Listening the rhetoric now-a-days in politics makes me wonder what planet these people came from. It seems that none of the politicians in power ever had parents that taught them to be civil even in their disagreements with others. You know what I mean? Simple things like talking to others with respect, not interrupting each other while making a point, engaging in a discourse that allows both parties to be fully heard and not demonizing and dehumanizing an opponent just because they are an opponent.
Uncivil behavior by people who are supposed to be serving us should not be tolerated by any American. These people are Civil Servants and appear to not understand the meaning of either of those words whether separated or combined.
A politician loses my vote and attention the minute he begins to treat their political opponents as other than human.
Human beings deserve respect for just being human beings. We are the pinnacle of Creation (or the top species if you are a fan of Evolution). There is nothing like us on Earth. And every human being has value. Even the worst behaved of us are humans and deserve a modicum of respect and dignity. So, to treat someone or speak about them as if they were not human or to stereotype them or objectify them is to reduce them to the equivalent of any other animal on Earth. We do not have the right to do that.
Demonization and objectification only serves one purpose and that is to prevent the hearer from feeling any empathy for the person being vilified. However, these things are easy to say about someone who performs evil deeds and then is unrepentant about them like the shooter in Tucson. It is one way for us to deal with something that is incomprehensibly evil.
And this is where politicians and pundits go astray. They use damning words on people with whom they simply disagree rather than people who have done real evil. This is where we need to draw the line as Americans and refuse to listen or give credence to such misuse of Free Speech. Their approach should be to respectfully disagree and to let the dialogue continue. But, they want to win the debate and marginalize their opposition simultaneously. This is something we should not tolerate as Americans. We should demand civility of our Public Servants and remove from office those who would practice demonization and objectification.
We Americans need to demand a higher standard of elected officials. This needs to begin during an election cycle as we see how they treat their opponents. Mud slinging and disrespect towards their opponents should disqualify them from receiving your vote.
During my campaign, I plan to be unresponsive to any vitriol from my opponents. If they cite facts that happen to be negative about my personality or lack of experience, that is fine as long as they are honest and not making this stuff up. They are also entitled to their opinion.
I do not plan to talk much about my opponents other than to compare their stance on an issue to mine. I will do this in a respectful way. I may disagree with an opponent over some issue but I will do so without being disagreeable.
I plan to concentrate more on what I stand for and what I will do if elected. And you will NEVER hear me bad mouth a former administration. That serves no purpose at all. If a problem has been inherited, I will simply talk about how we are going to solve it. The past is the past and cannot be changed. We can learn from it and not repeat the same mistakes and then move on. Criticism of prior administrations makes for weak mortar in building your own administration.
In order to be a peaceful and prosperous nation, civility needs to be the rule of law for public discourse and in our private lives. And this is why I am running for President. I want Peace and Prosperity for all Americans. This will be the primary goal for all of my policies once I am elected.
More to come.
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
For Once Obama And I Agree On Something
Good job, Mr. President.
That is the sum of my comments on the slightly odd memorial service in Tucson, AZ (Fanfare For The Common Man is not exactly a classical piece you think of in relationship to a memorial service. Know what I mean?). For the first time in his Presidency, Barack Obama acted like the President of all Americans, not just the Democrats. He rose above partisan politics for one shining moment and brought to the forefront an issue that is an integral part of my campaign, the lack of civility in politics (and America) these days. And he appropriately called for it to stop. I believe in giving credit where credit is due and you, Mr. President, deserve credit for standing up last night and saying what needed to be said. That does not make me a fan of Mr. Obama but it does score him some points in my book for his legacy as an American President.
That said, I was sorely disappointed in Sarah Palin not having the class to let things go. Her use of the highly inflammatory term "blood libel" was, at best, a poor choice of words. The most disturbing thing about this is that she obviously had to search for the phrase since it is not used with any regularity any more. Shoot, I had to look the term up because I had never heard it before. Most Americans are probably in the same boat. So, she reaches way back into the past to find a highly offensive term to Jews and then uses it in the context of demonizing those who tried to link her to the Tucson, AZ shootings. Sorry, Sarah, this just further makes my case about a lack of civility. Instead of waiting until you heard what Mr. O said last night, you just blindly fired another volley in a battle which, hopefully, ended last night. I hope the Democrats take the high road on this one and just let this fall flat. The video she made was inappropriate and totally unnecessary. Enough said.
Frankly, I think she needs to apologize to everyone she has offended and particularly to the Jews in this country and in Israel. That would be the right thing to do here.
I wlike to send both the President and Ms. Palin an email with my comments and a link to my blog so they can read this form themselves. However, being the invisible candidate from Texas, I doubt that either of them will read it but I can hope they will.
More to come.
That is the sum of my comments on the slightly odd memorial service in Tucson, AZ (Fanfare For The Common Man is not exactly a classical piece you think of in relationship to a memorial service. Know what I mean?). For the first time in his Presidency, Barack Obama acted like the President of all Americans, not just the Democrats. He rose above partisan politics for one shining moment and brought to the forefront an issue that is an integral part of my campaign, the lack of civility in politics (and America) these days. And he appropriately called for it to stop. I believe in giving credit where credit is due and you, Mr. President, deserve credit for standing up last night and saying what needed to be said. That does not make me a fan of Mr. Obama but it does score him some points in my book for his legacy as an American President.
That said, I was sorely disappointed in Sarah Palin not having the class to let things go. Her use of the highly inflammatory term "blood libel" was, at best, a poor choice of words. The most disturbing thing about this is that she obviously had to search for the phrase since it is not used with any regularity any more. Shoot, I had to look the term up because I had never heard it before. Most Americans are probably in the same boat. So, she reaches way back into the past to find a highly offensive term to Jews and then uses it in the context of demonizing those who tried to link her to the Tucson, AZ shootings. Sorry, Sarah, this just further makes my case about a lack of civility. Instead of waiting until you heard what Mr. O said last night, you just blindly fired another volley in a battle which, hopefully, ended last night. I hope the Democrats take the high road on this one and just let this fall flat. The video she made was inappropriate and totally unnecessary. Enough said.
Frankly, I think she needs to apologize to everyone she has offended and particularly to the Jews in this country and in Israel. That would be the right thing to do here.
I wlike to send both the President and Ms. Palin an email with my comments and a link to my blog so they can read this form themselves. However, being the invisible candidate from Texas, I doubt that either of them will read it but I can hope they will.
More to come.
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Had Enough?
I can not tell you how disgusted I am with the politicians who have used the tragedy in Tucson, AZ to further their political agendas. Have you had enough of this crap? I have. People like the Sheriff ought to be ashamed of themselves for taking the opportunity to advance their political agenda during a time of national mourning.
All of American weeps for the families affected by the violence that took place in that Safeway shopping center and all of us are praying for the recovery of Representative Giffords. This is what REAL Americans do. We do not play politics with real-life drama.
Frankly, I think everyone should send an email or letter to Sheriff Dupnik and voice their disgust over his self-serving comments following the events of Saturday. Then the good people of Tucson should hold a special referendum to have him removed from office. Not only is the man incompetent, as is coming to light now about prior warnings his office had about the shooter, but he is a disgrace to America and the people of Arizona.
However, this makes my point about career politicians. They don't give a crap about all of us. They're agenda is to further their own political career and the agenda of their political party.
We need people who would never dare do such a thing in the wake of a tragedy like this. We need leaders and elected officials who are more interested in doing their job and serving the people who elected them than getting themselves re-elected or advancing some agenda.
I certainly hope Sheriff Dupnik loses his job in the next election he is eligible for. As for me, I am going to send him a piece of my mind and I think you should also.
Sheriff Dupnik has become the poster boy for why we need to rid ourselves of all professional politicians and vote people like me into office.
More to come.
All of American weeps for the families affected by the violence that took place in that Safeway shopping center and all of us are praying for the recovery of Representative Giffords. This is what REAL Americans do. We do not play politics with real-life drama.
Frankly, I think everyone should send an email or letter to Sheriff Dupnik and voice their disgust over his self-serving comments following the events of Saturday. Then the good people of Tucson should hold a special referendum to have him removed from office. Not only is the man incompetent, as is coming to light now about prior warnings his office had about the shooter, but he is a disgrace to America and the people of Arizona.
However, this makes my point about career politicians. They don't give a crap about all of us. They're agenda is to further their own political career and the agenda of their political party.
We need people who would never dare do such a thing in the wake of a tragedy like this. We need leaders and elected officials who are more interested in doing their job and serving the people who elected them than getting themselves re-elected or advancing some agenda.
I certainly hope Sheriff Dupnik loses his job in the next election he is eligible for. As for me, I am going to send him a piece of my mind and I think you should also.
Sheriff Dupnik has become the poster boy for why we need to rid ourselves of all professional politicians and vote people like me into office.
More to come.
Monday, January 10, 2011
My Run For President in 2012
I am going to use this blog to address issues of the day and to post thoughts I have on fixing what is wrong with this country. I will also blog about my run for the office of President of the United States in 2012 and the challenges that I encounter and how they are overcome. I definitely want to invite dialogue with readers and feedback that may give me additional information or help me hone my perspective on issues.
Most people, so far, think that what I am doing is insane. The rest do not take me seriously and I understand why they think this. Currently, I do not look like a serious contender in the race for President in 2012. I am a nobody.
But I am a nobody with a BIG difference. I am not a professional politician. I am sure that most will see this as a liability since I am not currently involved in "the political system" and I do not belong to a large political party. However, I see the opposite. I see my lack of political experience as an asset. The current political system and parties are what have created the problems in America and driven us away from our founding principles. The political parties and our government are rife with corruption and lies. Every candidate that "plays by the rules" will be shackled with the chains that come with being part of the system.
I, on the other hand, am free to respond to the needs and desires of the American people without the baggage. Don't get me wrong. I know people and I am well aware of the games that politicians play. I plan to surround myself with savvy individuals who have opted out of the system to make a difference. Our country can no longer afford to do politics as usual. In order to implement solutions to our nation's problems we need a leader in the White House who is unencumbered by political favors and trade-offs made in the name of obtaining power.
I am a simple man who understands human nature. If I don't know how to do something or do not have enough information to make a decision, I will find honest people who do know and can help me. The President does not need to be all knowing but he does need to be able to make good character judgments about the people he surrounds himself with.
Americans are tired of being lied to. I present myself as an honest man of integrity who is mature, capable of leadership, fiscally conservative and able to make the tough decisions (just ask my kids about me being able to give tough love when required). I love this country and I want to help make it a better and safer place to live. I want all of us to prosper. I want those that are the least among our society to be able to get a helping hand when needed and to have the opportunity to make a better life for themselves if they so choose. I want the indigent and elderly to be taken care of properly.
In addition, I want to honor our Founding Fathers and the brilliant system of government they bestowed on us together with an economic engine that can create one thousand years of prosperity.
I humbly ask you to reconsider for 2012 where you stand. Are you going to support "politics as usual"? Remember that if you keep doing the same thing over and over again, you always get the same results. Or will you take a risk and step outside the box with me in 2012.
This will definitely be an adventure no matter what happens during this election cycle. I ask that you consider doing something so radical in 2012 that, should I win, it will go down in history as the greatest revolution in America since the original revolution. I ask that you join me in restoring America to her greatness and prosperity. I ask that you vote for me in 2012.
More to come.
Most people, so far, think that what I am doing is insane. The rest do not take me seriously and I understand why they think this. Currently, I do not look like a serious contender in the race for President in 2012. I am a nobody.
But I am a nobody with a BIG difference. I am not a professional politician. I am sure that most will see this as a liability since I am not currently involved in "the political system" and I do not belong to a large political party. However, I see the opposite. I see my lack of political experience as an asset. The current political system and parties are what have created the problems in America and driven us away from our founding principles. The political parties and our government are rife with corruption and lies. Every candidate that "plays by the rules" will be shackled with the chains that come with being part of the system.
I, on the other hand, am free to respond to the needs and desires of the American people without the baggage. Don't get me wrong. I know people and I am well aware of the games that politicians play. I plan to surround myself with savvy individuals who have opted out of the system to make a difference. Our country can no longer afford to do politics as usual. In order to implement solutions to our nation's problems we need a leader in the White House who is unencumbered by political favors and trade-offs made in the name of obtaining power.
I am a simple man who understands human nature. If I don't know how to do something or do not have enough information to make a decision, I will find honest people who do know and can help me. The President does not need to be all knowing but he does need to be able to make good character judgments about the people he surrounds himself with.
Americans are tired of being lied to. I present myself as an honest man of integrity who is mature, capable of leadership, fiscally conservative and able to make the tough decisions (just ask my kids about me being able to give tough love when required). I love this country and I want to help make it a better and safer place to live. I want all of us to prosper. I want those that are the least among our society to be able to get a helping hand when needed and to have the opportunity to make a better life for themselves if they so choose. I want the indigent and elderly to be taken care of properly.
In addition, I want to honor our Founding Fathers and the brilliant system of government they bestowed on us together with an economic engine that can create one thousand years of prosperity.
I humbly ask you to reconsider for 2012 where you stand. Are you going to support "politics as usual"? Remember that if you keep doing the same thing over and over again, you always get the same results. Or will you take a risk and step outside the box with me in 2012.
This will definitely be an adventure no matter what happens during this election cycle. I ask that you consider doing something so radical in 2012 that, should I win, it will go down in history as the greatest revolution in America since the original revolution. I ask that you join me in restoring America to her greatness and prosperity. I ask that you vote for me in 2012.
More to come.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)