Letter To President Obama

President Obama, Congratulations on being re-elected for a second term! My wish is that this country receives a real benefit from your presidency. I do not know you other than the face and voice that I see and hear on the media. That is not a clear picture of who you are because of the bias of the reporting agency or your PR person. I understand that, it's the way of politics. If you have a zit on one side of your face, the camera shows you from the other side. What you say and do is filtered the same way. I do not favor or disfavor anyone because of what they look like or say. I am a reasonably intelligent person and my opinion is derived from what they do. Mr. President, I didn't vote for you in either election. However, I am one of those people who works, pays taxes and does his best not to receive anything from the government. A long time ago I really took to heart what one of my war time heroes said: " Ask not what your country can do for you, ask rather what you can do for your country!" It was John Kennedy. He's long gone but his words still ring true.

Mr. President, I am not one to worry and wring my hands and fear for our future. You are no doubt a well intentioned man. At least that is my hope. Whatever it is I am asked to do as a citizen and it is appropriate, I will do. With that being said, I would like to offer you some words from a lowly voter.
I ask that you carefully look at those things you champion and the reasons for which you champion them. For what you do could hold the country hostage or move it forward as a bastion of freedom.

 You are smart, that's good but knowledge without character is more a weapon than a tool. Are you a man of character?

We have seen how you operate in politics, sometimes the scene was blurred by spin and your principles were obscured. Are you a man of principle?

You enjoy having a good time. We've seen that. A good time is balanced by a good conscience. Are you a man of good conscience?

One area we do not see eye to eye on Mr. President is probably insurmountable. I challenge you anyway. I have heard you many times speak of the re-distribution of wealth in the name of fairness. Wealth without effort or work will destroy this nation and what it stands for. When you re-distribute wealth are you willing to destroy our freedom to do it?

Business is a necessary part of a thriving nation. Business provides us all with an avenue to improve ourselves and pursue happiness. Business without morals will in turn sap the energy of our citizens. Are you a moral person and able to honorably guide the business community of this country?

Science brings us hope and promise and inroads as the future unfolds. You are knowledgeable and can see the benefits of science I am sure. Science must be accountable to all of humanity and not separate from it.

And lastly Mr. President, I understand that on occasion you attend some type of religious services. From what I see you are not overly devout but that is your choice. We all have our preferences as to what we have faith in. That's the freedom America offers isn't it? I know and understand that my choice of worship is bound to bring sacrifice, it is virtually guaranteed. All I ask is the freedom to worship as I see fit not be restricted or forced to go against my beliefs.

Mr. President, you did not receive a "mandate" to carry on any particular idea or approach. You simply won the election by a very narrow margin. Listen to the voters that pay taxes. They are the ones paying the bills for your ideas. That doesn't necessarily mean they voted for you. When they run out of money or get tired of having it taken away and given to those that choose not to work, well Mr. President, that will be a day of reckoning I'm thinking.

Good Luck! God Bless! I will support the good stuff and resist the bad stuff. No matter what you do I am watching. We are all watching. As a voter I will remember how you apply your powers. That's what we do around here. It's not what you look like, it's not what you say. It is definitely what you do! Are you doing it for us?

I'm Joe and I approve this message!

Right or wrong accusations

Once again a political figure is being accused (anonymously of course)of an event that happened a long time ago but not reported at the time for some odd reason. I'm not saying it did or did not happen, I'm just wondering why it wasn't reported at the time instead of the women involved accepting money to keep quiet.

Terrible things happen every day and go unreported. Sometimes, it's because it really wasn't as bad as we might think, sometimes it's out of fear, sometimes it's out of a feeling of personal guilt, who really knows except the people involved. On the other hand, in my opinion when it comes to politics we all have reason to question the motives as well as the honesty of the accusers.

Herman Cain is being accused of some sort of sexual harassment that occurred about 15 years ago. Why now? Who is behind this sudden desire to make the record straight? Why was it not such a big deal for 15 years? I wonder just what I'm missing? Kind of like the accusations concerning an appointee for the Supreme Court a while back.

Besides, we had a sitting President that was guilty of sexual discrepencies just a few years ago and aside from a huge amount of lip service nothing ever came of it. Perhaps it was a difference of opinion concerning the definition of sexual harassment. I'm not an expert on the subject I guess.

This whole thing will be aired out in the press I imagine, just like always. We will find out whatever details those in charge want us to know. It will be a matter of perspective as usual. I have determined that this is all just a game pitting one political ideology against another. It really doesn't have anything to do about honesty, only political gain. Right and wrong, true or false are entirely different matters in cases like this.

Writing lesson one-0-one Coaches wisdom

Writing is an acquired skill. Writing has its rules: Spelling, structure, grammar, context, emphasis, pathos and all other sorts of things that bring it into being understandable and meaningful. My writing coach had a boatload of advice for me regarding the world of writing. It was his opinion you see that I was an excellent writer, I just didn't write well as far as the rules are concerned. In all the time we worked together he focused on my unorthodox style of writing. "With a down home, self taught, meandering, innocent but honest openness." I wondered if that was a compliment or an insult. He said it was neither, it was meant as directional influence. I'm still working on that. He did encourage me to write at every opportunity, about just about anything that crossed my mind and tackle the rules as I encountered them. The result, he said was I would eventually fully realize my writing potential. He also suggested I blog on literature sites and maybe some day I would be discovered.

I thought for a long time regarding blogging on a literature site, I didn't regard my writing as anywhere near being described as literature. I finally questioned my coach about the literature blogging and this is what he said: "If I wrote on a site that would be occasionally viewed by people interested in literature I would receive the most sincere criticism available which would result in my improvement as a writer. Cheaper than a writing coach too." I had to agree with the cheaper part. So, anyway I've been writing on this blog ever since in hopes that he is correct.

The coach shared a few other nuggets too.
*A writer never receives encouragement from "writing experts" in my close geographical area. (He was correct in that one.)
*A writer receives encouragement from the most unlikely sources. Right again!
*Writing about anything beats not writing. I feel great when I write, about anything, so right again.
*Those people that can't write with my open honesty will be my worse critics. I can't answer that.
*When all is said and done and written, the one I have to please and remain true to is myself. We'll see when all is said and done I guess.
*Don't trust anyone with your personal writings. I agree, I've had some of mine taken.
*To have a best seller I have to be either an exceptionally great writer or have written something exceptionally meaningful. Not necessarily in combination. I'm working on that.
*The only measure of good writing is if it has accomplished some sort of good. I try to do that with every word and I'm happy with that.
*If you write to make money you may have to compromise your purpose or morals. I haven't done that.

He said a lot of other things that I have written down for my own self improvement hopes. Do I want to write a best seller? Yup! I actually did once. I didn't have to compromise. All of his wisdom isn't correct all the time. But, I just keep writing away. I feel better, and according to my writing coach a lot of mediocre writers have someone to criticise. That is doing some good with my writing isn't it? I am a published author several times over. I have been offered a possible movie option. I still haven't been discovered. Maybe I'm still learning what that means.

Truth or lie?

What do you say?

"Hey look, I just got back from traveling over a thousand miles to buy this used car down in Louisiana. I spent the high dollar for it because it's in almost perfect shape, the color is perfect, the engine is just what I wanted and the leather interior is really, really rare on this model. It took me over a year and a half to find it and it cost my entire saving and I had to borrow some too. I just love it! What do you think Joe? How do you like it? Come on, be honest now."

????? How would you handle that? The car has been abused. It's not a particularly appealing shade of green to me. The interior smells like a dead mouse. The engine has a reputation for blowing out head gaskets and costing thousands to repair and there are several places that show obvious botched cosmetic repairs. Do I tell the honest truth? This car is trashed. He's already laid out the money for it. He's already spent all the time and inconvenience traveling to retrieve this special car. How's he going to feel if I tell him it's junk?

"Honesty is the best policy!" We're always told. Yeah right! What if it wasn't a car we were talking about? What if it was some sort of elective, irreversible, cosmetic surgery? When it comes to books it is the critic's job to tell the truth as he/she sees it. Critic's are notoriously honest. I wonder if they are always so honest when it comes to other things? I wonder a lot of stuff sometimes. Honestly, I do!............................Joe