The simple act of voting often gets me thinking of the many diverse viewpoints we have in this country.  I think there are times in our society we become so passionate of our causes that we are like horses hitched to a buggy in a street full of cars.  Depending on the personality of the animal, they wear blinders so they don’t get too startled or uncomfortable around rapidly moving distractions and noise.  In some ways those blinders help the horses to focus; in other ways, they block out potential dangers because all they see is what is in front of them.

We, as a society, need to remove the blinders because it is getting quite dangerous.  I don’t know about you, my fellow readers, but I’ve been feeling the divide in this country for a while now.  We’ve allowed our culture and the powers-that-be mercilessly pound our individualism into neat and tidy classified groups, all for the sake of political correctness or expedition.  Whether it is by race, religion, sexual orientation, or political affiliation; the force fed stereotypes are ripping this country apart.

I believe in family values and the sanctity of marriage; it doesn’t mean I hate gay people or that I think they don’t have values or rights already provided under the Constitution.

I am pro-life.  It doesn’t mean I want to bomb an abortion clinic, or that women who choose to terminate their pregnancies are evil; those women have to answer to themselves and to their Creator, not to me.  Human life is sacred to me because it is a gift from God, and I will show compassion to those who ask for it.

Speaking of God, and I try to mention Him as much as possible because He wills it, the Constitution protects my freedom OF religion the same as any other religion or lack thereof.  The Constitution certainly does NOT ban me from speaking or practicing it publicly because it may offend someone else.

I believe in fiscal responsibility and our local communities uniting to help those suffering and in pain.  It doesn’t mean I think productive teachers, firefighters, or policeman are not qualified to earn reasonable benefits, or that I want to put the poverty stricken on the street.  It means I think our federal government is inserting itself into much of our lives and interfering with our ability to be self-sufficient and give a hand UP, instead of a hand OUT.

It’s funny how the little words define the context of a message.  Hint: see all the CAPS?

We need to stop attacking each other and listen.  Educate ourselves about each other and decide for ourselves the values and principles we live by.  If you can back your viewpoints or causes with facts, credible sources, critical thinking and sound reasoning, I can respect that and you as an individual, no matter what your creed, as long as you respect mine.  We don’t have to live within the limits of classifications or stereotypes.  We are people, not horses being led by the reins.

So, I’m taking a hint from the late King of Pop, at least from this particular song.  A song about change from within, and one I’m sure many could identify with, even if they are like me: not a fan.  Michael Jackson died a tragic, troubled soul, answerable to one Entity, but he had undeniable talent.  It doesn’t matter if the public opinion was admiration or utter condemnation, he had a point.  Make a change.

The old habit of planning my day quietly in my head felt natural and unbroken.  I didn’t think about double checking the backpacks for daycare, what the traffic would be like, or how little time we had to get the girls ready to leave the house.  I only laid there cuddled with a small warm body, smelling lavender shampoo.  I thought about making the girls’ breakfast, running errands before lunch, and what activity would be a good learning experience for my daughters.

These are the types of things I thought about in “The Before”.

“The Before” is the time before the economy crashed.  The time Before my husband’s job disappeared, along with a whole industry.  The Before is when I was able to stay home with the children and ensure their development and the time needed for Grace’s speech progression.  The Before was the luxury of doing tasks and running a household on your own time, instead of being obligated to another’s time, such as an employer or daycare worker.  Today, I realized how much I missed the stability of The Before.

Not necessarily in a financial way, but more in that nothing could shake the foundation of how we chose to raise our children.  We were fortunate to have a choice in The Before, and the security that comes along with it.  If there is one lesson I’ve learned in the past seven years, it is that we can’t always control what happens, only how we choose to face what life throws at us.  Failure is a part of life and the root of humility.  Success is motivation to go beyond our own expectations.  Circumstances change and adjustment is needed.

But saying good-bye to The Before is hard.  There is not enough hours in the day to spend on extra speech and education with Grace like I used to.  Sophia is quickly outgrowing the toddler years, and entering preschooler status.  I am not as accessible to teacher meetings and doctor’s appointments.  Not to mention, there is significant guilt because I actually like my job and view it as a career path.  These challenges are new to me.  I have not had the opportunity face them in The Land of The Before.

And although, I had a glimpse of The Before today, I know it is gone.  It is replaced by The Now and it’s time to move forward.

I started reading ‘Atlas Shrugged’ by Ayn Rand almost  a month ago, and I found myself dog-earring (which I absolutely hate to do with my literature books-mass media genres…who cares?) pages because I found some passages so profound, I knew I would want to reference them later for some purpose.  I am about three hundred pages in, with eight hundred to go, but I felt propelled to share some of the words that jumped out to me, only strengthening my resolve on the idea of individualism and the many misconceptions of collectivism.  I felt writing my thoughts for some to comment on, if they so desired, would help me gain perspective on this book as a whole, because it is so massive and there are so many ideas woven in together.  Here goes:

“Then it was said that a large, established railroad systems were essential to the public welfare; and that the collapse of one of them would be a national catastrophe; and if one such system had happened to sustain a crushing loss in a public –spirited attempt to contribute to international good will, it was entitled to public support to help it survive the blow.”

Pg. 76

My first thought on this one was Wow.  That sounds familiar.  Just interchange the word ‘bank’ with ‘railroad system’ and we have the bailouts of 2008. 

This passage actually refers to a ‘rule’ called the “Anti-dog-eat-dog Rule” voted on by The National Alliance of Railroads, an organization comprised of companies’ presidents, supposedly to protect the welfare of the industry.  The reasoning behind this Rule was there were blighted areas where rail service was stopped due to low demand, and the smaller rail companies couldn’t compete with the larger companies in areas with high demand.  This Rule forced smaller companies into blighted areas to provide service for the public welfare, instead of profit (de-privatizing them—if that is a word).  The Rule also prevented more than one railroad in any such regions and the National Alliance of Railroads had sole discretion of restricted areas.

Yeah, I know this is fiction.  I’m paraphrasing, but the pages describing how this came about take reading a few times to understand.  Putting two and two together, it sounded as if the industry was positioned to become a public service…eventually.  So, why did all these presidents of railroad systems and manufacturers vote to pass this rule?  Most of them were against it, but voted for it anyway.  Just my personal opinion, but I think once all the hype about public welfare and ‘destructive competition practices’ became the focus of promoting this rule, those companies didn’t want to be branded as unsympathetic or just down-right evil.  It’s all about public image.  Comments?

Both the Republican and Democrat parties are corrupt.  They have come so far in their transformation of entitlement of position; power, and ego; members from fifty years ago wouldn’t recognize them today as the parties of yesteryear.

So, I’m back on Ashjian.  The GOP argues he is a plant by the Reid campaign to split the conservative vote, giving good ‘ol Harry a lead in the polls.  It raises a question and I wouldn’t entirely put it past Reid.  When interviewed in the Review Journal, Harry appears quite smug and a bit overconfident about his race when every single poll shows Nevada has grown tiresome of his bullying tactics in Congress. 

The whole debacle stinks.  Ashjian comes out of nowhere, at the last minute, supposedly affiliated with a movement that denounces his third party.  The whole tea party movement is not based on parties, but on big government.  The idea of a third party would undermine the whole argument the movement is making about corrupt, big government, no longer representative of the people. 

Oh and here’s an interesting tidbit: a Democratic lawyer handled Ashjian’s paperwork to run for office.  Bet they left that out in the mainstream media.  I’ll leave you to draw your own conclusions, but Reid has proven he has no scruples when it comes to winning this election, and has even stated so publicly.

George Washington was against political parties.  He knew what a beast they could turn out to be, serving their own agendas, instead of a true representation of the people’s will.  Yet, the parties keep feeding us the talking points they want us to hear, hoping we follow like mindless sheep, and they refuse to live by example.  (Can we say tax fraud, anyone?)  I used to think Washington was wrong on this point.  I used to think parties were the only way the people could define their values, their core beliefs.  After all, how can a voter identify with a candidate if there wasn’t a party platform to tell them what the candidate stands for?

Perhaps I am insane for even suggesting this, but why don’t we ask the person running for office?  Do those candidates act on what they say?  Do they follow through?  Does it affect you on a deeply conscious level?  Here’s another loony idea; ask ourselves what we truly value and is there a legitimate argument based on facts (not feelings, not selfish desires to feel good about ourselves) for it?  We don’t need political parties, we need to dig deep and discover our own truths and be brutally honest.  If that candidate closely resembles what we believe, primaries should not hinder our votes.  If we ask those questions, eventually the overgrown plants will be weeded out.

“Aw, that’s just crazy right wing conspiracy talk.”

 Is it really? I’ve lived in Las Vegas for a little over five years now.  I’ve seen the good times and the bad in this city.  And, folks, it is BAD.  Record unemployment, foreclosures, casino’s stocks plummeting.  Revenue is down in all categories, including convention business, where sixty percent of the city’s revenue is generated. 

Remember what happened the first time Obama told people not to come to Vegas?  The city lost millions of dollars because over 340 conventions were cancelled.  Companies like Goldman Sachs and Wells Fargo, and even companies that had nothing to do with tax payer bailouts, decided not to risk the public scrutiny.   

Times are tough.  Tighten the belt.  Don’t come to Vegas and blow your money away.  I wonder what would happen if Orlando or Miami were scolded as Vegas is.  Don’t spend your money at Disney or at the horse races, gambling (yes, there are casinos in south Florida too), restaurants, or beaches.  Oh, that’s right.  None of Florida’s Senators are the Majority Leader in the Senate.

Certainly, none of them are facing the dismal dissatisfaction that Harry Reid is determined to overcome this election year.  With 63% disapproval, good ol’ Harry knows this campaign road is going to be a bumpy one.  So, why would Obama want to outrage Nevadans when Reid is in danger of losing his seat?

Because, my dear readers, here comes Harry riding to the rescue in his white hat, to defend our great city. In fact, every single representative in Clark County has joined the posse, including our mayor.  Even Nevada Democratic political consultant, Ronni Council, is quoted in the Review Journal as saying:  “This kind of separates Sen. Reid a little bit and shows he is supportive of his home state first and foremost.”

And while the President supposedly writes a letter of apology to our wonderful hero, Senator Reid, for a comment that was strategically placed in a speech for political gain, Las Vegas residents who are already hurting economically will have to bear the brunt of the consequences.  Who knows?  Maybe I won’t be the only one to see through the static.

I’ve always been a cheapskate.  I’ve never paid more than four dollars for a bottle of shampoo.  Paying any more than that for something called Bed Head is ridiculous.  Isn’t avoiding bed head the purpose of hair care products in the first place?

So I’m standing there checking the prices and my available coupons, which didn’t help my cause, and I realize I need to choose the absolute cheapest shampoo to stay in my budget, which by today’s standard is a dollar-ninety-two.  I suppose I’ve been a bit spoiled, but I don’t have a choice. 

I haven’t been in this position since my twenties when I worked both a day and night job.  I did what I had to without compromising my principles.  I’ve never shirked at working and I don’t plan to now.  Unemployment can be humbling in many respects.  The good news is it can’t last forever.  So while, I’m missing my regular brand of shampoo and walking around with hair that is overgrown and slightly poufy, I can remind myself that we just need to get through and survive until we reach the next stage in our lives.

The aptly named band, Presidents of the United States of America may have been talking about a promiscuous and self destructive girl that a young man was infatuated with, but I think the band was on to something when it comes to molding public opinion. 

Using the public to squash dissent is the easiest way to intimidate and oppress individuals from providing a different point of view.  Lumping Conservatism (pardon the tongue in cheek) into the right wing extremism movement is, well, extreme.  The Department of Homeland Security defines right wing extremism as not only hate groups, but also groups who favor state or local authority over federal.  Not only that, but also “groups or individuals dedicated to single-issues, such as anti-abortion and anti-illegal immigration.”  Does this mean if you hold conservative principles and values you should watch for the men in the black ninja suits to break down your door in the middle of the night? 

Probably not, but the average Conservative should be concerned.  We are being generalized by the media, and in my opinion, by opposing groups and parties, into a bunch of wackos that have no room for any other view other than their own.  Who do you think this benefits?  Those in power who want to stay in power or the people they hide behind?  Why do the legwork when all you have to do is pass off your opinion as knowledge to the uninformed public?  What better way to stifle peaceful and lawful dissent from the opposition?

The tax day tea parties were a way for people to protest government’s intervention on our Constitutional rights.  Whether Congress and other politicians listened, remains to be seen.  From my perspective, instead of bringing people together to give our politicians ample warning of who votes them in and out of office, I think the only result was the boosting of the Conservative movement, mainly attributed by the main stream media’s bias reports.  Every station I saw reporting on them painted the demonstrations as tax related protesting supported by the GOP. 

They were much more than that.  The main issue for those who attended were the over-reaching talons of the federal government in private lives.  Not just ‘big business’ or ‘main street’, but private citizens.  How much of our liberties are we willing to sacrifice for short term legacy policies that will bankrupt our nation?  Once we give those up, we have no power.

Politician’s complete  lack of acknowledgement and responsibility to legimate opposing viewpoints of the American people should not be taken lightly.  The fact these viewpoints are demonized by special interests and the mainstream media is a side effect of free speech.  However, when a government agency uses the same tactics, one has to wonder whether the government is crossing the line of persecution.  We need to draw that line in the sand and finally say enough is enough.

Within one’s power, control or management.  Think about this a minute.  Any American has the priviledge to have control over their own futures.  We have the opportunity to gain an education, the opportunity to choose a career, the opportunity to own a business, to raise our children without the government interfereing.  Or at least for now.

The government should not take care of you, if they do, I promise you, there is always a price to pay.  Loss of personal freedom, liberty.  Government intervention is a shackle of slavery that will not propell individualistic or economic growth.  It only stagnates our people and businesses, keeping them from reaching the full potential they are capable of.

The attitude of entitlement goes beyond politics.  The American people have become complacent about family values, only interested in what will benefit them in the short term, instead of thinking of the consequences on the country in the long term.  The curse of entitlement is once one is accustomed to recieving, they would never want to give that item up. 

Think for yourselves…question everything.  Equality is achieved not in the outcomes, but in our ability to have the fortitude to become successful.  Maybe it’s just my home-grown Midwestern values to work hard and control your own future, but I have no empathy for those who have their hands out when they are perfectly capable of making their own success.

There is a little known struggle between the oral/aural and Deaf communities, complete with bias and social discrimination on both sides.  Opportunistically, educationally, my child has every chance to choose which path she feels is best for her, but it certainly will not be an easy road.  In any situation, she will meet opposition from people who will try to influence how she views herself.  Is she born into the Deaf community, simply because she was born deaf, or because of the technology available in this day and age, and the fact her family is hearing, is she supposed to hear?

Audism Free America is a group dedicated to opposing the oral/aural method of communication and is protesting outside the headquarters of the National Alexander Graham Bell Association, a non-profit organization that provides support to parents and hard of hearing people who choose to use listening and speech as their primary form of communication.  According to Audism Free America, AG Bell is the moving force for bias and discrimination against  manual communication, the Deaf culture and people.  In a letter to AG Bell, they state: ” oralism (oral/aural only methods) has been proven to be an abysmal failure, it is time for us to unite and work together to ensure the birthrights of Deaf infants and children and the human rights of of all Deaf people who have suffered under your iron grip.”

This sort of talk smacks of extreme fanaticism almost as much as what we experienced in the first two years of my daughter’s life, from the oral/aural side of the spectrum.  True, when my child was diagnosed, the only information provided to us was oral/aural.  We had to search, and search very hard just to find a basic ASL class in our area to start our infant on a road to language.  If advocates for the Deaf culture and ASL want equal opportunity to inform parents of Deaf infants and children about the Deaf culture, they need to take the measures to educate and advocate on the same level the oral/aural does.  It needs to come from within and they need to start looking at what tactics work and what doesn’t. 

Obviously, doctors may not be the answer, since they have a professional advantage to selling hearing aids and performing cochlear implant surgeries.  Early intervention services may be an option to complete non-biased promotion, since children caught in the infant hearing screening are generally reported to the municipal health department and these services are federally mandated.  I know the Deaf culture shys away from the disability stigma because they don’t think anything is wrong with them, and quite honestly, they are right in a sense that deafness does not determine intellectual capabilities, but there needs to be some sort of outreach that informs parents of their options because the confusion and fear parents feel for their child’s futures will lead to rash decisions.

Believe me, I’ve been there.  I’ve been the mother who spent days, weeks, in front of a computer looking for any information telling me my infant was not deaf, or there was hope she would hear.  I was also the mother who spent more days, weeks, looking at deaf schools in other states because my husband and I decided we needed to re-locate to an area with a prominent Deaf community.  These were options we considered.

Yes, in the end we decided on a cochlear implant.  Mainly because we wanted her to acquire the English language and have the tools to acclimate to the general population of this country, but at the same time we still use ASL.  The implant doesn’t eradicate her deafness, without it, she is deaf.  We have received criticism form the oral/aural community for signing.  Including professionals who tried to tell us signing would prohibit her progress in speech.  Any person with critical thinking skills can see how ridiculous this is, and I can tell you from personal experience, it is simply false information.

I’ve also been asked to step down from my local AG Bell chapter board, simply because we were still signing with our daughter and she didn’t have a cochlear implant at the time.  I promptly withdrew my national membership and haven’t attended a meeting or event since.  I still get informational emails, which I’m fine with, since I like to remain educated, but they will never see another dime in membership dues from me.

I have experienced the pressures the oral/aural community does apply to people, especially with the advocacy of bi-lateral implants.  Just last week our speech therapist mentioned a consideration for a bi-lateral, which my husband and I feel is not needed at this time.  Our daughter can decide for herself when she is old enough. 

So, with the general insensitivity of the uneducated public and oral/aural community, then the extreme advocacy of the Deaf culture, of course I am worried about the directions my daughter will be pulled in the future.  Not that one way is better than another, because it’s not, but how society perceives her, the discrimination she will face.  You see, I see her as a person first, not as a Deaf person or as a cochlear implant recipient.  Whether she can hear or not is irrelevant.

People in this country need to wake up and decide what their values are.   Do we really need government interfering with the private sector to the point of telling them how to do their business?  Don’t get me wrong; there should be enforced federal regulations on certain issues, but there is a fine line between policing and taking over an industry because the government decides it can do it better and reap the benefits.  Where will it stop?

Corruption is running amuck more than usual in politics and every incident is increasingly blatant.  Do we really want the people in Congress who caused this whole recession, who do not pay their taxes, and who allow cronyism, sticking their tainted fingers into the pie of the private sector?  Can we really trust them to take away our opportunities to the American dream because they believe they know better than we do about the ability to feed, educate, and provide health care for our families?

President Obama is our President.  He is not the person I voted for or agreed with, but he is the person the majority of this country wanted, so I respect him and the voters who put him in office.  I just don’t understand why the media paints the picture of perfection of him, no one person is without faults.  Propaganda is a dangerous thing.  It pins hope on a singular person or cause, focusing on only one solution instead of alternates, empowering those who need to be checked and balanced, consuming them with greed.  I see the mainstream media comparing him to FDR, Lincoln.  I see the President talking down the recession painting a bleaker picture than necessary all in the interest of getting his bill passed in such a rush that not one senator had time to read it.  Not that they would have, it seems.  I see him telling businesses to cut their travel, without regard to the cities or economies who rely on tourism and business conventions, and are already hurting from low visitation and high vacancy rates.

A person wonders why an administration would let Congress run wild, putting every little pet project in a stimulus bill, then trying to bribe the American public by cutting checks, and not laying it on the line and telling us that we will have to pay the government back, with interest.  Our tax rate will skyrocket.  Not now, maybe not even two years from now.  But once this economy recovers, and it will have little to do with a this bill, what do you think will happen?  The tax-man will come a’knockin’.

I sincerely hope Obama will at least keep one of his promises, by accepting all points of view and the motto of transparency to truly reach across the aisle.  But if not, and if Congress continues to feed on it’s power induced high, this country will be drastically different at the end of his term, and I don’t think there will be any turning back.