Second-Class Citizens.....????

There's an article on American Thinker website today that caused me a bit of concern.  The article's author, Bob Weir, asks "Are Mormons Second-Class Citizens?"  To answer this rather provocative question, Mr Weir discusses the results of a recent Gallup poll that found that "22% of Americans would not be willing to vote for a Mormon for president."  Somehow I don't find that very surprising, and it's painful that I don't. 

I served in the Air Force for 23 years.  Granted I served as a staff officer, an attorney, a Judge Advocate; but I served.  Maybe it was my "professional" status, but not once in my 23-year career did I feel that I was not taken seriously solely because I was a woman.  I worked for good Staff Judge Advocates and for great Commanders.  I enjoyed the men and women I served with.  Although I also worked for some not-so-good Commanders and one absolutely terrible Staff Judge Advocate, I never believed that anyone was biased against me because of my gender. 

Having said that, there was one time that I know I was not given a national-level award because of my religion.  I am a Mormon, and the award package contained information about community service I performed as a part of my religion.  One of the members who sat on the awards board talked to me after the award had been given to another (very deserving) person.  The board member told me to make sure my boss submitted me for the award the following year; but to leave out any mention that I was Mormon.  He told me that some of the other awards board members believed that Mormons should not get national-level awards.  It hit me like a ton of bricks.  I couldn't believe it....that members of a highly professional organization like the Air Force would be so overtly discriminatory. 

So I find it interesting that 22% of the people responding to the Gallup poll would not vote for a Mormon, solely because of religion.  It seems like our society hasn't really progressed as far as we'd like it to.  People have misconceptions about Mormons and Mormonism, and are unwilling to have an open mind about the religion or those who practice it.  Fortunately, we've progressed from the days where a state Governor can issue an order to expel Mormons from the state, or exterminate Mormons if they don't leave.  But I wonder who far we've really progressed.....

I agree with Martin Luther King that "men (and women) should be judge on the content of their character."  We should evaluate people, and political candidates, based on who they are, who they surround themselves with, and the actions they take.  That a person has religious values, and applies those values in his life, is more important than what his religion is.  A person's religion is a matter of personal belief (or lack of belief).  What matters is that the person's actions are driving by the person's values....and the person is not a hypocrite. 

Counting Blessings

I just had a wonderful week with my daughter and her two kids.  We camped, we played, we rode horses, and we just "hung out."  Although it was a busy week, I enjoyed every minute of it.  All of my kids live a good distance away, so I don't get to see them very often.  I admit that moving away was my choice, and it was a choice that hurt a lot of people, but one of the things I really regret is that I live so far away from them and my grandkids.  Family really is everything. 

I have a wonderful family.  I am married to a great man, who loves me.  I'm fortunate to still have my parents.  I live in a place where I have an extended family of aunts, uncles and cousins that I enjoy.   My siblings are my friends.  As I said, I have great kids who are married to wonderful people, and who have given me super grandkids.  My family isn't perfect, who's family is.....but I love them all.  The thing is:  they're mine in all their imperfections.  Family really is everything. 

Sundaes

You know what I love about Summer?  I love the sunshine.  I love flowers and green grass.  I love the longer days and BBQ.  And, I love hot fudge sundaes.  Yum!  I know, you can have hot fudge sundaes during the other three seasons, too.....but they're never as good as the hot fudge sundaes you get during the Summer. 

In the Summer, we drive to the local Flyover Country hamburger joint to get the best hot fudge sundaes.  It's better when you can stay outside and order your sundae through the walk-up window.  I guess there's something about the warm sunshine on your face and the cool breeze blowing through your hair that just makes the hot fudge taste better.   The cold ice cream meshes so well with the smooth whipped cream, and the nuts just add a hint of crunch to tease your taste buds.  Yummy! 

So this evening, my guy and I decided to take a short drive to the hamburger joint for sundaes.  The sun was still warm, but there was a nice breeze to make everything very pleasant.  The girl at the window is a friend, as was the cook and just about all the other customers at the burger joint....ah, the joys of small town life....so we visited while our order was made and caught up with Flyover Country news.  Then we got our sundaes.  Mine was a chocolate explosion.  When we ordered, my guy teased me about my absolute devotion to chocolate (it goes much further than mere love...), so my friend at the burger joint made me a chocolate and hot fudge sundae to beat all sundaes.  Rocky road ice cream with hot fudge, brownie bits, and chocolate chips, topped off with whipped cream, nuts and a cherry.  Absolutely delicious! 

But, now I'm full....and chocolate overloaded.  I guess there is such concept as "too much of a good thing."  Well...maybe not.....

Something to Ponder

I was listening to the Glen Beck show on satellite radio on the way to Salt Lake City on Wednesday.  Glen was interviewing David Mamet, a Pulitzer Prize winning author.  Mr Mamet made a statement that has had me thinking for several days.  In addressing our political leaders (to use the term "leaders" loosely), Mr Mamet said,




"We need to stop expecting our leaders to be perfect and start expecting them to be responsible."

I totally agree!!!   We are never going to have the "perfect" person to lead this Nation. (At least not until the second coming of Christ, and that's assuming he wants to lead this Nation.)  There will always be something that someone doesn't like about a particular leader.  No leader will always be perfect, everyone has faults.  But, a true leader will be responsible.  He or she will "own" their fault, and try to rectify it (if possible).  A true leader will do everything they can to avoid a mistake or misstep, but if they can't a true leader will acknowledge that it was their mistake or misstep. 

All I will say about Representative Wiener's debacle is that by this criteria, Representative Wiener is not a leader, in any sense of the word. 

Presidential Politics--The Cain Train

I'm not sure that I'm ready for 2012 Presidential politics already; after all, it's only June in 2011.  But....it will be interesting to follow the GOP Presidential hopefuls through the primary process.   I do have to admit that I'm intrigued by a couple of the hopefuls.  Romney is one.  Herman Cain is another.  I'm not ready to say who I'll vote for, I don't even know.  But one thing is for certain, it will be interesting....

For example, here's Herman Cain's new campaign video:
Get on the Cain-Train....well it's catchy.....let's see if he has the substance to go with the style....

WOW!

Idol & 2012 Politics

Along with a lot of other folks, I watched this season of American Idol.  I don't know why I was caught up in watching this year, but I was.  I'll also admit to rooting for Scotty McCreery, the eventual winner, for most of the year....I started rooting for him when, in the preliminary rounds, he told the judges he messed up in not standing up for an overweight contestant who was kicked out of the a group of singers.  He said then that he didn't live up to his values and regretted it....and this was from a teenager.  I liked him for admitting the mistake, and I always loved his voice.  I like the hardrocking James Durbin, too, but I wanted Scotty to win and was glad for him when he did. 

A guy named Stuart Schwartz has an interesting take on Scotty McCreery's win in an article titled, Everything I Need to Know About 2012 I Learned on American Idol.  In it, Schwartz says,

Country won. Honesty won. Decency won. And good ol' American values won. They beat hypocrisy and hyperbole, snark and snicker, and the jaw-dropping arrogance of the experts and elites. No, I'm not talking about the Republican sweep of the House last year. Rather, I'm talking about last week's American Idol, where viewers disregarded the exhortations of entertainment and media elites and chose instead down-home over Hollywood, and country over anything and everything our cultural elites pushed at them.

Interesting analysis.  According to Schwartz, even though the judges, the music industry, and the "in-the-know" elite routinely "dissed" Scotty McCreery, he won because the "American People" voted for him.  Schwartz explains,

Although the judges comment after each performance, it is left to the viewers to choose the winners. In past seasons, voters have regularly ignored the preferences of judges and assorted other entertainment and media experts, who largely view the tens of millions in the audience as lacking sophistication and knowledge of "the true art form of music." And again this past week, viewers let the experts know: We're different, we make different choices. 

I say, "Wonderful!"  I'm glad that American's voted for McCreery.  They chose him because they like his voice, and because he has character.  They chose him because he's a cute teenager.  The other contestants just didn't measure up. 

Although I didn't necessarily see Scotty McCreery's Idol win as a political statement, Schwartz's analysis is interesting.  He sees two lessons from this season's Idol that will be applicable to the 2012 elections.  First, "everything changes when the audience watches or lives the performance."  In other words, according to Schwartz, the music experts may have made pronouncements about who should win, "but American Idol viewers voted on the actual singing."  Schwartz believes that if Idol results can be applied to the political arena, then "if 2008 was the year of Obama and cool comes to the White House, then 2012 will best be characterized by the Who hit, "Won't Get Fooled Again."  The second lesson is that "we now know not to trust talking heads and consensus experts, either left or right."  All those "experts" tried to tell us that down-home, honest, likable-country was just not "cool" or "edgy."  But we don't follow the lemmings anymore.  We voted for the country-kid with the great singing voice. 

I think I agree with Schwartz that we need to apply these two Idol lessons to the political realities of 2012.  As Schwartz argues, we have to do what Scott McCreery did when Lady Gaga (who was wearing $4,500 shoes shaped like penises) told McCreery to "act evil." "Lord," he  said, "it's not my doing."  McCreery ignored Gaga's advice and just kept on singing country, "wearing his cross and thanking God and family and friends for the many blessing of this time and place."

I agree with Schwartz, it's time "to tell the mainstream press, insider Washington, and the academic and cultural elites to strap on their $4,500 "penis shoes" and take a hike...because we're gonna be singing country."

About Time!

A couple of years ago....from 1998-99....I worked in the Pentagon.  Part of my responsibilities included working cyber law issues.  It was a challenging, but a lot of fun.  The issues were all fairly new, so there wasn't a lot of "hard & fast" legal precedent on which to base a legal opinion.  The whole time I worked cyber law questions, I advocated for a standard that set a virtual "red line" around critical computer systems or databases, such that if anyone not authorized to access that system or database did so, it constituted an act of war.  It's an act of war for a nation-state or terrorist organization to penetrate our borders and cause havoc; the act of penetrating a critical computer system or database should be categorized the same way.   Of course, there were practical problems that needed to be identified and worked out; but the main idea was that there are certain systems or databases that are so essential to the functioning of our goverment, our defense, or our society that any interference with those systems would cause a major disruption equivalent to an attack on the homeland and those systems needed protection.

At the time, during the Clinton Administration, there were certain elements within the Department of Justice that heavily resisted calling any computer intrusion an act of war.  They wanted to categorize any intrusion into a computer system or database, critical or not, as a criminal act.  The problem with this approach was that criminal acts need to be investigated; applying all the "standard" investigatory rules, such as the requirement for probable cause prior to issuing a search warrant. 

I've been out of the cyber law arena for some time, but it looks like someone with some sense finally saw the light.  According to FoxNews, the Pentagon has finally concluded that computer sabotage coming from another country could be considered an act of war.  All I can say is, "about time." 

Memorial Day

A memorial is a thing that helps us remember.  Memorial Day should be a day that we take time to remember, to recall, and to honor.  We "celebrate" Memorial Day as the official start of Summer and all the joys that Summer brings; but we should also take the time to remember those who have passed on....particularly those who have passed on too soon while serving and protecting our great Country and the ideals she represents.  Don't let the "memorial" part of Memorial Day pass without taking some time to remember.....our fallen heroes deserve it.  May the Lord bless and keep them close and may He comfort their families on this day of remembrance. 

Blogs as History......

Greyhawk, a blogger writing on the Mudville Gazette, has re-posted a great post from November 2010 on the impact of blogs (particularly military blogs) and how the writings in these blogs should be preserved as a part of our history.  Check out the blog post here.  It's a great idea!  These blogs, whether written by those serving in a war zone or those of us at home, are wonderful primary sources for thoughts, ideas, reactions and issues of the time.  They need to be preserved!!!!   If the government can spend money studying shrimp on a treadmill or jello wrestling in Antartica; there should be funds available to preserve important writings on important topics.  The biggest practical problem would be deciding which blogs and which posts should be preserved.  Editorial questions are always the hardest.....aren't they?

Graduation Day & Friends

So it's Graduation Day here in Flyover Country.  We went to a Middle School Graduation this morning, and will attend the High School Graduation this afternoon.  Living in an "ultra-small town" like we do, we've come to know most of the kids who are graduating, so helping them mark a "life achievement" is pretty cool; especially the middle school class. 

Made me think, though.  There are 36 kids in this class.  The majority of them have been together since kindergarten, or before; and most of them will graduate from High School together in 2015.  It's something that my little military-brat-heart doesn't really comprehend.  Between First grade and High School Graduation, I went to seven different schools, most of them in different states.  I had to make new friends and find new activities at each new school.  Moving into a new school was both exciting and scary.  You could be whomever and whatever you wanted to be in a new school.  It's different for these kids.  These kids know each other.  They know who wet their pants in kindergarten and cried for their moms in First grade.  They know who got in trouble shooting the spitballs at the teacher in Fourth grade.  They know who kissed whom first.    Having someone who knows me (and the history of my foibles) that well would terrify me.   Maybe that's why I have some difficulties letting people get close to me.

My kids are also military-brats.  They've each had to move at critical stages in their lives.  I tried, as much as I could, to minimize the impact that moving could cause; but you can't eliminate it.  It's just not possible.  But I look at my kids and their ability to bond with friends and I'm envious.  My eldest collects friends.  She has a very eclectic collection of good friends from all over the world.  I admire her for that ability at the same time that I wonder how she does it.  My middle child and my son have firm-fast-friends from High School; and have newer, but still close, friends that they've made as a young adults.  Although I'm still in touch with some friends from High School, as well as friends from my active-duty days, it's mainly the at-arm's-length-social-media-contacts that seem to happen these days.  

I don't know.  Maybe my kids have the ability to keep friends close because, unlike my generation, they can  send emails and text messages. They're able to stay in touch, no matter how far away they move.   But then again, maybe it's just the difference in our experiences and our personalities.  What I do know, is that here in Flyover Country, I'm making friends I intend to let into my life and keep close.....no matter who wet their pants in Kindergarten or who put fake dog poop in the teacher's chair.  I've discovered that good friends are worth the risk. 

OK...So I've Been Bad About Blogging

I've been a big, bad, blogger.  Despite good intentions, I haven't blogged at all since New Year's day.  I've got all kinds of excuses....studying for a bar exam, taking a bar exam 27 years after I took my first bar exam, starting a new non-profit organization....you know, doing the stuff that life is made of....I'm sorry.  Life intrudes.  I'll try to do better. 

I started this blog to join in the 'blog-o-sphere conversation."  I had started to follow a number of blogs, primarily military-blogs, and found myself wanting to make longer comments on the topics covered in the blogs.  So I started this blog to put my thoughts and ideas "out there."  I guess I needed an outlet of some type.   I still have the thoughts and ideas, I just haven't been good about sharing them here.  I'm not sure why, other than a lack of time; and that's not a great reason.  I don't know, maybe there's a "deeper" reason, maybe not.  I do know that once you are cautious about sharing your thoughts, it's hard to start up again. 

Anyway, life moves on....and I want to use this post to highlight another blog.  Link on over to Chronicles of the Fabulous.  They have some fantastic stuff to gander through!  Love to both those girls and their Fabulousness!!!