My Back Pages

My Back Pages: Why We Celebrate....... : Independence Day... the 4th of July... it has always meant so much to me.. it has always meant so much to everyone that I knew in my circle,...

I am very conflicted! We have a symbol of rebellion and hate flying over a state capital, yet

Independence Day... the 4th of July... it has always meant so much to me.. it has always meant so much to everyone that I knew in my circle, in my world. We celebrated our freedom from oppression, we celebrated our freedom from the being subjected to the whim of a king, or a government so far removed from our reality. We reveled in our ability to protest against laws that we did not agree with, we reserve the right to protest against anything that the government  did, without being subjected to persecution because of our beliefs. We won those rights, along with the right to worship. or not worship, as we wished. We won the right to free speech, no matter if it was against the government, as long as it did not injure anyone else. We can protest as we wish, even if it is abhorrent to the rest of the citizens. As long as we did not hurt anyone, we could state whatever we wished.   We are at a crossroads in this country. We have a faction t...

My Back Pages: My Back Pages: The Political Circus Begins : My Back Pages: The Political Circus Begins :  So here we go, into another Presidential race. Actually, it's been going on since the resu...

 We all have had heroes growing up, whether it was a sports star, or some Rock and Roll idol, or idols... someone that we wanted to be like. I had my heroes, some silly teen-aged idols, some political; but let's think about this. We had real heroes who were in our lives all along. They did what they had to do every day... without complaint, without looking for adoration. These real-life heroes were the fathers.  They went out to work each and every day to earn a living to support their family. They worked hard, without complaint, not looking for and special recognition, to make the lives of their families better. They put food on the table. They worked with their wives to make a beautiful home for their children. They were there to try to guide us all to be good people. If you needed them, they were there. They gave counsel when you needed it; they stayed out of it when they knew that they should. Most of all, they were always there. They may have been strict disciplinarian...

My Back Pages: The Political Circus Begins :  So here we go, into another Presidential race. Actually, it's been going on since the results of the las one were publishe...

 So here we go, into another Presidential race. Actually, it's been going on since the results of the las one were published. Millions of dollars are spent on these things. So much time that could be used by some of these pols to do the jobs that they were elected to do. Yet, they use both to gear up for the ultimate elected position. First, they play coy with the press, saying that they are "Exploring their options." They quietly tell members of their inner circles to get the word out that they are running, while denying that they are any time that they are asked. They book themselves on talk shows to get their faces out there.They make policy statements. They criticize the current administration, taking potshots whenever they can. Finally, they call a press conference to announce that they are running for President. You get a menagerie of political animals of all stripes who tear at each other in a frenzy to grasp the nomination of their party. Over the com...