A time of fear

[Frenchy]

I'm sure most of you are familiar with the Cuban Missile Crisis, but few of you lived through it first-hand. I was a high school junior sitting in my first period science class, when my instructor came in. A normally effervescent fellow, he was somber and as white as a ghost. He told us that he would be gone for awhile, that he had been called up by his unit...The Missouri Air National Guard.
I don't think at the time that I appreciated the enormity of this time.
Today we live in a more complicated world, and a more dangerous one. The fear I have today is that we don't have a leader, nor one on the horizon that can deal with it. I see us on a run-away train with the throttle stuck wide open. There is a collapsed trestle up ahead that we don't see yet, but we are heading for it and can do nothing about it.
Who can realistically stop this impending wreck?

[Dave Starr]

I was in the Air Force then, stationed at Blytheville AFB, Arkansas - SAC. Half of our B-52's were in the air, the other half fueled, loaded & ready to go in 15 minutes or less. It was pretty intense.

Stopping the wreck? I can't think of anyone. Everything's become so polarized that I don't see any way to avoid the wreck.

[JeffXD]

I'll go with the train thing.

The problem is, the train engineer is too damn busy sticking his nose in all the other 50 cars of the train. Let each of the 50 cars take care of thier own business and let the engineer take care of the really big stuff. Very recently, the Oklahoma car sent a message to the engineer to keep his damn eyes on the track and drive and let the Oklahoma car leader take care of the Oklahoma car.


What am I trying to say? The President and the Congress are both too busy trying to tend to business that belongs to the states. In my view the federal government should be responsible for very little. Securing the borders and protecting us from our enemies. That is about it. Everything else is either fluff or something that should be tended to at the state level. One thing I haven't been able to work out in my own mind is the responsibility of infrastructure. Until we find and maintain leadership at the federal level that can accept thier limited responsiblity, we have a BIG problem. The big question is, where to find leadership that is able to check thier ego at the door and just do thier job.

[chupacabrachus]

Originally Posted by Frenchy

...
Today we live in a more complicated world, and a more dangerous one. The fear I have today is that we don't have a leader, nor one on the horizon ...

Which is why the country isn't fully run by one person.

[AZXD]

IMO, You're missing the bigger picture and message.

Originally Posted by chupacabrachus

Which is why the country isn't fully run by one person.

[AZXD]

Agreed!!!
If we cannot find an engineer or ... Heck even a good brakeman ... We will crash as the train speeds around a corner, or worse yet .... We just run out of track .... Who is needed certainly no one that either party wishes to offer ... Persistance can only go so far .... Then those who survive the impending wreck will most likely splinter off into subsections of what once was .... It's actually kind of sad to realize that we have in effect becomeso ignorant that we cannot find anyone who is able to operate the train.


Whooo! Whooo!
All aboard the Midnight Express

[chupacabrachus]

Originally Posted by AZXD

IMO, You're missing the bigger picture and message.

IMO, I am not missing anything and fully understand the reason for concern.

[FrankRizzoXD40]

Sadly to say, the only thing that might save us is 4 years of Obama!

yes...I'm serious.

That might be what it takes to get "conservatives" in this country to wake the hell up and return to conservative principles.

It would be like another failed Jimmuh Cahtah term, which ended up ushering in 8 years of Reagan.

Sometimes when I look at the sorry state of the republican party I find myself wishing for an Obama victory. But then I get scared at how much damage he would do.

Basically, it comes down to whether or not you think any damage that Obama can do is reversible. If I think he could f up stuff beyond repair, then I better not hope he wins. If I think that he would make things bad, but not bad enough for someone to fix, then it might not be a bad thing if he wins.

Frank

[ZenMachine]

As a country we are going to continue down the rabbit hole until our political leaders summon the courage or are replaced by people that have the courage to have a frank discussion with the American people about the problems we face. The largest problem is our dependence on the Persian Gulf region for oil. Until we are truly energy independent we are going to be stuck in the region in one form or another to guarantee that crude continues pumping to ourselves and the rest of the world. It will be difficult to reduce our consumption and simultaneously develop alternative sources of energy, and it will demand sacrifice from the American people.

Not one candidate either currently running that has dropped out has really made a point to mention the sacrifice that will be needed to make this transition happen as it is political martyrdom to do so. Why? We as citizens want to hear that we can keep driving f350s around town when a smaller car would work just as well. Our American way of life has turned into wanton consumption. If we as a nation decide that we want to be constantly fighting wars in the middle east to maintain our current standard of living then that is an option but we need to be honest with ourselves about what we are doing and why we are doing it.

[Bree]

Originally Posted by Frenchy

Who can realistically stop this impending wreck?

OK I'll stop it but it is going to cost you big time. Everything that you have.... that is the price... the NICE PRICE!!