Read Write and Blue

Compassion can’t be paid for By Kenneth Mandile

2011-08-08T06:10:00.000-04:00

This is an Op-Ed published in the T&G on Friday August 5, 2011
http://www.telegram.com/article/20110805/NEWS/108059818/-1/asiseeit

The word compassion has Greek and Latin roots meaning “to suffer with.” It is an emotion caused by awareness of someone else’s suffering. It is an emotion so strong that we actually feel another person’s pain. A compassionate person will sacrifice time, effort, goods, money, and maybe even his life to alleviate the suffering of a fellow human being.

Governments do not have emotions. They cannot share the suffering and the pleasure that make us human. Governments do not love, hate, laugh or smile, so why should we expect them to be compassionate? By pretending that we can have compassion by government proxy we are made less human. A truly compassionate society would not relinquish compassion to a soulless entity.

There is a popular television show on ABC called “What Would You Do?” It puts people in ethical situations where they witness some form of abuse or injustice. Hidden cameras record the reaction of strangers to the situations created by the show. Sometimes it is hard to watch, even knowing that the people being abused are really actors. What makes the show worth watching is that in almost every situation someone steps forward to intervene to aid the victim.

What would make a total stranger step forward to help a person who is being abused? Wouldn’t it be easier to ignore the situation and let someone else take care of the problem? Perhaps, but by personally witnessing the abuse, the good Samaritans have a tenuous, but real, relationship with the victim. Compassion is relational. Witnessing the abuse causes the witness to suffer along with the victim.

Supporters of unlimited social programs want us to have a compassionate government, but compassion is a human trait, and expecting our government to be compassionate for us is a copout. Is a tea party member less compassionate than a big government advocate? Perhaps it is the statists, who would use the government to seize the property of one person to give to another who are the ones who lack compassion.

Professor of philosophy William B. Irving of Wright State University makes an interesting analogy in his essay “The Politics of Compassion”: “... it would be absurd to take a person’s willingness to increase Federal defense spending as evidence that the person is himself brave, or to take a person’s willingness to spend government money on athletic programs as evidence that the person is himself physically fit. In the same way as it is possible for a ‘couch potato’ to favor government funding of athletic teams, it is possible for a person who lacks compassion to favor various government aid programs; and conversely, it is possible for a compassionate person to oppose these programs.”

Professor Irving differentiates between the Mother Teresa theory of compassion and the liberal theory of compassion. The first requires personal suffering and sacrifice. The second requires that a third party sacrifice to relieve suffering.

I’m sorry, but forcing someone else to pay more for government programs is not compassion. It is lazy, greedy selfishness. Perhaps you can look and feel compassionate, but you have made no sacrifice and have not shared in the pain of your fellow citizens.

I am offended when statists claim that conservatives lack compassion. I also cringe when fellow conservatives fail to show compassion toward the poor and disabled, to illegal immigrants, to gays and lesbians, the homeless and others who do not fit their concept of ordinary. Compassion is not a political philosophy, though. It is a human trait that we share and that we sometimes have trouble practicing.

Our society cannot thrive without compassion. We are all dependent upon others for survival. Witness the many volunteers who recently came out to help area tornado victims.

The role of government in a crisis of that nature is to provide emergency services. The government cannot provide a shoulder to lean on, hands to help sort through personal possessions or an ear to hear the stories of sorrow. The government cannot relieve the emotional suffering of the victims.

Instead, hundreds of people sacrificed time and energy to help strangers.

Let’s not fool ourselves into the belief that any amount of government aid could replace this kind of compassion. When we attempt to use the government as our proxy in the role of compassion, we distance ourselves from those we are trying to help, and our society is the poorer for it.

Kenneth Mandile is a resident of Webster and president of the Worcester Tea Party.

"We shall not grow wiser before we learn that much that we have done was very foolish. "*

2011-07-25T13:07:00.000-04:00

On all the TV and Radio programs as well as in every Newspaper we see stories about the debt crisis and what suffering will happen if we don’t raise the debt limit. We are being told that we must raise the debt limit or Grandma won’t get her check and the sick will be turned out from their hospital beds. These are the tactics our President and Treasury Secretary are using on national TV news programs. They are learned men with degrees from the best school in our nation, I have no such degrees. They have reached the pinnacle of their chosen professions, I have not. What great conceit I must have to stand and shout at these two men and their hundreds of thousands of followers: “No! Stop!”

It is because I consider myself an American Patriot that I have taken a place in the politics of our Commonwealth and Republic. Truly, I would much prefer to anonymously toil at raising my children, being a worthy husband to my wife, and earning a wage such as I can. But my love for my wife and children impels me to stand up. It is my sense of duty that requires me to put my efforts at trying to correct the catastrophic problems which are endangering our Nation. It is not hubris but humility that I am defending. It is the prideful few who know what is better for the rest of us that I stand in opposition to.

If we continue the status quo we are doomed. No nation in the history of the world has ever survived the levels of borrowing that we are now talking about. It is ludicrous that there are those that want use to follow the path of Greece. If we allow our debts to continue to expand we are selling our children into serfdom. They will not be able to follow their dreams but will be burdened by this mountain of debt. If the President and the Treasury Secretary don’t see that they are blind. If they are refusing to deal with it then they are unworthy of their offices.

I am not alone in seeing this catastrophe coming. Most of the people I know in the Tea Party Movement know this instinctively. If that was all maybe we could be dismissed as a group of crackpots. But we are not alone. Decades before us an economist warned us:

'Emergencies' have always been the pretext on which the safeguards of individual liberty have been eroded.
If most people are not willing to see the difficulty, this is mainly because, consciously or unconsciously, they assume that it will be they who will settle these questions for the others, and because they are convinced of their own capacity to do this
Perhaps the fact that we have seen millions voting themselves into complete dependence on a tyrant has made our generation understand that to choose one's government is not necessarily to secure freedom.
To act on the belief that we possess the knowledge and the power which enable us to shape the processes of society entirely to our liking, knowledge which in fact we do not possess, is likely to make us do much harm.

Friedrich August von Hayek said this and more (*like the title for this post). He is the economist in opposition to John Maynard Keynes. Theirs has been the epic struggle for most of a century. I urge every American to learn all that they can about these two economists. Here is an easy way to start. Watch both, I don’t plan on giving any pop quizzes, but it is well worth your time to be informed.

The First Tea Party Activist Lobby Day!

2011-07-13T17:35:00.001-04:00

Today was the first time I ever visited and went inside the State House. I participated in the first Tea Party Activist Lobby Day. We meet in the Great Hall of Flags, where each city or town of the Commonwealth is represented by their flags. There was an introduction by Christen Varley of the Greater Boston Tea Party and Empower Massachusetts. State Representatives Paul Adams, Daniel Webster, and Jim Lyons all spoke to the crowd encouraging us to keep involved and working to bring common sense to government. Representative Steven Levy and Marlborough City Councilor Matt Elder spoke about their efforts to bring the Secure Communities Program to Marlborough and the road blocks that Governor Patrick has put in place to stop them.

After lunch and some mingling many of us proceeded to the Gallery to watch the Constitutional Convention. The Constitutional Convention was reconvene on July 13^th at about 1:00PM and after some confused activity was adjourned by 1:20PM. The joint session of our legislature was supposed to discuss three important issues. First, raising state income tax from 5.3% to 5.95%, this proposal is aimed at changing our system from a fixed to a variable rate Income tax. Such a move would make it easier for raising taxes and would further weaken fiscal discipline. The second would raise the percentage of signatures needed on citizen amendment petitions from 2% to 6%. This Amendment will reduce the political voice of all the citizens of the Commonwealth. It will make it very expensive and almost impossible for average citizens to use the Initiatives. The third would change the existing Governor's Council in to panel appointed by the Governor. They have been a rubber stamp for the Governors wishes. But since new Councilors who are more independent have been elected those in the “smoke-filled-rooms” want to do away with this voice of the citizens. Taken together these Amendments are a betrayal of democracy and are an obvious attempt to further the control of one political party. These bad ideas are not dead only sleeping until they reconvene. All freedom loving citizens of our Commonwealth need to call your Rep. and Senator about these three Major Amendments that will adversely affect all Massachusetts citizens.

Christen Varley did a superb job of bringing together members of the many Tea Party Groups to bring our concerns and questions to the Legislators of our Commonwealth. After this successful first outing, more events are being planned. Check with your local Tea Party to be informed about future events.

Things to show our Children Today.

2011-07-04T08:22:00.000-04:00

FIREWORKS!

The Preamble.

No More King.

The Shot heard Round the World.

Happy Birthday America!

2011-07-04T07:16:00.002-04:00

Robert Reich is Wrong Again

2011-06-20T10:28:00.002-04:00

2011-05-29T13:14:00.000-04:00

Tom always does a great job with his essays but this one is especially poignant.

Video streaming by Ustream

A Letter from my Mirror Image.

2011-05-21T14:12:00.000-04:00

In the T&G there is a Letter to the Editor that I responded to at lenght.

How can adding a trillion dollars to the deficit by giving huge tax breaks to large corporations and the wealthiest Americans be considered deficit reduction? Too bad Republicans can’t explain that logic to us liberals stuck on the crazy idea that everyone should be on a level playing field and pay their fair share.

It doesn’t make sense to me, nor to billionaire Warren Buffet, who said his secretary pays a higher tax rate than he does and there’s something wrong with the system. Now, he and I can say that General Electric Co. paid less taxes to the government than we did last year. Of course GE isn’t alone in that respect; two-thirds of American corporations pay little or no taxes. That’s the Republican way.

Then there are other Republican agendas I don’t understand as being a good thing for the people. Like trying to repeal the little bit of health care reform we did get, trying to end Medicare as we know it, and trying to destroy organizations that do family medical planning services and helping minorities understand their voting rights, e.g., Planned Parenthood and ACORN. Spreading misinformation, lies and editing tapes unabated in order to keep people from being helped and educated is an abomination.

The Republican Party has some “splainin’ to do, Lucy,” on why they’re stuck on stupid. Here’s how to save the economy in a nutshell: Single-payer, tax the rich, end wars and regulate Wall Street.

EDWARD A. SAUCIER

Dear Mr. Saucier,

It is nice to again read your prose in the pages of the T&G. I am glad that you are well and up to the challenge of attempting to defending your ill conceived ideology. As is you habit you have thrown a lot at the wall hoping some of it will stick. As is also your habit you have laced your letter with vitriol and attacks on your favorite boogie man those “Rascally Republicans.” Your letter is a poorly formed collection of misinformation and half truths. But it is no doubt the best defense you can make considering the ideology you are trying to defend. But you should be proud of your unabated passion. While others have been discouraged by the failures of your political ideology, you have reached a singular height in zealotry. Let me start that I am not a Republican. I write for the advancement and defense of the Tea Party movement. Much of your scatological rant does target core positions of the Tea Party Movement so I will attempt some “splannin” for you. I have much to say it will take several posts.

The basic premise of conservative taxation is to raise the revenue that the government needs to operate. A public good needs to be meet so a tax must pay for it. This is as basic as it can be and is where most of us want the issue to stay. I want to drive on roads so I pay a tax on the gallons of gas I buy to build and maintain the roads. Easily understandable. Liberal politicians want to use the tax system to make thing “fairer.” When liberal politicians say the word “fairer,” they really mean complicated. Liberal politicians wish to use the government to punish those they don’t like; unfortunately they don’t like productive people. They say that raising taxes on this group will make “taxes fairer.” Returning to my road example, the tax you pay is based no longer on just the gallons of gas you buy, but on what station you purchase your gas at and what type of vehicle you put the gas into. After those increases, and “fairer” always means tax increases, the liberal politicians take the tax money that they collected to build and maintain roads and spend it on their agenda items. They take trips to other countries to learn about their roads. They fund studies, pay off their friends in academia, to show why roads are “bad.” After all those expenses there is no tax money left for the roads. That is when they higher people who have donated to their election campaigns to propose new taxes that we need for the maintenance of the roads. Don’t you see how much trouble this “fairer” gets us into?

Mr. Saucier, you and I are probably more alike than either of us would like to admit. We both wish to improve our nation and protect our neighbors. We both passionately believe we know how to achieve those things. I believe the words of that famous Republican. “Am I not destroying my enemies when I make friends of them?” I wish you to understand that I seek to refute your ideology but that I do not seek to destroy you. I would only destroy the enmity between us. I look forward to reading more of your thoughts.

Respectfully,

RWB

P.S. I have no illusions that there is anything I can do to dissuade Mr. Saucier from his political opinions. But I do believe that when ever and wherever possible it is important to stand up for what you believe in and it is possible to disagree without being disagreeable.

Tea and Rolls - A Tea Party Blog Roll: Welcome!

2011-05-08T07:17:00.001-04:00

Tea and Rolls - A Tea Party Blog Roll: Welcome!: "Welcome to 'Tea and Rolls' Blog Roll, a place for tea party bloggers to share and read what each is writing. Keep in mind, the opinions expressed in each of the blogs listed here are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of either the Worcester Tea Party or the local tea party group the author is affiliated with.
The success of the Tea Party movement is based on individuals, each with their own ideas and opinions, who through rational debate, come to consensus. This blog roll promotes this and allows anyone to read the various opinions.
If you would like to add your blog to this list, please email me imjustmusing@aol.com and I and the Blog Roll Committee will be more than happy to add you. Okay, there really isn't a blog roll committee, but it sounded good. We only ask that you be a supporter of the Tea party movement.

Thank you for stopping by and come back again!

Paul Roy"

The Income Tax Increase is Coming!

2011-05-07T08:21:00.004-04:00

The Income Tax Increase is Coming!
The Income Tax Increase is Coming!

Legislators in Massachusetts are planing on raising our state Income Tax to 5.95% from 5.3%. Previously the people of Massachusetts voted to return our Income Tax to it's historical rate of 5%. In November 964,210 Massachusetts voters saw through the fear campaign and voted to reduce our Sales Tax to 3%. Many of those that voted against lowering our Sales Tax believed that lowering that it would require raising our Income Taxes. We argued that voting against lowering the Sales tax would be seen as a green light for raising taxes. We are now seeing that prediction come true.

There are where hearings about this travesty held in Marlborough, read the press accounts here:
http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/news/x1934472439/Eldridge-calls-for-higher-taxes-on-wealthy

Mr. John Niewiecki attended that meeting and his thought on this issue are published here:
http://www.examiner.com/political-buzz-in-boston/everyone-give-me-more-give-me-more-says-massachusetts-legislature?CID=examiner_alerts_article

Friends, Neighbors, Voters of the Commonwealth ask yourselves if can you afford to pay 12% more for the State Government? If you are like me there is no money I can spare. My family pays enough. Call your Legislators and demand that they stop the Income Tax Increase and cut the waste in State government. You can find out their contact information here:
http://www.wheredoivotema.com/bal/myelectioninfo.php

Otherwise, The Income Tax Increase is Coming!
The Income Tax Increase is Coming!

2011 Rig Roast Rally Slideshow.

2011-04-25T12:39:00.002-04:00

Ralph at the Shaw Statue 2-22-11 Boston

2011-02-23T15:43:00.000-05:00

Susan at the Boston Rally 2-22-11 Boston

2011-02-23T15:31:00.000-05:00

rick Bastein r-gardner at the boston rally 2-22-11 Boston

2011-02-23T15:25:00.000-05:00

The ultimate rally Irony 2-22-11 Boston

2011-02-23T15:04:00.000-05:00

collective bargaining protest boston 2/22/11

2011-02-23T14:44:00.000-05:00

Michael Graham Rick Bastein and an interesting lady 2-22-11 Boston

2011-02-23T14:15:00.000-05:00

"Union Solidarity" protest, Boston, MA - 2/22/2011

2011-02-23T14:08:00.000-05:00

2011-02-07T08:09:00.003-05:00

Televised Campaign Address for Goldwater Presidential Campaign - 10/27/64.

What power his words had in 1964. Now in 2011 his warnings are more ominous because the rot and decay of more than 45 years. The creep he saw has covered more of us and grown bolder. We should remember President Regan on his Birthday. Happy 100.

A Ridiculously Dangerous Idea

2011-01-30T10:53:00.003-05:00

Today I read this letter in the Worcester Telegram & Gazette:

In the aftermath of the tragic shootings in Arizona, I’m now troubled by the denials of partial responsibility emanating from the right wingers. I heard Sarah Palin talking about not retreating, but reloading. She put sniper’s cross hairs on a map of Democrat-held congressional seats, one of which belongs to U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. I also heard Sharron Angle say that if the right-wingers didn’t win at the voting booth, there would also be a “Second Amendment remedy,” and a tea party candidate running against U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Shultz of Florida said something about bullets if not ballots.

Fox News, and its employees Glenn Beck, Bill O’Reilly, Sean Hannity, plus Ann Coulter and Rush Limbaugh, have been demonizing those of us who think differently for several years. They call us “socialists and communists,” and tell their listeners that we are left-wing haters of America.

Now, a mentally confused individual from Arizona, whose writings tell of his anger at the government and its supposed disregard of the Constitution, has shot Mrs. Giffords and many others at her “meet and greet.” The Constitution talk comes straight from the Republicans and their Fox-promoted tea party.

I firmly believe that the shooter was influenced by this right-wing rhetoric. His writings prove it. Sure, he’s unstable, but these are the most easily influenced by hate speech. So, stop the gun talk; we’re all Americans, and I’m a disabled U.S. Navy and Army veteran.

ROBERT J. BOLDUC

Thanks to the Telegram and Gazette for publish this letter. It is very important that all of us read it and understand what the writer is really saying. Mr. Bolduc’s letter can be reduced to five words;

“Sarah Palin is a Witch!”

We saw this 1692 in Salem. We saw what people were willing to when they believe in magical boogie men. They will blame the innocent for imagined crimes. They will turn on their neighbors. They will believe in Spectral Evidence. They will pervert the Rule of Law. We know the tragic results from history.

In school we were taught what happened. We wondered how seeming normal people could have acted so stupidly. After class we prided ourselves that we are so much wiser now than they were then. I am sure we are not. I see no evidence that we have changed much in that few hundred years.

I have read many comments from well educated people from many sites on the internet. Some have demanded that Sarah Palin be sued for all her money because she is responsible that crime, and money is all she cares about. Others insist it is Sharron Angle forced the madman’s hand and she must go to prison for life. Many site the Evil Miasma that comes from the famous that Foxnusgunbekbilloralesehanityancoulterushlimbha monster as the cause of the crime. They demand that the monster be gagged and strangled with our shredded Constitution. They want it be made illegal for those scary others to say words that up set them. They have spread rivers of ink to argue that they are the victims of superhuman bullies that are able to kill with their words. The sound most like small children that complain that their playmates won’t play fair and let them win.

I have read these comments on the pages of our greatest newspapers and on the websites for all the major news organizations. It is an opinion that many Americans fervently believe. That so many people so passionately believe such an obviously ridiculous idea scares me. We know that ridiculous ideas have away of creating unthinking action. Ridiculous ideas have caused wars.

Mr. Bolduc is an American Patriot. He, by his own admission, has suffered for our nation. I salute his sacrifice which was made for all of us. His bravery and service to duty is far superior to my own. But what he has written in this letter is wrong. Dangerously, ridiculously wrong. I hope that he reconsiders what he has written and changes his opinion.

Congress and Crime on the Corner.

2011-01-16T11:08:00.001-05:00

It is the eve of Martin Luther King Day and our nation again is struggling to come to grips with another horrible crime. Last Saturday, a madman who was obsessed with Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, shot her in the head at point blank range then turned the gun onto a gathering of his fellow citizens. Six people were murdered; Christina-Taylor Green, 9, of Tucson, John Roll, 63, chief judge of the U.S. District Court for Arizona, Gabriel "Gabe" Zimmerman, 30, a member of Giffords' staff since 2006, Phyllis Schneck, 79, from Tucson, Dorwan Stoddard, 76, retired construction worker and husband of Mavy Stoddard, who was wounded, Dorothy "Dot" Morris, 76, a retired secretary and wife of George Morris, who was also wounded. The madman’s bullets wounded 14 people in all.

The madman was apprehended at the scene. After he had emptied his first clip of bullets, he stopped to reload, but fumbled and dropped the clip where an unwounded Patricia Maisch was able to grab it. Another citizen clubbed the madman with a folding chair. The madman was then tackled to the ground by 74-year-old retired colonel Bill Badger, who had been shot, and was further subdued by Maisch and Roger Sulzgeber and Joseph Zamudio. It is because of the quick acting of these good people that this horrific crime was not worse. While we can see that evil is everywhere, it is heartening that heroism is more common in our national character.

As of this date Congresswoman Giffords has reportedly been taken off a ventilator. She has opened her eyes and the doctors seem optimistic. It has been said that she was lucky that the bullet exited her skull, thereby causing less damage. According to the father of Christina Green, her organs were donated to a little girl in Boston.

We have lost more than enough to this horrific crime and our thoughts and prayers go out to the injured, the fallen, their loved ones, and their families. All of these are our Patriot dead. They are American citizens that by fate or chance found themselves on the battlefield of freedom. We cannot make the wounded whole. We cannot replace what those that lose a spouse now do not have. There is nothing that would compensate for the lose of a nine year old daughter. Those of us that would call ourselves Americans must do all that we are able to make ourselves worthy of their sacrifice.

"For old times sake..."

2010-12-31T14:42:00.003-05:00

Should old acquaintance be forgot, and never brought to mind?

Should old acquaintance be forgot, and old lang syne?

For auld lang syne, my dear, or auld lang syne,