Silence creeps in
Like some forgotten dream
I can almost remember
But I wonder if I want to.
Like reality, dreams
Take me places I’d rather not be
And like reality, choices are not always mine.
I have no real choice
I have to go where it takes me;
Reality or dream, no real difference.
Silence creeps in
Reminding me to keep quiet.
It seems I am only allowed
To touch the fringe.
Just enough to want more,
Just enough to know my wanting.
Once identified, spoken, felt
It disappears, just a dream.
Silence creeps in
Keeping me constrained,
Knowing my heart and desires
But allowing only glimpses.
The sharpened edges wanting to cut through
But are dulled continuously against
The hard stone of living.
Silence creeps in
Reminding me of my place;
A forgotten dream to remain forgotten,
That forbidden place not allowed.
The origin of the dream so long ago,
Forgotten, unaware of its beginning.
A dream or a fantasy?
I don’t even know or remember.
I wonder if I even have the energy
To care any more.
Like some forgotten dream,
Silence creeps in
And makes me wonder
If I want to remember
Or if I ever really knew.
Silence creeps in
And touches me, telling me
To be as one; silent, alone.
Let it be as it is and speak no more.
The fringe is your place;
Silence creeps in and I am obedient.
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Monday, November 30, 2009
Bring Back Christmas
It’s time for us to bring Christmas and God back into the language of every day life in our country. The progressives have for too long been able to gradually eliminate God from our celebrations, from our schools, from our leisure activities, and from our daily language and conversation. Our country was founded with God as a cornerstone of our underlying principles and values. It is clear to me, the further we have gotten away from God and the more we have, as a society, limited God in our daily lives, the more complex, dangerous and difficult our lives have become. Don’t get me wrong. I am by no means a religious zealot. Not by a long shot. In fact the truth be told I am a terrible Christian. Since becoming an adult a very long time ago, I have attended church only sporadically. Though I tried to bring my children up in a Christian environment, I did a very poor job of getting them or my family to church on any regular basis. I currently have no church I call home and I have not been to church on any sort of a regular basis for over ten years. I only mention this early on to eliminate any attitude that I am some religious zealot hell bent on converting every one to Christianity.
One of the fundamental reasons our forefathers came to this country was to have the ability and right to practice religious freedom. In the founding of this country they were wise enough to determine, in our Constitution, religious freedom for all individuals and a clear distinction between church and state. The basic concept of separation of church and state has been so over worked and over interpreted by all the legalistic progressives it has all but eliminated the right of Christians to exercise their religious beliefs. As with our founding fathers, the majority of the population of America, is Christian or at least Judeo-Christian. I am curious when atheism became a “religion”. I may not be the sharpest knife in the drawer but I have always thought “religion” was the antithesis of atheism. If this is still true, why do the atheists have any right whatsoever to post their “beliefs” in the same arena as religious postings? Why does the progressive ACLU always come out on the side of the atheists in any controversy of religion versus atheism? There is absolutely no theological basis to atheism yet they are treated as though they have the same “religious” rights as theologically based religions. But I digress. Again, Judeo-Christians still make up the majority of our country and have since our inception. As such why and how have we become so limited in our ability and our right to exercise our religious beliefs. As a country we do a better job than any other country in the world of tolerating and accepting different religions. Since Judeo-Christians make up the majority of our country, we have historically celebrated meaningful religious events such as Christmas without incident. All of the other major religions in the world have their particular religious celebrations designated as national holidays. However these holidays are recognized in their countries of origin. Other non-Christian countries, such as Muslims, do not honor or set aside holidays for the Christian believers: To my knowledge, nor do the Hindus, Buddhists, Jews, or any of the more pagan religions. If having national holidays set aside for ones religion were so extremely important, perhaps individuals of the other religions would not have chosen to come to America but stayed at home, the national base of their religious beliefs and commitments. But they didn’t stay home. They chose to come to America knowing full well we do not celebrate their personal religion as a national holiday in America. Should these individuals be granted personal leave without punishment from their places of employment to celebrate their most meaningful religious holidays? Why not? I would totally support and honor this for any one. I would support them being given time off as a “holiday” just like Christmas for the Christians. Just don’t expect the majority of the country to stop and make your religion a national priority. Your religious preference is not in the majority of our country. If you so desperately need or want a national holiday to celebrate the most important days of your religion, perhaps you should not have come to America. Perhaps you should go back to your native country during such events rather than try and dictate to America what our religious holidays should be and what they should be called. You have the right to exercise your religion in America like everyone else. Do as you will to celebrate but do not expect me join in with you. I will respect your beliefs and fight for your right to believe how you wish but I will not sacrifice my rights in place of yours.
I have been calling for you, America, to stand up and fight for what you believe and to stop being run over by the progressives who are far out numbered by the rest of us. We need to get back to the fundamental principles and values on which this great nation was founded. We need to stop being silent and make our voices, our wishes, our demands heard! We need to stand together and bring Christmas back into our lives, our conversations, our basic values. We need to support, in great numbers, retailers who will stand with us and call this holiday what it is - the Christmas Holiday. We need to come out in large numbers and loudly, proudly, courageously utter the phrase MERRY CHRISTMAS at every opportunity. We need to let everyone know we are done acquiescing our rights, our beliefs, our principles, our values. Together America we are the greatest force in this country and we are the vast majority! Set out to take back this great country of ours. I cannot think of a better place to start than putting Christmas back in our lives. Celebrate openly with pride and dignity. Let not one person or group take us off track. Our ancestors fought for our right to keep and practice our principles and values. Our young, courageous military is fighting two wars today to keep our principles and values alive! Don't let the politicians, the progressives spin it any other way! Celebrate Christmas and demand as a nation we be allowed to call the holiday what it is - the celebration of Christmas!
One of the fundamental reasons our forefathers came to this country was to have the ability and right to practice religious freedom. In the founding of this country they were wise enough to determine, in our Constitution, religious freedom for all individuals and a clear distinction between church and state. The basic concept of separation of church and state has been so over worked and over interpreted by all the legalistic progressives it has all but eliminated the right of Christians to exercise their religious beliefs. As with our founding fathers, the majority of the population of America, is Christian or at least Judeo-Christian. I am curious when atheism became a “religion”. I may not be the sharpest knife in the drawer but I have always thought “religion” was the antithesis of atheism. If this is still true, why do the atheists have any right whatsoever to post their “beliefs” in the same arena as religious postings? Why does the progressive ACLU always come out on the side of the atheists in any controversy of religion versus atheism? There is absolutely no theological basis to atheism yet they are treated as though they have the same “religious” rights as theologically based religions. But I digress. Again, Judeo-Christians still make up the majority of our country and have since our inception. As such why and how have we become so limited in our ability and our right to exercise our religious beliefs. As a country we do a better job than any other country in the world of tolerating and accepting different religions. Since Judeo-Christians make up the majority of our country, we have historically celebrated meaningful religious events such as Christmas without incident. All of the other major religions in the world have their particular religious celebrations designated as national holidays. However these holidays are recognized in their countries of origin. Other non-Christian countries, such as Muslims, do not honor or set aside holidays for the Christian believers: To my knowledge, nor do the Hindus, Buddhists, Jews, or any of the more pagan religions. If having national holidays set aside for ones religion were so extremely important, perhaps individuals of the other religions would not have chosen to come to America but stayed at home, the national base of their religious beliefs and commitments. But they didn’t stay home. They chose to come to America knowing full well we do not celebrate their personal religion as a national holiday in America. Should these individuals be granted personal leave without punishment from their places of employment to celebrate their most meaningful religious holidays? Why not? I would totally support and honor this for any one. I would support them being given time off as a “holiday” just like Christmas for the Christians. Just don’t expect the majority of the country to stop and make your religion a national priority. Your religious preference is not in the majority of our country. If you so desperately need or want a national holiday to celebrate the most important days of your religion, perhaps you should not have come to America. Perhaps you should go back to your native country during such events rather than try and dictate to America what our religious holidays should be and what they should be called. You have the right to exercise your religion in America like everyone else. Do as you will to celebrate but do not expect me join in with you. I will respect your beliefs and fight for your right to believe how you wish but I will not sacrifice my rights in place of yours.
I have been calling for you, America, to stand up and fight for what you believe and to stop being run over by the progressives who are far out numbered by the rest of us. We need to get back to the fundamental principles and values on which this great nation was founded. We need to stop being silent and make our voices, our wishes, our demands heard! We need to stand together and bring Christmas back into our lives, our conversations, our basic values. We need to support, in great numbers, retailers who will stand with us and call this holiday what it is - the Christmas Holiday. We need to come out in large numbers and loudly, proudly, courageously utter the phrase MERRY CHRISTMAS at every opportunity. We need to let everyone know we are done acquiescing our rights, our beliefs, our principles, our values. Together America we are the greatest force in this country and we are the vast majority! Set out to take back this great country of ours. I cannot think of a better place to start than putting Christmas back in our lives. Celebrate openly with pride and dignity. Let not one person or group take us off track. Our ancestors fought for our right to keep and practice our principles and values. Our young, courageous military is fighting two wars today to keep our principles and values alive! Don't let the politicians, the progressives spin it any other way! Celebrate Christmas and demand as a nation we be allowed to call the holiday what it is - the celebration of Christmas!
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Comments Too Extreme? Perhaps...
I received some significant feedback from yesterdays blog that my comments and opinions may have been too extreme and even overboard. Perhaps, yet I do not apologize for my comments. I just don't know what it is going to take to get people involved and willing to take action to regain control of our country and our government. For too many years, the majority wishes have been ignored and brushed off as unimportant and meaningless. Our politicians and "progressive" idealists have treated us like we just don't know any better and it is their job, their right even, to drag us into their ideological world. I believe the Republicans at times have been just as guilty of this as the Democrats. I have been, more times than not, just as disillusioned by the Republicans as I have the Democrats. Though a registered Republican, I have probably been a registered Democrat for more years than a Republican (many of my younger years I spent as a Democrat - at least on paper). I am a registered Republican so I am allowed to vote in primary elections; however, I do not believe I have ever voted strict party lines in any election. I am fed up with being the "silent majority". I think more appropriately, those of us with common points of view, are the silenced majority. Our way of thinking just does not fit in with the progressives and we need to be kept quiet and in our place. We just don't know any better and we need to be shown the light by the progressives. I am not and never have been committed to either party's ideology. Instead I am a simple conservative. I believe in conservative, responsible fiscal policy; smaller government; strong individual entrepreneurial innovation, growth and development; lower taxes; a strong national defense; free market capitalism; and a government responsive to majority opinion that works for the people, not for whom the people work.
Everything in our country seems to be upside down and our eventual demise of the country we love seems inevitable. Over the past eleven months, we have experienced the greatest increase in the size of government and the greatest increase in spending and national debt than in any other time in our history. Politicians are blatantly ignoring the wishes of the majority and are pushing their personal and party ideologies down our throats. In essence we are told to sit down, be quiet, accept what is because they know best. Every minor faction in our country has more rights and more protection than the Judeo Christians who still comprise the majority in this country. We no longer have a voice. We cannot even celebrate Christmas or use the terminology Christmas season for fear of offending some faction or another. Yet the Judeo Christian majority comes under constant attack and criticism from all corners of the political spectrum. What have we become America? The progressives want to remove "In God We Trust" from our currency. We have already lost the right to express our religious views in any public forum and even our flag is under attack by the righteous and self-serving progressives. Yes. I blame both Republicans and Democrats for where we are. Who has truly stood up for us, the majority, over the past thirty years? Ronald Regan had us on the right path and we allowed our gains to be summarily destroyed at the end of his presidency. Shame on us America! Our children cannot say the pledge of allegiance in school; our children cannot pray nor show any religious symbols in our schools; yet, they are being taught, no brainwashed, about diversity, tolerance, homosexuality, the false science of climate change, and on and on and on. Who have we become America? What is our heritage? What fundamental policies have historically made our country great? Why are we running as fast and as far away from our fundamental beliefs as a nation as we can? From where did we come America? Do you remember? Do you care? How many lives over our history have been sacrificed to allow us to thrive as a nation? Are you really willing to allow all those who have sacrificed their lives for our country to have given the ultimate sacrifice in vain? I am not America and I just can't believe you are either. We are so conditioned to be victims we are not sure how to react or even if we can. We can America and we must! Failure to act will only result in loosing more of our rights, more of our freedoms, more of our opportunities! Why are you so accepting America? Three brave and courageous Marines are currently in the process of being court marshaled because when they risked their lives to capture a terrorist responsible for the killing of four Black Water contractors, the terrorist had a "fat lip". Who are you America? In what do you truly believe and are you finally willing to stand up and fight for it? We must America!
America you have to remember. You have to remember 9/11 and live and re-live all of the pain and devastation. Never put it out of your mind America! This is what we are fighting against. The terrorists have not changed or become more moderate. The terrorists want exactly the same thing today they wanted on 9/11: To destroy you, your way of life, your family, your freedoms, your opportunities, your religious beliefs, your country. What is an American? Do you, America, want your politicians to succumb to the terrorists and recognize their legitimacy? Do you want your government and your politicians to continue to take away your rights and your beliefs while all the time blaming you, America, for the behavior of the terrorists? Do you want to sit back America and be told lies about climate change so the government and the politicians can further their personal and political ideologies? Do you want to pay more in taxes America than you bring home to support government expansion and growth? Do you want your children and grandchildren America to pay for extravagant and unchecked spending by your elected officials today? Do you want to stand up America and take back your country and bring it back to the greatness it once was? The time for decision is now. The time for action is now. If we, America, allow this to continue because we are paralyzed and unwilling to act, we will have no one to blame but ourselves. Remember a time in the distant past America, before political correctness, when the individual was accountable for their actions, beliefs and behaviors. Remember a time in the distant past America when one of our underlying principals was personal responsibility. It is up to you America not the politicians to make the changes you want. It is up to you America, each and every individual, to stand up and say NO MORE! Even though "no" is now politically incorrect, particularly if you are saying no to the progressives, use it America. Stand up and simply say NO! This is not the country I love. This is not the right direction for our country. NO! I do not want to live under international law. NO! The terrorists are not victims. We are at war for our very existence. NO! I do not want the government and the politicians punishing our brave soldiers for doing their jobs and doing it very well. NO! I will not tolerate any more government expansion. NO! I will not tolerate any more government spending we cannot support. It is up to you America. What have we become America? Who have we become America? From where did we come America? Why are you so accepting America? Who are you America? And for each and every one of us in our personal time and space; who are you?
Everything in our country seems to be upside down and our eventual demise of the country we love seems inevitable. Over the past eleven months, we have experienced the greatest increase in the size of government and the greatest increase in spending and national debt than in any other time in our history. Politicians are blatantly ignoring the wishes of the majority and are pushing their personal and party ideologies down our throats. In essence we are told to sit down, be quiet, accept what is because they know best. Every minor faction in our country has more rights and more protection than the Judeo Christians who still comprise the majority in this country. We no longer have a voice. We cannot even celebrate Christmas or use the terminology Christmas season for fear of offending some faction or another. Yet the Judeo Christian majority comes under constant attack and criticism from all corners of the political spectrum. What have we become America? The progressives want to remove "In God We Trust" from our currency. We have already lost the right to express our religious views in any public forum and even our flag is under attack by the righteous and self-serving progressives. Yes. I blame both Republicans and Democrats for where we are. Who has truly stood up for us, the majority, over the past thirty years? Ronald Regan had us on the right path and we allowed our gains to be summarily destroyed at the end of his presidency. Shame on us America! Our children cannot say the pledge of allegiance in school; our children cannot pray nor show any religious symbols in our schools; yet, they are being taught, no brainwashed, about diversity, tolerance, homosexuality, the false science of climate change, and on and on and on. Who have we become America? What is our heritage? What fundamental policies have historically made our country great? Why are we running as fast and as far away from our fundamental beliefs as a nation as we can? From where did we come America? Do you remember? Do you care? How many lives over our history have been sacrificed to allow us to thrive as a nation? Are you really willing to allow all those who have sacrificed their lives for our country to have given the ultimate sacrifice in vain? I am not America and I just can't believe you are either. We are so conditioned to be victims we are not sure how to react or even if we can. We can America and we must! Failure to act will only result in loosing more of our rights, more of our freedoms, more of our opportunities! Why are you so accepting America? Three brave and courageous Marines are currently in the process of being court marshaled because when they risked their lives to capture a terrorist responsible for the killing of four Black Water contractors, the terrorist had a "fat lip". Who are you America? In what do you truly believe and are you finally willing to stand up and fight for it? We must America!
America you have to remember. You have to remember 9/11 and live and re-live all of the pain and devastation. Never put it out of your mind America! This is what we are fighting against. The terrorists have not changed or become more moderate. The terrorists want exactly the same thing today they wanted on 9/11: To destroy you, your way of life, your family, your freedoms, your opportunities, your religious beliefs, your country. What is an American? Do you, America, want your politicians to succumb to the terrorists and recognize their legitimacy? Do you want your government and your politicians to continue to take away your rights and your beliefs while all the time blaming you, America, for the behavior of the terrorists? Do you want to sit back America and be told lies about climate change so the government and the politicians can further their personal and political ideologies? Do you want to pay more in taxes America than you bring home to support government expansion and growth? Do you want your children and grandchildren America to pay for extravagant and unchecked spending by your elected officials today? Do you want to stand up America and take back your country and bring it back to the greatness it once was? The time for decision is now. The time for action is now. If we, America, allow this to continue because we are paralyzed and unwilling to act, we will have no one to blame but ourselves. Remember a time in the distant past America, before political correctness, when the individual was accountable for their actions, beliefs and behaviors. Remember a time in the distant past America when one of our underlying principals was personal responsibility. It is up to you America not the politicians to make the changes you want. It is up to you America, each and every individual, to stand up and say NO MORE! Even though "no" is now politically incorrect, particularly if you are saying no to the progressives, use it America. Stand up and simply say NO! This is not the country I love. This is not the right direction for our country. NO! I do not want to live under international law. NO! The terrorists are not victims. We are at war for our very existence. NO! I do not want the government and the politicians punishing our brave soldiers for doing their jobs and doing it very well. NO! I will not tolerate any more government expansion. NO! I will not tolerate any more government spending we cannot support. It is up to you America. What have we become America? Who have we become America? From where did we come America? Why are you so accepting America? Who are you America? And for each and every one of us in our personal time and space; who are you?
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
A CALL TO HONOR AND CONSCIENCE
When the news first broke of Eric Holder's decision to bring the 9/11 terrorists to New York for trial, I had such an immediate visceral response I became nauseous and furious at the same time. Like a large number of concerned American citizens, I was immediately concerned with the possibility of another terrorist attack, and I remain so today. What a perfect opportunity for another strike at the heart of our country. Besides the obvious fact that these are enemy combatants and should be tried in a military court, I also immediately knew there would be no shortage of attorneys, looking to make names for themselves, willing and eager to be appointed as part of the defense counsel representing these reprehensible human beings. I understand there is also opportunity for the appointment of counsel in a military trial. However this was a mute point since the terrorists had already chosen to plead guilty to all charges and had asked to be put to death. End of story; no drama, no side shows, no risk to our homeland, no risk to out citizens. But here we are today preparing for the "trial of the century". I think more appropriately, the most possibly devastating ignorant legal decision of the century. Everyone is talking about the obvious costs of such a lengthy trial as well, primarily the cost of maintaining security and safety. Well what about the cost for the defense counsel? The Federal Government is paying for their services as appointed counsel. So not only are these "attorneys" willing to take such a case to make a name for themselves, they will have a financial windfall at the government's expense. This trial will drag on and on and the attorneys will be paid to keep the circus going. As hard as I have tried, I can find absolutely nothing good coming out of Holder's ill conceived decision to hold this trial in New York.
I'm sorry America but this is a perfect snap shot of where our country is and what it has become. We should be ashamed of ourselves for allowing such a true travesty of justice. I call on the attorney's being appointed to defend this band of terrorist thugs to stand up with conviction and honor and decline the appointment. I realize this would likely be a career killer and an attorney refusing to serve would likely be disbarred but there are other even greater consequences for the country. This is a time for honor and conscience America. This is a time to once again put our country first. When did we finally take that final step over the line and become a society of entitled takers instead of givers. When did we step over that line of God, country and family to "ME" first? When did our personal greed finally take over our love of our country. We have become a society of whining takers; expecting, believing and demanding the government take care of us. We have lost sight of the fact our well being is up to us first and it is our personal responsibility to take the necessary steps to ensure our well being. Again, I call on everyone to act with honor and conscience! Don't allow our country to be dragged into a judicial circus for the terrorists.
Find the taped interview from yesterday with Scott Fernstermaker, one of the appointed attorneys for the terrorists, and listen to his comments. It should make you so angry you will not believe what you hear. He said these "gentleman" have been "demonized" for the last eight years and they have a "right" to tell their side of the story finally. His comments simply made my blood boil. Mr. Fernstermaker is also a graduate of the US Naval Academy. If he wants to make a name for himself, I have the perfect name: Traitor. How could anyone with honor and good conscience defend these reprehensible excuses for human beings. I call them terrorists for lack of a better word. It is time America to go back and forget all this political correctness and put our country first. It is time to stand up to the political correctness police and stand on the firm foundation of honor and conscience and put GOD back into our country and our lives. It is in fact the people like Scott Fernstermaker who have been instrumental in the destruction of our country. We have for far too long allowed the whiners, the entitled life suckers of society, the traitors to suck the life out of our country. We owe the terrorists nothing short of being put to death as quickly as possible. It is simply asinine to think they deserve a "fair trial" in the best judicial system in the world. If we can learn once again to act with honor and conscience, we will no longer sit back and let the survivors of 9/11 be the only voices of dissent and rejection of a wholly political decision to try these animals in civilian court. It is time America to once again stand up with honor and conscience and say enough to the onslaught of political correctness that has destroyed our country.
To Mr. Fernstermaker and all like him I say you are a traitor. You have no honor and you have no true conscience. If you possessed either, you would reject an appointment to be any part of the defense counsel appointed to represent the animals that actively participated in the killing of thousands of innocent Americans! You Mr. Fernstermaker and all like you are the life suckers of our country and it is time you are seen for what you are and once and for all be seen in the light of day! You are a disgrace to America sir! You and those like you have destroyed our country with your politically correct rhetoric and your greed covered up under the sheath of justice. For Mr. Holder who, in his ill conceived vision of justice decided to try these terrorist on American soil, I put forth this challenge: If one innocent American, policeman, fire fighter, military personnel looses a life as a result of your decision to try these terrorists on American soil you should at the very least be charged with criminally negligent homicide and at worst, treason. As the Attorney General of the United States it is your responsibility to make and give the best legal decisions you can. This being an example of your decision making, you will risk the individuals of this country and the country as a whole for your own personal political agenda. You, like Mr. Fernstermaker, are an insult to America and her people. Mr. Holder it is time for you as well to stand up and act with honor and conscience. It is time to be courageous America! Stand and be counted! Let honor and conscience be pivotal guides in your choices and actions!
I'm sorry America but this is a perfect snap shot of where our country is and what it has become. We should be ashamed of ourselves for allowing such a true travesty of justice. I call on the attorney's being appointed to defend this band of terrorist thugs to stand up with conviction and honor and decline the appointment. I realize this would likely be a career killer and an attorney refusing to serve would likely be disbarred but there are other even greater consequences for the country. This is a time for honor and conscience America. This is a time to once again put our country first. When did we finally take that final step over the line and become a society of entitled takers instead of givers. When did we step over that line of God, country and family to "ME" first? When did our personal greed finally take over our love of our country. We have become a society of whining takers; expecting, believing and demanding the government take care of us. We have lost sight of the fact our well being is up to us first and it is our personal responsibility to take the necessary steps to ensure our well being. Again, I call on everyone to act with honor and conscience! Don't allow our country to be dragged into a judicial circus for the terrorists.
Find the taped interview from yesterday with Scott Fernstermaker, one of the appointed attorneys for the terrorists, and listen to his comments. It should make you so angry you will not believe what you hear. He said these "gentleman" have been "demonized" for the last eight years and they have a "right" to tell their side of the story finally. His comments simply made my blood boil. Mr. Fernstermaker is also a graduate of the US Naval Academy. If he wants to make a name for himself, I have the perfect name: Traitor. How could anyone with honor and good conscience defend these reprehensible excuses for human beings. I call them terrorists for lack of a better word. It is time America to go back and forget all this political correctness and put our country first. It is time to stand up to the political correctness police and stand on the firm foundation of honor and conscience and put GOD back into our country and our lives. It is in fact the people like Scott Fernstermaker who have been instrumental in the destruction of our country. We have for far too long allowed the whiners, the entitled life suckers of society, the traitors to suck the life out of our country. We owe the terrorists nothing short of being put to death as quickly as possible. It is simply asinine to think they deserve a "fair trial" in the best judicial system in the world. If we can learn once again to act with honor and conscience, we will no longer sit back and let the survivors of 9/11 be the only voices of dissent and rejection of a wholly political decision to try these animals in civilian court. It is time America to once again stand up with honor and conscience and say enough to the onslaught of political correctness that has destroyed our country.
To Mr. Fernstermaker and all like him I say you are a traitor. You have no honor and you have no true conscience. If you possessed either, you would reject an appointment to be any part of the defense counsel appointed to represent the animals that actively participated in the killing of thousands of innocent Americans! You Mr. Fernstermaker and all like you are the life suckers of our country and it is time you are seen for what you are and once and for all be seen in the light of day! You are a disgrace to America sir! You and those like you have destroyed our country with your politically correct rhetoric and your greed covered up under the sheath of justice. For Mr. Holder who, in his ill conceived vision of justice decided to try these terrorist on American soil, I put forth this challenge: If one innocent American, policeman, fire fighter, military personnel looses a life as a result of your decision to try these terrorists on American soil you should at the very least be charged with criminally negligent homicide and at worst, treason. As the Attorney General of the United States it is your responsibility to make and give the best legal decisions you can. This being an example of your decision making, you will risk the individuals of this country and the country as a whole for your own personal political agenda. You, like Mr. Fernstermaker, are an insult to America and her people. Mr. Holder it is time for you as well to stand up and act with honor and conscience. It is time to be courageous America! Stand and be counted! Let honor and conscience be pivotal guides in your choices and actions!
Monday, November 23, 2009
A HEALTH CARE PRIMER: Understanding Health Care Today
I have been working within our country's health care system for over thirty years from a "provider" prospective. I have had to work with and interface with private insurance carriers, Medicaid and Medicare. In the late 1980's, I worked for an organization chosen as one of five pilot sites in the country to test and evaluate new procedures for cost cutting on behalf of the Department of Defense. This five year project covered all military personnel and civilian employees. How military personnel and civilian employees of the Department of Defense receive their medical care today is a direct result of this five year demonstration project. These benefits do not apply to care received in a military hospital as a result of combat related illness or injury but more in terms of on-going care provided by private sector contract providers.
The first thing everyone needs to understand is all health care is managed by every insurance carrier in the country including all of the government entitlement programs and the Department of Defense. The standard practice is simply referred to as "Managed Care". Very straightforward and does exactly what you might expect from the title. I need to step back just briefly though and explain how health care was delivered prior to managed care. This is quite simple actually. All providers of health care, whether medical, dental, or mental health made their own decisions about the care of patients based on their personal experience and knowledge. Upon delivery of their chosen course of treatment, providers (or individuals) submitted payment claims to the insurance companies for reimbursement. This was a simple and straightforward process with the course of health care driven by the practitioner and the patient. As more and more people became enrolled in health insurance programs and the government established Medicaid and Medicare, the insurance carriers began to look for ways to contain costs and "manage patient care". In some respects managing patient care is misleading. It may be more appropriate to say managing the way providers practice. The first evolution in managed care (before it was ever referred to as such) came about under a program initially instituted for and limited to hospital services. The concept of "Diagnostic Related Groups" or DRG's was put into place. Again, a fairly simple concept once someone bothers to explain it. Simply put a DRG is a set of standard and acceptable procedures one may reasonably expect to be needed given any specific medical diagnosis. Every single procedure, any form of service delivery provided by a practitioner, is given a specific "procedure code".Within every diagnosis is a prescribed and accepted set of procedure codes for treating that specific diagnosis. As initially implemented in hospital services, care providers had to stick to the accepted set of procedure codes for the given diagnosis. Any procedures a practitioner would want to perform outside of the specified DRG required "prior approval". Failure to obtain prior approval for a procedure outside of the DRG meant the practitioner/hospital would not be paid for the procedure. Insurance carriers and the government have a panel of "experts"; RN's, physicians, specialists, etc. that review provider procedures and approve and disapprove any and all procedures outside of the DRG. In the spirit of clarity, it is important to note there is not a "national panel" that reviews all insurance programs. Instead, every insurance carrier including all of the government programs have their own set of experts that review and make determinations about the delivery of their insurer's health plan. This practice is commonly referred to as "Utilization Review" (UR). The development and implementation of DRG's in the medical field had a two-fold purpose: primarily to cut costs and manage cost increases of medical services and to establish an acceptable set of procedures for each diagnostic code bringing uniformity to the medical establishment. The later of these two does make sense. Practitioners have a road map to follow that is a standard of care if you will for each diagnosis.
From the world of DRG's grew the greater concept of Managed Care. Private insurance carriers began expanding the concept of DRG's from hospital services into the very offices and practices of individual providers. In essence the hospital based DRG system was expanded to individual providers in communities, laying out acceptable standard practices for health care providers as they delivered care to their patients during office visits. All private providers are required to comply with a set of standard procedure codes for specific patient concerns. As with the original hospital based DRG system, any procedure lying outside of the established codes for a specific diagnosis, requires prior authorization from the insureds health care insurance company. Without prior approval, the local provider is likely not going to be reimbursed and the burden of payment would then be the sole responsibility of the patient. This system also goes further than just specifying a set of standard procedures; in recent years it has expanded into including a prescribed set of drug treatments for any given diagnosis. The standard practice is to begin care with older, cheaper, even generic drug choices. Should these drugs prove ineffective, the practitioner may then, with prior approval, move up the drug chain if you will until an effective pharmaceutical intervention is found. Please do not be mislead by what you hear on daily news shows or rhetoric from politicians. Your health care has been managed for a very long time. This is really nothing new to providers of health care or insurance carriers. The system as currently structured can be extremely burdensome on providers and providers often have to take their valuable time to fight with insurance carriers to provide the level of care to their patients they deem to be the most efficacious. Medical providers spend a great deal of money employing qualified professionals to deal with insurance companies and to complete required Utilization Reviews; either telephonically or written correspondence. The system seems to pit provider against practitioner and the relationship between the two is more time than not adversarial. The cost of meeting the demands within this review system can be tremendous. Specialities are especially scrutinized and required to provide inordinate documentation to support their diagnosis as well as chosen course of treatment.
The bottom line of health care today is it is a Managed Care System which by the nature of the beast results in rationing by any other name. At some level determinations are made through the Utilization Review process of cost effectiveness. In other words, does the cost of care (treatment) out weigh the benefits? If the answer to this question is yes, the likelihood of receiving that level care is slim at best unless the patient chooses to pay for the care out of pocket or the practitioner chooses to provide that level of care pro bono. Though the development of established standards of care may be a positive outcome of DRG's and Managed Care, the cost associated have been astronomical. Keep in mind every health care insurance carrier including Medicaid, Medicare and the Department of Defense have regional Utilization Review panels that monitor and prescribe care by individual and/or organizational health care providers. As you might imagine, this is a huge and very costly bureaucracy. The costs of this bureaucracy are paid for by the premiums paid by individual and group consumers. You. On the provider side of health care, providers have been forced to employ individuals that do nothing other than interface with insurance carriers to conduct Utilization Reviews with the private insurance carriers and entitlement programs. Another layer of bueracary if you will but one paid for by the first line consumer in higher physician fees and overall medical costs. So a system initially intended to standardize medical care has grown to encompass a system of managed, rationed care with financial burdens passed on to the front line consumer from both directions. There are many opportunities for finding savings and cost cutting within the health care arena without further cuts or rationing for the consumer of health care. At the same time; insurance carriers and government entitlement programs have built huge bureaucracies that have become the "sacred cows" of the insurance industry and will not be easily sacrificed or cut to obtain decreases in health care costs.
The first thing everyone needs to understand is all health care is managed by every insurance carrier in the country including all of the government entitlement programs and the Department of Defense. The standard practice is simply referred to as "Managed Care". Very straightforward and does exactly what you might expect from the title. I need to step back just briefly though and explain how health care was delivered prior to managed care. This is quite simple actually. All providers of health care, whether medical, dental, or mental health made their own decisions about the care of patients based on their personal experience and knowledge. Upon delivery of their chosen course of treatment, providers (or individuals) submitted payment claims to the insurance companies for reimbursement. This was a simple and straightforward process with the course of health care driven by the practitioner and the patient. As more and more people became enrolled in health insurance programs and the government established Medicaid and Medicare, the insurance carriers began to look for ways to contain costs and "manage patient care". In some respects managing patient care is misleading. It may be more appropriate to say managing the way providers practice. The first evolution in managed care (before it was ever referred to as such) came about under a program initially instituted for and limited to hospital services. The concept of "Diagnostic Related Groups" or DRG's was put into place. Again, a fairly simple concept once someone bothers to explain it. Simply put a DRG is a set of standard and acceptable procedures one may reasonably expect to be needed given any specific medical diagnosis. Every single procedure, any form of service delivery provided by a practitioner, is given a specific "procedure code".Within every diagnosis is a prescribed and accepted set of procedure codes for treating that specific diagnosis. As initially implemented in hospital services, care providers had to stick to the accepted set of procedure codes for the given diagnosis. Any procedures a practitioner would want to perform outside of the specified DRG required "prior approval". Failure to obtain prior approval for a procedure outside of the DRG meant the practitioner/hospital would not be paid for the procedure. Insurance carriers and the government have a panel of "experts"; RN's, physicians, specialists, etc. that review provider procedures and approve and disapprove any and all procedures outside of the DRG. In the spirit of clarity, it is important to note there is not a "national panel" that reviews all insurance programs. Instead, every insurance carrier including all of the government programs have their own set of experts that review and make determinations about the delivery of their insurer's health plan. This practice is commonly referred to as "Utilization Review" (UR). The development and implementation of DRG's in the medical field had a two-fold purpose: primarily to cut costs and manage cost increases of medical services and to establish an acceptable set of procedures for each diagnostic code bringing uniformity to the medical establishment. The later of these two does make sense. Practitioners have a road map to follow that is a standard of care if you will for each diagnosis.
From the world of DRG's grew the greater concept of Managed Care. Private insurance carriers began expanding the concept of DRG's from hospital services into the very offices and practices of individual providers. In essence the hospital based DRG system was expanded to individual providers in communities, laying out acceptable standard practices for health care providers as they delivered care to their patients during office visits. All private providers are required to comply with a set of standard procedure codes for specific patient concerns. As with the original hospital based DRG system, any procedure lying outside of the established codes for a specific diagnosis, requires prior authorization from the insureds health care insurance company. Without prior approval, the local provider is likely not going to be reimbursed and the burden of payment would then be the sole responsibility of the patient. This system also goes further than just specifying a set of standard procedures; in recent years it has expanded into including a prescribed set of drug treatments for any given diagnosis. The standard practice is to begin care with older, cheaper, even generic drug choices. Should these drugs prove ineffective, the practitioner may then, with prior approval, move up the drug chain if you will until an effective pharmaceutical intervention is found. Please do not be mislead by what you hear on daily news shows or rhetoric from politicians. Your health care has been managed for a very long time. This is really nothing new to providers of health care or insurance carriers. The system as currently structured can be extremely burdensome on providers and providers often have to take their valuable time to fight with insurance carriers to provide the level of care to their patients they deem to be the most efficacious. Medical providers spend a great deal of money employing qualified professionals to deal with insurance companies and to complete required Utilization Reviews; either telephonically or written correspondence. The system seems to pit provider against practitioner and the relationship between the two is more time than not adversarial. The cost of meeting the demands within this review system can be tremendous. Specialities are especially scrutinized and required to provide inordinate documentation to support their diagnosis as well as chosen course of treatment.
The bottom line of health care today is it is a Managed Care System which by the nature of the beast results in rationing by any other name. At some level determinations are made through the Utilization Review process of cost effectiveness. In other words, does the cost of care (treatment) out weigh the benefits? If the answer to this question is yes, the likelihood of receiving that level care is slim at best unless the patient chooses to pay for the care out of pocket or the practitioner chooses to provide that level of care pro bono. Though the development of established standards of care may be a positive outcome of DRG's and Managed Care, the cost associated have been astronomical. Keep in mind every health care insurance carrier including Medicaid, Medicare and the Department of Defense have regional Utilization Review panels that monitor and prescribe care by individual and/or organizational health care providers. As you might imagine, this is a huge and very costly bureaucracy. The costs of this bureaucracy are paid for by the premiums paid by individual and group consumers. You. On the provider side of health care, providers have been forced to employ individuals that do nothing other than interface with insurance carriers to conduct Utilization Reviews with the private insurance carriers and entitlement programs. Another layer of bueracary if you will but one paid for by the first line consumer in higher physician fees and overall medical costs. So a system initially intended to standardize medical care has grown to encompass a system of managed, rationed care with financial burdens passed on to the front line consumer from both directions. There are many opportunities for finding savings and cost cutting within the health care arena without further cuts or rationing for the consumer of health care. At the same time; insurance carriers and government entitlement programs have built huge bureaucracies that have become the "sacred cows" of the insurance industry and will not be easily sacrificed or cut to obtain decreases in health care costs.
Friday, November 20, 2009
AMERICA: The Greatest Country On Earth
That's right. The greatest country on earth is the United States of America. But we didn't get where we are by accident and it isn't a fluke. We certainly have our share of problems and internal discord as we have throughout our history but there has always seemed to be a reliance on our core values and principals as a people and a nation that has kept us strong and moving along. Many of our values can be found in our Constitution as put forth by our founding fathers. We have been a nation of tenacious individualists, a nation of faith, a nation of commitment to family, a nation who values peace, a nation who has always looked out for the "underdog", a nation that has valued and rewarded hard work and innovation. We, each and every one of us, needs to take a moment and do some serious reflection on our own personal values and principals and those of our country. Are we being led in a way and in a direction that continues to support our national and personal values? Have we truly become a nation of whiners that look to the government to care take us and make everything better? Have we truly lost our value for the individual and the individual spirit? Have we grown so meek we can longer face our adversaries head-on? Out of some necessity we have to participate in a greater global world but do we really have to sacrifice all we are and who we are to participate? If we do is it really worth the cost? We need to refocus America! Refocus on a deep personal level then as a nation Refocus America. Together we can do it. Our whole has always been greater than our sum and it still is today.
As individuals and as a nation we have always valued giving a hand up to those in need whether our neighbor or a fledgling country. I will speak only personally here as I will give a hand up freely but take caution in giving a hand out. We value the pioneer spirit and creativity. We value life, liberty and the inherent rights of individuals to make their own way. If we continue down the path we are on can we hold on to these values in any meaningful way? If our government does any thing for us at all, it's primary function should be to help resolve and remove obstacles for upholding our values. Our values as citizens, as individuals that together make up this country we call America. It has been and is our differentness, our melting pot of peoples, ideals, and accomplishments that has made us what we are. These are the things others covet in our country and why America has always been an end destination for so many wanting so much more. Are we willing to give that up America to be like every other country and just be one in the fold of a global hierarchy? Not for me. Not in my lifetime. Not without fighting to my very last breath! I am not willing to sacrifice America and her greatness to appease one person, one country or the world. We did not get to be the greatest country in the world by being silent. We did not get to be the greatest country in the world through bowing to the will of other peoples and nations. We did not get to be the greatest country in the world by negotiating our core values away.
It's up to us America as it always has been. One individual at a time. One family at a time. One city, one town, one state at a time. Take back our country now and get back to what made us what we are today. The power truly lies with the individual. REFOCUS AMERICA!
As individuals and as a nation we have always valued giving a hand up to those in need whether our neighbor or a fledgling country. I will speak only personally here as I will give a hand up freely but take caution in giving a hand out. We value the pioneer spirit and creativity. We value life, liberty and the inherent rights of individuals to make their own way. If we continue down the path we are on can we hold on to these values in any meaningful way? If our government does any thing for us at all, it's primary function should be to help resolve and remove obstacles for upholding our values. Our values as citizens, as individuals that together make up this country we call America. It has been and is our differentness, our melting pot of peoples, ideals, and accomplishments that has made us what we are. These are the things others covet in our country and why America has always been an end destination for so many wanting so much more. Are we willing to give that up America to be like every other country and just be one in the fold of a global hierarchy? Not for me. Not in my lifetime. Not without fighting to my very last breath! I am not willing to sacrifice America and her greatness to appease one person, one country or the world. We did not get to be the greatest country in the world by being silent. We did not get to be the greatest country in the world through bowing to the will of other peoples and nations. We did not get to be the greatest country in the world by negotiating our core values away.
It's up to us America as it always has been. One individual at a time. One family at a time. One city, one town, one state at a time. Take back our country now and get back to what made us what we are today. The power truly lies with the individual. REFOCUS AMERICA!
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Remove Elected Officials that Vote on Bills They Haven't Read
I cannot understand why the conversation and outrage over politicians voting on bills they have not read has so quickly gone away. We are now facing another 2,074 page health care bill coming out of the Senate that is to be voted on possibly by Saturday for open debate. Come on! If you haven't read the bill and you don't know what's in it, how can you with a clear conscience and any level of integrity vote? Fair enough to vote on opening it up for debate I suppose but to even have a meaningful debate the bill needs to be read by all involved. What scares the hell out of me about this is this practice appears to be the standard and not the exception. Maybe that's why this has been such a short lived issue. Those of us who have obviously been totally naive about the whole process look like blithering idiots because we have assumed all these years the people we have elected and put into office, trusting them to do our will and protect our rights, don't even read legislation before voting. I'm sorry and I will certainly own my responsibility for being so openly stupid but I had more faith in our system of government than that. No wonder the government can't effectively run any of the programs they are responsible for. We have a bunch of bureaucrats and politicians making decisions on issues they have not even a superficial understanding of let alone any real deep appreciation or understanding of because they just vote and act blindly. I cannot believe this! I can imagine what would happen in the world of private industry if a high level manager for a large corporation was found to be making decisions from a totally uninformed platform. They would be run out of the company on a rail and immediately. They would never work at that level again in any organization. So why not the same for our elected officials? We need to demand our elected officials read every single bill from start to finish before they ever enter a vote. We need to, in every district, obtain voting records and directly ask our representatives if they read every bill for which they voted. Any not read response with a subsequent vote should result in being voted out of office in the next cycle.
I will take full responsibility for my own stupidity. I know better than to assume anything and especially when it comes to the government and our elected officials. I will accept this as a valuable learning experience. Now I have an even better idea of what other questions to ask my government officials when I am trying to make an informed and educated decision about who I want to represent me in Washington. These health reform bills simply do not rise the level needing to be rushed through Congress as if it were an emergency war bill or something absolutely necessary to be voted on immediately for our national security. Even at that, bills should be read, understood and fully comprehended before any vote is registered by any politician. What is the rush? The rush is simple in my mind. The Democrats and the Administration want to cram these bills down our throats before we have an opportunity to fully understand and comprehend their content. They know the public would revolt if we had full and honest disclosure. Stop the nonsense and stop allowing our representatives to enact legislation that no one really knows what is included in the legislation.
It's our government and the politicians work for us. I do not want any one representing me that has no idea what they are voting for when casting a vote on any kind of legislation. We have to hold our representatives accountable! Start asking today what bills your representatives have voted on without reading. Give our representatives a loud and clear message we will no longer sit back and allow them to make blind, uninformed, uneducated votes. Know what you are voting on or stop the process! We need to put this out to the politicians before we even elect them: Before voting for you we expect and demand you read every bit of legislation before you ever cast a vote! How else can we trust your decisions and rely on you to represent our best interests as citizens? I think every single elected official needs a very strong reminder that they work for us. We hire them and we can just as easily fire them. If your representatives do not want to agree to these terms of employment, fire them as quickly as possible. We all need to step up and own our responsibilities in our government. Only then will our elected officials take us seriously and begin to be accountable.
I will take full responsibility for my own stupidity. I know better than to assume anything and especially when it comes to the government and our elected officials. I will accept this as a valuable learning experience. Now I have an even better idea of what other questions to ask my government officials when I am trying to make an informed and educated decision about who I want to represent me in Washington. These health reform bills simply do not rise the level needing to be rushed through Congress as if it were an emergency war bill or something absolutely necessary to be voted on immediately for our national security. Even at that, bills should be read, understood and fully comprehended before any vote is registered by any politician. What is the rush? The rush is simple in my mind. The Democrats and the Administration want to cram these bills down our throats before we have an opportunity to fully understand and comprehend their content. They know the public would revolt if we had full and honest disclosure. Stop the nonsense and stop allowing our representatives to enact legislation that no one really knows what is included in the legislation.
It's our government and the politicians work for us. I do not want any one representing me that has no idea what they are voting for when casting a vote on any kind of legislation. We have to hold our representatives accountable! Start asking today what bills your representatives have voted on without reading. Give our representatives a loud and clear message we will no longer sit back and allow them to make blind, uninformed, uneducated votes. Know what you are voting on or stop the process! We need to put this out to the politicians before we even elect them: Before voting for you we expect and demand you read every bit of legislation before you ever cast a vote! How else can we trust your decisions and rely on you to represent our best interests as citizens? I think every single elected official needs a very strong reminder that they work for us. We hire them and we can just as easily fire them. If your representatives do not want to agree to these terms of employment, fire them as quickly as possible. We all need to step up and own our responsibilities in our government. Only then will our elected officials take us seriously and begin to be accountable.
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