Becky Ellisor

Our government’s framers must be rolling over in their graves. Their dreams have been turned into a plutocracy: a country where the wealthy rule. They left a country (England) and culture which was born as a system controlled by and for the wealthy. The Republican Presidential hopeful Romney actually made the statement that the people are just jealous.(envy he called it.) Is that what we are? Was it Marie Antoinette that said let them eat cake?

I don’t think jealous describes my feelings about the current state of affairs in the United States. I think angry is a better word. Angry, that the country left to us by the Greatest Generation, is becoming a place that would not please them. Those that suffered during the Great Depression would be appalled. Hope was their byword and they embraced change. Our government can give us hope if we allow it and change is what we need. Nothing wrong with running the government like a business which believes pleasing it’s customers is it’s number one priority.

I am a strong believer in capitalism. Not the kind we have today where lying, cheating and stealing is so prevalent. I grew up believing that competition is good for the economy and the nation. I don’t think we need to break up big companies but we just shouldn’t give so many of them everything they lobby for, especially since the facts show that jobs come from small businesses.

This year’s election is going to bring out the nation like no other in many years; because it is not just about who will be the President or who will control Congress but in addition what the majority of voters want their future and their children’s future to be. If they want just a few of the wealthiest in control of their destiny then they will get what they deserve. I don’t believe that though. I think the average American is a lot smarter than many pundits think. At no time during my lifetime has the average American been in worse shape economically. There is a reason: we have become a plutocracy. We must change that if we are to become the great nation that history cries out for.

It’s been a good long while since I’ve seen him. But he hung around for a long time; got himself a girlfriend and they had one baby chick in a low hanging bird feeder on my front porch. Some guys who were working on my house scared the chick and the poor thing jumped out too soon and I couldn’t find him. The parents hung around for a couple of days, then disappeared. Now they have come back. He doesn’t communicate with me too much anymore: she doesn’t like it. I guess they are married now and she expects him to do his husbandly duties.

I have a friend, he’s a mourning dove. He comes to visit me every day. We communicate by moving our heads. He’s the leader of our talks and also the leader of his flock of 36 doves. He stays befuddled by my copying his head movements. He hasn’t figured out yet that he could follow mine. Maybe his being the leader of his flock won’t let him lose his leadership powers. He always sits alone on his high wire in the sky. Sometimes his flock sits on either side of him but twenty five or so feet away. Sometimes they sit all in a row on the long wire and he sits on the short one leading to my house. I’ve seen him sit in my hackberry tree with some doves above and some below and the rest on the high wire. I’ve seen him with just a few other birds and I have seen him alone. I always know it’s him because he will move his head to watch me follow. He makes me smile and leave my worries behind.

One of the worst months I’ve had in a long , long time…  Mary, my mother in law, died on the third of the month, early in the morning. I have never seen anyone so ready for passing over. I didn’t think she was able to move any longer when I asked her forgiveness for not being the perfect caregiver. She managed to to hold out her hand and take mine. She smiled and tried to talk but couldn’t. She was happy and I knew she forgave me.

Everyone should spend some time with a dying person. Nothing teaches compassion as well or gives one such peace about their own death. It was the third time I have been with a loved one when they died. I would not trade the experience for anything. That doesn’t mean I would not want to see them alive again, it just means there is some peace and joy in being with them when they go.

The rest of the month went downhill from there. My dog was run over on New Year’s Day and died instantly. Everything that happened in between was hard and difficult to get my head wrapped around. No need to pass it all on to you, except that a cousin of mine,  Bill Yeager passed away, also. I will miss his presence at family get togethers.

My time is my own now and I look forward to continuing the fight to make life better for all of us. That is why we are here, in case you never thought about it.

Mary is home from the hospital and seems very content. She was at St. Johns again and doing better. What a slow quiet day which is what I have been needing.

Great friends, like great people occur too rarely.

Every child in the world deserves the right to grow up as all children should: innocent.

Why are so many Democrats surprised by the way the elections turned out? The writing was on the wall long before the election. One battle won does not win the war. What do we do now? Fire everyone in charge and start over again?

We must start educating our populace and registering voters. That is the only way to win the next battle. Knocking the other side is not the answer either. We need to offer the public something better. The public is not happy and this was the only way the average Jack and Jill knew how to give voice to their thoughts.

I am sorry to see that Ted Sorenson has died. He was a great writer because he left us some of the best quotes in history for stirring the people up to good things. We need more men like him. The Kennedy years were so inspiring. Who is going to give us this again? Or can such a person only come from prosperity? The times they are a-killin us. Speak up and vote in honor of those times when most Americans had ethics and compassion.

I think I like Dr. Phil better as a Psychologist looking at the crazies in the Political-Psychological spectrum better than I do him dealing with the individual problems of everyday people. We need someone to point out the crazies in the world. What a good way to educate people about extremists and perhaps how to teach our children to recognize extremely antisocial and criminal ideas.

see: http://ac360.blogs.cnn.com/2010/10/29/dr-phil-slams-arkansas-official-for-non-apology-apology/?hpt=T2

You must vote if you want to see our economy improve.

If you decide to not bother then we will be right back in the same place we were two years ago. It took a lot longer than two years to get us into the mess we are in and giving up after just two years is really insane. Do it again so we can continue to improve.