Bad News breeds Bad Vibs

Since I keep Vampire hours at work my dinner hour usually ends up being between 8:30 pm and 9:00 pm. Since I've had a self imposed ban on ANY network news on TV since after the 2012 elections I get my daily dose via the web from various sites while I set down to eat dinner in PDX.

I scan various stories on a half dozen or so websites for my daily national news fix. I spent about 25 to 30 minutes reading the headlines and stories then I've had enough and go back to work.

Tonight was different. I went to the Drudge website tonight and all I had to do was read the headlines on his page to get thoroughly angry and completely disgusted.

I read through a couple of the stories and pulled myself away from my daily news fix early because I just couldn't take the numerous headlines that touched on almost every negative political topic you could image.

This has nothing to do with the Drudge website by the way, you could find the same stories on any number of news websites. It had more to do with the news itself.

I can't think of night recently where I felt more separated and completely at odds with the people in our government that clearly are leading us all down a path of self destruction than at this moment. It wasn't just the dirty politics that got under my skin it was also the outrageous social chaos on the page that really disturbed me too. I really feel our leaders and to many of citizens today lack any kind of moral or spiritual compass whatsoever. 

Our nation is unraveling at an unbelievable pace and after looking at the Drudge site tonight it's one of those times when I wonder how we can survive what is being thrown in our faces daily and thrive as a free and prosperous nation. I honestly believe a citizens revolt isn't an impossibility in the near future if we continue down this path.

I tell myself that I can only control what goes on inside my own little hula hoop and that the rest of what happens outside it belongs to God. I believe in a Higher Power and I know he has a plan for me just as he does everyone else but I read the headlines tonight and wonder how much we good people can take before we break?

Ignorance is common and rampant but it's the numbness, the blind apathy and self centered attitude by to many people that terrifies me. 

It isn't just the career bureaucrats in DC that don't represent me nor respect me that's upsetting there's also a group of my fellow citizens that truly believe they have every right to take my money and property away from me because they think I or the federal government owes them something.

God help me overcome my fear, anger and disgust. Please God help my nation overcome this crisis of courage and honesty and bring the light of love, liberty and freedom to all us. We need you now more than every, I have to trust that your will, will be done. It's the only remedy, the only answer, the final solution.

Fed up with The Daily Astorian Liberal Demagoguery

Have you experienced that feeling when you read the newspaper or listening to the talking heads on TV or on the radio blather on and on about something that you know isn’t the right representation of the facts and finally say enough is enough?

Well… I’m here this morning grinding my teeth after reading the column "GOP becomes the party of the 1950's" in The Daily Astorian. It’s another outrageous exercise in Liberal Demagoguery in a line long of Steve Forrester’s (Publisher of the Astorian) columns. Rather than get into all the things of what he said in his column and the countless others that I’ve disagreed with I’d like to address Steve Forrester the man instead.

First I have to say I actually have talked to him first on the phone then later met him personally over a year ago. Since then I’ve run into him 2 other times and had a brief word with him. Each time I’ve seen him I shake his hand and say that he’s doing a stalwart job with his community news sections in the Astorian but still have to civilly disagree with his liberal political columns.

The time I talked to him on the phone was when he wrote a column comparing some dink who had destroyed someone’s private property because they at one time had raised minks to Tea Party activists. I couldn’t believe he’d compare a criminal act to a group of peaceful protesters that to date have not had one single act of violence or criminal behavior. We had about a 30 minute friendly and civil conversation about his column. During that conversation not once did he ever back away from his comments or say that making that comparison was terribly wrong.

Steve is a good man but each time I’ve seen him since he seems uncomfortable, almost to the point of thinking someone like me might attack him physically or give him the plague sense he knows I don’t share his view on politics. I could see his face tighten and redden in what looked like fear doing his best to be accommodating but quickly ready to end any conversation with me.

My point here is we get bombarded with divisive and combative negative politics from both sides on the TV, Radio and the internet 24/7. Why does a small town newspaper editor feel the need to contribute to the daily diatribe we get saturated with everyday? He is entitled to his opinion but he’d be better served to tone down the over the top rhetoric and focus his op-eds to the community based issues instead of the national ones. 50% of the nation doesn’t agree with you Steve and alienation in a small town is a very tough flag to fly.