AMERICA WAS WRAPPED UP IN A BLANKET OF RAGE.

Been Distracted Lately I won't bore you with the details of why I have been distracted from my practice of a weekly post. Let's just say I have been driven to start again by some of the things I have experienced lately.

A Blanket of Rage? Read the title page about America being wrapped in a blanket of rage. Who said that? Michael Moore? Rush Limbaugh? Actually it was neither (I'll tell you who said it in a later paragraph) but it describes the environment today. Despite my strong efforts to stay away from hate speech, I do find myself getting angry at some of the things I hear, like "Let's take these sons of a bitches out and give America Back to America Where it Belongs. (James Hoffa) There have been comments from the left that Fox News cut out some parts of the speech to make it look like a call to violence. as opposed to what he really meant, that we should vote the Republicans out of office. (I might remind him that they already did.) Violence or voting booth, I know hate speech when I hear it. I probably should look for something equally offensive from the other side but I'm sure there are plenty who will do that for me.

Mr Hoffa Wants More Union Jobs. Actually, I agree with him. I want more jobs for everyone. What Mr. Hoffa and his constituents haven't done is tell me how to make American Labor competitive with the BRIC nations. (Brazil, Russia, India, and China). We are in a global economy and both labor and management have to get more bang for our labor buck if we are going to re-create the job market in America.

Who Said The Title Quote. It was Bob Dylan and he has yet to state his political preference. The time he was referring to was 1968. Racial strife, assassinations, anti-war demonstrations, and sit-ins capped off by the Kent State killings. We are not yet in a situation that serious and I sure hope it doesn't come to that. A common thread to both times is a long-running war which becomes more unpopular by the day.

You and I Both Know What Changed Everything. The September 11 attacks. You know my favorite memory of that day? I remember looking out my 9th floor office window and seeing a man on the freeway overpass waving a huge flag on a six foot pole. Cars driving by were honking and blinking their lights. Many would think that the flag waving was a meaningless gesture. I understood. The poor flag waver just felt he had to do something to express his love for the country. I wanted to do something myself to show my support. Three years later, the flag waver was replaced by folks standing on that, and similar, overpasses with large signs that said, "Bush Lied, Thousands Died." Or at election time, signs said, "Fire The Liar." How did we move from all pulling together on 9-11 to half of us hating the other half a short time later. Frankly, I really don't know but I know its bad for our country. Hate hurts the hater as much or more than it hurts the hatee. We all suffer from what is going on today.

The Terrorists Accomplished More on 9-11 Than Most Of Us Realize. Not only did they kill almost 3000 of us and destroy some major landmarks and symbols of freedom, they started driving a wedge between us. We all differ about how to manage the war on terror or even whether we can call it that but there is one thing I bet most of us can agree on:

DON'T LET THE BASTARDS WIN.