A Fresh Ass on the Throne

Karma can be somewhat of a bitch. Had Obama known that John Roberts was going to give him his Presidential Oath of office, he might not have voted against him for the Supreme Court. Kind of hard to tell, but Roberts ultimately returned the favor. Every time Obama's Oath is replayed throughout history, we'll always hear a mush mouthed mess. Was it intended? Probably not, but that may just be Karma.

Last night, I was discussing the inauguration with someone who was very excited about both the history making achievement of Barak Obama, and the mere fact that he walks on water and can part the Potomac River with the blink of an eye. This person asked me if I watched it on TV, which I did. I was glued to the TV. I was then asked my thoughts. As true to what I've said many times before, I'm not impressed. The speech was good, though not amazing. It lacked a memorable phrase that can be in scripted in marble for all of the world to remember. It also lacked substance. The substance that was missing from every campaign speech, debate, etc... I want to hear just what it is that he is planning. Planning "Change" doesn't define anything. OK, so you don't like Bush, got it. You aren't happy with where the country is right now...Great...I understand that. We need Change! Great...what exactly does that mean? In this discussion, I mentioned how glad I was to hear the word, "Responsibility." I was however, disappointed to find that he was not really hammering the point of individual responsibility. He was talking more about citizens being responsible for other citizens. It was more along the lines of Kennedy's ask not speech. This is where I have big problems in swallowing the rhetoric. Though the thought of a nation where it's people care for their neighbors is admirable and I agree with the concept whole hearted, I also feel we all as individuals need to be responsible to ourselves. How can we focus on our neighbors if we can't even save for our own homes, education, retirements, etc...?

I told this person that I used to be very poor. I was a lousy student managed to graduate high school at the bottom of my class. I went out in the world and fell flat on my ass. At no point did anyone give me shit in terms of financial assistance. I flushed much of my own savings down the toilet. I went month to month in a shitbag apartment where I had eviction notices on my door when I had to choose which bills I would pay vs the rent. Buying groceries was a luxury. I told this person that I climbed my way out of it. No help from anyone, No assistance from the government. I put myself in that position and I had to take responsibility for my actions and claw my way out of it. The response I had when told this story was surprising. "You had help." No, I didn't. "Yes, you had to have had help." No, I didn't, and why would I be required to have help? "Somebody had to have helped you." No, seriously....it is possible for people in this country to make it on their own. Then came the bombshell....."Obama can do it, or people like me (Foreign) could have that background, but not you! (Because I'm WHITE and MALE.)" How about that....I'm a victim of racism because I'm white and struggled in life!!! I'm being judged not by the content of my character but by the color of my skin. (That and he meat stick that hangs between my legs)

This is the belief system that I have issues with. It is so hard for people to believe that they as individuals can accomplish the hard task of personal responsibility. They have been given and gladly drank the Kool Aide that dictates that you can't do it unless it's done together. "Yes we can" is all well and good....but "Yes you can" shouldn't be seen as irresponsible governance. Yes, even under the old and evil empires of Bush and Clinton....I was able to climb from the bottom of the pit which I dug for myself. If you don't learn from your own mistakes, how are you ever going to learn? So many people will say that there is nothing wrong with help and some people need a hand. Yes, emotional help is amazing and God Bless of my friends and family who were there when I needed them most. Giving money or diving in to solve the problems that they likely created is not going to teach them out to fix them, nor how to prevent themselves from digging another deep hole to fall into.

Should we take care of those who are not capable of taking care of themselves? YES WE SHOULD. Are millions of Americans physically capable of working hard to fix their own messes? YES THEY CAN. Should we as Americans spend our hard earned wages in the form of taxes to enable people who won't change because they are prevented from taking responsibility for their own failures? FUCK THAT SHIT!

When asked why I'm not excited about America's great new Orator, this is why. The words are warm, comforting and inspirational....but they don't point every American in the direction of personal responsibility. "It's my fault...I own the problem and It's my responsibility to fix it." These are the words that can save our country. These are the words the prevent massive bailouts and stimulus packages that will cost us trillions in the future. These are the words that break down into one 3 word phrase that changes the lives of individuals. "YES I CAN." We can be our brother's keeper, we can love thy neighbor....but we can not lose sight of taking responsibility for our own actions.

Back to Kennedy for a moment. People tend to be selective when it comes to understanding history. Back when he was asking what you could do for your country, this nation was full of citizens that took great pride in working. With the help of entitlement programs, fast forward a few decades and we have way too many people who take advantage of the systems in place. If you have a brain and a body that functions, you are capable of not only taking care of yourself as so many Americans took pride in back when Kennedy was in office, but they were also motivated to "Do for their country." Don't misunderstand, I'm not accusing everyone who is on welfare of being lazy, but there are many who in fact are....lazy. If you're living off of government programs, have been doing it for several years and take no action to change your circumstances...then we as a nation are not doing what is right, in continuing to throw money and resources at you. If you fall on hard times and need a hand, but take full action to climb out, then you are the people who deserve the assistance that we tax payers "voluntarily" pay into.