Jack's Nap

Ever since he was just tiny, sometimes Jack would get "heavy eyes" in the afternoon, and on one visit to an Italian Restaurant in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, everyone still remembers it. Ann and I spoiled him. Jack loved spaghetti, but he ate it with his hands when he was just small.

In that restaurant, Jack had his dinner spread completely across his face. He looked like one of the characters in Lord of the Flies, all besmeared with marinara for war paint--in his hair, his pants, his shirt and up to his elbows. My son's in-laws watched in awe, at least we thought that's what it was at the time. I hope it wasn't in absolute horror. Jack didn't make any noise in the restaurant. We just planned on getting a couple of napkins and cleaning him up before we left.

But during the meal, more exactly after he finished his, like the ancient T-Rex, he found slumber, and his head almost dropped into the plate. We moved the plate to the side, and he stayed in the high chair the restaurant was so nice to provide us with at that time.

We still talk about that visit. We talk about that, and we talk about his seeing lightning bugs for the first time in North Carolina. Our daughter-in-law would catch them in her hands, shake them a bit, and turn them loose. They would flutter in a small glow in the darkness. "Tink!" Jack stood amazed, seeing one of his favorite characters from Neverland flutter before his eyes.

These are the stories I remember about Jack and about Tommy and about Anna. But recently, we took Jack to a local restaurant, and he fell asleep like he once did, and memories flooded back to me.

What's Wrong With People Today? (Please Don't Read This If You Subscribe to Right Wing Politics)

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Given the violent nature of our culture, the emotional responses of a extreme right wing fringe element, the ignorance that persists universally across the nation, this idiot actually brought a loaded gun to a town hall meeting. My disappointment is that they didn't throw him in jail for a very long time. And even more disappointing is the fact that there was no provision for metal detection that appeared to detect this situation.

I just don't understand where this will ultimately end. Personally, I don't mind if a person wants to use a gun for hunting, but the notion of protection and carrying a concealed weapon seems mute, not because it couldn't be an important for a person to feel protected, but because of what people like this do with that right.

Freedom is not a guarantee. If it infringes on the rights of others, it is not a given opportunity. At least that's what I learned in my high school civics class.

The only thing I found refreshing is hearing that he was neither Republican nor Democrat. He voted for Ron Paul. But he was also evasive--ignorant about current events and issues, but he knew what not to say that would have landed him in jail. And I believe that is where he and others like him belong.

So, what is wrong with people? They don't get their way in an election, so they disrupt and riot, yet the images are striking--mostly white and lower middle class if even that. It is always shocking to me to hear people talk about the hate they have for taxes, when those who make what they appear to earn at a blue collar job is not a high tax bracket, and not only that, they are also the people, whom Obama promises to offer tax relief in the form of restoring the same levels as existed during the Clinton Administration. I just don't understand people like this.

And the reason I don't understand them is as follows: they don't want to pay any tax at all. That became evident during the interview, when he began citing examples of how taxation is not constitutional.

If people like this have their way, our country would be void of centralized government and any institution that would educate the masses. I wonder how long it would take our country to attain Third World status.

For those who disagree, please accept my apology, because this man is why I can't ever accept being a Republican or a Conservative. I believe strongly in social issues that benefit society, and I believe in a centralized government that guarantees rights and maintains the infrastructure. Oh, and they educate stupid people too, but everyone makes choices, and even though the opportunity is there for people to improve themselves and free their minds of prejudice and ignorance, they also have the right to choose a different path, like this man who openly carried a loaded weapon to a town meeting, where the President of the United States was present, and even more importantly, held a sign that implied that you "water the Tree of Liberty with the blood of tyrants."

If Obama were the person that conservative talk show people said he was, someone would have taken him to an isolated place and shot him in the head. But that won't happen. Nixon used the IRS to intimidate opponents, and he used the FBI to spy on them. Other presidents, even in very recent history have done similar things that were even worse.

And then another protester shows up in Pennsylvania, another local that emphasized that he wasn't an outsider. The outsiders, if they were there, were unidentified; however, I still believe that they may be there. I wish journalists would document it, that way no one would have to speculate on where this madness originates.

But one things is certain, they share ethnic and cultural roots: white, poor and extremely stupid. And why do I think that? They are all white. And no there appearance does not lead me to believe they are anything but very low Middle Class, and as for intelligence, they merely regurgitate the same crap that you can hear in any hotel lobby coming from the refuse of FOX News.


But people like Rush Limbaugh are leaving their mark as well. As stupid as it seems, these people who berate anyone who does not agree with them and scream and disrupt to put an end to change through a democratic process also are buying the idea of Rush, that some obscure symbol on the Health Care memo has a Nazi symbol. No one can offer proof that it exists, and regardless what anyone says, these people believe everything coming from Limbaugh and others.


So the Nazi symbol Hackenkreuz is on the news today, spray painted at the office of a Georgia Democratic Senator. At least I think he was in the Senate, although it could have been the House. Regardless, he is serving in DC. These people have no idea what they are doing, what they are saying, what they messaging through their WWF style discussions. The interview above shows the process, and it also shows how the "victim" embellishes the story. Again Senator Spectre and others are overly patient.


I so wish that we had thinking people. Jefferson said that "where there is a free press and everyone can read, there is no danger," but he didn't see what powerful people can do with propaganda in terms of influencing the masses. I feel no fear. I'm just sad about it. Our country has reached a point where no one understands what discussion is. And that is what will put our Constitution in danger.


The man uses terms associated with Nazi and Soviet era concepts. It is a clever tactic that incites ignorant people. It worked in German in the 30's. If our country falls victim to a demagogue, it will not be one that encourages town meetings. It will be those who rule by fear, by intimidation, by single-minded narrow-mindedness--three reasons why I absolutely hate the conservative talk TV and radio, not because I'm a liberal, because I'm not. I hate it because it is the antithesis of patriotism, of democracy, of decency. It's a belief that it's "my way or the highway." I just hope for a day when people will return to sanity and recognize that improvements can only come when people of varying opinions work together. That is not happening now.