See What You See, Say What You See

One of the "gadgets" on my blog is right above the posts, random quotes from Ronald Reagan.  The quote that convinced me to add the gadget is "Don't be afraid to see what you see."  Fortunately for us, Reagan lived before political correctness completely overran our common sense.  When Reagan called the Soviet Union "the Evil Empire," Americans weren't afraid to see the truth in the description.  That is no longer the case.  Because of fear of insulting someone, or a particularly easily offended group, we progressed from being afraid to say what we see, to now, being afraid of even seeing what we see.  The most ridiculous example is "Muslim extremist."  It's was more than a year ago when Whoopi Goldberg walked off the set of The View because Bill O'Reilly described the 9-11 terrorists as Muslim extremists.  Our "Justice" Department, I'm assuming in the spirit of political correctness - they couldn't be that incompetent, could they?, described the shooting of U.S. soldiers on a U.S. Army base by an American Muslim soldier screaming "Allah Akhbar" as an incidence of workplace violence, rather than what it obviously was -  an act of terror by a Muslim extremist. We have a president who campaigns on a theme of redistribution of wealth, the very definition of Marxism, but we can't call him a Marxist.  He's only interested in fairness.  I won't give further examples of political correctness run amok, just the latest and its consequences.

This week, in Portland, Oregon, a 22 year old man walked into Clackamass Town Center, a mall packed with Christmas shoppers and started shooting.  He killed two people and seriously injured another, before reportedly killing himself.  The focus immediately was placed upon the gun he used, an "assault rifle."  Gun control advocates would have us believe that the blame for the crime should be placed on the gun.  If only Oregon had stricter gun control laws, this crime would never have happened.  The problem with this argument is that Oregon already has fairly restrictive gun laws.  To buy the gun, Jacob Roberts would have had to pass an federal background check.  He bypassed this requirement by breaking the law.  He stole the gun and ammunition.  The mall, like the theater in Aurora, Colorado, was declared a "Gun-Free" zone.  Persons who take a firearm onto property declared to be "Gun-Free" are breaking the law and subject to prosecution and penalties that vary by location.  Mr. Roberts broke that law too.  So how exactly will making more laws prevent actions by a person like Jacob Roberts from committing these crimes?  Obviously the law had no meaning to him.  We are afraid to blame Mr. Roberts for being evil?  A person who commits an act of random violence against people that he doesn't even know, has no reason for killing, is evil, PERIOD.  Why are we afraid to see that?  Why are we afraid to say that?  The second amendment did not kill two people.  Oregon's gun laws did not kill two people.  Mr. Roberts' friend who owned the gun did not kill two people.  The mall's Gun-Free policy did not kill two people.  Jacob Roberts killed two people. Are we afraid to say Roberts was evil because his friends and family described him as a "friendly," "adrenaline junkie," "video game player," who "just wanted to make you laugh."?  Were his friends and family afraid to see what they saw in him?  Were they afraid to see that he was troubled?  Afraid to really talk to him, to really get to know him?  Were there signs that he might be troubled, and friends and family were just afraid to see them?

The shooting of strangers by an EVIL deranged man in a mall was bad enough.  But yesterday evil struck again.  This time at an elementary school in Connecticut.  A man walked into an elementary school and shot six adults and twenty kindergarten students before reportedly killing himself.  Once again, the focus went immediately not to the killer, but to his weapons.  He was found inside the school with a 9mm Sig Sauer, and a Glock, both handguns.  A .223 Bushmaster rifle was found in the backseat of his mother's car in the school parking lot.   So once again, an evil and senseless murder is being blamed on an assault rifle, this time one in the backseat of a car parked outside the scene of the murders.  Connecticut has some of the most restrictive gun control laws in the country, the school, once again is a "Gun-Free Zone."  And the evil deranged murderer was too young to legally purchase either of the guns he used.  But many people, including the president are demanding that we "take action," i.e. pass laws, to insure that heinous actions like this do not happen again.  So once again, they are demanding that more laws be written to prevent people like the one who broke countless laws to commit this crime from doing it in the future.  Apparently just one more law would have stopped him in the view of the president and others.  As Einstein said, the "definition of insanity is repeating the same action, expecting different results."  So Rush Limbaugh makes perfect sense when he says that "liberalism is a disease," it's a disease that causes insanity.      Like the health care laws, EPA regulations, and tax hikes for the "wealthy," gun control is about control.  It's not a policy to solve any problem, it's a policy to control people or a group of people.  It's about eliminating choice.  As horrible as yesterday's crime is, as much as any of us want future crimes like this to be prevented by an easy fix, a new law will not prevent an evil person from committing evil acts.  The only way to prevent atrocities like this is for each of us to not be afraid to see what we see.  Adam Lanza is described as "troubled," exhibiting "autistic-like behaviors."  So were friends and family afraid to see his troubles until after he killed 20 kindergartners and 6 adults?  Were they afraid to say what they saw and try to get Adam Lanza some help?  The only way to stop this violence is to stop being politically correct.  We must see evil where there is evil.  We must say we see evil when we see evil.  We can't be afraid to say what we see, for fear of hurting someone's feelings, or damaging their self-esteem.   Inaction can lead to much worse.

So, what I see today is a country shocked by a horrible crime.  A crime that is so unimaginable that we absolutely must do something to make sure that nothing similar happens again.  But once again, a very large number of us want to take the easy way out.  Rather than taking personal responsibility, we want our "mommy," the government, to do it for us.  Blaming the weapons is an emotional reaction that is being reinforced by the president and the media and it is the lazy, easy way out.  Once again, the president and the media is counting on Americans being "low information voters" and useful idiots.  Yes, the idiots are being used once again.  Yesterday I saw almost everyone shocked and hurt by the actions of an evil lunatic.  I saw Americans imagining themselves in the place of those parents in Connecticut.  I saw media and the president's press secretary saying it's too early to bring politics into the discussion about the murders.  I then saw the same media, on CNN, MSNBC, and others immediately bring up the need for more regulations.  I saw celebrities like Alec Baldwin (his photo, along with Sean Penn's is in the dictionary beside the useful idiot definition) use Twitter to call for Americans to "stop defending your right to bear arms.  You're stupid."  Then finally I saw the president speak about the murders.  Most of us saw our own emotions and outrage reflected in the president's face as he spoke about the children and the fact that they would never experience life's events that all children experience.  We could see our own sorrow reflected as he paused, clenched his jaw to hold back the emotion he was feeling, the emotion we were all feeling.  For once, I could actually see the president had the same feeling and reaction that I did.  Then he wiped away a non-existent tear, and another, and another.  Then he made the statement I was hoping not to hear, but fully expecting, "And we're going to have to come together and take meaningful action to prevent more tragedies like this, regardless of the politics."  I expect that his "meaningful action" does not involve personal responsibility, but instead more restrictions of the rights guaranteed in our Constitution.  Never let a crisis go to waste, as you fundamentally transform the United States, right Mr. President?

Just saying what I see again, I see a president expressing great emotion at the loss of 26 lives, 20 babies.  A president, who as Illinois state senator voted multiple times AGAINST, not his usual "present," but AGAINST  legislation that would require doctors to act to save the lives of babies born during failed abortions, babies born, living through abortion procedures.  The same president who campaigned this past fall that taking taxpayer money away from Planned Parenthood was part of the Republican Party's war against women.  Taxpayer money that funded 289,750 murders or abortions in 2008 alone, according to their own website.  So either he feels great sorrow at the loss of children taken by gun related violence, but not those taken by physical violence at the hands and instruments of a government funded murderer, or what I see.  I see a president that feels nothing about either.  He sees both as a crisis to be taken advantage of.  We have all seen many examples of evil in the past few days.

Just an update that has been published since I started writing this, Adam Lanza, the Connecticut murderer, tried to buy a rifle at a local sporting goods store two days before his killing spree.  He was blocked by the state's gun sale waiting period.  He stole the guns he used from his mother.  The door of the school was locked as required by the school's security policy.  Lanza broke a window beside the door to enter the school.  Laws and physical obstructions will not solve our problem, not a gun problem, a people problem.  Only we, individually, can fix a people problem.  Don't be afraid to see what you see.

Trust Each Other, Unless You Live in D.C.

I have worked for many, sometimes it feels like too many, years in management.  My first management job was in a small bookstore.  It was basically me and one part time associate.  Obviously there was not much delegating.  If something needed to get done, I did it.  My next management position was with Stride Rite shoes.  With Stride Rite, I had several part time associates and an assistant.  While with Stride Rite, I learned a lesson that our government needs to learn.

Part of my job as manager was to train my assistant to be a future manager.  Tisha was one of my first assistants who was serious about getting her own store.  After some basic training, we split the daily tasks and paperwork.  Once on Tisha's day off, I had finished all my usual activities and had probably listened to the Dino Dave recordings a couple of times too many for the day.  I went back to the office and noticed that Tisha had a couple of days' paperwork still unfinished.  So I decided to do her a favor and finish it for her.

I was off the next day, but got a phone call from the store.  It was Tisha, and she was irate.  She asked if she should start looking for a new job, or maybe a transfer to another store.  I had no idea what could possibly be the problem.  I thought everything was going well.  Finally she calmed down enough to ask me if I thought she was incapable of doing her job.  I told her, no. I thought she was doing well and would be able to take her own store soon.  She then asked why I would do her job if that was the way I really felt.  She was insulted at my doing her job for her.  From my point of view, I was doing her a favor.  It seemed a case of "no good deed will go unpunished."  From her point of view, her manager did not trust her or did not think she was capable of doing her job.

Tisha went on to get her own store with Stride Rite and did very well.  She eventually moved on to another management position with another company with even more responsibility.  She taught me a lesson that I think about each time I "help" a trainee.  I always tell them this story and let them know the reason I'm "helping" them.  The story is used as a motivator for those who may not be as self-motivated or as capable as Tisha, in addition to teaching them a management lesson that I learned the hard way.

Unfortunately, I have had trainees that did not have the drive or capability of Tisha.  In their case, I "helped" them a great deal. Until they either caught on or moved on.  As a rule, the more "help" they required, the more likely they were to move on.  

I don't know if the good folks in D.C. think we are capable of taking care of ourselves.  The majority of Americans will gladly take care of themselves and do the right thing.  All we ask is that the government get out of our way.  We are more than willing to help each other and contribute to causes in which we believe.  As long as the government leaves us the resources to do so. I believe most of our representatives think they are doing the right thing.  They feel a little like I did during the phone call from Tisha, "no good deed will go unpunished!"

More and more, I have come to believe that our government doesn't want to trust us.  They take our tax dollars and spend them for us on causes the majority of us do not believe in or support, in order to further their own agenda or strengthen their positions.  No non-profit should receive federal funds.  That's no, none, not any, for any reason.  Nowhere in the constitution does it give the federal government the authority to collect money from the general population to give to any non-profit organization.  Leave that money in the hands of the individual who earned it.  Let that person decide where his/her contribution will go.  Let the non-profit organizations compete for our dollars.  Then let's see if ACORN gives tax advice to pimps for Salvadoran teens, or registers the lineup of the Dallas Cowboys to vote in Las Vegas(you knew I had to work the Cowboys in here somewhere).  Or if Planned Parenthood takes 15 year old girls from their school in Washington and gets them a free abortion without notifying their parents.  If they do, and you choose to support them with your hard-earned dollars, that's your choice.  In that case, I am pro-choice, as are most Americans.  But do not force us to contribute.  We will gladly contribute to causes we believe in.

We need to learn which representatives want to control us, and which just need a phone call from Tisha.  Soon, while we still have any choices left.