It has been a while since my last post, and since I never actually know if anyone looks at these, they are basically a way for me to capture thoughts, and record how I feel and think about events.  The election has come and gone and we have much the same conflict between the two parties that we had before.

I guess its too much to ask that a coalition of the middle form and eliminate extreme views from both sides. It seems so logical, but I guess party loyalty overrides the need to govern well.  We have real problems and the current scenario doesn't seem capable of solving them, but most Americans are in agreement that we need to do certain things.  Adjust taxes to raise some more revenue while reducing spending.  I guess the disagreements are in which taxes to raise and what spending to cut.

We have had Sandy hit the Northeast and unprecedented damage from the water surge in New York.  It doesn't really matter if the climate change is all man caused or only partly man caused.  We need to face reality and reduce carbon emissions, much like we stopped a lot of the other pollutants we were spewing into the air.  We simply have to make everything a political argument in this country, including one of the most horrific events in my lifetime, the Sandy Hook killings.

It is tragic and the result of one clearly deranged individual with access to extremely lethal weapons.  We can't fix the derangement part easily, but we can restrict access to the lethal weapons.  Certainly, there are many people in this country that want and desire guns, but they also have to take responsibility for them.  If you own a gun, you should be responsible for whatever happens with that gun, even if it is stolen from you.  It is lethal and deadly and you need to treat it as such.  If you sell a gun to someone, you should also share some responsibility.  We make people get licenses for many things in this country, and the fact that guns are mentioned in the constitution does not override the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness the country was founded on.

Responsibility, governance, common sense, everyone I talk to agrees we need them.  We then get lost in arguing about what party has the "right" position.  George Washington warned us about this but we have lost sight of that.  We need to change something in the congress, maybe much shorter bills and more votes.  I think some politicians hide behind complex legislation so they can find something in it to vote against without looking like they voted against what the people want.  Also, when you accept public office, you need to be unencumbered.  Taking a pledge, such as a no tax pledge, encumbers you.  It equates to a pledge to refuse to govern if you ask me.