Unbelievable! Astonishing! Incredible!  These are just a few words that come to mind when one considers the miserable state of affairs that the presidential race is even close.  Given the FACTUAL state of the economy:  REAL unemployment, poverty, the need for record public assistance, gas prices, lack of consumer confidence, failing domestic policy, failing foreign policy, negative right track / wrong track numbers, you name it, BHO (the one, the lowerer of the oceans, the healer of the planet), should be 20 points behind.  You notice I did not say the challenger, Mitt Romney should be ahead by 20 points.  I said the incumbent should be behind by 20.  In my humble and unprofessional view, Mickey Mouse (a registered voter in some states), Donald Duck,  Goofy, and Bozo the Clown should be ahead of the incumbent given the actual state of our union. (Please refer to my previous post entitled “Is Bad Leadership better than No Leadership).  AND ….. who knows, the one, could be.  You would never know given the sorry, pitiful, sleazy, corrupt state of our pseudo elite press.  You know, the one that shapes, makes, and manipulates the news of the day to fit a narrative and agenda that has been predetermined and well coordinated.  Not only has this “morally bankrupted and intellectually dishonest” press violated its fiduciary relationship with the American People, they actually prey upon the fact that many are not well informed due to legitimate reasons like being too damn busy trying to survive to DIG FOR THE TRUTH when it should be readily available from a press that is free and HONEST.  Regrettably, we do not have that kind of press in America and have not for a very long time if we ever did.  Of course, we also have many who could not care less as long as they “get theirs” and will just take it “nice and easy till they die and then taper off”.

More likely, the harsh reality is, that the challenger is not leading by 20 points and is maybe tied at best which is again unbelievable.  Or is it??  Like you, I read all the crap in the media about the messaging problems with the Romney campaign and the infighting and the fact that Romney had not defined himself, etc. etc. etc.  REALLY!!!  Please allow me to ask you a personal question:  Are you really that stupid??  I didn’t think so.  I’m not either.  I agree that we don’t need some pseudo intellectual air head to tell us what we just heard or read.  It’s bad enough that they are attempting to manipulate us to start with and then they add insult to injury by telling us how to interpret the crap that they just dumped on us. Gees, Louise!

Finally, to the point of my post:  As a grassroots activist, my concern rests with my perception that our side (conservatives) show up to a “gun fight” with a “knife”.  Before anyone on their side (liberal progressives) starts hyperventilating about me promoting violence with “coded language”, I am doing no such thing.  This is figurative language and I am totally non violent except in cases of self defense.  My point here is that we tend to want to be civil when civility is not in their playbook.  We tend to have a problem with “the ends justify the means” which is their “game plan”.  We want a “fair fight” while they “want to win”.  We disagree among ourselves and “stand on principle” while they don’t let a “little thing” like principle stand in their way.  We often have the best players but we seem to consistently get “out coached”.  The great Paul “Bear” Bryant became a legend by being able to “beat you with his players” and then be able to “beat you with your players”.  HOWEVER, if our side finds a way to snatch defeat from the jaws of what should be a landslide victory, it will be due to “lack of engagement“.  I am dumbfounded by the number of good people on our side that continue to want to concentrate, email, and TALK about the “why” instead of getting involved with the “how” to win this election.  I’ve stopped hitting my head on the wall for obvious reasons and the stories are far too numerous for here, but I will share a couple of my favorites that are representative since this is my blog and probably no one is going to read it anyway:  John (fictitious name) agrees with everything I tell him and then adds a “bunch” of stuff that I have heard 150 times before and I basically agree with as well.  Then comes the moment of truth when I ask him about engaging.  He looks at me and with a perfectly straight face says something like,” Oh, I have 5 kids and between working 6 days a week to run my business and pee wee football and dance and church and this and that, I don’t have time.”  All valid points but you know the drill.  If John  doesn’t get involved before it is too late, none of those valid points will matter.  Sue (fictitious name) tells me that we must rely on “prayer”.  I’m all for that, but after “Grace, Humility, and Acceptance” my deal with God is that I do “all I can do” and then He “takes up the slack” if He so chooses, not the other way around. So maybe when Sue gets off her knees she could get on her feet and engage. The last example is Sad Sam.  Sam (fictitious) belongs to the group where I use to belong.  This group sees no difference between the candidates as they are all “a bunch of crooks”, etc.  While that view is a bit of an overstatement, I fully understand the sentiment and therein lies the sadness.  For only an educated and informed (with truth) public that chooses to engage in the business of governing itself can ever return America to its greatness.  It makes me both angry and sad that I can not see that happening in my lifetime.