Day94 Wednesday 12/01/10

ran 0.0 miles
On Wednesdays, I usually post a few quotes from American leaders, writers, or artists, from the past or present, which strike my American heartstrings and force goose bumps to the surface of my skin. But on this particular day, one man who stood alone and said something so definitively reflective of American’s sentiments across the country deserves the spotlight by himself.

Indiana Representative Steve Buyer is the man of the day who stood before his peers and told Nancy Pelosi, “This is why the American people have thrown you out of power,” when refused the request to speak for five minutes to debate certain legislation being passed in Chamber. He then patiently requested to speak for one single minute. Pelosi continued to refuse his simple request, which was completely tyrannical and unconstitutional, and then he absolutely blasted her.

This was the scenario---Congress is currently in its “Lame duck” session and Barack Obama and his liberal proponents are trying to utilize all of the votes they still have to pass bills they fear will not stand a chance once the new Congress is sworn in. Not only are democrats on the verge of losing a large number of chairs they needed to pursue their agenda, which we Americans voted out, but they are about to be replaced with senators and representatives we voted for who will not be so easily persuaded to align with the liberal agenda. Many of these new senators and representatives are going to forego persuasion and downright buck Barack Obama, and that is why every bill you are hearing about in the news right now is extremely questionable. They would not stand even remotely in their current written forms once the “Lame duck” session ceases and the votes that were cast on November 2 become a reality.

1,832.3 miles to go.

Day93 Tuesday 11/30/10

ran 0.0 miles
Today marks a bitter-sweet mile marker in this campaign. I have been running for exactly three months, all ninety-two days of it, until now. I am very proud of that and I am extremely grateful for everyone who has motivated me and followed this pebble of opinion for the last quarter of a year. Unfortunately, I have injured my left calf muscle to a point that demands rest for at least a few days. I am going to see a doctor early next week to see what the problem is and hopefully it will be nothing too drastic.

Case in point, the miles I am not running while my leg heals I will make manifest through working harder on these blog posts and keeping current events and facts about America and its vast history flowing.

Just as a government has unforeseeable crises appear from out of nowhere, it is still that government's obligation to reach the goals it has set for itself and for the rest of America. With that being said, however minor or severe my injury turns out to be, I am going to persevere toward my goal regardless of how much catch-up it requires.

1,832.3 miles to go.

Day92 Monday 11/29/10

ran 2.7 miles
Here are a few facts you may not know. They go together as well as a peanut butter, turkey and anchovy sandwich, but they are equally stimulating to a curious palate. Hope you’re hungry for a bite of what America once was and could possibly be again with a side of what it is not and may never be again.

Theodore Roosevelt’s expectations of immigrants and what it means to be an American citizen, as he stated in 1907:

“In the first place, we should insist that if the immigrant who comes here in good faith becomes an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or origin. But this is predicated upon the person’s becoming in every facet an American, and nothing but an American…there can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who says he is an American, but something else also, isn’t an American at all. We have room for but one flag, the American flag…we have room for but one language here, and that is the English language…and we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American people.”

Ever heard of the “Transaction Tax”? Here is a video of Nancy Pelosi advocating this tax, which she views as a great idea. She proposes placing a 1% tax on literally all transactions. Whether you fill your vehicle with three gallons of gas from a local gas station, pull twenty dollars out of your nearest ATM or purchase a $300,000.00 house, if this tax ever became a reality the government would get 1% every single time you made a purchase. Pelosi defines the tax as a nearly unnoticeable percentage of money that would fill the governments “Tills” with revenue to create jobs and to pay off national debt.

This is the exact presumptuous, pompous and arrogant line of thinking that sparked the American Revolution. We fought for Independence because of Britain’s exorbitant demands of taxation, in which the King got fatter and the people in the colonies received nothing in return.

And lastly, a couple of quotes that reinforce the reality of Barack Obama’s ideas:

“The trouble with Socialism is that eventually you run out of other people’s money.”

Margaret Thatcher

And from an anonymous mind, “Fathom the odd hypocrisy that Obama wants every citizen to prove they are insured, but people don’t have to prove they are citizens.”

1,832.3 miles to go.

Day91 Sunday 11/28/10

ran 2.1 miles
Today completes week thirteen. Nearly three months in and I am grateful to say my biggest problem is a chronic, minor soreness in my left calf muscle that is reluctant to go away. I can put ice on that every few days and that small pain takes nothing away from the larger picture I am after. Running and blogging against Barack Obama gives me a sense of peace and allows me to sleep better at night because, ultimately, a leader like Obama smothers and suppresses my interpretation of what America is meant to be.

When you view this country as a limitless ideal in which anything can be done, it is absolutely frustrating to see radical liberal ideas implemented, as they appear in the light. Where I feel the great chasm between conservative and liberal ideas reaches its greatest depth is in the voting base at large of each side. And, unfortunately, this separation and difference of political beliefs could be a lengthy civil war of ideas, which will block any real progress for a nation divided. The greater number of American voters who do not cower away from hard work and take pride in saving or spending the money they worked hard to earn as they see fit I would call conservatives. And those who see no merit in what so many of these others hold to be self-evident as the American way I would call liberals. It is no prejudice to state that, statistically, the immense middle class and small business structure working hard across the American landscape is a crucial gear in America’s economy and culture and that they do not tend to vote for liberal ideas. You may interpret for yourself what that says about the immense amount of others that do vote for such ideas.

I have run 245.0 miles, averaging 2.69 miles per day.

1,835.0 miles to go.

Day90 Saturday 11/27/10

ran 1.8 miles

• In an article from The Associated Press, discussing Barack Obama’s recent indulgence in foreign affairs versus the domestic interests of Americans, it is interesting how the recent spike of involvement on the foreign policy front is stampeding through the important matters at home, after an election that saw international topics as unworthy for discussion or campaigning. Furthermore, Obama spent only three days abroad (Czech Republic and Afghanistan in April) in the last year leading up to his parties “Shellacking” on November 2. I cannot say whether or not he has compensated for his yearlong lack of foreign diplomacy since the globetrotting began after the Midterm Elections, but he has certainly made up for the taxpayer money he did not spend last year on his extravagant trip to India.

• Sarah Palin, while being interviewed by Glenn Beck on Wednesday, had a slip of the tongue as she made a response to Beck regarding our South Korea ally when she stated, “…Our North Korea ally.” Beck quickly corrected her and she explained her verbal slip. The media, however, made headlines out of it with the intent to ridicule her. Palin criticized the media via Facebook and pointed out ten gaffes Barack Obama had, which the media did not see fit to report on front pages, once again pointing out the biased approach to reporting news that has sensationalized this country with misgivings. Among our heralded president’s slips were such follies as “My fellow Americans in all 57 states,” “The time has changed for come,” “We know that countries like Europe,” and “ The reforms we seek will bring greater inefficiencies to our health care system”. If you don’t remember hearing about these it is because, for the most part, the media did not deem them newsworthy.

The road to 2012 will be getting in gear soon. Some very critical decisions need to be made immediately among democrats and republicans, which will be foretelling of what Barack Obama’s real interpretation of November 2 was and what his reaction to America’s disappointment in his decisions over the past two years is.

Presidential candidates will be announcing their nominations before we know it. The names everyone seems to be talking about at this point are Sarah Palin, Mitt Romney, and Mike Huckabee. Palin has received the most press recently after an interview with Barbara Walters in which she stated she was confident she could beat Barack Obama in a presidential race. Do you think Sarah Palin has what it takes to dethrone Barack Obama? Would you vote for her?

1,837.1 miles to go.

Day89 Friday 11/26/10

ran 2.6 miles

• Georgia was the fourth state to join the union on January 2, 1788, seven days before Connecticut and one year after New Jersey.

• Population, as of 2009, is 9,829,211.

• Senators are Saxby Chambliss (R) and Johnny Isakson (R).

• Representatives are Jack Kingston (R), Sanford Bishop (R), Lynn Westmoreland (R), Henry Johnson (D), John Lewis (D), Tom Price (R), John Linder (R), James Marshall (D), Tom Graves (R), Paul Broun (R), John Gingrey (R), John Barrow (D), and David Scott (D).

• Georgia has fifteen electoral votes. Historically, the state has participated in every presidential election excluding 1864, due to secession. From 1868 until 1960, Georgia has been exclusively democratic. In 1968, Georgia voted for Independent George Wallace. The state has been republican since, barring Jimmy Carter in 1976 and 1980, and Bill Clinton in 1992.

I apologize for not keeping today’s post up with the current events of the day but I have nothing more to add tonight. My amazing and lovely wife and I bought our Christmas tree tonight and we are busy decorating and putting lights up. I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving and a tolerable Black Friday.

1,838.9 miles to go.

Day88 Thursday 11/25/10

ran 2.6 miles

• Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Approval poll shows that 28% of American voters strongly approve of President Obama’s performance and 42% strongly disapprove, giving Barack Obama an Approval Index rating of –14 compared to –17 on this day last week.

• Overall, 48% of voters say they at least somewhat approve of President Obama’s performance and 51% disapprove.

• Among American voters, 57% favor repeal of Health Care Law.

• Nationwide, 66% of voters favor a proposal to cut the federal payroll by 10% over the next decade. Only 22% oppose the proposal and 12% are not sure.

I wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving and hope everyone had a wonderful day spent with family. In the spirit of thanking God for everything we’ve been blessed with and sharing these blessings with family and friends, I’d like to thank you for reading and following this blog, and supporting my run against Barack Obama.

1,841.5 miles to go.

Day87 Wednesday 11/24/10

ran 3.1 miles
I ran the “Camellia Crossing” 5k tonight in Lafayette, Louisiana and finished with a satisfactory time worthy of thanking Barack Obama for the inspiration to run so furiously against him. It has been less than three months since I started this campaign against Barack Obama’s reelection and I have improved my running time of 3.1 miles by over six minutes. If national debt and American principles were approached in the same manner as the 1200-plus people that ran tonight approached the idea of self-preservation, the goal to succeed, and the unmistakable tenacity to achieve something with no reward except for what they felt inwardly when they crossed the finish line, this country would rediscover itself as the amazing nation it has the potential to be when politicians with radical agendas are not in office attempting to redefine America by whittling it down to a common nation.

America is not common. America works hard to fulfill the great expectations our forefathers projected upon us. America is people and not politicians. Barack Obama does not like the appearance of America’s elitist swagger and would like to level the international playing field. If you feel sorry for being American then you are reading the wrong blog.

My impression of Barack Obama’s first two years is riddled with images and articles of our president behaving in an unexplainably apologetic manner with every foreign leader he visits. He compulsively blames like a spoiled child and then seeks solutions to our problems by printing monopoly money that has served no real purpose other than to further empower China, the next potential world leader, through borrowing. China, committed to communism, could be the twenty-first century template to America’s future if our government continues to not produce results.

In closing, here are a few quotes from some well-known runners.

“If you don’t invest very much, then defeat doesn’t hurt very much and winning is not very exciting.”

Dick Vermeil

“The greatest pleasure in life is doing the things people say we cannot do.”

Walter Bagehot

“What counts in the battle is what you do once the pain sets in.”

John Short

1,844.1 miles to go.

Day86 Tuesday 11/23/10

ran 2.6 miles
On this day in 1749, Edward Rutledge, one of South Carolina’s representatives to the Continental Congress in Philadelphia, was born in Charleston. He made a name for himself in American history by being the youngest and one of the boldest signers of the Declaration of Independence.

Going against the grain of the majority of his Congressional cohorts, Rutledge was reluctant to declare independence. In a letter to John Jay, one of New York’s representatives who shared a reticence in rushing into the declaration, Rutledge was concerned whether moderates like himself and Jay could effectually oppose a resolution for independence.

Edward’s brother John preceded him serving as a South Carolina Representative. As the Revolution steamed to a boil among the colonies, it fell on Edward, who was not eager to sever ties with Great Britain, to sign the Declaration of Independence, at age twenty-six, to push the message of unanimity and to bolster the Patriot’s stand.

Having signed the document, Edward Rutledge was the youngest American to risk his life by signing the Declaration of Independence.

It takes a lot of courage and humility to compromise your own beliefs or to sway even a few degrees for the good of a greater picture. I foresee many democrats crossing the aisle for open-minded discussions with republicans over the next two years. It is a shame more did not take the initiative to do this during the first two years of Obama’s presidency. If many had not convicted their decisions to the general belief in liberalism, and instead worked toward an itemized solution to the problems Americans face, many democratic Senators and Representatives would possibly still have their jobs. Their blind commitment to principal and lack of realizing the human element is what separates the men and women who lost their seats on November 2 from men and women like Edward Rutledge who have the sensitivity to make big decisions on behalf of the people they represent and not in the name of their egos or legacies.

1,847.2 miles to go.

Day85 Monday 11/22/10

ran 2.6 miles

Here’s some interesting news you may not have heard about. Today, a thirteen-year-old American boy campaigning to transform the demilitarized zone between North and South Korea into a park that would signify peace attempted to get the Chinese president’s attention. He began a brief protest near Tiananmen Square before swiftly being led away by Chinese police.

The young American, Jonathan Lee, unrolled a sign saying “Peace Treaty” and “Nuclear free DMZ children’s peace forest” as he stood at Tiananmen Gate in Beijing. Tiananmen Square was the sight of a student-led pro-democracy movement in 1989, in which hundreds of protesters were killed.

Right now you are probably wondering why and how a thirteen-year-old American boy was in Beijing, China at Tiananmen Square. Apparently, his mother allowed and aided in his protest by informing and planting journalists nearby to witness the Chinese reaction to their son’s message. Within one single minute the boy was escorted away by a plainclothes police officer. The police officer grabbed the boy’s sign and waved away the reporters as four uniformed police officers sped to remove the boy’s mother away from the site with as little commotion as possible.

Police held the two for a few hours before releasing them to their hotel where they met with the boy's father and sister. Soon after, the four headed to the Beijing airport, unescorted, and caught a flight with Korean Airlines to Seoul. The family’s treatment by Chinese authorities was mild compared to the more common rough handling and instant deportations of other foreigners who have protested in China in the past.

The boy, from Ridgeland, Mississippi, is trying to persuade the leaders of North and South Korea, China, and the United States to work together to reunify the two Koreas. His father, Korean-born Kyoung Lee, claims that his son has sent letters to President Obama and South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak, but was unable to send a letter to Chinese president Hu Jintao. This is the reason they felt the brief protest in Tiananmen Square was necessary. In August, young Jonathan Lee made a visit to North Korea to propose his idea of a children’s peace forest to Kim Jong Il. The best result he could get was an assurance by North Korean officials that they would give Kim Jong Il his letter.

That is one of the most bizarre stories I’ve read in a while; such a young boy protesting such a huge issue, parents who are willing enough (or perhaps crazy enough) to put their son at the site where hundreds of other young demonstrators were killed not so long ago for protesting their own government, and traveling to North Korea with the hopes of communicating with Kim Jong Il. Absolutely bizarre!

Aside from how unbelievable this young boy and his story is, and how dangerously driven his parents are to see him succeed regardless of how unsafe his circumstances become, Tiananmen Square and what happened there in 1989 stand as atrocious examples of what governments are capable of when they refuse freedom and the ideas of the people it governs. The Chinese students who died during that protest at the hands of their own government live on, at least in my mind, as a reminder of how blessed we are to be citizens of America and how important it is to never even glance, as a nation, at the slightest possibilities of communism, not even the socializing of health care or other major industries.

1,849.8 miles to go.

Day84 Sunday 11/21/10

ran 2.6 miles
Today ends the twelfth week of running against Obama. I have run 227.6 miles, averaging 2.71 miles per day. Nearing the three-month mark of this endeavor, or protest, against the direction our president is leading our country, it is motivating to crunch the numbers spanning this goal and to be almost one-eighth of the way closer to voting Barack Obama out of office in 2012.

I think we all realize, regardless of what side of the aisle we sit on, that America’s future has reached a point more pivotal than in any recent presidential election. Barack Obama has spoken clear and loud volumes of what his intentions for America are in only two years. Now, he will let out some slack and win back the hearts of voters he lost, campaigning for a second term. It is a shame how short-termed our memories are and how easily swayed our ever-present sensibilities are.

When I look at what Barack Obama has done in his first two years, I view his actions as misdirected and unexplainably un-American. And although he fully believes in the decisions he’s made, he will attempt to tread in the aisle over the next two years to manipulate the nation for a second term. And should he succeed…

1,852.4 miles to go.

Day83 Saturday 11/20/10

ran 3.1 miles

• President Obama officially said today, for the first time, that he wants U.S. troops out of Afghanistan by the end of 2014. This approximate time is when he and NATO leaders will move the Afghan military into the lead role of fighting the Taliban.

“My goal is to make sure that by 2014 we have transitioned, Afghans are in the lead and it is a goal to make sure that we are not still engaged in combat operations of the sort we’re involved in now,” Obama said in a news conference at the NATO summit in Lisbon, Portugal.

So the question is, will the Afghan army be capable of continuing to suppress the Taliban without the help of America are will the insurgencies prevail and turn Afghanistan into a fully chaotic, uncivilized state with the primary objective of training terrorists and planning acts of terrorism? It is a curious act to give your enemy the date when you plan on leaving their country to stop fighting them. Things in Afghanistan will more than likely quiet down and appear to get better over the next two years. But the Taliban has a “Save the date” card sitting on the rocky mantles of their caves, which we sent them.

• President Obama has been globetrotting since the Mid-term elections and holding foreign affairs as a far greater priority than the domestic gridlock of decisions that America needs to start defining as soon as possible. The GOP has criticized most of the issues Obama has been taking on during this lame-duck session, arguing that extending the Bush-era tax cuts should be the top priority.

It stands to Obama’s advantage to reach important decisions on views he deems to be critical in Congress during the lame-duck session because all of the Republicans who were voted in on November 2 have no vote on these issues and all Democrats who were voted out are still in power until the session ends.

• Marco Rubio, Rand Paul and eight other Republican senators who were elected on November 2 composed a letter last week to President Obama requesting a delay in signing the U.S.-Russia nuclear arms treaty until they were sworn into office. The ten Republican senators are backing Arizona Senator Jon Kyl’s demand for a delay due to the fact that no arms pacts with Russia have ever been ratified under a lame-duck Congress.

As usual in politics, allowing the newly elected senators a vote on this important issue would be far too logical, rational and fair, considering they are the voices America just elected to represent them concerning important political issues. Instead, our president wants to cram everything he can into the lame-duck session he can. And most of what he is pushing are obviously issues he will have little confidence in passing once the newly elected officials are in place.

1,855 miles to go.

Day82 Friday 11/19/10

ran 2.7 miles

• Florida was the twenty-seventh state to join the union on March 3, 1845, nine months before Texas and eight years after Michigan.

• Population, as of 2009, is 18,537,969.

• Senators are Bill Nelson (D) and George S. LeMieux (R). Senator LeMieux did not run for reelection and Marco Rubio (R) will fill the seat once he is sworn in.

• Representatives are Jeff Miller (R), Allen Boyd (D), Corrine Brown (D), Ander Crenshaw (R), Virginia Brown-Waite (R), Clifford Stearns (R), John Mica (R), Alan Grayson (D), Gus Bilirakis (R), Bill Young (R), Kathy Castor (D), Adam Putnam (R), Vern Buchanan (R), Connie Mack (R), Bill Posey (R), Thomas Rooney (R), Kendrick Meek (D), Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R), Ted Deutch (D), Debbie Wasserman-Schultz (D), Lincoln Diaz-Balart (R), Ron Klein (D), Alcee Hastings (D), Suzanne Kosmas (D), and Mario Diaz-Balart (R).

• Florida has twenty-seven electoral votes. Historically, the state has voted almost exclusively for Democrats from the Reconstruction period through the mid-twentieth century before becoming a primarily Republican state in 1952. A Democratic presidential candidate won the vote only in 1976, 1996 and 2008. Florida’s population has exploded in the last sixty years. During World War II, the state had only eight electoral votes and now they have twenty-seven, fourth most in the country. Florida has an extremely diverse population, virtually making it a microcosm of the entire United States, and is arguably the ultimate swing state.

Stepping away from facts about the state of Florida and moving on to a completely different topic, I was recently looking through a book I had read a couple years ago, Thomas More’s “Utopia”, first published in 1516, and thought it would be worth recommending. Pertaining to yesterday’s post, I had suggested that freedom and success in America were not so contingent on government as many people seem to believe. Weakness and reliance on government are what lube the gears of their machine.

In “Utopia”, More creates a civilization, which is obviously quite perfect as the name of the book suggests, but what makes it interesting is the fact that he wrote it in the sixteenth century, preceding Karl Marx and his communist ideas in the nineteenth century. “Utopia” is an interpretation of what life could be as viewed through a polished lens of concentrated common sense. But what makes it so interesting is that we naturally cannot escape our own human tendencies, such as greed, corruption, lust and war, among many other weaknesses that define our existence. This book forces you to question everything you think you know about the apparent rational world we live in.

While More was portraying a utopian existence, in which everything was perfect and completely unrealistic, almost in the form of a parody, Karl Marx, three hundred years later, transformed More’s comedy into a serious reality, which has been a cause for war and a source of oppression since “The Communist Manifesto” was printed in 1848.

In an attempt to make a point in comparing these two books, I look at More’s “Utopia” as liberal ideas that serve a great purpose as wishful, wistful hope in terms of “What if…”, but they deny the human element of being fallible and unpredictable. To take it a step further, I view Barack Obama as “The Communist Manifesto” naively attempting to make a reality of these unrealistic tenets. His ideas reek of socialism and our country has sacrificed tens of thousands of lives fighting the spread of socialist governments and policies for decades.

This is an excerpt from Thomas More’s introduction to “Utopia”, which sounds absolutely wonderful and fair but is completely unrealistic in the world we live in. It reminds me of Barack Obama’s campaign trail to the presidency, in which he promised completely unrealistic results that he is now paying a price for as he is unable to deliver the farfetched, farcical products he promoted.

“There is no house which does not have a door opening on the street and a back door into the garden;
Or the selection of candidates for ruler,
For each of the four quarters of the city names one person and proposes him to the senate;
Or the universal work at farming,
Farming is the one occupation in which all of them are skilled, men and women alike;
Or the color of their cloaks,
Throughout the island they are all of the same color, that of the natural wool;
Or the shifting of people to maintain uniform populations,
This limit is easily maintained by transferring persons from households with too many people to those with too few;
Or the distribution of goods,
And when it is distributed equitably to everyone, it follows that no one can be reduced to poverty or forced to beg;
Or the lack of seeking for offices,
Anyone who campaigns for public office becomes disqualified from holding any office at all;
Or their exclusion of lawyers,
They ban absolutely all lawyers as clever practitioners and sly interpreters of the law;
Or the recruitment of soldiers,
In each city they choose troops from a list of volunteers;
Or their strict keeping of a truce,
When they make a truce with their enemies, they keep it so religiously that they do not violate it even under provocation;
Or their withholding of honor and office from those who do not believe in the immortality of the soul, divine providence, and future rewards and punishment,
They bestow no honors on such a person, they assign him to no office, they put him in charge of no public responsibility…”

1,858.1 miles to go.

Day81 Thursday 11/18/10

ran 3.1 miles

• Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Approval poll indicates that 25% of the nation’s voters strongly approve of Barack Obama’s performance as president and 42% strongly disapprove, giving President Obama an Approval Index rating of –17, compared to –20 on this day last week.

• Overall, 45% of voters say they at least somewhat approve of Obama’s performance and 54% disapprove.

• Only 26% of voters, according to Rasmussen Reports, think the country is heading in the right direction.

• A new Rasmussen Reports survey shows that 58% of voters at least somewhat favor repeal of the health care law and 37% oppose repeal. Also, 46% strongly favor repeal and 30% strongly oppose it.

Thinking back on the subjects I’ve been posting about lately, I feel that I have fallen somewhat victim to the mundane tendencies of routine and habit. It is so easy to slip while climbing a steep mountain. I have a passion for writing my own words and expressing original ideas, as opposed to reporting numbers and paraphrasing current news articles. So here is some raw, opinionated, unsubstantiated free thinking. It is still America, right?

For every three reasons this country is amazing there seems to be some one unexplainable thing that baffles the minds of Americans. In the larger picture, adversity is a good thing and it presents challenges for people to overcome. After all, if everything were perfect, I’m not sure that life would be such an exciting mystery worth pursuing without the challenge of problems and the reward of solutions.

Here is a philosophy everyone can understand, and the common denominator is common sense. Everything we know, whether an idea, something tangible, an emotion, an argument or anything else you can think of, has an equal and necessary opposite. For example, the only thing that allows a right hand to be a right hand is the simple fact that a left hand exists. You cannot have one without the other. To appreciate gain one must fully understand loss just as hot holds no definitive value without the opposite comparison of cold. What opposites offer us, as an inescapable circumstance of life, is a sense of balance, which is constantly shifting, much like our government, year by year. Along this same train of thought, wherever there are problems one will find solutions and wherever there are solutions one will find problems.

There are no absolutes or utopias. Perfection is for the afterlife. We are extremely fallible creatures. But to observe the ebb and flow of times and occurrences among our nation with the understanding that politics simply are what they are and that they will always only make 50% of the people happy, is what brings me to my point. It falls upon you. The prosperity and freedom of America falls on you, me and everyone else in this country. Our government cannot legislate happiness or human spirit. Rather than falling into the trap of obsessing over various news media and the “Story of the day” and talking about it at the water cooler the next day at work, it is important to realize that seizing your own personal goals, no matter how large or small, are the best defense against any power-happy government and the circus acts they perform.

That felt so much more refreshing than writing about George Soros’ advice to progressive donors that Obama’s cause might not be the best investment of money.

1,860.8 miles to go.