"Where Have Our Finer Angels Gone?"

With each passing day and all that is served up to us as “news,” I become ever more incredulous at just how devoid of any basic human decency we possess as a nation. If what I believe to be the essence of our Supreme Creator is anywhere near what exists in reality, I can safely say that He would categorically reject, out of hand, every manifestation of self-interest that is now regarded as a virtue by those who are hell-bent on lacing their pockets at the expense of the very survival of this nation.

The rise of the Tea Party has proven to be the bane of our national interests. Moreover, they are deluded by some sinister force into honestly believing they are among His chosen ones! It cannot be empirically proven that God has ever talked to a living soul among us, but I would hazard a guess that the preponderance of that particular movement would not only insist that He talked to them on a regular basis, they would swear He paid them a personal visit!

Then we have all of those others who proudly claim to be “Republicans,” whatever that means. As far as I am concerned they have abandoned any semblance of human kindness in their self-ordained divine defense of all their material possessions and the pervasive fear that they just might have to share some of their coveted wealth with the least among us. All one has to do is engage in a cursory examination of the behavior of the oligarchs, the patriarchs, Corporate America, and the proliferation of lobbyists that scramble all over our Nation’s Capital like a pack of rats on a corpse, attempting to incur the favor of our “elected” officials at the expense of those who, ostensibly, elected them to office. Then we have those black-robed hypocrites who would have us believe that they genuinely believe in the rule of law, but who make no attempt to disguise their agendas as anything but that of servants to the most corrupt among us. Surely, there has to be a better method for selecting and confirming those who are elevated to that highest court in the land.

But, have you noticed that no amount of public scorn or derision even slows the bastards down. They just continue their vicious pursuits with abandon and absolutely no regard for the common good.

Some of the great minds that I respect and listen to are beginning to entertain the prospect that we are approaching the precipice of our national destruction. Because of the folly wrought by the elections of 2010 our future as a republic is being called into question. They have my attention. I am inclined to give greater credence to what lies before us, as we summarily ignore the wisdom of scientists, statesmen, economists, etc. What sane mind could simply ignore the cumulative wisdom of scholars who have devoted their lives to the pursuit of knowledge that can only serve the best interests of us all? How about a “think tank,” comprised of John Boehner, Eric Cantor, Mitch McConnell, Paul Ryan, Virginia Foxx, Michele Bachman, Sarah Palin, Jan Brewer, Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh? What could one call such an august collection of intellectuals? The Funny Farm? Don’t laugh. Those are some of the most influential minds now guiding our Ship of State. Scary, isn’t it?

I dare say there are a significant number of folks who believe that I have lost a great deal of respect for our President. To be sure, the bloom is off the rose. He has taken far too much license with the myriad promises he has made to the American people, only to diminutively dismiss them or sell out to the very interests he pledged to challenge. The sheer magnitude of his double-speak is too great to attribute to errors of judgment or honest mistakes. He has consistently caved into those very interests. He has consistently run interference against those well-intentioned servants in government who honestly want to take to task the massive collusion by all those on Wall Street and other centers of power and influence who have brought this nation to its knees, has crippled meaningful recovery of the economy and the society, and has catered to the most vile among us – vast wealth, greed, and international corporations. Although he assailed the effects of free trade on our economy shortly after he took office, he still continues to fly around the globe, entering into more free trade agreements, all followed by yet more speeches while vilifying the effects of all he has agreed to. But, our corporate-owned news media persist in giving him a free pass by simply choosing to ignore his penchant for having elevated the art form of double-speak to a new level.

Whether or not we care to acknowledge it, we have lost our moral compass; that which instilled in each of us some understanding and acceptance of the differences between right and wrong. Now, it is situational and largely defined by the masters of deception that program us to believe and accept anything that plays to our basest desires. Most of our churches have failed us and those who have managed to survive and prosper peddle ecclesiastical crap that only a fool could swallow. Those who manage to have overflowing congregations actually lead people to believe that God wants all of us to be wealthy, beautiful and enjoying the good life. If one wants to look into the eyes of pure evil, just stare into the blank faces of those who are today’s “true believers.” They, in turn, comprise a significant proportion of those dominating our national discourse. They are the ones who demonize all those who have suffered the agonies of the damned because of their insatiable greed. They are the ones who have bought our government and turned its institutions against those who elected them to office, thanks to the enlightened wisdom of the highest court in the land.

There is, in my humble opinion, a thread of violence within our national character that permeates many facets of our lives. It champions the survival of the fittest, regardless of how they came by that power. It isn’t what is in our national best interest that prevails. Rather, it is in who wins the contest. We thrive on wars and rumors of war. We delight in contact sports that are fraught with violence; the more the better. We still, rather pathetically, hear the mantra of the U.S. being the “wealthiest and most powerful nation in the world.” I would ask the question, “wealthy and powerful in what sense of the word?”

We revel in our right to own guns. We want to see more physical contact and brutality on our football fields, our hockey rinks and in our boxing arenas. We like to see the blood and sweat that goes with those “sports,” and to vicariously savor the taste of victory over the vanquished. The macho man still lives and thrives in our world. But, we also see a large cheering section by the legions of “macho” women who egg them on. You see that on the playing fields of Little League and soccer leagues. You can readily hear the shouts from doting mothers that encourage their progeny to assault the opposing players. The smell of blood is not unique to the male of our species.

We can continue to believe that all of the macho crap is virtuous. But, when our nation reached the point where our eastern and western boundaries were determined by a common land mass meeting the limiting factors of the two great oceans, the days of the buckskin frontiersmen ended. When all of the indigenous people of this country were subdued by the expropriation of their lands and hunting grounds, rounded up and confined to reservations in remote locations and settled on some of the poorest land in the country, that myth ended. When this great land was opened to the wanton destruction by free enterprise a different kind of predator was unleashed on the least among us. They have continued, unabated, and have only become worse and more difficult to contain for the welfare of the country and its people.

We seem to want to believe that our votes really count for something. We want to believe that those we elect to office really serve at our pleasure and are responsive to our needs. One only has to look at the massive disparity between the 1% and the remaining 99%. The violence within our nature no longer works. Our so-called democracy no longer serves us all. The corruption that is spawned by an economy that is to serve our common welfare only enslaves and impoverishes us. The fox is guarding the chicken coop and the chickens are quaking in fear of their lives.

When I was a member of senior management in a large, specialty hospital in Saudi Arabia, we relied on a group of medical specialists comprised of Board-Certified Americans and Saudis, augmented largely by European physicians who provided the supportive medical expertise for physical examinations and the care required for conditions not specific to the specialty that was at the core of the hospital. One particularly good specialist in Internal Medicine from Sweden, when he was approaching the end of his contract, indicated that he would not be re-contracting, which would be a big loss to the hospital. I contacted him and asked for a meeting regarding his decision. He asked that I meet with him at his home rather in my office. When I arrived at his home I was ushered into the living room and was met, not only by him, but his wife and two sons, as well. I was somewhat taken aback, which he seemed to sense. He told me that all major decisions affecting the family were made by consensus of the family. I dutifully walked through why we were so eager to retain him on staff and what we were prepared to do in terms of his compensation and benefits. They graciously listened. When I finished, he told me that he and his family had already discussed the merits of staying with us vs. returning to Sweden. He informed me that they all agreed that the family would prefer to forego the generous and tax-free salary. Rather, they were going to return to a practice that would require that sixty percent of their income would go to taxes, in order to live in a civilized and secure society, where no one lived on the streets and in poverty, and among people who shared a safe and secure environment. I left disappointed by their decision, but reassured that there are people in this world who have their priorities straight; that there can be a better perspective on life and the inherent worth of human beings.

The vituperations of the rabid flag-waving zealots not withstanding, I hold out little hope that we can rein in the excesses of what we have become, and return our government and our way of life to the people our government is supposed to serve. We need to hang up the mantra of “We are the wealthiest and most powerful nation in the world,” and redirect all of that wasted energy into becoming a nation among equals in the world community seeking to restore peace among nations, saving the environment for the world, and that will work to restore some semblance of dignity to all of those who suffer in order to feed our indomitable greed. More is not necessarily better. I believe most decent people know that in the very fabric of their being, but they have to have the courage and determination to repudiate the culture of materialism and hedonism that dominates our national agenda.

Government needs to be cleansed of its flaws, its health restored and returned to the people who are, at the end of the day, its real masters. Every branch of government needs to be purged of the politics of corruption. Our intelligence apparatus needs to be re-oriented against threats from foreign powers. Our military establishment needs to be seriously pared back to what can be seen as a defensive force against those same foreign threats. The mindset of empire is not appropriate to our nation and for any of those institutions. It is contrary to all we profess to be. They must be transparent to all of us and they must operate on a scale that we can afford, and that does not come at the expense of our basic human needs at the bedrock of a civilized people.

There is an urgent need for us to establish our national priorities on what knowledge reveals to us, not what unbridled greed wants us to believe. We can only consume what we actually need, not all that we want. There is no virtue in the endless pursuit of materialistic and hedonistic pleasures. That is the stuff of barbarians who have no souls and, who can only live with the notion that they are somehow eternal. That just isn’t going to happen.

Regulation constrains the basest instincts within us and that will pull us down into the mire if they remain unchecked. Taxes are the price of admission for living in a civilized and healthy society, and a bargain at that.

Time to take off the blinders, muster some courage and get real.

Cowboy Bob
The Sagebrush Philosopher
May 20, 2012

"Believe Only What You Know"

I don’t know about you, but I have had a belly full of the politics of the last couple of years. To classify the myriad factions of functional idiots and lunatics that now comprise the Republican Party, compounded by the milquetoast penchant for “bi-partisanship” and “compromise” that appears to be endemic among the ranks of the established Democrats in both house of Congress and The White House, and the egregious assault on the doctrine of “fair and impartial” responsibility to the American people from the Supreme Court have all had their part in making an absolute mockery of the Constitution and American Democracy.

It doesn’t take a lot of effort to conclude that corruption is rampant in all branches of government, bought by the patently illegal behavior of Wall Street, international corporations, and the total absence of conscience by big business and the lobbyists who peddle their influence and power. At the end of the day, it is the majority of “real” Americans who take it in the shorts by all they have wrought against the common good. They seem to cling to the faint hope that this nightmare, too, will pass and there will be better days ahead. Fat chance of that happening any time soon! The entire apparatus that is supposed to be serving the interests of the electorate are so insulated that they blithely ignore that fundamental commitment, do exactly as they please with impunity, with never a qualm of conscience and a sense of duty.

Of course, the mantra underscoring the entire social, political and economic debacle is a perverse belief that worshipping at the altar of a “free market economy” is the panacea that will cure all our ills. How can any sane person buy into that nonsense? A free market is built on a foundation of competition which, in and of itself, is simply a form of violence aimed at those who have neither the means nor the will to engage in that joust of competing goals with any real hope of a fair outcome. That, in turn, breeds a hotbed of very simplistic solutions to extremely complex problems which, in turn, creates mistrust, blame and hostility between opposing points of view among the populace. From the victors come alliances with those espousing extreme religious and social doctrines that are anything but rooted in scripture and in our system of religious beliefs. The results are the paragons of virtue and human compassion such as we see in the likes of Herbert Norquist, Karl Rove, Rush Limbaugh, Sarah Palin and all of those others held up to us as the real gurus protecting society from the human parasites who dare to want their fair share of the pie. The counter to all of that is the cadre of liberals who want to cure all our ills by simply dismissing the legitimacy of our system of laws and relying, instead, on some ingrained notion that a supreme will knows better. All that flows from that fount of innate wisdom is an end unto itself. That, too seems to be at odds with a collegial relationship we have every right to expect from our public servants and political leaders.

Regardless of how one might wish to redefine the role of our religious heritage, it is still a fundamental influence that is there to guide all that we do. It is not rooted in a system of beliefs that champion violence but, rather, it champions democratic principles that work for the common good and rests on government by the will of the people. Unless my mind deceives me, I recall that that system of beliefs taught us “that which you do unto the least of my brethren you also do unto me.” It is from that same source that we were taught that “the meek shall inherit the earth.” It was Christ who chased the money changers from the temple. How do those few admonitions square with the rabid and vituperative exhortations that come from the religious hate mongers who claim to have a special insight into what “God” intends for us in His name? How in the hell would they know? I believe they put words in the mouth of God to suit their own evil intentions and sordid behavior. It doesn’t take much effort to see through all of the scatology that passes for their brand of virtue. Despite their persistent efforts to have us believe that God talks to them or reveals His wisdom to them on a regular basis, I don’t think so. Rather, I am more inclined to believe it is a manifestation of self-induced delusion that play into their own prejudices and the hatred that feeds into their perverted attempts to justify all of their ignorance and venom leveled against those who dare to challenge them. All of those bible thumpers who have managed to fall from grace and confess their transgressions, notwithstanding, perfection and real virtue seem to have eluded them. Take Ralph Reed as an example. Now there is a real emissary of Divine Will.

The history of this country is rife with violence in one form or another. It seems to be an ingrained part of our fabric as a people and, frankly, we are the poorer for it.

From the time the first pilgrims set foot on the soil of the New World, we have been engaged in an ongoing pursuit of conquest against Native Americans. Our forefathers took their lands and their hunting grounds. We cast them as “savages” in order to justify our plunder of what was rightfully theirs. We engaged in a wholesale assault on their system of beliefs and the norms of their societies. We wantonly murdered them and rose up in righteous indignation when they dared to defend themselves and what was rightfully theirs. We were not satisfied until we had drastically reduced their numbers and all they stood for to rubble. The U.S. Indian Service has done an effective job of confining them to reservations on what is some of the poorest and most remote land in the United States. All they seem to have gotten from the government is an inept and corrupt bureaucracy that has done more to serve their own biases and sense of power than to serve those who depend on them. They live in abject poverty. Were it not largely for the Roman Catholic Church and other missionary organizations, they would still be freezing to death in winter and living on the edge of starvation as a way of life. Their schools and any real attempt to assimilate them into the “American” way of life would not have happened. Why would any of us even remotely entertain the notion that these people want to live as they do, plagued by having to live at the subsistence level, and numbed by chemical agents to dull their minds, and psychological assaults that have quite literally broken their will? Why do so many of us still presume that, for some unknown reason, they are genetically inferior when it comes to intellectual ability and the desire to better themselves? Where is the benevolence and charity from America’s millionaires and billionaires that could establish factories on their reservations, teach them the vocational skills necessary to make those enterprises viable and enable them to be proud members of the American Dream? I just don’t see it happening any time soon.

I don’t quite understand where we got the idea that brutal competition, be it in business, industry or a sport was a virtue. Why do we derive such pleasure from the brutality of contact sports and champion our right to buy into it in all its forms for our own enjoyment?

Why have we, historically, marginalized every minority group or nonconformist among us and subjected them to ridicule, persecution, and blatant discrimination? Why haven’t parents and teachers gotten together much earlier to fight the horrors of torment, persecution and physical violence against those who are born gay or deformed or lack the physical attributes to be a star athlete in whom we could dote and vicariously live the glory of their moment in the sun? I think too many of those who should have shown the courage and conviction not to allow those things to happen buy into those same prejudices and choose to opt out of any effort to right those wrongs. Parents should play an important role in the affairs of the schools to whom they send their children, but at the end of the day, the school should be run by those they employ, and it is their expertise and commitment that should take precedence.

All of those who seek self aggrandizement, regardless of the form it takes, nothing justifies exploitation of the human condition for the sake of enhancing ones own sense of superiority. Greed, in all its forms, is simply wrong. It is patently evil. It is morally repugnant. Take note all you bible thumpers; no matter how you may choose to rationalize your warped perceptions of reality, all that you espouse is simply an affront to the loving God to whom you profess allegiance.

Greed is insatiable. Those who have given their souls to the endless pursuit of riches have no redeeming virtues. At the end of their life’s journey they are quickly forgotten. They leave it all behind for their rapacious progeny to fight over. They will dutifully pick up the torch and continue the legacy that has set us all on a journey of self destruction. They are the ones who will hasten our race to where climate change will reach the point of no return and our common fate will be sealed. They are the ones who will continue the legacy of raping the environment, destroying our food supply, impoverishing our children. They are the ones who deny the horrors of all they pursue in their quest for more and more and more. They are the ones who will never stop to realize that they, too, will share the same fate they have inflicted on all mankind and this magnificent Earth.

“To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow,

Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,

To the last syllable of recorded time;

And all our yesterdays have lighted fools

The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!

Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player

That struts and frets his hour upon the stage

And then is heard no more. It is a tale

Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury

Signifying nothing.” --- Macbeth (Act 5, Scene5)

Let us not succumb to the folly of believing everything we hear and are told. Let us reclaim the right and the responsibility to question, question, and question.

Mitt Romney and the entire cadre of Republicans who have sought the party’s presidential nomination are frauds. They lie and deceive us with abandon, mindful only of the greed that feeds their desires and that laces the palms of those who serve as their minions.

The jury is still out on Barack Obama. I am not convinced that he is a man of the people. I am still mindful of all the campaign promises he failed to honor and his haste in casting aside what was intended for the good of the country in favor of “compromise” and “bi-partisanship.” Where is the leadership that we should have had and still so desperately need? I just don’t see it.

Regardless of who is elected in 2012, I don’t see much hope for the average American unless we buckle up, get moving and never give up. Until we, the people, get serious, take a keen interest in and an active role in politics, our government and what is being done in our name, we have no grounds for raising the bar and demanding anything better.

The standards of morality and all its manifestations are absolute. We must insist that all those who claim the right to represent us never compromise on what is surely inviolate. That is the challenge for statesmanship and the stuff of true leadership.

Cowboy Bob
The Sagebrush Philosopher
May 6, 2012

"The Best Of All That We Are Is Eternal"

I make a genuine effort to keep abreast of what is going on around me, both domestically and internationally. I read the newspaper, I watch the news programs on television and I surf the Net. I talk to people on a regular basis and I cannot help but notice that most of them are reasonably aware of what is going on, perhaps not to the extent that a junkie like me is, but they are certainly far from living in a bubble of ignorance. They hear the same statistics, the same empty rhetoric and promises made by all politicians, regardless of their professed party affiliation. They have a pretty good fix on how corrupt the system is against the average American and they seem to be acutely aware of the extent to which their interests have been sacrificed to the oligarchs on the alter of greed, big banks, international corporations and a government that is owned lock, stock and barrel by moneyed interests aligned against them. They may be numb with apathy, disheartened by a malaise that seems to have consumed their very souls, but, they are not stupid. They just don’t see much hope in an uncertain future.




I don’t think most folks seriously consider what has been thrown at them since the end of WW II. The concept of “brainwashing” is by now an outmoded concept. However, the art and science have been perfected and refined to the point where most of us are not consciously aware of the effects they have on us and our daily lives. Their skills know how to shape our opinions, values and desires and, guess what? They have succeeded big time. We are captives to what they want us to believe and what they want us to know. We have become a people, not of “we” but “me.” We are far more “consumers” than “producers.”



It is a given that big money, big corporations and the institutions of government are all in bed together, their hollow campaign rhetoric not withstanding. They have managed to develop and refine their ability to determine and create our tastes. They have subliminally played to our basest instincts and desires for materialistic pursuits and hedonistic pleasures. We have acquired far more than we need and more than we can possibly put to good use. But, the message is never ending and we still continue to buy more, limited only by the amount of money we can spend or how much credit card debt we can carry, and believe all they want us to believe.



Hedonism, which used to be regarded as a collection of personal desires, is now put before us as something to be coveted and revered. Advertising shows men with lean bodies, washboard abs and naked above the waist. Becoming walking sex machines for anyone who might care to satisfy their basest needs is their most noble pursuit. Women now dress like streetwalkers, what with hemlines up to the cheeks of their bottoms and cleavages that would rival the Grand Canyon. All of this is beamed at our primordial desire for sexual pleasures. Well, folks, the ability to reproduce has always been with us and will likely continue to be so. But, basic common human decency had a dimension to it that made it special, personal and private. I don’t know about you, but I am overdosed on the various advertisements for enhancements to erectile stimulation for men and the various potions that will create a climax for women that will put them over the moon. I am not averse to people seeking the need to address problems in those areas; I just don’t want to be subjected to it as part of my daily entertainment and informational fare. I think that attitude is shared by more people than one might think. It is a private matter; nothing more and nothing less.



I have real issues with the extent to which drug companies routinely engage in advertising blitzes for prescription drugs. That should be a matter between what drug companies produce and the physicians who will prescribe them for their patients. Rather, we have the cultivation of a need beamed to the patient who, in can safely be concluded, will seek the doctor’s complicity in the purchase and use of the drug. Now, my experience has taught me that if most doctors can make a buck and call it patient care, they will usually succumb to the temptation. I rather suspect most patients are aware of that fact, as well. It is a long stretch from “altruism” to “materialism.” How many doctors of modest means have you known in your lifetime?



We have evolved into a people who are fractured and fragmented. We are a collection of special interests. We no longer have a sense of community with our fellow man. We are one among many, my wants and needs taking precedence over yours. We are willing to cast any measures of morality over the side in order to further our own ambitions and desires. We seem to accept as routine that which we abhorred in days gone by. Stealing? What’s the big deal? Lying? It is simply a means to an end. Doesn’t everybody lie? Look around you. Those who have mastered the tools of deception and exploitation of the human condition seem to be doing very well, thank you. Morality and ethics? What did that get us? Just look at what we have become. How moral and ethical are the various institutions of government? Do you honestly believe the Supreme Court seeks judicial impartiality for the common good? Who benefits most from their so-called “decisions?” It sure as hell isn’t the average folk of the land, is it?



What has presidential infatuation with the title of “Commander in Chief” got us? We now have a military establishment that is in bed with their industrial counterparts, covered by a shroud of secrecy that becomes far more opaque to the electorate every day. Personally, I think the title “President of the United States,” garners much more admiration and respect, if for no other reason than it speaks to the entire populace of the United States.



What has an imperial presidency and an aloof and arrogant Congress got us? They simply ignore the will of the people, tell us what they regard as best for us, pander to those who lace their pockets with vast sums of money and revel in their self-appointed notion of exclusivity and superiority over those who put them in office. Sure, they bring out the rhetoric of bovine scatology when it comes time to campaign for re-election, but that is just the price one pays for the privilege of feeding at the troughs of those who own government and dictate the legislative agenda for their interests, those of the people be damned. They have done a pretty good job of getting away with it, too, wouldn’t you say?



The sheer power of massively huge wealth has overwhelmed those who are now their victims. I think most people honestly feel that the forces of evil are aligned against them. There is faint hope that things will get any better to a discernable extent. The charts that reflect the stats showing the extent to which big money is aligned against the working people and poor of this country belie quite a different picture. The facts speak for themselves.



People are well aware of the fact that there have been no prosecutions of those on Wall Street who almost succeeded in bringing this country down. Moreover, they hold out little hope that will ever occur. They know that the military/industrial behemoth is untouchable. They are not ignorant of the fact that public rhetoric by our political establishment is only the prelude to the real deal to be hatched behind closed doors for those who really dictate and control the agenda.



People are cognizant of the creeping influence of ever-expanding free trade agreements, what that is doing to the manufacturing and economic base of the United States and the jobs that will never become reality. They, too, are not impervious to the pernicious effects of one-sided trade agreements that underscore the lopsided effects of our economic interests versus those of third world countries and their pools of cheap labor.



People are not blind to the erosion of the power of the common man in the form of labor unions, a regulatory system that looks out for their interests and that creates opportunities for ascending the ladder of opportunity. They know the price that has been paid to those who harbor disdain for those who dare to speak on behalf of Working America.



With the advent of an “all volunteer” military, people soon realized it consigned their offspring to the pool of human gun fodder to fight the wars for the rich and powerful. That has not been lost on those who have buried their young and reclaimed the maimed who have returned from far-off lands in the service of their “country.” Yeah, right. For whom and at what price? Their wealthy counterparts are now ensconced in business and industries that plunder the nation; a nation that rightfully belongs to those who never shared in those same opportunities.



The arrogance of massive wealth and power boggles the human mind. Those who covet material fortunes at the expense of being a responsible part of society have no souls. They are impervious to what it means to be part of a community. They may “have it all,” but they are dead inside. Nobody is home. At the end of life’s journey their heirs wait like hungry wolves waiting to plunder all they have left behind. Their legacy is a mass of “things.” They are not likely to be remembered for a treasure trove of fond memories and what they did to make the world a better place. Time has proven that the parasite is ultimately consumed by the host. The object of greed and lust is, at best, fleeting. The pack will always prevail at the expense of the leader. That is the eternal truth of the pack mentality.



It is the inherent good and decency of all those common folks who really did make an honest difference which is eternal, and that, my friends is priceless. That is for those who lived the good life, did the best they could and left a legacy of love.



I believe the worst is still before us, but when the tides turn, as it surely will, I, also, believe there are better times ahead for all of those who kept the covenant from the best among us and never succumbed to the worst within us.



Cowboy Bob

The Sagebrush Philosopher

May 4, 2012

"Welcom to the Asylum"

May 2, 2012 From time to time I come across an article that I find particularly poignant. One such piece of writing was featured on April 30, 2012 at www.commondreams.org, titled "WELCOME TO THE ASYLUM" by Chris Heddges. It is the most profound and insightful reflection of what we have become as a people and a nation. I would highly recommend it to anyone interested in contemporary politics and national affairs. I, also, regularly visit ALTERNET and AMPEDSTATUS.COM. Both are excellent websights and you can't go wrong by checking each of them out on a periodic basis. Cowboy Bob