Arnold's Thoughts

Dear Mr. President:

You be will be remembered as a president who failed to live up to the ideals of our country.  You will be remembered as what not to be.  Your presidency will serve to teach children on how people should be treated.  Your examples of bad behavior will be a learning tool for generations of children.  You have shown the world that we have suppressed our prejudices and have not dealt with them.  You have taught fear and doubt on a grand scale.  Making people afraid that have no reason to be afraid.  You have shown that members of our Republican party of which I am one are basically cowards because they are unwilling to stand for principles because of the fear of losing their jobs.  Our soldiers are willing to sacrifice their life for us. Shouldn’t we have the courage to do the same?  You have shown that the Evangelicals have lost their moral compass by their complicity.  The Evangelicals and the rest of us in our complicity of silence have stained our souls before God, ourselves and the rest of the country and the world.   Hopefully they and we can recognize the errors of our ways and make atonement in tangible ways.

John McCain was laid to rest this past weekend.  He wasn’t perfect, but none of us are.  He believed in the greatness of this country, its people, and the people of the world.  He understood forgiveness, when he could have chosen bitterness.  He understood the value of working across the aisle.  Most of all he was willing to put country first over party and politics.  He was principled and believed in truth, fairness, character, military strength and as Henry Kissinger said “compassion and the engagement in the world”.  All of us should watch the memorial service for Senator John McCain at Washington National Cathedral to be reminded as what we have lost as a country in civil discourse and our ability to solve problems together.

I often wonder what makes America Great.  The best example I can come up with is America’s Got Talent.  On that show you have people from all walks of life and ethnic groups that believe they can do better and are doing everything in their power to be the best they can be.  It is their attitude and belief in a better tomorrow that makes us all better.  If we don’t change, then we will fall from within as many a great nation has.  As Lincoln said  “A house divided against itself, cannot stand.”  I believe in America and its people. So thank you Mr. President for exposing our ugly side, so we all can become better.  America is already great, but it can do better.

We as a country are losing our soul.  This is my attempt to help us reclaim it.

Dear Mr. President:

Our flag represents the constitution, democracy, freedom and values.  Those taking a knee at football games are not disrespecting the flag.  They are respectively trying to point out that we have a problem on how we treat black people.  Perhaps you should spend more time on addressing the issue of race in this country and lead by example regarding respect.

Every time you lie, you disrespect the flag.

Every time you call people names, you disrespect the flag.

Every time you act as a bully, you disrespect the flag.

Every time you only consider your supporters and ignore the 60 to 70% of the rest of country, you disrespect the flag.

Every time you manipulate the story to make it look like the media and the democrats are in a conspiracy against you, you disrespect the flag.

Every time you ask others to apologize and fail to apologize for your actions that are divisive and include outright lies, you disrespect the flag.

Every time you take credit for things that you had nothing to do with, you disrespect the flag.

Every time you label facts that are not favorable to you as fake news, you disrespect the flag,

Every time you put down our institutions without a factual basis, you disrespect the flag,

Our flag represents the constitution, democracy, freedom and values, so please show it some respect!

If I were a Rich Man and/or a Bully in 2.5 tweets or How Does It Feel?

Built with the top 22 insult tweet words from President Trump

“There once was man named Donald, who woke with sleepy eye(d)s and said I will not be a loser.  I am not a lightweight, but a heavyweight.  Some people think I am wacky, but really I am a clown craving attention I didn’t get from my parents and peers.  I become unhinged when people don’t buy into my crooked stories.  The truth is over-rated.  I am a sneaky liar trying to convince you I am not a weak fat man.  I am a liddle crazy flunky of greed, because integrity is like a cryin baby.  I am short of reflection, because I am a sloppy psycho who is not quite as dumb as a rock.  Pocahontas save me from my flakey self.”

Mr. President, Republicans, Democrats, and my Fellow Americans   – in 6.5 Tweets:

It is with a heavy heart that I come before you today as an American first and a Republican second to tell you that if we keep going in the direction we are going, then our democracy will fall.  Like the Roman Empire we will be no more.  Since we seem to digest things in 140 characters, I will try to be brief.  We ask our soldiers to sacrifice their life for our country.  It appears our congressmen and senators, particularly my fellow Republicans, are unwilling to stand up and do the right thing.  Our soldiers have real bullets coming at them and the only thing members of congress have to lose is their job and a bruised ego.  If our soldiers are asked to make the ultimate sacrifice why can’t congress?  Congress, you have deserted your responsibility, honesty, and integrity.  The penalty for desertion in war is death or jail time.  Some might just call you cowards.  Doing the right thing takes courage and leadership, and is not a popularity contest.  All of us will have to stand before our maker one day and what will you say?  You be the judge.

My Fellow Americans – Health Care and My Challenge:

As a Republican since Ronald Regan, I am disappointed in our party.  We used to be a party of integrity, honesty, principles and friends with the other side.  All of us should read or reread Chris Matthews “Tip and the Gipper:  When Politics Worked”.  The biggest lesson I learned from that book was that country came first for both men over party.  President Reagan and Tip O’Neill understood what true leadership was and they were friends who agreed to disagree.

My challenge to my fellow Republicans regarding health care is this:  If you can honestly stand before your creator and say this is the best bill I can do and that it is fair for all concerned, then vote for it.  If not, stand up and vote no.  We all can lie to each other, but the lord knows the truth of our hearts.

My Fellow Americans:

I am tired of all this “Bull Shouting.”  We think if we keep shouting “Falsehood!” somehow they will become true.  Facts are facts and truth will always be revealed.  How we treat each other matters.  Because I disagree with you does not mean you are the devil incarnate and I must attack your self-worth and dignity.  It does not mean you are the enemy and I must destroy you to be a winner.  A winner is not “I win and you lose.”  A true winner is when we all benefit.  We have lied to ourselves, our souls, friends, and to each other.  We put ideology over facts and truth.  We have put party and power over the well-being of the country.  It takes courage to do the right thing and no effort to follow blindly.  Ask yourself, if you had to stand before God, and God asked you, “How did you treat yourself and your fellowman? Did you treat others in a loving way, even if you disagreed?”, what would be your answer?   To my Christian brothers and sisters, when do you stand up to the powers that be and say truth and love cannot be deceived?  If the unborn life matters so much to you, then why doesn’t the life all the people born mean the same to you?  Does the three-year-old boy who died on a Greek shore trying to escape the horrors of war in Syria life matter as much as the unborn?   I am calling you out before the most high to be loving and truthful.  That all life matters and sometimes we have to make sacrifices for the good of all.  Look at the “Greatest Generation” in which Tom Brokaw argued that these men and women fought not for fame and recognition, but because it was the “right thing to do.”

It seems our ideology has been distorted such that the only way to control people is to sow fear and doubt.  What makes America great is our ability to come together to solve any problem in a loving and caring way.  Our diversity and entrepreneurship makes us stronger.  An entrepreneur is one who challenges the conventional wisdom and stands it on its head.  The belief in a better tomorrow cannot be realized if we live in fear and doubt.  What makes us great is our belief that we can make life better, not only for ourselves but for our children most of all.   It is difficult to be creative if we live in fear and doubt.  Like President Reagan said “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall.”  The slogan “Make America Great Again” is wrong.  It should be “Put American (and others, since we live in a global society) People First.”  Put people first, not the party or false ideologies that promise much and delivers little.  Like the promised GOP-backed Trumpcare. We cannot have everything.  There are tradeoffs and sacrifices to be made.  The questions we should be asking is “Why does our health care cost so much?  Why at Hospital “A” is a CAT scan $5,000, at Hospital “B” it costs $3,000, satellite-related hospital facilities charge $1,000 and at an independent standalone it only costs $500.  Slogans do not address the details.  Details matter, just like my recent real-life CAT scan saga.   My fellow Americans, our slogan should be “People First and Details Matter” or as President Reagan said,  “Trust (people), but verify (detail).”

When I lived in California a female friend told me the this story

“Be careful what you ask for.

I asked for a man in my life,

I got one that I didn’t want and I couldn’t get rid of.

Next time I will be more specific on what I am looking for.

My fellow Americans think about this with Donald Trump.

Be careful what you ask for.

We wanted change.

We got a leader we didn’t want and couldn’t get rid of.

Next time we be more specific, and demand how and not be swayed on what we just wanted to hear.”

Sometimes we must ask ourselves the tough questions and in the processes of answering them we find the path to the way forward.

What happened to America, where a person could work hard and improve his/her lot?

What happened to your word was your bond?

What happened to people agreeing to disagree and still respect each other?

What happened to people like Ronald Reagan (Republican President) and Tip O’Neil (Democrat Speaker of the House), opposite ends of the political spectrum, who used to share a drink with each other and still get things done?

What happened to people in congress representing the voters instead of special interest, big business, political parties and the desire to remain in office at all cost?

What happened in America where business can do no wrong?

What happened to religious institutions who let members hide behind the mask?

What happened to religious institutions who thought slavery, separate but equal, and women’s suffrage were ok?

Are these institutions stuck in the past or have they finally learned that everything in life has evolved hopefully or sometimes regresses?

Why are people with money worshipped as gods?

What happened to taking responsibility for your actions?

When the economy was collapsing id 2008/2009, where was the leadership in business?

They took the money, ran, and said we are not accountable.

We the people let them?

Where was compassion?

Where was accountability?

Where were our leaders?

Where were we the people?

Where was the Supreme Court in Citizens United?

Can the court reverse itself?  It did in separate but equal (Plessey v. Ferguson, Brown v. Board of Education)

It will take courage to admit you made a decision that had unintended consequences.

Why does a corporation have bigger say than average person or family making $52,690,

Why do large influential rich people and corporations hide behind  secrecy while demanding transparency for everyone else?

How is it the government is seen as the enemy, when we made it what  it is?

How is that we forgot that the reason behind the EPA was, for example, rivers  and lakes becoming polluted, the Cuyahoga River caught fire (explain that to your child), and the air we breath is making us ill?

Where are the jobs of the future?

How is that we are going back to the middle ages to lord and ladies and the serfs?

How did living on $7.25 an hour become acceptable?

Business is not bad; it is the people who are running many of them that are.

If people were honest and had integrity we wouldn’t need regulations, because we would always do the right thing.

Regulations are necessary, but we need ones that make sense for everyone concerned.

Ok Congress, I will give you house rental or mortgage and ask you to live on $7.25 an hour and see how you fare.

Why is the child of a more affluent child worth more than a poor one?  Perhaps that poor kid will be the next Einstein.

How did the union of the few become dominion over everybody else?

Before you accuse the infamous “them” as the problem, take a look at yourself first  and picture yourself standing before all that there is and saying “I did my best”.

Remember to ask your “$174,000/year + benefits” Congressmen & Senators why they can’t pass a budget on time (Oct 1^st ) not  February of the following year.  After all they make 3.3 more than the average family and if they were in business would be fired.

We are the people!

Call your Congress person and Senator and flood their phones for days and tell them do their jobs and remember they represent the people first, not themselves, special interest, big business or their party (which is not in the constitution).

http://clerk.house.gov/member_info/mcapdir.aspx

http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm