I’m in that spring mood. I can feel it getting closer. Vacation time is near. We’ll have some late winter-early spring storms and of course it will be cloudy on Easter Morning for sunrise service. But soon we’ll feel that Ahhhh feeling of being free. At least I hope so.When I was growing up in the 1950’s we really were free. Everyone took responsibility for themselves and our authority came from our parents. Somewhere along the way our infinitely wise politicians decided that rules needed to be made to save us from ourselves.
A tyranny of the minority do-gooders overwhelmed the majority.
By today’s standards my father would have served a long time in jail for the punishment he inflicted on my brothers and me back then. But for some crazy reason we boomers grew up just fine. We just naively and innocently gave away authority to others thinking it was better for society as a whole to protect that one person somewhere, whoever he or she was from someone bent on doing something or other.
Then unfortunately, we baby boomers started accepting that it was better to give our child a “time out” rather than a good spanking because the PC police would turn us over to Child Protective Services.
I think that in the minds of our kids they began to see that they could control their parents through the fear of being brought before the State. This was a starting point for our kids to have this entitlement mentality; to be able to turn to government to control others for perceived afflictions. And of course we all know our kids are smarter than us. They used to tell us that all the time.
We obviously have an election coming this year. Maybe you’ve noticed.
I am not going to advise anyone on how I think they should vote. I’ve been all over the political spectrum.
I was drafted into the Army in 1971. I was mentally prepared to die for my country yet I voted for McGovern. I didn’t like that we were in Vietnam, yet I was willing to die for my country anyway.
The next presidential election I voted for John Anderson instead of Carter. I eventually voted for Reagan in his second term.
I voted for Ross Perot instead of Bush the senior. I did not like the Socialistic tendencies of the Clinton Administration so I wasn’t about to vote for Gore, and I voted for Bush.
Even though I didn’t vote for him, the thing I did like about Obama was that for eight years of Bush there was so much acrimony from both sides of the evenly divided aisles of government.
Obama promised transparency and bridging the divide. This country was ready for peace within. There was great hope. Unfortunately Mr. Obama never stopped campaigning. We’re farther apart than ever before.
The Republicans are always the bad guys. The rich are always the bad guys. Parents are always the bad guys. Government is the good guys. They know what is best for us so now we have a bloated bureaucracy with a bunch of Czars making all kinds of rules that aren’t even voted on by our elected representatives.
We are moving toward an entitlement society that is being accepted by a generation grown up on entitlement and government protection.
I think we need some simplicity in government. Our little United States Constitution is only about what, four pages long. Look how long the Health Care Plan is alone. I believe over 2000 pages.
Remember, for every word there can be more than one interpretation. I quote former President Clinton: “It depends upon what the meaning of ‘is,’ is.”
I kid you not.
Please government, leave us alone. Let’s have a moratorium on laws. We have enough already. All we have to do is enforce the most obvious ones we have and get rid of about 90 percent of the rest.
And, let us be real parents and raise our kids the way we feel is in their best interest, not the governments. Even the bible said not to spare the rod.
All the foregoing leads me to how government seems to be manipulating our thoughts and actions. Over the Feb. 11 weekend, the news was having an orgy warning us, just as spring is in the air, that a travel advisory is in effect for Mexico.
For those of you who have followed me for a while know, I have been doing my best to be honest and to paint a realistic picture of our neighbor to the South and yet in one fell swoop the State Department in complicity with the National Press, Television, print and Radio blew that to smithereens. They all made a big deal that there have been 48,000 drug related deaths in Mexico since 2006.
And, worse yet they amplified that there were 131 American deaths in 2011 alone. Then the Television stations put this big map of Mexico on the screen all painted in Red with little Green Dots by Puerto Vallarta, Cabo, Cancun and a few others.
Those are the really safe places but they didn’t say that. At first glance you’d think those places might be bad. So I called the State Department on Monday. I asked what the big deal is and please, who are these 131 Americans killed in Mexico? Who are these people?
My gosh, one American gets kidnapped or killed in a foreign country and it’s front page news, but 131 in one country and not a peep?
Well, a little investigation brought me to the truth that the press was too lazy to report.
Nearly every one of those American deaths was committed in drug violence along the border towns with the U.S. with the emphasis on Juarez. These were primarily dual citizenship Hispanic surnamed American citizens living and working the drug trade. But, did the news tell us that? Absolutely not!
The government (State Department) wants us to stay away from Mexico even though Mexico has now become the second most visited country in the world next to the United States.
Now because of some beef with Mexico our government just smears them like they do political enemies. It’s all politics and control in my eyes. Maybe this administration wants to paint a bad picture because Mexico’s unemployment rate is 4.3 percent and ours is realistically closer to 15 percent and Mexico has a balanced budget and no debt.
Maybe its because this administration bungled “Fast and Furious.” Who knows?
Our poor “entitled” kids and grandkids.
I really am concerned that they will only know self reliance and the simplicity and innocence of the 1950’s in history books that aren’t banned or discouraged.
If government doesn’t leave us alone I’m going to have a lot of company with me in paradise soon. Peace everyone, we need it!
Joe Moris may be contacted at (760) 500-6755 or by email at [email protected].
