Free Beer and Nickle Kisses!

These days it seems like if one political party was giving away "free beer and selling kisses for a nickle, I am sure that someone from the opposite "side of the aisle" would be arguing for "free kisses and selling the beer for a nickle. Working to reach consensus or agreement on anything just seems to be passe. The media contribute mightily to these arguments, by offering "news", that is actually entertainment and rife with "opinion" rather than facts. This country could really use a true news station like the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC).





Today, I got an email entitled "The Real Scoop". I am not going to dignify this writing by even posting it on my blog, but the gist of it is "Obama, screwed up the way he handled the recent situation with the hostage situation and the pirates in the Indian Ocean." The email alleges that the President took too long to act.

So, we have a daring sea rescue, where the Navy executed it's job to perfection, the President appears to have given the correct order - and somebody wants to say "Obama got it wrong - he was too slow". I am surprised that someone hasn't come out and said the Navy should have "used different caliber of weaponry" - so that it would have been more environmentally friendly.

These days it seems that someone has got something crappy to say about everything anyone tries to do. Even when we should be celebrating, some cynic, who probably has a pathetic outlook on life - has to find something negative to say. Here's a little reminder of what a real American, Theodore Roosevelt had to say about these types almost exactly 99 years ago!


"The Man In The Arena"
Speech at the Sorbonne Paris, France
April 23, 1910

It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat. Theodore Roosevelt


I'll bet old Teddy, would grab some of today's pundits by the scruff of the neck if he heard the kind of bi-partisan muckraking, mudslinging, obstructionist crap that is thrown out by the media and many Americans today. Honestly, much of what we see today is disrespectful and uncivil. You really should read most of the speech which I excerpted in its entirety you can find it here:

http://www.theodore-roosevelt.com/trsorbonnespeech.html

I could never have said it as well as Teddy did in his Man in the Arena speech but having thought today about what Theodore Roosevelt said, I am going to try and be less critical and take a more positive attitude about things. I guess, I'll probably quit watching any of the news on TV for a start.

All the best,

Mike