As I watched the "after-speech" (Fox news is a great source of 24 hour news.  I get off work at 3:30 and get home by 4:00, just in time to catch the events of the day highlighted in nice detail.) today that President Bush delivered at the U.S. Naval Academy I became sickened by the behavior of our "other" elected officials.  Before the speech was even finished, Democrats from both houses of congress were pontificating before the cameras, hungry for anything that even remotely tasted of controversial blood.  The Democrats delivered that bloody feast in abundance.

That, however, is not the where my disgust for those members of congress grew into a visceral churn in my stomach that still gives me pause.  It is based solely on the nature of their seeming disgust for the president and subsequent deflection of that disgust onto out troops and their mission in Iraq and in this country as well.

I watched, wondering what my nephew, a new member of the United States Navy, felt when he heard these distinguished men and women making such disparaging remarks about what they and their fellow members of the armed services were instructed to do by these very people.  By debate programs, interviews, magazine articles both in print and online, these members of congress at one point or another promoted that path that this country went down.  I am not saying (At least in this posting!) whether I agree or disagree with the path.  I do, though, strongly abhor the behavior of politicians at this point trying to make points at the expense of and on the backs of our armed forces members. 

I can only imagine the betrayal my nephew and the others who chose to serve our country and subsequently, the world it seems, when they hear the words or Sen. Patrick Leahy when he says that the president's words are, "...nothing more than feel good rhetoric that bears little relationship to the facts facing our troops."  Or when House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi says, "The status quo is not working."  So who is telling the truth?  The president...and our troops who seem to back him up?  Or is it these other members of congress who can't seem to find one positive thing to express when it comes to this situation, a phenomenon that, if I were a member of the U.S. Armed Services, I would certainly scrutinize and quickly tire of. 

It is with my nephew in mind, a selfish sentiment I know, but one I can't get beyond, that I truly wish these members of our elected Houses of Congress would think very carefully before they speak. Think of the impact it has on young men and women in the situations they have voted to put them in.  Think about how their children would feel if they were treated with such ill will and chess piece like manipulation.  Think about election time when uncles and aunts and mothers and brothers and fathers and others head to the ballot boxes remembering our family members in the services and our members of congress who seem to want to make their experiences there as miserable as possible.        

My thoughts today tend toward the shopping season that is upon us.   That in itself seems to hit me the wrong way.  After we have just celebrated a holiday devoted to giving thanks for all we have been given throughout the year and beyond, what do we do?  WE SHOP!  At 5:00 a.m no less.  This leads directly to my subject.

We are such a manipulated society that lemming comes to mind.  We are a land of northern lemmings, eastern lemmings, gulf coast lemmings mid-western lemmings, left coast lemmings, liberal lemmings, conservative lemmings, libretarian lemmings.  Let's face it.  You name the sub-category and we have a sub-category of lemming to step in. 

We shop when we are manipulated into it.  We buy cars when we are price manipulated into it.  We buy stocks (or sell them!) when we are manipulated into it.  We are told by a news head that things are terrible in a region we have never seen that affects one of our fellow country-lemmings and our gas prices will sky-rocket.  We stop shopping.  Gas prices go down at the pump.  We start shopping.  Hmmmmmm.  Ever wonder how that all works?

Mark my word...gas that was $3.00 in August that is now $1.95 (Lemmings must shop! It's that season we are told.) will eventually be back at $3.00 in January when we are told to stop shopping and save to pay our taxes in April. 

Do yourself a favor.  Remember how you felt the day before "Black Friday" and carry "that" feeling of thanks with you throughout this season of "giving."  It's true we all will do a little shopping this season.  But we might do a little less shopping and do a little more thanking in the long run.

This is my first blog!  I've joined the world of the bloggers!!! Now maybe I can create some buzz on the news by breaking some news.  Ok, maybe not.  But I am a news junkie so I'll share my thoughts on current issues in the news and how the media covers those particular issues.

Please feel free to share your thoughts as well.  I believe in a "community" of learners.  And the only way for that to work is for the community to share.  So jump right in! 

I'll be watching the mornng news shows and the afternoon football games and giving my run-down on the whole sordid affair this evening!  Check back soon!

Later!

~Thom