tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-49625380531141711662024-03-05T03:09:42.124-06:00Bob Sherman PhotographyPhotography from all over the world. Eastern and Western spiritual and psychological perspectives.Bob Sherman Photographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17198674040972920185noreply@blogger.comBlogger45125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4962538053114171166.post-82772680371571912312016-11-09T15:12:00.002-06:002016-11-09T15:12:59.953-06:00What Lies Ahead?<div>
<span class="783404720-09112016"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: medium;"> As some of you may know my day job is that of a clinical psychologist. I have
already been contacted today by a number of people from all over the world in
which they are expressing their concerns and fears about what lies ahead for
America and the world. For quite a while I have been amazed at seeing people
repeatedly vote against their own selfish best interests. I know I do not fully
understand the phenomena.<br /> As a therapist it has been my experience that
people do not call to make an appointment because it is a good idea. There are
perhaps three smokers somewhere in the world who don't know that smoking causes
cancer. All the remaining millions of smokers do so even though they are causing
themselves harm. It has been my experience that people do not call me to talk
because they have heard that I am an interesting person to speak to. They do not
call me because they are in a lot of pain. Most people are walking around with
their own reservoir of pain. People call me when both their level of pain and
their level of desperation exceed their capacity to endure. Such a moment will
be experienced as a horror for both the individual and those that love him.
While this is true it is also true that these are perhaps the only conditions
under which there is an opportunity for change. I am not yet sure that most
Americans are at this point at this time. It does appear that the coming months
and perhaps years may bring us to that point. Since I believe it is an essential
moment for us to get to I pray that it happens sooner rather than later and that
whatever takes place between now and then does not destroy those aspects of our
society that function for the greater good of all. I know that this too shall
pass. </span></span></div>
<div>
<span class="783404720-09112016"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: medium;"> It is perhaps
now our task to seek out that place of goodness that resides in all of us rather
than to focus on our need to emphasize differences and demonize the
other.</span></span></div>
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Bob Sherman Photographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17198674040972920185noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4962538053114171166.post-5449083835079280882016-05-29T15:29:00.000-05:002016-05-29T15:29:17.712-05:00Rev Ken<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqIb7c30vrCRet1bTOqaNhin_vcQzmdxvdvjpL80qC3YAnV8UfdaqWNOyp3fLIJgmxkHISHIPv82Nano7behx4LIlWW52C__5hs3cN3vG6Isv073Mai8wX7NrskxbIa8pjj8_QD3FhzK0h/s1600/Scotland+5-16-600.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqIb7c30vrCRet1bTOqaNhin_vcQzmdxvdvjpL80qC3YAnV8UfdaqWNOyp3fLIJgmxkHISHIPv82Nano7behx4LIlWW52C__5hs3cN3vG6Isv073Mai8wX7NrskxbIa8pjj8_QD3FhzK0h/s200/Scotland+5-16-600.jpg" width="145" /></a></div>
On 5/22 had had the good fortune to attend a Sunday service at Crathie Kirk Church. This is a very small church in Ballatar, Scotland. The service was led by Reverend Kenneth Mackenzie who is referred to as "Rev. Ken" by the members of the congregation. I met Rev. Ken the evening before as he attended a charity concert in which my wife was performing. He was friendly, talkative, and very much alive. This meeting gave me no indication as to what was in store at the service.<br />
Rev. Ken started the service by talking about numbers. He stated that the numbers one and two weren't really numbers at all. It was only with three that numbers started to have meaning. He spoke about how three was the beginning of diversity. He then spoke about the mystery of the trinity. He emphasized that this mystery could not be fully known. It could only be experienced. He then reemphasized the necessity of diversity. Diversity of experience, interpretation and people. He stated that it is only through such uncertainty, diversity, and necessity of experience could the trinity begin to be understood. He then spoke about the necessity of being of service to others as that was how the message of Christ could best be kept alive.<br />
So here sat this aging Hinjew in a Church of Scotland service with tears of gratitude in his eyes. The most difficult aspect of living in Nashville for me has been my introduction into a definition of "being a Christian" that horrifies me at best. In Nashville I've experienced a doctrine of absolute certainty. A doctrine that separates, excludes, demeans, diminishes, and causes so much needless suffering in the name of Christ. I cannot tell you how many clients I have here that are tortured by guilt and shame as a result of their religious experience. Last year a female Pastor asked a State Senate Committee to defeat a bill that would have expanded healthcare to the poorest people in Tennessee. She stated, "...let the people know that our (healthcare) coverage is the same as with Moses and the children of Israel when they went through the wilderness with only the divine providence of almighty God", (i.e. none). The legislators did their "Christian duty" and defeated the bill. Just last month that same legislature passed a totally unnecessary bill allowing counselors to refuse to see a potential client if that client's concerns went against their own religious beliefs.<br />
At the end of the service I had an opportunity to talk more with Rev. Ken. I asked him just how much of a weirdo he was within his church and he assured me that rather than being a weirdo he was quite mainstream. I then shared a bit of what is going on in Tennessee and told him how much it saddened me and scared the shit out of me. His immediate response was, "Amen."<br />
<br />
<br />Bob Sherman Photographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17198674040972920185noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4962538053114171166.post-64797682107184412702016-01-24T19:44:00.000-06:002016-01-24T19:44:54.315-06:00How Obscene I recently watched the movie "Spotlight." The movie is about the Boston Globe team that did an expose about the sexual abuse of children within The Catholic Church. As a sexual abuse survivor I wasn't sure that I was going to be able to view the entire movie. The movie is very well done and I had no difficulty with any evoked strong emotion except for the normal shock, horror and repulsion, that any human would have to the content. As the movie ended I was thankful that I was not overly upset. But my night was not over.<div>
I rarely watch the final credits of any movie. As the final scene faded to black they posted a sentence that stated that their research had revealed that similar events (to Boston) had occurred in the following locations... As I watched row after row, page after page unfold I got quite nauseous. I was aghast at the numbers.</div>
<div>
Every week our "great guardians of morality" seek to terminate funding for Planned Parenthood supposedly because one doctor misspoke about "selling fetal tissue." Regardless that subsequent investigation has clearly shown that Planned Parenthood is not in the business of selling body parts they remain steadfast in their moral indignation. The volume of their hypocrisy is amplified by their silence and inaction with The Church. </div>
<div>
As I listen to the Republican contenders for the presidential nomination try to outdo each other with their war talk and repulsion for outsiders I remain totally dumbfounded that they claim to speak for God and morality. Yes, let's turn the desert into glass and carpet bomb everyone in the area. Yes, let's save a few dollars in Michigan by providing lead tainted water. Yes, let's try to convince people that "big government and over regulation" are the problems. </div>
Bob Sherman Photographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17198674040972920185noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4962538053114171166.post-50435787944875312822016-01-22T16:52:00.001-06:002016-01-22T16:52:54.125-06:00Republican Weather Reports One of the things that surprised me the most when I moved to Nashville from New Jersey was they way that people reacted to the weather. People seemed to freak out over the possibility of some form of precipitation. Unfortunately the presence of that precipitation highlighted the reality that the general population probably got their driver's licenses on the internet.<br />
Earlier this week there was a light dusting of snow in the forecast and that got all the juices going in the local TV stations. There were dire warnings about everything. The next day I watched a bit of the latest Republican debate and I was shocked to realize that it sounded exactly like the local weather forecasts. The style, tone, and even the words used all sounded the same.<br />
Modern day Republicans prey on fear, mistrust, and danger. They thrive on ignorance and prejudice. Of course there are times when people do need to be warned about real dangers both in weather and world events. But I would much rather live in a world that functions to engender understanding and compassion rather than hatred and mistrust.Bob Sherman Photographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17198674040972920185noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4962538053114171166.post-28096189784047585452015-04-25T14:43:00.000-05:002015-04-25T14:43:01.804-05:00I Couldn't Agree MoreSometime during 2002-2003 I was contacted by a woman identifying herself as a producer for the Dr. Phil TV show. She wanted to know if I would do some marriage counseling for a couple that she knew and then come on the show to discuss their treatment. My response was to tell that woman that I did not view therapy as a spectator sport so I declined her invitation. A few years later one of my wife's favorite activities was to watch me scream at our TV while we were watching the HBO series, <i>In Treatment.</i> The therapist was so inappropriate in his behavior and there was no way for the viewing audience to know it. The following is a posting from today's <i>Daily Beast</i> written under the pseudonym of Russell Saunders entitled, "<span style="font-size: small;">Doctor: Why Quack TV Docs Like Dr. Oz and Dr. Phil Need to Go." <a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/04/25/doctor-why-quack-tv-docs-like-dr-oz-and-dr-phil-need-to-go.html?via=newsletter&source=DDMorning">http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/04/25/doctor-why-quack-tv-docs-like-dr-oz-and-dr-phil-need-to-go.html?via=newsletter&source=DDMorning</a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="dek char-limit multiline">
Dr. Oz has come under fire due to
his ‘egregious lack of integrity,’ but he pales in comparison to the
fame-whoring Dr. Phil. Here’s why it’s time to get rid of the ‘daytime
doc.’ </div>
Consider the plight of the televised health professional. There
was a time when all it took was the right couple of letters in front of
your name and the divine blessing of Oprah Winfrey, daytime TV’s
resplendent queen, and you could find yourself hosting a hit television
show. With just those advantages secured, both <a href="http://www.doctoroz.com/" target="_blank">Dr. Mehmet Oz</a> and <a href="http://www.drphil.com/" target="_blank">Dr. Phil McGraw</a> landed themselves eponymous programs with which to dole out their wisdom to audiences at home.<br />
Alas,
the bloom has begun to come quite noticeably off those particular
roses. And it may be time to ponder whether or not these shows, each
proudly affixed with “Dr.” right in their titles, have exploited their
stars’ professional credentials well past their sell-by dates.<br />
For
Dr. Oz, it’s been a hairy couple of weeks. His current woes started
with a much-ballyhooed letter from ten physicians calling on the dean of
Columbia University’s medical school to <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2015/04/16/a-bunch-of-doctors-ask-columbia-university-to-cut-its-ties-with-dr-oz/" target="_blank">boot Dr. Oz from the faculty there</a>.
Citing his “egregious lack of integrity by promoting quack treatments,”
among other malefactions, the authors deem his presence at such a
prestigious institution “unacceptable.”<br />
This comes the year after
Dr. Oz was hauled before a Senate hearing to explain why he frequently
touted worthless “miracle” weight-loss supplements. (I should probably
take this opportunity to admit that I did not give Sen. Claire McCaskill
nearly enough credit <a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/06/14/dr-oz-world-s-best-snake-oil-salesman.html" target="_blank">when I wrote about it at the time</a>.
She gave him far more of a grilling than I thought she would.) Then as
now, he was forced to spin the nonsense he spouted as some kind of
feel-good self-help mumbo jumbo rather than actual medical opinion.<br />
As it happens, I share <a href="http://scienceblogs.com/insolence/2015/04/20/a-publicity-stunt-against-dr-oz-threatens-to-backfire-spectacularly/" target="_blank">the skepticism of some</a>
about the motives of those ten physicians, who are enjoying far more
celebrity now than they likely ever have before, and who couldn’t
possibly have expected an Ivy League medical school to give a tenured
department vice chair the heave-ho just because they wrote a letter. Dr.
Oz has <a href="http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/dr-oz-plasters-critics-faces-791028?utm_source=twitter" target="_blank">gone on the offensive</a>
about the possible conflicts of interest behind the letter’s writing,
and it’s within his rights to question the motives of his critics.<br />
But
whatever the academic upshot to this new kerfuffle, it’s forced Dr. Oz
to do some damage control. And I am not buying what he’s selling.In <a href="http://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/dr-oz-responds-critics-its-not-medical-show-n347101" target="_blank">an interview with NBC</a>, Dr. Oz strains credulity to the breaking point by maintaining that his is not a “medical show” and that in the logo the
“OZ” is really big but the “Dr.” is eensy-weensy so as to make that
distinction clear. If anyone believes that Dr. Oz did not leverage his
credentials as a selling point for his program, or that his viewers do
not tune in in large part because of the legitimacy those credentials
presumably give his daily pronouncements, then please contact me about
an exciting purchase opportunity for a bridge between Manhattan and
Brooklyn.<br />
But it’s within that same interview that Dr. Oz accidentally tells a little bit of truth.<br />
“The
purpose is not to throw at you the biggest articles published by
doctors that week. Frankly it’s not very much fun to listen to [those],
either,” he tells NBC. And he’s right.<br />
Speaking as someone who regularly scours various medical news
services for topics that may be of interest to a general audience, the
vast majority comprise items that I find fascinating or useful as a
physician, but would be crushingly dull to pretty much everyone else.
Real, actual medical science is often made up of studies that add little
bits to the accumulated body of knowledge already out there, or explore
some small treatment effect. The bigger and splashier the supposed
finding, the more rigorous the study must be to justify it. Most of the
big claims <a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/08/22/how-to-tell-when-a-scientific-study-is-total-b-s.html" target="_blank">turn out to be baseless garbage</a>. What you <i>don’t</i>
do is just report the garbage anyway. (Or, at least, I sure as hell try
not to.) You don’t promulgate nonsense you know to be based on shoddy
science. You don’t decide that the demand for ratings trumps your
obligation to properly inform your audience. I understand that trying to keep the topics limited to those that truly withstand scientific scrutiny would mean <i>The Dr. Oz Show</i>
would both struggle to find enough material to fill their airtime, and
would probably bore the dickens out of its audience. So perhaps it’s
time they drop the “Dr.” bit entirely, rechristen the program “Mehmet,”
and have him join all the other daytime entertainers crowding the
airwaves with general interest content. It would be a lot more
intellectually honest. But one thing I’ll say for Dr. Oz: at least he’s not Dr. Phil.<br />
Another
Oprah protégé, Dr. Phil McGraw has used his show to become America’s
confrontational truth-spewer-in-chief. Heavily reliant on the
questionably effective tactic of “intervention” with his guests, Dr.
Phil uses his PhD to gussy up what is really just one more salacious
offering wherein people expose their flaws and bad decisions for the
entertainment of the audience. Dr. Phil’s unseemly mélange of
exploitation, celebrity parasitism and credential mining goes back
years, at least until 2008 when he went to visit a hospitalized Britney
Spears in the midst of her high-profile troubles then <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/PainManagement/story?id=4154523" target="_blank">issued a statement about it</a>,
much to her parents’ dismay. A couple of years later, after having a
pair of serial shoplifters on his program ostensibly for help but mainly
just to get them to dish about their deeds, the judge who presided over
their subsequent sentencing called him a <a href="http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2010/03/dr-phil-terrible-terrible-man-san-diego-judge-says-during-sentencing-of-shoplifters.html" target="_blank">“charlatan” and a “terrible, terrible man.” </a>Apparently having learned nothing from the Spears fiasco, Dr. Phil
has more recently decided to do a deep dive into the fine art of filming
minor celebrities when they’re at their emotional nadir. Despite being
visibly inebriated and in absolutely no condition to discuss his mental
health on camera, Nick Gordon, the boyfriend of Whitney Houston’s comatose daughter Bobbi Kristina Brown, was <a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/03/11/dr-phil-s-nick-gordon-intervention-was-despicable-exploitative-television.html" target="_blank">subjected to one of Dr. Phil’s famous “interventions</a>,”
the clinical benefit of which was highly suspect. And following the
interview, he took it upon himself to gab to the gossip program <i>Entertainment Tonight</i> about how it went, sharing salacious, highly personal details with <i>ET’s</i> voracious audience.<br />
“He'd go from being able to talk like we’re talking now to just all of a sudden collapsing and wailing,” Dr. Phil <a href="http://www.etonline.com/news/160889_dr_phil_on_nick_gordon_intervention_he_feels_guilty_for_failing_bobbi_kristina_brown/" target="_blank">told <i>ET</i></a>. “And then he would pull out his phone and turn on a Whitney song and just start crying.” In a few days, another episode is set to air in which he browbeats troubled <i>Real Housewives of Beverly Hills</i> star Kim Richards about her recent arrest for public drunkenness until <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-3052932/Moment-Kim-Richards-storms-Dr-Phil-tears-calls-bad-mother-following-drunken-arrest.html" target="_blank">she runs off in tears, ending the interview</a>.<br />
Do
these people need the involvement of trained professionals to deal
honestly with their problems? Quite possibly. Does being confronted with
the ramifications of their bad decisions have value for people with
various mental health or substance abuse problems? Often it does. Is Dr.
Phil actually accomplishing anything of benefit for his hapless
subjects when he milks their travails for ratings? Not even slightly. Call
this sort of celebrity bottom-feeding what you like, but please let’s
not call it therapeutic. It’s a crass pantomime of psychology, no matter
what Dr. Phil’s degree. He makes Dr. Joyce Brothers look like Carl Jung
by comparison. Like Dr. Oz, if Dr. Phil wants to promote what his
show is really about, he can jettison the “Dr.” jive, and take his
place openly alongside Maury and Jerry and Montel. They all peddle the
same prurient garbage, and he may as well be plain about it. I won’t
tune in, but at least I won’t consider him a professional embarrassment.
Junk doesn’t turn into worthwhile viewing just because you wrap a
diploma around it, and it’s time Dr. Oz and Dr. Phil stopped pretending
otherwise.<br />
<br />
<br />
Bob Sherman Photographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17198674040972920185noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4962538053114171166.post-85445573000622255692015-02-17T20:42:00.001-06:002015-02-17T20:42:51.304-06:00SelmaOver the past weekend I had the good fortune to go see the movie, "Selma." After seeing the movie I too find it outrageous that it did not get one Academy Award nomination. But that is not the intent of this post. I am certainly old enough to remember the events of the 1960s. Nevertheless I cringed as I watched with horror the events that are portrayed. I found myself crying and I intuitively knew that my tears were coming from a very deep place that went beyond what I was seeing.<br />
<br />
There is no doubt in my mind that if the situation was reversed and the majority of the population were people of color who were treating a minority white population in a similar fashion the subsequent events would have been quite different. It is my belief that in this hypothetical situation the United States would view the threat of ISIS as a very low priority. It is my belief that in such a situation the white people of America would have armed themselves with Uzis and they would be out indiscriminately killing as many black people as they could. I find the fact that this has not happened within the minority community with the reality of America to be astounding.<br />
<br />
As I now watch the efforts to once again disenfranchise the minority communities under the guise of preventing voter fraud I am quite nauseous. So many politicians like to refer to America as the greatest country in the world. It really would be so lovely if one day this was true.Bob Sherman Photographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17198674040972920185noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4962538053114171166.post-34819963345481070822015-02-05T21:53:00.001-06:002015-02-05T21:53:39.318-06:00The State of AmericaI have never done this before but this article communicates what I'd like for you to read. It is from "The Nashville Banner" and was published on February 4, 2015.<br />
<br />
<h1 class="detail-title">
The Republicans Eat Their Own</h1>
<h2>
And other thoughts on Haslam's failed health initiative</h2>
<div class="article-info">
<div class="byline">
<span class="author">By <a href="http://www.thenashvillebanner.com/authors/bruce-dobie" rel="me">Bruce Dobie</a></span></div>
<span class="divider"> | </span><time>February 4, 2015 4:44 pm</time>
<span class="divider"> | </span>
<div class="addthis_toolbox addthis_default_style addthis_20x20_style">
</div>
</div>
Death to the legislation, which
arrived on a stretcher anyway, came quickly. Gov. Haslam's plan to join
ObamaCare, and insure hundreds of thousands of Tennesseans at virtually
no cost to the state, came loaded with the political baggage of being
tied to Obama. Tennessee's Tea Partiers seethed. Conservatives raged.
The right-wing came unstuck.<br />
To those in the fact-based community—moderate Republicans,
businesspeople, those in the health care community—the facts were
inarguable and arrived at a different analysis: at little to no cost,
hospitals would stay in business and hundreds of millions of dollars
would be pumped into the state's economy.<br />
What's not to love?<br />
On top of that, there was a public policy argument to tug on the
heartstrings. For poor people, this was a solution. The plan would add a
measure of comfort to thousands of the impoverished, and hey, isn't
that what we humans are all about?<br />
In the end, though, as even Haslam seemed to suggest when he called
the session together, the death knell to the plan was its association
with a Democratic president, one who is despised by many of our state
lawmakers. Yes, the proposal might have seemed a no-brainer. But it is
also true that no-brainer arguments are hard to intellectually absorb
when you don't have a brain to begin with.<br />
When the Senate was called into session to consider the Haslam plan,
the preacher reading the invocation asked God "that we would not be
forced into these edicts from Washington D.C." Instead the preacher
prayed that we "let the people know that our (healthcare) coverage is
the same as with Moses and the children of Israel when they went through
the wilderness with only the divine providence of almighty God."<br />
What is one to say?<br />
Have we lost it?<br />
Maybe, to extend the preacher's primitive religiosity, we should all
abandon our health insurance. Maybe we should all go Paleo and descend
into some pre-historic living undertaking, in which we commence to
eating locusts, and commuting to Jimmy Kelly's after work on camels, and
doing without any modern healthcare whatsoever because, darnit, if
Moses could get by without a Blue Cross Card, then we all can.<br />
Were one to identify positives, I can find one, optimist that I am.<br />
Opportunities are always rare for Democrats. But here is some advice
to the new Democratic Party chairwoman, Mary Mancini: Affix sign to
door. "The Democratic Party is Open for Business."<br />
Tell every health care company in Tennessee—and Nashville is ground
zero for corporate health care in the United States—that the NEW
Democratic Party here would like to see health care endeavors thrive,
but that Republicans do not. Spread the same message to those in the
construction industries, to small business owners, to Chambers of
Commerce, and to doctors and nurses everywhere.<br />
Now is an opportunity to announce on friendly terms the Democrats'
willingness to work with business, because in a strangely cannibalistic
way, the Republicans are avariciously chowing down on the hands that
feed them. The mostly small-town, non-business-minded, religiously
occluded conservatives in the party are in control; the more urban,
urbane, business-oriented Republicans are left to suffer the
consequences.<br />
The moneyed poo-bahs of the GOP have taken a big hit. So Mary, go
offer them a home. At the very least, outline a partnership where the
quacks and the crazies aren't in control any longer.<br />
Bob Sherman Photographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17198674040972920185noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4962538053114171166.post-79376572597513014922013-10-30T21:59:00.002-05:002013-10-30T21:59:42.797-05:00THE FAG TIP <span style="font-size: large;"> A few days ago a 20 year old waiter in Missouri received the following message instead of a tip from a couple he had just served. "Thank you for your service, it was excellent. That being said, we cannot in good conscience tip you, for your homosexual lifestyle is an affront to GOD. Queers do not share in the wealth of GOD, and you will not share in ours. We hope you will see the tip your fag choices made you lose out on, and plan accordingly. It is never too late for GOD'S love, but none shall be spared for fags. May GOD have mercy on you."</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> It is fascinating to me that many in our society would like us to believe that Islamic Fundamentalism is a threat to the survival of our enlightened existence. The notion that a loving God would be offended by any of HIS/HER children's sexual preference alone makes no sense to me. The couple praises the waiter's behavior but insults his being for no other reason than their prejudice. The wisdom of the separation of Church and State by our Founding Fathers has served all of us exceedingly well. I pray that it continues. </span><br />Bob Sherman Photographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17198674040972920185noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4962538053114171166.post-55156275484649518202013-09-04T18:35:00.000-05:002013-09-05T07:09:31.075-05:00WELCOME TO 1984<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="font-size: large;"> In
1966 I was a college student in Queens, New York. It seemed apparent to me and
many of my friends that the war in Vietnam was a mistake. We felt compelled to
participate in protests in New York and in Washington, DC. We did not think of
our actions as any big deal. We were doing what we could to change governmental
policy. In the intervening years that passion and awareness appears to have
entered into a comatose state across America.</span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"> In his book, "1984",
George Orwell made popular two terms that appear to have become our norm. Those
terms were, "doublespeak" and "doublethink." Orwell did not
invent these terms but he made masterful use of them in his novel. "Doublespeak
is language which pretends to communicate but doesn't. It is language which
makes the bad seem good, the negative seem positive, the unpleasant seem
unattractive, or at least tolerable. It is language which avoids, shifts or
denies responsibility; language which is at variance with its real or purported
meaning. It is language which conceals or prevents thought. William Lutz,
"Doubts About Doublespeak." State Government News, July 1993.</span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"> Examples of doublethink from Orwell's
book are: "The Ministry of Peace concerns itself with war, the Ministry of
Truth with lies, the Ministry of Love with torture and the Ministry of Plenty
with starvation. These contradictions are not accidental, nor do they result
from ordinary hypocrisy: they are deliberate exercises in doublethink"... "Until
they became conscious they will never rebel, and until after they have rebelled
they cannot become conscious."..." Power is in tearing human minds to
pieces and putting them together again in new shapes of your own choosing."</span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"> For the past
four or five years all we have heard is that our deficit is the biggest threat
to our well-being. We have been told that there is no money to repair our
infrastructure or to provide school lunches or adequate healthcare. In fact the
Republican Congress has voted 40 times to repeal Obamacare. It is as if Obamacare
is allowed to continue we will all die a slow agonizing death. It also appears
that once Obamacare is repealed the next biggest threat to our national
interest is National Public Radio. The runners-up appear to be making sure that the poor and minorities lose their voting rights, ensuring that the minimum wage never goes up and the abolition of all trade unions.</span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"> Our esteemed
leaders are now debating whether or not we should "punish Syria." Of
course we should be aghast at the use of any weapons. But I find it curious
that the rest of the world finds it so easy to sit back and watch us "take
care of it." Wouldn't it be fascinating if in a few years we learn that
the chemicals in our food have killed and maimed far more people than anything
done by Bashar al-Assad.</span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"> In the world
of doublespeak we have a president who has won the Nobel Peace Prize while at
the same time ordering a surge of troops in Afghanistan. The following figures
may not be exactly accurate but I do believe they are fairly close. There were
2996 people killed in America as a result of the attacks on 9/11/01. Since then
3274 coalition troops have been killed in Afghanistan along with approximately
17,000 Afghans. Over 8000 coalition troops have been killed in Iraq and the
civilian estimates are between 200,000 to over 1 million. During this time
period we had fired over 2000 cruise missiles. The estimates for the cost of
one cruise missile go up to $1,400,000 apiece. When I used my calculator to total this it just read "E" because the number of zeros exceeded my display. And this total is just a very small percent of all the costs associated with war. Remember we can't afford to feed
our children. We can't afford to provide healthcare. It may be the case that the zombie apocalypse has already happened as manifested by the silence of all the parents whose gorgeous children have been maimed while "protecting us." These same children get inadequate healthcare and they can't get jobs once they come home.</span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"> It isn't
exactly clear what the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have actually provided for
us. We are told that Al Qaeda is in ruins. But 13 years later we have
instability all over the Middle East. Terrorist attacks have occurred in the Philippines,
Bali, and numerous other places around the world. Many believe that the prison
in Guantánamo has resulted in far more youth all over the world being recruited
into the ranks of those that hate what we have done. I also find it quite
ironic that the war in Iraq did not result in America controlling Iraqi oil and
the first mining contract in Afghanistan has been awarded to China. Why aren't the Tea Party geniuses screaming that we can't afford another war?</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> In 2008 I wept tears of joy when Obama was elected. In true doublespeak fashion the man who was going to bring change and the end of the abuses of the Bush administration now has the NSA checking the contents of our farts to see if we have ever eaten hummus.</span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"> Our schools
produce children that don't know how to make change if the cash register is
broken. Our children have the attention span of 140 characters. A few days ago
the British Parliament said no to Britain's participation in Syria. I was able
to watch that live because my cable network carries AlJazeera. No American
network covered it live. We appear to have the best government that money can
buy. I wonder what it will take to wake us out of our coma.</span></div>
Bob Sherman Photographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17198674040972920185noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4962538053114171166.post-71844101293063477362013-05-24T21:34:00.001-05:002013-05-25T09:45:13.089-05:00OCTAGENARIAN ASTRONAUT<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="font-size: large;">As some of you may know I am a clinical psychologist in my day job. One of my sub-specialties is the use of hypnosis for pain control. It's a lot of fun for me to do this because most of my clients experience some relief during their first session. Two weeks ago a physician colleague referred an 88-year-old woman who is in a great deal of pain. When she came in for her first session she told me that I was her last resort so she would do whatever I told her to do. <br /><br /> During my first session I typically offer my client the opportunity to experience what trance will feel like for them. If things go well I use the second session to teach them how to put themselves into trance. Part of that process involves a person taking themselves to a place that they experience as scenically very beautiful and very peaceful. In my 31 years of teaching hypnotic techniques most people take themselves to a beach, a lake, or some other quiet place in nature. Well this wonderfully alive woman took herself on a spaceship hovering over New York City! She made it clear that her ship was white and it had a white control panel. While she was on her own personal craft she was feeling no pain. The unencumbered spirit is such a joy and gift for me to be able to see.</span></div>
Bob Sherman Photographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17198674040972920185noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4962538053114171166.post-12614170243901594822012-12-20T10:19:00.000-06:002012-12-20T10:19:23.789-06:00HOPEFULLY NOT THIS TIME <span style="font-size: large;">Whenever I look at my watch these days</span> <span style="font-size: large;">it keeps reminding me that I've entere<span style="font-size: large;">d old fart territory. A few things have happened during my 66 years that have been truly horrific. So it's</span></span> <span style="font-size: large;">a bit confusing to me why the recent school shooting in Connecticut is having such a profound effect on me. I try to av<span style="font-size: large;">oid marinating my brain in negative images so I tend to change the channel when t<span style="font-size: large;">he subject is shown. <span style="font-size: large;">Yet even now, each time I see a gli<span style="font-size: large;">mpse I begin to cry. Why this time and why this one? I don't really know.</span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"> What I do know is that our society is in very deep trouble. We own more guns th<span style="font-size: large;">a</span>n everyone else on the planet. We have more people in jail than any other country. We make movies that glorify violence. Our children play video games that <span style="font-size: large;">are</span> <span style="font-size: large;">astoundingly perverse and violent</span>. We have politicians that talk about <span style="font-size: large;">"le<span style="font-size: large;">gitimate rape."</span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"> The NRA will defend to the death our right to bear assault weapons with unlimited supplies of ammunition. Yet they would never dream about being equally as passionate about <span style="font-size: large;">participating in a societal change that would make it inconceivable for any of us to want to use one.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"> The polarization in <span style="font-size: large;">our society i<span style="font-size: large;">s not just about Democrats and <span style="font-size: large;">Republicans. There are numerous forces that actively work to ingrain a deep<span style="font-size: large;">ly felt sense of <span style="font-size: large;">us and them. Carl Rove got an incompetent elected president two times with this tactic.</span></span></span></span></span> </span> </span></span> </span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">I worked as a Psychologist in a jail in the 70's. The inmates were all class A adolescent male felons. To qualify they had to have com<span style="font-size: large;">mitted rape or murder. They had little or no difficulty in doing things to people that you don't want to know about. All one had to do to precipitate a fight with any of them is just utter the words, "Your mother." Isn't it fascinating that they could kill or rape <i>your mother</i> but you better not even mention theirs<span style="font-size: large;">! Imagine a world in which all of them thought of all women as their sisters or mothers. That alone would probably eliminate more killing than any watered down gun control legislation we will see passed in a few months.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"> <span style="font-size: large;">Our society has not yet figured out how to cultivate the best that we have as humans. I'<span style="font-size: large;">d</span> bet any of you in America a lot of money that you will not hear the word wisdom today. What school do you know of that teaches compassion. <span style="font-size: large;">W</span>hat powerful forces</span> </span></span>actively seek to allow our children to feel for themselves the warmth and joy that comes from being of service to another? I don't believe that the existence of a gun is the real problem. </span>Bob Sherman Photographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17198674040972920185noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4962538053114171166.post-33113928576687330072012-10-18T13:26:00.000-05:002012-10-18T13:26:38.011-05:00THAT'S NOT TRUE <span style="font-size: large;">There was for me a wonderful moment</span> <span style="font-size: large;">during the presidential debate on Tuesday night. Mitt Romney had just made a statement and the moderator, Candy Crowley, immediately said to Mr. Romney, <span style="font-size: large;">"</span>That's not true." I can't remember the last time I heard someone who was functioning in the position of being a journalist actually doing their job. Most Americans now get what passes for news from television. As we all know the content of television is controlled by ratings. The networks are owned by the very same large corporations that have gradually gained control of our political process. "News" is therefore defined as whatever will generate the highest ratings rather than the information that is vitally important for us to have an educated electorate. That's why we know far more about what Lindsay Lohan had for breakfast than we do about the real consequences of Paul Ryan's budget plan.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> So thank you Candy Crowley for a brief glimpse of how great television could be.</span><br />
<br />Bob Sherman Photographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17198674040972920185noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4962538053114171166.post-2876048693180005262012-09-17T14:09:00.000-05:002012-09-17T16:30:17.215-05:00OUR INTERESTING VALUES<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRsDiObRQxEDF7Ei-eZ1KRPxz3o4iu5Aztbs8zgCnaRV_noC_RO6VI3CtqFNPzHG9zFaqeBgza2Qid6smcz_c3HDw79Op8WITFr2w5nZxnyHvPMbczerBmKyRGLdm5pIJVTUsQNXKn6oqE/s1600/Vail+9-12-124.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRsDiObRQxEDF7Ei-eZ1KRPxz3o4iu5Aztbs8zgCnaRV_noC_RO6VI3CtqFNPzHG9zFaqeBgza2Qid6smcz_c3HDw79Op8WITFr2w5nZxnyHvPMbczerBmKyRGLdm5pIJVTUsQNXKn6oqE/s320/Vail+9-12-124.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"> I am currently in Vail, Colorado. While on a hike yesterday 5 people passed me on the trail. They were rescue workers and they were going up to rescue <i><b>a dog</b></i>. I was deeply touched to see these people on a late Sunday afternoon taking their time and energy to do such a lovely thing.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;"> And then I was struck by the dichotomy of what I was seeing before my eyes and the American political system. Let me be clear, I have nothing against animal rescues. I think it's beautiful to see. However I currently have two female clients who fear for their lives because of abusive husbands. The rate of poverty in American is going up and if hunk Ryan has anything to say about our lives Medicaid and Medicare will be decimated.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;"> We have no money for people, bridges and education. But we have all the money we need for cruise missiles. I wonder how many people died of malnutrition and inadequate healthcare while these guys were saving the dog. </span> Bob Sherman Photographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17198674040972920185noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4962538053114171166.post-48002320398133908732012-09-06T14:12:00.003-05:002012-09-07T10:44:01.206-05:00NOT THERE YET<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLRAsvWjbScek5_-nqI0YdFgz-AAFzV3eQqY1ZhVopxCTm4ig3jckS0LU5zR4Zhe5sxLPF1mDgIoe6KPlsJWGhgIP_uR4awDzjAwNQ-ggVDQctw7f-rHKXqgKTpG4GtGhU7eBpuNQVp1me/s1600/Fall+Creek+Falls-10-09-54.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLRAsvWjbScek5_-nqI0YdFgz-AAFzV3eQqY1ZhVopxCTm4ig3jckS0LU5zR4Zhe5sxLPF1mDgIoe6KPlsJWGhgIP_uR4awDzjAwNQ-ggVDQctw7f-rHKXqgKTpG4GtGhU7eBpuNQVp1me/s320/Fall+Creek+Falls-10-09-54.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span class="066294823-19082012" style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Fall Creek Falls,
Tennessee, 10/09</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: white;"><span class="066294823-19082012" style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Treat people and
live amongst them in such a way so that when you die they will cry over you, and
while you are alive they long for your company.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span class="066294823-19082012" style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Traditional Muslim
saying</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: white;"><span class="066294823-19082012" style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">We grow neither
better nor worse as we grow old, but more like ourselves.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span class="066294823-19082012" style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">May Lamberton
Becker</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: large;">For <u>NEW</u>
subscribers click here to receive the Dose: </span><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.bobshermanphotography.com/daily_dose" title="http://www.bobshermanphotography.com/daily_dose"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';" title="http://www.bobshermanphotography.com/daily_dose"><span title="http://www.bobshermanphotography.com/daily_dose">http://www.bobshermanphotography.com/daily_dose</span></span></a></span></span><br />
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: large;" title="http://www.bobshermanphotography.com/daily_dose"><span title="http://www.bobshermanphotography.com/daily_dose"> As many of you know every day I send out a photograph of mine along with two quotes. I call it the "Daily Dose". Above is a dose from ten days ago. I first started sending out the dose in 1997. At that time it was one or two quotes from spiritual traditions around the world. My intent was to show my readers the similarities of these traditions and also to help them find their own spiritual path. I started including one of my photos after 9/11. We were about to blow up Afghanistan I wanted to put a face on the Afghan people. I had been fortunate to have traveled through Afghanistan in 1974 and 1975 and I was one of my favorite places on the planet.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: large;" title="http://www.bobshermanphotography.com/daily_dose"><span title="http://www.bobshermanphotography.com/daily_dose"> Today the dose is read every day by thousands of people all over the world and I'm the guy who not only composes and sends out the dose but I'm also the one who manually adds and removes people from my distribution list. On most days this usually means adding a few people. During an average week one or two people might ask to be removed. I'm always curious about when and why someone would ask to be removed. On the day of this dose five people asked to be removed. So I asked myself what's so special about this dose? The picture may not be my greatest but it's not particularly offensive. The quotes on the surface seem benign. And then it hit me. The attribution for the first quote was that it was a <i>Muslim</i> saying!</span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: large;" title="http://www.bobshermanphotography.com/daily_dose"><span title="http://www.bobshermanphotography.com/daily_dose"> The continued intention of the Dose is to share the beauty of the world in images and words. It is my hope that with sufficient contact we will become far more aware of our similarities than our differences. Isn't it sad that at this point in our country (none of the people who dropped out were foreigners) we are so polarized that just the word Muslim would prompt some to stop receiving any information that might allow them to expand their field of view. </span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: large;" title="http://www.bobshermanphotography.com/daily_dose"><span title="http://www.bobshermanphotography.com/daily_dose"> </span></span><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: large;"> </span></span></div>
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</span>Bob Sherman Photographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17198674040972920185noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4962538053114171166.post-91500746501600369472012-08-29T11:06:00.002-05:002012-08-29T18:44:34.012-05:00TIME TO SHOW US<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKSP1ChpRiMVSrjLoQL5OdtAvm4xp9ScWWmzilowm5bdEbUDrXq6-ZRNPuRmEnI292MRpbBWcpCgWHmzvkZPzEJlqZ_W40aLfJijpZynRA1qhkuUoSUTC9p2yE7OdYkz8qKTVUfmBH8knY/s1600/uterus.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="263" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKSP1ChpRiMVSrjLoQL5OdtAvm4xp9ScWWmzilowm5bdEbUDrXq6-ZRNPuRmEnI292MRpbBWcpCgWHmzvkZPzEJlqZ_W40aLfJijpZynRA1qhkuUoSUTC9p2yE7OdYkz8qKTVUfmBH8knY/s320/uterus.bmp" width="320" /></a></div>
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<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">For the past twenty-five years or so many of my female clients have bemoaned the "fact" that the men they are meeting are all Neanderthals who are not capable of true intimacy. They yearned to be able to have one conversation with a man who has actually seen their face. Recently there has been a lot of talk about how much better and less violent the world would be if women were in power. Well ladies it appears that the Grand Old Party is determined to have you in the position of putting up or shutting up.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> The wisdom of the the best that the Republicans have to offer us has presented us with a Congressional hearing on women's reproductive rights featuring a number of male "experts". A number of Republican controlled states have attempted to force women to undergo uterine ultrasounds. And now we are learning about the essential differences between "legitimate" rape and all other forms of rape. I bet you didn't know that if you really didn't want to get raped your body would not let you get pregnant.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> Ladies, please help us degenerate men to see the folly of our ways. Please demonstrate if there is any truth at all that you have the capacity to stand up for us all and stop this madness before it gets any louder or more pervasive. Please show us with your votes that you are not all Michele Bachmanns.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"> I was sent this link after I posted these comments. Perhaps there is reason for hope after all: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Anc_gP2_QeI">http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Anc_gP2_QeI</a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>Bob Sherman Photographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17198674040972920185noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4962538053114171166.post-41110800843401282012-04-03T14:53:00.000-05:002012-04-03T20:45:52.287-05:00THE HUNGER GAMES<br />
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<span style="font-size: 16pt;">Over the past weekend I had
the misfortune to see the movie, “The Hunger Games”. The movie was
preceded by 7 coming attractions. One was an animated film and the rest
appeared to be trying to outdo each other in gore, brutality, and
stupidity. How staggering that our evolutionary process has culminated in
an artistic endeavor about Abraham Lincoln as a vampire hunter.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt;"> “The
Hunger Games” was deeply troubling for me. The thought of an elite ruling
class that entertains itself on the suffering and death of the “little people”
is no longer really science fiction. The elimination of the draft in the
U. S. has terminated any threat that the wealthy will ever have to dirty their
hands. With no threat to their own children they can so easily send “our
volunteers” to do their bidding. We appear to have all the money we need
for bombs but none for social programs.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt;"> I
watch the Republican debates in horror. Except for Ron Paul I have seen a
bunch of old men trying to convince the universe that their genitals are so
much bigger than Obama’s. (I’d just love to see them all naked on stage.)
They scream for the destruction of Iran and talk so loudly about how Obama is
an appeasing Muslim wimp. Their rhetoric is very effectively picking up
where Carl Rove left off. There are now more militia groups in American
than ever. There are now more guns in circulation than ever. This
process of dividing and conquering is working. Workers rights and unions
are under direct and very clear attack in the states with Republican
governors. Women’s rights are under attack. The ability of the poor
and elderly to vote is under attack. Medicare is under attack. The
lie is that the rich need their money so that they can create jobs. It’s
unbelievable to me that the masses have not noticed that the rich have gotten
staggeringly richer over the past few years while the rest of us have lost our
jobs.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt;"> For
me the thing that really sticks in my craw (wherever that is) is how all of
this is also guised under the pretense of “Christian values”. The beauty
of Christ was his love and compassion. In Matthew 25:40 we are clearly
told that, “… whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and
sisters of mine, you did for me.” Somehow this has now been repackaged as
“Socialism” and really bad. In my photography and in the Daily Dose my intent is to share a moment of beauty, a sense of connection between ourselves and others or our environment. It is my belief that the more we know about others the more we can see ourselves in them and feel a sense of compassion. For me this is a central core of my spiritual belief. I don't understand a spiritual pursuit that results in separation and disdain.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt;"> One
of my friends has told me that “The Hunger Games” is a trilogy and there is a
revolt in the second book. I wonder how much worse it will have to get
before the revolt is on CNN.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br />Bob Sherman Photographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17198674040972920185noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4962538053114171166.post-47214085274709307112011-09-23T19:13:00.000-05:002011-09-23T19:13:12.703-05:00A PLEA FOR WISDOM AND DECENCY<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">I have this deeply
felt sadness and ache. I watch the Republican debates and I hear the crow<span class="073305923-23092011">d </span> cheer about letting
people without insurance die. Last night the crowd booed an openly gay soldier
asking a question. The candidates appear to be lining up for their chance to
throw more meat at their hungry wolves. My fear is that this movie won’t end
well.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: large;">In my
opinion leadership is not just about rallying the troops. Appropriate
leadership also educates. Appropriate leadership does not sink to the lowest
common denominator. If this were not true then men like Hitler and Mussolini
would be celebrated. They each did a masterful job in getting a lot of people
to do their bidding. It was the direction that they led their followers to that
was the determining factor.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: large;">It’s
easy to understand that in our current political climate the Bachman’s,
Santorum’s, Limbaugh’s and the rest of the Mensa corps that are the loudest in
the Republican Party will have their moment in the sun. But where are the
voices of rationality and wisdom? Not everyone who has ever been a Republican
politician takes their marching orders from the Koch brothers and some
unfortunate directive from God. Why their silence? They have nothing to lose
since they are out of office.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">George H. W. Bush
stopped our troops from invading <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Baghdad</st1:city></st1:place>. He was able to have the wisdom to not
destabilize th<span class="073305923-23092011">at </span>
country. I wonder what would have happened if he had had the strength to openly
criticize his son. <span class="073305923-23092011"> Honest
differences of opinion is wonderfully healthy for growth and insight. </span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span class="073305923-23092011"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span class="073305923-23092011">Today's
news was partially about Obama changing No Child Left Behind. There is much
talk about how the school system is letting our children down. If the clowns on
the stage are in fact the best that America has to offer it won't matter what we
do with the school system. </span></span> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
Bob Sherman Photographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17198674040972920185noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4962538053114171166.post-13862313985681981262011-08-13T20:38:00.003-05:002011-08-13T21:04:03.093-05:00A Moment of Hope<div><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: medium;"><span class="130521301-14082011">The past few months have been a rather difficult time for me. The national political system of America is not just broken it has become the repository of whores that can be easily bought by the highest bidder. The elation that I felt when Barack Obama was elected has faded into an underlying sense of disappointment and despair. I never would have dreamed that Obama's eloquence could have been matched by his absence of spine. In addition the recent events in the stock market added yet another blow to my illusion that one day I might be able to retire and leave my children a modicum of inheritance.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: medium;"><span class="130521301-14082011"> I live in the wealthiest Republican district in America. Marsha Blackburn theoretically represents me in the House of Representatives. She is the Marsha Blackburn that espouses all the talking points du jour of the Republican Party and never heard George Bush say anything that she didn't love. I live in an area that upon first meeting me wants to know what church I go to in order to ascertain whether or not I'm decent or worthy of talking to. I live in an area in which the sign that I had on my lawn supporting Obama during the last election was destroyed 3 times. I live next to the town that hosted the Tea Party convention.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: medium;"><span class="130521301-14082011"> So it is within this context that I went to the movies today. I saw "The Help". I believe that it is a wonderful experience that should not be missed. I will not give any details about the movie except to state that it is about Mississippi in the 1960's and what it was like to be a Black maid at that time. There is a scene in the movie in which one of the maids exacts a small measure of revenge on a woman who was deserving of all that she got. To my total shock the mostly White audience applauded. I found myself instantly sobbing. For a brief moment hope poured through my body. How glorious that every so often I can still experience the possibility of better.</span></span></div>Bob Sherman Photographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17198674040972920185noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4962538053114171166.post-53996410339428912312011-05-16T19:49:00.000-05:002011-05-16T19:49:27.163-05:00It Might Have Been Cialis<div><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: medium;"><span class="951142500-17052011">My guess is that we will never really know if Trump was ever serious about giving up his day job. But today's news comes two weeks after The Donald got put in his rightful place by our President at the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner. Back on 8/31/09 I did a blog post on my regret about President Obama's lack of backbone. I am begging the chef at the White House to only serve whatever was on the menu on the weekend of 4/30 to 5/2. I titled my last post "Obama on Viagra". Well whatever he was taking it obviously lasted the whole weekend. During that weekend our President took out both The Donald and bin Laden. The former was a no brainer. The latter took a lot of guts.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: medium;"><span class="951142500-17052011"></span></span> </div><div><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: medium;"><span class="951142500-17052011">During his dinner monolog our President spoke the truth in front of his opposition. His wit, eloquence, and capacity allowed for a clear knock out. I wonder what it would take to get that guy to run for president?</span></span></div>Bob Sherman Photographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17198674040972920185noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4962538053114171166.post-91232465686784340372011-05-01T21:41:00.005-05:002011-05-02T09:55:38.219-05:00Obama on Viagra<div> <div><span><span class="710091002-02052011"><span class="Apple-style-span">I</span><span class="Apple-style-span">f you haven't already seen the video tapes from the 2011 White House Correspondents' Association Dinner last night you have missed some lovely moments. If you are not familiar with the format it is generally a roast of the President and the President typically gives a humorous and self-effacing speech. Last night our president did both but he also showed an ability to fight back. With Donald trump in the audience our president cut him up far better than last year's Thanksgiving turkey. He also took shots at many of his potential opponents in the 2012 election. I cheered and applauded as I watched. While at the same time I prayed that our president has for breakfast <span class="048303802-02052011">everyday </span>whatever he had yesterday<span class="048303802-02052011">.</span></span></span></span></div> <div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span><span class="710091002-02052011"><span class="048303802-02052011"></span></span></span> </span></div> <div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="710091002-02052011"><span><span class="048303802-02052011"><br /></span></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="710091002-02052011"><span class="048303802-02052011"></span></span><span class="710091002-02052011"><span><span class="048303802-02052011">The</span> master of ceremonies was Seth Meyers from Saturday Night Live. During his monolog Seth made one remark that was a perfect bulls-eye. He turned to Obama and said that he knew the one man who could beat him in the next election. That man was Obama, version 2008. I couldn't agree more. I doubt very much that we will hear "Change that we can believe in" during the next election. I doubt that we will hear very much about transparency.</span></span></span></div> <div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span><span class="710091002-02052011"></span></span> </span></div> <div><span><span class="710091002-02052011"><br /></span></span></div><div><span><span class="710091002-02052011">What allowed Barak Obama to win was not so much who he was<span class="048303802-02052011">. Rather it was </span>the amazing confluence of America's being fed up with Bush and the wonderfully inept campaign waged by McCain and his mean spirited, rather ignorant, hockey Mom that was to be one heart beat away from the Presidency. If the status quo continues and the Republican party continues to be controlled by the Conservative Right and the Tea Party wrong then Obama has a pretty good chance of being re-elected. I pray that once this happens he will spend 4 years on whatever form of Viagra he took yesterday so that we might hear truth spoken to evil. The Republican Party is waging a fairly flagrant war on the middle and lower classes in America. The staggering transfer of wealth that has taken place since Reagan does not seem to be enough. If we are not careful our children will soon be serfs.</span></span></div> <div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span><span class="710091002-02052011"></span></span> </span></div> <div><span><span class="710091002-02052011"><br /></span></span></div><div><span><span class="710091002-02052011">I want to conclude with a brief note about the Donald. Prior to last night he appeared to be heading for his own Charlie Sheen moment. On Thursday he gave an obscenity laden speech in Las Vegas. On Saturday night he suffered a rather severe narcissistic wound by being repeatedly humiliated in public. If you notice he has been unusually quiet today. I don't believe his silence is coming from a place of repentance. Such a wound typically arouses a great deal of anger. It isn't clear at this time whether that anger will be directed inwardly or outwardly.</span></span></div></div>Bob Sherman Photographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17198674040972920185noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4962538053114171166.post-44871111443036083492010-12-11T15:26:00.005-06:002010-12-11T15:32:58.699-06:00Violation Cubed<span style="font-family:arial;">The latest Wiki leak about the Pope taking an active part in blocking the investigation of the clergy in Ireland reveals a tragedy of immense proportions. I have personally experienced the profound effects of being sexually abused. Professionally I deal with this on a daily basis. It would take me hundreds of pages to begin to detail the devastating impact that sexual abuse has on victims. Depending on the age of the victim the act can cause physical damage but that is not the norm. The most prevalent outcome for a victim is a deeply felt sense of defect and shame. On the surface it takes the normal and natural maturational process of the victim's sexuality expression off the table. My purpose here is not to give a treatise on the causes and effects of sexual abuse. I guess I just want the vast majority of you to realize how fortunate you are that you don't know what I'm talking about or how profoundly it influences a victim's life.<br /><br /> Here's a brief example that I'm hoping will give you a glimpse of the tip of the iceberg of these negative effects. For most of us driving a car is a marvelous experience. We have at our disposal a marvelous vehicle that can take us wherever we want to go. When we are in this vehicle knowingly or unknowingly we experience an amazing sense of power and control. We can propel ourselves at wonderfully high speeds. And we can do this with a miniscule amount of effort. We have power steering and power brakes. Some of us now have GPS's that can talk to us and guide us to unknown places. We can listen to whatever music we like. We can even round out the experience with food, drink, the company of others, or our cell phones. We are the kings in our castle and the masters of our universe. That's all a normal and natural part of life in the Western industrialized countries. The environment that I have just described results in the individual knowingly or unknowingly experiencing a sense of freedom, power, capacity, and enjoyment.<br />Unfortunately some of us have the misfortune to one day be propelling ourselves in our castles when another vehicle smashes into us without our having any ability to stop it. Those of us who are lucky enough to survive the crash and heal our physical wounds quite frequently can't regain that sense of power, control, and safety that they once had prior to the accident. This posttraumatic stress results in anxiety about driving, flashbacks of the accident, and intense anxiety just upon seeing brake lights. These are but a few of the potential negative consequences of such a traumatic event that we are powerless to stop or control. A driver in such a horrific accident frequently can never regain that unblemished driving experience that they would have had if the accident had never taken place.<br /><br /> Now let's get a bit more specific about sexual abuse and the Pope. Just imagine if you had just found out that your sister's husband (or your family priest) has been sexually abusing your six-year-old son for the past three years. Take a moment to feel your guts as you read the last sentence. Notice all the sensations that get aroused with just the thought of it. You then learn that your sister (your Bishop) has known about the abuse and never told you. You then find out that your sister (or Bishop) has actually helped facilitate the abuse to take place. Now comes the icing on the cake. Whatever emotion, whatever fantasized course of action you'd like to take at that moment gets totally annihilated when you go to your father (the Pope) and you tell him about everything that has taken place and he prohibits you from taking any action or even from speaking about it. In fact your father even takes actions to protect your brother-in-law from any prosecution or negative consequences for his actions. Once again I would ask you to close your eyes and look into your guts to see what you might feel under such circumstances.<br /><br /> I am not here trying to single out the Catholic Church. At this point in my life I can easily consider that many other religious leaders would act in the same way. The pervasive decline in a sense of integrity, decency, or morality in our society lends itself not only to the commission of such acts but also the relative complacency of the population in general. Within the Hindu philosophy and religion it is believed that approximately every 10,000 years the universe reverts back to its primordial source only to be created once again. You can think of it as the ultimate recycling program. The older I get more I believe we are ready for a good flush.<br /><br /><br /></span>Bob Sherman Photographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17198674040972920185noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4962538053114171166.post-46548463111367573432010-12-10T19:41:00.004-06:002010-12-10T19:52:11.286-06:00Thank You BernieIf you missed today's 8 hour speech by Senator Bernie Sanders from Vermont you missed a wonderful moment for decency, integrity, and truth. Senator Sanders in a very straight forward, unadulterated way, laid out the facts of what is going on in our country. Please check out the video sources on the net to hear him in action.<br /><br />I wonder how our country would be different if we had real news being reported on the major networks and the average American had access to this news. The Vietnam War didn't end because the multinational corporations gave up their selfish interests or because our politicians thought it would be a good idea to end it. The war ended because of: the release of the Pentagon Papers, a vocal populace that had access to the reality of what was going on there, and there was a draft that forced people to go there.<br /><br />A few more like Senator Sanders just might give people an opportunity to realize how to vote in their own best interests.Bob Sherman Photographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17198674040972920185noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4962538053114171166.post-66540110569860893782010-12-09T19:53:00.002-06:002010-12-09T19:57:58.595-06:00Thank You NanciI have no idea what will become of today's events at the Democratic caucus and Nanci Pelosi's decision to not call for a vote on the President's "compromise tax proposal". But for just a brief moment something happened within our government that is just the right thing to do. It's so refreshing to see someone other than a screaming conservative or Tea Party member take a position and keep it.Bob Sherman Photographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17198674040972920185noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4962538053114171166.post-4511745252610749612010-12-08T12:51:00.009-06:002010-12-08T17:34:25.348-06:00Running Out Of Time<o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="country-region"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="place"></o:smarttagtype><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:punctuationkerning/> <w:validateagainstschemas/> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> <w:dontgrowautofit/> </w:Compatibility> <w:browserlevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:latentstyles deflockedstate="false" latentstylecount="156"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if !mso]><object classid="clsid:38481807-CA0E-42D2-BF39-B33AF135CC4D" id="ieooui"></object> <style> st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } </style> <![endif]--><style> <!-- /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} </style> <![endif]--><div><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-family:arial;"> Sometime during the last Presidential campaign Michelle Obama made the political "mistake" of speaking the truth when she stated that for the first time she was proud to be an American. On election night I felt a sense of pride in being an American that I hadn't felt in a very long time. That sense of pride is now gone. All successful leaders inspire their troops to be and do better. They get results that might have been viewed as impossible or highly unlikely by allowing people to have a vision that goes beyond their norm.<br /><br />Mr. President, you are a most eloquent orator but you are no leader. As a 64 year old white male I know that I have no idea what it's like to be a Black man in our racist society. For all I know you face the possibility of death every day and I deeply respect and admire your bravery to put yourself in this position. But as my president and leader you have failed me and the greater good.<br /><br />If your "landmark healthcare legislation" is anywhere close to being something of real significance you have failed to educate me about it. I am a healthcare provider and every day I deal with the rape of my patients by their insurance plans. Every provider knows that health insurance companies are in the business of not paying claims. I am so very fortunate to be able to afford my insurance premiums. Blue Cross has just informed me that my premium will go up $40 a month in January. I'm now paying $770 a month for an individual policy that is far from a Cadillac plan. Your abandoning the public option without a real fight or not getting us cheaper medication from Canada is just the tip of the iceberg of the causes that you don't have the will, desire, or guts to fight for.<br /><br />World War II was preceded by European leaders capitulating and appeasing Hitler's evil intentions. Our media is now focusing on bullying in schools and on the net. Every male in the universe knows that one does not stop a bully with appeasement. There are now very powerful forces in our country that have taken over the media and political process to the point where it is obvious that their intention is to bleed most Americans dry. Most Americans now know more about Lindsey Lohan's drug use than how they have been repeatedly duped into voting against their own self interest. The transfer of wealth in America now rivals third world countries.<br /><br />There is no justification for the unemployment rate to be near 10% and we add to the national debt by giving super rich people tax breaks. There is no justification for Wall Street to be getting bonuses so large that I don't know how many zeros to put after the numbers. There is no justification for a relatively small percentage of the population holding the rest of us hostage to their fundamentalist beliefs.<br /><br />I have lived in Afghanistan. The Afghan people are no threat to me or my country. What you spend every day to kill these people could do so much real good back home. Osama bin Laden is winning his fight because while he sits somewhere in the world he watches you bankrupt our country with massive military expenditures. He doesn't need to attack. Dick Chaney made Halliburton and his other friends billions of dollars. You are doing the same.<br /><br />How is it that you have the will and testosterone to bomb villagers and extend a war that you cannot win but don't have the ability to get on TV and merely state that you are ready to fight the real threats to our well being. I have far more to fear from lobbyists and multinational corporations than the Taliban. My children's quality of life will be far more destroyed by your passivity and pursuit of the illusion of "bipartisanship" than it will by terrorists.<br /><br />Great leaders like Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr. took a stand. They didn't say one thing in public and then agree to the opposite in private with their adversaries. They were willing to put their lives on the line for what they believed in. You politicians seek to gain political capital by praising the troops for their bravery but don't have the guts to speak the truth. I wonder how many wars we'd have if all wars were fought by the politicians and their children. You campaigned on ending don't ask don't tell. But not once have you actually done any arm twisting to get it done. You speak of global warming and the need for green jobs and yet have said nothing about this year's conference going on right now in Mexico. You are indeed failing my children on this front as well. I could go on with many other examples but there is no need to belabor the point.<br /><br />Nero supposedly played the fiddle as Rome burned. I have nothing against you playing basketball. What I'd like to see is you on national television stating exactly what you stand for and what you are going to fight for. Show us where the line in the sand is. Get on national TV every day if necessary and lead. All I see you doing is paying for the rich to get better seats to watch the rest of us die a slow death.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></span><br /><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><o:p><span style=";font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;" > </span></o:p></p></span></div><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>Bob Sherman Photographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17198674040972920185noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4962538053114171166.post-86599449999362002492010-10-22T16:18:00.004-05:002010-10-23T13:20:16.195-05:00The Thorns of My Dilemma<div style="font-family:arial;"><span class="161013120-22102010"><span style="font-size:130%;">The Obama administration would like us to believe that we have to reelect Democratic incumbents because their opponents represent unacceptably horrible alternatives. I must admit that I agree about the prospect of witches, Nazi re-enactors, people who apologize to BP Oil, and the rest who would continue the process of the further deterioration of the middle class as being totally unacceptable. However this is where my dilemma arises. President Obama would like us to believe that he represents "the good guys". Sadly I am no longer sure that this is true. </span></span></div><div style="font-family:arial;"><span class="161013120-22102010"><span style="font-size:130%;"></span></span></div><div style="font-family:arial;"><span class="161013120-22102010"><span style="font-size:130%;">For the first two years of his administration president Obama has bent himself into a pretzel trying to reach what he would like us to believe is bipartisan support. But I'm no longer certain that this is in fact the true agenda. When one is confronted by two individuals who are doing a masterful good cop/bad cop is easy to be seduced by the drama. The idea is to somehow suspend reality and begin to believe that the good cop truly understands and is working towards our own best interests. During the campaign Obama did a really good good cop. However his performance postelection will not win him any Academy Awards. When faced with crucial opportunities to take a stand he was nowhere to be heard or seen. The Democratic Party would like us to believe that for the first time in recorded history they were able to pass truly significant health-care reform. However, the bill mandates that approximately 33,000,000 people have to go out and purchase health insurance without putting any limitations on the cost. If anybody out there is listening I would like to volunteer to be the next business with a government mandate that 33 million people have to purchase my product. When faced with the opportunity of passing a drug re-importation bill that would have meant real savings that amendment went down without any real fight. As a man with Jewish heritage I have been enraged and embarrassed by Joe Lieberman. But I must admit in this context I appreciate his honesty. He doesn't mind showing people that he's a whore. A few years ago he was vehemently in favor of the extension of Medicare benefits. Last year he single-handedly defeated the public option. Once again the president was nowhere to be found. I could go on with many other similar issues such as don't ask don't tell, the closing of Gitmo, and many other flagrant abuses of the Constitution. </span></span></div><div style="font-family:arial;"><span class="161013120-22102010"><span style="font-size:130%;"></span></span></div><div style="font-family:arial;"><span class="161013120-22102010"><span style="font-size:130%;">The Obama administration would like us to believe that they are the ones fighting for the common man. It is very difficult to believe this in the face of the reality that the very people that caused our economic collapse are in charge of his economic policies. It is very difficult to believe this in the face of Wall Street again getting ready to dispense record-setting bonuses while over 9.5% of the population is unemployed and so many households are facing foreclosure. Is it possible that the "good cop" has gotten us exactly what he and the big business interests behind him really wanted all along?<br /></div></span></span><div style="font-family:arial;"><span class="161013120-22102010"><span style="font-size:130%;">It is my belief that Obama won the election not just because he was an eloquent speaker or that for the first time in recent memory he looked like a man who looked forward to having sex with his own wife. I believe that he won because of an amazing confluence of incredibly negative factors. The American people were beginning to wake up to the reality of the devastation of the Bush administration and the Republican Party was asking us to have an illiterate hockey mom be one heartbeat away from the presidency. Obama was able to energize our youth and also seniors like myself who had become jaded over the years.</span></span></div><div style="font-family:arial;"></div><div style="font-family:arial;"><span class="161013120-22102010"><span style="font-size:130%;">As a human being and also a psychologist I have learned that people don't change because it's a good idea. More often than not people change when they can no longer tolerate their pain. It has been demonstrated that if you put a frog in a pot of warm water it will allow itself to be cooked to death. It is beginning to appear to me that the reelection of the status quo will really keep us frogs on top of a stove with a mild to moderate flame. Perhaps it would be better to allow the opposition to have their way. On the surface it would appear like a tragedy. But beneath the surface it would turn the flame way up and perhaps more frogs would then be motivated to jump out of the water before their demise.</span></span></div><div style="font-family:arial;"><span class="161013120-22102010"></span></div><div style="font-family:arial;"><span class="161013120-22102010"></span></div><div style="FONT-FAMILY: arial"><span class="161013120-22102010"></span></div><div face="arial"><span class="161013120-22102010"></span></div><div style="FONT-FAMILY: arial"></div>Bob Sherman Photographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17198674040972920185noreply@blogger.com3