As 2007 draws to a close, Americans may be noted to have - not Jimmy Carter's "malaise" - but a certain definite unease about the State of the Union.  As for myself, I kept looking for decisions, conclusions, end-games to our nation's numerous problems: security at home and abroad; immigration; health care delivery; social justice regarding income, race and gender issues; drug use and crime; corporate greed; climate change; ineffective leadership at all public levels.... 

And then I read Joseph Ellis' new book, "American Creation".  For any person who thinks that he or she "knows" American history, get thee to a bookstore: 

As the author states it: "...the very purpose of government was subtly transformed from an ultimate arbiter to a framework for ongoing argument...the design of the political foundation was ingenious in its combination of stability and agility...perhaps the most creative act of the founding era was to make time as well as space an indispensable ally, in effect extending the founding moment everlastingly into the future." (p243). 

 

So, there you have it, folks.  Let's all get used to it.  Or, as Flip Wilson's Geraldine would say: "What you see is what you git".  HAPPY NEW YEAR.

Now for some holiday messages,  with some alliteration in a language created for it: Italian. 

It was the day AFTER Christmas at a church in San Francisco. The
Pastor of the church was looking at the manger scene, when he noticed that
The baby Jesus figure  was missing from the cradle. He immediately turned

And went outside and  saw a little boy with a red wagon walking down the street.
And in the wagon, was the figure of the infant Jesus. 

 

 

And why did you take him?" asked the pastor.  

 

"Well, about a week before Christmas, I prayed  and I told Jesus if he
Would bring me a red wagon for Christmas, I would  give him a ride in it!"

Meanwhile, MERRY CHRISTMAS, AND A HEALTHY NEW YEAR.

 

Whatever our political stripe, we can all enjoy elements of the NYTimes on Sundays.  But the offering for November 11, 2007 was better than most.  Four reviews went to the heart of what it is to be America.

Finally, this very accommodating publication even gives readers like myself (about 50 books behind in my readings) a way to keep up: "How To Talk About Books You Haven't Read", by Pierre Bayard (Bloomsbury).  But the Ellis book I have just ordered and will read...I promise.

GS

Herewith follows a "stream of consciousness" on national and world affairs. The energy for this comes mainly from WSJ articles published during the past week.

As we are drawn ever deeper into this Funny Season of Presidential and World Politics, I feel it necessary to inaugurate a new, occasional offering in this section:

You get the idea.  But how many of us do?

GS

A lot of different things on my mind today. 

Since the Pledge of Allegiance
and The Lord's  Prayer
are not allowed in most
public schools  anymore
Because the word "God" is mentioned...
A kid in  Arizona wrote the attached

NEW School prayer: -
Now I sit  me down in school
Where praying is against the rule
For this  great nation under God
Finds mention of Him very odd.

If  Scripture now the class recites,
It violates the Bill of  Rights.
And anytime my head I bow
Becomes a Federal matter  now.

Our hair can be purple, orange or green,
That's no offense; it's a freedom scene.
The law is specific, the law is  precise.
Prayers spoken aloud are a serious vice.

For praying in a public hall
Might offend someone with no faith at  all.
In silence alone we must meditate,
God's name is  prohibited by the state.

We're allowed to cuss and dress like  freaks,
And pierce our noses, tongues and cheeks.
They've  outlawed guns, but FIRST the Bible .
To quote the Good Book makes  me liable.
We can elect a pregnant Senior Queen,
And the  'unwed daddy,' our Senior King.
It's "inappropriate" to teach  right from wrong,
We're taught that such "judgments" do not  belong.

We can get our condoms and birth controls,
Study  witchcraft, vampires and totem poles.
But the Ten Commandments  are not allowed,
No word of God must reach this  crowd.

It's scary here I must confess,
When chaos reigns  the school's a mess.
So, Lord, this silent plea I make:
Should  I be shot; My soul please take!
Amen

If you aren't ashamed  to do this,
please pass this on.
Jesus said,
"If you are ashamed of me,
I will be ashamed of you before my  Father."

- Author Unknown

Interesting.  But I must believe that our Founders knew this same history and tried to immunize us from the same outcome.  A land of aliens, they provided protections for aliens.  The result was - and is - that we are still a melting pot, although with some lumps developing in the stew.  Those lumps must be broken up and stirred into the mix; but America's strength continues to be in the variety of its ingredients.  That must continue for many reasons, including the need to avoid the 200 year outcome. 

 

We in this country are now in a temporary time warp that has given rise to a profusion of excesses and a dearth of common sense.  That is nowhere more true than in our schizophrenia regarding Immigration.  But the verdict of Winston Churchill continues to be right on: "America can always be depended upon to do the right thing...after all else fails".

>
>   HOW LONG DO WE HAVE?
>
>   This is the most interesting thing I've read in a long time. The sad thing
>   about it, you can see it coming.
>
>   I have always heard about this democracy countdown. It is interesting to
>   see it in print. God help us, not that we deserve it.
>
>   How Long Do We Have?
>
>   About the time our original thirteen states adopted their new constitution
>   in 1787, Alexa nder Tyler, a Scottish history professor at the University
>   of  Edinburgh , had this to say about the fall of the Athenian Republic
>   some 2,000 years earlier:
>
>   "A democracy is always temporary in nature; it simply cannot exist as a
>   permanent form of government."
>
>   "A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover
>   they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury."
>
>   "From that moment on, the majority always vote for the candidates who
>   promise the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that
>   every democracy will finally collapse due to loose fiscal policy, which is
>   always followed by a dictatorship."
>
>   "The average age of the world's greatest civilizations from the beginning
>   of history, has been about 200 years"
>
>   "During those 200 years, those nations always progressed through the
>   following sequence: 
>
>   1. from bondage to spiritual faith;
>
>   2. from spiritual faith to great courage;
>
>   3. from courage to liberty;
>
>   4. from liberty to abundance;
>
>   5. from abundance to complacency;
>
>   6. from complacency to apathy;
>
>   7. from apathy to dependence;
>
>   8. From dependence back into bondage"
>
>   Professor Joseph Olson of Hemline University School of Law, St. Paul,
>   Minnesota , points out some interesting facts concerning the 2000
>   Presidential election:
>
>   Number of States won by:
>   Gore: 19
>   Bush: 29
>
>   Square miles of land won by:
>   Gore: 580,000
>   Bush: 2,427,000
>
>   Population of counties won by:
>   Gore: 127 million
>   Bush: 143 million
>
>   Murder rate per 100,000 residents in counties won by:
>   Gore: 13.2
>   Bush: 2.1
>
>   Professor Olson adds: "In aggregate, the map of the territory Bush won was
>   mostly the land owned by the taxpaying citizens of this great country.
>   Gore's territory mostly encompassed those citizens living in
>   government-owned tenements and living off various forms of government
>   welfare..." Olson believes the United States is now somewhere between the
>   "complacency and apathy" phase of Professor Tyler's definition of
>   democracy, with some forty percent of the nati on's population already
>   having reached the "governmental dependency" phase.
>
>   If Congress grants amnesty and citizenship to twenty million criminal
>   invaders called illegal's and they vote, then we can say goodbye to the USA
>   in fewer than five years.
>
>   If you are in favor of this then delete this message. If you are not then
>   pass this along to help everyone realize just how much is at stake, knowing
>   that apathy is the greatest danger to our freedom. Thanks for reading.
>

As promised in an earlier offering in this section, the following is a response to the full-page editorial on "The High Cost of Health Care" which appeared in the NYTimes on Sunday, Nov. 25, 2007 (pWK 9). 

There you have it: "YOUR MISSION, IF YOU CHOOSE TO ACCEPT IT".