judge is evil and wrong and should not have interfered with “A very private decision” Or they still say that nature has all the cures he needs. Well nature had it’s shot and it failed it’s time for man made western medicine to take over. There is nothing wrong with taking herbs or vitamins for simple things. Like if you have stomach problems feel free to take a herbal tea. If you have a cold take some vitamin C, If you can’t sleep chew on some Valerian root or have a beer. But if you have something like lets say Bronchitis take the penicillin.

Anyway I’ll write the other example later

Warcorpse

PS if you do take herbs make sure you talk to a herbalist before you. Some of the deadliest poisons on earth are a combination of herbs and plants.

My job is brainless. I sit and do hand-eye coordination maneuvers with small precision tools until a tooth forms. Which is great because it allows my true genius to flourish (inside my head, for eight whole hours a day).

I was listening to the radio the other day (at work) and they mentioned that the cost of liposuction was like, I don’t know – I actually, technically didn’t hear, but I heard my boss yell out “$2,500 to $3,000 for liposuction!”. And that was all it took. My Einstein busted through the mire of my boredom and went hog-wild. Wild, abandoned, unrestrained inspiration raged from every brain cell in my head for a good five to ten minutes. Fat is big business.

Upon further research (just now), I discovered that a single-area procedure could be anywhere from $2,000 to $8,000 for a single day, and lipo-suctioning more areas over a longer period of time could run as high as $20,000!!!

Now if we could just figure out a way (I KNOW it has to be possible) to transform that product into something that could feed our cars, we could kill two birds with one stone.

Judging by the average “size” of this nation, we could wipe out the entire energy crises, cure our dependency on foreign oil (that fat has GOT to burn down to good old-fashioned oil – bacon does), boost the economy, wipe out obesity, get in shape, improve the world’s opinion of us, and make money in the process. Godd*mn –that’s even more than two birds. That’s a flock of wild geese.

Think of it. Gas guzzling would take on a whole new meaning. There could be lipo/gas stations where you could either trade your fat for miles, or simply sell large portions of yourself and – screw cars – buy a plane ticket to anywhere! (a tropical island – and now you could even wear that itty bitty swimsuit you’ve been dreaming about. And you’d have plenty of spending booty in your pocketbook to spend ..on souvenirs…drinks…and of course! Local Cuisine!!!!).

Which brings up the point… given the possibilities, people – everyone – would probably buy and consume WAY MORE FOOD! Here in Minnesota we all put on at least a good twenty pounds over the winter. A few more tater tot hot dishes a week, couple more pounds of meat and potatoes, double the gravy, hell YES to bacon, and we’d be rolling in the dough by the time spring trickled in. By adding only a few more items to our winter diets a day, we’d have some serious pounds to leverage that spring vacation on. And we wouldn’t even have to sweat the frantic getting-in-shape-before-we-try-to-get-in-that-d*mn-swimsuit trauma. We just roll by the Lipostation on our way to the airport, swimsuits in hand. Yippy-ki-yay Mehico - here I come!! (well.. maybe not Mehico)

Anyways…BTW – no offense to anyone struggling with their weight…Honestly, if there was a way to do it, I’d be the first in line to trade my ass in for a road trip. It might not get me to the In-n-Out burger I’ve been dreaming of (for three years now, going on four) but it could get me a day or two off.

D*mn this has been a long winter. And I’ve had WAY too much time to think.

These new tobacco taxes are really burning me up. I know there are those of you that engage in fist pumps and victory dances every time a new tax is slapped on us evil smokers, but enough-is-enough. I wonder if you would feel the same way if taxes, comparable to those levied on smokers, were tacked onto red meat (high in cholesterol), chocolate (diabetes and obesity) and any car that does better than 35 mph (you could always take the bus); all in the name of a national health initiative.

Let me put this in (my) perspective. I have worked, and paid my way in society since the age of 16; about 30 years. I have contributed my share to healthcare, Social Security, and taxes in general. I am not a criminal. I don’t do drugs, abuse children or drive drunk. I have been a teacher most of my career, and I give back to society by sharing my knowledge with those that choose to listen. I try to be the best friend I can, to help those I can, and to be as understanding as I can. I have never (knock-on-wood) broken a bone, had a major surgery, or even spent a night in the hospital. As I see it, I have caused noone’s healthcare to increase. As a matter of fact, I have probably spent more on health insurance than I have recieved in benefits. I am also a smoker. I have chosen to smoke for 25 years on-and-off. So why should I be punished with exhorbitant taxes? Is it because smoking is a choice?

Here’s a news flash. Smokers are not the only people that choose to drive up the cost of healthcare. We all pay higher healthcare costs for those people that contract AIDS due to promiscuous behavior. Isn’t unprotected promiscuity a choice? They willingly participate in activities that could result in contracting a fatal disease. They are not victims (except in rare instances). So why aren’t promiscuous people forced to pay higher taxes to continue their behavior?  I’ll wager I become very unpopluar by making that statement. I’ll be accused of bigotry and homophobia well before someone will come up with a legitimate argument as to why that isn’t a valid comparison.

I am not about to engage in the statistics surrounding the amount of money it costs to keep someone on an iron lung because they chose to smoke all their life. I am not completely unsympathetic to the idea that taxpayers, in some cases, get stuck with the bill for keeping someone alive with an illness linked to tobacco usage. I would be intelectually dishonest to think otherwise. But why are smokers the only group of consumers that are repeatedly targeted with the chore of lowering healthcare costs for everyone else? 

If you ask me, we all need to be responsible for our behavior. That means both sides of an action; forethought and aftermath. If everyone would just take care of their own business, Uncle Sam wouldn’t have to make it his.

I live in Michigan, which I used to say proudly, and I am watching our elected officials tear this state apart. I will state up front that I have no respect for our governor, Jennifer Granholm, yet we as voters share the responsibility for re-electing her again. If you haven’t heard, she plans to make Michigan the next Hollywood. Which may be a good thing for all the unemployed people (over 12% now) who are thinking of changing their career path to include “movie extra.” But I digress. This is not the subject of this posting, but they are related.

Over the past several weeks, our newscasts have repeatedly covered stories about government layoffs; specifically teacher layoffs. This is not a new strategy for local governments looking to tighten the fiscal belt. In fact it’s a stragtegy that I think most people have accepted as “business as usual.” It bothers me that our children suffer the cost of our elected officials’ lack of fiscal responsibility. Can you think of a worst way to do business? That makes about as much sense as beating your child because you wrecked the car on the way to work. One has nothing to do with the other. If private enterprises were as fiscally irresponsible they would be in the same state of finacial ruin as…I don’t know…Gm and Chrysler maybe? We need to get government out of the education business.

It seems to me that the programs that suffer the greatest losses when the money gets tight are those that hit us the hardest. The cuts in this state usually start with the police force and teachers. Two of the most underpaid, thankless, yet undeniably crucial positions on the government payroll. If you want to understand why our education systems are failing, just look at the way government values its teachers. Why would any sane, educated person want to become a teacher, or police officer for that matter? The fact is, the good teachers are in it for the “love of the game.” Hats off to those that have chosen the profession for reasons nobler than a government paycheck. Our education system would be in worse shape if it wasn’t for dedicated teachers.

Our government would like you to believe there is no alternative to public education; that private schools and home schooling are too expensive for the average Joe. It’s kind of ironic that the same government has no problem strapping over one trillion dollars of taxes to our back. The same government that tells us our school systems can’t afford new books, gives GM and Chrysler $15 billion combined to keep them afloat not knowing if they can sustain themselves. During the election campaign all we heard about was better education for our kids and affordable tuition. How many scholarships could have been paid for by the $16 billion tax dollars that Citigroup, Bank of America, and JP Morgan-Chase sent overseas for new loans and investments. By comparison, figuring an average teacher’s salary at $32,000, one billion dollars will pay the salary of 31,250 teachers for a year. Our government has given away 31 years worth of teacher’s salaries to businesses that might fail. I guess our leadership must have gone to government schools if they can find logic in that. Here in Michigan, the Detroit School District has been struggling for years. Partially due to the fact that the tax base is leaving Detroit, but mostly due to the corruption within the system. Schools are sorely in need of repair, several will be shuttered, and again the students will be punished for the sins of the few. They will pay with over-crowded classrooms and over-worked teachers. What a great way to insure the education of this, and future, generations.

People will argue that the government owes their children a “free education.” There is nothing free about it. Besides taxes, Michigan’s lottery system has generated over 3.5 billion dollars for the School Aid Fund in the last 5 years alone. Don’t forget the Bingo nights, candy sales, and booster clubs to name a few more. All payed by the taxpayer. And who do we have to complain to when we don’t get our money’s worth? The government. What a great business model. The same authority that mandates the taxes to go to their schools, creates the guidelines to measure the success of the schools. I’m going to try that. From this day forward, compared to myself, I am a genius. I like it! What this does in reality, however, is create a no-win situation for students. Let’s face it. Unless students are motivated, goal-oriented self-starters, they will receive nothing more than the bare minimum to pass. If students can’t handle that, the school system doesn’t have the time or resources to help; unless, of course, you conveniently fall into one of the “special needs” categories that the government can tax us for.

I believe the government wants schools to fail. If they truly didn’t they would not be in their current state of dishevelment. To put it bluntly, the less educated our students become, the easier it will be to grow nosensical ideas and create a more dependent society. The government has created its own captive audience. Better schools, home schooling, and inteligence are the are the bane of dependency. If we become smarter, pesky little critters like constitutionality, free speech, and individualism will end up cluttering the tracks of the Collective Express. You can call me a conspiracy theorist if you desire, but I think of myself more as a common sense theorist.

The bottom line is this. I truly believe that education is key. Good education, not so-called free (or affordable) education. Education that inspires, rather than enslaves them. Education founded on integrity rather than agendas.  Our kids deserve more.