http:\/\/youtu.be\/tU78lSjgN3Y<\/p>\n
\u201cLiving\u2019s mostly wasting time\/and I waste my share of mine\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2013 Cowboy Junkies<\/p>\n
When I was a kid, my family watched the political conventions together. My dad and mom had seven kids and the older crew would usually be allowed to sit up together through the nomination process and even the late night acceptance speeches \u2013 because when the conventions were less scripted, the nominee sometimes got started late but we just had to see \u2019em.<\/p>\n
Even after I grew up, I\u2019d try to get back home for the Democratic Convention and so remember watching Jesse Jackson\u2019s speeches in the \u201980\u2019s with my parents. \u201cGod\u2019s not finished with me yet,\u201d still rings in my ears.<\/p>\n
Now, of course, the whole event is quite contrived and neat.<\/p>\n
Nevertheless, I watched much of the DNC this year and despite my 15-year-old son and Ron Paul supporter\u2019s rebukes \u2013 \u201cLiberal propaganda!\u201d \u2013 I enjoyed a lot of it like the old days.<\/p>\n
I was moved, according to script I suppose, a number of times \u2013 the mom with her child that wouldn\u2019t get the heart treatment she needed if ObamaCare is repealed, the Iraq veteran with prosthetic limbs and an indomitable spirit, and even some of the professionals like Gov. Deval Patrick challenging the Dems to grow a backbone.<\/p>\n
I especially relished ol\u2019 Bill and Barak.<\/p>\n
Clinton\u2019s rhetorical style is so smooth \u2013 Cowboy Junky-esque but much more positive \u2013 bringing the listener in and then in such a friendly manner explaining how it really was and is.<\/p>\n
And President Obama now seemed to me to be a tragic hero \u2013 so gifted at raising hope in a time with such incredible constraints.<\/p>\n
I don\u2019t fault him for the sluggish \u201crecovery.\u201d It was my amateur view that we should crank back and live within our means rather than spend trillions to stimulate the economy. This strategy doesn\u2019t seem to have worked in the countries that tried it though, and given the great mess, the US economy is doing pretty well.<\/p>\n
Biden\u2019s bit about refusing to \u201cdownsize the American dream\u201d was rather silly. It\u2019s hard to see any other course from here, imv, so I suggest we redirect the American dream to living fully with less material wealth. Is a person really happier who lives in a 10,000 square foot house than one who lives in 2,000 or 1,200 or 800?<\/p>\n
As the song says,<\/p>\n
\u201cEverything is not enough
\nnothing is too much to bear
\nwhere you been is good and gone
\nall you keep\u2019s the getting there\u201d<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s the last paragraph of Obama\u2019s speech:<\/p>\n
\u201cAmerica, I never said this journey would be easy, and I won\u2019t promise that now. Yes, our path is harder\u2014 but it leads to a better place. Yes our road is longer\u2014 but we travel it together. We don\u2019t turn back. We leave no one behind. We pull each other up. We draw strength from our victories, and we learn from our mistakes, but we keep our eyes fixed on that distant horizon, knowing that providence is with us, and that we are surely blessed to be citizens of the greatest nation on earth.\u201d<\/p>\n
Now Obama included the bit about providence and specialness that I\u2019m not feeling \u2026 and he also challenged us to grow a back bone with the really fresh truth (and don\u2019t we know it?) that the road from here is harder and longer.<\/p>\n
We don\u2019t hear that much.<\/p>\n
Given the simple truth that to live is to fly, rather than wasting all of this precious life, how can we live together in peace and harmony?<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
http:\/\/youtu.be\/tU78lSjgN3Y \u201cLiving\u2019s mostly wasting time\/and I waste my share of mine\u201d \u2013 Cowboy Junkies When I was a kid, my family watched the political conventions together. My dad and mom had seven kids and the older crew would usually be allowed to sit up together through the nomination process and even the late night acceptance […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":182,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1200","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n