"Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on; you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently He starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make any sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of - throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were being made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it Himself."
— C.S. Lewis (Mere Christianity)

Anyone paying attention to the news recently knows about the Supreme court ruling in the Citizens United case where the court upheld free speech rights for corporations.
Admittedly corporations are everyones favorite bogeymen these days after the bailout fiascos of AIG, et al. And Enron is still a fresh memory, speaking of corporate sleaze.
But taking away free speech rights guaranteed by the constitution is not the way to moderate the ethics of groups of individuals whether business, political or whatever.
It IS throwing the baby out with the bathwater.

Nick Gillespie gives a great presentation here of why this ruling is not a bad thing.
(Plus he uses "Freebird" as a background track which isn't a bad thing either. :)

...to utilize two very well known metaphors. And probably over-used by now.

(First let me offer my thanks to all the good citizens of Massachusetts, both Democrat and Republican, who braved the weather last night and voted in a special election to send a clear message to Washington. Your patriotism is not lost on this blogger.)

Now, I guess it depends what side you are on regarding healthcare. And make no mistake...the special election in Massachusetts last night WAS a referendum on healthcare and by extension all of the policies of a ruling political class in Washington that is not only not listening but has indicated they have no intention of listening to the people who sent them there.

Here are a few examples of pundits who after being slapped last night, still think they were only dreaming:

"Is this a wake-up call for President Obama? Yes. Does he need to show that he is listening more? Sure. But should this election kill health care? Don't be ridiculous. Who elected Massachusetts to decide for the rest of the country whether we move forward on the bill?" ~ Jonathan Alter, Newsweek

"But even if Brown should prevail, there is a path -- more than one, actually -- for Democrats to lunge across the finish line and pass health-care reform. It might not be pretty, but after the last year of legislative ugliness, it won't much matter." ~ Paul Waldman, The American Prospect

"Dear Nervous and Frustrated House Democrat...
...I don’t want to mislead you: You could pass the Senate bill, which you may really not like, and still lose reelection. But passing health care reform would seem, if anything, to improve your odds of political survival. And if it doesn’t--if you’re doomed to lose anyway--enacting health care reform would give you a meaningful accomplishment in your record." ~ Jonathan Cohn, The New Republic

In other words, let me run with you towards oblivion, encouraging you all the way and then I'll stop at the edge of the cliff and watch because I'm not up for re-election while you, your political career and possibly the influence of the Democratic Party plummet over the edge because you once again misread the electorate.

Hey, it's not just Democrats. George Bush did the same with amnesty, the Dubai posts fiasco, Harriet Meyers etc.. And the same insular attitude from the Republican majority set the table for the disastrous midterm elections of 2006.

Seems Anthony Weiner has a good grasp of what just happened:



and Jon Stewart in a rare moment of clarity: (and actually a pretty good analysis for a liberal)

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Mass Backwards
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Health Care Crisis

My advice? Get out and get to know people again and find out where you goofed. If you don't now already know.

But chances are you haven't read this far and thus will never get this message.

From the revolution in Iran last year to the current crisis in Haiti, texting is proving to be a valuable tool in getting news out fast.
And apparently dollars too. The video below states 4 million has been donated in less than 24 hours. Actually the number is now over 5 million according to several sources.



I tried, out of curiousity to find out how much privately has been given and, well I don't think anyone is keeping track. What I did find is that private giving both corporate and individual is incredible.
When all is said and done, it will be interesting to see if the 100 million from our government, while good and right, isn't a drop in the bucket and rather symbolic by comparison.

A boat docked in a tiny Mexican village. An American tourist complimented the Mexican fisherman on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took him to catch them. 

 

"Not very long," answered the Mexican. 

 

"But then, why didn't you stay out longer and catch more?" asked the American. 

 

The Mexican explained that his small catch was sufficient to meet his needs and those of his family.

The American asked, "But what do you do with the rest of your time?" 

 

"I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, and take a siesta with my wife. In the evenings, I go into the village to see my friends, have a few drinks, play the guitar, and sing a few songs. I have a full life." 

 

The American interrupted, "I have an MBA from Harvard and I can help you! You should start by fishing longer every day. You can then sell the extra fish you catch. With the extra revenue, you can buy a bigger boat."

"And after that?" asked the Mexican. 

 

"With the extra money the larger boat will bring, you can buy a second one and a third one and so on until you have an entire fleet of trawlers. Instead of selling your fish to a middle man, you can then negotiate directly with the processing plants and maybe even open your own plant. You can then leave this little village and move to Mexico City, Los Angeles, or even New York City! From there you can direct your huge new enterprise." 

 

"How long would that take?" asked the Mexican. 

 

"Twenty, perhaps twenty-five years," replied the American. 

 

"And after that?" 

 

"Afterwards? Well my friend, that's when it gets really interesting," answered the American, laughing. "When your business gets really big, you can start buying and selling stocks and make millions!" 

 

"Millions? Really? And after that?" asked the Mexican. 

 

"After that you'll be able to retire, live in a tiny village near the coast, sleep late, play with your children, catch a few fish, take a siesta with your wife and spend your evenings drinking and enjoying your friends." 

 

And the moral of this story is: ......... Know where you're going in life... you may already be there.