Well, why not?
So ... it couldn't have been me, Right?
How do you know?
Meantime, there's a new lottery in Alaska. Winners gets engaged to Palin.
Can't give away tickets to this one.
Friday, June 26, 2015
Thursday, June 25, 2015
Hall County's Budget and the duty of Government
I wanted to attend the Hall County budget meetings but couldn't. Had I gone, here's what I would have said.
Good evening and thank you for letting me speak about the budget issues.
As you discuss the budget, remember, you're not the federal government with borders to defend, currency to protect, and international affairs to manage.
No, your jobs are much harder. On your small stage, one county, you must deliver Justice. Without Justice there is no government.
Justice on the personal and situational lever can be very expensive but easy to understand. If we find an orphaned baby, we take it in. Give it comfort and shelter. Clothe it. Bathe it. Feed it. Give it educational opportunities. And help the child grow into a responsible member of our society. Easy but expensive.
If, as Commissioners, you find a man standing before you at budgetary hearings who says, "My house is very valuable. It's the most important thing in my life. But, because of you, I can't enjoy it. You're stealing my happiness with your excessive and burdensome tax rates. Cut my taxes so I can be happy again."
How do you deliver Justice to such a man? Do you go with cheap and easy by not cutting taxes? Or, do you give him what he deserves?
He deserves frustration, anger, and bitterness as these are the rewards of selfishness, pride, and greed. Not easy to confront another adult and then endure their rebukes. That's the expensive part of Justice at the personal and situational level.
There's another level to county wide Justice. Time.
County government covers more time than three public meetings on the budget. It's more time than a year, the budget term. It's generational.
My grandfather was a farmer. My Dad a soldier and factory worker. My children are grown. And, my grandchildren growing. Justice also means honoring past labor, acknowledging existing struggles, and preparing a future.
As you contemplate the annual budget for your county, the job is not about juggling a few accounts or balancing a checkbook. Your first duty is to Justice. Justice within the county on a personal and situational level and across the time span of five generations.
Thank you.
Good evening and thank you for letting me speak about the budget issues.
As you discuss the budget, remember, you're not the federal government with borders to defend, currency to protect, and international affairs to manage.
No, your jobs are much harder. On your small stage, one county, you must deliver Justice. Without Justice there is no government.
Justice on the personal and situational lever can be very expensive but easy to understand. If we find an orphaned baby, we take it in. Give it comfort and shelter. Clothe it. Bathe it. Feed it. Give it educational opportunities. And help the child grow into a responsible member of our society. Easy but expensive.
If, as Commissioners, you find a man standing before you at budgetary hearings who says, "My house is very valuable. It's the most important thing in my life. But, because of you, I can't enjoy it. You're stealing my happiness with your excessive and burdensome tax rates. Cut my taxes so I can be happy again."
How do you deliver Justice to such a man? Do you go with cheap and easy by not cutting taxes? Or, do you give him what he deserves?
He deserves frustration, anger, and bitterness as these are the rewards of selfishness, pride, and greed. Not easy to confront another adult and then endure their rebukes. That's the expensive part of Justice at the personal and situational level.
There's another level to county wide Justice. Time.
County government covers more time than three public meetings on the budget. It's more time than a year, the budget term. It's generational.
My grandfather was a farmer. My Dad a soldier and factory worker. My children are grown. And, my grandchildren growing. Justice also means honoring past labor, acknowledging existing struggles, and preparing a future.
As you contemplate the annual budget for your county, the job is not about juggling a few accounts or balancing a checkbook. Your first duty is to Justice. Justice within the county on a personal and situational level and across the time span of five generations.
Thank you.
Thursday, June 11, 2015
Southern Honor
In April of 1864, an army of over 5,000 Confederate Infantry and Calvary overran Fort Pillow.
"The fort consisted of a dirt parapet, approximately 6 to 8 feet high, and formed a 125-foot semicircle. Built on a steep bluff that descended rapidly to the Mississippi, the fort faced east. To the north, a small stream, Cool Creek, entered the river. To the south, a small town consisting of storage buildings and bunkhouses sat in a ravine below the fort."
The Great Southern General, Nathan B. Forrest, described this dirt fort and the battle as follows, " I cannot compliment too highly the conduct of Colonels Bell and McCulloch and the officers and men of their brigades, which composed the forces of Brigadier-General Chalmers. They fought with courage and intrepidity, and without bayonets assaulted and carried one of the strongest fortifications in the country."
"My loss in the engagement was 20 killed and 60 wounded," Report of Maj. Gen. Nathan B. Forrest, C. S. Army, April 26, 1864. "We captured 164 Federals, 75 negro troops, and about 40 negro women and children"
Oh the proud descendants of these brave soldiers enjoy retelling this story of 'courage and intrepidity.' Less than 500 armed Black and White Union soldiers confined to a 125 semicircle wall of dirt defeated by an army of 5,000.
How about a map to show some details of the assault?
The dirt fort remains as a National Historic Landmark called Fort Pillow State Park.
Union survivors who escaped capture were less than 100. No Black soldiers survived capture. Forrest captured some 75 Black soldiers and some 40 Black women. Forrest did not consider them prisoners of war. Many would be lynched by the Southern troops during the following march. Bodies were left hanging in trees as a warning.
"The fort consisted of a dirt parapet, approximately 6 to 8 feet high, and formed a 125-foot semicircle. Built on a steep bluff that descended rapidly to the Mississippi, the fort faced east. To the north, a small stream, Cool Creek, entered the river. To the south, a small town consisting of storage buildings and bunkhouses sat in a ravine below the fort."
The Great Southern General, Nathan B. Forrest, described this dirt fort and the battle as follows, " I cannot compliment too highly the conduct of Colonels Bell and McCulloch and the officers and men of their brigades, which composed the forces of Brigadier-General Chalmers. They fought with courage and intrepidity, and without bayonets assaulted and carried one of the strongest fortifications in the country."
"My loss in the engagement was 20 killed and 60 wounded," Report of Maj. Gen. Nathan B. Forrest, C. S. Army, April 26, 1864. "We captured 164 Federals, 75 negro troops, and about 40 negro women and children"
Oh the proud descendants of these brave soldiers enjoy retelling this story of 'courage and intrepidity.' Less than 500 armed Black and White Union soldiers confined to a 125 semicircle wall of dirt defeated by an army of 5,000.
How about a map to show some details of the assault?
The dirt fort remains as a National Historic Landmark called Fort Pillow State Park.
Union survivors who escaped capture were less than 100. No Black soldiers survived capture. Forrest captured some 75 Black soldiers and some 40 Black women. Forrest did not consider them prisoners of war. Many would be lynched by the Southern troops during the following march. Bodies were left hanging in trees as a warning.
Wednesday, May 27, 2015
How can a minister be a Liberal?
How can a man of faith be a Liberal and support abortion?
"I am Mike Parker, a man of faith, a husband, a father, a son, a grandfather, and a grandson. But, no one asked about the apparent contradictions in being a father and a son, or in being a grandfather and a grandson. You've only seen one possible contradiction; that a minister, or any man of Faith, could vote Democratic or self label as a Liberal.
Just as I am more than Mike Parker, father, son, grandfather, and grandson; members of the Democratic Party act and react in a complex world with many interrelationships and apparent contradictions.
Generals order soldiers to their death. Police shoot people. It's okay for 12 randomly selected people to kill another human being. So how can Mike Parker, a man of faith, kill unborn people.
I don't. Shocking as it seems, I haven't killed anyone in my life. In context of your question, through society, I have ordered soldiers to their deaths. I ordered police to shoot people on the streets. I created the death penalty and the socially guilt free jury process.
That wasn't what you wanted to hear. You wanted me to say, 'My Faith doesn't allow me to support abortion.' So you could say, 'You disobey God's will by being a Liberal.'
You don't know God's will. You don't know me. And, you don't know anything about my faith. I'm not telling you anything about me. I don't want you for a friend. I don't want you knowing the name of my dog. I'm not sharing pictures of my grandson with you. I'm getting away from you. After I give you a piece of my mind.
My faith doesn't say there's a place up in the stars called Heaven. There's no burning place within the earth resembling any concept of Hell. My faith says Heaven is here and now. Hell is here and now. No rewards later. No punishment later. Now is where I exist and where my faith exists and where I can create Heaven or Hell.
Where do I get such a faith? I'll tell you how.
At some point, I faced a decision. I'm not sure if my parents forced me to that decision. Or a minister, a teacher, or an author. Forced to decide between right and wrong? No. I was asked if there is a right and a wrong. By answering, 'Yes, there is a Right and a Wrong,' - a good and an evil - I accepted the human responsibility of doing right or wrong. Of helping or harming others by action and inaction. Of having a goal.
My goal? By my actions, I have a goal to create more Right than Wrong. Stop Wrong when I see it and I'm able. And, always strive to know the difference. When I do this, and do it with others, I can create a 'Heaven,' even if that Heaven is temporary and fleeting. If I don't act to the Good and the Right, I create a lasting sensation of Hell. For myself. For others. Perhaps, in a modern world so filled with potential Weapons of Mass Destruction, I have the power to create a lasting Hell filled with burning, dying, and suffering people.
My faith doesn't end with just a Heaven or just a Hell. Just Good and Evil. My faith includes the duality of Good and Evil, the root of all contradictions. I may have good intentions. I may choose the right actions. And, still cause evil which falls on others. It is not enough to choose Good over Evil. It is not enough to have Good intentions. I must have the best possible outcome or I have created no Good. And Hell follows on my failures.
So when you doubt my Faith can choose abortion, you deny me the right to do the most good. Cutting a zygote from my body or the body of a woman, is little more than cutting off an arm or a leg. There is a loss. It's a very painful and lasting loss. But my FAITH demands I live in the here and now. That I live for the here and now. With the people who are here and now. Not in the hunt for a mythical ever after among the stars.
I have answered to my Faith. I choose. I choose to do the most good when I can not choose to do all Good. Just as juries condemn people to death. Generals kill their soldiers. Police act as executioners.
d
I choose to believe in Good and Evil. Here. Now. At the same time. And I declare abortion both a good and an evil not as an act or an intention, but as a result. How much Heaven or Hell does it create, in the here and now, among the mothers and the daughters; the grandmothers and granddaughters; and the people willing to do Good for no reward. Here. And, Now."
"I am Mike Parker, a man of faith, a husband, a father, a son, a grandfather, and a grandson. But, no one asked about the apparent contradictions in being a father and a son, or in being a grandfather and a grandson. You've only seen one possible contradiction; that a minister, or any man of Faith, could vote Democratic or self label as a Liberal.
Just as I am more than Mike Parker, father, son, grandfather, and grandson; members of the Democratic Party act and react in a complex world with many interrelationships and apparent contradictions.
Generals order soldiers to their death. Police shoot people. It's okay for 12 randomly selected people to kill another human being. So how can Mike Parker, a man of faith, kill unborn people.
I don't. Shocking as it seems, I haven't killed anyone in my life. In context of your question, through society, I have ordered soldiers to their deaths. I ordered police to shoot people on the streets. I created the death penalty and the socially guilt free jury process.
That wasn't what you wanted to hear. You wanted me to say, 'My Faith doesn't allow me to support abortion.' So you could say, 'You disobey God's will by being a Liberal.'
You don't know God's will. You don't know me. And, you don't know anything about my faith. I'm not telling you anything about me. I don't want you for a friend. I don't want you knowing the name of my dog. I'm not sharing pictures of my grandson with you. I'm getting away from you. After I give you a piece of my mind.
My faith doesn't say there's a place up in the stars called Heaven. There's no burning place within the earth resembling any concept of Hell. My faith says Heaven is here and now. Hell is here and now. No rewards later. No punishment later. Now is where I exist and where my faith exists and where I can create Heaven or Hell.
Where do I get such a faith? I'll tell you how.
At some point, I faced a decision. I'm not sure if my parents forced me to that decision. Or a minister, a teacher, or an author. Forced to decide between right and wrong? No. I was asked if there is a right and a wrong. By answering, 'Yes, there is a Right and a Wrong,' - a good and an evil - I accepted the human responsibility of doing right or wrong. Of helping or harming others by action and inaction. Of having a goal.
My goal? By my actions, I have a goal to create more Right than Wrong. Stop Wrong when I see it and I'm able. And, always strive to know the difference. When I do this, and do it with others, I can create a 'Heaven,' even if that Heaven is temporary and fleeting. If I don't act to the Good and the Right, I create a lasting sensation of Hell. For myself. For others. Perhaps, in a modern world so filled with potential Weapons of Mass Destruction, I have the power to create a lasting Hell filled with burning, dying, and suffering people.
My faith doesn't end with just a Heaven or just a Hell. Just Good and Evil. My faith includes the duality of Good and Evil, the root of all contradictions. I may have good intentions. I may choose the right actions. And, still cause evil which falls on others. It is not enough to choose Good over Evil. It is not enough to have Good intentions. I must have the best possible outcome or I have created no Good. And Hell follows on my failures.
So when you doubt my Faith can choose abortion, you deny me the right to do the most good. Cutting a zygote from my body or the body of a woman, is little more than cutting off an arm or a leg. There is a loss. It's a very painful and lasting loss. But my FAITH demands I live in the here and now. That I live for the here and now. With the people who are here and now. Not in the hunt for a mythical ever after among the stars.
I have answered to my Faith. I choose. I choose to do the most good when I can not choose to do all Good. Just as juries condemn people to death. Generals kill their soldiers. Police act as executioners.
d
I choose to believe in Good and Evil. Here. Now. At the same time. And I declare abortion both a good and an evil not as an act or an intention, but as a result. How much Heaven or Hell does it create, in the here and now, among the mothers and the daughters; the grandmothers and granddaughters; and the people willing to do Good for no reward. Here. And, Now."
Tuesday, April 28, 2015
Baltimore
Violence has again struck the streets of our nation this time in Baltimore. How does this violence compare to Shay's Rebellion? That rebellion helped topple a government formed under the Articles of Confederation. It birthed our Constitution and our strong, central government. Time has buried Shay's Rebellion, its negatives and positives. Without that violent rebellion, what would we be today but Balkanized countries separated by ethic, social, and economic differences? Jefferson commented on Shay's Rebellion with a quote often remembered and seldom understood. "The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants."
Had we seen Shay's disorganized and undisciplined army of 4,000 looting the country side for food, we would have, as people did then, called them traitors, criminals, and thugs. We would used whatever violence needed to stop them. We would have tried and convicted their leaders as was done then. Some would hang as they did then. It is not the actions which separate a riot from a rebellion, it is whether the goal is justice or injustice.
To quote Jefferson's reaction beyond the one line, "[Their motives] were founded in ignorance, not wickedness. The people can not be all, and always, well informed. The part which is wrong will be discontented in proportion to the importance of the facts they misconceive. If they remain quiet under such misconceptions it is a lethargy, the forerunner of death to liberty. And what country can preserve it's liberties if their people [fail to] preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms. The remedy is to set them right as to facts, pardon and pacify them."
As Jefferson suggests, we must set ourselves 'right as to the facts,' before any trial, public judgement, pardon, or punishment. If we act, and judgement in social media and cable TV is action, without facts, a summary of motivations, as well as review of the actions, then we will not pacify the rebellion or ever be able to pardon ourselves.
Had we seen Shay's disorganized and undisciplined army of 4,000 looting the country side for food, we would have, as people did then, called them traitors, criminals, and thugs. We would used whatever violence needed to stop them. We would have tried and convicted their leaders as was done then. Some would hang as they did then. It is not the actions which separate a riot from a rebellion, it is whether the goal is justice or injustice.
To quote Jefferson's reaction beyond the one line, "[Their motives] were founded in ignorance, not wickedness. The people can not be all, and always, well informed. The part which is wrong will be discontented in proportion to the importance of the facts they misconceive. If they remain quiet under such misconceptions it is a lethargy, the forerunner of death to liberty. And what country can preserve it's liberties if their people [fail to] preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms. The remedy is to set them right as to facts, pardon and pacify them."
As Jefferson suggests, we must set ourselves 'right as to the facts,' before any trial, public judgement, pardon, or punishment. If we act, and judgement in social media and cable TV is action, without facts, a summary of motivations, as well as review of the actions, then we will not pacify the rebellion or ever be able to pardon ourselves.
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