Tuesday, May 7, 2013
Being informed is important to help make changes in our culture.
What is it going to take to make the average citizen pay attention to all that is going on in our government? I admit to being frustrated as I read surveys indicating that people are not aware of what is going on around them. Are we so busy trying to make a living, look after family needs, and pulling for our favorite sports team that we don’t have enough time or energy to know what is happening in our government? Recently, a phone caller wanted to bend my ear concerning his opinion that “NOBODY” is doing anything to promote the conservative principles of life. I invested a large amount of time listening to the caller as he vented about all the negatives going on in the world and how no one is answering the call to stand up for the right. …
Tuesday, April 2, 2013
Because of fatigue, I always regret staying up so late into the night (or early morning) the day after Sine Die.
Staying until the last gavel falls has become a tradition under the Gold Dome. The last hours of the last day of the 40-day session always means interesting “people watching.” Because of fatigue, I always regret having stayed up so late into the night (or early morning) the day after Sine Die. Our lawmakers must be drained, and as some refer to their feelings when tired and exhausted, as being brain dead. Some people, while hearing about many of the decisions made by the members of the General Assembly, would paint with a broad brush, feeling certain they were watching the activity of brain dead people. I would not be as harsh in my assessment of this session of the General Assembly. I did not like everything that happened and certainly …
Tuesday, March 12, 2013
With all that needs to be done to give leadership, it seems we could, for such a time as this, seek to find solutions rather than fighting for headlines.
In the political world, it has come down to the issue, person, or event able to grab the most headlines. We no longer seem to be moving in the direction of conviction or ideology when dealing with the issues of the day, but vying for the sound bite and the interview by a celebrity news person. The evidence for this opinion was seen last week when Senator Rand Paul from Kentucky took to the Senate floor in Washington and filibustered for more than 13 hours. Since the long marathon on the Senate floor, Paul was called almost every name in the book, and mostly by those who claim the same party affiliation. As Sen. Paul took to the Senate floor, news outlets began to announce his intention to lead a filibuster because of a concern he had …
Tuesday, January 29, 2013
Government is never too big for the "We the government" crowd.
The first three words of the United States Constitution are: “We the people.” Every person holding elective office in our nation assures us that upon taking the oath of office they will uphold the Unites States Constitution as the document on which our nation is founded. The oath of office was administered on Sunday last, and then a more formal public enactment of that oath was witnessed by millions of people last week in Washington as President Obama began his second four-year term as President of the United States of America. It is the usual practice and tradition that the newly oath taking President deliver his inaugural speech to the nation. Instead of assuring the nation that it will be “We the people” going forward in this second …
Tuesday, December 4, 2012
Americans are a funny bunch of folks when it comes to attitude about the rich.
Another record Powerball lottery event has come and gone. There were two winners in distant states from Georgia. At the height of the frenzy of lottery ticket selling more than 100,000 tickets were being sold per hour. Those people who track these types of events announced that the odds were very high that anyone could win. I saw a number of 1 in 175,000,000 chances to win the jackpot. Knowing the odds were great against ever winning the grand prize did not keep people from flocking to the lottery outlets to take the chance they would walk away a millionaire. I found it interesting that the week when President Obama was planning and speaking at rallies, pushing for tax increases on the wealthy, that so many people were lining up to …
Tuesday, November 27, 2012
There are thugs and thieves who will stop at nothing to steal from you and ruin your Christmas.
Halloween, Thanksgiving, Black Friday, and Cyber Monday are all behind us. We are in the midst of the Christmas shopping season. Some people complained that this shopping season seemed to begin earlier -- even before Halloween many retail merchants were offering specials leading up to Christmas buying season. With the shopping season running longer, now we are also hearing more often about packages being stolen from people. The lure of many shoppers making large purchases early in the season causes the thieves to plan ahead as to how they can take from those who have already made their purchases for Christmas. It is easy to be caught up in the emotion of the moment, and the excitement of knowing a special gift will be discounted at a …
Tuesday, November 20, 2012
One of my favorite holidays is this week -- Thanksgiving Day.
One of my favorite holidays is this week. Many people make plans to drive long distances to be with family and friends on Thanksgiving Day. Every year in November, a proclamation is issued by our government setting aside a day in which we are to express our thanks. It seems rather strange we would have to wait on the government to proclaim a day when we would reflect upon blessings enough to utter the two words, “Thank you.” We all know people who spend the majority of their time finding something to complain or gripe about. Nothing seems to ever be right to those people with a wrong and negative attitude about life. We know bad things do happen to people. There are many negative events occurring in every life each year. That is life. It …
Tuesday, November 6, 2012
We, the people, are to hold the men and women accountable who run for and are elected to public office.
Today is Election Day. If you have not voted, please go now and vote. A friend said he would be glad when the election was over so we could hear about something else. At first glance, that might sound like a good thing to say. However, as I have taken the time to go back over the conversation, I wonder how much of that statement was motivated by a desire to hear about something else other than politics? Maybe the motivation was to support the idea that after an election we can leave the governing to those who are elected. There is a danger in thinking it is all over after an election. Yes, we are electing people to serve in various offices; locally, in our state and on the federal level. We make a serious mistake, however; to think that …
Tuesday, October 16, 2012
We should declare an entire year to be on guard.
It seems every day, week, and month is set aside to highlight an organization or cause. Recently, I missed national donut day and felt guilty later when I realized I had a free day coming not to feel bad about enjoying donuts. The range of awareness issues are kept before the public in order to call attention to certain needs and causes in our culture. I see the positive side of that type of promotion. Many people would never think about certain causes if there were not a day when it would be designated as such. In no way would I ever suggest we need to rethink the way some of the events are planned to promote real causes of harm against animals, people or the environment. We need to be aware and we need to pay attention to certain aspects…
Tuesday, October 9, 2012
I sugggest parents allow their children to trick-or-treat only where they know the people.
Pedophilia is defined as a sexual desire in an adult for a child. The law in Georgia requires names of pedophiles be listed on a sexual registry. This is a subject deserving more attention than it receives in the media. Usually the first we hear about a pedophile is when the crime of assault or murder has been committed upon a child. With Halloween coming up later this month, it is not too early for parents to begin thinking about how they plan to keep their little innocent children safe from the lustful leering of a perverted predator who wants nothing more than to inflict harm on them. As a parent and grandparent, I admit this is a difficult subject to even think about. I have never been able to wrap my mind around the thought that must…
Robbi McCaig
2:34 pm on Sunday, May 12, 2013
I'm afraid that it is more that people simply don't care. They are being told that all is well from print and TV. They don't take the time to become informedof the loss of liberties(and in some cases, death) that they will hear very little of from the mass media. Jimmie Kimmel is a fine example of going out into the streets to see what people know. Most of them have never heard of Benghazi. more ›