I listened to President Obama's first combined Congressional Speech and I was again impressed with his oratory skills.  He was clear, concise, and very emphatic.  He was positive.  He was thought provoking.  He was motivating.  He re-instilled in me the Yes We Can motto.  With a critical discerning eye I watched and listened ... judged his facial expressions.  I considered his delivery.  I was moved.  At the same time, I was on Facebook, communicating with others who were watching the speech.  I have to say, I was once again saddened by the sincere ignorance of our American people. 



There were smiles at the podium.  Joe Biden with his megawatt teeth exuded confidence.  You can even see in this picture they look unusually white.  WOW!  President Obama actually stated that nobody messes with Joe, probably because you might get blinded.  Nancy Pelosi was so enthusiastic I think it might have been better if she simply remained standing.  She was like a Jack in Box, or rather a Jill in the Box.  However, I do understand their feeling.  They feel thoroughly embraced by destiny.  Their party is in control, and they feel it is their time to remake this country in their image.  I'll be honest, when I look at the picture; I see an effort at crafting a bipartisan policy existing on a declining scale.  It's at its highest with President Obama, Joe is second, Nancy is a distant third.  I think Nancy is just like any hardcore partisan Republican.  You either tow the party line, or you get punished.  The compassionless conservatives (a term I coined last night while on Facebook) are right, this is not the Change we discussed.  Still, who are they to yell foul?  It's the same game they've ALL always played, Democrat and Republican.  The man in the front is going to have to make a stronger more concerted effort.  Still, no one can say he has not given it a tremendous try.  The responsibility for this change is not his alone.  The conservatives must give as well, just as President Obama said in his speech.  I'm going to watch this unfold with a critical eye.  I'm going to speak as best as I can to influence those around me towards truly considering things.  I will continue to expound on the virtues of critical thinking, positive attitudes, and the powerful results that come from diverse thinking, where solutions are derived from the multiple persepctives in the miasma and chaos of good well-meaning conflict.

Those that subscribe to my mode of thinking, the pursuit of wisdom, the sincere quest for knowledge, the utilization of the gift with which we've been provided, critical cognition, know that I truly consider the difference between stupidity and ignorance.  I presume that most of the people that were derogatory on Facebook last night were ignorant, and did not suffer from the formidable condition of birth that I term stupidity, something which can be overcome, but not without considerable effort (SPOON!!!!)

Still, their ignorance was almost stultifying!  I felt obligated to respond.  At that particular moment I didn't have the wisdom or patience to engage them critically, picking one of them and asking pointed questions about why they were sincere in their ignorance.  Why do they spit venom?  And why did they appear to enjoy it so much?  Is it a state of humanity, conducive to our (their) very nature?  Perhaps.  I'll have to think on this more later.  In the meantime, I did respond.  And this is what I said.

Each of you that call Obama a liar, a radical, a terrorist, the destroyer of America, the ruination of our society, desecrator of the Oval Office, the man that will bring European Socialism, and then by virtue of his own brown right hand ultimately communism ... I posit this, you are not thinking.  Those of you that use terms like generational theft, prove it.  Ask yourself for what purpose are we printing money?  And, ask yourself again, did I hear him say he was going to cut the deficit in half in two years.  Don't call him a liar, call him on his statement.  Simply hold him accountable until the two years have passed, and then judge.  Along the way, be critical and questioning of all he does, but with positive intent.  Don't throw meaningless venom and spout the rhetoric you've heard from the Hannitized, or that crazed pseudo-intellectual for-profit propagandist Ann Coulter.  THINK FOR YOURSELF!!!

And you know where you should start? Instead of worrying about someone else's babies, worry about your own.  Don't spend so much time worrying about that stinkin' on ice welfare mother of 6 who has had 8 abortions.  Why are you so caught up trying to save the lives of her unborn?  Do you think this makes you noble?  Perhaps, but first recognize the fact that what makes you noble is focusing on the strong development of your own children, be they home-schooled or otherwise.  If you're religious, focus on your religion with your family.  Stop trying to turn the nation into a theocracy.  We (a great many we) don't want it.  You think the poor suck, the Mexicans need to get on buses and go back to Mexico, and Africans need to do the same (not Mexico, but Angola, Nigeria, Liberia, wherever)?  The Asians can stay, they're all smart, and can help us make more stuff, but the rest of the scummy illegals and whatnot have to go.  In fact, do you spend an inordinate amount of time crying about this changing America?  Your racism is showing, my friends.  It's a bright yellow line down your back, wide and obvious.  It let's the world know that you're a coward, afraid of the future, afraid of Change, with a capital C.  You are too shaken to embrace this change, and revel in the wonderful future that can be America, if she holds fast to her ideals, and maintains firm the promise written on Lady Liberty's base:

Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she
With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"in welcomes the huddle masses, the storm tosted. 

Deny this at your own peril, for you then deny America, not what you imagine, but the promise of a nation beyond the framework of what men first established.  Yes, it's changing.  You should try to change with it, or simply pass into that past, vanishing into obscurity.  We will mourn your passing ... for a time.  Still, you should try to reach for wisdom.  You should try to reach for critical cognition.  You should endeavor to do the best you can for yourself, then your family, and then your community, and yes God too if that's your thing.  Don't get mad at me about putting God last.  You're welcome to put God first.  I did this on purpose, because I need you to understand that this should be about you.  QUIT PROJECTING!  Practice F-PEC, Fundamental Personal Economic Control in your home, so you won't become a burden on society.  Endeavor to do good works.  Be kind.  Find compassion.  Stop being a compassionless conservative.  Learn to care about the people that make up this great nation. 

This, is what I have come to understand to be true.  That we are our best selves, and achieve our greatest victories, when we show compassion for one another, when we care about one another, when we learn to truly love one another.  Consider it ... critically.

I have voted Democrat and Republican.  I reiterate as I have many times before that I truly believe each person should vote based on the facts that they themselves have discerned.  Each person should vote in a given election based on the information they've gathered.  They should determine what the vote means to them personally, their family, their community, and the nation, questioning the choice as they raise their consideration at each level.  This is the application of critical cognition during the voting process.  This also makes the person able to effectively articulate why they have chosen a given candidate.   Once a candidate is duly elected, they need to critically analyze the actions that elected official takes in regard to them personally, their family, their community, and again their nation.  All this is so very important, if we as a modern nation are to move forward into these more advanced times as an evolving society continuing to aspire to greatness.  This exercise has made me a strong supporter of the Fair Tax.  This approach has made me an ardent critic of deregulation.  This exercise has made me a true believer in the effort to innovate and create circumstances for economic prosperity between Keynesian and Supply-Side economics, a sincere combination of both tactically and within a long-term strategy that again involves both (go figure, I agree with Rush Nutbaugh, sorry I mean Rush Limbaugh).  This exercise has made me a true-believer in the people, that given the chance, provided a beacon, shown the direction of the light, we can all make it.  For all of us there exists possibilities for progress, a chance to achieve Critical Success. 



Bobby Jindal seems like a good man, but last night he was woefully outmatched. He marched onto the screen like a child on a playground that just recently learned how to walk. He talked to the audience as if they were a bunch of third graders, no kindergarteners. He had the temerity to evoke Hurricane Katrina as an example of ... you know what, forget it. It was really awful. Still, I believe he still moves many a Republican. They do see promise in this young rising star. He needs to be seasoned, but he has potential. However, it would be a bad choice. Bobby Jindal lives in a state that is in need of a great deal of infrastructure. He lives in a state where levies broke, and people were found lying face down in stagnant water. He lives in a state where black men wandered around a corner, from one neighborhood to the next, only to face racial hatred, a hail of bullets, and death. He lives in a state where the 5th Ward stands as a homeland example of what Americorps should be made to combat, Third World poverty conditions deep in the heart of a First World nation. He stated that he firmly believes that the government should not be involved in our lives to the degree that the National Democrats have advocated and legislated. My question is, who is going to clean up the mess in his state? I know his state. I love his state. The Brown family is deeply rooted in his state. My Aunt is the oldest living person in his state. What I want to know is where is this Governor's compassion? Where is his compassion for those that need aid and intervention? Where are the initiatives? Where is the progressive education? Where is the beacon to lead people out of the blight that is the 5th Ward? Does he really expect them to fix things themselves? They don't know how. And if government doesn't pick up the responsibility, who will? Is he looking for corporate oligarchs that build infrastructure, ensure employment, and provide for individual well-being? This too is a solution, but what happens when they break the rules? You can't vote 'em out of office.

In Singapore they have built a small city dedicated to technological advancement and science. They have lured away some of our brightest minds. Wealthy financiers are moving money to China, and in some instances moving themselves. China is investing in a next generation energy economy, putting government dollars to work. They, the Chinese and Singapore governments, are investing in their nations’ future prosperity, Bobby. We would be stupid, yes stupid to do any less. We would be stupid to again let our economy grow solely by private industry, which will continue peddling cars, clothes, jewelry, mcmansions, and electronic trinkets to our population seeking a more robust bottom line. I know, I dream of doing this one day myself. It’s not bad. It’s just what corporations that sell things do. These corporate entities don’t have the means or desire to focus on national infrastructure and energy initiatives, not alone, not without government backing, subsidies, and assurance, Bobby. Bobby, you’re not thinking about the future. Bobby, you’re not thinking about the people. Are we going to be last or first in the 21^st Century, Bob?  Bobby, find your compassion. Lead all your people Bobby, not just the Republicans.

I believe in the Tribe of Humanity. I believe one day generations hence we will make real the dreamt axiom, Human does not kill Human. I believe that many of us by heritage hold a special place in making this dream a reality, that we must strive to become exemplary examples, and to do less dishonors our ancestors and shines the dread cold light of shame and despair on all the good works done by us all. Until the Descendants of the Emancipated acknowledge their responsibility and hold up their end of the bargain (as Dr. Cosby said) in this ongoing social experiment that is America, we shall never know true Critical Success as a nation. And know you this ... a nation cannot long subsist if it consigns a large portion of its population to earthly perdition.

I think my new phrase is appropriate, Compassionless Conservatives. I take my queue from Dr. Cornel West on this one, "You can't lead the people, if you don't love the people. You can't save the people, if you don't serve the people."

There are whole swaths of this country mired in poverty and despair, where people are multipying at an above average rate.  I would now ask you to daydream about the eventual result of this scenario if left to unfold on its own (it might become a nightmare). Imagine America 2030. Just imagine. The have-nots outnumber the haves 10 to 1. The haves live in gated communities, wonders of modern technology, the society on high.  One day a young man and his wife find a book in an abandoned community library. Their little town in the Midwest has fallen off the grid. It's a town of have-nots, eking out an existence as best as they can. Curiosity strikes the couple. They are marginal readers, taught the skill by their mother as kids every afternoon at the kitchen table. It takes weeks, but they make their way through the book. And with enough effort, they understand. They're excited. They're inspired. They decide to read the book again, and again. They want to commit it to memory. Now please understand that these two have never had a formal education. They were home schooled, with local materials. Web access failed 15 years ago for the general populous, no infrastructure. So, only a privileged few would recognize what they were reading. Only the privileged would understand the implications of their excitement. Only the privileged would recognize the inherent danger in their heated passion. Now, they seek to organize. And organize they do. They share the book with their neighbors. They hold meetings in town. Some of the townsfolk, the older ones, recognize the call to action, the propagandist message, the empowering nature of the words. But they see the heat in the eyes of their children, and lack the strength to stand in their way. Besides, maybe this time, it'll work. Can you guess the name of this book? It's called Manifesto of the Communist Party, more commonly called The Communist Manifesto, and because these children are ignorant, and know nothing of the lessons of history, they start a new American Revolution, and they have the numbers on their side.