A matter of leadership

I often wonder why it is [that] the Republican party can never seem to learn from their [many] mistakes of the past. Isn’t there an historical quote that goes something like “Those who fail to learn from the mistakes of the past are doomed to repeat them” ? While that may not be 100% accurate in wording the salient point remains.

The current major mistake is in “hoping that Obama succeeds”.

Now why should I be upset over that? On the surface it seems bipartisan and wise. On one level… ALL Americans hope and pray that [as President] Obama is successful. We don’t want him to make mistakes. We don’t want him to get bad advice and embarrass himself or the office and [it follows] the country. We want him to serve as an example of what can be achieved in this wonderful country if you just try.

Let’s look a little deeper shall we? While it’s just fine to hope and pray the person holding the office of the President succeeds… we should, at the same time, be able to say that, if his plans and policies are flawed, we hope those plans and policies fail. That is the double edged sword that the Republicans are trying to juggle in the dark. Now I understand the reason behind their thinking. What they are thinking is by giving the democrats total free reign in policy and legislation… they [the republicans] will be totally blameless when the democrat house of cards collapses. {Give them enough rope….}

My wonderful wife, bless her heart, is a devout Liberal. (large L) Politics is the only area of our lives in which we are not in complete agreement. On the other hand how better to understand the thinking of those on the left than to actually live with one? Her insightful critique of the Republican party is spot on. “They simply do not know how to lead. They spent so many years as the minority party [nearly 50] that they completely forgot how to be in power and how to lead.” BINGO! Thank you, Honey!

Even when they are out of power democrats still act as if they ARE in power. Their attitude and agenda never changes and their advance never ceases. They are constantly on the attack and Republicans are constantly on the defensive. Most of the problem lies in the Washington behind the beltway culture. Liberalism RULES. This is largely supported by the media and their power to help or hinder a political agenda or entire party. And there can be no doubt that the main stream media is vastly liberal not only in political affiliation but also in style and tone of writing and coverage. [or lack thereof]

Everyone has some deep desire to be liked. Republicans go to Washington D.C. and find themselves surrounded by the en enemy…. Liberals. There are the obvious Liberals… those elected democrats they have been sent there to oppose. (or work with as the case may be) Then there are the stealth Liberals… the press…. The media. While freedom of the press is a constitutional safeguard they have a product to sell like every other business. Unlike other businesses though they have the public eye and ear. Turn on your radio or TV and the media is in your face. Their ideas, their editorial policy, their political philosophy and ideology is in your face non-stop. IF they were politically and morally neutral that really wouldn’t be a problem. But they aren’t and that IS a problem.

Rather than fight all these various groups and make an attempt, no matter how futile, to change some minds with reason and logic…. Republicans simply cave in order to be “liked” by the left. Sorry guys…. Those on the left will -never- like you until you have reached room temperature. Even then they will say bad things about you at your funeral. They have a track record to look at and they are not going to change.

Leadership…. TRUE leadership… often means that you WILL make enemies… you WILL step on toes and make people mad at you. If you are in a leadership position and think that your leadership skills will be evaluated based upon how many friends you’ve made or how many people like you… you’re in for a huge… slap in the face… kick in the ass kind of wake up call. The test of leadership is accomplishment. Period. If the whole world loves you but you didn’t accomplish a damn thing… guess what? You were in a popularity contest… not a leadership position.

The double edged sword I spoke of earlier is this: Republicans think [that] by going along with everything the left wants to do… when they [the left] fail the Republicans will be held blameless because they were the minority party. That is partially true. IF you are the minority party and you simply lack the votes to advance an alternative plan or agenda then you are, in fact, blameless. BUT… if you’ve caved to the left and supported their failed agenda simply to be liked and to help them shoot themselves in the foot… you don’t have a leg to stand on. Why? Because you didn’t TRY to represent US and our political wishes.

THAT is what we are looking for. Representation! As long as you aggressively support and advance the political will of “We, The People” then you will be liked and even loved by the people who matter the most. Those who voted you into office to represent US in Washington. If the Washington media doesn’t like you… don’t worry about it. They didn’t elect you. If the democrats in Washington don’t like you… don’t worry about it. We didn’t send you to Washington to be popular with them.

Please. Support the Office of the President no matter who holds it or the party affiliation they might have. THAT is the responsibility of every American citizen. That being said… it is alright to disagree with and oppose the plans and proposed policies of that President if they run counter to the core beliefs of the people who elected you to office. It’s OK to fail provided you’re doing what you’re supposed to be doing. We understand. It is NOT ok if you either punt on that responsibility or support the opposition because either advanced their agenda. That we will not be happy about.

High desert hot air...

Yeah... all you global warming weenies are wishing like hell your alarmist rantings were true right now too. Instead you're freezing your butts off with the rest of us. Careful!! All that shivering and knee knocking increases your body temperature and that could lead to even more global warming. Better you just strive for room temperature and stay there... okay?

Mom and I are still doing okay overall. As 2009 rolled in it occurred to me that I was scheduled to hit 60 this year. [Oh, bother!] I decided that what I'd like most for my 60th birthday would be to have the body I did when I was 20. Fortunately I have a photo of me back then so it's easy to see what I have to shoot for. UNfortunately... I have a photo of me back then... so I can also see I have a hell of a long way to go to get back there too. Biggest problem? I was roughly 40 to 45 pounds lighter then than I am now. Loosing that much weight is going to be difficult. So far I'm down about 10 pounds and already at my first plateau. Been at this same weight for almost a week now. Just varying a few tenths of a pound day to day. So time to shift to an even lower calorie intake and up the exercise level a bit to see if I can't break through.

Still job hunting too. Once again there is an unfortunate aspect to that. My darn back is still giving me fits. Constant pain in my hip... front and back... and down the front of my thigh to my knee. Sometimes when rolling over in bed it will feel like I've just been hit in the lower back with a club. Just incredible pain. Before any interview I have to remember to take pain pills to keep things in check. At least the VA has finally set an appointment for me at the back and spinal cord clinic. It's not until February 4th... but at least someone is finally going to take a look. I'm not sure what can be done but the way things are now darn sure isn't cutting it. At least techniques have changed so if they have to operate that can be done through a small hole now rather than opening things up for inches. Just have to wait and see what they have to say. Since I'm going to have to work until I drop dead I need my back fully functional.

In the luck department things went well for my truck this month. The "check engine" light has been on for months and months. Last time I had it checked they said it was the EGR valve. So I ordered a replacement and fixed that. No difference. Still had the darn light. In what was just an off chance happening one day, when I was filling the tank, I jumped up one grade because the price was low enough. The next day... no check engine light! I surmised that the lower grade fuel might have been causing the knock sensor to kick in and the engine management computer didn't like that. At any rate while the light was out we had the inspection done. At least I don't have to worry about that for another year.

Mom's car had a problem last month too. I was taking it down to the local Exxon station for a fill up when it started running rough and the power fell off. At first I thought it was running out of fuel but the gauge said otherwise. I filled it up and limped back to the house. I decided some work was required and ordered new plugs, plug wires, distributor cap and rotor... and a new fuel filter for good measure. The following afternoon we began the change out. The only minor snag I hit was that I had to pull the distributor out of the block to change the rotor. Seems they thought it was necessary to secure it with a set screw. [shrug] After I had it out it dawned on my that I forgot to mark it so I'd get it back in exactly as it had come out. Oh well. Fortunately I had taken a good look at things as I was removing the mounting bolt so I had a good mental picture. The first couple of times it slipped back in it just didn't look quite right. Third time matched what I remembered so I locked it down. Last thing was to change the fuel filter. That went fine. Now... time to turn the key and see what happens. Turned over twice and fired right off. Idled smoothly and is running just fine. One of these days I'll have someone check it with a timing light and see how close I got by eyeball. I'm willing to bet I'm within 3 degrees.

Politically.... not thrilled with the current situation at all. Biggest problem? No... not the liberals. It's the media. The only private sector enterprise that has a constitutional mandate to serve the people and constitutional protection in doing so. The problem comes from the fact that the constitutional mandate failed to establish guidelines. Thus the media is free to do anything they want no matter how bias that might be.

Rather than giving the people the basic "who, what, when, where, why and how" that journalism used to preach... we get an editorial opinion thinly veiled as "news" and told they are neutral. Unfortunately being neutral depends upon whom you ask. If you are surrounded by others like you... your opinion is compatible with theirs so you are "neutral" as far as they are concerned. It's the old question... "Does a fish know it's wet?"

When someone grows up liberal and only hangs around with other liberals then they honestly feel what they write is fair and neutral. Take someone from Washington DC or New York and plop them down in the middle of the country and they are shocked at just how "out of touch" we all are. No. We're normal.... you're the one standing to the left of Stalin and thinking that is the "normal" way we all should think. These are the people who don't like history because it makes them look bad... so they slowly re-write all the books. Revisionist History.

Government interference in the free market has damn near caused a total collapse.... yet they blame capitalism... not the government that caused the problem. The next few years are going to be really interesting. I just hope there is still something left that looks like America when the left is done with their orgy of power.