THE FACTS AT HAND Unfortunately, as a compromised country and culture,* we have elected a compromised president.

And that is not a rhetorical we, it is a fraternal we in that biblical sense; I am my brothers keeper. If I believe that you cant see that you are lost, I am obligated to care for you as the Samaritan did for his brother. And I must not only care for you, I must help you to understand so that you can survive in the organics of our everyday lives, knowing that all things change. In the human realm this has meant that we plan for the future, and we share information with others precisely because there is the omnipresent unknown over which we have only a modicum of control. In other words, our evolutionary success is due to the fact that we do what we know we need to do in order to insure that sufficient numbers know, and can do, so that they (or we as a whole) can provide for ourselves and our loved ones. This means that we, as a whole sufficient numbers in a constitutional republic the electorate, elected an individual that has insufficient understanding of the nature of the human person. Not only is this represented in the individual of the presidency it is also represented in the Congress and in the behavior of a large segment of the citizenry of the republic. Given the abundance of the historical record, we have ample evidence that shows if we give someone or many too much they do not appreciate the gift. There are many reasons for this: the human person learns to expect when patterns prevail and if we have some ostensibly reliable source of food, money, healthcare, or what have you, we (many) will merely wait for that to be produced and delivered. This must be seen with the instructive facts of history. Fact: Historically, we have the Seven Deadly Sins and the Virtues.** *Facts: Approximately 50% of wages earners in the U.S. dont pay income taxes. And approximately 50% of the people in the U.S. receive some form of governmental assistance. That this is an anathema to the facts at hand concerning the nature and survival of the species if obvious and this has been amply demonstrated by history. **For those of you who may have forgotten: Deadly Sins: Wrath, Greed, Sloth, Pride, Lust, Envy, and Gluttony. Virtues: Prudence, Justice, Temperance, Courage, Faith, Hope, and Charity.

Fact: The former are reviled, the latter are prized and respected. Fact: Human nature is at the disposition of reality and intent. Fact: We can, by our commitments, better ourselves and care for our loved ones to the degree we are able. Fact: The free expression of our capabilities and our actions maximizes our ability to do this. And now we turn to some observations about our current presidential and political scene. There are many red flags: Our national debt is approaching impossible numbers. Individuals on the governmental dole exceed any rational number. Tax payer numbers cannot support the current levels of governmental activity in any conceivably fair way. The cost of education in no way can be justified by the return on our investment. Healthcare is a personal responsibility for the most part. It is also true that accidents do occur, and nature prevails. Utopias have been described for some time; we have yet to find any at the human level, or any other level for that matter. * * * There is a certain pathos in our current circumstance. The Congressional approval rating is at an all time low. The presidents approval rating approximates the governmental dole. Trust in our social institutions is fading. When a constitutional republics working-parts fail, there is a high likelihood that there will be some adjustments to the governing of this republic. History is our most helpful predictor of change. I would like to look at these two attributes of our nation: The Presidency, the Congress, and the society at large. There is pathos in and around The Presidency. The President is a fear driven adolescent in a mans body. He manifests himself as an angry adolescent who never grew into his own skin. He is driven ideologically as that adolescent and consequently he cannot comprehend nor defend his espoused ideology. He has not been able to comprehend the essential aspect of the absolute and sacred need for fundamental human freedom. As an honestly dishonest adolescent, he cannot use the words truth and respect without stumbling over himself. He has lived in a fear driven, angry, guilt ridden, and false pride (lying) vicious circle all of his life. This will continue forever, or until a maturing process moves him on to the heroics of human growth. Unfortunately, he has never been able to accomplish this necessary growth. This circumstance is mirrored by a large group in the U.S. population

which is also suffering a crisis of childhood/adolescent behavior. This is also an attribute of too many of the current members of both parties in the U.S. congress. We, those who should have been paying attention to the well-being of the body politic, have been seriously negligent. We have allowed our culture to devolve into a dependent morass of whiners who perceive themselves entitled to everything and anything. And to make matters worse, we have not educated our populace sufficiently to comprehend some simple laws of physics: Bodies in motion tend to stay in motion maintain a given directionality. The objective to live in an entertainment universe has taken the edge off our abilities to maintain sufficient credibility in dealing with the facts at hand instead of the facts on the screen/display, whatever. Responsibility is the key to the success in the journey of humanitys efforts. Sweat counts for something! Objectives do matter. The truth belongs to itself and it is in our best interests to comprehend sufficient truths in order to maintain a productive presence as individuals, families, groups, countries, and as a global whole. Leadership is an essential attribute of growing/maturing societies. A leaderless gaggle, flock, herd, crowd, or group, cannot be in the best interests of the whole. Those who are poorly committed and those ignorant of the facts at hand, approximately 50%, of the voting public, intend to vote for an adolescent attempting to lead. Neither they, nor he, have any clue as to what it takes to form a working whole while providing for sufficient expressions of freedom to sustain the activities of a whole. The sad facts of the matter are that most know that something is fundamentally wrong, and yet as frightened adolescents they, and he, continue on a course of failure. Grow or you lose. If you lose, those around you also lose, and the whole world loses. Failure is not an option! What part of this do we not understand? Any part should serve to remind us to adopt a serious adult commitment to the virtues and to strike a course to remediate the madness of the present. The media is profoundly adrift, screaming minions make the news of the day at the speed of live, news is reported by mostly incompetents, schools for the most part are failing, we have a government that does not understand how to balance a budget, Mother Nature needs our help, frivolities become lifelong goals, obesity reigns supreme, neophytes and children are elected to public office. How are we doing? It could be worse. Now is the time for each and every able body and able mind to gather themselves, tighten their belts, roll up their sleeves, and focus their commitments. We must save ourselves and the nation. Lets get it done.

 Don Davison Pathtotheself.com