Road Kill

I’m not sure how I wound up here; laying by the side of the road like this. Why, to look at me, you’d think I was just a lump of dead animal flesh, like a deer or an old hog that shimmied through a hole in the fence and wandered too close to the road. But, it’s not. It’s me; just laying here, looking down the road and every once in a while up at the sky.

Looking up reminds me of being a kid. You know, after you’ve run around all afternoon on a clear, blue fall day, and you’re so tired you just lay down on the ground and peer up at the heavens. Head spinning, the clouds scurry by. And if you let your mind drift ever so slightly, you can feel the earth rotating underneath you. Can't you just feel yourself, not as an insignificant speck in a vast, empty space, but as a created body, stewing in life’s juices, so full of potential? No, you can’t! You’re just a kid! One of your buddies comes along and kicks you in the side! So you chase him down and beat the tar out of him! But your mind has taken a snapshot to pull up on occasions like this.

Turning my head, I’m looking back down the road I was walking on earlier. I kicked a can for a little while, until I squared it one time and sent it way over a fence row like a scalded dog. Not climbing over there to get it, though, that’s old man Lipsey’s land. Besides, something else would come along in a minute that I could kick. Boy, I was wrong on that one. Something came along and flattened me! Some kind of sweet justice for the kickees of the world, I suppose.

Still, I keep thinking about the time between when I left the house and my introduction to the business end of a west-bound roadster. I had made sure all things were squared away before I walked out the door. I tied up my shoelaces good, put on a light jacket, just in case. But I took it off just a little ways down from my driveway. I had gotten hot, just like I always do when I do anything physical.

Only a few cars passed me, the air they were pushing rolled up my pants legs, made my shirt flap a little, and up over the back of my head, making my ears tingle a bit. My mind had time to wander, so I let it. I thought back on the women that had come in and out of my life; brunettes, blonds, redheads. There’s a soft place in my heart for redheads, one in particular. No explanation as to why; just something about her. I turned just before my legs got taken out from under me, and I saw the face of the driver. It was a women all right, guess that’s only fitting. They’ve been running over me all my life.

I’m fishing around in the pocket of my jacket now, thinking I might have stashed a candy bar in there, one of those little ones you get around Christmas time. You stick a few in your pocket to nibble on while you’re out shopping or getting your tree. And sometimes you don’t eat them all and you get a nice surprise when you put on that jacket after a while. No such luck.

I’m turning my head the other way and studying the road. It goes on for a little ways before disappearing down in a bottom. I can barely make out where it comes up the other side of the valley. From this distance, I can’t make out any detail, but it sure looks inviting. It’s certainly better than my current situation, lying here all mangled and bloody. My body feels numb. Strange to say that you feel numb. If you’re numb, how can you feel? Anyway, I feel like there’s a soft lead blanket covering me, weighting me down. Or, maybe it’s a rope tied at my waist, connected to the center of the earth. Either way, unless I sum up some strength from somewhere, this will be the last place I ever see.

Looking at that road again, I’m starting to get my hopes up. I don’t know what’s down in that bottom. But, now that I squint a little, it looks like there might be house at the top of that next hill. I’m going to see if I can move my legs…Well, they moved a little. But I think I better give them a few more minutes.

Where am I, anyway? I’ve driven this way a hundred times, thought I knew ever inch of this road. I know when to slow down for the curves, when to speed up a little to make up the next hill. I’ve got this road all figured out. But walking down it seems to be a lot different. I mean, I can’t even tell if that’s a house up there or not. Everything along the sides looks different, like it’s not even the same road. Funny how perspective shifts, leaving you guessing at reality.

It’s also funny that no cars have come along since the one that put me into this pickle. It’s like everybody knows there’s a potential corpse laying here and they’re all taking the back roads around. Well, who needs them, anyway? I’ll get myself out this mess without anybody’s help. Yep. Just as soon as I can move my legs…They moved a little more this time. Think I’ll try to stand up…Better give them just a little longer.

Is that a buzzard circling up there? Well that’s a fine how-do-you-do! Buzz off! Ha, buzz off. Two torn-up legs, cracked ribs, a boxer’s face and I still got it! I’m not dead yet, you vulture! Wait…buzzard…Are they the same? Maybe a buzzard is a redneck vulture. Anyhow, you’re not going to pick my bones! Not today, pal!

The shadows are getting longer. Wonder if I’ll make it to that house before it gets dark? If I don’t, maybe the moon will be bright enough so that I can see. Actually, I think it’s close to a full moon, but I can’t remember when it’s going to be up. Hey! What do you know? There it is! And there’s not a cloud in the sky. Ought to make for plenty of light to see by.

Down, but not out. That’s the motto du-jour (that means of the day, I believe). I’m feeling pretty strong now. Guess I might have dozed off because it’s getting pretty dark. But I think it’s time to get up and get moving. Man! I’ve been laying in a fire ant bed! I didn’t feel any bites earlier, but now I do. But that’s the least of my worries. These bites will heal up much faster than these bones will.

Actually, I don’t think I’m hurt as bad as I thought I was. It sure walloped me good, though. Figured I was dead. But, everything seems to be working. My legs are pretty bad off, but I’m standing on them. Let’s try a few steps…Hey, not bad. And my face seems to have stopped bleeding. But I bet I’m a sight! If my friends could see me now! Well, they could if they’d drive down this road right about now. I know that more than one of them comes this way often. But not today.

Ok, I’m heading for that house on the next hill. The shoulder seems a little bit smoother along here so I think I’m going to walk a little farther off the road than I was earlier; we know what that did for me. I’m moving a little better with every step. I’ll be in the short rows in no time.

Lolly Surf

You're beautiful!

BQP

Tiger Woods-A Class Act

Whether or not you’re a golf fan, the enormity of Tiger Woods is undeniable. He is the epitome of an athlete and a golfer’s golfer. What makes him stand out among other really terrific golfers (aside from the immortal feats he performs almost every time he tees it up) is the way in which he conducts himself. Golf is a game played under unique rules, namely, self governance (which is one reason I do love it so). It is a game of integrity and character and no one embodies that better than Tiger.

Take the most recent news. Tiger’s 2008 season is over because he will undergo another operation on his knee. Turns out he played and won the US Open on a stress fractured tibia, not to mention the sore knee from the operation immediately after the Masters. Oh, and he played against doctor’s advice. I can only assume that he really wanted to win at his ‘home’ course. Heroic? Yes. Incredible? Arguably. But with out a doubt, classy.

Instead of bemoaning his ailing knee and blaming some loose shots on his condition, he smiled sheepishly and said he just made some ‘bad swings’. At the time, it sounded pretty good, although I just know he had to be adversely affected by his knee. But, I shrugged it off and accepted what he said. After finding out that he played not only nursing the surgery-sore knee but a broken bone, I’m once again astounded by the character he displayed. Put yourself in Rocco Mediate’s spikes. Had Tiger blamed his poor performance on his condition, Rocco would have felt about two inches tall, knowing that perhaps the best five days of golf in his life still wasn’t good enough to beat a one-legged Tiger. The same could be said for Lee Westwood, and all the others who were a few shots away from the Monday finish.

Tiger’s consideration for his fellow competitors is what golf is all about. In what other game can you show utter respect for those trying to beat you while doing everything you can to beat them, including limping around a golf course for 91 holes. A lot of people belittle the game of golf for a host of reasons. The reaction to those people is best found in Tiger’s aforementioned sheepish smile.

BQP

Required Reading

If you haven't read Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged, do yourself a favor and read it. It is prophetic in its detailing of what can happen when a government meddles in the free market.

Also, Basic Economics: A Citizen's Guide to the Economy by Thomas Sowell is a great read and a good weapon against the misinformation so prevalent in news stories about the economy.

BQP

Poking the Sleeping Giant

“I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve”. Whether or not Admiral Yamamoto said these exact words after Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor seems debatable. But the sentiment was spot on. The resolve of the American people was steeled and the effort to put down the spread of oppressive totalitarian regimes was swift and decisive. Sadly, lack of use in the subsequent 50+ years has rusted that once polished and formidable steel.

While the comparison to the war on terror is obvious in this example, let’s consider how this lack of resolve of the American people has led to the erosion of liberty. Consider these recent headlines: “Minneapolis City Council Limits Vehicle Idling to 3 Minutes”, “Beach Bonfire ban proposed in Seattle”, “Request for ‘Free Bird’ scarce after cigarette lighter ban”. Ok, I made the last one up but the others are real. These days fiction is separated from reality by about the same margin as the politician’s fingertip from your wallet/purse/murse. There is an ongoing, calculated, and determined assault on individual freedom in America and thereby an assault on the very foundation of this nation.

Who’s doing it? The elite ruling class embodied in our elected officials; aided by an ignorant electorate and abetted by an agenda driven media. Who’s responsible? (I’ll pause while we all find the closest mirror). Yes, my friends, we have only ourselves as ballot-casters to blame. Elections have consequences and one of those is the unelected positions that elected officials fill. These (ever increasing) bureaucracies live by only one rule: LIVE! The politicians live by one rule: RE-ELECTION! This behemoth has fed on itself so long that pushing back from the table now seems as likely as…well it just ain’t likely. (Consult your Southern Lexicon to decipher the previous sentence).

Day after day, somewhere in America, some authority decides that it knows better how to run our lives than we do. Thank goodness the federal government tells me which light bulbs I should use, that my television shows are going to be in high definition, and that, by-golly gee-whiz, they’re not going to stand for steroids in baseball! Where would I be without my benevolent Uncle Sam? “Uncle Sam, what color socks should I wear to work tomorrow? What’s that? I don’t have to work any more? I can just stay home and you’ll take care of me and those evil rich people will pay for it? Goody goody gumdrops!”

Freedom is the most precious element of our system of governance. It allows for each individual to live their life however they want to live it as long as it does not infringe on another’s same freedoms. This is the essence of liberty and the backbone of the Constitution. But this liberty cuts both ways and affords both success and failure. It’s the failure side with which we cannot seem to cope, i.e. The New Deal, The Great Society, “I feel yer pain!” and the latest incarnation, Change We Can Believe In. These are all the same; there’s nothing new here. It’s politicians exploiting fear and failure in order to seize power and maintain it. We are guilty in our successes and must assuage that guilt by ensuring that no one fails. This causes us to give up a little bit of our freedom. And tomorrow we’ll be asked to give up a little more. Meanwhile, the giant slumbers.

So what will awaken the sleeping giant? What will cause the American people to simply say ENOUGH! What will be the equivalent of a sneak attack on sovereign American soil? Last time I checked Google Earth, there was still a big void in the southern tip of Manhattan. “Come on!? How can you say that that had anything to do with eroding freedom in this country?” Well, what did we do? We cracked down on security at airports while, in the name of political correctness, made it practically a crime to look twice at someone who resembled those who attacked us. Thanks to one wacko, we now how to remove our shoes and run them through a security scanner. Instead of utilizing our own resources, we are relying on foreign countries (some of which cheered in the wake of 9/11) to set our gas prices. Where does individual freedom factor in to all of that? And still, the giant slumbers.

Part of me thinks the giant cannot be awakened. He has been rocked gently to sleep over so many years that he simply cannot be stirred. Another part of me still believes in the spirit of the American people. This part believes that overnight, this country will say 'Enough!' and get about the business of throwing those who want to push us into socialism out on their pointy ears. Socialism fails every time it’s tried. Free market capitalism works. It made this country great in an unprecedented short amount of time. It has generated wealth for those who took advantage of it but it leaves behind those who CHOOSE otherwise.

It comes down to this: What has historically been the way a people rejects an oppressive government? Answer: Revolution. Let’s hope it’s a bloodless one.

BQP