Advice to Pastor Wright

The news makers have been consumed with the comments made by Pastor Wright of the Trinity church in Chicago and his inflammatory comments about America, and white people in general. Anyway you slice it, it is "hate speech" and it's a shame to see such deep seeded feelings toward white people, and toward the USA. This country with all of it's faults, is still the greatest country in the world. You can argue that Pastor Wright and his generation may harbor some deep seeded feelings from the era of segregation, but his speeches are certainly not helpful, and may torpedo Obama's nomination.

But even more important - when will the black people of this country quit claiming to be, and stop acting like, victims?

Obama says his Pastor Wright is a patriot, but "misguided" - I don't know. But if he is, maybe he should have rephrased his sermons a bit. Here are some suggestions regarding some of his more controversial statements:

- Pastor Wright said, "The USA invented AIDS to infect and kill black people". A ridiculous statement - how about this: "The AIDS epidemic is devastating Africa, and as the super power in the world, the USA should be leading the effort to eradicate this disease" Doesn't that sound better?
The fact of the matter is, the USA and the Bush administration have led all other countries in financial and other contributions to HIV/AIDS treatment and research. More than twice what the Clinton administration ever did.


- Pastor Wright called this country, "The US KKK of America". How about this: "The US has made significant strides since the days of the KKK in America, but as blacks we believe the country still has a long way to go, to overcome discrimination". Doesn't that sound better?
Many blacks have forgotten that the Union army under the direction of Republican President Abe Lincoln fought for their freedom. Seven hundred thousand Americans died in that war. I even had a great-great grandfather who joined the Union army just 10 years after emigrating from England because he felt so strongly about freeing the slaves. He lost his arm during the Battle of Gettysburg. In addition, without Republicans the Civil Rights Act would never had been passed , yet for some reason, blacks still believe we are the party of "discrimination" - go figure.


- Pastor Wright said, "Not God Bless America, God Damn America". How about this: "God created us all equal, and the bible says 'damn those that do not follow the teachings of Jesus'" Doesn't that sound better?
Many black people feel they have had a raw deal, but is it really the fault of America? What about the billions that America has invested into elevating the plight of blacks - starting with the Civil War, then civil rights legislation, affirmative action, educational preferences, welfare, subsidised housing, etc, etc. Do not blacks have some responsibility here? I could make a list, but I will paraphrase Bill Cosby: "How will we African Americans ever get our act together when 70% of our children are born out of wedlock. Where have all the fathers gone?" Obviously the situation is more complicated than that one issue, but resurrecting family values again in the black community would be a great start.


Here is my point - if Pastors like Dr. Wright want to preach about the plight of blacks, why not do it in a positive way? "Hate speech" is just that - causing nothing but a further schism in the race differences between black and white.

So we will see if Obama can overcome this problem with his Pastor Wright association. Wouldn't it be interesting to know what is in Obama's heart, and how much of this "hate philosophy" he actually believes. But it's the Democrats problem, and they will have to decide sooner or later between Obama or Hillary. Who do you think is more qualified? Someone that sat in a pew the last 20 years listening to black against white hate speech, but doesn't remember hearing any of it? Or Hillary, the "experienced" candidate ready to lead on day one - a candidate who has travelled the world with her daughter Chelsy meeting world leaders, and the only first lady since Eleanor Roosevelt to enter a war zone, literally dodging sniper bullets as she and Chelsy bravely ran for their car after landing in Bosnia. Make your choice.

The Golden State

California is called "The Golden State" because when the rainy season ends in May, the hills and mountains turn a beautiful golden brown until the following winter. In Central and Southern California we rarely get rain between May and November. But that is not the case during the winter when rain turns the golden state into a picture that even Monet could not duplicate. My son described it as reminiscent of Ireland and a friend from down under once said "It is the closest thing to New Zealand I have ever seen".

We took a drive through the countryside today to view the spring wildflowers in bloom and it was breathtaking. Although a picture cannot duplicate the beauty, here are a few examples:

Chapel on the Hill, east of Paso Robles, California

And the beauty of it all...living in wine country, when the hills turn brown, our thousands of acres of vineyards turn green.

Ya gotta have "balls"

Most of us believe in ourselves, and sometimes even think we are better than we actually are. But that is OK, "self confidence" is a virtue and a very valuable character trait.


But the Clinton's, along with their arrogance, have taken "self confidence" to a level never reached before. Barack Obama has won twice as many primary states as Hillary Clinton. He has won almost a million more popular votes, and he is ahead in "pledged" delegates by over 100. Yet Bill Clinton in a speech this weekend suggested it would be a "dream ticket" if both Democratic candidates ran together. And then Hillary shortly thereafter (during which I am sure was a planned interview) said, "I would be proud to have Barack Obama as my Vice Presidential running mate". Is this hubris or what? This is a woman that has been in second place for most of the Democratic race, and now offers the first place candidate her running mate slot - this lady has "balls".

I believe that the Clintons have convinced themselves that they are "entitled" to eight more years in the White House, and are oblivious to the real world right now. And they will probably pull every dirty trick out of the book during this primary season to somehow get her a win. I hope the Obama campaign is ready for a tough fight...this will be fun to watch.

The Foreclosure Crisis

You cannot pick up a paper or watch a news program these days without reading about the foreclosure crisis. Buyers of homes have simply spent more than they could afford, and their debt burden is too much to handle, so they walk away and let the loan default. Although this represents less that 1% of the total mortgages in the country, this "overspending" has had a significant psychological impact on the economy, and thus affects those other 99% that are able to pay for their home loan. Are we "talking" ourselves into a recession?


But who set the example? Could it be our government ? Our national debt is over $9 trillion as of this date, and Congress just keeps spending. In simple terms, that is a $30,000 debt for each of us - including our children and grandchildren.


Congress recently passed a "stimulus" bill, which to a large extent is because of the fear resulting from home foreclosures. This stimulus package will send many Americans a check in the amount of several hundred, up to a thousand dollars or more. Unbelievably, the original stimulus bill included illegal immigrants, but our few remaining Conservative Republicans in Congress put a stop to that. The total stimulus bill is expected to be about $150 billion. Not only will this not stimulate anything, how can it come from a government that can't even begin to pay their own debt? Many Americans believe the government is an endless source of money, and don't realize we are borrowing the $150 billion for a so-called "stimulation" of our own economy. Instead of the term "Federal Funding" what would the average American think if each government spending bill had the title: "This project is paid for from your earnings".


Unfortunately, who is going to foreclose on the US Government?


As for us, we are going to divide our "stimulus" check into six parts...for our grandchildren, and let them stimulate the economy. But there is a catch...if they read this blog and send us an email, they will get their share. If they don't respond, Grandpa knows that they don't read his Blog, so too bad - we will spend their share on ice cream, Starbucks, cool clothes, and all those things they could have had themselves. This sounds like we are trying to "indoctrinate" our grandchildren with money...well I guess we're guilty - we need more Conservatives out there to turn this country around.

Ding dong the witch is...

Oops, I thought "...the wicked witch, the wicked witch. Ding dong the wicked witch is dead!" Growing up watching "The Wizard of Oz", that song has been in the back of my mind as I waited for candidate Hillary Clinton to concede the primary election to Barack Obama. I just knew that the political "house of cards" built by the Bill and Hillary machine over the last fifteen years, would finally fall on her and the voters in Munchkin land would celebrate, and Obama would be skipping down the Yellow Brick Road in his new ruby slippers. It didn't happen...at least not yet.

The "anointed one" rose from the dead, and is now in a real battle against the "rookie with a golden voice". Rush Limbaugh put it best, "Barack Obama says 'nothing' better than it's ever been said before". Maybe that caught up with him, (although she says 'nothing' pretty well herself).

Those that read this blog know that I am a Conservative Republican, and I was hoping that Hillary would be the Democratic candidate...that is a fight we wanted. For a while it looked like she was going to be thrown under the bus by her own party. But the Democratic voters still haven't seen through the political smokescreen created by the Clintons over the years. The Clintons went negative the past few weeks, and it worked. No one is better at "gutter politics", and they are good.

Barack Obama still has a lead in committed delegates, and that lead will be mathmatically difficult for her to overtake. But with about 700 "Super Delegates" and the question of delegates from Michigan and Florida still up in the air, this could be very interesting. If the Clintons somehow pull this out, it will be a political surprise by a "machine" that will do anything to win.

And unfortunately if John McCain runs against the Clinton group - he may have "my friends" shoved down his throat.

The Golden Voice

There is an old story in business about this company that had a "super salesman". Whenever he met with customers he always knew what to say, and on almost every sales visit he closed the deal. Customers loved him and he was by far the the best salesman in the company. So when there was an opening for a Sales Manager, he got the "promotion". There he was, instead of being in the field socializing with customers and closing sales, now he was in his office, dealing with budgets, sales forecasts, personnel problems, and management meetings. Within a year he was a failure at being a Sales Manager and was fired. When asked what happened he said, "It was quite a change, there I sat in my office with nothing but my golden voice".


Are we seeing this in the Presidential campaign? The stakes are much larger. No one can dispute that Barac Obama has the golden voice of a talented salesman. He is young, charismatic, likable, and says all the right things required to close the deal...the "customers" love him. It looks like the Democratic electorate may make him their nominee. And then the American public could promote him to be their most senior manager, or more precisely - our President, and the leader of the free world. If that happens, let's hope he doesn't sit and reflect in the Oval Office, and realize that he has nothing but his "golden voice"...and sadly, it would be four years before we could "fire" him.

Where have all the Tigers gone?

I watched the PGA golf tournament from Los Angeles this weekend and frankly, what a "yawner". Golf is a wonderful sport, but it can be like watching paint dry sometimes. I grew up during the era of Arnold Palmer, Lee Trevino, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus, and even crazy Chi Chi Rodriguez. These guys were great golfers and also had great personalities. They joked with the crowds, took big risks when they could have played conservative, but were always entertaining.

Today all can I say is, "Where have all the Tigers gone?" Maybe it's because there is so much money at stake, or are we just in a 'lull" in the sport. But there are so many "no name" golfers nowadays making millions, that Tiger Woods stands out like a beacon in the night. Yes, he is a great golfer, maybe the best ever, but he also brings excitement to the PGA tour, and even more important his personality, character, and conduct in his personal life makes him a roll model for millions of young people. Other than Phil Mickelson, most PGA players are so serious that they forget that part of their job is to entertain us.

Last year an older golfer named Woody Austin came in second, and almost won the 2007 PGA Championship. He had his 15 minutes of fame, but more important he brought some personality back to the PGA tour, joking with the crowd, taking risky shots, and obviously having fun in the process. Get it together PGA - we need more Tigers, and even more Woodys out there.