Purple State, USA

The Top Guns

Whether it's an indication of my deep love for this country or merely a side-effect of growing up in the Top Gun age, there are few things I find more exhilarating than our country's arsenal of fighter jets. I admit that my earliest affinity was for the F-series planes, but even the B-2 Spirit (aka the Stealth Bomber) has a special place in my heart. I have a model of it sitting next to a model of the U.S.S. Constitution on my bookshelf... symbols of the military strength that has spanned the centuries and generations of this country.

It's true war isn't always the best answer, but there is a reason our police officers carry guns. Unfortunately, words don't always work. Some people and some situations are just wrong, just evil. Words should always be our weapon of choice, but we have a responsibility to ourselves and our allies--to history itself--to be prepared for those situations where words and reasoning fail. There is no one, after all, who believes even the most articulate or pragmatic of speakers could have persuaded Hitler to embrace a different sociological view.

How many of you are familiar with what a 5th generation fighter jet is?

If you aren't, Wikipedia provides the following definition: "The fifth generation was ushered in by the Lockheed Martin/Boeing F-22 Raptor in late 2005. Currently the cutting edge of fighter design, fifth-generation fighters are characterized by being designed from the start to operate in a network-centric combat environment, and to feature extremely low, all-aspect, multi-spectral signatures employing advanced materials and shaping techniques. They have multifunction AESA radars with high-bandwidth, low-probability of intercept (LPI) data transmission capabilities."

To put it simply, they are crazy cool.

They are also costing us a lot of money. By recent estimates, the F-35--the latest fifth generation fighter jet--will come with a 201-million-dollar-per-unit price tag. An estimate that many experts are calling optimistic, given not even 10% of its test flights are complete.

As with most endeavors our government tries to undertake, the F-35 program, also known as the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) program, has been plagued by overly ambitious deadlines, continuously changing requirements and--quite simply--an abundance of human error. It's not only costing us way more than expected, but there doesn't yet seem to be an end in sight. Some analysts project that the per-unit cost on the F-35 could reach as high as 260 million before all is said and done.

Like I said. A lot of money. Money that could be put toward our children's education; money that would make a nice dent in updating our energy infrastructure; money that might cover at least one visit to an ER.

I'm not against funding our military. Far from it. I am also empathetic about the difficulty associated with planning and budgeting for the kind of R&D associated with these planes. Yet there is little evidence that the cost and pressing urgency associated with the JSF program can be justified, particularly in light of the other challenges facing our country. It is important to keep an edge but--given the caliber and effectiveness of our existing fleet--there is little evidence we are competing with anyone but ourselves on this front.

We would scoff if someone barely able to make their mortgage payments brought home a Saleen S7... no matter how cool it looks, no matter how exhilarating the ride. Quite frankly, we would think they had lost their minds. What about when our government does it?

Purple State Citizens' Favorites

This week most of us are out enjoying the (finally!) Spring weather, so I decided to take the opportunity to share some of the more lighthearted political quotes, cartoons and pictures we have received from you this week.

Quotes:

"If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough." -Albert Einstein

"We are all born ignorant, but one must work hard to remain stupid." -Benjamin Franklin

"Sometimes I think our entire society needs one big collective hobby. Just a group activity to calm our nerves. We're all so angry. Seriously, what do we have to be so angry about? My supermarket sells eight different kinds of salsa. Whatever." -excerpt from an article by John DeVore on criticizing others

Cartoons:

 
  (for all our pilot friends...)

 

Pictures:

(in honor of next week's blog--thanks, Cody, it's perfect!)

 

How We Hurt Each Other

A double post this week, if you'll permit me...

I've heard it said that people can only hurt us if we let them. While I'm certain there are contexts in which this statement is brilliantly insightful, as a more generalized statement I find it to be crap. The unfortunate uncertainty about sharing our lives with other imperfect people is that we are bound to get hurt and to hurt others along the way. The only way to truly not get hurt is to refuse to share our lives and our experiences, but what would be the point of that?

Let me tell you how I failed this week.

First. I have a friend who left for Afghanistan last Wednesday. Though I'd made a trip to visit her a couple weeks ago and despite having that date burned into my head as unbelievably significant... somehow it wasn't until the actual day that I remembered she was deploying. I realized too late to call her, which is something I am certain she noticed and something I am certain hurt her in a way I didn't intend. Though my heart and my mind are with her, I get that my actions did not convey that.

Second. In my honest attempts to deal with some issues related to a very good friend of mine, I inadvertently put myself on the wrong side of the fence when he was hit by a proverbial train this week. It some ways, it underscores the concerns I'd had for quite awhile... but that doesn't lessen the fact that it hurts not to be able to help a friend and a family who so definitely deserve only happiness.

Fortunately, no single moment is the sum of any of our lives or relationships, though certainly there are moments when the trees in front of us overshadow the surrounding forest.

I know I could tie this to politics, as most posts on here strive to do, but I'll let you draw any parallels on your own at this point. For now, I want to tell you that I love these two friends and their families deeply. For next week, I am simply going to try to do better. I don't know if that will be enough, but it's all I can do... so I guess it will have to be.

Expectations

Most individuals have expectations of the people they let close and rely on. For me, it's honest communication. I have had people express that my ability to throw five well-articulated paragraphs onto a piece of paper in almost as many minutes intimidates them. It shouldn't. I am a writer and I have zero expectation for most to communicate as I do.

No, what I mean by honest communication is much simpler. Let me provide you some examples: If I communicate about an apple, but get an unrelated response about tires... I don't understand; If I ask a direct question and don't get a direct answer... I don't understand; If anyone claims they were less than honest so as to spare my feelings... I don't understand; As much as I love words and believe in the power of words, word games... I don't understand.

These things--I've learned--can be extremely difficult, if not impossible, for some people.

For the most part, my communication requirement simply prevents me from getting close to the wrong people. We can likely still be acquaintances, but best buddies we will never be. I think this is fair and logical. There's a reason best friends are best friends after all.

The trouble starts when part of me makes the leap of caring deeply about someone before realizing they can't communicate in any way I understand. It's rare, but it does happen. In those situations, I am left anxious, uncomfortable, and far out on a limb wondering how I got there. Articulate goes out the window, logical isn't even a vocabulary word and all of any intelligence I have is focused on getting off the limb with minimal damage.

In short, anything less than honest, succinct communication Makes. Me. Crazy.

Enter the country I fell in love with long before I realized she has as much going against her as for her. Enter Washington, D.C., enter every state capital, every municipality. Is there any group of people so good at saying so much without saying anything? Does anyone really believe the health care issue is separate from the employment issue is separate from the immigration issue is separate from the education issue is separate from the terrorism issue is separate from the environmental issue is separate from the national defense issue?

I understand the need to simplify to a degree, but the half-truths, back-room deals and partisan bickering that has become as much a symbol of our government and our country as life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness?

Well. It Makes. Me. Crazy. We deserve better. When are we going to start demanding it?

Exercising the Right to Learn

Buddhists have a belief about this moment. That it's important. Right now. Not what you did a minute ago or what you're contemplating doing in the next minute, but what's right in front of you, right at this minute. That screen you're staring at as you read this? It's real. Touch it. The chair, bed, floor you're sitting on as you work on the computer? It's there. Feel it. The breath passing in and out of you? It's giving you life. Notice it.

Is this where I share with you I am a Buddhist? No. Because I'm not. Besides being raised Baptist\Presbyterian, I have also taken classes on Catholicism, Judaism, Islam and other religions that don't come immediately to mind. Am I a student of theology? I certainly am not. My field of choice is writing and software development.

Then what, you wonder, am I? What's my "religious label"? It's pretty simple. I am an American who doesn't have to have a label. One who can understand why individuals without religious freedom don't have knowledge of any religion outside the one their government dictates... but who can't understand why so many of us as Americans don't know more about the religions that color our country and our world.

So many people across the globe have no options in this area. No opportunity to learn, to confirm or to disprove what they believe. You and me? We do. Let's not take it for granted. If our beliefs--whatever they might be--are correct, then what do we have to fear from knowledge? We have so much to learn from each other, even if we don't ultimately agree. That's not scary... it's exciting!

Most exciting? In other parts of the world, people have to be willing to risk imprisonment or death for such religious freedom. But us as Americans? Thanks to that little thing known as the first amendment*, all we have to do is make the decision to explore, to learn. Pretty sweet, right?

*Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

545 People (by Charlie Reese)

I received this last week from a former colleague. I want to share it with you here...

545 People by Charlie Reese

Politicians are the only people in the world who create problems and then campaign against them.

Have you ever wondered, if both the Democrats and the Republicans are against deficits, WHY do we have deficits?

Have you ever wondered, if all the politicians are against inflation and high taxes, WHY do we have inflation and high taxes?

You and I don't propose a federal budget. The president does.

You and I don't have the Constitutional authority to vote on appropriations. The House of Representatives  does.

You and I don't write the tax code, Congress does.

You and I don't set fiscal policy, Congress does.

You and I don't control monetary policy, the Federal Reserve Bank does.

One hundred senators, 435 congressmen, one president, and nine Supreme Court justices equates to 545 human beings out of the 300 million are directly, legally, morally, and individually responsible for the domestic problems that plague this country.

I excluded the members of the Federal Reserve Board because that problem was created by the Congress. In 1913, Congress delegated its  Constitutional duty to provide a sound currency to a federally chartered, but private, central bank.

I excluded all the special interests and lobbyists for a sound reason. They have no legal authority. They  have no ability to coerce a senator, a congressman, or a  president to do  one cotton-picking thing. I don't care if they offer a politician $1 million dollars in cash. The politician has the power to accept or  reject it. No matter what the lobbyist promises, it is the legislator's responsibility to determine how he votes.

Those 545 human beings spend much of their energy convincing you that what they did is not their fault.  They cooperate in this common con regardless of party.

What separates a politician from a normal human being is an excessive amount of gall...  No normal human being would have  the gall of a Speaker, who stood up and criticized the  President for creating deficits. The president can only propose a budget. He cannot force the Congress to accept it.

The Constitution, which is the  supreme law of the land, gives sole responsibility to the House of Representatives for originating and approving appropriations and taxes. Who is the speaker of the House? Nancy Pelosi. She is the leader of the majority party. She and fellow House members, not the president, can approve any budget they want. If the president vetoes it, they can pass it over his veto if they agree to.

It seems inconceivable to me that a nation of 300 million cannot replace 545 people who stand convicted--by present facts--of incompetence and irresponsibility. I can't think of a single domestic problem that is not traceable  directly to those 545 people. When you fully grasp the plain truth that 545 people exercise the power of the federal government, then it must follow that what exists is what they want to exist.

If the tax code is unfair, it's because they want it unfair.

If the budget is in the red, it's because they want it in the red. If they do not receive social security but are on an elite retirement plan not available to the people, it's because they want it that way.

There are no insoluble government problems.

Do not let these 545 people shift the blame to bureaucrats, whom they hire and whose jobs they can abolish; to lobbyists, whose gifts and advice they can reject; to regulators, to whom they give the power to regulate and from whom they can take this power. Above all, do not let them con you into the belief that there exists disembodied mystical forces like "the economy,"  "inflation," or "politics" that prevent them from doing what they take an oath to do.

Those 545 people, and they alone, are responsible.

They, and they alone, have the power.

They, and they alone, should be held accountable by the people who are their bosses.

Provided the voters have the gumption to manage their own employees.

We should vote all of them out of office and clean up their mess!

Charlie Reese is a former columnist of the Orlando Sentinel Newspaper.

This Soldier I Know.

When I first met Abby* I was around 22-years-old. I was only a year or two older than she is now. She was a cute, outgoing 12-year-old; the younger cousin of a friend I'd had since the age of 15. We were at her younger brother's baseball game and she begged for a ride in my new sports car. I proudly obliged. 

After the game, she made a point to tell me that she and I should go hang out sometime. With a bit of a shy side myself, I was impressed by her tenacity. I told her we would and I made sure we did. 

When I picked her up for our outing, she was talkative and friendly. However, as we got out of the car and walked toward the restaurant, she got noticeably quiet, obviously worried. I asked what was up. She said, "I don't think I have the money to pay for this."

I was stunned. I had never met a kid who didn't take for granted the adult in the situation was going to take care of them.

I learned a lot about Abby over the years. I learned she had a tough childhood, that she'd had to grow up too fast. I watched her live in uncertainty, instability and near homelessness. I witnessed her struggle to remain positive, and hopeful, and kind despite circumstances that were anything but ideal and far from her control.

Abby is leaving for Afghanistan in the next few weeks. She will be gone a year at a time when we, as citizens, are being warned that we are not going to like the death toll in the fight ahead of us as we struggle to assist that country.

I have shared with you about Abby as a person. There are also things to know about her as a soldier: she's smart, and loyal, and strong. You don't know her, but I can tell you with absolute certainty that she'd have your back if you ever needed it. She strives to improve, to learn, to make her world and the world of those around her better. There isn't a child in our country or another she won't stop to assist, there isn't a man or woman of any nationality she won't listen to, there isn't a fellow soldier who can't count on her for anything they might need.  

Oh, yeah. When she dates, she prefers women to men. But really. Who cares?

*name changed for privacy

There are days...

There are days that make us question our core beliefs; days that make our hearts ache and threaten to break our spirits. On those days, it's hard to remember why we started or even where we thought we were going. Today is one of those days for us.

About six months ago you might remember a baby girl named Jovi joining our family. She has grown into a beautiful, happy little girl.Today we were devastated to learn that she may be leaving us at some point in the near future. This was not the future we hoped for. These are not the things we dreamed of.

It is tempting to get angry, to say... "I wish I'd never known anything that could cause me to suffer this much..." I have choked on rage and sadness today, self-doubt and self-pity. And I can tell you. This place is so dark. But I know I would walk it a hundred times for a little girl as beautiful and as special as Jovi.

If the day does come when we have to say our good-byes... hopefully I will be able to realize that the question isn't why we weren't able to keep her forever, but how we ever got lucky enough to have met her at all. We have been blessed to bear witness to her life this past half-year.

We wouldn't trade one moment. And we will cherish every moment remaining.

One Size Fits All?

I was at Victoria's Secret the other day when I heard a saleswoman tell a customer to "come check out our new one-size-fits-all thong."

*blink*

It took quite a bit of restraint to keep me from doing a one-eighty to see what sort of miracle garment this must be. I hope the customer didn't fall for it, though she timidly trailed the saleslady out of the part of the store I was standing in.

From a retail perspective, I understand how a one-size-fits-all society would be easier to serve. If everyone wanted a pink, padded push-up and a pink thong in the same size, there would be no need to stress about surplus stock when the lime-green-purple-polka-dot-with-blue-lace-trim underpants never catch on with the size 4 crowd.

What I really wonder is why the rest of us want so badly to be one-size-fits-all. I get that on the surface most of us would say we don't and rattle off a list of our lovable differences... but on some fundamental level a lot of us do. In a country and a world where we are often directly or indirectly told how to think, act and look, many of us shun or strive to change those parts of us that aren't in line with the rest.

This is despite the fact history will show us that many of the greatest and most influential people were often considered, well... very odd. Some of them weren't good students. A lot of them didn't have perfect physiques. Many struggled with anxiety, depression or hyper-activity. A number held a view of the world different than those around them. More than we realize were deemed failures before they were recognized for whatever extraordinary success we remember them for.

Einstein, Mozart, Jefferson, Lincoln, Bill Gates, Angelina Jolie, Stephen King... These are all individuals with extraordinary accomplishments in their respective lives and fields, yet even they--perhaps especially they--did not or do not conform to the one-size-should-fit-all views constantly pushed on us as a society.

I had a family member years ago that was always very down on me. She wanted me to be less "sensitive" to the world around me, less aware. I understand that this was her way of wishing to protect me from the pain that sensitivity and awareness can cause. The problem was, the person she wanted me to be simply wasn't me. We both tried--because I had much love and respect for her--to make me that person, but it shouldn't be surprising that ultimately we failed. Ironically, those same traits she worried would only burden me have also become some of my greatest strengths.

Equality is about how we treat people. It was never meant to turn us into mirror images of each other. Our diversity as a nation is our strength. We do it better than most countries...despite the squabbles and tension, despite the dismay the Victoria's Secret customer may have felt when the one-size-fits-all thong didn't fit her (honey, it doesn't fit anyone). We do it because some occasions and people simply call for lime-green-purple-polka-dot-with-blue-lace-trim underpants.

Thank heavens, though, and God bless America, right? Because life is simply much more interesting with those people among us.

A Well Regulated Militia

I pulled the trigger on the 9mm and watched as the bullet shot straight through the heart of the man in front of me. I was pleased with myself. Relieved. I removed the magazine, checked the chamber and set the gun down.

Laws were never made for law-abiding citizens. Government never became too big in a society of entirely intelligent, self-sufficient individuals. We have laws to control the less sensible among us; government programs and restrictions to try to mitigate their negative impact on the rest of us.

I am a firm believer in the right to own a firearm, as well as to carry it concealed where permitted. I believe, at the same time, that some of our laws aren't tough enough. I was surprised, for instance, to find that a concealed carry endorsement in most states only takes showing the ability to shoot a human silhouette target from several yards away. No time restraints, no pressure... nothing like the situations that would justify most concealed carry holders pulling their gun from its holster. Even as a gun owner (and holding a concealed carry endorsement), I concede that makes me nervous.

The second amendment explicitly states "a well regulated militia"--refuting the arguments of those who might assert that our constitution gives anyone the right to bear arms without taxes, training or oversight. I believe anyone who carries a firearm in public should have to go through training closer to what our police officers go through. Shooting a target thousands of times perfectly has been proven to still make most individuals ill-equipped to handle being confronted by a maniac waving a gun and souped up on twenty kinds of crazy.

All of that said, I will take the laws as they are--and make certain I have more extensive training than is required--rather than accept any law that removes my right to own or carry a gun.

The man in the first paragraph was made of paper. I tell my son constantly that we don't shoot people, only targets. I hope I can go to my grave (at an old age) without either of us or anyone close to us having to experience the exception to that rule. In the meantime, however, I feel fortunate our forefathers have left those discussions and decisions to me, my family and to us as American citizens. 

A friend told me that--where he lives--it is not permissible to shoot anyone, ever... but that in attempts to save one's life, the courts are typically lenient. Typically. I am glad that my country and my state do not leave that gray area. Yes, if you are coming at me to attack me, harm me, rape me, kill me... odds of me shooting myself in the foot have just gone up, odds of you taking the gun and using it against me have just gone up... but so have my odds of walking away unharmed.

I confess. I still prefer those odds.