Yeah, I stole the title from Smashing Pumpkins. Oh well.
I decided to give it a shot to add more to the story I had begun to tell months ago. Instead of being linear, I picked a different point in the story to share. I'm reprinting my original piece for a reference point, as well. Enjoy. Leave comments criticizing or praising. This story is a piecemeal of different things I've encountered over the past 6-7 years. I think it makes for a great story. This has nothing to do with retribution, airing dirty laundry, being therapeutic, or anything of the ilk. I just think it makes for a particularly interesting story and anyone else I've told it to agrees. So if you plan to comment to that matter, please, keep it because I'm not interested. With that said....the new piece is first, the older piece is below it.
“The Beginning is the End is the Beginning”
It had been a wonderfully emotional night for Charlie. The way he had been brought up, the way he had held himself over the years, emotions were just unnecessary things that creeped up inside him and made him feel awkward. There wasn’t much he could do about it besides deal with it, but he often tried his hardest to suppress or hide them.
Tonight had been different though. He knew his time in college was drawing to an end. It was the first week of his senior year.
His little sister, whom he had gotten along with okay, but by no means did they have a great relationship, had decided to follow in his footsteps and come to his college. He didn’t let on much about it, but inside he had been crazily happy that she chose to come with him, hoping it would be a friendship he had hoped to have with her over the years.
That night, in an orientation program for freshman that Charlie helped put together, they had a moment. Its a moment that only brothers and sisters can have, when they finally connect on a higher level than just ‘that other person that calls them mom and dad and pisses me off all the time’. It was visceral. It was real. It shocked him.
He cried in front of over 100 people. It was the first time he had done so since his uncle had died of cancer 6 years prior.
As Charlie walked down the street, still dressed in his now wrinkled and tear stained black suit, blue shirt, and loosened red silk tie, the smile across his face showed a young man at peace.
It had been embarrassing, at first. He never wanted to show a weakness as large as openly crying in front of people. After the fact, though, it made him feel better.
It was as if a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. His mind was racing with a million thoughts. Where he could take this new found happiness...how he could expand upon it....just what he had been missing by being so devoid of real emotional depth...
He had to share it. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and crafted a text message for Ashley. He thought it would be a perfect start to the semester, considering his plans.
“Hey sweetheart. I had a really great night tonight. I just wanted to say I love you and I can’t wait to share our final year of college together. I’m so excited to see what our future brings.”
Over the summer, Ashley had begun to bring up wedding plans. Nothing specific, just conversation in hypotheticals.....and leaving up websites of wedding dresses she had been looking at.
It was hard for Charlie not to get the hint. At the same time, it was hard for Charlie to be okay with it. They had talked about engagement and marriage before, but was he really ready for it?
Up until tonight, he wasn’t sure. He had started saving for the ring already, knowing it was where he thought he wanted to go.
Tonight, however, it all made sense. She was definitely the one for him. The outburst of emotion with his sister tonight had brought up and subsequently answered a lot of questions for Charlie.
As he keyed into his room, his pocket buzzed to life. He checked excitedly for Ashley’s response, but it was just other people on campus looking to go out to the bar that night.
Charlie sat at his desk and hit the button on his laptop, illuminating the room with the light of the screen. He pulled up his bank account and checked the numbers again. One or two more paychecks and the ring was covered.
He couldn’t help but lean back in his chair, toss his hands behind his head and smile.
For once, things were going right. For once, he felt he deserved for things to go this smoothly.
He closed his eyes, still smiling, and all he could do was picture her, smiling back at him. They had their ups and downs, but Ashley was the one constant Charlie always wanted in his life, through good times and hell. He thought she brought out the best in him.
As he was getting lost in his thoughts, his cell phone buzzed again, rattling off the hard top of the desk, jarring him out of his daydream. It was the return text from Ashley.
“Umm...thanks. We need to talk. I’m not sure this is right for me anymore.”
The phone fell out of his hands, smacking against the tile floor, scattering the back of the phone and the battery across the room. He continued to stare in the direction of where he had been holding the phone a few seconds previously.
After a few seconds of blank stare, he calmly picked up the pieces of his phone, put it back together, and turned it on.
He mustered the only weak response he could...
“......what?”
Gently, Charlie puts the phone on the desk, removes his suit and sits on the edge of his bed in shorts and a t-shirt.
Tears begin to roll down his face, but Charlie was so numb he was completely unaware he had begun crying again.
After all that positivity tonight, this was going to happen now?
He stared down at his hands, which had been gripping his shorts and legs so hard that the indentations had turned white. He pulled them palm upward and continued to stare, expecting them to give him an answer.
The phone began to ring. He glanced over at the screen...it was Ashley.
That was not a good sign.
He puts the phone up to his ear and attempts to quickly compose himself...
“Uhh..hello? Ashley”
“Hi, Charlie..........”
Prologue: Cold Sweat
In the grand scheme of things, everybody has the generally the same game plan. At some point, we all plan to find a career, get married, have kids, attempt to enjoy life, retire, and die. That was Charlie’s game plan, too, until somebody came along and fucked the whole thing up.
Charlie sat on the corner of his bed late one balmy June night, his sweat soaked head in his hands, peering down into the darkness at the beige carpet in his room. He had just suffered the same nightmare he’s had for years past, only this time there was something more real about it. His nightmares weren’t actually dreams, it was him asleep thinking about things that actually happened. He had gotten good at getting past it, something his therapist called “Cognitive Behavioral Therapy”.
He ran his hands through his wet light brown hair and opened his eyes wide. It had been a very crazy three years for him, sometimes he had to check to make sure he was still living in real life and hadn’t shipped himself off to the loony bin. As he stands, his chest heaves with deep breaths and his heart beating hard- the perks of standing too quickly after laying down for too long. His tall frame creates a silhouette against the moonlight shining in through the windows above his bed.
Walking to his bathroom and trying to walk silently enough so as not to wake his housemates, he shakes his head a couple times. It was another bad night, he thought to himself. Just another bad dream. Splash some water on your face to cool down, head back in the room and throw some music on and everything will drift away....
Charlie turned the light on in the bathroom and stared at himself in the mirror, his hands holding firm on the edge of the sink. He splashed some water in his face and quickly toweled it off before returning to his bed.
As he laid down, the sound of his favorite singer, Norah Jones, began to echo softly from his computer. Any time he had a bad night, Norah could put him to sleep. Her voice was familiar to him by now. Charlie stared up at the ceiling, trying to coax himself back to sleep...
It all started three years ago.....that one fateful day....
Chapter One: Dragon Pants
It was 2004. Charlie sat in his dorm room, wearing ridiculously brightly colored pajama pants, looking at his roommate. Part of him was cussing the school out. He had came here to escape everything about his high school and his hometown of Cleveland. Instead, the school put him in the same room with some slob that went to high school with him and put his name down on the reserve list.
Russ smelled terrible. He was fat and used steroids, but was dumb enough to use them incorrectly. He’s the kid who thought that just by injecting the sauce into your ass on a daily basis, it would make you bigger. Instead, he grew more rotund. He was your usually wannabe baseball jock. Loud, obnoxious, and believed he was God’s golden gift to the game of baseball and to all those around him with the luck to be around him.
“Come on man, the third and fourth floor are chick floors! Welcome to college, bro! Let’s go get us some fuckin pussy!” said Russ as he changes out of his practice uniform and into a pair of gym shorts and a cutoff tee.
“Umm...don’t you need to shower first? You just got back from a four hour practice...” was Charlie’s response. “Nah, fuck that, I’m cool.” Russ walked over to the bolted in dresser and grabbed his bottle of cologne, spraying himself down a good seven times, including two good luck squirts on his crotch.
“Come on, bro. Don’t make me go up there alone. This is college! This is what it’s about! Put the fuckin book down and let’s go grab us some snatch!”
The irony of the statement caused Charlie to grin a little. He looked back down at his book, one of the required summer readings, but then closed his eyes and put the book on his desk, shaking his head. If he didn’t go up there with Russ, Russ would do it alone and invariably offend every girl up there, thus making it impossible to bring a girl back to the room, if he ever got lucky like that.
Charlie gets off his bed and walks over to his closet to find a pair of shorts.
“What the fuck are you doing? Lets go man! Times a-wastin and you aren’t getting any prettier!”
“Let me put some shorts on man...let me get out of these pajama pants...”
“Nah, fuck that, bro. They’re good. You need a sticking point. Something they’ll remember you by. If you leave an impression, no matter what it is, bitches remember.”
Charlie laughed once more.
“You really thing multicolored dragon pajama pants are gonna do that? These things are hideous man....I never wore these out in public...”
“Dude, seriously, you’ll be fine.”
“Well...whats your gimmick, Russ?”
Russ quickly looked around the room before grabbing the sombrero from Charlie’s trip to Mexico off the wall.
“Russ, get the fuck out of here. My sombrero? You look ridiculous!”
“That’s the point, bro! Girls love that ‘sense of humor’ bullshit. You know they don’t give a fuck what you really think! As long as you show and pretend you’ve got a quote unquote good sense of humor, panties drop like manna from Heaven.”
Charlie stared blankly at Russ for a second. He didn’t know whether to question how Russ knew a parable and was able to use it correctly, or why Russ connected manna to panties.
“Come on, dude. You ready? Pussy awaits us, my friend!”
Charlie rolled his eyes, lowered his head and walked out of the room behind Russ. This was a huge mistake, but at least Charlie could play the straight man. Russ would invariably make an ass out of himself, which meant as long as Charlie stood there, smiled, and played the shy but respectful type, he would probably meet some girl he could stand talking to.
Most of the rooms were the same. Russ would jump in and introduce himself and start the conversation, while Charlie politely introduced himself and talked to some of the girls he met at orientation. They were all perfectly nice, but none of them really stood out to him. Then again, he spent most of high school playing sports and hanging out with his teammates instead of pursuing girls 24/7. He had his fair share of girlfriends, but most of them came from the team. Needless to say, his skills were a little lacking.
They had made it up to the fourth floor, where all the quads were. Russ stopped Charlie outside of the first one.
“Look, bro. I met one of the girls in this room earlier. She is SMOKIN fuckin hot. Don’t fuck this one up, alright? I wanna bone her.”
Charlie rolled his eyes at Russ.
“Im serious, man! Don’t fuck this one up for me!”
“Yeah, yeah. I got you, Russ.”
Russ knocked on the door and a tiny Asian girl opened it.
“Heyyyyy! Sophie!! How the fuck is it goin?! I haven’t seen you in hours!”
Russ clobbered Sophie with a bear hug as Charlie watched behind him in bemusement as he can see Sophie’s eyes bug out once she catches Charlie’s after-practice musk.
“Hi, Russ. What’s up?”
Sophie removed herself from Russ’ grip and smiled at Charlie, extending her hand for a handshake.
“Hi. You must be Charlie? I’m Sophie. Russ and I met today at orientation.”
Charlie shook Sophie’s hand and smiled. She was cute, sure, but he would hardly call her “smokin fuckin hot” as Russ deemed her.
Russ barged past the door and into the room to meet the rest of the girls. Charlie walked behind him...
And then stopped. She stood in front of him in a pair of green basketball shorts and a gray shirt, her hair done up in a pony tail.
“Hi, I’m Ashley. What’s your name?”
The words didn’t register with Charlie. He was absolutely caught in her beauty. She must have quickly noticed him staring, because she blushed and smiled.
“Do I have a booger or something? Because that would be really embarrassing...almost as embarrassing as those pants..”
Charlie snapped back to reality and looked down. The fucking dragon pants. What an embarrassment. He told himself to remember to kick Russ in the balls later on for suggesting he walk out of the room in these goddamned pants.
“Ahh..yeah...sorry. My best friend from home made these for me.”
“I see. I don’t know many guys who sew.....”
“Oh! No. She’s a girl.”
“Girlfriend?”
“Who, Sarah? God no. We go way back. She’s like a sister. Yeah, no. I definitely don’t have a girlfriend right now.”
Charlie started to blush, badly. He knew he was failing badly at talking to this girl, but he was just shellshocked at how attracted he was to her.
“Good to know. I don’t even know your name, but I know you’re single.”
“OH! Sorry! Sorry! My name is Charlie. What’d you say your name was?”
“Ashley.”
“Hi, Ashley. My name is Charlie.....”
He paused for a moment and smiled. Charlie knew he was going to hang himself later in his closet for biffing the conversation this bad.
“Ah shit. I already told you my name. Sorry.”
“Its alright, Chuck. Where you from?”
Ashley sat on her bed and patted next to her, motioning for Charlie to come sit next to her.
“Thanks. I’m from Cleveland, Ohio.”
“Oh yeah? What part of Cleveland?”
“The actual city of. I hate those people who say they’re from Cleveland, but it ends up being a suburb. If you live in a suburb, just say so. If somebody says they’re from New York, nobody actually asks them where in New York, they just nod their heads. But with Cleveland, nobody is actually from the city. Its dumb.”
Ashley smiled while Charlie just buried his head into his chest and shook his head.
“Ah...ah...I’m sorry. For real. Russ forced me to come out and meet people. I don’t know what I’m doing up here.”
Ashley laughed.
“It’s okay. It’s kinda cute.”
Charlie looked up to see Ashley smiling and brushing a piece of her brunette with blonde highlighted hair behind her ear.
“So, where are you from, Ashley?
“Avon.”
“Oh! I know where that is! That’s about thirty minutes from Cleveland, right?”
“Yep!”
“Oh wow, we don’t live too far from each other.”
“Guess not. Don’t start stalking me now...”
“Oh...oh no. I didn’t mean it in that way! Fuck....do you just want me to leave? I’m sorry.”
Ashley puts her hand on Charlie’s.
“You’re fine, Chuck. What’s got you so nervous?”
“Well, its just that I think you’re really, really pretty. Ohhhhhh....”
Charlie said out loud what he was thinking and only caught himself after he said it. He closed his eyes and tried to fight back the tears of humiliation he felt welling in his eyes. This was kick to the nuts number two for Russ later.
“Oh...well...thank you Chuck. I think you’re pretty cute, as well.”
He looked up again and he must have looked like an excited puppy dog with as wide as his eyes were, because Ashley let out a loud laugh.
“Well...thanks, I think.”
Charlie didn’t know what to do. He had never been in this situation before. In his head were a million different thoughts, none of which seemed like a viable option. However, he knew he got to this point by being open and direct, so why stop it?
“Well, you wanna hang out?”
As Ashley goes to answer, Russ cuts a loud fart from across the room, much to the delight of Sophie.
“Umm...if you keep company like that....”
“Oh no! He’s just my roommate. I DID NOT pick to live with that mongoloid.”
“Alright. We can hang then. You wanna watch a movie later?”
“Sure!”
Charlie was beside himself he was so excited. Is it really that easy? is all he could think to himself. He walked in there, made an absolute ass out of himself, and ended up with a pseudo-date later on in the night. They continued to talk for a few more minutes before deciding on a time to meet later that night to watch the movie. Russ and Sophie butted in and joined the movie plans as well.
As Russ and Charlie walked back down the stairwell to their room, Russ punched Charlie in the shoulder.
“See, ya motherfucker! I told you things were gonna work out! I’m totally gettin laid tonight! She’s a fuckin slam piece, bro! Totally!”
Rather than engage him in conversation, Charlie merely nodded hid head, still unable to get the smile off his face. Russ or no Russ, he had a movie date with Ashley tonight.
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
The Blinking
(I'm writing off the cuff tonight. I apologize if it rambles, is incoherent, or you just don't get it. I might revise this over the next couple days if I think of ways to fill gaps or further explain)
I've come to find that my best motivation to write often comes at night.
Its a weird happenstance. I'll be thinking to myself...and something will hit a chord. And it will stick. And that thought will turn into a larger idea.
Other nights...I'll sit down with the intention of writing and stare at the screen as the typeline blinks, almost tauntingly, daring me to put words down. Those nights are the worst. I'll often doubt a lot of things- my ability to write, my intelligence, my creativity...
I got some great advice from an unlikely friend tonight.
"Im enough and I matter."
Saturday Night Live jokes aside (Im good enough, smart enough, and doggone it, people like me), there's a lot more depth to that statement beyond the statement itself.
If you read any of my writings, you usually come to the conclusion that I'm pretty self-conscious and not high on the self-esteem ladder. I was always taught over the years that humility, the act of being humble, meant always meant admitting that there were those that are smarter than you, faster than you, better than you. To me, being humble was admitting that you're not the end all be all. "Never forget where you came from, because you can always end up back there."
And to some extent, it is.
But not really.
From a religious stand point, the major religions teach that humility puts you above others, because you recognize your lowliness and are without ego.
Think about that for a moment.
You're better than others because you choose to recognize you're not better than others. You choose to recognize your lowliness and your submission to your superiors. From a religious standpoint, there should only be one- God. Therefore, if you define humility off that concept, you've got a pretty big gap there, right?
In sports, humble athletes are made into wholesome stars because they downplay their ability. Society chooses to worship someone....who refuses to acknowledge just how good they are.
Is any of this making sense? Because tonight, I can't wrap my head around it. We parade around those who choose not to parade themselves around, in essence ruining the humility they had.
On the flipside, you only get that chance if you establish yourself as being great- one of the best at what you do.
To get to that point though, requires a complete lack of humility. How do athletes become stars? Because they fight every day, training themselves, because they KNOW they're better than anyone else. Writers? They write every day and promote themselves every day, because they know the words they have strung together mean something more than what the other writers have done. Actors? They promote themselves every day, try out for every audition they can get their hands on, because they know the talent inside of them is something different and better than what is currently being offered.
I think...what I'm beginning to get at is that to be humble, you have to be a bit egotistical. To think lowly of yourself, you've got to have something you think highly of.
In Cleveland, Peyton Hillis is near demi-god status because of his humility and his talent. He's the best example I can think of off the top of my head. The man is a wrecking ball, a great running back, and a devoted religious man who constantly downplays his ability. When he first got to Cleveland, he immediately decided to tell the press he was going to make sure he became the best part of the Brady Quinn deal. Every week, he gushes humility, because all he does is play a game. Better than 99% of the people in the world. He's the perfect mix of egotism and humility.
That's how you make it, I think. That's the key to it all.
You cannot be humble without some egotism. I mean, you can be, but who would care? If you think you suck at something and continue to be humble about it, you're going nowhere and nobody really cares.
You can be egotistical without humility...but then you're just a self-righteous douchebag who thinks he's awesome but has nothing to back it up.
There has to be a balance there. You have to know you are better. Whether its a small thing or a larger thing. And it doesn't have to be better than someone else. As I preached in the beginning of the aborted Better Me Project, you can choose to find that smaller thing as being better than the person you were yesterday.
It starts as small victories and it grows to bigger ones.
Tonight somebody forced me to look in the mirror and say "I'm enough and I matter." I did it, laughing and feeling like an ass the entire time, then I sat back and thought about the depth of that statement.
You are enough. You do matter. The only constant detractor is you. The only person who regularly bets against you is you. You either choose to believe you're not very good period or you choose to believe that you're so good youre just out of the stratosphere and make everyone else around you look horrible.
I think the perfect mix of humility and egotism is in all of us, but too often we choose to follow one school instead of the other, thinking they can't harmonize.
I'm enough and I matter, though. I'm really good at the things I do, probably better than most people, and I will use those skills I have to help those around me get better at what they do. Hopefully they make me better. At the end of the day, we all fit together in a pretty awesome puzzle. We can all make each other better because we're so good at certain things and at the same time we recognize we need help with other things.
At the end of the day...all the matters....is that I'm enough and I matter.
Thanks Katie, don't let this get to your already enlarged head, okay? :)
I've come to find that my best motivation to write often comes at night.
Its a weird happenstance. I'll be thinking to myself...and something will hit a chord. And it will stick. And that thought will turn into a larger idea.
Other nights...I'll sit down with the intention of writing and stare at the screen as the typeline blinks, almost tauntingly, daring me to put words down. Those nights are the worst. I'll often doubt a lot of things- my ability to write, my intelligence, my creativity...
I got some great advice from an unlikely friend tonight.
"Im enough and I matter."
Saturday Night Live jokes aside (Im good enough, smart enough, and doggone it, people like me), there's a lot more depth to that statement beyond the statement itself.
If you read any of my writings, you usually come to the conclusion that I'm pretty self-conscious and not high on the self-esteem ladder. I was always taught over the years that humility, the act of being humble, meant always meant admitting that there were those that are smarter than you, faster than you, better than you. To me, being humble was admitting that you're not the end all be all. "Never forget where you came from, because you can always end up back there."
And to some extent, it is.
But not really.
From a religious stand point, the major religions teach that humility puts you above others, because you recognize your lowliness and are without ego.
Think about that for a moment.
You're better than others because you choose to recognize you're not better than others. You choose to recognize your lowliness and your submission to your superiors. From a religious standpoint, there should only be one- God. Therefore, if you define humility off that concept, you've got a pretty big gap there, right?
In sports, humble athletes are made into wholesome stars because they downplay their ability. Society chooses to worship someone....who refuses to acknowledge just how good they are.
Is any of this making sense? Because tonight, I can't wrap my head around it. We parade around those who choose not to parade themselves around, in essence ruining the humility they had.
On the flipside, you only get that chance if you establish yourself as being great- one of the best at what you do.
To get to that point though, requires a complete lack of humility. How do athletes become stars? Because they fight every day, training themselves, because they KNOW they're better than anyone else. Writers? They write every day and promote themselves every day, because they know the words they have strung together mean something more than what the other writers have done. Actors? They promote themselves every day, try out for every audition they can get their hands on, because they know the talent inside of them is something different and better than what is currently being offered.
I think...what I'm beginning to get at is that to be humble, you have to be a bit egotistical. To think lowly of yourself, you've got to have something you think highly of.
In Cleveland, Peyton Hillis is near demi-god status because of his humility and his talent. He's the best example I can think of off the top of my head. The man is a wrecking ball, a great running back, and a devoted religious man who constantly downplays his ability. When he first got to Cleveland, he immediately decided to tell the press he was going to make sure he became the best part of the Brady Quinn deal. Every week, he gushes humility, because all he does is play a game. Better than 99% of the people in the world. He's the perfect mix of egotism and humility.
That's how you make it, I think. That's the key to it all.
You cannot be humble without some egotism. I mean, you can be, but who would care? If you think you suck at something and continue to be humble about it, you're going nowhere and nobody really cares.
You can be egotistical without humility...but then you're just a self-righteous douchebag who thinks he's awesome but has nothing to back it up.
There has to be a balance there. You have to know you are better. Whether its a small thing or a larger thing. And it doesn't have to be better than someone else. As I preached in the beginning of the aborted Better Me Project, you can choose to find that smaller thing as being better than the person you were yesterday.
It starts as small victories and it grows to bigger ones.
Tonight somebody forced me to look in the mirror and say "I'm enough and I matter." I did it, laughing and feeling like an ass the entire time, then I sat back and thought about the depth of that statement.
You are enough. You do matter. The only constant detractor is you. The only person who regularly bets against you is you. You either choose to believe you're not very good period or you choose to believe that you're so good youre just out of the stratosphere and make everyone else around you look horrible.
I think the perfect mix of humility and egotism is in all of us, but too often we choose to follow one school instead of the other, thinking they can't harmonize.
I'm enough and I matter, though. I'm really good at the things I do, probably better than most people, and I will use those skills I have to help those around me get better at what they do. Hopefully they make me better. At the end of the day, we all fit together in a pretty awesome puzzle. We can all make each other better because we're so good at certain things and at the same time we recognize we need help with other things.
At the end of the day...all the matters....is that I'm enough and I matter.
Thanks Katie, don't let this get to your already enlarged head, okay? :)
The College Republican Letters...
As some of you know, in the summer the College Republican National Committee accepted me and asked me to write some pieces for them. I only got through 3 pieces before trying to juggle writing and working for ATO became too much to handle, but I finally dug the pieces out and put them up here for people to see...Keep in mind these were all written in the summer. All the articles are below for your viewing pleasure.
-M
(If you're lucky, you may get some original content tonight. But this is me we're talking about. So don't hold your breath. I don't want to be responsible for any deaths tonight.)
-M
(If you're lucky, you may get some original content tonight. But this is me we're talking about. So don't hold your breath. I don't want to be responsible for any deaths tonight.)
Out of Recess... (April 2010 Article for CRNC)
Out of Recess and Into a Recession: Confessions of a Sixth Grade Republican
By: Mickey Hart
‘Any man who is under 30, and is not a liberal, has no heart; and any man who is over 30, and is not a conservative, has no brains.’ -Winston Churchill
I still remember the day I first thought of myself as a conservative Republican. I was in the sixth grade. Our social studies class decided to do a mock election and, as luck would have it, I got picked to run as “Mickey Clinton”. The assignment revolved around researching the candidate, putting together a stump speech for the class, and campaigning around the school for that week.
I lost, handily, because “Timmy Dole” was the popular kid in class and I was the history nerd with a penchant for reading my history textbook while everyone else played kickball on the school yard.
I digress, however, as thats not the point. In doing my research on Clinton, I expected to be amazed by the wonders of the man and his ability to change the world. After all, to a sixth grader, being POTUS is akin to being Superman, except instead of being impervious to bullets, he has Secret Service. Instead of kryptonite....Monica Lewinsky and Kenneth Starr.
My expectations couldn’t be further from the truth. Even as an eleven year old, I could tell something was wrong with what he was trying to peddle as president. It just didn’t make sense.
Thirteen years later, a lot has changed in the world, but I imagine there are many sixth graders coming to the same conclusion.
The quote at the top of this article, attributed to Winston Churchill, posits that young people are more accustomed to liberalism. Why? Because we’re supposed to be naive, idealistic, not yet jaded, still full of vigor and hope to change the world.
The theory has always been that liberals want to change the world- they are the influencers that make the positive change that the world needs. Conservatives are just crusty old guard who want to keep the same ideas and run the course.
I can’t believe that. Not one bit.
For far too long, conservatives and Republicans alike have stayed stoic, stayed out of the name calling, the pigeonholing, etc. We allowed liberals to paint us any color they wanted and we stuck with it. Too concerned with actually making a difference, we began to forget that, in the court of public opinion, all the positive change in the world doesn’t make one bit of difference if you can’t get people behind it.
So I ask, why can’t we be the world changers? What is so inherently wrong with conservatism and Republicanism that we can’t be positive change.
The answer, my friends, is nothing.
This past weekend at a commencement, Obama spoke negatively on the internet and the new media, claiming blogs and other news media may not be the most truthful and are making media another form of entertainment instead of the empowerment it should be.
It is time to show him just how wrong he is. I don’t write for entertainment, I write for empowerment. As the youth of a technologically advanced America, we have a power that our parents, or their parents, or their parent’s parents never could have thought existed.
You’re reading this on the College Republican National Committee website, which means you’re empowered. Or you’re bored, surfing and using the internet as entertainment (for shame!).
Either way, take a stand. Republicans can’t sit back anymore and let the mud roll off our chests. Get involved.
Volunteer for campaigns. This is a huge year. Though you may not understand the intricacies of Congress, seating gains, campaign finance, etc....know that the more we win, the better the chance that we get America back on track. You can volunteer through this website, you can go to your local Republican Party office and sign up, you can find your College Republicans chapter OR even start one if your campus doesn’t have one (all done through this fantastic website, as well).
Donate. If you don’t have money, donate time. Phone banking, door-to-door organizing. Or, if you’re old school, grab a milk crate, stand in the middle of campus, and educate your peers on what you feel is wrong.
Debate. Don’t be silent. Silence is the worst thing you can do right now. I know you have opinions. Don’t keep them to yourself. Share them. If somebody raises points that you don’t agree with, challenge them (respectfully, obviously). Though you may not change their minds, you never know who may be listening in and be swayed.
Recruit. Maybe you’re so busy on campus you just don’t have the time to commit to this noble cause, but you know five people with the time and the same beliefs. Get them involved. Find the connecting piece that will cause them to rise up from their seclusion and take a stand for what they believe in.
There’s a lot you can do. Those are just a few ideas. But its up to you to take the power we’ve been given and run with it.
I found my beliefs in the sixth grade. I secretly rooted for Bush in 2000 as a freshman in high school. It took somebody from my campuses College Republicans showing me that I had a voice, that I could share my beliefs and that, above all else, I wasn’t wrong to think that way. It empowered me.
My hope is this empowers you. Its up to us to make this happen. We are the changing force America needs. We can take American and the GOP on our shoulders and make it better.
Let’s prove Churchill wrong.
Let’s prove Obama wrong.
But, most importantly, let’s prove each other right.
By: Mickey Hart
‘Any man who is under 30, and is not a liberal, has no heart; and any man who is over 30, and is not a conservative, has no brains.’ -Winston Churchill
I still remember the day I first thought of myself as a conservative Republican. I was in the sixth grade. Our social studies class decided to do a mock election and, as luck would have it, I got picked to run as “Mickey Clinton”. The assignment revolved around researching the candidate, putting together a stump speech for the class, and campaigning around the school for that week.
I lost, handily, because “Timmy Dole” was the popular kid in class and I was the history nerd with a penchant for reading my history textbook while everyone else played kickball on the school yard.
I digress, however, as thats not the point. In doing my research on Clinton, I expected to be amazed by the wonders of the man and his ability to change the world. After all, to a sixth grader, being POTUS is akin to being Superman, except instead of being impervious to bullets, he has Secret Service. Instead of kryptonite....Monica Lewinsky and Kenneth Starr.
My expectations couldn’t be further from the truth. Even as an eleven year old, I could tell something was wrong with what he was trying to peddle as president. It just didn’t make sense.
Thirteen years later, a lot has changed in the world, but I imagine there are many sixth graders coming to the same conclusion.
The quote at the top of this article, attributed to Winston Churchill, posits that young people are more accustomed to liberalism. Why? Because we’re supposed to be naive, idealistic, not yet jaded, still full of vigor and hope to change the world.
The theory has always been that liberals want to change the world- they are the influencers that make the positive change that the world needs. Conservatives are just crusty old guard who want to keep the same ideas and run the course.
I can’t believe that. Not one bit.
For far too long, conservatives and Republicans alike have stayed stoic, stayed out of the name calling, the pigeonholing, etc. We allowed liberals to paint us any color they wanted and we stuck with it. Too concerned with actually making a difference, we began to forget that, in the court of public opinion, all the positive change in the world doesn’t make one bit of difference if you can’t get people behind it.
So I ask, why can’t we be the world changers? What is so inherently wrong with conservatism and Republicanism that we can’t be positive change.
The answer, my friends, is nothing.
This past weekend at a commencement, Obama spoke negatively on the internet and the new media, claiming blogs and other news media may not be the most truthful and are making media another form of entertainment instead of the empowerment it should be.
It is time to show him just how wrong he is. I don’t write for entertainment, I write for empowerment. As the youth of a technologically advanced America, we have a power that our parents, or their parents, or their parent’s parents never could have thought existed.
You’re reading this on the College Republican National Committee website, which means you’re empowered. Or you’re bored, surfing and using the internet as entertainment (for shame!).
Either way, take a stand. Republicans can’t sit back anymore and let the mud roll off our chests. Get involved.
Volunteer for campaigns. This is a huge year. Though you may not understand the intricacies of Congress, seating gains, campaign finance, etc....know that the more we win, the better the chance that we get America back on track. You can volunteer through this website, you can go to your local Republican Party office and sign up, you can find your College Republicans chapter OR even start one if your campus doesn’t have one (all done through this fantastic website, as well).
Donate. If you don’t have money, donate time. Phone banking, door-to-door organizing. Or, if you’re old school, grab a milk crate, stand in the middle of campus, and educate your peers on what you feel is wrong.
Debate. Don’t be silent. Silence is the worst thing you can do right now. I know you have opinions. Don’t keep them to yourself. Share them. If somebody raises points that you don’t agree with, challenge them (respectfully, obviously). Though you may not change their minds, you never know who may be listening in and be swayed.
Recruit. Maybe you’re so busy on campus you just don’t have the time to commit to this noble cause, but you know five people with the time and the same beliefs. Get them involved. Find the connecting piece that will cause them to rise up from their seclusion and take a stand for what they believe in.
There’s a lot you can do. Those are just a few ideas. But its up to you to take the power we’ve been given and run with it.
I found my beliefs in the sixth grade. I secretly rooted for Bush in 2000 as a freshman in high school. It took somebody from my campuses College Republicans showing me that I had a voice, that I could share my beliefs and that, above all else, I wasn’t wrong to think that way. It empowered me.
My hope is this empowers you. Its up to us to make this happen. We are the changing force America needs. We can take American and the GOP on our shoulders and make it better.
Let’s prove Churchill wrong.
Let’s prove Obama wrong.
But, most importantly, let’s prove each other right.
Staring Down A Tank (May 2010 Article for CRNC)
Staring Down a Tank: The Process of a Change
For the past week or so, I’ve been holed up at a camp in Brookston, Indiana with 50 undergraduate men and women. I’m facilitating a leadership development program called LeaderShape ( HYPERLINK "http://www.leadershape.org/" www.leadershape.org). The purpose of which is to teach men and women how to become better leaders, to lead with integrity, and to use what they know and the resources around them to fix problems they see. The main idea of the week is for these collegiate men and women to come up with their own ‘vision’- an idea they have that would make the community they choose (city, state, federal, school, greek, etc) better on the whole.
So now I bet you think this is either a piece extolling the virtues of this program....aka selling out....or a rant on the degeneration of the youth of America. I promise its neither. Now, that College Republican National Committee...such a great group...definitely worth giving money to! They're just so awesome! (end semi-corporate shill)
My last piece focused on pushing you to get out and do something. That’s the charge we need to take in 2010- get out and do something. If you care passionately about politics, about your community, about your nation- you HAVE to get out and do something about it. We’re in too dangerous a situation right now to have you wait to get involved. Washington is putting way too much on our generations ‘tab’, as you’ve seen on this website.
We need to make a concerted effort to close our generational ‘tab’ and focus on getting the tab paid before we get too far in debt and end up with a fiscal crisis on our hands much larger than what we’ve seen with Greece.
So, Republican youth of America, I challenge you now to find your vision.
It’s really simple.
What do you want to change? What do you think you can change? How can you make those changes?
This is bigger than just going out to vote or having debates with other people on campus- this is doing work. This is taking your stand and yelling out with the rest of us “Don’t put it on our tab!”
I’ll use my new vision as an example and break the process down for you.
Mickey’s Vision: Republicans 18-30 voting in the 2010 election, thus being the major push that brings conservatism back into Washington.
Look at that sentence again. You want to know the biggest part about that? In that sentence, I say nothing about myself. It’s not me doing anything.
Your vision is bigger than you.
I’ve spent the past 8 months traveling across the United States for my job and have been on numerous campuses and met numerous young college kids. I've never felt so small before. Until you travel outside your safe zones, you just have no idea how large the nation really is, which also shows how big an impact one person making a concerted effort to cause a great change can be.
Your vision must be bigger than you because what’s at stake affects way more than just you.
Now, here’s where I throw you for a loop...ready? You’re currently the most important piece to your vision.
Why?
Because your vision is unique to you. It’s an idea you have created. Ultimately, you are nothing more than the ignition. You find your vision and you begin to enact it. If you do it correctly, your vision mushrooms and becomes so much bigger than you. Your contribution in the beginning is so important to the process, but the end result is what you’re looking for.
Confused yet? I think I might have confused myself.
Let me attempt to simplify.
I’m challenging you to do something great. It doesn’t have to be massive, just make it something. Sit down and just think.
What is the one thing that you care about so much in the world currently that you would stand in front of a tank to protect?
For me, that is protecting the United States and saving the US from the ruin our current politicians are leading us into.
I would gladly go out into the middle of Times Square and stare down a tank if it meant that at least one person would take notice and stand up and make a difference. If one person stands up, they could lead another ten to do so...and then those ten lead another ten each...and that starts the chain reaction of change. In that circumstance, there’s a chance nobody ever knows that I sparked that change.
But would it be necessary? No. The end result was reached.
This is where our current president, Barack Obama, led his people astray. All the “change” you may or may not have seen since his inauguration, you’ve KNOWN he was a part of it, because it was shoved down your throat. Anything that had nothing to do with his change? He publicly distanced himself and put it down.
Thats where you make the real change. It’s not about the credit, the glory, the glamour, the press. As a Republican, you have to stand up and fight for a change to the world now, not because you want to line your pockets, but because you want to create a world that you can live in. A world you can thrive in and eventually raise a family in.
It can't even be about politics anymore. Republican, Democrat, Independent, Communist...well, maybe not Communist. It is about us as a group standing up and screaming that we refuse to let the people in charge burden our backs with any heavier a load than they already have with this massive debt that continues to grow exponentially.
This isn’t about us anymore, kids, it’s about the entire United States. It’s about the entire world.
So, find your vision. Find the one thing that would make you play a game of chicken with a tank, the one thing that lights an unending fire inside of you.
Go make that change. America is waiting.
By: Mickey Hart
Mickey is a 2008 graduate from Marietta College (Marietta, OH). You can read his other works at americannewbreed.blogspot.com or borderwarsports.com. You can reach him at HYPERLINK "mailto:michael86hart@gmail.com" michael86hart@gmail.com
For the past week or so, I’ve been holed up at a camp in Brookston, Indiana with 50 undergraduate men and women. I’m facilitating a leadership development program called LeaderShape ( HYPERLINK "http://www.leadershape.org/" www.leadershape.org). The purpose of which is to teach men and women how to become better leaders, to lead with integrity, and to use what they know and the resources around them to fix problems they see. The main idea of the week is for these collegiate men and women to come up with their own ‘vision’- an idea they have that would make the community they choose (city, state, federal, school, greek, etc) better on the whole.
So now I bet you think this is either a piece extolling the virtues of this program....aka selling out....or a rant on the degeneration of the youth of America. I promise its neither. Now, that College Republican National Committee...such a great group...definitely worth giving money to! They're just so awesome! (end semi-corporate shill)
My last piece focused on pushing you to get out and do something. That’s the charge we need to take in 2010- get out and do something. If you care passionately about politics, about your community, about your nation- you HAVE to get out and do something about it. We’re in too dangerous a situation right now to have you wait to get involved. Washington is putting way too much on our generations ‘tab’, as you’ve seen on this website.
We need to make a concerted effort to close our generational ‘tab’ and focus on getting the tab paid before we get too far in debt and end up with a fiscal crisis on our hands much larger than what we’ve seen with Greece.
So, Republican youth of America, I challenge you now to find your vision.
It’s really simple.
What do you want to change? What do you think you can change? How can you make those changes?
This is bigger than just going out to vote or having debates with other people on campus- this is doing work. This is taking your stand and yelling out with the rest of us “Don’t put it on our tab!”
I’ll use my new vision as an example and break the process down for you.
Mickey’s Vision: Republicans 18-30 voting in the 2010 election, thus being the major push that brings conservatism back into Washington.
Look at that sentence again. You want to know the biggest part about that? In that sentence, I say nothing about myself. It’s not me doing anything.
Your vision is bigger than you.
I’ve spent the past 8 months traveling across the United States for my job and have been on numerous campuses and met numerous young college kids. I've never felt so small before. Until you travel outside your safe zones, you just have no idea how large the nation really is, which also shows how big an impact one person making a concerted effort to cause a great change can be.
Your vision must be bigger than you because what’s at stake affects way more than just you.
Now, here’s where I throw you for a loop...ready? You’re currently the most important piece to your vision.
Why?
Because your vision is unique to you. It’s an idea you have created. Ultimately, you are nothing more than the ignition. You find your vision and you begin to enact it. If you do it correctly, your vision mushrooms and becomes so much bigger than you. Your contribution in the beginning is so important to the process, but the end result is what you’re looking for.
Confused yet? I think I might have confused myself.
Let me attempt to simplify.
I’m challenging you to do something great. It doesn’t have to be massive, just make it something. Sit down and just think.
What is the one thing that you care about so much in the world currently that you would stand in front of a tank to protect?
For me, that is protecting the United States and saving the US from the ruin our current politicians are leading us into.
I would gladly go out into the middle of Times Square and stare down a tank if it meant that at least one person would take notice and stand up and make a difference. If one person stands up, they could lead another ten to do so...and then those ten lead another ten each...and that starts the chain reaction of change. In that circumstance, there’s a chance nobody ever knows that I sparked that change.
But would it be necessary? No. The end result was reached.
This is where our current president, Barack Obama, led his people astray. All the “change” you may or may not have seen since his inauguration, you’ve KNOWN he was a part of it, because it was shoved down your throat. Anything that had nothing to do with his change? He publicly distanced himself and put it down.
Thats where you make the real change. It’s not about the credit, the glory, the glamour, the press. As a Republican, you have to stand up and fight for a change to the world now, not because you want to line your pockets, but because you want to create a world that you can live in. A world you can thrive in and eventually raise a family in.
It can't even be about politics anymore. Republican, Democrat, Independent, Communist...well, maybe not Communist. It is about us as a group standing up and screaming that we refuse to let the people in charge burden our backs with any heavier a load than they already have with this massive debt that continues to grow exponentially.
This isn’t about us anymore, kids, it’s about the entire United States. It’s about the entire world.
So, find your vision. Find the one thing that would make you play a game of chicken with a tank, the one thing that lights an unending fire inside of you.
Go make that change. America is waiting.
By: Mickey Hart
Mickey is a 2008 graduate from Marietta College (Marietta, OH). You can read his other works at americannewbreed.blogspot.com or borderwarsports.com. You can reach him at HYPERLINK "mailto:michael86hart@gmail.com" michael86hart@gmail.com
Barack's Panic (May 2010 Article for the CRNC)
Barack’s Panic: Mishandling of the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2010/06/07/obama_seeking_ass_to_kick_over_oil_spill.html
So...Obama is talking to people...so he can eventually kick somebody’s ass at BP soon.
I mean, it makes sense. BP had faulty equipment at Deepwater Horizon and we’re all reaping the horrible outcome of it failing. Reasonably, the President of the United States should have been “kicking ass” since day one.
But.....we’re into day 50+, aren’t we?
Look, I have absolutely no problem with Obama being incensed that things went wrong, they can’t be fixed, and that we need solutions now. That’s what a president needs to do in time of crisis such as this. What I don’t understand is why it took THIS LONG for him to finally show some emotion over what’s been going on.
You can hate me for this statement, but I don’t fault BP much in this situation. There are a number of reasons that, although BP is part of the blame, they don’t deserve all of it. First of all, the rig was being leased by BP, meaning BP didn’t build the rig. The Deepwater Horizon rig was built by the largest offshore drilling contractor in the world, Transocean http://www.deepwater.com/fw/main/Home-1.html. It was built in 2001, but wasn’t leased by BP until 2008/2009 http://www.offshore-mag.com/index/article-display/6112303380/articles/offshore/volume-69/issue-11/departments/gulf-of_mexico/gulf-of_mexico.html). It was built in South Korea at a Hyundai owned plant.
In that paragraph alone, there’s two companies more at fault than BP. Transocean funded and built the specs and Hyundai built the structure. The big problem being that when the explosions happened, the blowout preventer failed to do its job, which would be to stop oil from spilling out into the ocean. Why isn’t more scrutiny made toward Transocean and Hyundai for providing equipment that failed?
It is BP’s fault insomuch as they chose to drill in that region and bring the faulty equipment into the area. Faulty equipment that has passed multiple inspections by federal and BP standards.
I propose that the reason so much scrutiny is being heaped upon BP instead of the other companies is due, in large part, to the liberal agenda. Everybody is vehemently heaping hate upon BP over the past two months. Why? Because the media, politicians, etc. are all blaming BP. Yes, BP needs to shoulder some of the blame. Not nearly as much as the other two companies, though.
Its a smart political move. If the Democrats can get the American people to continue to hate oil companies, it can move it’s energy policy along. This has been in the works since the demonization of Halliburton because, at one point, Dick Cheney worked there.
We, as Americans, have come to love sensationalism. The more vitriolic somebody is when they denounce something, the more we eat it up and believe them. If they’re passionate, well....they must be right.
Well, Obama decided to get passionate. Weeks later than he should have. Now, he’s receiving anger from both sides.
He deserves it, too. His response is downright laughable. He’s talking to people to find out “who’s ass to kick”. We’re over 50 days into this fiasco and our government doesn’t have the names of the people responsible?
Not to mention the fact that the person who deserves the biggest kick is Obama himself. For all the proselytizing Obama does about what an awful thing this is and how it needs to be fixed, what exactly has the federal government done to help out?
Absolutely nothing.
On the page the White House has set up to discuss government involvement http://www.whitehouse.gov/deepwater-bp-oil-spill, if you read through it, its a whole lot of NOTHING.
Apart from doing search and rescue right after the explosion, there’s not much. The EPA is committed to continuously testing the environment in the region to watch out for dangers, but come on. Really? We need the EPA to stand there every day to tell us ‘it’s bad down here.’? We can’t figure that out by looking out into the Gulf and seeing oil EVERYWHERE?
Oh, well, the Small Business Administration is offering low-interest loans to companies suffering because of the disaster.
You mean to tell me that with all the bailout money that has been tossed around like Monopoly money over the past year, we can’t spare a fraction of it to help out businesses that actually need the help? These people aren’t going under because they don’t know how to run a business, they’re failing because of a terrible ecological disaster! The only way you can provide help is to give them loans? That is absolutely absurd considering the frivolity this administration has shown when it comes to helping businesses recover from self-inflicted wounds.
With his decision to show some anger with the interview over the oil spill, critics latched on and began to criticize him for being too late to respond in such a manner, and not being all that believable with his anger. Unfortunately, the left has decide to make it more than that. They’ve decided, as they usually do with Obama, to turn it into a race issue.
First, there’s Jonathan Capehart, a writer for the Washington Post, who decided to make it known that Obama needs to watch what he says lest he be seen as a “dangerous or menacing” African American http://voices.washingtonpost.com/postpartisan/2010/06/rage_why_obama_wont_and_cant_g.html.
As always, the left is quick to pull the race card to quell any argument the right may have against its knight in shining armor.
Really? For once I would love to see the left treat this man as just the President of the United States, instead of the African American President of the United States.
Capehart goes on to quote an African American Democratic strategist in the following passage...
“"You and I are held to a somewhat different standard in the way we comport ourselves in professional environments," a black Democratic strategist with close ties to the business community said. "We are oftentimes held hostage to the myth of the 'angry black man' in ways that constrain us."
"As a black man, as a big black man, I know there are certain ways I can behave," an African American executive told me last week. "We don't have the luxury of making certain kinds of mistakes that would have us viewed as unintelligent.... You're carrying this burden of not having the luxury of messing up."”
REALLY? This just absolutely outrages me. To attempt to say that black men must keep their calm because they are viewed differently is just absurd. If you sit there and spout off a racist agenda, you have every right to be considered a dangerous person, regardless of sex or skin pigmentation. But if you are angry because of something legitimate, like an oil spill, and you’re angry on day one instead of somewhere in the fifties, then you have every right to speak and act as such. You may be critiqued for your message, but that will be because of the message, not because of the color of your skin.
Obama, as president, has every right to explode at any moment he wants, just as both Bushes, Clinton, and all the other presidents before him. Though I disagree with his policy and his governing style, I will never begrudge another person the right to speak what they want and be angered at whatever angers them, provided they have solid reasoning for being that angry.
Then, Mark Halperin, co-author of admittedly my favorite political book, Game Change, even went so far as to claim racism when Matt Drudge reported Obama’s interview. http://realclearpolitics.com/video/2010/06/09/oreilly_interviews_halperin_about_drudge_report_headline_on_obamas_ass_to_kick_comment.html
I don’t get it. I really don’t. What’s the appeal? Is there anything that can be said about this president that can’t be misconstrued with racism? In Halperin’s book, it’s even stated at multiple points that Obama didn’t want his presidency to be focused solely on the race card, yet here’s the author of the book that made that known falling back on the race card. It’s really mindboggling.
I don’t know. Maybe I’m blind to this issue. I just don’t see it. If you have proof that we treat minority politicians that much differently than white politicians that they feel the need to act in such a manner, please email it to me, or post it as feedback.
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2010/06/07/obama_seeking_ass_to_kick_over_oil_spill.html
So...Obama is talking to people...so he can eventually kick somebody’s ass at BP soon.
I mean, it makes sense. BP had faulty equipment at Deepwater Horizon and we’re all reaping the horrible outcome of it failing. Reasonably, the President of the United States should have been “kicking ass” since day one.
But.....we’re into day 50+, aren’t we?
Look, I have absolutely no problem with Obama being incensed that things went wrong, they can’t be fixed, and that we need solutions now. That’s what a president needs to do in time of crisis such as this. What I don’t understand is why it took THIS LONG for him to finally show some emotion over what’s been going on.
You can hate me for this statement, but I don’t fault BP much in this situation. There are a number of reasons that, although BP is part of the blame, they don’t deserve all of it. First of all, the rig was being leased by BP, meaning BP didn’t build the rig. The Deepwater Horizon rig was built by the largest offshore drilling contractor in the world, Transocean http://www.deepwater.com/fw/main/Home-1.html. It was built in 2001, but wasn’t leased by BP until 2008/2009 http://www.offshore-mag.com/index/article-display/6112303380/articles/offshore/volume-69/issue-11/departments/gulf-of_mexico/gulf-of_mexico.html). It was built in South Korea at a Hyundai owned plant.
In that paragraph alone, there’s two companies more at fault than BP. Transocean funded and built the specs and Hyundai built the structure. The big problem being that when the explosions happened, the blowout preventer failed to do its job, which would be to stop oil from spilling out into the ocean. Why isn’t more scrutiny made toward Transocean and Hyundai for providing equipment that failed?
It is BP’s fault insomuch as they chose to drill in that region and bring the faulty equipment into the area. Faulty equipment that has passed multiple inspections by federal and BP standards.
I propose that the reason so much scrutiny is being heaped upon BP instead of the other companies is due, in large part, to the liberal agenda. Everybody is vehemently heaping hate upon BP over the past two months. Why? Because the media, politicians, etc. are all blaming BP. Yes, BP needs to shoulder some of the blame. Not nearly as much as the other two companies, though.
Its a smart political move. If the Democrats can get the American people to continue to hate oil companies, it can move it’s energy policy along. This has been in the works since the demonization of Halliburton because, at one point, Dick Cheney worked there.
We, as Americans, have come to love sensationalism. The more vitriolic somebody is when they denounce something, the more we eat it up and believe them. If they’re passionate, well....they must be right.
Well, Obama decided to get passionate. Weeks later than he should have. Now, he’s receiving anger from both sides.
He deserves it, too. His response is downright laughable. He’s talking to people to find out “who’s ass to kick”. We’re over 50 days into this fiasco and our government doesn’t have the names of the people responsible?
Not to mention the fact that the person who deserves the biggest kick is Obama himself. For all the proselytizing Obama does about what an awful thing this is and how it needs to be fixed, what exactly has the federal government done to help out?
Absolutely nothing.
On the page the White House has set up to discuss government involvement http://www.whitehouse.gov/deepwater-bp-oil-spill, if you read through it, its a whole lot of NOTHING.
Apart from doing search and rescue right after the explosion, there’s not much. The EPA is committed to continuously testing the environment in the region to watch out for dangers, but come on. Really? We need the EPA to stand there every day to tell us ‘it’s bad down here.’? We can’t figure that out by looking out into the Gulf and seeing oil EVERYWHERE?
Oh, well, the Small Business Administration is offering low-interest loans to companies suffering because of the disaster.
You mean to tell me that with all the bailout money that has been tossed around like Monopoly money over the past year, we can’t spare a fraction of it to help out businesses that actually need the help? These people aren’t going under because they don’t know how to run a business, they’re failing because of a terrible ecological disaster! The only way you can provide help is to give them loans? That is absolutely absurd considering the frivolity this administration has shown when it comes to helping businesses recover from self-inflicted wounds.
With his decision to show some anger with the interview over the oil spill, critics latched on and began to criticize him for being too late to respond in such a manner, and not being all that believable with his anger. Unfortunately, the left has decide to make it more than that. They’ve decided, as they usually do with Obama, to turn it into a race issue.
First, there’s Jonathan Capehart, a writer for the Washington Post, who decided to make it known that Obama needs to watch what he says lest he be seen as a “dangerous or menacing” African American http://voices.washingtonpost.com/postpartisan/2010/06/rage_why_obama_wont_and_cant_g.html.
As always, the left is quick to pull the race card to quell any argument the right may have against its knight in shining armor.
Really? For once I would love to see the left treat this man as just the President of the United States, instead of the African American President of the United States.
Capehart goes on to quote an African American Democratic strategist in the following passage...
“"You and I are held to a somewhat different standard in the way we comport ourselves in professional environments," a black Democratic strategist with close ties to the business community said. "We are oftentimes held hostage to the myth of the 'angry black man' in ways that constrain us."
"As a black man, as a big black man, I know there are certain ways I can behave," an African American executive told me last week. "We don't have the luxury of making certain kinds of mistakes that would have us viewed as unintelligent.... You're carrying this burden of not having the luxury of messing up."”
REALLY? This just absolutely outrages me. To attempt to say that black men must keep their calm because they are viewed differently is just absurd. If you sit there and spout off a racist agenda, you have every right to be considered a dangerous person, regardless of sex or skin pigmentation. But if you are angry because of something legitimate, like an oil spill, and you’re angry on day one instead of somewhere in the fifties, then you have every right to speak and act as such. You may be critiqued for your message, but that will be because of the message, not because of the color of your skin.
Obama, as president, has every right to explode at any moment he wants, just as both Bushes, Clinton, and all the other presidents before him. Though I disagree with his policy and his governing style, I will never begrudge another person the right to speak what they want and be angered at whatever angers them, provided they have solid reasoning for being that angry.
Then, Mark Halperin, co-author of admittedly my favorite political book, Game Change, even went so far as to claim racism when Matt Drudge reported Obama’s interview. http://realclearpolitics.com/video/2010/06/09/oreilly_interviews_halperin_about_drudge_report_headline_on_obamas_ass_to_kick_comment.html
I don’t get it. I really don’t. What’s the appeal? Is there anything that can be said about this president that can’t be misconstrued with racism? In Halperin’s book, it’s even stated at multiple points that Obama didn’t want his presidency to be focused solely on the race card, yet here’s the author of the book that made that known falling back on the race card. It’s really mindboggling.
I don’t know. Maybe I’m blind to this issue. I just don’t see it. If you have proof that we treat minority politicians that much differently than white politicians that they feel the need to act in such a manner, please email it to me, or post it as feedback.
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