the benevolence of place

Fortunately life is not just about politics and issues--



it is also comprised (if you choose it to be so) of sunsets and sunrises; the warm gulf breeze rumpling through salt-sea wet hair; beautiful music that balms the soul as will a perfect passage of poetry; holding hands and gentle kisses during the ordinary moments of the day; a glass of champagne with the sun's final breath; cuddling up in a blanket with a book you have waited to read with adventesque anticipation or heading out to a favorite spot-- a mountaintop or lounging under a palm tree; all gifts to the spirit of the heart.

When I feel the pressures of finance or the burden of survival too keenly, I pull up a glass of Sparkling Beringer and pour myself onto the couch to watch something special. Sometimes, as often as I can, it is my favorite show Key West. It contains not only the magic of a show that was remarkable for an unremarkable industry but reminders of the place that I call home-- though my residence is Denver.

When I am in Key West the waving of a wand to discover treasure that was not there before or the sprinkling of fairy dust so that I can fly seems possible. When I am there, the anxious and darkened past is stripped away. A newness is gifted to me, the possibility of leaving the dim shadows of yesterday in my wake and I am able to look to broader, wider horizons. When I am there, it seems that I can walk right out onto the horizon and keep walking into the wildness of the ocean, peering down at a corner of the world unperceived before. When I am in Key West, I find myself to be who I am.

It is a gift... the benevolence of place. Finding the place you belong, the place that strips away the old paint that was layered there by time... pain... wariness.. weariness... and takes you back to your brick foundations.

For example...

In an article in the New York Times, http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/26/us/politics/26calif.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss&src=igw
the author pats Obama on the back for directing federal regulators to move quickly on applications that have been submitted by California and thirteen other states to set strict automobile emission and fuel efficiency standards. Once again, this is fine but in a few paragraphs later he admits, "it stops short of flatly ordering the Bush decision reversed, the agency’s regulators are now widely expected to do so after completing a formal review process."

He should be flatly changing... putting the breaks on... reversing... running away from Bush policies. They have been tried and have proven themselves to be a disaster. There should be no compromise and he should act immediately-- retroactively. And we should expect him to. The reason he won't (other than that he just may not want to)is simply because he doesn't want to hurt big business-- but on matters like the environment we cannot afford to poke around. Our environment is in peril.

Change NOW!!!!

Big business's interests should not come first!!!

here's a Tom Toles strip that hits the mark http://www.gocomics.com/tomtoles/2009/01/26/

Final thoughts

Having finished the final pages of Frank's book and spent time digesting the entirety of what he is saying, he is really sounding the alarm. There will be no change, beyond tummy tuck type changes if we ourselves do not bring it about. People in power do not change willingly. It is a fact of history. In other countries, it has led to war. We can "negotiate" and centricize ourselves into oblivion or we can stand up and say enough is enough! We want our air to be clean (so we need regulations that force corporations to clean up their acts-- which also means they HAVE to be enforced by the government). We want the ability to make a living from our jobs (worker protections-- which means support for unions and worker organizations-), the same kind of fair redistribution of wealth that was available in the 50s-70s. In short, we want a system that does not stack the decks against us and enable the wealthy to keep getting wealthier while we get poorer and poorer!! Time for change- real change.

Force the Obama administration to keep it's promises- don't let the mainstream media fool you into believing that we are making radical changes. Be aware! Educate yourself! Fight back!!!

People power...

In my concern about politics today (and the Obama administration specifically) there is one hope which could trump the "business as usual" political engine-- the voice of the people. If the liberal and progressive organizations that have been oh-so-vigilant during the dark days of the Bush administration would continue with their wariness-- recognizing that the political machinery itself is on a dangerous course and will continue to corner the democrats on the right, sound the alarms when the democrats change things without really changing things, then we might have a shot at real substantive change. Even IF Obama has the intention of changing things in a real way (and as I stated in my prior post, there is more evidence that he will not then that he will)-- there has to be a real will from the people to bring it about.

Vive la revolution!!!

Where is Che Guevara when you need him???