Quit stalling and start working together.

I am waiting on the Republican Party to understand they did NOT win the election. While they still hold a majority in the house, they actually lost ground there, too. But still no resolve to solve the country’s financial crisis with compromise.  No wonder the President is digging his heels in and being tough.

The other side is obstinate and unyielding.

I give the Speaker credit for restructuring committees and taking Tea Party stalwarts off financial posts and placing more, levelheaded folk in those positions – men who understand that revenue generation will have to happen and that means new taxes.  The followers of Grover Norquist are mistaken and wrong.  And I am even believing they are slightly un-American in their view of the future of this country.

And I also give the Speaker kudos for trying to negotiate with the White House on a path to getting us out of this crisis. But the party behind the Speaker is being just as stupid as they were before the election. America wants a change.  They want all Americans to pay their fair share.  Key word there is FAIR.  One needs only to read Warren Buffett to realize that the rich can afford more — and they get more out of the  infrastructure of the nation that the average citizen.

Arguments have been made on both sides of the question about lower taxes for the wealthy generating more jobs.  We haven’t seen in in the last five years, so it must not be working. It didn’t work under Reagan, Bush I or Bush II. But the right wants to believe that lower taxes for the Daddy Warbucks of America will generate great prosperity for us all.  (Ain’t gonna happen.) Besides the right wants to strip America of the entitlements it has paid into…Social Security and Medicare: both of which need restructuring to be sure, but not wholesale dismantling as some on the far-right would have you believe. We are “entitled to these things, because we have paid for them. They are not freebie handouts to a slothful society. Far from it. They are part of a whole network of payments entrusted to Congress on the behalf of the American Taxpayer, which Congress has squandered away.

But the right would make you think that people wanting the entitlements are a bunch of non-working, freeloaders. Hey, Rush, look at our paychecks and see the withholdings for FICA, et al., and then tell us we are freeloaders. American is made up of hard working men and women who have paid into the system and who expect that system to return to them the funds the entrusted it with.

 The “Cliff” is looming.  If we get there without an accord, the finger can only be pointed in one direction: Toward Congress. It has done little if anything, to show that it is willing to work for America and not for the “causes” that propelled it to the most expensive loss in U.S. electoral history.

Come on Republicans, let’s roll up our sleeves and work out a compromise. We need new and more revenue and we need to cut spending.  We need reform on both sides of the ledger.  Not just one.  But both. 

Give us a solution and the American people with their resilient American spirit will make it work. But remember, not all Americans are country-club, yacht-owning-high-net-worth individuals with tons of cash buried off shore out of sight from the IRS. Some are just hard-working middle class families trying to make a go of it. 

Oh, I forgot, your party walked away from them…haven’t you?

It is not what you do, but how you do it.

The measure of a person is not what he or she has done, not what they have accomplished, but how hard, how diligent they were in working toward their goals.

I read those words in a book the other day as I waited to go into an appointment and I thought of all the times people have set out to try an accomplish something grand, only to discover a new path to somewhere new or to refine an old path to a place many have been before, but never looked at it in the same light.

The trick with life is that it is not about the destination it is all about the journey. The Nookta tribe of Native Americans call it the Great Way: the path that we must all travel in our lifetime toward whatever end— whatever goal there is awaiting for us.  Our measure is not how fast we get there, not how brilliantly we finish, but rather how strong we are on the entire journey.

Perhaps in Western Civilization, we are far too concerned with being judged along the journey rather than moving along it learning from our mistakes and our victories.  There is too much emphasis placed on judgment from afar by some spirit that is going to eventually send us to either heaven or hell. And in so doing, we have become a narcissistic society, interested in saving our own skin, rather than sharing what we have learned on our own journeys, so that others' lives might be fulfilled as well. What we set out to accomplish is of little value to the total purpose of the Great Way, but rather what we deliver to others as we move along its indelible pathway.

This is a holiday time where we celebrate the birth and life of Christ, who himself talked over and over about giving and sharing to others: the very essence of the journey along the Great Way. It is about the movement down that path, rather than the ultimate goal of that path, that is so vital to each of us.  We should not miss a day enjoying it, reveling in it and even understanding its lessons, both hard-learned and joyous.  In life and in death, in sickness, sorry and in health and celebration, the Great Way is a passage for us all to grow in and to share from.

So perhaps this crazy holiday season we should slow down. Stop even. And enjoy the moment. Remember friends. Remember family. Share in the delights of the world around us.  And look as far down the Great Way as we must, to set our sights on the steps we will take that day and then in later days, knowing not when the last steps each of us will take along the path. But remembering that in each step we take, we grow and we share the knowledge of that growth with those around us.

The measure of a person is really not in what they accomplished, but in what they shared from their experiences. My wish for all of you, is that you get to share richly with others and do so with an open heart and an open mind to receive back from them, the lessons they, too, have learned along the way.

Alzheimer's vs Jimbo

I received an invitation the other day to appear on a radio show in a city far to our north. They had read my PR about the release of my new novel, The Myth Makers and wanted me on the show.  As I talked with the producer, I realized I knew her from somewhere. Finally I asked her if she had a brother named Jimbo?  And she laughed and said, “Yes, but I haven’t heard him called that since I left Austin.”  Come to find out, she was the baby sister of a good friend of mine from UT days…that’s something like a million years ago.

I asked about her brother and she told me he was not doing well. He was suffering from Alzheimer’s’ and was in its very late stages. I asked her about her other brother, Tom and she said he had been giving his brother care around the clock ever since he had become so ill. 

I called Tom and introduced myself. He remembered me and I told him of getting his name and number from Sally and then I asked if I could see Jimbo if not but for a moment. Tom said it would be possible. He gave me their address and I went to their house a day or two later when I was in Austin.

Something rather strange happened. As soon as I walked in the room Jimbo recognized me and even called out to me. “Crawley!  You old rascal, you.” His brother and the nurse there in the room were both shocked.  We spoke a few sentences together and hugged like old college buds will do. Then the gray curtain came back down and he had no more an idea of who I was than a brick wall. But for that instant he remembered me and called out my name.

Later, Tom said that moment was like a small miracle. “We live for those. Just to know that deep inside there, he’s still with us. Somehow and at some level.”  I didn’t stay long.  I had pressing engagements elsewhere, but it was such a great gift for Jimbo to have called out my name and remembered me, if not for but the briefest of instances.

Alzheimer’s is a dreaded disease.  It robs one of the most vital of all our organs — the brain. My close friend Stephen Woodfin has written about it a length in his novels and participates in fund raising and awareness for a cure for this thoughtless killer. His work opened my eyes to the plight of families facing such horrors. The tales he tells are sad and lonely.  But that day — that instant with Jimbo, gave me and those in the room a moment of victory in a losing war. For one instant we had a beachhead.  We had a minute of joy…of remembrance.

Jimbo will not be with us long. His passing will be sad. But of all the things he and I did in school (some of which I cannot print in this article) of all the things we shared, the thing I will remember the most is his looking up from a blank stare as I entered his room and him calling out, “Crawley! You old rascal.” Somewhere deep inside we had a bond strong enough to overcome even the onset and destruction of brain cells caused by this silent killer. Jimbo’s mind triumphed that afternoon. And he gave us all a little joy.

My hope is we can find a cure or prevention for this disease. I know Woodfin is working hard at it. And I, too, will pick up the mantle. If for no other reason than Jimbo Evans remembered me, and I want to some how do something to remember him.

Kate's going to have a baby. Big deal.

Kate is pregnant. Whoopee. Hurray.  Way to go, Brits!

Enough already.  The TODAY show on NBC lead off their morning news with her emergence from a London hospital. So what?

I do not want to hear about Kate and her baby to be for the next nine months. That would lead us up right to the beginning of the pre-pre-primary movements for the 2016 Presidential elections.

Enough already. I must say the press in this country is truly led by a heard mentality and of the lowest common denominator. Marion Wise is pregnant, too.  She is not getting headlines. Yes, Kate’s child could well be Queen of England some day (or King for that matter), but WE ARE NOT ENGLISH.  We fought the bastards to get rid of the monarchy.  I don’t want to hear about them every morning over cereal at breakfast.

So here was the line up of stories this morning on the news;

Kate leaves hospital.

A quick primer on British law allowing the child regardless of gender to assume the             mantle of head of the British empire.

Typhoon kills more than 200.

Budget crisis looms….

See my point?  Kate and the baby?  Really?

It takes nine months to squeeze a little squirming nugget out.  I don’t want the next nine months filled with daily and hourly reports of the Duchess of Cambridge’s health and the baby’s every kick.  Let me know when the baby comes. That will be all for now.

Let’s get back to some real news.

The GOP needs a big dose of common sense

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I was trying to decide what to write today.

You see, there was a lot to choose from.  Yesterday there was an article about a Republican representative from Georgia making it known that even though he was on the science committee; he thinks a lot of science is straight from “the pits of hell.”  There’s a man with a mind screwed on straight. And then there was the article about the Republicans voting down the U.N. disability treaty that their own Bob Doyle came onto the floor of Congress in a wheelchair to advocate. The radical right felt like it was infringing on the rights of families?  Really? Have they actually read the act?  Doubtful. It is about helping those with disabilities, just like our own Americans With Disabilities Act protects. The UN version would make it active the world over. But some nut job from Utah is afraid it is going to give Ugandans the right to come to America and put our families in jail. For a state that doesn’t drink a lot, these guys sure think like their minds are made of sour mash.

I was trying to decide which stupidity of the GOP would get my wrath today and I decided that neither deserved it.

The GOP has gone so far overboard to the extremes of the “Christian Right” and the No-Taxes at any costs party, that it is ludicrous to even consider them thoughtful members of our society. Unfortunately they still have enough votes to control certain acts in our legislative process.  Something we will need to change rapidly in the up-coming, mid-term elections.

We need to rid ourselves of the no-tax, science-hating, fear-mongering, build-the- Pentagon-budget-on-the-backs-of-poor-folks, limit-those-who-can-vote, pledge allegiance to Grover Norquist, abortion-is-the-only-issue-I-care-about Republicans. 

Where have the truly smart conservatives gone?  Where is the leadership we expected to emerge?  Did the GOP not learn anything from the 2012 election? Their platform went down in flames. Instead of sound judgment, we get the silly-ass Michelle Bachman’s and the likes of her Tea Party stalwarts still trying to make headlines in Washington.  Enough America. Let’s get rid of these radicals.

It is time for common sense in Washington.

Knock. Knock. Who's there?...Wait, I don't give a damn.

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This is the season that door-to-door canvassers seem to be out collecting for every possible cause under the sun. The cure to diaper rash, the prevention of nighttime sunburn, The collection for orphans and widows in Beverly Hills. You name it and there is an organization collecting for it.  Why door-to-door?  I found out the other day.

A young man, nicely dressed and with good elocution came to our door and after our dog settled down and decided not to rip his face off, we had a brief conversation. He was raising money for inner city kids to study abroad. Let me think about that for a moment. At first blush it sounds like a good idea. Kids from poor families who might not have a chance to go abroad to see the museums, the cathedrals; to experience the architecture, the art, the languages…Why yes, that would be a grand idea. To broaden a few kids’ worldview. What was wrong with that?

I asked the name of the organization and he stuttered something like the Greater Texas Child Development and Education Fund. I had never heard of it, but then again, I hadn’t heard of half of the causes that come to our door — like the International Prevention of Leopard Spot Changing. I asked the young man if he had any information on his group and he said he did not, but he did offer that he, himself, was planning on going to England, if he could raise enough points. 

“How do raise points?” I asked. (Wrong thing to ask. You are locked into the giving cycle now.) He reached into an old sack he as using for a satchel and removed three bags of candy.  “Every bag of candy I sell I get two points. All I need is 5,000 points and I can spend six weeks studying in London.”

Wow, why haven’t I heard about this for my kids.  I would have gladly bought all the candy myself and sent them to Siberia for four years‑ without cell phones, of course.

I felt sorry for the kid so I bought three bags of his candy. Two sacks of  hard, peppermint swirls and one bag of Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. Grand total, $25 U.S. dollars.  Six points toward an education with a cockney accent.  Go get ‘em kid.

He left.  I handed the bag of Reese’s chocolate to my daughter who took a bite and immediately spit it out on the floor in disgust.  The candy was at least sixty years old.  It was horrible. The peppermints were no better.

It was a con job. Pure and simple deception. He probably had gotten the candy at Halloween in 1998 and had been planning this ruse ever since. So here is the bad thing.  A few days later a boy scout showed up at my door selling tickets to their annual pancake breakfast.  I now have a rule. We buy nothing…NOTHING…at our door from anyone.  Jesus could be selling salvation tickets and we are not interested. Period.

So the poor Boy Scouts lost out because of a jerk wad posing as a member of some Travel to Europe and Study Abroad group who sold us bogus candy.

Moral to this story:  You want a good education?  Get it in Dallas and let the English keep their schools to themselves.

I am going to be a scrooge this Christmas. Every benevolent society that comes knocking at our door gets a big resounding NO WAY, from me.  Sorry. Blame it on the kid with the stale candy.

A little of this. A little of that. Happy Holidays.

Having a get together in the neighborhood and a lot of folks who have moved away are drifting back — it is a reunion of sorts. Good to see such wonderful old faces. Many of their children have grown up and moved on to careers. Others have children of their own now. It is a great comfort to see community this way. the passing of the torch...

The music tape has been made (yes we are old school and use a tape.) Blues, Christmas songs, classic rock and an occasional Frank Sinatra song sung off key fills the air.  As do salutes to the Sooners (which makes my blood boil) and to TCU (which almost does, too.)  But still, these are neighbors and God love ‘em they are good people.

Most believe Johnny “Football” Manzelle will win the Heisman trophy.  I think Kline from K State will.  All I know is that Texas should have been 11-1.  OU was the only team with better athletes than us this year. We just couldn’t block or tackle to save our lives.  Oh well, as the custom has become around Austin — next year. And how about Baylor…winning four of their last five games! Go bears! The bears are poised for great things also…next year.

Speaking of the Bears, my wife is sad, because the Bears from Baptistville ended the longest home court winning streak in NCAA basketball by beating UK Wildcats, yesterday in Lexington.

It’s the holiday season…fun and festive and lots of things to do. We’re having a great time this year.  Staying out of the maddening crowds at the mall and shopping on-line then sitting back and waiting for the UPS guy to navigate through the thickening traffic to find us. Oh technology…God love it!

 

For the first time in about two centuries, we do not have to travel this Christmas Season. Yeah!  I have become, since starting to work from my most comfortable home office, a homebody. I admit it and love it.

Well that’s all the ramblings I have on a Sunday morning. I hope you and yours are well and healthy.  And I hope you can enjoy friends and neighbors this season as we are going to.

Make PEACE your goal this year.

 Don;t forget to pick up your copy of my exciting new novel at amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com or lulu.com