Sidetracked Charley

The unexamined life isn't worth living, Socrates There are moments in our lives which stand out as singular. Events, seemingly insignificant cause, us to alter a belief or a course we thought we were fixed to. Studies show that intelligent and liberal people are more likely to have these satoris. Some months back I vowed to not choose a presidential candidate to back until 90 days before the election. If Canada and Australia can choose a leader in such short time certainly the USA can do without the two year two ringed circus we seem to think necessary. Especially if the SCOTUS (2000) or compromised voting machines (2004) is going to be the way a president gets into office. Note: I did not say elected .  The internet is a wonderful window into the world and what the world knows and yet a few moments spent on any social media site and you know there are people who have the blinds down and the drapes closed. I said upon graduation from the University of New Mexico that ...

Raton Facade Last Friday a friend and I headed east to Raton, New Mexico to cast our ballots in the 2012 United States Presidential election. The two hour drive across the plains gives you a lot of time to think and talk. We did not have to think about our vote because our minds were firmly made up. But we talked about how deeply divided our country has become. This great experiment of ours is not working. Something has to change. I am reminded of Abraham Lincoln's Springfield, Illinois speech of June 18, 1858 in which he addressed the issue of slave vs. free: "A house divided divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this government cannot endure, permanently half slave and half free." It took the bloodiest war in the history of the world to resolve that issue. And the years I lived in the south made me doubt that the wounds of that war were ever going to heal. Now we are divided Red and Blue, Republican and Democrat, Christian and freedom to believe as ...