Well, spread the word and we'll see if some of the CPO's want to give it a try! I'll know more next week when I finish the course next week! You can look for me on togetherweserved.com.

Deana

I'm totally serious now - I'm going to attend a political leadership course next week! The various parties are seeking candidates to run and most 2010 seats require registration by June/July this year. If you are interested for real, say so and I'll get you some details about how to do it....I know it sounds a little nuts but I think this might be the only solution.

Hey brother! Right you are and look how that turned out! I think this happened because WE were not paying attention and unfortunately, many still won't step up! Let's run for Congress - imagine a group of old CPO's - we could really fix things as we always do, what do you say?

Retired Chief 2

Chief,

You must be talking about fear that we'll get fired up and violent; it is not bad when government fears the people. It is bad when people fear government. We veterans are FOR THE PEOPLE and always have been, we're just a little more prepared than most for what is to come.

Retired Chief 2

For those of you who don't understand this posting:
Lao Tzu, a Chinease philosopher, said, "Give a man a fish, and feed him for a day". In this example, the someone else is the CEO who is mandated by government to provide the fish for so many men, now he must lay off his workers to pay for the fish. The CEO will eventually lose his company because he won’t be able to make a profit, he is too busy buying fish! Then there will be 129 more people who need fish because they are not working, don’t know how to fish, and can’t afford to buy any. This is Socialism. Then, Lao Tzu said, "Teach a man to fish, feed him for a lifetime", this is freedom and liberty, capitalism. Capitalism requires courage and strength because it is not only freedom to succeed, but freedom to fail. The CEO does not have to lay off anyone to buy the fish because the men get the fish for themselves.

Your comments made me thing of something I must share:
Letter from the Boss,

As the CEO of this business that employs 140 people, I have accepted the fact that Barack Obama is our new President and that our taxes and government fees will now increase in a BIG way.

To compensate for this additional overhead I figure that the clients will have to see an increase in our fees of about 8% but since we cannot raise those prices right now due to the dismal state of our economy, we will have to lay off several of our employees instead. This unfortunate economic reality has really been eating at me for a while as I believe
we are family here and I didn't know how to choose who will have to go.

After giving it considerable thought, this is what I did: I strolled thru our parking lot and found 11 Obama bumper stickers on our employees' cars and have decided these folks will be the first to be laid off. I can't think of a more fair way to approach this problem. They wanted change, I gave it to them.

If you have a better idea, let me know.

Sincerely,

The Boss

The blame game is over - partisan this and that is not important. Right and left is just a distraction from the issues. We need to focus on the issues - in fact, this two-party system will be the downfall of our country if we continue to let it grow. We need to find new candidates and clean house in Congress during the next few voting cycles.

I also feel it is important for all of us to recognize we must take responsibility for the current state of affairs; we elected these people, many of us were partying it up and buring our heads in the sand about government for a long time. Generations before us let us down too; so, to be effective, we have to understand the only true peaceful power we have left is the right to vote. Our representatives don't support us anymore - they need to go home!

For Neal Boortz and Dave Elliott in the Naples talk radio area - We have a plan, it's call the U. S. Constitution. Finally, people are standing up and paying attention! I feel it is very important for us to remain peaceful - the media has painted us as "radicals" and "crazies" in the past because some people were not peaceful. This increase in public awareness and outrage is invigorating and we should continue to express ourselves, write our representatives, and educate on another!