Upside down cake, anyone?

I have written many times about how the left has hijacked language, changing the meaning of words and in fact creating entirely new definitions.

Over the months, years and decades that this has been occurring, America has stumbled, slid and is now racing at break neck speed into a world where the mad hatter would be comfortable. A world where what we believe is tempered by what we are told to believe. A world where moral certitude is replaced by moral equivalency. A world where up is down and down is up.

Plunged into this world are the good….the bad…the disillusioned and the downright ugly. You see, the path to lunacy is an equal opportunity path….it cares not what color you are, it cares not about your sexual orientation, your religious beliefs, of your political affiliations.  It cares not if you attended an Ivy League school or the local community college…or no school at all.

The path to lunacy is paved with trinkets and freebies, with colors dazzling to the eye and beckoning the soul. It teases with promises of hope and change. It beckons the traveller with promises of equality, fairness and the equitable distribution of the riches that instantly materialize along the way.

The path to lunacy is broad….it welcomes misfits of all denominations. It succors the useless and the uninformed alike. It lies to the educated and the quasi-knowledgeable in the knowledge that years of educational punishment have softened the brains of those who would otherwise know better.

The path to lunacy is patient. It is does not need to rush. It knows that the basic natures of those inclined to walk it are filled with greed, laziness, hate and anger….the ingredients that lead to jealousy and the ultimate insanity of all…redistribution of wealth.

At the end of the path to insanity is the pineapple upside down cake that the world has become….

A world where it is a felony to lie to Congress, yet when Congress lies to us it is just politics as usual.

A world where if a white person dislikes a black person, he must be a racist…but if a black person dislikes a white person, it is no more than his constitutional rights.

A world where the government will spend untold millions to rehabilitate the poor unfortunate criminals, but virtually nothing to assist the victims of those same criminals.

A world where our schools teach the joys of homosexuality and lesbianism as mainstream lifestyles to be honored and supported, as long as they don’t mention God.

A world where the unborn child in its mother’s womb is at the mercy of the mother’s whim, yet mass murderers, serial killers and rapists are protected from the executioner.

A world where books are re-written because language becomes insensitive or the common meanings of words change, or people feel offended. A world where we do not need to burn books to stop the spread of ideas…just simply rewrite them.

A world where the threat of communism and its evil step-child socialism is dissipated simply be renaming them progressives.

A world where to protest against the President and his Administration’s policies labels you as a terrorist, while to burn an effigy of a previous President or desecrate the Flag makes you a patriot expressing your 1^st Amendment rights.

A world where pornography is a staple of television and internet, and nativity scenes are not allowed in a Public park at Christmas (ooops…I mean holidays!)

A world where criminals are labeled as sick, and it is not their fault.

A world where parents come in the form of Ritalin and video games.

A world where the government takes from those who work hard to give to those who don’t.

The path to insanity leads to a place where America is no longer the land of opportunity but is the land of hand-outs.

The saddest part is that the path to insanity is travelled by many with well-meaning intentions…it is not just the lazy and uninformed who are seduced by its promises.

The good of heart who have spent years practicing their faith and honing their beliefs in God above, are all to eager to travel the path to insanity as it beckons with promises of a world the way it should be…a world bereft of poverty, pain and war. Promises of equality and an end to world suffering through the abolition of greed entice these believers down the path. A misguided belief that man’s nature can be changed simply by walking hand in hand along the trinket laden path will pull many believers into their own particular hell…the one that waits them at the end of the path to insanity.

But this path did not simply just appear. It has been under construction for a hundred years…each roadblock has been meticulously disassembled, each obstacle diverting it for a short distance, but only temporarily.

And now, with Obama manning the toll gates…it is a ten lane superhighway to oblivion.

Obama is working overtime to get as many supporters as possible through his toll gate and onto the highway. Using his constituents fear he guides the black man down the highway. Using his constituent’s jealousy he guides the lazy. Using his constituent’s cowardice, he sends his jackbooted union thugs to round up the stragglers.

In 12 short months he hopes to have a majority of Americans caught in the tide that will carry them down his path of insanity.

The only thing that can stop him is the conservative voice. It must be loud…it must be clear….it must define in simple language what is waiting at the end of the path to insanity.

It must rise up as one accord, proclaiming truth….proclaiming righteousness….proclaiming the need to return to moral certitudes and honor.

It must shine a light of true knowledge on the path to insanity…it must illuminate the lies, the deception and the arrogance of those who would lead you to the desolation that awaits you at the end of the path to insanity.

Speaking of insanity, I wanted to share a couple of quick thoughts on debt. As I watch the goings on in Greece and Italy it is amazing that we hear nothing about the fact that democracy has been temporarily replaced by technocracy (at least we hope it is temporary). The democratically elected leaders have stepped aside so that non-elected technocrats can lead those countries through the wilderness that is their debt and economic malaise.

Of course, should the technocrats succeed, they will soon be removed at the next general election and replaced by a new group of trinket givers, and should the technocrats fail…well, ….oblivion sounds like an appropriate word.

Which brings me to thinking about debt….sovereign debt in particular. It does not seem to me that America is all that far behind Greece and Italy in its level of debt.

When you and I are in debt, we have two choices…either we default (simply not pay, or perhaps declare bankruptcy and not pay) or we pay.

Sovereign debt has a third (and a fourth) alternative.

We can pay with inflated currency. By printing millions of dollars and flooding the world with greenbacks, the currency will be devalued and debts can be paid with inflated dollars. So, America could pay its trillion dollar debt to China easily…and along with the money send a note saying “Good luck trying to buy a loaf of bread with these dollars!”. Incidentally, this is what China fears will happen and the Administration is definitely trying to use this tactic. Of course, with the deflationary pressures caused by high unemployment and 46 million people on food stamps, the prospect of inflating our way out of this sovereign debt looks very unlikely.

And that leaves one other option.  Grow the economy. If taxes were reduced, regulations eased and the entrepreneurial spirit encouraged rather than discouraged, the economy would grow and grow quickly. By relying on the deflationary pressures currently existing in the economy, interest rates could slowly be increased which would support the dollar’s value against other currencies. Investment would flow into this country from overseas and would ignite a growth spurt not seen in decades.

But here’s the problem.

Obama is so invested in his superhighway to insanity that he cannot institute the policies that would grow the economy and relieve the debt problem. He is so invested in the policies that created this situation that he cannot and will not swallow his pride, pack up his arrogance in an old kit bag, and turn the tide.

If America wants to get out of her economic malaise, she has one simple option. At the ballot box in 2012 she must remove this Moron-in-Chief from office. If we do not achieve that success I see America rapidly conflagrating like Greece. The only difference I see is that Obama will not step aside and allow the technocrats to do their thing….his arrogance will not allow that. This narcissistic fool believes he can solve the problems…if only Congress will do what he wants.

Let me warn you in no uncertain terms. If the Moron-in-Chief should win in 2012, he will find a way to make Congress totally toothless. He will free himself of the shackles that Congress represents and will advance this country through a tyranny closely akin to dictatorship.

Chaos. Oblivion. Insanity.

I think I will have a slice of that pineapple upside down cake while the going is good….who knows when I would get another chance?

…..devereaux

Red, white...or rose?

Oscar Wilde wrote in his 1889 essay The Decay of Lying that "Life imitates Art far more than Art imitates Life"…..

It does not take too much imagination to see that he was right….but of course with the benefit of hindsight it is always easy to make such statements.

In 1977 Billy Joel, arguably one of the best of the great singer songwriters, penned his classic “Scenes from an Italian Restaurant”. When questioned about his inspiration for this classic (which never was released as a single but appeared first on his album The Stranger), Billy Joel stated that he was thinking about a restaurant called  Fontana di Trevi, which was located across from Carnegie Hall in Manhattan.

The signature line from the song….”A bottle of white, a bottle of red, perhaps a bottle of rose instead?” is said to have been words spoken by his waiter one evening as Joel was dining in the restaurant after he performed at Carnegie Hall.

The lyrics appear simple enough, although musically the song is extraordinary complex, containing a soft balad, a jazzy interlude and some good old fashioned rock ‘n roll in its 7 plus minutes.

Today, I want to look at the lyrics in the context of today’s political climate….

Remember, this was written in 1977.

The first part…

“A bottle of white, a bottle of red

Perhaps a bottle of rose instead

We'll get a table near the street

In our old familiar place

You and I,face to face”

If one supposes a deeper meaning of those first two lines…rather than the words a waiter might say…but rather a more profound meaning, what do we find? Set against a backdrop of the turbulent late 60’s and early 70’s, and the re-emergence of liberal influence in politics, with the commencement of the Carter presidency, it is easy to see two old friend sitting together and discussing political philosophy…where red and white refers to Democrats or Republicans…or perhaps a third party instead?

As is the case when two old friends get together, the conversation drifts between the past and the future…with the lines so blurred that sometimes it is difficult to know whether it is the ramblings of minds remembering better times…or of minds hoping for a better future.

In either case…the next verse tells us how we decide…

“A bottle of red, a bottle of white

It all depends upon your appetite

I'll meet you any time you want

In our Italian Restaurant.”

What is your appetite? The pairing of wine with food has become an art form…as has the pairing of political philosophy with economic belief. In the years since this song was published, labels have been attributed to people who believe a certain way…and the two main political parties have created delineations that mark very clearly the way your appetite should go.

If you eat steak, red wine is best…fish goes with white wine…it all depends on your appetite!

If you are conservative, you must be republican….democrats must be liberal.

In 2011 this is certainly the case…in 1977, those lines were not so marked….but of course Carter put an end to that by the end of his time in the White House.

In 1977, two old friends could talk of political things without the need for the vitriol and rhetoric that so imbues todays discussions. Talk of hope, talk of future, and talk of success were not limited to talk of the fool in the White House and his impact on Hope and Change.

In fact….

“Things are okay with me these days

Got a good job, got a good office

Got a new wife, got a new life

And the family's fine

We lost touch long ago

You lost weight I did not know

You could ever look so good after

So much time.”

….life is good. Change happens. We make the best of what we have…we do the best with the hand dealt us…and we move on. Oh how I wish this were the way it was today. But the last line of this ditty gives a clue to what is coming next…..”after so much time”….

This is where I believe the past and the future starts to blur….when life imitates art it is almost like the art “predicts” the future…and with the change in style of the song from ballad to jazzy interlude we find ourselves in the future looking back at a past that is also long gone…

“I remember those days hanging out at the village green

Engineer boots, leather jackets and tight blue jeans

Drop a dime in the box play the song about New Orleans

Cold beer, hot lights my sweet romantic teenage nights”

This speaks of a time when the energy of youth and discovery outweighed the concerns of the future. A time when a young man’s dreams were full of hope. It speaks of a time when a man who promises hope and change could win the hearts and minds of youth…could start a love affair with America that promises a future of perfection.

A past where the American mind was primed to be carried away by the young dynamic senator from Chicago…who goes by the name of Barack Obama.

“Brenda and Eddie were the popular “steadys”

And the king and the queen of the prom

Riding around with the car top down and the radio on.

Nobody looked any finer

Or was more of a hit at the parkway Diner

We never knew we could want more than that out of life

Surely Brenda and Eddie would always know how to survive.”

Brenda and Eddie…..let’s look at the choice of names for a minute.

In English, the name Eddie means- Diminutive of Edwin: Rich in friendship, or wealthy friend. From the Old English name Eadwine, meaning rich or happy, and friend. Also a diminutive of Edward: Wealthy guardian. From the Old English name Eadweard, meaning rich or happy, and guardian.

It is does not take a giant leap to see Eddie as analogous to the People of the United States. Rich, happy, friendship…the People who are the United States.

In Irish, the name Brenda means- Feminine form of Brendan: Prince, little raven, or beacon on the hill. Some scholars believe Brendan means stinking hair.

Just recently Barack Obama hailed his Irish roots on a trip to the Emerald Isle. The name Brenda just happens to start with a “B” …and Barack Obama was seen by many as the beacon on the hill. Reagan spoke of a shining city on a hill, and Barack Obama has spent much energy trying to compare himself with Reagan. A beacon on the hill….a guiding light for all mankind.

So...what happens if we take an analogy of Eddie representing the people of the USA and Brenda representing Obama”

“riding around with the car top down and the radio on”… let the sun shine…listen to what’s popular…be the coolest kids in town because together we are hot!

Brenda and Eddie…Barack and the people…HOT!!!

“Brenda and Eddy were still going steady in the summer of '75

when they decided the marriage would be at the end of July

Everyone said they were crazy

"Brenda you know you're much too lazy and Eddie could never afford to live that

kind of life."

But there we were wavin' Brenda and Eddie goodbye.”

The relationship between Brenda and Eddie is not dissimilar to the relationship between America and Obama….Obama was swept into the Senate on the heels of a popular movement ignited by his ability to present himself as the man who can save Illinois. Brenda, the beacon on the hill, was able to parlay that local relationship into a grand affair with the people of America…Eddie. It was time to get married.

The end of July is important as it represents mid-summer…the high point of the relationship between Brenda and Eddie…this is the “high”…this is an analogy for election day….this is the day that the beacon on the hill consummates his love affair with America…and the world changes.

Of course, not everyone was happy that this union was taking place. Many knew that Brenda was too lazy to make it work…and they also knew that Eddie (the people) could not afford to live that way. This could well be foretelling the divorce that was rushing headlong toward them, even before the marriage was really started.

“They got an apartment with deep pile carpet

And a couple of paintings from Sears

A big waterbed that they bought with the bread

They had saved for a couple of years

They started to fight when the money got tight

And they just didn't count on the tears.”

At first America was happy with Brenda. Eddie lavished her with the trappings of a home. The White House was renovated in Brenda’s image…the courts and the legislature too. But this marriage was doomed to failure and Brenda and Eddie soon found themselves fighting when the money stopped flowing.

Tears? I think the people are crying tears of anger…anger that Brenda had fooled them. Anger that Brenda had wasted all their money on “paintings from Sears” and “big water beds”….instead of creating economic strength.

Brenda found the people to blame….the recalcitrant Republicans, an ineffective Congress, a tsunami in Japan…and don’t forget George Bush.

But Eddie wasn’t going to buy that anymore…he was done!

“They lived for a while in a very nice style but it's always the same in the end

They got a divorce as a matter of course and they parted the closest of friends

Then the king and the queen went back to the green but you can never go back there again.”

The relationship soured. The people (Eddie) knew that the divorce had to happen….and of course it did. Have you all noticed that with limited exceptions, after a President has left office, and with the passage of time, most Presidents are remembered almost fondly regardless of the messes they made or the issues they had? This is how Brenda and Eddie “parted the closest of friends”.

Of course, try as we might, there is no going back to the past….the people cannot go back to life before Obama…and Obama cannot go back to life before the Presidency. Both will carry the scars of his ineptitude and arrogance for years to come. The difference is that Eddie has a chance to change things…Brenda is stuck as the beacon on the hill, who became nothing more than stinking hair!

“Brenda and Eddie had had it already by the summer of '75

From the high to the low to the end of the show for the rest of their lives

They couldn't go back to the greasers

The best they could do was pick up the pieces

We always knew they would both find a way to get by

That's all I heard about Brenda and Eddie

Can't tell you more than I told you already

And here we are wavin' Brenda and Eddie goodbye.”

The end was foretold in 1977. The American love affair with Obama was indeed over before he became President. We just didn’t know it, and he wouldn’t believe it. There is no doubt that there are plenty of pieces for Eddie to pick up now that he sees Brenda for what she really is….nothing but a big mistake.

“A bottle of red, a bottle of white

Whatever kind of mood you're in tonight

I'll meet you anytime you want

In our Italian Restaurant”

And finally….in 2012 we have a choice to make. It is no longer dependent on appetite…it is dependent on mood. Are you really satisfied with the way America has grown under Obama….or are you angry at the direction he has taken?

A bottle of red….a bottle of white….?

What is your mood?

Listen to it, talk about it with a tristed old friend…explore it…and see the future…for YOUR mood on election day is what will direct this country.

Do you think Brenda and Eddie need more time for marital harmony? Or do you think Brenda and Eddie have had it already?

Depends upon the mood you’re in tonight….I’ll meet you anytime you want…at our Italian Restaurant!

Life imitating art? I sure hope so.

…..devereaux