Where Have All The Leaders Gone?

In the song, "Where Have All The Flowers Gone," the final verse asks, "when will we ever learn, when will we ever learn?"  The same can be said about our so-called national leaders and the disgusting public discourse of the day.  And although I lean to the left, I am talking about the void of real leaders on both sides of the aisle.  If there is one thing I can't stand in our supposed leaders,  it is hypocrisy...the other is utter stupidity.  Let's look at some of those "leaders"..........

First there is the joke of the day...Donald Trump!    Mr. Trump is deciding whether to run for President.  Just what we need, ANOTHER reality TV star polluting the landscape.   In 1987, Mr. Trump ran a full page advertisement in several newspapers criticizing the political establishment, then run by Ronald Reagan, stating "The World is laughing at America's politicians" and endorsing the Reform Party's book of policy which included an embrace of single-payer health care and plans for a one-time 14.25% net-worth tax on all Americans worth more than $10 million....the revenue would pay off the national debt!  Today, he says he is more serious than ever before yet his rhetoric revolves around the veracity of Obama's Birth Certificate, which has been verified by the State of Hawaii and a copy of which was shown last week on ABC News.  He goes on to claim that Obama's book, Dreams of My Father was secretly written by '60's radical, Bill Ayers.  But let's face it, all of these make for great sound bites and the American people don't really have the intelligence to go beyond sound bites.

Then there are those other Republican Presidential hopefuls....Sarah Palin and Sarah Palin redux, Michelle Bachman.  Together they have not put together a single idea or proposal that will help this country.  All they do is spout fear and negatives without so much as a single intelligent idea between the two of them.  Sarah won't run, though...she would have to take too much of a pay cut from her reality show and speaking engagements...but Michelle is ready to rock with some of her best selling lines:  "Not all cultures are created equal;" "I find it interesting that the swine flu broke out under another Democratic President, Jimmy Carter.  And I'm not blaming this on Obama, I just think it is an interesting coincidence;" "Gay marriage is probably the biggest issue that is impacting our State and our Nation in the last 30 years. I am not understating that:"  "If we took away the minimum wage- if conceivably it was gone-we could potentially virtually wipe out unemployment because we would be able to offer jobs at whatever level;" and my favorite..."And what a bizarre time we are in when a judge will say to little children  that you can't say the Pledge of Allegiance but you must learn that homosexuality is normal and you should try it." 

The there is Newt Gingrich...was Newt the one Alan Simpson, former Republican Senator from Wyoming was referring to when he said, "You're diddling your secretary while you're giving a speech on moral values?  Come on. Get off of it.   Senator Simpson also said of his Republican cohorts: "I'm not sticking with people who are homophobic, antiwomen."

Finally, there is the case of Mitt Romney.  I have had the pleasure of being a business associate of Mitt's.  I have often told others that Mitt is one of the smartest, most intellectually curious people that I have ever been around.  All of my business dealings with Mitt were marked with the highest degree of integrity and that has resulted in a high dose of respect for Mitt.   HOWEVER, I can't reconcile his bevy of altered positions on important issues.  He was pro-choice and anti-gun in order to get elected as Governor of Massachusetts.  His Massachusetts universal health care program complete with a mandate that individuals purchase insurance was signed into law by him in April, 2006.   I almost could have supported that Mitt...socially progressive yet fiscally conservative.  Now, in order to appeal to the base of the Republican Party, he has changed his stance on these and other social issues...which only goes to prove that Mitt will say anything to get elected, and for that, my respect for Mitt as a leader has all but disappeared.

And the Democratic side of the ledger is void of leaders too.  Nancy Pelosi?  What a joke.  Nancy is the one who said  "We have to pass the Health Care Bill so we can find out what's in it;" duh...aren't you suppose to know what's in it before you vote on it?  And one of my all time favorites:  "I believe in natural gas as a clean, cheap alternative to fossil fuels."  Hmmmm...I know that I am not the smartest guy in the world, but even I know that natural gas is a fossil fuel!  Sorry, Nancy, your 15 minutes are up...you are a dishonest political hack!

Joe Biden?  He is embracing the long-standing tradition of the Vice-President being totally irrelevant.  Are you still breathing, Joe?

I had high hopes for Barack Obama.  I believe him to be intelligent and that he truly wants to do what's right.  However, a leader?  Not so much.  A leader knows how to gain consensus...knows how to be decisive...knows the art of compromise...knows how to instill confidence in the people.  Mr. Obama has not demonstrated any of this. 

I think New York City Mayor, Michael Bloomberg shares my disgust for uber-partisan politics when he asked:  "When did success become a bad word in America?  When did coopertion of government become treason?  The new 'politics as usual' is making a mockery of our democracy and a mess of our country?"   Who is responsible for this mockery?  The Republicans?  Yes!  The Democrats?  Yes! The Tea Party? Yes! Yes!   Republican President, Dwight D. Eisenhower understood compromise:  "People talk about the middle of the road as though it were unacceptable.  Actually, all human problems, excepting morals, come into the gray area.  Things are not black and white.  There have to be compromises.....the middle of the road is all of the usable surface.  The extremes, right and left, are in the gutters."

When did we let the extreme fringes highjack our system of democracy?  In a recent editorial, former Republican Congressman, E. Clay Shaw said, "Democracy promotes and requires debate, but it is at its best when done with dignity and respect."  How do we, with a straight face, make an issue of Planned Parenthood funding (when it accounts for less than .00005% of our budget) a cause celebre for fiscal restraint instead of an attack on a woman's right to choose.  This was not a budget issue...it was a sound bite for the extreme right.  All the while we ignore the fact that our defense budget has more than doubled in 10 years and is now larger than the rest of the world's military budgets COMBINED.  Want to reduce spending?  End the wars that we should never have been a part of,  reduce global presence, cut the 17 intelligence agencies to just 2 or 3, quit funding unneeded equipment like the $400 billion being spent on F-35 fighters in Mr. Boehner's district and go after the big wastes in the budget.  But this won't happen, because the Military-Industrial complex is running the show!  And if any politician is really honest, then they will admit that we can't solve our debt problem by cost reduction only.  They all know that revenue also has to increase in order to reduce the deficit...but, tax increases or at the very least, tax reform, is a sound bite that spells trouble in getting themselves re-elected!

Years ago, I was fortunate to hear a speech by General Norman Schwarzkopf in which he told the story of his first tour of duty at the Pentagon.  He was a young officer assigned to one of the Generals and arrived for his first day of work as the General was leaving for an extended vacation.  As the General was leaving, he instructed his young aide in the tasks that needed to be completed before he returned.  Schwarzkopf had never done any of the things that were being asked of him, so he asked the General what he should do.  The General replied, "Do what's right" and Schwarzkopf kept those instructions at the heart of all his decisions going forward.   The problem with our so-called leaders is that they that they don't have the courage to DO WHAT'S RIGHT.  They only say and do what will give them the best sound bite that will further their political ambitions.

Where have all the leader's gone?  When will a real leader step forward and have the courage to do what's right? 

And The Journey continues...............................


**Footnote:  Some of the quotes came from an essay by John P. Hart, "Dialogues for civility in politics, government" in The Sun Sentinel, 4/24/2011

Dieting for Dummies

How come it is so easy to gain weight but so hard to take it off?  I have been on a diet for at least half of my life.   My best estimate of weight gained and lost over my lifetime is close to a thousand pounds.  It seems that it takes about 5 times longer to lose weight than it does to gain...and the older we get, the harder it is to lose. 

Over my lifetime, I have been on just about every diet imaginable...and they all work to some degree.  What they don't do is ingrain the idea of maintaining weight into our pleasure seeking, feeble minds!  To date, I have participated in the following:  Stillman's Water Diet, The Grapefruit Diet, NutriSystems, The South Beach Diet, The Zone diet, The 14 day Diet, the 10 Day Diet, Phen-Fen, Dr. "Feelgood's" Magic pills, Atkins high protein-low carb Diet, The Cookie Diet, A Nutritionist's Diet, Weight Watcher's, The Juice Fast, The Fast Fast and finally, Jenny Craig.  (I am sure that I have left some out!)  I have lost 40 to 50 pounds more times than I can count. 

We all know that exercise plays a major part in losing weight.  But recently there was a published report that concluded that too much exercise contributes to weight gain.  The theory is that with exercise, the body craves more calories so we overeat.  Then there are those that say that to lose weight you should increase your cardio exercise and not do any strength training.  Others say that the key is strength training and one should decrease cardio work. What is the right formula?  I guess if you break it down to its simplest form, the answer is to consume less calories than you burn each day.  But it is never a level playing field...if you have high metabolism, then you burn more calories during the normal course of your day...but I must have the metabolism of a turtle!!  I exercise everyday more than almost anybody I know and do not grossly overeat...you'd think I would not have a weight problem!   Must be the genes!!

Somone once said to me that they eat to live and I live to eat...not exactly true but I do love food.  I love gourmet food, I love good food, and I love crummy, bad for you food like diner fare, southern fried delicasies and other assorted goodies.  That doesn't mean I only eat that stuff.  I eat plenty of salads, veggies, fruit, fish, skinless chicken, ground turkey instead of beef, whole grains and the like....but it almost seems like it doen't matter what I eat.  And it seems to me that I eat about half the quantity that I ate as a much younger person.  But I still fight the weight problem everyday!

Presently, I am back on The Jenny Craig program....or what I call Dieting for Dummies.  Eat what they tell you to and you will lose weight.  It's when I start to make substitutions that things get tough.  For instance, an ounce of Scotch equals 2 fats...so I have to figure out what to cut out to accomodate an evening Scotch!  Do I miss the good stuff?  You bet...but the goal is back in sight and I will be back to High School Playing weight by my birthday!   And then I will eat whatever I damn well please ....so I can start the cycle all over again!

And The Journey continues....................................