DISCONNECTED

November 10, 2017

“If you fear that your children will fade into irrelevancy and you strive to ensure they fit in with everyone else, YOU ARE TEACHING THEM TO BE ORDINARY. Teach uniqueness and let your children grow from that.” This is just one quote from a book that contains many such valuable quotes. 

I have for many years felt our society and more importantly our children were on a path of self-destruction due primarily to the use of phones, tablets, notebooks, computers, television and movies especially those that feature sex and violence. I also felt like maybe I believed this to be true because that is what others have said of me and/or because I was just getting older and therefore I was misreading what was actually happening.

Having no medical background, I had no hard evidence to support my beliefs at least until now. EVERY PARENT OR PERSON WHO MIGHT EVER BECOME A PARENT NEEDS TO READ THIS BOOK! WITHOUT EXCEPTION!

Why? Because the author is trained to observe what we have all observed and probably have also become ourselves to some degree; people distracted by electronic devices. I believe that the mind cannot do two things equally as well as it can do just one thing very well. Yet if you look around you see people of all ages trying to do two or more things at one time and one of those “things” usually involves using an electronic device(s).

The message of this magnificent book is summed up in that one quote above. It asks the question as to whether we are teaching our children to be leaders and stand out from the crowd or are we permitting them (as opposed to teaching) to just fit in and become ordinary. WOW!!! Think about that for a moment.

Do yourself and your family a tremendous favor and read the book. It’s short, easy to read but packs a tremendous wallop! You just might see yourself on the pages of this book and I know you will recognize a good number of your friends and family as well. But what will you do with the confirmation of the knowledge that should lead you to do what you may have been avoiding?

Who should read this book? EVERYONE – NO EXCEPTIONS; NO AGE RESTRICTIONS. Would I buy this book as a gift? ABSOLUTELY! Will I read it again? MOST DEFINITELY OR AT LEAST REVIEW CERTAIN SECTIONS.

Is This The New Normal?

IS THIS THE NEW NORMAL?

By Jim “Gymbeaux” Brown, November 3, 2017

WHEN DID SOMETHING LIKE THIS BECOME ACCEPTABLE?

Maybe it’s my age (72), maybe it’s my military background (retired after 20 years), maybe it’s my family values growing up in the 50s and 60s.  Maybe it’s just my understanding of common sense.  Maybe, just maybe, it’s my total disgust for the way people currently act in America regarding politics that has caused me to put my feelings and beliefs down in this Nugget.

Want another example of incivility, “Sarah Huckabee Sanders does not look like the kind of woman Donald Trump would choose as his chief spokesperson… Sanders looks more like a slightly chunky soccer mom who organizes snacks for the kids' games. Rather than the fake eyelashes and formal dresses she puts on for news briefings, Sanders seems as if she'd be more comfortable in sweats and running shoes."  This was written by a Pulitzer Prize (as if that is not a political organization) winning reporter, David Horsey of the Los Angeles Times.  He had to apologize for what he had said.  Does anyone think Mr. Horsey would say similar very disparaging remarks about a man in the same position?  Frankly, what he said does not surprise me because he is from Los Angles where some of the most disgusting comments, articles, behavior, movies and television shows originate.

Not only did he say such horrible things about a woman’s appearance, there had to be an Editor for the paper who also approved what he said.  While Horsey apologized, it’s too late!  His words are like feathers in the wind; once the wind disperses them, there is no way every feather, like his words, can be retrieved.  Saying something so unwarranted and vile is a tactic used by attorneys during trials.  They know the judge will instruct a jury to “disregard” what the attorney had just said, but they too are like feathers in the wind.  How does someone not see or not hear or “disregard” what they just saw and/or heard?  It is impossible; the damage was done and wasn’t that the objective?

COMMON SENSE appears to have died in America; we just haven’t buried it as yet.

These are NOT lone violations of civil discourse and common sense; they have become the “new normal.”  Once the cat is out of the bag it’s all but over!

Some people will say it all began with President Bush #43.  I can remember very vividly photos depicting him as Hitler, posing with Swastikas, and being murdered, the list is endless.  I remember asking the question as to whether all presidents in our history were treated with such distaste. 

I am old enough to remember when Presidents since President Eisenhower and until President Clinton were respected regardless of your party affiliation.  There is no doubt that a great many Americans did not like the outcomes of those elections but they for the most part remained civil and showed respect to the Office of the Presidency.  I cannot remember any President receiving the kind of treatment we as Americans have given to Presidents since the end of President Bush #41’s term in office.  In my opinion, it all began with President Clinton’s behavior while in office that prompted people to respond in kind.  If you the reader are not old enough to remember what President Clinton did while in office regarding unwanted sexual attacks on women since his days as Governor of Arkansas and probably even before I suggest you look them up.  The House of Representatives actually impeached him but the Senate, then controlled by Clinton’s own political party, refused to accept it.  The result?  Clinton remained in office as if nothing had happened.  Compare that to the present treatment of Harvey Weinstein.  The behavior of both men is unacceptable and they both should have been fired but only Weinstein was.

Is the treatment of President Trump the new normal?  Is this what we are to expect in the future or is this just the beginning?  I believe that it is just the beginning.  If you doubt what I say, I encourage you to visit a web site that will clearly demonstrate what President George Washington considered as being civil.  I seriously doubt that children in our schools and more importantly in our homes of today are being taught what is considered as being civil and acceptable.  If President Washington lived during a time of cell phones, I am absolutely certain that his list of over 100 mostly “don’ts” would include the use of cell phones as well.  I challenge you to check it out but I doubt that most who read this far will; it’s just too much trouble and what could George Washington possibly teach us anyway.  Actually a great deal.

Dear American Citizen,

This is just for you…

http://www.foundationsmag.com/civility.html

George Washington

I’m not picking on just Snoop Dogg; after all we have Kathy Griffin holding the President’s bloody head.  We have actors like Rosie O’Donnel and many more all calling for President Trump’s death and/or removal from office some even before he took office.  It seems like no one can ever again win a political election WITHOUT forever more being attacked for everything he or she says, writes, tweets or policies enacted.  EVERYONE!!!!  No one will escape this very uncivil behavior by upwards of 50% of the American population.  Most elections are won by just a few percentage points or even just a handful of votes. So the winners are happy and the losers take out their verbal swords and pens and begin hacking away.  Given what has already happened as a result of the 2016 presidential election, does anyone believe that the next presidential election in 2020 will be any better regardless of who wins?  I believe it has already gotten worse because now we see similar behaviors in state and local elections as well as presidential appointments.

I was NEVER an Obama supporter and I reserved the right to criticize his policies and regulations and I did criticize them but I NEVER called for him to be forcibly removed from office or call for his assassination.  NEVER!  I learned to live with the man in office for whom I did not vote.  Now I learn to live with President Trump.  Yes I voted for him but that does not necessarily mean I liked him as a man or some of the horrible things he has said and continues to say.  For me it came down to a choice of the lesser of two very flawed candidates.  Now I have to learn to live with President Trump but that is NOT what thousands if not millions of people apparently have decided to do.  Instead they will fight him no matter what he does or does not do.  But the fight goes way beyond debating issues; the fight has turned ugly and very personal.  To prove my point, I believe that Laura Bush will be the LAST First Lady NOT to be vilified by opponents of the President.  Michelle Obama certainly has and the vile things people and the press say about Melania Trump is not warranted and is certainly over the top in regard to civility. First Ladies are NOT elected to office and neither are their children yet both have come under the attacks leveled at them because their husbands were elected to office.  In my opinion, this has become the new American Normal and I do not like it.  I find it all very depressing and that is not good for anyone.

I would like to see a return to civility but there is little hope I will ever see that happen.  If you want to see civility return to America it must start with each one of us including you the reader.  It starts by teaching our children what is considered acceptable behavior and what is not acceptable behavior.  If you the parent do not teach your children what is right and what is wrong, exactly who do you think will?  Our schools?  Think again Mon Frere; that is not going to happen.  It gets worse than anyone could ever imagine once our children go to college.  Just look at the uncivil discourse on our college campuses.  Disgusting.

I was on the verge of posting this Nugget when I heard of the most recent shooting at the church in Texas.  Alarming, disgusting, intense anger, are just some of the thoughts that crossed my mind as well as the question, “is this the new normal?”  I certainly hope not.  I can assure you that no matter what your position on guns may be, there will be a host of politicians and celebrities using this occasion to once again attack the Second Amendment.  To do so would require that those people ignore the obvious.  The shooter could and probably would obtain a gun or guns regardless of what the law states because that is what people with criminal and evil intentions do.  But if the government were to remove guns from citizens, the neighbor who owned a gun would not have been able to pursue the shooter as he did.  If he did without a weapon, he probably would have been added to the list of casualties.  I do not know what the answer is.  I do know that if the shooter was dishonorably discharged from the military as reported, purchasing a gun was already forbidden in his case.  I don’t like the government snooping on law abiding citizens but I do think it is time that America should create a national database of individuals who for whatever reason, are forbidden from owning guns.  That still may not have prevented this shooting but at least it would make it more difficult for such people to obtain weapons.  For it to be effective, everyone transferring ownership of a gun (to be defined) would first have to have the police check the database to ascertain if the buyer of the weapon is on the list.  There must be severe penalties for anyone transferring ownership of a gun to another person without checking the database!

I truly feel sorry for my children and their children; they will never know the America I knew (past tense) and love (present tense) and that truly saddens me.  Once the cat is out of the bag, it is out of the bag NEVER TO RETURN.  What some people consider as PROGRESS is actually not progress at all but instead a return to brutal and insensitive incivility; apparently THE NEW NORMAL!