Veteran's Day

Last night, Susan and I went to Ferndale, her home town of about 1500 people, and viewed a documentary which a schoolmate of hers spent the last six months making for the Ferndale Museum. It is entitled "Letters Home" and basically tells the story of the men and women from Ferndale who went off and served their country during World War II...through the eyes, words, and stories of those few vets still alive, and the sons, daughters, and relatives of a lot of those who have since passed.

Susan is in it, telling a story of how her dad, who was 18 years olds at the time, was about to fly a bombing mission off of an island in the South Pacific. He thought that the new type of bombs they were attaching to his Corsairs were being put on backwards. Against orders, he and a few of his comrades remounted their bombs, and an hour later while flying in formation, three planes exploded in mid air. He broke radio silence, and told the others to immediately drop their bombs. They did, and survived to return to base. He faced disciplinary action; but to his dying day, he regretted the loss of those three fellow pilots. This was just one of many stories woven through this film...it was really well done and very moving, especially if you knew the people involved.

My feelings today are of compassion for not only those who were killed in action, but also for the enormous suffering which their friends and families went through, and to some degree continue to do so today. World War II was the "hell of all hell," the "war to end all wars"; but we as a civilized and informed society continue today, with our Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan. Millions of people are effected, sacrificing life, love...their future for the security and preservation of freedom for our country. And yet there are those who abhor a 4% increase in their tax rate.

May God bless America.

Election Day

Finally...I can hardly wait until election day is over. You would think that this should be one of the best parts of our "democracy"...being able to cast your vote...but in reality, it means little to me because it won't make any difference who/what wins...my life is at that point where whatever policy direction this country takes, I will not really be effected; and second, in this time-era, the process is absolutely absurd. Yes, we get to vote, just like the citizens in Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, etc, get to vote. We are so lucky to be "free" to choose the direction we want. I remember in my younger days when I actually read the voters pamphlet, read the statements by the candidates, analyzed the initiatives, talked with others about the issues...no more....I just do what all the other Americans do...I watch FOX news, and let them tell me who/what to vote for. It's so much easier, rather than having to wade through all the TV ads...I guess if one of those is entertaining enough, I'll vote for that.
But we still get the best democracy money can buy.

"Last Tuesday, the Fox Business Network devoted five hours of programming to a California ballot initiative, Proposition 24, which would repeal corporate tax breaks. The New York Times observes that during all the coverage, which overwhelmingly attacked Prop. 24, Fox Business Network never reported on one fact: its parent company, News Corp., spent $1.3 million to defeat the proposition."


"There isn’t a single Republican leader, in Congress or among the party’s 2012 hopefuls, who has the power to disobey an order from Beck – or Rush Limbaugh, O’Reilly or Hannity. These are the Dark Ages for America." (Washington Post...part of the liberal media)


http://thinkprogress.org/2010/11/01/breaking-point-infomerical/

Yes, the economy is bad, we've done things we should not have done, tried things that didn't work, made bad policy decisions...yet we are still here, and life goes on, and things will change....either for the better or the worse.

Me feelings right now go beyond all that...I return to my moral fiber of who I am, how I was raised, what I believe...whether it is the right or wrong of the Vietnam War, the Civil Rights Movement, working and fighting towards a clean and sustainable environment...my biggest concern today is the decline in "American" values...to a certain degree, a similar feeling like the Tea Party...the loss of debate, discussion, compromise, argument, honesty, respect.......we are such a diverse country...how do we WORK at dealing with the issues at hand.
It's all about money and power. I guess it always has been; it's just that today's technology has changed the playing field, the players, the game, the spectators, etc...too bad.

So tomorrow night I will watch the election returns...switching from FOX to MSNBC and be entertained by the circus...proud to be an American, free to cast my vote for the future of this wonderful country.