So, now I'm interested. Donald Trump decided to post this challenge to Obama this morning.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MgOq9pBkY0I

I'm curious to know what my readers think of it. To me, it seems to make perfect, logical sense. I don't find it in any way offensive, no different than someone who has no worries about being the father of a baby would about taking a DNA test. If there is nothing there, then why not come out and show people? It would seem to me that it would be a WONDERFUL stunt, especially this late in the election game. Let's see what you've got, Mr. President. Go ahead and climb that ladder to the moral high ground.. Make everyone below you ashamed that they ever challenged your greatness. You have a chance to stop, once and for all, everyone who has challenged your right to have been elected in the first place. In addition you could be directly responsible for Trump having to contribute 5 MILLION dollars to your favorite organization. Imagine how much that would make the right wing conservatives squirm, if you decided to have him donate the money to an LGTB cause.. If anyone read my blog yesterday I think its pretty obvious what I personally think of you, but hell, I've been proven wrong before. Of course, even if you come forward and meet the challenge I won't gain a LOT of respect, simply because of your 4 year track record, but at least it would prove to everyone without a shadow of a doubt that you have had the right to screw up the country for the last 4 years. But, alas- *sigh* I suspect you won't rise to the challenge. If you acknowledge it at all you will be utterly offended by it, shocked at the audacity of someone to challenge that what you claim is true. You will claim that it is no one's business but your own and you will refuse to compromise your morals because it is below you to do so. You will shake your head and smirk sarcastically and very little will come of it. Your supporters will be behind you, of course, calling Trump names and shifting the spotlight over to everything HE has done wrong over the years because that is the way of small men and cockroaches when a focused light is put on their flaws and accusations. They shrink away and run from the light of truth, trying to hide in the shadows that are cast by others who bask in the same light. Again, I am not a Republican, nor am I particularly conservative in my views, nor do I particularly care for Romney, but I DID notice that when a similar challenge was posted to him he at least produced what was asked for, and there was no monetary gain involved in the question. So, on this particular issue I have to stand grudgingly at Trump's side and ask. If there is nothing to hide in your records then please, step off the moral high horse for a moment, swallow your pride and show the American people that you have every right to be in your position. Prove how wrong we are to be suspicious of a man who has steadfastly refused to produce evidence of his qualifications as opposed to us just taking your word for things. Because honestly, as I pointed out yesterday, to me your word isn't really worth a whole lot.

It occurs to me as the election draws closer that we are a nation doomed to fail. Harsh words, I know, but an unfortunate truth. Simply put, the selections that we have made for our presidential candidates clearly show that the United States is on a path of destruction. I hear my liberal friends not talking about how great Obama is, but instead how bad Romney is. I hear my conservative friends doing the same thing from the other side. I have frequently heard how one side or the other is behind their candidate simply to keep the other one out of office. There is no honor any more. There are no more 'good' leaders. Words like 'Honor' and 'Integrity' have become vilified relics of an ancient and forgotten past.  In fact, if Obama's word was worth ANYTHING he would have had the dignity to not even run for re-election this time based on a statement he made shortly after inauguration. Some of you may remember this quote: "If I cannot fix the economic problems in this country in 3 years I will be a one term President" The statement was not that he would try, or that he would do his best, but that he WOULD fix the problems, or he would not seek reelection. Well, along comes 4 years later and anyone with a small percentage of a brain can look around and see things aren't fixed. In fact, things are much worse than they were before. Now, I'm not pointing fingers saying its all his fault, because its not. What I AM saying is that he blatantly lied to the American people and then chose to ignore that fact. Anyone with a base amount of integrity would have been approached to run for re-election, shaken his head and said, "Nope. I can't do it. I made a direct promise and I wasn't able to keep it. Sorry, but you need to find someone else." Instead, he blames everyone else. He makes excuses. You know what? I don't care WHY you couldn't do what you said, I only care about what you said and what DIDN'T happen. If he was remotely any sort of a creature with a spine he would have shaken his head sadly, shrugged and stepped down because he broke a promise no matter what the reason was for it. This fact, above and beyond any of the other issues, tells me that this man has no integrity. This is what some people want as an elected leader of our country. Now, if this was a statement that had been made during the bid for election, I could forgive it to a certain extent, but it was a statement that was made AFTER he was elected. This type of behavior is exactly the reason I say the country is doomed. We will shatter and fall to pieces as a nation because none of the elected leaders have any integrity or honor. They will make excuses and blame anyone they can remotely get away with pointing a finger at as insurance companies and banks tighten the nooses more and more, large corporations and private interests bleed us dry, chipping away slowly at the ability of the middle class to survive. Would Romney be any better? I doubt it. The difference is he would only have 4 years to do damage to the country, as opposed to 8. Conduct an experiment, it will drive my point home clearly. Take a bucket full of termites and let them go in your house. After 4 years the house will show signs of damage, things will need to be fixed, but it will still be essentially stable. Now- don't get rid of them or fix any of the damages. Let them sit there and gnaw at the structure for 8 years. See how close your house is to falling down. Now, instead, after 4 years remove the termites and put in carpenter ants. They are going to attack different parts of the house. They aren't going to make things better, but at least the damage will be spread around a bit. It truly saddens me that the best we can come up with as what was formerly a strong nation has to pick between the termites and the carpenter ants to work on our house. It would be nice to be able to elect a carpenter instead, someone who was more concerned with fixing the problems, as opposed to taking what they wanted to thrive at the expense of the structure.

I was just sitting here listening to some music and it suddenly occurred to me. This country needs some heroes. I don't mean sports figures doing lines of cocaine behind the bleachers, or weaselly politicians making up any lies they can as they go along just to get people to follow them blindly, I mean actual heroes. Those larger than life individuals who, throughout history, have had the courage and conviction to stand up for what they thought was wrong and fix it, through whatever means were necessary. When did heroes go out of fashion, anyway? Was it around the time that wimpy became sensitive? Maybe it was around the time that 'Politically Correct' became the new norm and people started being afraid of saying anything because it might be construed as offensive to someone. When did being weak become an attractive trait? more importantly WHY did weak become an attractive trait? We've traded our black and white heroes for fifty shades of grey. Maybe I'm a throwback, perhaps somewhat of a barbarian. I smoke and I drink whiskey and I think that when someone does something wrong they should be punished for it, more to the point, they should be brave enough to stand up and accept that punishment. People don't do that anymore. They look around and peek and snivel and listen at keyholes to find someone else to blame. Our heroes have traded in their cowboy hats and six guns for polo shirts and excuses. Some people say that we're advancing as a race because of that. Personally I think we've lost more that we can possibly imagine. We're losing a vital part of ourselves through endless amounts of litigation, counseling and this crazy idea what 'we must all just get along'. The unfortunate fact is that we haven't advanced far enough to 'all just get along' yet. That thought only works if there are no more bad guys. The world is still full of bad guys. Now though, thanks to these strange new standards we raise THEM up as heroes. Whoever can get away with more wins. I think maybe it starts early, in school now. It used to be that when there was a bully on the playground it would be only tolerated for so long and then they would end up getting punished for it, many times when someone was just sick enough of being bullied that they finally stood up and defended themselves or those who couldn't for one reason or another. Back in the day I suspect many long term life lessons were imparted on the school playground. Now we have 'anti-bullying coalitions' that have staged wonderful campaigns to 'stop bullying'. Kids are taught from the time they go to school that bullying is bad and if they see it they should tell a teacher. Well, great thought- except it doesn't work. The bullies just get sneakier about it. Whatever drives them to behave the way they do hasn't CHANGED any, they just have to become more intelligent and work around the system. (I suspect the ones that get REALLY good at it grow up to become lawyers and politicians) but in any case, when the opportunity arises they still go back to whatever drives them, except now they are even WORSE because they've learned how to scheme and plan much worse instances of bullying instead of just slamming a kid against his locker and demanding his lunch money. Now they're more likely to follow their perspective target home and knife him in a dark alley. The other side of this coin is the victim- Children are told to not fight back, no matter what, and are actually punished as much, or more than the bully themselves if they deign to defend themselves. They are told to 'tell someone' if something happens. In essence, the courage to stand up for themselves is being bred out of children. Little Johnny finally stood up for himself and faced his fears and the bully has instead become Little Johnny bravely ran to the teacher and cried for help. We have effectively created an environment where everyone is dependent upon the magnanimous Authority to save them and that its bad for them to stand up for themselves. They should let the Authority figures do it for them and protect them so all can get along in peace and harmony. Not such a huge leap to see why our society is becoming weak and pathetic, is it? Now, I'm sure there are those of you who will be entirely indignant and say I'm absolutely wrong about my theories. Well, that's very possible and you are more than welcome to your own opinions. However, I WILL point out, in defense of my observations, that when I was a child, back in the dark ages before anti-bullying programs, there were no metal detectors in school and no one I knew was ever shot or stabbed. There were a few miserable days (Yes, I WAS bullied occasionally as a kid) but the thought committing suicide because no one would save me never even crossed my mind. Problems came along and were dealt with, just like in real life. Its just a crazy thought, and likely one that doesn't fit well in the modern mold of today's 'poor me' society, but maybe its time to teach kids how to be heroes again, instead of victims.

Sorry I haven't posted i a while, Things have been beyond hectic around here. As anyone who reads this knows, I have to get out of my house due to a foreclosure. Well, after looking everywhere around here I found a place. It is an abandoned property up in the mountains and I will have a chance to stay there as a caretaker until the place sells. This is an AWESOME thing even though there is no electricity, heat, the water heater has been removed and I have to supply my own liability and renter's insurance- Thus problem 1. I was planning on moving my wood stove up there and using it as a primary heat source. Here begins the stupidity of modern insurance. Since the place is more than one (1)!!! block away from a fire hydrant it is essentially uninsurable if I decide to heat with wood. Scratch the free plan. So.... on to step 2. Instead of being able to buy a decent generator I now get to instead spend a bit over 1000$ (Closer to 1500 by the time the dust settles) an a Toyo fuel oil stove, then get to deal with the added expense of fuel oil deliveries. I'm still waiting on a modified quote for the insurance going THAT route, I may be able to get it now, but who the hell knows how expensive insurance will be. Anyway- Life is a balancing act, full of frustration and despair, but I refuse to fall off the tightrope. I'm clinging like a three toed sloth with tendenitis right now, but I'm still hanging on. My point in telling this story is this, though- How exactly did we get to become a society that is SO screwed up that someone who is doing their best has to overcome this obscene list of constant challenges? I mean, really- The bank refused to work with me so I had to find another place to live with winter coming on, I couldn't find a NORMAL place because rent was far to expensive for me to afford and according to the people with government rental assistance the waiting list is MONTHS long, even if I COULD have found a place they likely wouldn't have let my animals stay there anyway ( I know, some of you are asking why the animals are so important. To you I say- Read some of the older blog posts, I've tried to explain it) - so I find a place that, while not perfect, is someplace where we can be warm, dry and reasonably secure and then the insurance nazis won't let me move there because there likely isn't a FIRE HYDRANT within 60 miles of the location. I mean. come on, People! Has ANYONE else noticed the pattern here? I have been fighting banks, government and large corporations simply to try to exist. Not to live in the Waldorf, not to milk the system, merely to survive. I live in the freaking bush in Alaska and I'm going through this, I can't imagine what you poor saps down in the lower 48 have to deal with. Life has gotten crazy, complicated and impossible simply so the rich folks can get richer and the political machine can keep grinding on, spewing its filth and lies like toxic waste. I picture a perfect political cartoon in my head that I would LOVE to see if anyone on here knows how to draw. A steamroller labeled 'big corporations' driven jointly by both of the political candidates as it rolls slowly over whatever remains of this country, crushed and flattened people and families in its wake. See? If I could draw I would be a cutting edge satirist! Instead I suppose I'm stuck being a frustrated citizen who vents on an anonymous blog. To quote a Pink Floyd song this morning- Welcome to the Machine.