5 West Nursing

What a circus! The sign is up, the sign got stolen, the sign is back, people protesting on both sides, now you can’t put up displays on the state capital building. The drama goes on… and on… and on. What can I say?

I’m sure you’ve heard about this controversy that is happening in Olympia, W. A sign sponsored by the Freedom from Religion Foundation stands next to a Nativity scene. People have now questioned the judgement of Washington state governer Chris Gregoire for allowing such a sign which attacks religion to be displayed. Now, others have applied for similar displays such as the spaghetti monster, “festivus”, and “Santa will send you to hell”. What’s next, White supremacy signs during Martin Luther King Day? Have we lost our minds yet?

I’m glad we have freedom of speech in this country, however, things are starting to get totally ridiculous. Whatever happened to the America with high ideals? And we call this “progressive” as the seculars would call it? The only progress we are making is the breaking up of the United States as obviously the country is very much divided at this point. We have the Republicans vs. Democrats, the far left-wing nuts vs the far-right wing nuts, the Liberals vs Conservatives, Straight vs Gay, etc., etc., the list goes on and on. Interestingly enough, the very holiday that was supposed to unite us, is causing division among us.

I’ve heard on Fox News that in 1870, Pres Ulysses Grant, signed into law, Christmas as an official holiday. This was the era after the Civil War and the country was still greatly divided, and so to unite the country, the president signed the bill into law making Christmas a federal holiday, a time that everyone observed, no matter what side they where on. Unfortunately, this is not the case today. Regardless of what you believe in, I think there are some traditions that need to go, and some that need to stay, and I say this one stays!

So, to all of you out there who are either watching or who are part of the circus act, I say “Have a MERRY CHRISTMAS and a Prosperous New Year!” May God bless you all, and may God bless the United States of America! And if you are an atheist, tough luck! Here’s something to think about…

For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written:
“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise;
the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.”

Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength.” – 1 Corinthians 1:18-25

Here’s how the “Big 3″ automakers should have gone to washington for the bailout instead of firing up the jets and traveling in typical “CEO” fashion. Maybe Washington or the public for that matter would be sympathetic to their plea. Interestingly enough, they all came to Washington last week in their hybrids, a far cry from the jets that shuttled them back and forth weeks ago. At least they didn’t have to pedal for miles to get to the government watering hole. Surprisingly they came with bigger buckets. Instead of the original 25 billion, they now would like a bigger bailout, who knows how much. Now, everybody wants a bailout… when will it end?

I don’t know what these people have been doing all these years, but one thing’s for sure… they grossly mismanaged the companies they represent, and now, we the people would have to reward their fiscal irresponsibility by giving them a hand out. Yes, people argue that 3 million jobs are at stake. It’s sad if those people lose their jobs, but then again, if the companies go belly up, maybe that will be good for everybody. Not only will they have an opportunity to get “reorganized”, but they can actually start with a new slate and build the companies up to where they will be more viable.

Regardless of what happens, whether they do get the bailout or “loan” (sly use of words) from the government, one thing’s for sure… these companies need to learn from the other automakers like Saturn, Honda, Chevy, or Toyota on how to manage their business to keep them viable.

Yup, our president-elect yObama aptly puts it when he said that “things are only going to get worse before they get better.” I guess the reality of the situation is starting to rear its ugly head as he gets “in tune” with the real situation in America. Sure it’s easy to say, “we will create jobs”, but how, and what kind of jobs would you create in this economy, not to mention the quality of jobs that would actually support a family of 6.

Despite this there’s hope, and I’m not talking about the hope our president-elect Obama thinks he personifies. I’m talking about the real hope… the kind of hope we find in Jesus. Yes, it’s not Obama, it’s Jesus that America needs… and all we have to do is call on His name. Wake up America… it’s time to wake up!

“It’s OK to be gay… it’s OK to be gay!”
Just keep it to yourself

UNBELIEVABLE!

That’s the one word that I use to describe what is happening in my former home state of California.

I’m sure you’ve seen that in the news, gays and lesbians protesting violently in the streets of San Francisco and elsewhere around the nation after the defeat of Proposition 8 officially entitled “Eliminates Right of Same-Sex Couples to Marry“.

Despite the defeat, people of whom this law “affected” kept protesting and demanding that they have “equal rights”. What ever happened to the common sense of “majority rules”?! Hey… I have no problem with your sexual preference or what your beliefs are or what you do behind locked doors with all the sword fighting . I do have a problem if you disrespect others or try to shove your views down people throats or start running a muck to a point that you disrupt a church service and perform a despicable act in front of the congregation. We all have equal rights… but I do hope you guys understand that your freedom to do anything you want ends when the tip of my nose begins. Hey… the people have spoken, it’s time to listen. Bury the hatchet and move on, otherwise, I hear Alcatraz is unoccupied… maybe you guys can start a new colony there. (Just kidding)

“Four more of the same!”
With the Clintons

Obama’s pitch during the campaign claims that with McCain, you get “four more of the same”. Whatever happened to “Change we need!”? Obama did mean “four more of the same”… but I think he was talking about his own administration since it’s beginning to look more like a Clinton sequel. I’m not sure exactly what “change” really means.

According to Hannity of Fox News, 31 of 47 appointees are from the former Clinton administration. Hey, there’s nothing wrong with that… after all, we had a good 4 years with Clinton until that Lewinsky chick showed up. I guess after an 8 year furlough, they’re back! Yep, that’s change alright… the same old guys, only 8 years older with a little more gray hair! They (whoever they are) were right when they (again) said… “With Obama, the only change you’ll be left with is the one in your pocket!” GOOOOO CLINTON!

“Fire up the jet, we’re going to Washington for our bailout!”
How ironic

The heads of the three largest US automakers flew to Washington this week, on their private jets I might add, to ask the government for a bailout. I find this ironic display of extravagance appalling. Here you have the auto industry on the brink of collapse, and instead of cutting on expense, they have the audacity to ask for billions of dollars of our tax money so they can continue their spending. Here’s a statement from Rick Wagoner, the CEO of General Motors:

Our industry … needs a bridge to span the financial chasm that has opened up before us”

Who needs a bridge, when you have private jets to get across that “chasm”. By the way, who created the chasm in the first place? According to the article, “He blamed the industry’s predicament not on failures by management but on the deepening global financial crisis.” What global financial crisis are we talking about? Makes me wonder what the foreign automakers like Toyota, KIA and Honda are doing that they do not seem to be affected by this “global financial crisis”. Could the union be the answer?

Down where I work, we aren’t allowed to have unions. It’s practically against the law to form a union. I’ve worked at a hospital that had a union. They always asked for my union dues. Heck, I never paid them. To me, it was an extra expense I had no need of. In fact, the only thing they did for me was… nothing!

I’m sad to see what is happening to America today. Gone are the good old days when people say “I’m happy and gay” without any “special” meaning attached to it. Gone are the days when you can at least trust that the government and the people behind it will actually work for you and not against you. Gone are the days when companies put their employees and customers first and be fiscally responsible and take the fall when things don’t go as well as they’d like them to be, instead of asking for a bailout or blaming external factors like “the global financial crisis”.

What is happening in America people? I don’t know. But one thing’s for sure… change we need… and I’m not talking about Obama either!

It’s finally over, Amercia has decided. We have a new president, a new hope, a new tomorrow!

The whole world is watching, the whole world is waiting, and as Biden puts it, the world will be testing.

Those who love us, will love us still… those who hate us, will hate us still… or better yet, those who hate us, will (might) love us because of our choice… after all, polls taken around the world show that most countries favor Obama as president. As the great preacher who calls himself a reverend, i.e., the great Reverend Jeremiah Wright said… “America’s chickens have come home to roost!”. And you know what, he’s totally WRIGHT!

As Obama spoke during his victory speech, the crowd grew quiet when he said,

“The road ahead will be long. Our climb will be steep. We may not get there in one year or even in one term. But, America, I have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there.

I promise you, we as a people will get there.

There will be setbacks and false starts. There are many who won’t agree with every decision or policy I make as president. And we know the government can’t solve every problem.”

“The road ahead will be long. Our climb will be steep“, we already know this don’t we?

“We may not get there in one year or even in one term.“, already?… is he asking for a second term?

“I promise you, we as a people will get there.“, is he making yet another promise? I’d like to see all the promises he made that got him elected fulfilled, don’t you?

“the government can’t solve every problem“, isn’t this what we voted the guy for? Universal healthcare, spreading the wealth around, entitlement for all?

“There will be setbacks and false starts.“, I sure hope this is not one of them.

Yes America… it’s time to step up to the plate. It’s time to make the sacrifice… it’s time to rally together and stand behind the man who won the popular vote. America has spoken… the people have spoken… now it’s time to ge to work! Or not, you might make more than $250,000 if you do.

By the way, when do you think we, the middle class, will get our welfare check?

“I stayed home and watched their candidate win!” – Mr. Stupids N. Laizie

Don’t let this happen to you. You have a voice, use it!

It may seem small, it may seem insignificant, it may not feel like it matters, but remember… there is strength in numbers. Ants survive not by themselves, but within the company of others. The colony depends on each individual ant to do its fair share for the common good. There are soldier ants, there are worker ants, and my golly, there’s even a monarchy. But despite their differences, they all work together for the good of the colony.

Regardless of what camp you’re in… Republican, Democrat, or Independent… let’s remember that we are all Americans. Let’s make history and get out there and vote! GOD BLESS AMERICA… (and if Obama wins) GOD HELP US ALL!!!

Only a few days till the Presidential elections of 2008, and we’re still being bombarded by negative ads. Have you seen Obama’s 30-minute infomercial on 3 major networks this past week? I haven’t… no time for that sh*t… too busy making a list of all the things I’ll be buying with the welfare tax check that I’ll be receiving when Obama comes into power. Too bad we don’t have a whole bunch of Oprah’s out there… I’d really like a big cut of her check. Unfortunately we’ll have to “spread that wealth around” among 95% of middle class Americans including the 40% of those who do not pay any taxes at all. What a bummer!

On a lighter note, I was amused to find this in my inbox today. See the picture above? Why do they think Democrats are such socialists? What’s wrong with “spreading the wealth around”? What’s wrong with taking from the rich and giving to the poor? What’s wrong with taking money from those who work hard to build a financial future for themselves? After all, isn’t this their patriotic duty to “give to the cause”, to hand out money or spread the wealth to those who are less motivated than they are? I’m glad the celebrities are for Obama. I guess they realize, despite being pinheads most of the time, that we do need change. I’m glad they realize that with all the money they make, it’s their patriotic duty to share some of this wealth to the rest of us 95 percenters who watch their shows, buy their CDs, go to their concerts, promote their music or products without compensation. I really admire them.  You’d think after Obama takes office and redistributes the wealth of those who make more than $250K a year (or is it $200K now?, or didn’t Biden say $150K… can’t they make up their minds?) that they wouldn’t want that to happen and that they’d want to keep all their money. Ironically, those people who make more than $250K a year actually contributed to Obama’s cause. How patriotic! We need more rich people in this world, don’t you agree? Hey, don’t you want to be rich, making more than $250K a year so you can help Obama “spread the wealth around”? Wouldn’t you like like to make more than $250K so you can support your fellow Americans who’d like to stay in the middle class, or want to stay poor for that matter? Wouldn’t that be patriotic?

And what about this “Tito the Builder” guy who’s been defending “Joe the Plumber”? What does he know? He had the audacity to go on Fox New’s Hannity & Colmes talking about the socialism that Obama plans to implement here in America. He had the audacity to say that Democrats like Obama would give the “poor” people “crumbs” to keep them happy so that they wouldn’t question the government like “Joe the Plumber” did, or that these “poor” people getting redistributed money from the government would want to stay where they are and not strive hard to better themselves which is true anyway. Shame on you “Tito the Builder” for comparing Obama’s political or economic policies to that of Hugo Chavez, the pinhead president of Venezuela, or that of Fidel Castro’s socialist Cuba. You better watch out “Tito the Builder”… you’re about to be scrutinized by dirt diggin’ agents of the Democratic party just like “Joe the Plumber” has been investigated on regarding his alleged back taxes, or whether he paid child support, etc. My golly, he’s not even a licensed plumber! “Tito the Builder”, you’ve better have your credentials in check before the Obama camp find the skeletons in your closet because you’ll be subject to these scrutiny and intimidation tactic investigations to silence your sorry a** just like socialist governments do to silence private citizens who criticize them. Hey, don’t forget that the media is not on your side… it’s on Obama’s side… so you better know which side you need to be on “Tito the Builder”, because after November 4… your freedom and rights will no longer exist to the full extend you think it should be. Hey, just think about it man… a Democratic supermajority liberal government under Obama… and like him, you’d better know how to dance to the beat of someone else’s drum.

Obama says, “we need change!”… I hope he didn’t mean pocket change. But then again, with the current state of the economy and the new tax plans he promises to implement as soon as he gets into office, you’d better have enough change in your pocket. Martha Stewart knows this for sure. She’s going to be redistributing her wealth to the 95% of middle class Americans when the Obama government takes a portion of her earnings to give it to the “poor”, and like the good citizen she is, she knows its her “patriotic duty” to do so, so she says she’ll just have to “suck it up”. I just hope she doesn’t cut jobs or lay people off when this happens. We need more Martha’s in this world… don’t you want to be one?

GOOOOO BAMWA HA HA HA HA HA!

“Guilt by association!”… That’s the latest Barrack attack by the McCain camp on his association with Bill Ayers. Bill who? We’ve never heard of him until the final momemts of the campaign. You’ve gotta love politics… at the last moment all the skeletons come out of the closet, especially when the other party is trailing the polls and is clearly losing the race. McCain indeed is screwed. Americans are smarter than that.

Who cares about Bill Ayers? He’s only labeled a domestic terrorist who planted bombs during his active radical years. He’s only the guy that the media claims was “unrepentant” and that he wished that they had done more bombings. He’s only the guy that happened to be in the neighborhood with Barrack when Barrack worked for him to distribute money to “radicalize” the educational system… all allegations by the way. Hey, as far as anybody is concerned, Barracks associations don’t mean a damn thing… he can be cousins with Osama bin Laden and we still will vote him into the oval office because, gosh darn it, associations do not matter to the American people. What matters the most right now is the economy… as they put it, “it’s the economy STUPIDS!”. Right now if Osama himself would claim that he’s got the answer to our economic and energy crisis, people would vote for him. Who cares? Bill Ayers my a**! And this latest fiasco “Joe the Plumber”. Joe who?

Hey people, leave “Joe the Plumber” alone. He only asked Obama about his economic plan, and it’s clear we’re headed for socialism. Yup, that’s the change we desperately need! Hey, we have nothing to fear but fear itself, right? Finally, we the middle class will get our share of welfare. After all, we’ve been contributing to it for many years now, it’s payback time! Say yes to taxing them big earners that make more than $250,000 like senators and celebrities. Say yes to taxing them big businesses and oil companies like Exxon Mobil who will eventually increase retail prices to make up for the “loss” due to higher taxes rates. We wouldn’t feel it anyway because of Barracks tax cuts and wealth redistribution scheme for us, the middle class. For once in our lives, we the 95% of the people, need to receive something we did not earn. I like this, Barrack’s my Robin Hood, as in, my Robin ‘N D Hud!

Acorn? What are you nuts? Leave them alone! Darn people just wanna make a livin’. C’mon ya’ll, without Acorn them grass roots and favorite Disney characters like Mickey Mouse wouldn’t have a voice… they wouldn’t be registered to vote. Thanks to Acorn “elitist” banks allowed us to get mortgages we can’t afford to help us live the American dream. Who cares about voter registration fraud? It’s the economy STUPIDS! That’s what matters, and I think Obama’s “The One!”.

So, America, listen up! If you’re really smart, vote for Obama! It’s about time we have welfare for the middle class. It’s about time we get something for nothing. And it’s about time we forget about terrorist because… IT’S THE ECONOMY STUPIDS! GOOOOOOO BAMAHHHH!

I’m fired up! A new tide is rising that will give us access to “quality” healthcare. It’s about time… or is it?

Have you seen the last presidential debate? Interesting. But then again, we don’t call politics “politics” for nothing. In my opinion the term means, “tell them what they want to hear at the moment”, and for the most part, the “middle class” wants to hear the words, “tax cut”, and “wealth redistribution”. Hey, that really motivates me to stay in the middle class and not try to better myself so I stay with the rest of the 95% of the population that’s going to get a tax cut… I’m entitled to something, right? Even if I don’t contribute to the rest of society, I should get something in return. Who needs a hand up when we can all get a hand out? Hey, I know how hard life is so I work hard to earn so I can feed myself and my family. That reminds me of a bumper sticker I saw one day which I’m sure you’ve seen before. It said, “Work hard: People on welfare depend on you!”.

If there was one thing that mattered to me in the last presidential debate it’s the topic of healthcare. This subject hits close to home for two reasons… one, I’m at the forefront of its delivery, you know, being a nurse and all, and two, I need it for me and my family. If I remember it right (correct me if I’m wrong), Sen Obama said that if you were an employee with employer based healthcare insurance, nothing changes except for the fact that he will help you get it at a lower premium rate. However, if you were someone that did not have healthcare insurance, then you can buy into the same healthcare insurance pool that Federal employees like himself enjoy. Of course, he said, that you’ll be able to get it at a lower rate because there will be a great pool of people who would buy into it. Well, if that was the case, wouldn’t it be safe to say that this will be the end of employer based healthcare insurance?

I think it would be safe to reason that if healthcare insurance administered by the Federal government would provide an individual or family with better quality healthcare than the ones we get from our employer, then I’m sure many of us would give up our employer based healthcare insurance for one offered by the government. If this were the case, what would be the potential implications of this?

Well, for one, health insurance companies may lose a lot of business or eventually go out of business, or better yet, be competitive and match government based healthcare insurance in terms of coverage or services provided. Two, many more uninsured will be able to get healthcare insurance which would be great since it would make healthcare insurance more affordable, but then again doesn’t Medicaid cover those who are uninsured? Yet, another implication would be that eventually these services may buckle up since people with preexisting conditions would be able to qualify for coverage and begin using these services possibly to the point of exhausting these resources. Overall, I don’t think this kind of government based insurnace coverage would make a difference… just look at the mess we have with Medicare and Medicaid and you’ll know what I mean.

Overall I hope Obama wins this election. He’ll turn our country into a socialist society, not that socialism is wrong, right? Just think about it… you don’t have to work hard to get ahead. You can do a mediocre job earning mediocre pay, and the government will fill in the rest by “spreading the wealth around”. Now you don’t have to dream big or try to achieve more, or pursue personal development since your ability to create wealth will now be your liability. We can now expect celebrities to pay us royalties… after all, we the fans are the ones that make them rich… and unlike most of us, they earn more than $250,000 a year and therefore part of that income should be redistributed to us, the middle class. Can’t wait to get my redistribution check from money earned by Oprah, Justin Timberlake, and Ellen DeGeneres… can’t wait to get low cost healthcare insurance… yup, I think Obama is right… it’s about time we had our wealth “redistributed”. Is it fair? You decide!

In an effort to cut cost, our hospital has decided that the best way to accomplish this is to increase patient load and decrease support personel. For example, the current nurse-patient ratio in our ICU is 2 to 1. It will now be increase 3 to 1, and when the census hits a certain “low” point, CNAs and ward clerks would have to be cancelled. I guess having a “level 3 trauma” designation doesn’t matter. So much for meeting the national “patient safety” goal and “service excellence” the hospital champions so much which I think is a bunch of sticky BULL SHIT! You know, the kind of BULL SHIT that stinks so bad you can smell it a mile away… the kind that sticks to your clothing your only recourse is to burn your clothes when you get home because no matter how much laundry you use, the stank ain’t comin’ off.

I’m not sure how our managers come up with these “cost cutting” measures but I think they are forgetting those who matter the  most… our patients. If you want to know how well a hospital takes care of their patients, all you need to do is ask a nurse that works there the following question: “Would you want to be admitted here if you got sick?”. If they answer “yes”, then you know you’ve found quality health care. Unfortunately I cannot say the same for MMC. The attitude that prevails here is the “I just work here” attitude. I think this is the kind of poison that plagues our healthcare industry today. There is no such thing as nursing as a calling. Like everything else, corporate America has reduced nursing to a “job”. Hey, I’ll just “do my job” and everything will be OK, right? After all, nursing is a “recession proof” profession… I’ll always be ”in demand” regardless of my attitude, right? It’s a good thing that the job description doesn’t include clauses that require us to have a cheerful disposition, a “positive outlook”, or a “do it with a friendly smile” demeanor. You can’t force a person into being customer friendly if they don’t have it in them… and you sure can’t foster a customer friendly attitude if you’re going to cut cost by decreasing support or increasing the work load on your “front line” soldiers.

I wonder if this could be one of the reasons we are facing a nursing shortage crisis of epic proportions. According to the AACN, the nursing shortage could reach as high as 500,000 by 2025 (AACN, 2008). Part of the problem is attributed to the low rate of enrollment for new nurses as well as a shortage of nursing faculty which restrict nursing program enrollments. There is an aging nursing population with an average age of current RNs in their mid 40s. I think this number is steadily on the rise, given the fact that with all the stress that comes with the job, the average nurse ages three times more than the average person. On top of this, there is a fast turn over and a large number of nurses leaving the job. And like our dependence on foreign oil, we too are dependent on foreign nurses to meet the demands we are facing today.

Before the recent Wall Street bailout, the healthcare industry has already been experiencing a bailout of its own. Unfortunately this bailout is not in the form of money given by the government to rescue failing companies, but rather, the steady decrease in nursing personnel brought about mostly by unreasonable demands created in the workplace. The notion that nursing is a tough profession and that it takes a special kind of person to be a nurse may be true to some degree, however, nurses aren’t immune to fatigue and burn out, not to mention boredom. I think the healthcare industry need to be more heavily regulated in terms of what should be expected in the workplace. For example, standardize nurse patient ratios and fine hospitals who do not adhere to the guidelines, increase salaries for bedside nurses and mandate acuity based staffing as well as provide adequate support personnel such as CNAs or ward clerks at all times regardless of patient census. This of course is a pipe dream. The fact of the matter is, nobody gives a damn! The best thing we can do at this point is to shut up and “do our jobs”. Until then, lets sit back, relax, and watch the healthcare industry meltdown. Fortunately for me, I’ve got front row seats!

That’s what I told my cousin (and classmate) back in 1994 when the School of Nursing students came back to the main campus to participate in the election of the graduating class officers that year. You see, there are at least 5 major schools in the college I graduated from, the School of Nursing, being on of them. We were at least 160 students strong, about the same number of students from the other 4 schools combined. 

We met at a multipurpose hall that sat about 300 students. Interestingly enough, the right side of the hall were occupied by the School of Nursing students, while the left side were occupied by the others, who, unfortunately were outnumbered because not everyone attended the election meeting. I was seated on the left side, opposite my classmates who were all riled up when they found out that a conspiracy was taking place. The hall was getting loud, and the faculty conducting the meeting couldn’t control the chaos. I had enough of the noise, so I stood up and commanded them to STOP! Thankfully, they did.

You see, for the last 4 years, the graduating class president was always from the School of Nursing. The people from the “main campus” wanted a change because they didn’t want “4 more of the same”, so they had a plan. They would rally together against the School of Nursing and elect their candidate, who I’ll call Arnold. We had no idea that they were cookin’ this up until we came to the meeting hall. On our way to the meeting I had told my cousin, I’ll be your next president… I did have doubts, but you can probably say that was a bold statement on my part. In a way, I wanted to be president but didn’t really want the responsibility that came with it, however, if I didn’t become president, that would be a disappointment, mostly to those who expected me to win. And so, here we were… nominees were taken, and I qualified to be nominated, that is to say, having a GPA > 3 (4 being the highest). Unlike today’s politics, there was no time for campaigns, adds, and the like. My nomination acceptance speech was basically  an “OK”, when my classmates said, “you’re our presidential candidate, OK?!” Fine… feed me to the dogs why don’t you?!

There were 5 presidential nominees, I was one of them. I won by a landslide. What can I say, majority rules. My opponent Arnold was disappointed. He was sure that those who sat on the left side of the hall supported him so they could break the 4 year streak. Unfortunately, not everyone attended the election, and that cost them the race. On that note, I know that Sen. Obama is ahead in the polls, and that he attracts the “younger” crowd, you know, the MTV generation. I wonder tho, if this will be the case come November 4. How many young, hip, “MTV generation” people will actually take time to register and vote to make a difference and break that “4 more of the same” streak? You can voice your opinion, you can name your candidate, but if you don’t get out there and vote, just shut up and save your breath… remember, ACTION SPEAKS LOUDER THAN WORDS… and this goes for both candidates as well.

We are living in extraordinary times. America is at the crossroads of history. These past few weeks have been one of uncertainty, especially with the instability of our economy, marked by the collapse of a few large companies that threaten to put us in a standstill. The talks about the bailout and what Washington is doing to “help” us is a last ditch effort to contain the damage most critics say is caused by the very individuals who are helping us “fix” this problem. Our next president is facing tough economic and security challenges. There is no doubt that America is perceived as having been “weakened” mostly by the economic meltdown, government overspending, the war in Iraq, and the chaos at Wall Street. Our current and former enemies are taking advantage of this vulnerability. Chinas has us on a noose thanks to our debt, Russia is trying to rebuild the old empire, Iran is threatening to develop its nuclear program, Venezuela is looking for new oil consumers and is strengthening its ties with both Russia and China. The list goes on and on, and on top of this, both candidates, Obama and McCain claims that they are the answer to America’s dilemma, and to add insult to injury, politically inclined “non-biased” new media like MSNBC, CNN, and FOX adds fuel to the fire by injecting their own ideas of what is happening, who should lead, and what should happen, etc… etc… blah, blah, blah! C’mon give me a break! If there’s anyone to blame (with all this finger pointing), we should stand in front of the mirror and do what Uncle Sam does…

Why? Here’s why…

Who elected these government officials in the first place?… We did. Who got greedy by taking in more credit or buy a house that we can’t afford to repay? We did. Who listens to these network news media and base our decisions on a few so-called “experts” opinions? We did. Who stood at the sidelines and decided not to vote in the last election? We did. And if we want to get out of this rut, I think we should stop the blame game and take a more active role by taking more responsibility for our own action. 

Hey, don’t get me wrong, I’m part of the problem as much as I’m part of the solution. We’re all in this together whether you believe it or not. Today is not the time to be passive, but to take an active role for the good of the country. I’m no political expert, nor am I an economic expert. In fact, the closest thing to “politics” I’ve encountered was that presidential nomination and election when yours truly became the Graduating Class President of 1994. I didn’t have to fix the economy, didn’t have to win a war, didn’t have prior experience. One thing I do know is that despite everything that is going on around us, there is Someone up there that is in charge and in control. The best thing we can do is get on our knees and pray, and ask for guidance and wisdom from above, so that come November 4, we can make the right choice. As the Bible says,“if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” (2 Chronicles 7:14), and this my friend is something you can bank on.

I’m 5 Wester, and I approve this message!