Slice of Pie Anyone?

I saw this MEME today…and it got me thinking, actually it got me writing.  I wrote this on a group page I am party to….Politics Vs. Reality, but thought it belonged here as much as there.  This is my mind on white space after all.

These are just my thoughts, opinions, ramblings, whatever. Nothing here is meant to inflame or insult, but I do welcome commentary, which I feel is sadly lacking in our country today, what with all the bashing and name calling, etc. going on.

For me, this is NOT politics, it’s life.

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It has been pointed out…that the facts laid out in this MEME are not true.
That could well be…Ben Stein is a comedian…and I take him with a grain.
However, this MEME only got me thinking…not speaking on the merits of what is stated on it.
Just wanted to make that clear.
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I have thought about it, as many have, and voiced my opinion to those that supposedly represent me (Eric Cantor), to no avail.  It matters not what We The People want…and hasn’t for a very long time.  Left, right, or in the middle…it all comes down to the same ol’ shit…money, power, and politics.
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There are some who believe what we have is better than anywhere else in the world.  If so, then why are we trying so hard to be like everyone else? Why is it so important NOT to stand up and stand out? The freedoms we have as Americans have always been the most identifiable part of BEING an American.  The whole reason those coming here, COME HERE!
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I am not ready, nor willing, to hand my freedom card in just yet…I find I still want a say in what happens to, and in, my country.  Folks who believe conservatives, Republicans, right-wingers, tea-baggers as they are so lovingly dubbed, are racist, poor hating, money-grubbing, anti-this, and anti-that…couldn’t be more wrong.  Why the name calling and hating of everyday folks, whose goal is to live by the Constitution?  People who would like to see laws of the land enforced and not circumvented for some and ignored for others?  People who would willingly give everything we have to those that need it, as long as it can be PAID FOR?
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I know that when a conservative talks about money, the hackles rise on some…but that doesn’t change the facts.  The government needs it, so it takes it.  As we are in the middle of tax season…how many of you that have done yours, have seen in black and white, on one page, just how much more of your money is gone?  It would be fine if we could see the benefits being rained down, but do you?  I don’t.  We are so far down the rabbit hole and falling farther and farther every second, we’ll never see daylight at this rate.
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To say the government has the right to take it, without asking for it, is wrong!  The fact that they do it, even more so.  We used to have a say, through our House of Representatives, how and how much.  When did we vote to give up that right? Ummm, never.
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We continually throw good money after bad.  Good intentioned?  Sure…no one deserves to be left in the dark hole of poverty, scrounging for the very basic needs of life…NO ONE…and it’s the best part of our country and its citizens to want to do something about that…and we can…but currently we are dancing around the real issues…one step forward, two steps back…we need some tough love here.  And yes, I’m talking about immigration, as it’s where we started and if we are not careful, it’s where we will end!
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I am well versed in the laws of immigration.  I am 32 years into a marriage to one.  And along with his family and the multitudes I’ve met through them, and several of my own immediate family members who work directly with/for immigrants, we DO have a good system in place.  So where did it go so wrong?  I’ll leave that to you to answer because I don’t know, can only speculate, that money, power, and politics have something to do with it.
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We are a nation of immigrants.  To think we could, or should, survive without the influence and diversity these folks bring to our culture is ignorant and very short-sighted.  BUT, we must do something about HOW they come in…not why, not who, but HOW.  We have the law, let’s use it. If we need more staff, let’s hire them to get the log jam of those waiting undammed.
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We cannot fix this overnight.  We’ve wasted too much time and too much money already, doing things behind the guise of humanitarianism, while at the same time, adding more and more blocks of concrete on the heads of those in that hole.  The hole is getting deeper and filling faster and throwing money we do not have at this is not going to empty it out.
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It is not racist, or hate mongering, or elitist, to want our immigration laws enforced.  It is not any of those things to want our country solvent enough to care for our own AS WELL as those who chose to make lives for themselves here.  It IS wrong to condemn people who believe we should follow the law, live within our means, and/or live by the Constitution.  Just as it is also wrong, to conversely, label those that feel we must change those laws or amend that same Constitution…it works both ways.
But anyway you look at it, any way you lean, any way you slice this good, old-fashioned, American Apple Pie…we are out of pie.
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Before we can invite/welcome/help anyone looking for their slice…we must first, bake a better, more sustaining, pie.  And we can’t do that robbing our future bakers nor by forgetting the most important ingredients…American ingenuity and common sense.  Let’s find a way, or better use what’s in our larder, to do this before we invite the rest of the world over for coffee and dessert.  Can we do that?
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(the opinions expressed here are just that, opinions, and they happen to be mine)

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If you want it, the link below offers some food thought, and it IS worth thinking about:

http://youtu.be/LPjzfGChGlE

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Rhonda

Hi everyone! Welcome to 50 Shades of Gray Hair. 50 Shades is my blog of life over the hill, where each day is full of delicious opportunities to earn another gray hair. I stopped declaring war on the gray when I began this blog years ago. Instead, I embrace and celebrate them along with whatever life decides to throw my way, with (sarcasm forward) humor and an optimistic eye to the future. I think. I hope? I don't know. At any rate...it's real, it's honest, it's full of 4 letter words, and it's me...on a platter. I sincerely welcome you all to my porch....♥♥Rhonda

10 thoughts on “Slice of Pie Anyone?”

    1. I’m afraid I’d be a “Mrs. Smith Goes To Washington” Mim…full of idealized hopes and dreams for our great nation only to be stuck standing in the same place until either the voice or the feet gave out! but…that said, one can always hope for a bit of common sense…xo

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  1. Just blew my brain, SB. Seriously. I don’t know what to say… you guys feel so deeply about your country, in a way we don’t even approach… I wonder if that’s what makes your country still the best in the world. You feel your soil all the time.

    Canada is a borderline-Socialist country that taxes everything all the time. I don’t know if I feel that benefit, or that everyone does. Some do, some don’t, some don’t need. There are so many pressure points and seeming lack of care issues, and at the same time, so much wasted money all over the place. I can’t figure out the mess; I’m not sure anyone can.

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    1. I’m not sure anyone can either…at least when seen as a whole…but as in all things, one must take the first step. We HAVE to do something, things cannot continue as they are. I’m an American. I love being an American. I love the world, but I don’t want to be a Worldian. Ya know? I like to think each of our countries is its own patch in the world quilt…colorful, dynamic, different patters, stripes and checks and flowers and polka dots…all stitched together with the thread of compassion and decency…I don’t think I’d like that quilt if it were all red or all yellow. Okay…rambling again.

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      1. I understand that. We don’t have that, really. Canada is a hodge-podge. We want people here and invite them here. I heard a stat once that the largest Ukrainian population in the world outside the Ukraine is in Canada. Same with the Italians. Same with the Sikhs. Same with the Somalis… list goes on and on and on. We are made up of people who are not from here, and honestly, it is so cool going to a fair or a carnival and just seeing such different people interacting with each other, just walking around being Canadian. Here, it’s the people from other places that define who Canadians are – we are really proud of that. I think it’s our greatest accomplishment. But this is just how we are built, and we are built different.

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        1. I understand that feeling completely though. I got that same sense when I was in London…the diversity was one of the most notable things I took away from my time there. This country is also a melting pot of different cultures, it’s how we began, and it has never stopped. But here, it’s like America has swallowed them up, which I’m not saying is a bad thing…however, except for the inevitable big city pockets like the China Towns and Little Italys and the like…I don’t feel the same sense even though we are immigrants at the core. Make sense?

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    1. Seems the one thing all of our countries have in common Jules…the people have lost their voices, or rather, the people have allowed themselves to be silenced through the apathy derived from feeling our little voice won’t/can’t make a difference. But that’s not true when one becomes one hundred becomes one million and so on. We made the mess, now it’s time to clean it up.

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