[Grovenet] out on a limb again

[Steele, Mike]

I'm not so sure that the nation, the people, reflect what we see as the
daily political reality in DC.  Most people known to me are not savagely
power hungry, thieving, hypocritical, materialistic, amoral,
conspiratorial, unacquainted with telling the truth, and so forth.
Another long list.  Having said that, it's also apparent that the
average person is not deeply interested in seeing these negative traits
removed to prison or banished from the village square.  We somehow put
up with it, perhaps buoyed by the few exceptions out there.  Would that
this were not so.

--Mike

-----Original Message-----
From: grovenet-bounces at rdrop.com [mailto:grovenet-bounces at rdrop.com] On
Behalf Of Ron D'Eau Claire
Sent: Friday, September 14, 2007 8:47 AM
To: 'Forest Grove local interests list'
Subject: Re: [Grovenet] out on a limb again

Washington, indeed our politicians everywhere, are simply a reflection
of
who we are as a nation. 

Changing Washington is as futile as changing the reflection we see in
the
mirror by changing mirrors. If we don't like what we see, we need to
change
its source.

To change its source, we need to approach the issue with a fundamental
change in the attitudes and outlook of the people. The "Religious Right"
did
that quite successfully but, like most theocracies (or
psuedo-theocracies
like that movement) driving people like cattle with prods of fear never
lasts over time. Particularly when too many of its leaders are corrupt.
Even
the Religious Right had to choose its leaders from the same pool of
humanity
we are all members of.

Personally, I believe change begins with education from the a-b-c's to
an
understanding of what our country is all about and why we exist. If a
huge
number of people can't even find Wisconsin on the map, how can they
comprehend the fundamental principles upon which our republic was
founded
and what it needs to thrive? 

I believe the ugliness we see expressed at the polls and in Washington
is a
direct result of our choices years past. What exists in the future will
be a
direct result of our choices today. 

As the saying goes, "If you don't know where you are going, any road
will
take you there." 

Decades ago the "Religious Right" using the power of the "Moral
Majority"
promised to lead America into the future. Enough people believed them
that
we've seen whole elections turn on no more than a persistent image of
the
candidate professing his faith in God. But, for a public who knows
little
about our country, what else is there to consider when voting? 

And now, we have arrived.

As another old saying goes, "People get the government they deserve."  

Ron D'Eau Claire 


-----Original Message-----
From: grovenet-bounces at rdrop.com [mailto:grovenet-bounces at rdrop.com] On
Behalf Of Steven
Sent: Friday, September 14, 2007 6:43 AM
To: Forest Grove local interests list
Subject: Re: [Grovenet] out on a limb again


Who among them will do that?

David Morelli wrote:

> 
> Don't expect him to clean up the moral morass in Washington.
> 
> David
> 
> 
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> GroveNet mailing list
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