"Special" Election Doesn't Quite Describe It!

Photo from The State newspaper

   


         This is gonna upset some of my Republican friends, but that’s certainly not the intent.

            It’s like this: for several years, I’ve been saying I’m tired of so much partisan politics and so much partisan bickering.  And I really, really am. 

            That’s the same thing I’ve heard loads of other folks fussing about also.  They’re tired of everything in Washington having to do with party lines.  They’re tired of partisanship in our state legislature.  They want what’s good for the people to be put before what’s good for one party or the other.

            But, have we looked at our own back doors or front doors or wherever we generally look?  Don’t we put party before consideration of individual candidates when we vote straight party tickets?

            And, now, here we are faced with a special election (May 7th) in our own first congressional district – a race pitting former Governor Mark Sanford (he of Appalachian Trail fame) against Elizabeth Colbert Busch, businesswoman and sister of comedian Stephen Colbert. 

            Guess what we’re hearing and reading now from people who are sick and tired of partisan politics?  Here are a few of the comments:

            “No, I don’t like Sanford, but he’s the Republican, so that’s how I’ll vote.”

            “Forget a third-party candidate or a write-in, because that would just hand the election to the woman instead of a Republican.” 

            “I didn’t want Sanford to be the Republican nominee; he’s a scoundrel but I just can’t vote for a Democrat.” 

            “Yeah, Sanford was wrong to leave the state, to lie about his whereabouts, to not leave anyone in charge.  Yes, he was wrong to violate a court order.  But he’s the Republican.”

            Those are just samplings.  In the last two weeks, people who used to talk about character, honesty, integrity and such, are listing reasons they don’t like Sanford.  They are not questioning Colbert Busch’s character and integrity --- yet, they’ll likely vote against honesty, character and integrity because of party loyalty. 

            What’s right for the country, what’s right for the citizens – these take precedence over what’s right for a particular political party. 

            Just callin’ it like I see it, folks.

At the Age of Twelve????

I’m all for safety but, sometimes, things get just a bit ridiculous.


Yes, I believe in seatbelts, whether it’s the law or not. The same goes for putting children in car seats.

But the latest recommendation is a bit much. Earlier this month, the American Academy of Pediatrics announced revised guidelines for children in cars. The first announcement I heard on TV was that the organization is recommending booster seats for children up through 12.

Yes, 12!

I started first grade when I was five, so that means I was entering 8th grade at the age of 12. I cannot imagine being in a booster seat in the 8th grade!

When I was growing up, we could get driving permits at the age of 14 in South Carolina. Can you imagine going from booster seat to driving in one year’s time? Of course, way back then, we didn’t even have seatbelts in cars. And infants often were in the laps of parents instead of in car seats.

A 12-year-old is, obviously, just about a teenager. A 12-year-old likely would rather walk or ride a bike than sit in a booster seat in the back seat of a car, which is where the AAP says they should be.

Peter the Great became czar at the age of 10. Chopin composed two polonaises at the age of seven and gave a public performance at the age of eight. Mozart was composing at the age of five and wrote his first symphony at the age of eight.

At the ripe old age of 13, Michael Jackson launched his solo career, following up on his success as part of his family’s Jackson 5. Magellan sailed around the Cape of Good Hope at the age of 17.

Just recently, Trevor Bayne became the youngest-ever winner of the Daytona 500 at the age of 20. I’ll bet he wasn’t in a booster seat at the age of 12.

Somebody's Got It Right!!!

Well, thank goodness, somebody’s got it right!


In a recent news conference involving Wal-Mart executives and First Lady Michelle Obama, Wal-Mart announced that it would start selling healthier food products.

Not only is the giant retailer planning to have healthier choices available for shoppers, it also plans to make those healthy foods more affordable.

I say, “Hurrah.”

But my cheers aren’t specifically for Wal-Mart or for Michelle Obama or even for healthy foods. My cheers are for the concept.

What concept? It’s the idea that private industries and businesses can take positive steps to benefits consumers without being forced to do so by the government.

Although it’s a concept that we seem to have lost in recent history, I believe it’s the real “American way.”

I’ve always believed that government is not supposed to be the answer to every question, the solution to every problem. Government involvement, also known as government interference, should be a last resort, if used at all. Government assistance and government regulations shouldn’t be the first response to our needs and problems.

As someone once said, “A government big enough to give you everything you want is big enough to take away everything you have.”

It seems that if business and industry didn’t have to spend so much time and jump through so many hoops to meet government regulations, there would be much more creativity and innovation in meeting needs and challenges.

It’s a concept worth bringing back, don’t you think?

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How Could You Miss Something SO Big????

Did you hear or read about the airline pilots who missed the Minneapolis airport by 150 miles? Just in case you haven’t, here’s an excerpt of the AP story:

Controllers on the ground, pilots of other planes, even a flight attendant back in the cabin tried to alert the crew as the Northwest airliner zoomed past Minneapolis at 37,000 feet. Worried about who was actually at the controls, officials asked the crew to prove who they were by executing turns after they finally were contacted….With no response from the two pilots Wednesday night, the plane flew 150 miles past its destination before turning back…

On the ground, police and FBI agents prepared for the worst, and the Air National Guard put fighter jets on alert at two locations as the drama unfolded…..the Airbus A320 was over Eau Claire, Wis., and the pilots had been out of communication with air traffic controllers for over an hour. They turned back and landed safely in Minneapolis, the plane's scheduled destination.

Commentators on TV and radio, talk show hosts, newspaper writers and others have made a big deal out of this. How in the world could pilots miss the airport by 150 miles???

What were those pilots doing? Were they asleep? Involved in a deep conversation? Arguing? What? After a couple of days, they said they “had been having a heated discussion about airline policy.”

Whatever they were doing seemed to defy belief. There was an air of incredulity in the news reports.

It seemed odd to me also, but, unfortunately, I also could identify with it – somewhat.

We were on a family trip to California years ago and were scheduled to compete on “Family Feud,” which we did twice, by the way. On this particular trip, we used one day to visit one of Mom’s co-workers, a friend in Marina del Ray. I was at the wheel of the rental car on the return trip from Marina del Ray back to Hollywood.

From the interstate, I totally missed Hollywood. I missed Los Angeles. I missed all of those exits. I remembered seeing a sign for Burbank, but didn’t think that’s where we were supposed to go. All of a sudden we were seeing signs for places far north of Los Angeles. How could this be? How could one just pass by Los Angeles?

How does one miss a city the size of Los Angeles? I don’t know. I wasn’t napping at the wheel. But I was arguing. And I was being stubborn. (This is the first time I have admitted that!)

Maybe because the city is SO large, there were no exits marked simply “Los Angeles” or “Hollywood.” Perhaps they all just had names of streets and of small communities – names I wouldn’t have recognized.

Yes, the pilots who missed Minneapolis are professionals; I was just a regular driver. Just the same, I understand that sometimes you just don’t see the big things right in front of you!

O, Civility, Where Art Thou?

What has happened to us as a society? Why are we, generally speaking, no longer civil to each other?


Look at the last 10 days or so. Kanye West’s tirade in the midst of Taylor Swift’s acceptance speech, Joe Wilson’s outburst during the president’s speech, Serena Williams’ obvious crude language directed toward the referee, Federer’s display the following day. 

Since all or most have apologized, it seems they knew they were out of line - at least after the fact.

For decades, presidents have talked about the need for civility. So have others – poets, authors, entertainers and more. Look at the following quotes:

As citizens we have to be more thoughtful and more educated and more informed. I turn on the TV and I see these grown people screaming at each other, and I think, well, if we don't get our civility back, we're in trouble. Emmylou Harris

There can be no high civility without a deep morality. Ralph Waldo Emerson

Civility costs nothing, and buys everything. Mary Wortley Montagu
All of civility depends on being able to contain the rage of individuals. Joshua Lederberg

When once the forms of civility are violated, there remains little hope of return to kindness or decency. Samuel Johnson

Just a few years ago, the SC Supreme Court adopted an “oath of civility” that attorneys are required to take to practice law in South Carolina. How in the world did we get to such a point that the court has to require such an oath?

Is it television? Movies? Is it lifestyle? Is it the lyrics in today’s music? Is it the mudslinging in politics? Is it the 24-hour coverage of everything under the sun? Is it a feel-good society or a lack of personal responsibility in society?

Is it money or greed?  Is it the need to win - at sports, politics or whatever?

I don’t have the answers but certainly do welcome your comments, thoughts and ideas.

Inquiring Minds Want to Know

Okay, so maybe there aren't that many inquiring minds and maybe I’m the only one who wants to know, but I am very curious about something.

It’s fair to assume, I believe, that most people who read blogs probably have cell phones. Cell phones display the number or the name - or both - of the caller when a all comes through.

The question is this: Do you always answer your phone when it rings? Do you look to see who is calling first? Do you answer even if the number is an unknown one?

In the last few days, I’ve been getting anywhere from 2 to 6 calls per day from an “unknown number.” That’s what shows up on the screen and that’s it. The person calling never leaves a message – and I don’t answer the ringing phone. These calls just started recently and they've continued every day.

Am I wrong not to answer? If the caller really wants to reach me, shouldn’t he/she leave a message?

Besides, do we have phones for our own convenience or for the convenience of others? When I’m relaxing or when I’m busy, I don’t want to answer polls about political candidates or learn that I've been selected to visit a resort with no obligation except to listenj to brief presentation.

What do you think?

Gov. Mark Sanford: Number One Songs, Then & Now

When Mark and Jenny Sanford got married on Nov. 4, 1989, the number one song in the U.S. was “Listen to Your Heart” by Roxette.

Sometime later – about 12 or so years later – the heart he was listening to was saying "Argentina." And, as far as we can tell – and based on what the SC governor says – his heart is still in Argentina.

Where his heart is, though, is not the concern of our state’s citizens. Where his head is – now that is of concern to the citizenry.

Based on his actions, his heart and his head - and all of the rest of him - have been in Argentina lately.

His personal life is his business. We’ve never had a perfect elected official and we never will. We elect them, imperfections and all.

But when we elect our officials, while we may not expect perfection, we most certainly expect them to carry out the duties of their respective offices.

That is where Mark Sanford failed the state of South Carolina.

His betrayal of his wife, his absence from his four sons on Father’s Day – those are not impeachable offenses, although they most likely brought to a standstill his presidential ambitions.

His failures as husband and father are the business of the Sanford family. His failure as governor is of public concern, and rightly so.

Some officials claim that Sanford is so head-over-heels “ga-ga” in love with his Argentinean soul mate that he is not thinking clearly and can’t effectively govern even with his return to the state. A few are suggesting a chemical imbalance and mental instability, among other things.

Does being “ga-ga” in love mean the governor is incapacitated to the extent that he cannot effectively govern? I don’t know.

But he was definitely incapacitated geographically and unable to govern when he left the country for five days, slipping away from his own security and making himself unreachable by any living soul in the United States. There is reason to question his judgment, his decision-making skills, his concern for the state.

Some pundits say, “Oh, well, there was no emergency, so everything is okay.”
That there was no actual emergency does not excuse Sanford.

South Carolina has faced emergencies before: several hurricanes over the years, riots, the recent Myrtle Beach wildfires, for example. Anything could happen without notice: a train derailment, an airplane crash, a disease outbreak.

Maybe Sanford, who still declares that Maria in Argentina is his soul-mate, is thinking about that famous line from the movie Love Story: “Love means never having to say you’re sorry.”

He might do better to quote Marlon Brando in the 1954 movie On the Waterfront: "I coulda had class. I coulda been a contender. I coulda been somebody, instead of a bum, which is what I am, let's face it."

Or perhaps he should just go by the title of this week’s Billboard chart-topper. It’s by The Black Eyed Peas: "The E.N.D."

Photo Hunt Saturday: STRIPES! Yipes!

One of the things I enjoy about the weekly Photo Hunt is that it makes me more observant of things around me. I notice things I had not previously noticed. This week I learned that stripes are everywhere!

Stripes are in my house: on wrapping paper, sheets and even this Kleenex tissue box.

Some toys have stripes. Did you ever own a Zube Tube?

There's a stripe in the sky outside my house, although this stripe is temporary.

Some road signs have stripes.

Even roads have stripes.

This bus at our church is used to transport people with Alzheimer's to "The Ark" -- our respite care program. See? The bus has stripes.

Many businesses in our town (Summerville, SC) have striped awnings.

Even the window under this awning looks like it has stripes!

These stripes are on the mooring poles in Venice, where the waterways serve as streets. The poles vary by families. Even the gondoliers where striped shirts. Did you know the members of the gondoliers guild are almost all male? It's a very difficult profession to get into and sometimes the work passes down through families. Licenses are limited in number and they, too, are difficult to obtain. It seems that relatives of long-time gondoliers have preference.

This family's mooring poles remind me of barber poles, which aren't as prevalent as they used to be.

Do you know how the striped barber poles came about?

According to Wikipedia, "the red and white stripes symbolize the bandages used during the (barbering) procedure: red for the blood-stained and white for the clean bandages. Originally, these bandages were hung on the pole to dry after washing. As the bandages blew in the wind, they would twist together to form the spiral pattern similar to the stripes in the modern day barber pole. The barber pole became emblematic of the barber/surgeon's profession. Later the cloths were replaced by a painted wooden pole of red and white stripes."

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Have you done something to earn your stripes? That phrase probably came about because of the various professions in which stripes are earned: military, law enforcement, etc. It is now widely used to refer to anyone who has worked hard to earn a position or level of responsibility.

I'm trying to earn my stripes as a blogger!

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To visit other participants in Photo Hunt, click here.

A True Story in the Spirit of Christmas Giving

In Greenville, South Carolina, there were two state employees named Ralph and Mike; both worked in and handled computers for the Governor’s School for the Arts and Humanities.
There were rumors of deep cuts in all state agencies and soon, those rumors, turned to fact. The Governor’s School was going to cut a certain number of employees.
Ralph, a state employee for just over 20 years and getting closer and closer to being able to retire, knew that he and Mike wouldn’t both be cut; it would necessary to have at least one person handling information/computer systems for this agency. Ralph also knew that one of them would be cut but he was the one with seniority.
Ralph volunteered to take the cut about a month ago. The agency head told him he would likely be spared since he had seniority, but Ralph insisted that he be the one cut.
Want to know why?
His friend and co-worker, Mike, had young children, including a three-year-old with autism. Ralph was aware of the costs of therapy and such for the child with autism; he knew the family likely could not provided what was needed if Mike lost his job.
Thanks to Ralph, Mike is still employed; Ralph Hanahan is looking for a job and hoping to find something before his unemployment benefits run out.
What a story, huh?

Here's the link to the story on ABC's Good Morning, America.

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/HolidayTheme/story?id=6509844&page=1

Thank You, Veterans!

Grandma GOOFS Up!

Sometimes even grandmas goof up!
Today, I’m the grandma who goofed. And I’ve only been a grandma for five months! I wonder how many more times I’ll get bad marks.

It happened like this. Son-in-law Adam’s grandfather died, not unexpectedly. He, my daughter Mandy and grandson, Harrison, flew in to South Carolina from their home in Colorado. They are staying with Adam’s family but it was my task, i.e. privilege and joy, to take care of Harrison during the funeral. We didn’t get to play much because it was his nap time – and he took advantage of nap time. He must have been worn out from the traveling because he snored the cutest little snores!
At the appropriate time, I took Harrison back to his parents and, after a brief visit, went out with my friend, The Dawg, to play trivia. When I took out my phone to see what time it was, I saw that daughter Mandy had called several times, so I figured with several calls in a short time span, something must be terribly wrong. I quickly returned her call.

It was an emergency indeed. When I took Harrison back, I had not brought with me Eddie the Elephant! Oh, my gosh! Eddie the Elephant was lost. Mandy sounded rather frantic. I told her I would go home and look for Eddie and bring him to them if and when I found him.
I went home and, sure enough, there was Eddie the Elephant on the floor. I don’t know if I dropped Eddie or if Harrison dropped Eddie, but one of us dropped him – and like a good Eddie the Elephant, he stayed put.

Now it’s almost 10 pm. I’ve tried to reach Mandy by phone several times over the past hour to find out where I should deliver Eddie the Elephant. No answer. And since her in-laws recently moved, I don’t know where to take Eddie.
Maybe Harrison will be able to sleep without Eddie. I certainly hope so.
There’s nothing like goofing up as a grandma!

You've Been WHERE????

With the start of the school year, teachers brace themselves for all kinds of excuses about homework not getting done. Some are old, some are new. Some of the excuses are hum-drum and some very creative.
When my son, Tree, was in elementary school, he didn’t have his homework to turn in one day. The teacher told him he would stay in at recess and do the work.
After recess, she asked him for his work; he told her he hadn’t had time to do it, explaining that he had instead gone to Mars, had just gotten back and hadn’t had enough time to get the work done!
Some imagination, huh? I believe the child was day-dreaming.

Will YOU Make a Difference? Another Serious Post

"Not voting is so last season." Kenneth Cole

In commemoration of Women's Equality Day, which celebrates the passage of the 19th Amendment in 1920 giving women the right to vote, in various communities there will be a special showing of the 2004 HBO movie Iron Jawed Angels. Iron Jawed Angels stars academy award winner Hillary Swank as Alice Paul (1885 – 1977), a leader of the women's suffrage movement.

Many of today's women do not realize how long and arduous a fight it was for women to receive the right the vote. The first women's rights convention was organized in 1848 and it was not until 72 years later in 1920 that the dream was realized.

Iron Jawed Angels tells the story of Alice Paul and her colleagues during the last few years of the suffrage movement and their unflappable determination to convince President Woodrow Wilson, the Congress and the state legislatures to pass the 19th Amendment. The suffragists battle older, more conservative female activists, chauvinistic public opinion, and very powerful men. The women are eventually thrown in jail and make headline news around the country with their hunger strike. The term "iron jawed angels" refers to their resistance at being force fed during their hunger strike. It is their wills, however, that are made of iron and their courage inspires a nation and changes it forever.

Any woman who sees this film will never look at voting the same way again.

Regardless of your political views or political persuasion, it is SO important to be involved and to vote! One year, my dad ran for office and lost that election by only 9 votes. This year in a municipal primary in Florence, SC, there was a one-vote difference! There are all kinds of stories about the importance of one vote. They are TRUE!!!!! YOU are an important part of the election process. YOU can make a difference -- for yourself, your spouse, your children, your parents and your community!

A Serious Post: JonBenet Ramsey

The news is out. The DNA found on JonBenet Ramsey doesn’t match the DNA of family members.
What does this mean to us?
For some of us, it means to quit jumping to conclusions. It means “innocent until proven guilty.” It means “Oh, my gosh, I was wrong.”
How many of us thought someone in the Ramsey family was responsible for JonBenet’s death?
Many of us.
Now, members of the Ramsey family have been cleared because of DNA evidence.
The Ramsey family dealt with the loss of a cute and apparently precocious child. On top of that, they dealt with the scrutiny from the media and from the general public. So much of public opinion convicted the Ramseys. They appeared on national TV shows professing their innocence and trying to convince the world of their innocence. In an interview with Barbara Walters, Patsy Ramsey discussed how hurt and insulting it was to be dealing with accusations and questions.
It’s hard to face the fact that some parents hurt their children. [At first, I wrote that it is hard to imagine such behavior, but, unfortunately, we don’t have to imagine it; we know it’s a fact. Consider Susan Smith and Andrea Yates, among many others.]
Anyway, the news that DNA evidence has cleared the family of JonBenet Ramsey’s murder was something of a tragedy in itself.
The tragedy of this new revelation some 12 years after JonBenet’s death (she would be 18 this year) is that her mother didn’t live long enough to receive this news. She died of cancer two years ago – and probably somewhat of a broken heart.
One thing I don’t understand about all of this is why this took 12 years. News reports indicate this is “new” evidence. If the DNA samples were taken from JonBenet’s clothing, how is it new? How did authorities not come up with that evidence immediately? Crime scene investigation is not an area of expertise for me, so I hesitate to second-guess the experts. Certainly there must be an explanation for the 12-year time lapse; I just haven’t heard it yet. The good news is that authorities have not given up on this matter.
Regardless, this is still a tragedy within a tragedy.


(Photo of JonBenet from the Internet. Z Studio/Zuma Press.)

What WAS That Song?

Perhaps you’ve read or heard the news out of Denver this week: a woman was invited to sing the National Anthem before Mayor John Hickenlooper gave his annual “State of the City” address.
Only problem is that the singer, Rene Marie, used only the tune of the anthem; she substituted the words of “Lift Every Voice” for those of the “Star-Spangled Banner.” She didn’t ask permission to sing different words; she advised no one with the city ahead of time. In fact, City Council President Michael Hancock introduced her to perform the national anthem, and that’s what he and other city leaders expected.
I think there’s something wrong here. Rene Marie wasn’t invited to perform a musical selection of her choice; she wasn’t asked to simply provide some entertainment. She wasn’t given a list of five or so selections and told to pick her own from among the list. She was invited to sing the National Anthem at this government function.
The woman later said she is an artist and that as an artist, she has artistic rights to express herself.
Indeed, she may be an artist. No doubt she has talent. It takes talent to sing the “Star-Spangled Banner,” one of the hardest vocal selections outside of opera, it seems. And then to substitute words to a difficult tune! Yes, that takes talent.
But, I think she was wrong to sing anything other than the National Anthem itself. That’s what she was asked to sing. If she wasn’t comfortable performing this particular selection, she should have declined the invitation.
There’s a time and place for everything, and this wasn’t the time or the place for Rene Marie to change the lyrics to the National Anthem.

Declaration of INTERdependence

We Americans are proud of our independence, as well we should be. July 4th is quite a day in most communities of our country.
Sometimes, though, I think we ought to recognize and celebrate our interdependence. We wave our flags and celebrate independence, but, in reality, we are truly an interdependent nation, an interdependent people. In other words, we depend on each other.
Think about just one routine day. Most of us depend upon the person who delivers the paper, the person who delivers the mail. Perhaps we depend on those who write the news articles in the newspaper. We depend upon those who deliver the news on radio and TV. We depend on other drivers to travel with care.
Generally, we depend on teachers, firefighters, law enforcement officers. We depend on farmers, wholesalers, retailers. We depend on friends and family to be there for us, in good times and in bad. We rely on doctors, nurses, hospital personnel; cooks and chefs in restaurants; employers and fellow employees. We depend on architects to design and engineers to build safe buildings, bridges and roads. We rely on inspectors to look out for consumers. We depend on bus drivers, pilots, train conductors. We trust and depend on counselors and religious leaders.
We depend on others and others depend on us. It’s fine to celebrate our independence, but perhaps we ought to take time to reflect on just how interdependent we are. We can’t do without each other. As John Donne wrote, “No man is an island.”
How fortunate we are to have each other! How fortunate we are to have not only our independence but also our interdependence.

Children and Laundry - A Perfect Match?

All three of my children (Tiffany, Tree & Mandy) started washing their own clothes at relatively young ages. The youngest, Mandy, was only three-years-old when she first began this chore.
But it wasn’t a chore to her. She was getting to do the very same thing her older siblings were doing, and, boy, was she excited! Since it was a top-loading washing machine, I had to pick her up and hold her so that she could drop her clothes inside and push the bottons. And, yes, I had to offer a little bit more help when it came time to get the clothes out of the washer.
Mandy’s excitement didn’t last forever, of course. The worst times were during her middle school years. She complained. She whined. She fussed. She pitched fits. After all, she was the only person in her entire school – even in the whole world – who had to wash her own clothes! But, poor thing, she wanted clean clothes, so she washed ‘em.
The fussing didn’t stop, though. It went on throughout middle school and into part of high school.
Then a strange thing happened. Mandy got to the point that she didn’t want anyone else to wash her clothes. On occasion, just because she was busy with school activities, I offered to do her clothes. Oh, no; she didn’t want help. She was afraid anyone else might mess up her clothes or not do them as well as she did or the way she preferred.
Now married and with a baby of her own, she wrote on her blog the other day that she remembers going to college and finding girls that were on their own and doing laundry for the first time ever. (My son said that when he moved into a dorm, he was sort of like a hero because he was the guy who could tell the others how to do laundry!)
The other thing she wrote on that blog was that she plans for her son to start doing his own laundry at an early age!
Can you imagine the smile that brought to my face?

Copyright 2008 Sherry Martschink