What is the role of our government in our lives? You can ask 100 different people and get 100 different answers. The U.S. Constitution says it's "to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity". Among people and parties, however, there are definitely two camps of thought. Among Democrats/Liberals the belief is that government is there to protect the citizens (from criminals, from fraud, from the abuse of power that comes with big money and big corporations). Among the Republicans/Conservatives/Libertarians, the belief is that government should barely exist at all. To them, government should be about maintaining a strong military, and preventing abortions, and that's about it.
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81 comments (Latest Comment: 09/03/2011 02:39:12 by trojanrabbit)

During the 8 long years of the Bush presidency, it was assumed that Bush was mostly a puppet, and Cheney was the power behind the throne. With the release of his new book, Cheney has revealed that to be the case. It has also confirmed what an evil venal creature he really is. The details aren't so much shocking in revelation as they are in the proud unapologetic tone.
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52 comments (Latest Comment: 09/01/2011 01:35:13 by livingonli)

Thursday I wrote a blog, Life is Fragile, Handle with Care and since then most regular members of the this blog experienced something we call Irene. It may have been a hurricane or tropical storm.

Lost in thought over the weekend was the Anniversary of Katrina- one of the nations most expensive deadly and mismanaged disasters. On August 29, 2005, after the brunt of the storm hit, the Greater New Orleans levee system failed. 80% of the city was underwater. Please note-- this was AFTER the hurricane hit the New Orleans area.
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36 comments (Latest Comment: 08/30/2011 00:30:29 by TriSec)

Good Morning!

We all know the poser....there's all kinds of imposters and dopplegangers out there that make you go "hmmm".

Looking over the Presidential candidates is easy pickings....we've got Mitt Romney, who pretends to be some kind of "Mr. Fixit", saving companies and creating jobs (by shutting them down and shipping the bits overseas), and of course your friend and mine Rick Perry is playing that card too, but leaves out that most of the jobs he's created are minimim-wage that you probably can't live on.

Ron Paul pretends to be a serious candidate, and while I will tip my cap for some of his foreign policy ideas, he also comes up with stuff like this....so that's the end of that.

I won't include people like Michelle Bachmann or Sarah Palin in this category; they exist in a different reality from the rest of us, and only occasionally do our two worlds intersect.
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20 comments (Latest Comment: 08/28/2011 01:38:47 by wickedpam)

Well this certainly is an interesting week. Yes, I was a little shaken up by the earthquake on Tuesday. I will readily admit it. While our friends on the west coast giggle about it, I would like to remind them that we on the east are simply not used to quakes. -- a 5.8 quake is not a small one, despite the giggles and jokes about chai latte, plastic lawn chairs, etc. With the earthquake out of the way, many people here on the east coast are preparing for what may potentially be a devastating hurricane.

It's not lost on me that this week is also the sixth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, which made landfall on Monday, August 29, 2005. Nor have I forgotten that we are fast approaching the tenth anniversary of the Attacks of September 11. These were seminal events; ones that caused panic, sadness and fear and death for many Americans.

On Tuesday, I was lying on the couch. I was watching a bit of TV before I was to go and vote in the Virginia Democratic primary. I felt a rhythmic thump on the back of the couch, and I assumed it was our dog wagging her tail. I quickly realized that it wasn't the dog, and that was when things got a little crazy. I stood up grabbed the couch and caught the lamp as it nearly fell on me. The bookshelves swayed and the piano started banging against the opposite wall. I knew this was a damn earthquake, and in those 30-45 seconds I froze. I was actually proud of myself for having the wherewithall to make sure I was out of the line of the bookshelves and the Piano -- I turned my face away from our large living room window. I really didn't know what else to do. I was scared, to be quite honest. When It stopped, I was even more frightened.

I was afraid that it was just the beginning. I was waiting for more quakes. I wasn't sure if things would get worse or if it was over. I called Bob and told him what happened and after I hung up I cried. I felt silly for doing that, I didn't know why I was crying, until I knew why I was crying. The last time I felt such uncertainness, was on September 11, 2001.
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46 comments (Latest Comment: 08/26/2011 01:52:42 by livingonli)