Please Governor Sanford

I feel like a fish out of water. Only blogging a couple of times in the past three weeks has left me wondering where to start and what to say. The end of November and the entire month of December were incredibly busy weeks, and I have so much “material” that I’m having a bit of a dilemma deciding where to start. Hmm. Think I’ll start with today and work backwards.

Today, the primary thing on my mind is Governor Sanford’s decision not to borrow the money needed to provide benefits for the 77,000 laid-off south Carolinians. The money is there, and the feds are willing and ready to lend it, but the governor says NO WAY until the SC Employment commission agrees to provide him with information about how it administers benefits and then submit to a review by the Legislative Audit Council.

There’s nothing I can say here that hasn’t already been said by those far more eloquent than I. Check out today’s The State and read the editorial on page A6. Yes, I know that there are those who misuse funds and those who are able-bodied who do not work.  Still, what I keep thinking about is how easy it is to “play chicken” with unemployed South Carolinians when you live in the big house on the hill and NEVER have to worry about paying the mortgage, keeping the electricity on, buying groceries, taking your child to a doctor, putting gas in your car, and so forth.  Neither, in fact, do the legislators; even after these “esteemed” individuals leave Columbia, they’ll continue receiving stipends, most of them more grand than the average working Joe or Jane.

Please, Governor Sanford, request the money. A cold, hungry, sick child needs milk and medicine.

Obama and Warren

One of the neat features of wordpress is the easy access to blogs on topics ranging from love to travel to politics and everything in-between. This morning, in curiosity, I clicked on one that included posts to CNN’s article about Rick Warren giving the prayer at the upcoming presidential inauguration. It seems that all sorts of people are upset by Obama’s choice, especially gay rights groups. I quickly skimmed dozens of the posts and was appalled at the vindictive, spiteful, intolerant attitude of many of the bloggers. Just when I was getting ready to post a little something of my own, I saw that the blog had been closed to further posts…and I could well understand why. When writers are so vile (even vulgar) with their comments, it detracts from the credibility of what they have to say and taints the “aura” of the entire blog.

That said, there are a couple of comments that I just have to make. First, President-Elect Obama is, in my humble, naïve opinion, a man for the people, by the people, and of the people. Several bloggers mentioned that he’s African American. Perhaps so, but he’s also Euro-American…biracial, in fact.  He’s OUR next American president. Fortunately for us, he’s an extremely intelligent man who doesn’t have to rely on the opinions of his detractors.

About the choice of Warren, is there a man (or woman) alive today who would please everyone? Any Christian would probably disturb the Muslims, Hindus, Jews, Buddhists, and atheists. The fact is that Warren has written one of the best-selling books in the world and is pushing to fight poverty and illiteracy through his PEACE coalition. What have you done? What are you doing to make the world a better place?

One more thing. Aren’t there more pressing problems in the United States to be concerned about? Problems like war, unemployment, a scary financial situation, Seniors’ medical benefits being cut, poverty, and homelessness plague our great country. People are vexed over who’s saying a prayer to the Almighty while gangs roam the streets and people are losing their jobs by the hour????

Bottom line. Obama’s the next president, and it’s his party. Take a chill pill and call me in the morning. Better yet, don’t call. Just chill.

Christmas Frenzy

Yay! Grades are in for all of my eight classes of the semester, and I can get off the treadmill for a while…er, maybe for a day anyway. At some point, I must buy, wrap, and deliver gifts; decorate my tree and home; peruse cookbooks for holiday dishes that are appropriate for get-togethers, cookie exchanges,  breakfast, brunch, lunch, and dinner; look carefully at the calendar to make sure I can work in a couple of Christmas concerts, my nephew’s rehearsal dinner and wedding, and other miscellaneous events, including tonight’s book club for which I’m to bring a book for a book exchange (got it covered) and a food treat (still working on that); plan some entertainment for a family Christmas gathering, and so on and on and on. In fact, why am I taking precious minutes to write this? I need to hit the malls right now!

Does this sound familiar? Are all of you gals out there in Blogland as stressed as I am? Why do we do this to ourselves? I’m taking a tip from something I read in a recent newspaper: Tell your family that you’re going out to take care of some Christmas errands and slip into a movie instead.  I think I might do just that…after I hang my wreaths and wash the Christmas china, that is.

I must add a little something before posting this. On the way to work this morning, I heard a little story from Chuck Swindoll on the radio. He was telling of a Christmas gathering of Satan and a few of his friends and followers. As they were making merry, the “adversary” told his fellow revelers to make sure that people kept the “Merry” in Christmas so that they’d concentrate on partying, laughing, celebrating, and so forth instead of focusing on the real reason for the season, the birth of Jesus Christ, Savior of mankind.