Earned Success

What Will Make America Greater?

Earned Success
Arthur C. Brooks has been talking about “Earned Success” as being the magic ingredient for a long time now. So what is it? What makes “Earned Success” the magic elixir for curing America’s ills?

How did the caveman earn success and hence feel good about the world? Probably by beating an animal to death and thus feeding himself and family. Probably after learning about fire and cooking over it he felt amazingly secure and successful warming his toes over the fire after a delicious Tyrannosaurus Rex Burger. He probably won the Daddy of the Week award.

Zoom forward a couple millennia and we see money is now the tool we use to beat to death our food and what not: and the chasing down and the killing of it is the free enterprise system. That is how we now measure our success. That is how we win the Daddy of the Week award.

In our civilized world we use money as the measuring tool for our survival and greatness. It is what gives an individual the chance to test his strength in the struggle for success against others without the blood and gore. But the struggle and competition remain and it is my stipulation that it is the struggle that matters. It matters more than the measuring stick, be it money a gun or a club.

People that say we can just give someone money and food and clothes and education and cell phones and anything else we think necessary and then expect that person to be happy is badly mistaken as we have seen in the last 40 years. You see it at Christmas with a 5 year old who is happy with 1 or 2 presents but gets bored after 10. If a person had to earn those things as a measure of his/her success then that is something they value and will protect.

 I still value the little hand made from scratch balsa wood bi-plane my father helped me make. I remember the smell of the paint to this day and I have that plane on my dresser. It took a long time to make and it was one of the few times I shared with my Dad and in a way I feel I earned his respect for finishing that little plane. That is how I earned success at 7 and writing about it at 67 is how I earn it today. Both have nothing to do with money. Oh well.

Anybody at any age can find and succeed at something.

Again as I keep bringing up there is the idea here of a connection to reality that is deeply felt when you lay your hands on something and build it. That connection goes to the deepness of the feeling of earned success.

Sitzfleisch

Sitzfleisch in German means the ability to sit and think a problem all the way through. Since few do that anymore the meaning has morphed into a negative meaning of being able to sit through for a long time a boring lecture or of getting “the ticket” because you were able to wait in line for twelve hours. You could say some Trump supporters had “Sitzfleisch” the ones waiting for hours to get into the Trump rallies.

Along those lines. One good way to bettering America is for those who once could think, to start that old habit up again and for those who have never been taught, shame on the education system and their parents for not demanding they be taught how to. Time to get the education system back to that basic - post haste. Time to teach children and everyone else not what to think but how to think.

When talking of genius Michio Kaku defined it as “The force of will to make all the mistakes necessary to get the right answer.” Later he said: “What matters is you keep your eyes on the prize.” From the movie/documentary Einstein. That implies sitting and thinking problems through (sitzfleisch) then doing something constructive about your conclusions.

Not many people today are willing to sacrifice all the luxury things that take our minds off our problems in order to solve our problems, hence back to Kaku’s idea of our force of will to make all the mistakes to get the right answer” and to “keep your eyes on the prize”.

The problem today is the lack of necessity for sitting and thinking a problem through and getting up and out and earning your success. Today that is all taken care of for you by the government.

All except the “earned” part of success.

It is that selfish pride in earning their success individually that selflessly drives society on to greater things, together they are what made America great. Putting the emphasis back on individuals and creating opportunities for them to earn success will help them make America Greater.

Hope + Hawking

It seems our individual responsibility to find that “something” we can do and do it - earning our success. I’ve found that there is always something that needs doing and by the doing I find others things to do and soon I find something I really like doing and seem good at and by doing that I earn the happiness I measure my success by.

It is the government’s job to help us in this our struggle by keeping the rules of the game the same for everyone when possible but to get out of our way as we try. It is our job to demand that right.

With the last election I've felt that joy of earned success.

Regards, Bob Carr
Live Dangerously, Tell the Truth
glhotdogs513@gmail.com
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Politics is Not best Done by Phonies

Politics is Personnel 

I was driving and listening to the car radio. I was channel surfing and saw with dread that the only station left had Glen Beck on. As I pushed that button and started listening I was pleased he had a guest host on and the guest was really great. He wasn’t talking all pie in the sky Conservatism and Religiousness is next to Self Righteousness but instead he was delving into more factual things. He wasn’t lecturing me and telling me what to believe in. Any way I was content to listen. 

 Then I became intrigued. Beck’s host talked about hearing Tucker Carlson interview Mike Rowe.

http://www.theblaze.com/news/2016/12/27/mike-rowe-has-some-choice-words-on-why-the-american-job-market-is-suffering/ 

I had liked the show “Dirty Jobs” and I remembered the host Mike Rowe so I kept listening. I really liked what Mike had to tell Tucker.

That got me digging, Mike Rowe seemed to be talking common sense and I wanted to hear more. I started googling and found that he has a foundation. mikerowesWORKSfoundation

http://profoundlydisconnected.com/foundation/

Wow. Profoundly disconnected. What a turn of a phrase. I kept reading.

Quotes from his foundation web page. “…a public charity that rewards people with a passion to get trained for skilled jobs that actually exist.” “…the country’s dysfunctional relationship with work,”

This is stuff my friends and I have been saying and thinking about for a long time. Here was somebody actually doing something about it.

Next is a You Tube of Mike reading from his preface to his book. If you have the gigs it is worth the read. He captures the job in a narrative picture as close to the real thing as I can imagine. (I would say as close as I would ever want to imagine LOL) 

Near the end he talked about how in his life he had lost his connection to honest work and how he had become not mindful of the miracles of modern plumbing or food production or modern manufacturing because he didn’t have a personal relationship with the people who produced such things. He admitted in effect that he had become a phony and it took wallowing around in the sewer before he realized it. I’m glad he did as otherwise his show would not have lasted 8 years. 

And he wouldn't have learned what he did to tell us his wisdom now.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PL0k1L4404P4-53v3I7f5RlTT0YMOlqPbn&v=pXXrrjSeBpM

Don’t I myself tend to look down on or relegate to old news the enormous amount of work needed to produce light every time I simply flip a switch? Could this whole immigration thing have at its root such a simple thing as our inability to do manual labor anymore? Notice I say our inability not our unwillingness to do manual labor. We are constantly taught from early school on that Americans are no longer willing to do physical labor. I agree with Mike Rowe, we as a society have become spoiled.

Spoiled is not an un-correctable malady. Some friends and I started an inner city garden in the "hood" back in the day and we saved out two raised beds for the kids attending summer class across the street. They first turned up their noses but soon began to love the idea of walking across the street to garden to get their hands dirty to do and be a part of something they did themselves. 

There is a contentment on finds in physical labor, a sense of accomplishment in seeing what you’ve done. A sense of purpose is accomplished through new skills learned and above all a sense of self-worth that cannot be taught with books and talking but by the doing.

What is the problem with a county evolving from doers to one of thinkers and talkers? Isn’t it nice, isn’t it progress to have all these labor saving devices? Isn’t that the American Dream? Do nothing and become rich?

Maybe now it is, but what made this country great was the work ethic. And the lack of that ethic is what is rotting the foundation upon which all else is built. It may not have been going out to the barn every morning to milk the cows that made America great, but without making the connection of getting up at 5am every morning to do it in the winter in a snow storm do you really think someone would have had the motivation to invent the automatic milking machine?  What would be the point?

The real thing here is that we invent or come up with easier ways because they are easier for us the one doing the work. As we lose connection with work do we not also lose the ability to make work easier?

From another source

http://tribunist.com/news/mike-rowe-finally-weighs-in-on-trumps-victory-hillarys-supporters-wont-like-this/

Mike Rowe said the following about the 8 year run of his hit show “Dirty Jobs” and why Trump was able to win the election. “But here’s the thing – Dirty Jobs didn’t resonate because the host was incredibly charming. It wasn’t a hit because it was gross, or irreverent, or funny, or silly, or smart, or terribly clever. Dirty Jobs succeeded because it was authentic. It spoke directly and candidly to a big chunk of the country that non-fiction networks had been completely ignoring. In a very simple way, Dirty Jobs said “Hey – we can see you,” to millions of regular people who had started to feel invisible. Ultimately, that’s why Dirty Jobs ran for eight seasons. And today, that’s also why Donald Trump is the President of the United States.”

Sure we all give lip service to the work ethic and the “dirty jobs” out there, but how often do we actually connect with people who provide those “miracles”? I think it time I start to show some respect for those letting me turn on my lights. Two nights ago my power went out. Luckily it was just before dark. I quickly found some candles and lit them. Well I soon realized how “spoiled” I was. Everything I do in the evening depends on electricity. My TV my computer, my videos and reading. Man by the time I read 10 pages my eyes were aching and I had a stiff neck from holding the book just right to capture enough light from the candle to read and then craning my neck in such a way as to read the page.

Nor is it a matter of the rich not respecting the poor or the working class vs the rich. It is a question of caring vs not caring. Donald Trump is a Billionaire, richer than Hillary but the voters connected with Trump because he simply said “we see you”.  He directly went to where they lived and saw them.  Notice he didn’t fawn over them and make them feel bad so he could offer them free stuff. No he simply went and visited them. He didn’t lecture them. He simply connected the way people do by a smile and an openness and above all being honest.  He was authentic. If there is one thing the public knows to look out for, it's a phony.  They've had plenty of experience.

Mike Rowe wasn’t – Neither was Donald Trump



Regards, Bob Carr
Live Dangerously, Tell the Truth
glhotdogs513@gmail.com
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An Ode to My Daughter and Her's

Christmas Hope

As Bobby Dylan once said: “The Times They Are a Changing”.

I see it in so many ways, people are just a little nicer, they seem more willing to – be nicer.

Simple things such as a stranger wishing me a Merry Christmas, people smiling a little more for no apparent reason, these are the things of Christmas to me. But what I’m talking about is more than that, deeper than that. It is that undefined something that puts an extra spring in your step that lets you get out of bed with a smile.

It’s something that in the darkest of my black dog days I search for and try to hang onto. It is something that Jesus gave us on the cross and His ascension. HOPE. That Hope is always there, it’s in us like the blood coursing through our veins, and it’s all around us like the air we breathe. Just like the air and our blood, we don’t pay it much attention most of the time. But it is vital to our survival. It is what makes survival worthwhile. 

We should practice it and cherish it for what it is. The miracle that makes us human.

It is at Christmas time that we sometimes get glimpses of it. It is in the old tear jerker hope inspired movies like “It’s a Wonderful Life” and many others where hope and our desperate need for it is found. It is in the little baby’s reaching out to parents when sick – it is the parents reaching back.

We find it more easily when we are struggling, when we need it most. Shouldn’t we use it and nurture it when times are good? Shouldn’t it be a guide then, especially then to keep us on the right path?

Stockings full of candy, paper being ripped off packages to see the gifts inside, mother and dad cooking a hurried breakfast with some extra flourishes even on this the busiest time of the year. That is all a celebration of Hope. A celebration that we have found hope.

That is what makes us human, all of us have the ability to hope for fulfillment and contentment and yes joy, even if we indulge in an excess of exuberance while sharing it. We may seek it in hurtful ways too often but the real beauty/mystery is that if we stop and think - we know what is hurtful and we know we do have a choice.

Thank you God for that and for giving us Your Son ever filling our wellspring of Hope, making an imprint everlasting upon our soul.

Merry Christmas Everyone.



Regards, Bob Carr
Live Dangerously, Tell the Truth
glhotdogs513@gmail.com
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Learn by the Doing

Learn by the Doing.

The Ever-changing Experimental Art of Politics

From AP raw news feed an article by Lisa Lera bemoans the downfall of the Democrat Party from the grass roots up under the leadership or lack thereof from Barack Obama.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_OBAMA_LEGACY_POLITICS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2016-12-24-09-52-32

All well and good. All true about the Obama Administration which didn’t seem to give a hoot about the “Community” he was so famous for “Organizing” once he got elected. Why should they? They had conquered the Mountain, time to move on to bigger things. All the info. Is out there about how that “Moving on” affected the Democrat Party. The Republicans won the “trifecta” of Governor, State and Senate in 25 states. The Dems have fallen to just 5 States since Obama first took office, because of that condescending self-righteous attitude toward those who worked for a living, towards those very people they claimed to represent.

Their State parties are falling into disarray. They were the trumpeted party of the people from the bottom up and now have turned into the Party of the Top Down. Their rallying cry is still “we are the party of the working class”. Problem is they have not lived up to that slogan in a long time and the people know it. They have lost touch with the working class. By not joining the battle in the trenches they lost the ability to learn from their mistakes at the lower level and it has finally turned the tables on them in the recent elections. They have lost most of the Middle Class.

They have forgotten how to “learn by the doing”. All the old clichés are true. By disengaging from the local struggles they have put themselves beyond being able to learn how to adapt to the ever changing nature of politics. Their lack of a sense of humor comes from this. They forgot how to “enjoy the journey”, because it was the journey they have forsaken. The “enjoy”-ment comes from “earned success” as Arthur C. Brooks calls it in his new book “The Conservative Heart”.

https://www.amazon.com/Conservative-Heart-Happier-Prosperous-America/dp/0062319752

I just got a used copy through Amazon and with shipping it was under $10. Since I’m a “Just the Facts Mam” kind of guys, I love this guy’s writings. His other books, “The Road to Freedom”, “Who Really Cares”, and “The Battle” are books I really like and own. This guy knows how to make a Conservative case to the most liberal of Americans.

Joe Biden saw it coming as did some others in the Democrat party. Michael Memoli wrote an article in the Los Angeles Times about Joe Biden and how Joe had seen the Democrats defeat coming after watching a Trump rally in Wilkes-Barre Pa. close to his hometown. Memoli quoted VP Biden as saying. “Son of a gun. We may lose this election,”…… “They’re all the people I grew up with. They’re their kids. And they’re not racist. They’re not sexist. But we didn’t talk to them.”

http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-na-pol-biden-interview-20161222-story.html

“Uncle Joe” Biden was one of the working class, grew up in that world brought those morals and spirit to the Obama administration. He was quickly marginalized and became the laughing boy of the Dems under the highbrow Obama Team.

Now the Dems are paying the price. The Republicans are in high cotton, riding a wave. So to my paranoid brain I ask the question, how do we lose that momentum?

The obvious way is to not fall into the trap that power lures us into. If we lose touch with the people we will end up losing what we’ve gained. Once in power (and we see it starting already a month before Trump is inaugurated) we must demand of our leader to stay away from the idea of “Divide and get conquered”. We too must shun anyone who does the same. Circular firing squad anyone?

Remember politics is all about Candidates. The strongest one wins. Kind of an evolution of the Darwinian Theory, where money is used instead of bullets. But money isn’t everything, Strategy is still all important. Hillary while spending twice as much as Trump was playing a war of attrition. Trump played the strategy game. He Blitzkrieged her. He let her have California and concentrated on his new version of the Wilsonian “whistle stop tour” winning the hearts of Middle America. From standing room only stadiums where tickets were free, he was all across the heartland wherever he thought he had any chance. He was tireless. For a billionaire he found a way to connect to working Americans in a way Hillary never did.

That’s the trap. How do we avoid it? If Trump stays true we must back him up. We need to keep in contact with the base. We need to be the party of connection. We are the ones that need to give the BBQ’s, picnics and stay in touch with our base. We need to preach that dreaded word unity. That is the word Dems took from us to cloak their division of America through “diversity”.

The Dems have a chance in Michigan for a Governorship. If he decides to run and the Dems let him Mike Duggan the Mayor of Detroit would be a hard man to defeat. He is a man that our Republican Gov. can deal with and likes to deal with. Why? Because Duggan gets to the problems and comes up with solutions. He is a guy willing to make the necessary mistakes you make by trying and learning from them. He is a doer. He in Oct said he wouldn’t run but now that a Republican won the Presidency and 2018, a mid term is historically a bad time for the party in power who knows? I would rather see Whitmer or Kildee be the Democrat candidate. Problem is we don’t have anyone who I’m excited about. Attorney General Bill Schuette is our best bet so far. I do hate the idea that he said some nasty things about Trump.

We also need to find a great Candidate to run against Debbie Stabenow for US Senate.

Democrats need to

1. Find good candidates at all levels. So do we. Candidates who have the best interest of the people as their primary interest.

2. The Democrats need to change direction and have their big donors work on the state parties instead of buying into spending the night in the Lincoln Bedroom and getting millions for their pet projects like Solyndra. Like they did for the first Obama election.

They can do that the way the Republicans did by getting back in touch with the ordinary people. Our big donors were willing to do that. Hope they remain that way. AFP funded by Koch brothers was good at recruiting the base and getting them focused. The last month of the 2016 campaign they totally shifted to the ground game. [Koch network moving away from TV ads in final campaign month to double-down on ground game].

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2016/09/16/in-major-shift-koch-operation-consolidates-network-of-advocacy-groups-into-americans-for-prosperity/?utm_term=.a7740346629b

Remember however it wasn’t the “Party” that got the base fired up but the outliers which in our case were the conservatives. All groups played a part like the Tea Party, Ron Paul, and other more single issue groups. Right to Life, NRA and you name it. It was with the help of the Koch Brothers and other big donors that we were able to unite and form a real ground game. Bottom line is that while there were no real leaders to pull all these groups together we had a nemesis we could rally behind - Obama. It worked finally. Romney couldn’t pull it off, the average Joe couldn’t quite believe him, didn’t think he was tough enough to actually fight for them. Heck he had a hard time standing up for himself. Mr. Trump had no such qualms. People saw he was tough and willing to fight for himself. They trusted him, they saw he was tough enough to fight for them.

Now it is our turn to find, back and fund/volunteer for candidates who will back Trump and his policies. He connected with us. He is now in the Lion’s Den, we need to keep in touch with him all the more to give him back the strength he gave to us.



Regards, Bob Carr
Live Dangerously, Tell the Truth
glhotdogs513@gmail.com
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Convenience just got More Convenient

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Peggy Noonan - Coming to her senses?

Peggy Noonan

I have always been a huge fan of journalist Peggy Noonan from her days with Ronald Reagan. That is why she so easily broke my heart when she began writing articles so personally derogatory against Donald Trump. To get her archived posts in full go to Patriot Post. If you go to the Wall Street Journal where she is also syndicated you must be a subscriber to see her posts in full. Below is the link to the Patriot Post archives of her works.

https://patriotpost.us/columnists/32

If you start reading from July on you will notice how much she dislikes what she thinks Trump is and represents. Now in her favor I challenge you to read her articles from Nov. 5th to her latest one of Dec. 10th. As a lover of her work I see in those, a gradual softening of opinion toward Donald Trump. A getting away from the personal to more of the reasoned thinking I so prize from her.

Peggy Noonan’s instincts usually were spot on, she could see through all the hoopla in the past and put things in perspective. With Trump she seems to have gotten caught up in that very hoopla she was in the past so good at seeing through – hopefully just for a while.

What I always liked about Trump was his openness, he was a clean slate politically. As Peggy noted he was all about the deal. The difference between us is perhaps that I saw the possibilities where she drew her conclusions from the negatives which in my mind was the surface clutter. The aim high, make the deal in the middle mentality of the businessman.

The evidence was out there for all to see but few did – except for the millions of his supporters, the ones who would stand in line for hours to fill his venues. I and I’m sure Peggy Noonan believes in her heart of the ability of the American people to see through the BS and understand the truth. That is the core belief and promise of America – a country of, by and for the people. As the press everyday blasted Donald Trump about what he said or didn’t say and tried to lynch him with a “consensus” of media doom and gloom. His supporters didn’t deviate one bit. Were they stupid or something else?

From all the contact I’ve had with these people from where they live and work, they saw the promise of what I saw. The promise above the hoopla. They trusted the man. They trusted his ability to get things done. Sure the way Trump would do things would be different, but they knew he would try with all his might for them. The rest, was all political gibberish. He was not an ideologue. He was a doer.

The reason I always liked Peggy and looked to her for inspiration was her ability to look past the “mind numbing” ideologies and look to and help me find the best uncluttered way forward. During the Trump Campaign especially in the primaries Ms. Noonan seemed to fall prey to all the anti-Trump rhetoric and she would try to put that in her own soothing style. The result sounded logical, well-reasoned, sound and soothing however it wasn’t so much based on firsthand knowledge but more on propaganda put out by ideologues. On both sides. It didn’t quite ring true to the Trump I heard.

Kind of making a computer model based on the wrong first facts. We have had plenty of those.

Since however Mr Trump has become President Elect Trump his real personality, character and ideals are coming to the fore through his actions as the next President of the United States of America. In this case – especially in Trump the Deal Maker’s case – the end result is what reflects the true Trump.

Peggy Noonan in her article “No More Business as Usual: Mr. Trump” she makes the case that Trump should get rid of his businesses. She says “And now, for the first time in his life, money, profit, the deal is not his job.”

Ponder that statement from a prominent believer in Free Enterprise.

What the people who elected Mr. Trump for, was his ability to get results as evidenced in Peggy’s next article about the Carrier deal. The people indeed wanted someone who was all about money and profit and deal making - success. They voted for a businessman not a politician. We’ve had enough of politicians who promise to fix the problems which they don’t do. Instead they build a huge bureaucracy around them nurture them and the problems just keep getting bigger. Just ask them.

I understand her qualms about getting some sort of big money ego driven tyrannical leadership all too ready to abuse power: but we’ve been there and understand what we have seen when a political and ego driven tyrannical government has been in power for 8 years. When things become so overdone for so long; the things needed doing to change it back need to be overdone. My father once told me that the more things are out of hand the more work you need just get them back to normal.

The Homemade Stuff Better Yet

I'll bet you two of these for every Hillary Sticker on a Prius.

Making a deal for a new used car, earning enough to put some away, having a fence around what you own, and fighting for what is yours are things ordinary people understand, it is something I understand. All the rest is for idle talk around the $10.00 coffee lattes or whatever they call it now with your friends. The fighting for your own is for $1.00 coffee at the local diner, drank in a hurry on your way to work in a cold pickup truck. Which, yes it probably has a Trump/Pence sticker on it. You have to look close as there are 2x4s and plywood in the way.

That bumper sticker was put on with pride under the uniting banner of Making America Great Again.



Regards, Bob Carr
Live Dangerously, Tell the Truth
glhotdogs513@gmail.com
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Militant Liberalism

Getting Radicalized to Militant Liberalism in America.

Picture a nice kid about 20, a British kid that leaves England to travel around America for a year. 

 He severs contact with his mom and goes to a Trump rally and tries to grab a gun from a cop to shoot Donald Trump. He is arrested and goes to trial and he gets 1 year and a day and is eligible for parole in 4 months. The kid said “I just feel terrible about it.” The judge obviously did too and sentenced him to the lenient sentence because he thinks there is something wrong with him.

Yeah like he tried to kill a Presidential Candidate.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-38309646

Yeah like he planned it well ahead and made plans for if he failed to try it again later.

http://news3lv.com/news/local/man-arrested-at-trump-rally-wanted-to-kill-candidate

This quote below is previous to the “I just feel terrible about it.” Quote above.

"Sandford (the kid) further stated that if he were on the street tomorrow, he would try this again. Sandford claimed he had been planning to attempt to kill Trump for about a year, but decided to act on this occasion because he finally felt confident about trying it," the complaint states.

He also said he had booked tickets for the Trump rally later Saturday in Phoenix in case he didn't make the attempt in Las Vegas.

Guess he changed his mind. Sounds rational to me. By the way he is an illegal alien. His work visa expired.

From another source, the loving mother said “The mother told the Las Vegas Review-Journal they were under an exclusive contract with another media outlet and could not do other interviews Tuesday.”  She would in other words be proud to defend her son if the money was right.

http://www.reviewjournal.com/crime/courts/british-man-gets-1-year-prison-trying-kill-trump-las-vegas-rally

She had previously filed a missing persons on her son in Britain.

What more is there to say about a mother’s all-consuming love for her child?

Again just imagine if this attempt would have happened to Obama during his primary battle with Hillary? Somehow I don’t think the judge would have been quite so sympathetic.

Ya Think?

So the big question. How did this nice kid become radicalized to militant liberalism in less than a years’ time while visiting America? Simple -- he watched TV and saw that it was alright to hate Donald Trump because he was a right wing wacko, a bigot, a racist, a homo-phobe, a misogynist and a woman hater. Plus a lot of other things. It would be obvious to any observer from another country that Trump needed killing. Between CNN MsNBC or NPR what other result was possible?



Regards, Bob Carr
Live Dangerously, Tell the Truth
glhotdogs513@gmail.com
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The Problem with "Virtual Reality". It's Not Real

The problem with “Virtual Reality”.

Its - Not - Real. 

The Democrats were in their “virtual political reality” during the last election. They believed all the polls and their own propaganda to the point of debilitation. Yes they hurt themselves by not seeing/facing the truth.

The policy wonks and political advisers were in their heyday figuring out who would lead what part of Hillary’s transition team. They were putting on their Ivy League thinking caps trying to decide what their priorities would be once she was sworn into office. They knew they were going to be elected, there was a “consensus of opinion” after all i.e. the polls specifically the clear politics average polls showed they were a shoe in to win.

The only work remaining was to try to figure out how to undo the damage the Republicans had done with redistricting when they won back the Senate and how to divide up the spoils.

OOOOOOOOPS

Yup they were too busy counting their birds in the bushes forgetting to check whether their ammunition was safe and dry to be able to actually put those birds in hand.

They lost.

Now they are in a pickle. They seem to be spending most of their time getting caught up in conspiracy theories about Russians and hacking and Green Party re-counts and the world coming to an end and figuring out a good way to say they are not leaving the country after they said they would.

They seem to forget about gathering what forces they have left to combat the Trumpian surge or “Trumpkrieg” that is about to hit them. Thought I’d throw that “Trumpkrieg” in for any progressives “reading in”. Some good Nazi fodder for your virtual reality. Hoping to keep you all busy "tilting at windmills" while reality takes place. 

http://www.politico.com/story/2016/12/democrats-donald-trump-232491

I do remember the Reagan Presidency and its first 100 days. He launched an all-out attack on the failed economic policies of the progressives previously led by Jimmy Carter. Remember the slogan “It’s the Economy Stupid”. Well the Dems didn’t that time. Reagan endeared himself to Middle America through his single minded toughness fighting for tax reform and other economic issues directly affecting Middle Americans. After his near death by assassination and the courage and humor he showed during and through that, he further earned the respect of ordinary people during his first 100 days and was able to get his economic policies through, albeit later than the first 100 days but he did get them in place.

As the article points out all is not lost for the Dems. as history shows. The Republicans were in the Minority before also and came back as did the Dems before. Groups are already forming to fight back against Trump in the background but as the article points out they are lacking a leader. But in politics as in nature vacuums are abhorred and will be filled.

I’m afraid I see on the Trump side a lot of self-righteous detractors among Republicans and Conservatives. Our biggest political problem will be our infamous “circular firing squad” made up of Republicans claiming what is being done is too conservative or not conservative enough. Republicans are good at that, goes with the conservative aversion to power I guess. We have on occasion however risen above it when faced with a crisis as we thought this election (this war) portended.

Now we have to win the peace and try to put as many of our policies into play as we can manage and keep our sights ahead to what is to come.

The “Trumpkrieg” will soon begin, let us get behind it. Let us give the Trump team a chance and look at the proposals clearly and not with the goggles of virtual reality. Let us help ensconce them into power so they can get to the job we hired them to do. Make America Great Again.

Let us this day determine to “Win America Back” with our thoughts and deeds. Let us not let perfection be the enemy of the good.

Regards, Bob Carr
Live Dangerously, Tell the Truth
glhotdogs513@gmail.com
231-728-3455

How to Win the Peace

It's Official We Won the Election

Now to Win the Peace !!!

Louisiana's election is over. All elections this cycle are over.

Michigan's recount and Wisconsin's and Pennsylvania's are all over. Trump actually gained votes.  The Dems again prove that they are Kings/Queens in spending a lot of money on irrational things.   

Republicans won the 3 seats contested in the Runoff in Louisiana, the last election in this cycle to be completed. They kept their Senate seat giving them a 52 – 48 advantage in that crucial chamber. They also kept the two House seats keeping the advantage in the US House. All this in a year Hillary was supposed to win and bring the Senate back into Democrat control off of her coat-tails.

The three candidates campaigned as supporters of Donald Trump and both Trump and Pence came to Louisiana to campaign for them. About Hillary – some candidate, some coat-tails.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_LOUISIANA_ELECTION?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2016-12-11-03-14-07

---------------------------------------

A break from Big Big Big.

I’ve always said I’m against Big Government, Big Business, and Big Labor. 

While Trump and his picks may scare me in that regard, I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt.

It's not what they did in life so much as their under pinning philosophy that truly matters to me.  Will these titans of industry use Big Government to shrink it?  Will they use it to free up small business from the regulations made in part by them, Big Business, to force small business out of business?

I truly hope they will consider making enterprise freer for small business.  I hope they try.

No other President Elect would have the guts to appoint the leader of "Big Oil" as Secretary of State.  The Progressives will be beside themselves.

I’m also against Globalization which seems to be where all three of the above get in bed with each other and unite under a global banner.

I’ve found I’m not alone in my abhorrence of Globalization – not here – not in the world.  For that I'm glad.

The people have spoken.

People are tired and frustrated with governments and power structures that don’t give a rat’s ass for the working man - for Individual Freedom.

Trump’s victory in America and Britain’s referendum to leave the EU (Brexit) has sent shock waves throughout the power triumvirates of the world. Several other EU countries are threatening to do the same.

The point I’d like to make is that the Brexit vote while being the voice of the people will not happen unless those same voices learn how to pressure the powers into bending to their will. We need to learn from our British Cousins on how to do that if they are successful and vice a versa. People are not used to having to do that and it will take work. But we can learn.  

We have been fighting this battle for a long time and the results are ready to be harvested - we just need to stay the course - stay involved.

It needs to be done, now not later.  For example it’s been 6 months since the British voted to leave the EU and they are still talking about it in Court.  They are still in it.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/12/10/supreme-court-brexit-appeal-judges-heading-split-7-4-decision/

Isn’t it ironic that the representative of the people elected by them are the ones who will decide if the people made the right decision?

Why isn’t the British Supreme Court trying that idea? What government has the power to overturn the vote of the people? If they do the main assumption they will make is that they know better than the ordinary people.  I have a clue for them, the people know better they told us so in the election.

The same for those people that are trying to delay Trump from implementing his agenda. The real work for delay is to be done in the Senate. That is where the backers of the status quo can be avenged of this upstart change monger Donald Trump. 

In the US, the Senators will be the “know betters”. That is where the will of the people can be blunted by not allowing Trump to speedily select his cabinet and Executive appointees, to get his government up and running. If the Senate thinks they can slow down the change Trump has promised and the people have voted for well, can they? Will we let them? 

The Senate is where Supreme Court Nominees can be “Borked” to death by a bunch of self-righteous elitists. Will we let that shameful abuse of power repeat itself?

Again the irony is thick when I use the term "Borked".  It was Teddy Kennedy who "Borked" Robert Bork in the Senate nomination hearnings and later shamefully "Borked" Samuel Alito but at least Alito got the nomination.  Robert Bork didn't.  It is ironic as Alito was accused of false hoods of being a bigot by Kennedy when it was Kennedy who crashed his car and let a woman drown and he is calling into question the character of Robert Bork and Samuel Alito.  Mrs. Alito broke into tears at the savagery displayed by Ted Kennedy.  

Hypocrisy runs deep in the Democrat Party.

Fighting all this obstructionism needs to be done.  This needs our help from the Bottom Up. For example, we’ve tried in Mi. before to “Dump Debbie” but in two years (November 6, 2018) we can try again and if she is part of the effort to block a Supreme Court nominee – that may be just the tool we need to oust her from power. Let us make that date one for her that will live in infamy.

We need a candidate that is fresh, smart and an experienced fighter. One not adverse too mixing it up. One with the guts, and experience of a Trump. I don’t care what gender or race, but I want a candidate who is willing. Who is that? I don’t know do you?



Regards, Bob Carr
Live Dangerously, Tell the Truth
glhotdogs513@gmail.com
231-728-3455

Insuring Integrity -- Whose Job is it?

Insuring Integrity

Whose Job is it?

Or as Donald  Might Say

First clue.

“We hold these truths to be sacred & undeniable; that all men are created equal & independent, that from that equal creation they derive rights inherent & inalienable, among which are the preservation of life, & liberty, & the pursuit of happiness; ...”

Second clue.

“We the People” have the responsibility to fight to “ensure a more perfect union” insuring those rights.

Third clue

When those rights are denied we need to through our own honesty and integrity vote to change them. We also need to hold ourselves accountable for what we do.

Donald Trump in his quest to find honorable men of integrity to help him “Make America Great” may take to heart what another reformer said when he was “Making America Great” in the first place.

People in power as the first priority need to be honest as the above quote states and next they need a passion for and a belief in a higher purpose in their work. Then they must have the merit to do the job well. Those in power need all three

Again another picture lesson from the past.

 

Case in Point

At my level.

I preface this with the first idea that we are not perfect, yet we should seek it.  Second we can only work with what we have: which leads me to my favorite saying.  "Make Do, Make it Now, Make it Work."  That I came up with about 10 years ago.  I was shocked to see a similiar quote by Teddy Roosevelt 100 years ago.

Note the difference, Teddy said "where you are", I said "make it work".  I think both convey the same idea.  Or to simplify I quote Nike's famous slogan.  Just Do It.

I was at a Muskegon event put on to help Scott Hagerstrom in his run to be Chair of the Mi. GOP. At the event I met again Brandon Hall.  I had met him over the years at a few events and thought of him as a good fella, one of us.

I recently got an email from SOS Mi. Ruth Johnson in the form of a monthly roundup of what she has done for us. In it I was shocked to see that through the facts she uncovered Brandon Hall had been found guilty of “10 counts of election law fraud on Nov. 30 in Ottawa County Circuit Court.”

Here is a Grand Haven Tribune’s article all about it.

http://www.grandhaventribune.com/Courts/2016/11/30/Jury-finds-Brandon-Hall-guilty-of-election-fraud

I am shocked to read this for two reasons. One is that this news is from November and the trial has been going on for a long time (the crime was in 2012) and I didn’t know anything about it. This citizen seems to be not as well informed as he previously thought. On top of that, previously before the current misdeed,  the article claimed Brandon was a Grand Haven School Board member and he was convicted of a misdemeanor for stealing from a school fundraiser. Wow. This fella seemed like a nice honest guy.

Secondly this has hit home. I’m saddened because I’ve met Brandon several times over the years and didn’t have a clue as to his character. The last time I met him was less than a month ago as stated above. He was making the rounds and we talked general stuff. Again I thought he was an ok guy. There were plenty of others there I was more worried about. Ha Ha what little do we know of what’s in the hearts of man from what they wear on their sleeve?

Again like Brandon Hall I too am a political junkie. I’ve seen all sorts of fraud in petition gathering most notably from the other side. Sure it crossed my mind that I could do the same, but that is where I demand of myself to try to do what’s right. I’m sorry if I’m sounding self-righteous but some point we are all tempted to cross the line. To see that possibility within ourselves and act against it is not self-righteous but rather righteous. We all have bad thoughts. The law is to punish those who act upon them.

As a rule of law type of guy I congratulate our SOS for catching that fraud and the courts for upholding the law. While I may feel empathy and sadness for Brandon I hold no one else responsible for his actions.

We protect our inalienable rights by above all else trying to be being honest with ourselves and electing others to represent us who will do the same. Defending those who cross that line in not defending our rights put endangering them.

Regards, Bob Carr
Live Dangerously, Tell the Truth
glhotdogs513@gmail.com
231-728-3455

What it takes to Drain the Swamp

The Trump Transition Team.

What’s the Yuge Deal?

Time to Drain the Swamp

What is the big deal about the “Transition Team”?  Why is there so much news about it.  Well I started digging and doing some research: but first off those he selects are the ones who will work to put into practice what Trump has been promising.  He needs to put into place people of honor and integrity to accomplish that.  As you will see, Trump will be picking the heads of the departments and the heads will have to pick all those under them (usually).

There are a lot of them and for Trump’s plans to work they all have to be pushing hard.

There are overall 4100 political appointees from Secretary of State to Marine Mammal Commission members or Ambassador to Burkina Faso that needs to be filled by the “Trump Transition Team”.  Below are a couple of links to the positions.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/politics/trump-transition-appointments-scale/

https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/politics/trump-administration-appointee-tracker/database/

There is a book called the “Plum Book” devoted to the people and jobs that are up for grabs each Presidential election since President Eisenhower.  Here is a link.

http://www.govexec.com/management/2016/12/2016-plum-book-lists-thousands-jobs-grabs-trump-administration/133635/

It is interesting to note that the article says currently in the 2016 edition there are roughly 9,000 jobs needing filling vs. 8,000 jobs in the 2012 edition and 7,000 in the 2008 copy.  From that two things become clear.  Under President the Executive Branch gained 1,000 political appointees per term.  President Elect Trump has claimed he will cut down that size of government.  So far he has talked about a “Hiring Freeze”.  He’s said government will reduce itself through attrition.  Here is the article about that.

http://www.govexec.com/management/2016/12/trump-transition-expect-more-just-hiring-freeze-cut-government/133756/?oref=relatedstories

By the way if you want to sign up for one of these jobs you can go to this link

.

https://www.greatagain.gov/index.html

But don’t hold your breath there are already 65,000 people that have applied.

Why the worry about picking the best and people of like mind?  Well if you go to the link below and watch the video you will start to get an idea of the scope and depth of the change President Elect wants to bring about in Washington and America.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OfzRlvR83M0

It is his Iowa Thank You speech.  It gives a good insight into how he approaches problems, how smart a deal maker he is.  You can watch it all but Trump comes on stage at the 1:35 mark, his presentation is about an hour. 

He reiterated all the promises he’s made and goes into more depth about how he will accomplish those things.  I liked it when he said this.  The government must “stop listening to the special interests and start delivering for the national interest.”  In this speech he starts to let people know some of the specifics of his methods for accomplishing so much.

From saving the family farm and cutting way back on the reach of the EPA to getting rid of the Johnson amendment he was on point.  His big thing remains jobs and how to bring them back and also how to reinvigorate American Industry to create more high paying jobs. 

Again another nice slogan.  “Buy American and Hire American” which leads into his immigration plans.  Yes he is going to build a wall and he is still going to have “extreeeem” vetting.  If the country will not allow us access to what we need to vet people properly and in Trump speak I mean properly then we won’t let them in.

Above all what moved me was the idea of him working for all Americans not the other way around.

In closing I took the time to transcribe this.

“This is truly an exciting time to be alive. Though the script is not written, we do not know what the page will read tomorrow.  But for the first time what we do know is that the pages will be authored by each and every one of you.”  He further added.  “I’m asking you to believe in America”.  He is asking for you to trust him enough so he can earn it.

Regards, Bob Carr
Live Dangerously, Tell the Truth
glhotdogs513@gmail.com
231-728-3455 

The American People's Party

The Party of Trump

Without the Party?
Or just
The American People's Republican Party?

Boy would all those Trump detractors from both sides of the fence love to hear Trump is starting his own party.  I hate to give them ammunition but here goes.

First off he is not going to start his own party.  Here is what he needs to do and is doing.  Get the American people excited and enthused about what he is doing.  In that way he can accomplish what he wants in spite of the Party.  Either one!

Donald Trump was not a politician everybody knew that and most people liked that.  He was a doer and the people liked that.  

The simple fact that he got things done was startlingly clear to the ordinary person if not the media hacks and ideologues.  Ordinary Americans were sick of promises made to fix problems that they had to pay for and then watch those promises turn into vast bureaucracies that again they had to pay for.  They would watch in helplessness as the problems remained un-solved.  Also they had gotten a whiff of a lot of candidates for lesser office who claimed they weren’t politicians on the right only to see them make bigger messes through lack of experience.  They were not doers.

They wanted somebody who would and could do something about it.  They wanted a doer not a talker.  Plus they wanted someone who cared not about one group or the other but about America.

Donald Trump has shaken up the system and invigorated the public as few Candidates have been able to do since Teddy Roosevelt.  Whether a Presidential Donald Trump can keep that excitement up as Teddy was able to do we will have to wait and see. 

However from what he has done I think it is safe to say he is succeeding.  All kinds of antidotal evidence is out there from the stock market surge to companies already coming back under the promise of what he will do.  His cabinet picks so far are portending change on a scale not seen in a long time.

Also the evidence is clear from the link below from an article in Time that everyday working people are motivated by Trump.  The article interviews ordinary Democrats who voted for Trump.  These are people that all the Demographic and hyphenated-search parabolas missed by the polling experts and talking heads during the run up to the election.

 

http://time.com/voices-from-democratic-counties-where-trump-won-big/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+time%2Fpolitics+%28TIME%3A+Top+Politics+Stories%29 

The title says it all.  “Voices from Democratic Counties Where Trump Won Big”.  

This was an interesting article as it interviews people that changed their voting patterns.  Why?  Because they felt let down and wanted change.  Hillary offered more of the same while Trump offered change and when challenged he doubled down on it.  He was not afraid and not afraid to show it.  The people saw he was a fighter.  He has not changed.

Another interesting issue was the divide geographically from urban and rural.  Between as I would call them the “know it alls” and the “do it alls”.  Again talkers vs doers.  The takers and the makers.

One man interviewed said this about the state capital and it's politicians and the disconnect found there.  “They always refer to Madison as 56 square miles of fantasy surrounded by reality.”  In my home state of Michigan we could say the same about Lansing as being removed from reality and disconnected from it.  

Think about it.  I equate the same fantasy/reality paradigm to the urban/rural idea.  Muskegon, the city of and the city of Muskegon Heights are in the 92nd State House district.  The surrounding rural areas and suburbs are in the 91^st District.  One is Republican one is Democrat.

 

That is just the way it is.  Much as I have written about the ease of campaigning in a city due to the closeness of the population, so too it is easier to set up organizations to care for the poor and homeless.  Face it the needy get better service in the city than out in the rural areas.  They tend to congregate there. There are also more places for the homeless to survive.  Although not unknown in rural areas “squatting” does exist as evidenced by an article in the Oceana County Press.

http://www.oceanacountypress.com/2016/11/28/homeless-men-arrested-for-squatting/

People of like minds also tend to congregate together.  That too is obvious and the geographic divide between urban/democrat and rural/republican is becoming greater. 

I worry not so much however about the Republicans getting into the urban and vice versa as these things tend to find a plateau and start to swing the other way over time.  The article above seems to point to that in some ways.

So Trump will not form his own party as Teddy did with the Bull Moose Party, but rather reform the Republican Party more into the American Republican Party representing the hopes, ideals of average Americans.  Hopefully too away from the hopes and dreams of the 9,000 appointees and the tens of thousands of bureaucrats.  That is the hope for both America and the two party system it has.  When either party stops facilitating and promoting the American Dream to the American people they will leave those parties.

So far "The Donald" is not disappointing.

Regards, Bob Carr
Live Dangerously, Tell the Truth
glhotdogs513@gmail.com
231-728-3455