A Liberated Mind

Ah yes, Thanksgiving Day has come and gone, and Black Friday is here in full force…My in-laws and wife are hustling around the metro looking for bargains for Christmas gifts, and I am at my house, thankful to be off of work today…

Currently OU is playing on TV – though it is the basketball version and not my beloved Sooner football team…But, they do play tomorrow in a nationally televised game that has Big 12 title implications, national championship implications, and even Heisman Trophy implications…Um, wow…And I was hoping for a big game atmosphere…

Anyway, all sarcasm aside, this is a big game for the Sooners against their instate rivals up at Oklahoma State, and I am quite nervous about it…In an ongoing dialogue between myself and a fellow OU grad this week, we discussed why I am so nervous and he gave me all the reasons not to be…A great argument to be sure as he talked about our defense versus Tech, our powerful offense, and their lack of defensive prowess…But I am still not convinced as he is that this game will not be close…

Why do I think it will be close?  Ah, the curse of Stillwater…

What I mean is that for some reason the Sooners rarely play really well when we play the Cowboys at their place…Only once in maybe the last several trips to Stillwater have the Sooners rolled, and the Cowboys always seem to get fired up to play their big brothers from Norman – especially when such big stakes as national title contention is at stake…

They have seemed to gotten more fired up than the Sooners have recently in this series…And yeah, OU has won the last five games in Bedlam, but still…

Thus I will be with the wife and the daughter tomorrow night, and my hope is that the Sooners come through…I am predicting a score of OU 45 – OSU 31…Close for the Sooners, but a win is a win at this point…Especially on the road…

I also predict a trip to face a salty Missouri squad in the Big 12 title game by leaping Texas in the BCS standings and then a  trip to Miami for the National Title game…But, I am getting ahead of myself; more on that later next week…

So until then, enjoy the game tomorrow, Sooner fans, and I hope you will be more relaxed as you watch it than I will be…

S

You may or may not be aware of this, but tomorrow is the national holiday known, at least locally, as “Thanksgiving”…

I know, I know, you are probably saying to yourself, “There is a national holiday each year set aside for giving thanks?  That’s crazy”…

Yeah, it is…But even crazier than that is the fact that most of us get the day off from work, we usually gather together with a bunch of friends and family, and then we gorge ourselves with things like turkey, dressing, pie, and mashed potatoes…AND NOBODY SEEMS TO MIND US EATING WAY TOO MUCH…Seriously?

But shouldn’t Thanksgiving be about more than the food, the family, and the afternoons of watching football and falling asleep on the couch?  Shouldn’t we at least try to figure out why we should be thankful?

Because come on, let’s face it – we are a loaded country…I mean, we are absolutely filthy rich here in the United States…We are blessed beyond our wildest imaginations…And maybe we are sort of thankful and sort of appreciative at different times over the course of our lives, but for the most part, I know I often take for granted all the good things that I am given…

But at its foundation, what does it mean to be thankful?  Better put, what is the underlying motivation of true thankfulness?

It is my belief that at the core of thankfulness is humbleness…You know, humility – that mysterious mindset of putting others first and shunning the greatness of power and ego…

Seriously, think about that – truly and sincerely thankful people are humble people…They know they are blessed, they realized how undeserving they are of all the good things they have, and they more often than not will not take credit for what they are given in this world…

These are the folks that appreciate both the blue skies and the rain, the fact they have a roof over their heads, and even the hard times that seem beyond their control…They appreciate those hard times because they always seem to come out better people afterwards, and they are thankful for that…

With that being said, how can there be thankfulness without humility and humbleness?   I just don’t think this can happen…I mean really, it would be very hard to believe that egotistical and arrogant people can truly be thankful…It just logically doesn’t work for me…

So on the flipside, what is the opposite of thankfulness?  Think on that question for a moment…Try to define the antonym of thankfulness…What do you come up with?

One of my friends mentioned ungratefulness when I offered this question up and another said greed…I would say both of those work extraordinarily well…If I am ungrateful, I can not be thankful and if I am greedy, why would I be thankful?  I would just want more…

So yeah, those answers are great – and they both are better than my answer of “unthankfulness”…

But let me be honest: sometimes I need to look at myself and I need to be indicted for my “unthankfulness”…I take my very existence for granted, I rarely offer up pure and humble thanks, and I often attempt to take the credit for the good that happens in my life…I like that control, and thus I like that glory…

But thankfulness calls us each to the opposite – it calls us to distance ourselves from the credit, it calls us to enjoy the good things but not feel like we did anything to deserve them, and it calls us to keep this type of mindset all year round and not just one day out of the year…

Thanksgiving is a great time of year, and it is a holiday designed to make us aware of our blessings and be thankful for them…

But shouldn’t this one day spur us on to have this same type of attitude the other 364 throughout the year?  Shouldn’t we be thankful every day and not just one time out of the year?

My challenge to you is to think on that tomorrow as you gather with friends and family and enjoy the day off of work as you stuff your face…

At the end of the day as your prepare to either shop or work or just relax on Friday, think on the fact that true thankfulness begins and ends with humility and humbleness…

It is with this mindset I know I need to live my life and not just when I eat turkey and dressing on the last Thursday of November…

So enjoy the holiday, be careful as you travel, and be thankful of what you have…And don’t forget to check back on Friday for an OU/Oklahoma State score prediction…

S

A few questions: 

Have you ever wanted to protest some issue or circumstance due to the fact you were so angry that you would take to the streets with signs and banners?

Seriously, have you ever just gotten so mad and fed up and frustrated that you couldn’t help but gather a group of people together, look for a march, and do your part to make sure a collective voice was heard?

Have you ever been physically involved in a protest?  If so, was it a protest for something or against something?

Let me be honest: I have never been involved in a protest and frankly, I have never even had the desire to…Nope, never…Never even thought about it for that matter…Not one time in my life have I ever been fired up enough to brave police barricades and nature’s elements to peaceably gather as is my constitutional right – regardless of if I were for something or against something…

Why not?  Well, simply put, I am not a protester…I am not one to rock the boat in this fashion and manner…I don’t like crowds, I don’t like standing in one place for too long, and I don’t like the thought of being completely grouped in with others regarding my stance on a specific issue being protested…

I am very individualistic in this way…I love being as independent as I am, and I am not sure if I would ever want to jeopardize that by surrounding myself with people who could be a bit more, umm, extreme in their thoughts and beliefs…

And not to paint with too broad of a brush, but I think a lot folks who consider themselves conservative or liberty-minded sort of think in the same sort of way as I do…

Because if you think about it, how often do you see media coverage of lefty protesters versus protesters with at least a right leaning perspective? 

Sure you can chalk some of that up to media bias, but it is also true that folks on the left seemingly protest more than folks on the right…For example:

Who protested the Iraq War?  The left (though there were more than a few “Support our Troops” rallies)…

Who protested against President Bush even though folks on the right didn’t always agree with him?  The left…

Who protests against the treatment of animals, the chopping down of trees, and for the saving of whales?  Yep, the left…

And who protests against major companies and industries when the workers are not being treated fairly or they are doing too well (ahem, oil companies)?  Again, it is the left…

But what about the right?  When we protest against something, generally what is that something?  I asked my wife this question last night, and the first thing she said was abortion…And I would agree with this…This is by far the biggest issue those on the right (socially anyway) would rise up against…

For example, folks on the right (again, mainly social conservatives) oftentimes in the past (and perhaps they still do) would line the streets with signs to protest against abortion or even gather at abortion clinics in small numbers to do their part in this fight…But if you think about it, this may not be as common anymore…

However, let me say this about the right before I move on: 

We would tend to perhaps protest more for what we believe in rather than what we believe against…This would be things like educational choices, family values, and as was stated before, supporting the troops…There are many of these kinds of gathering year after year in Washington and other larger metropolitan cities in certain parts of the country…More often than not, though, we just don’t hear about them…

And not to get off subject, but if you protest for something, is that even really protesting at all?  I don’t know if I have ever seen a sit-in devoted to strengthening the family…

Anyway, surely there is another reason those in the conservative movement don’t protest as much, right?  Is it a lack of complete unity?  Is it a lack of leadership?  Is it simply not having enough people who have bought into a certain issue to do any good – at least in the minds of those who could potentially protest?

All that being said, as I sat and thought about this topic I wondered most of all about what would drive me to the streets – what issue or circumstance would it take to channel my inner hippie and get out on the pavement to the point of being threathened by the police ala the 1968 Democratic Convention Protest in Chicago?  

I have a couple of issues, but I would like to ask you, faithful readers, to answer the question, too…And If enough people answer, I will share with you the issue that would fire me up, but I want to know your “protestable issues” first…

Or is it that there has not been anything as of late to protest for or against?  Maybe that is the case…

Regardless, I would appreciate your thoughts, and perhaps we can all gather somewhere down the line to protest an issue someone shares with the group…

That might be kind of fun…And I might even come…Crazy, huh?

S

As a new week dawns and work calls most of us to a very busy 3 days of not getting behind as we head into the holiday weekend (I love Thanksgiving!), I hope, faithful readers, that your weekend that just passed was as great as mine…

Let me hit the highlights before I try to squeeze out one more post for the day…

And I apologize beforehand to all my non-Oklahoma readers…Some of this stuff may bore you, and I will try to get back on the whole political/pop culture vibe this afternoon…

Anyway, first off, I got to spend a lot of time with my wife’s family over the weekend, and with Thanksgiving coming up, I hope and pray each of you have reason to be thankful for your families…Yeah, they may drive you crazy from time to time and you may be all weirded out at them other times, but still…Family also should be the ones who would lay down in traffic for you and not hesitate to help you when things are not quite right with the world – even if they are the ones who made the world not quite right…

And I realize this is not always the case, but we still need realize how blessed we are to have family, and we should do our best to be thankful for them… 

Secondly, a couple of you pointed out that I was incredibly far off on my OU/Texas Tech prediction…Well in my book this is a very good thing…Yeah, I would do horrible if I ever went to Vegas, but as long as my beloved Sooners keep playing like they did on Saturday, I am happy with that…

I really felt like it would be a better game than it was, but all I know from being there is that the crowd showed up and helped make sure that the home team came out on top…In all my years of going to that stadium and watching that team, I have only seen the crowd that hyped, electric, and excited one time…It was truly a memorable night to be a Sooner fan inside that place…Just tremendous…

By the way, when they played “Jump Around” by House of Pain right before half, that was the most awesome thing I have ever seen from a crowd at a sporting event…And yeah, they ripped it off of the University of Wisconsin, but it was awe inspiring nonetheless…

And I realize the two guys from Texas Tech who sat in front of us will never read this because we never even introduced ourselves by name, but guys, it was a ball hanging out during the game…Texas Tech should be proud to have you guys as students and as ambassadors of the school…Nice job the other night…It was a good time watching the game with you both…

Thirdly, we also went to the OU women’s basketball game yesterday, and alas, they lost to North Carolina in the last few seconds when the OU girl (name escapes me) missed a layup as time expired…Pretty good crowd, though, and very good teams on both sides…

And I kind of dig women’s hoops…Not nearly as exciting as men’s, but still very fun to watch…

Lastly, on Friday I also won the Editor’s Choice (again) on blogivists.com for my post about term limits, and that is a very cool thing for me…Considering I have won little in my life besides secretary/treasure of the Math and Science Club in high school, I kind of dig the thought of someone out there enjoying my endless ramblings…Thanks for that, Mr. Editor…That was a great way to start the weekend on Friday…

So check back later for more musings, and please leave your comments and concerns below…I wholeheartedly accept them both…

S

I am at home on this beautiful Friday in Oklahoma and with most of my wife’s family…Thus I can’t spend a lot of time waxing intellectual about why the dollar needs to be stronger or why the media is dying a slow death…

But, I do have an OU/Texas Tech score…

Before I give it to you, though, let me just say that this is probably the biggest OU game since Nebraska in 2000, and I expect the Sooners to play well…But Texas Tech will play pretty well, too…

A lot of experts are thinking a big score will hit the board, but I think it will be relatively low scoring because of the two weeks the defenses have had to get ready…

Plus, it is a massive game regarding the national championship picture, the Big 12 picture, and the Hesiman so there is a lot on the line…The hype this week has proved that…

And yes, I am going to the game, and I am way excited because I think OU pulls this one out late in the game since they are at home…

Final score OU 35 – Texas Tech 24…

Have a good weekend, faithful readers, and talk to you again Monday…

S

Imagine this: What would the United State Senate look like in 2008 if Congress passed a second constitutional amendment at the same time they passed what would become the 22nd Amendment to the Constitution in 1947?

Yeah, not only two terms max for the President, but two terms of six years apiece for the Senate, too…

Crazy to think about, isn’t it?

Let’s look at the 100 guys and girls in the Senate and see how different the make up of the Senate would be if there were term limits for them (and we will go in alphabetical order by state)…

So are the senators from your state in or out?

Alabama: Richard Shelby - First Elected 1986 – He’s out…Jeff Sessions – First Elected 1996 – He would be out after this term…

Alaska: Ted Stevens - First Elected 1968 – He’s out anyway…Lisa Murtkowski - First Elected 2002 – She’s in…

Arizona: John McCain – First Elected 1986 – He’s out…Jon Kyl – First Elected 1994 – He’s out…

Arkansas: Blanche Lincoln – First Elected 1998 – He’s in…Mark Pryor – First Elected 2002 – He’s in…

California: Dianne Feinstein – First Elected in 1992 (in a special election) – She’s out…Barbara Boxer – First Elected in 1992 – She’s out…

Colorado: Wayne Allard – First Elected in 1996 – He would be out after this term…Ken Salazar - First Elected in 2004 – He’s in…

Connecticut: Chris Dodd - First Elected in 1980 – He’s way out…Joe Lieberman – First Elected in 1988 – He’s out…

Delaware: Joe Biden - First Elected in 1972 – He’s way out but is out anyway…Sigh…Tom Carper - First Elected in 2000 – He’s in…

Florida: Bill Nelson - First Elected in 2000 – He’s in…Mel Martinez - First Elected in 2004 – He’s in…Good job, Florida…

Georgia: Saxby Chambliss - First Elected in 2002 – He’s in (though that is still up in the air)…Johnny Isakson - First Elected in 2004 – He’s in…

Hawaii: Daniel Inouye - First Elected in 1962 – Yeah, he’s way out…Daniel Akaka – First Elected in 1990 – He’s out…

Idaho: Larry Craig – First Elected in 1990 – He’s out anyway…Mike Crapo - First Elected in 1998 – He’s in…

Illinois: Dick Durbin - First Elected in 1996 – He would be out after this term…Barack Obama - First Elected 2004 – He would be in, but yeah…

Indiana: Dick Lugar - First Elected in 1976 – Yeah, he’s way out…Evan Bayh - First Elected in 1998 – He’s in…

Iowa: Chuck Grassley - First Elected in 1980 – He’s out…Tom Harkin - First Elected in 1984 – He’s out…

Kansas: Sam Brownback - First Elected in 1996 – He would be out after this term…Pat Roberts - First Elected in 1996 (in a special election) – He would be out after this term…

Kentucky: Mitch McConnell - First Elected in 1984 – He’s out…Jim Bunning - First Elected in 1998 – He’s in…

Louisiana: Mary Landrieu - First Elected in 1996 – She would be out after this term…David Vitter - First Elected in 2004 – He’s in…

Maine: Olympia Snow – First Elected in 1994 – She’s out…Susan Collins - First Elected in 1996 – She would be out after this term…

Maryland: Barbara Mikulski - First Elected in 1986 – She’s out…Ben Cardin - First Elected in 2006 – He’s in…

Massachusetts: Ted Kennedy - First Elected in 1962 (What!?!?) – Um, yeah, he’s out…John Kerry - First Elected in 1984 – He’s out…

Michigan: Carl Levin - First Elected in 1978 – He’s out…Debbie Stabenow - First Elected in 2000 – She’s in…

Minnesota: Norm Coleman - First Elected in 2002 – He’s in, but may not be much longer…Amy Klobacher - First Elected in 2006 – She’s in…

Mississippi: Thad Cochran - First Elected in 1978 – He’s out…Roger Wicker – First Elected in 2006 – He’s in…

Missouri: Kit Bond - First Elected in 1986 – She’s out…Claire McCaskill -First Elected in 2006 – She’s in…

Montana: Max Baucus - First Elected in 1978 – He’s out…Jon Tester – First Elected in 2006 – He’s in…

Nebraska: Chuck Hagel - First Elected in 1996 – He would be out after this term…Ben Nelson - First Elected in 2000 – He’s in…

Nevada: Harry Reid - First Elected in 1986 – He’s out…John Ensign – First Elected in 2000 – He’s in…

New Hampshire: Judd Gregg - First Elected in 1992 – He’s out…John Sununu – First Elected in 2002 – He would be in, but he got beat this past election so he’s out anyway…

New Jersey: Frank Lautenberg - First Elected in 2002 – He’s in…Bob Menendez - First Elected in 2006 – He’s in…

New Mexico: Pete Domenici - First Elected in 1972 – He would be out, but chose not to seek re-election this term anyway…And I have never heard of him…Hmm…Jeff Bingaman - First Elected in 1982 – He’s out…

New York: Chuck Schumer – First Elected in 1998 – He’s in…Hillary Clinton - First Elected in 2000 – She’s in, but out if she accepts the Secretary of State post…

North Carolina: Elizabeth Dole – First Elected in 2002 – She would be in, but she got beat this past election…Richard Burr - First Elected in 2004 – He’s in…

North Dakota: Kent Conrad - First Elected in 1986 – He’s out…Byron Dorgan- First Elected in 1992 – He’s out, but I have never even heard of him…Hmm…

Ohio: George Voinovich - First Elected in 1998 – He’s in…Sherrod Brown - First Elected in 2006 – He’s in…

Ah yes, Oklahoma: Jim Inhofe - First Elected in 1994 – He’s out…Tom Coburn - First Elected in 2004 – He’s in…Thank goodness…

Oregon: Ron Wyden - First Elected in 1996 (in a special election) – He’s out…Gordon Smith - First Elected in 1996 – He’s out…

Pennsylvania: Arlen Specter – First Elected in 1980 – He’s out…Bob Casey, Jr. – First Elected in 2006 – He’s in…

Rhode Island: Jack Reed - First Elected in 1996 – He’s out…Sheldon Whitehouse - First Elected in 2006 – He’s in…

South Carolina: Lindsey Graham - First Elected in 2002 – He’s in…Jim DeMint - First Elected in 2004 – He’s in…

South Dakota: Tim Johnson – First Elected in 1996 – He would be out after this term…John Thune – First Elected in 2004 – He’s in…

Tennessee: Lamar Alexander - First Elected in 2002 – He’s in…Bob Corker - First Elected in 2006 – He’s in…

Texas: Kay Bailey Hutchinson - First Elected in 1992 – She’s out…John Cornyn – First Elected in 2002 – He’s in…

Utah: Orrin Hatch – First Elected in 1976 – He’s out…Robert Bennett – First Elected in 1992 – He’s out…

Vermont: Patrick Leahy – First Elected in 1974 – He’s out…Bernie Sanders – First Elected in 2006 – He’s in…

Virginia: John Warner – First Elected n 1978 – He’s out…Jim Webb - First Elected in 2006 – He’s in…

Washington: Patty Murray - Who?  First Elected in 1992 – She’s out…Maria Cantwell - How come I have never heard of either of these women? First Elected in 2000 – She’s in…

West Virginia: Robert Byrd - Um, First Elected in 1958! – Yeah, in this deal, he was out in 1970…Jay Rockefeller – First Elected in 1984 – He’s out…

Wisconsin: Herb Kohl – First Elected in 1988 – He’s out…Russ Feingold – First Elected in 1992 – He’s out…

Wyoming: Mike Enzi – First Elected in 1996 – He would be out after this term…John Barrasso – First Elected in 2006 – He’s in…

So let’s tally it up…

The number of those would be out after this most recent election if there were 12 Year Term Limits for the United States Senate: 55…

Number of those would still be in if there were term limits: 45…

Over half of the United States Senate would be gone if there were term limits on these guys…Holy smokes…

But do those numbers tell the whole story?

For instance, take a look at how many have been senators have been in since or before 1988 (when I was 10)…Just look at some of these dates:

Richard Shelby since 1986…Ted Stevens since 1968…John McCain since 1986…Chris Dodd since 1980…Joe Lieberman since 1988…Joe Biden since 1972…Daniel Inouye since 1962…Dick Lugar since 1976…Chuck Grassley since 1980…Tom Harkin since 1984…Mitch McConnell since 1984…Barbara Mikulski since 1986…Ted Kennedy since 1962 – Again, WHAT!?!?  John Kerry since 1984…Carl Levin since 1978…Thad Cochran since 1978…Kit Bond since 1986…Max Baucus since 1978…Harry Reid since 1986…Pete Domenici since 1972…Jeff Bingaman since 1982…Kent Conrad since 1986…Arlen Specter since 1980…Orrin Hatch since 1976…Patrick Leahy since 1974…John Warner since 1978…Robert Byrd SINCE 1958!!!  Jay Rockefeller since 1984…Herb Kohl since 1988…

What this means is that 29 out of 100 United States Senators (29%) have been in Washington for 20 years or longer…21 our of 100 have been in since at least 1984…1984!  You remember that year, right?  I remember that was the year we got cable TV for the first time at my house and around that time “Thriller” came out…No way!  Thriller?!?!

How can this happen?

And this is not a Republican or Democrat problem and it is not a geographical problem or a socioeconomic problem…But it is a leadership and common sense problem…

See, I just look at what is happening right now in our government and have to laugh because I wonder how much these guys and girls really care about us…I wonder to what lengths they would go to keep their seats and why no one can seem to unseat them…And we wonder why they are called career politicians?

It kind of scares me to think these folks have been governing this long and then we have the messes we have with the economy, the ever-growing government, and the looming threats both overseas and within our own borders…

It just kind of bothers me that 29% of the people who were governing us when I was just a 3^rd grader – who might I add cared about nothing more than finding a curb to jump my bike on - are still in control in Washington…Seriously…

So what do we do?  Well, I doubt the United States Senate will ever consider putting forth a consitutional amendment to the people of this country that would limit their own power to 12 years…But, that doesn’t mean that regular folks can’t hold these guys and girls accountable and vote them out of office next time they come up for reelection…

And yeah, that is an uphill battle, but we have to at least give it a go…And alas, it will take some time, but still…

All I know is that we need a change in Washington, and I don’t just mean for president…

S

Let me just say one thing before I dive into this week’s music choice of an artist you are probably not too familiar with: it is hard to blog every freaking day…I mean real hard…

You ever get to that place at your job or home life or just the everyday stuff where you just feel overwhelmed?  Yeah, me too…

But at the end of the day, we just have to keep going, right?  We just have to put one foot in front of the other and finish the best we can…

But, still, it is hard to let those feet lead sometimes…

All that said, I love this blog…I love writing it, I love taking care of it, I love editing it when I write something totally stupid (I know, I know…That never happens, you say…Well, in fact, it does - often), and most of all, I love it when people come back over and over to read the pure and unadulterated “stuff” that comes out of my fingers and into these postings…That is a very inspirational feeling…

And like Robin Williams in the greatest film of my generation, ”Good Will Hunting”, said,  “I’m in”…

I just ask for your patience and your willingness to come back to the blog to check out what I have to say even when I have days like today…

So today as we dig into an indie band that is a little out of the mainstream, we are going to discuss a band called St. Vincent (and I actually dig the “Yes We Can” as the band’s quote on their Myspace page for some odd reason…If you are wondering what the heck I am talking about, follow the link above)…

Fronted by Annie Clark, St. Vincent is both avant gard and melodic, soft and pain inducing hard, sweet but a littler bitter - as in angry – and both inspirational and gloomily dark, too…It is sort of everything meloncholy and energetic all rolled into one…

But Ms. Clark’s voice is what gets me…Like a lot of the female artists I dig, her voice is strong and rangy and quite ear catching…She definitely guides the band through the songs, and she is the driving force behind the musical believability…Frankly, while there is nothing fantastic about the band’s predictable experimentation, she is the reason I like the band as a whole so much…

If I were to compare them to another band, I might say Elk City or an artist named Joan the Police Woman…Again, the common thread is the strong woman lead but also a willingness to let the sound be driven by that woman…It is almost like Ms. Clark is a solo artist but also wants to be a part of a collective body…Call it selflessness or a marketing ploy, but either way, I am down with it…

So I highly recommend that you check out the songs “Jesus Saves, I spend”, ”Now Now”, and “All My Stars Aligned” (which has a great piano part throughout the song) to get a pinch of their flavor…And let me know what you think – this is band, and especially a voice, I really dig…

And to conclude, look for a bigger and more diverse post tomorrow regarding some random subject like “why Oklahoma is a very cool state” or something…Okay, hopefully it will be a bit more creative than that because, really, this state is not for everybody…

I guess you’ll just have to come back to find out what this liberated mind comes up with to write about tomorrow…

Until then, faithful readers…

S

I have a lot of thoughts about what is happening in the world right now, but I figure the best way to wrestle with them is to ask you, faithful reader, to make this new media tool known as a blog a true two-way street…

Thus, I have some questions about pop culture, politics, sports, and even food to ponder and a big old box below this post for your answers…Enjoy…

Seeing that it’s Monday, I have to start out with this question: Will those kids ever freaking find out how you met their mother, Bob Saget?  Seriously, just tell them already…

And what will happen to Monday Night Football’s theme music when Hank Williams, Jr, finally joins his legendary father in the Grand Old Opry in the sky?

Speaking of which, why is it that the country crowd has a monopoly on the introductions to primetime football telecasts?  (And if you didn’t know, Faith Hill opens up NBC’s Sunday Football Night in America…)

Does it give anybody else the willies to talk to political grassroots activists who believe in the black helicopters?

And why do a lot of these people insist on showing up at American Majority events and then talk to me as if I care about who the next president of Belgium is and how he wants a one-world government?

Because here is the question I want to ask them: Would I rather protest the UN’s involvement in doing away with the United State’s embargo against Cuba in the middle of freaking November or hang out with my daughter while she says, “Ready…Stet…Gooooo” and then runs down the long hallway at our house as if she has nothing at all to worry about except if Da-Da is going to give her a big hug when she runs into his arms?

Which brings me to this question: Is it bad that I work in politics and have absolutely no desire at all to get involved in politics when it is not work related?

On to pop culture, anybody seen “Tropic Thunder”?  Is it actually as funny as it looks in the trailer?

And what about “Pineapple Express”?  That movie funny?

More to the point, does anybody else think that the trailer for “Pineapple Express” that used M.I.A.’s ”Paper Planes” was the best trailer ever?  I freaking do…

If not that trailer, then which one is the best ever?

Anybody remember “Popular” by Nada Surf, circa 1995ish?  Well anybody heard their new stuff?  You should take a listen (especially ”See these Bones”)…

And who here is like me and excited about Conan eventually taking over for Jay?

Do you think these two men look alike?           

Turning to more political stuff, is anyone else offended that President-Elect Obama brought back his presidential seal and then had the government set up a website called change.gov? 

And did they just magically create the “Office of the President-Elect”?  I have never heard of this until now…

Thus who else thinks Howard Kurtz is going to be blasted by someone somewhere in the mainstream media for this editorial?  And who can believe the garbage the MSM is doing as outlined in the story?

And even though I got that last story from there, why am I not as enthralled to look at Drudge throughout the day now as I was before the election?  Same goes with Newsbusters…

By the way, who here knows the name of their city council people?

And because I can’t think of a single effective transitional way to do this, I am just going to ask this question to my Chicago readers: How is it that people talk all the time about Chicago Machine Style Politics as if it is a really bad thing and yet the city is still run by Chicago Machine Style Politics?

Moving on to sports, who else missed the weekly OU Football score prediction on Friday because of the team’s bye week?  Okay, then…I guess I am the only one…

And who gets to go to the OU/Texas Tech game on Saturday night that will be on national television?  I do for one…Anybody else?

In regards to the NFL, how the crap are the Tennessee Titans 10-0?  This should not be happening…

And do you think I would have this attitude if I had any of the Titans on my fantasy football team?  Um, yeah, probably would think that actually considering wins and losses of teams do not play into fantasy football scoring…

And does the NHL still exist?

Does OKC have an NBA team now?  Cause I swear they look like a bad college team…

In reference to the blog you are now reading, why is it that my most popular post on “A Liberated Mind” is the one I where I laid out my “Top 10 Blog Ideas I am Fleshing Out Right Now” and yet I only covered maybe two of those topics?

What happened to “Wednesday’s Music Nobody’s Ever Heard of”?  Ah, look for a new band on Wednesday to find out…

And how about all those local stories you said you would write about?  Yeah…About that…

How much do I have to pay someone to be “Blogivist of the Month” now that I have an avatar?  Cause, really, I am willing to go up to like $100 because then if I win and get $200, then I have made $100, and that isn’t too bad for doing this crap…

Why am I so addicted to Facebook?  I mean, seriously, why?

Lastly, what is it about supreme pizza that is so good?  Seriously, have you ever thought about this?  Because on their own, the ingredients are not very good…Green peppers?  No thanks…Mushrooms?  Um, fungus…Sausage and pepperoni?  Okay, those are good on their own…Olives?  Not a big fan…Onions?  No way am I eating those by themselves…

Yet you put it all together, and for my dollar, you can’t beat it…

And wow, was that not the most random question possible to end this blog post?

S

Faithful readers, it seems like it has been an eternity since I last gave you some of my classic liberated thoughts, but alas, the weekends are never good to sit and post and Friday was non-stop travel and work…Thus why I am here on a Monday morning giving you some weekend thoughts to ponder…

But you will have to wait for just a little while longer this afternoon…

However, I did want to point out that I do have an avatar now (I think)…It is of a picture of some columns in the quads at the University of Virginia…I like that Jefferson designed the campus and that it is great place to just hang out…

What does that have to do with “A Liberated Mind”?  Well, very little…Except this is a great place to hang out?  Um, yeah…

Anyway, check back around 4:00 CST this afternoon, and I will tell you what I think about some great topics that I haven’t really thought of yet…

But it will be good…Promise…

S

So my job for American Majority (website) is pretty simple: identify, recruit, and train conservative folks to run for public office such as school board, city council, county commissioner, and even on up to the state legislature…Frankly, it is a pretty cool gig, and I am thoroughly enjoying every aspect of it…

Anyway, for the last several months I have been identifying and inviting people from across the state to come to one of our two candidate training seminars coming up this weekend to learn about running efficient and quality campaigns…I have spoken to activists, businesspeople, politicians, and potential candidates all with the hope that they would come to our event and take what they learn with them and become unbeatable in their respective races…

Well, tomorrow in Tulsa and Saturday in Oklahoma City are the culmination of the first part of that plan – the events…As stressful as they have been to put together, it is also very exciting to see so many folks ready to make a difference within their community for conservative values such as limited government, free market ideas, and liberty-minded/personal freedom type issues…

Our hope is that this spring we can have some school boards and city councils that focus their efforts on trimming their budgets, lowering the tax burden on families in the community, and looking for ways to make their cities and school districts run more efficiently…

It is a big goal, but I think we can do it…If nothing else, we are sure going to try…

And I think this is a worthwhile cause because lots of folks see the amount of money the federal government is spending on bailouts and pork projects and they see how much their states spend on black holes like education and bureaucracy, and to put it bluntly, they are fed up with it…

But the crazy thing is, this sort of thing happens at the local level, too…It may just be that no one knows about it…And that is a scary thing to think about…

So I ask people, “Why not take a good look at your school board or city council to see where effective and conservative change needs to happen and do something about it?  Heck, running for one of these offices is not that expensive and not that scary”…

This is what I want to try to convince people to do…

And yeah, running for public office is not for everybody…But there are enough fed up people out there with good ideas and fresh ways to look at things that could make a difference within their communities…They just need to be taught how to get started in it…

Thus it is my job to find them and then help them in very cool ways so they can change the cities and towns in which they live…And in my book, that is a pretty cool thing…And I am more than happy to do it…

S