Obama Lacks Class and Dignity—There I’ve finally said it!

By Kellene Bishop

I have been biting my tongue on this topic for a long time now, not wanting to appear like I’m not giving him a chance. But today was the last straw.

Barack Obama has absolutely no Presidential class or dignity.

I was shocked when he was making his “presidential” speech, after he’d already won the election, and saw fit to take pot shots at President Bush. I know I was raised by good parents, but I would think that any parent who’s raising a future president of the United States would raise them with an awareness of dignity and civility. I expect to hear that kind of anti-Bush rhetoric during the politicking leading up to the election, but not afterwards, and frankly I don’t think it’s been done in recent history either. Why? Because it lacks class! It’s petty. This was supposed to be his first day of presidential regality and he sees fit to use it to promote his “nanny nanny noo noo” nonsense against President Bush.

Adding insult to injury, he crippled Washington D.C. financially by bankrupting them with the most lavish inaugural address in history, outspending Bush by over 4 to 1!

Our country is in MOURNING. Millions have lost their retirement, their jobs, their hope for a future, and he decides that elaborate excess is in the country’s best interest? During such an economic crisis, there are several U.S. Presidents that certainly would have firmly believed this to be undignified (Wilson, Roosevelt, Washington, Adams, etc.)

Since Obama has taken the reins of the Presidency, he continues to shift blame to what is going on in our nation to the previous President and the Republican party. Mr. President, be a man, not a martyr! Own up and fix it if you think it’s so bad! Don’t misunderstand. I’m not happy with how Bush performed his duties. And I feel that my convictions and beliefs have been betrayed in many aspects by the Republicans. However, Obama cannot continue to be believable in any way shape or form if he intends to put the blame of our country’s woes on the backs of any particular party or president.  After all, Obama has stains on his hands for the mortgage mess we’re in as he was a part of insisting that government made economically questionable home loans. Obama screws up while taking the Oath of Office and sees fit to blame it on a Supreme Court justice? This is not behavior fitting of the president of our nation. Surely his mother raised him better than that! (How about the simple rule of “respect your elders?”)

How in the world does Obama think he’s promoting bi-partisanship when every time he speaks he sees fit to remind the American people that either a) They made a mistake in electing Bush in the first place (ouch…salt in the wound) or b) Our votes didn’t matter over the last 8 years because Obama is going to undo everything Bush ever did, or c) those who still do promote and believe in the Republican way of life are conquered human beings.

He continues to forget that the voters of this nation, to whom he is addressing, put Bush in office for two consecutive terms! And yet he sees fit to degrade that administration at every turn and to nullify ANYTHING that that administration did previously that Obama and the Democratic Party disagrees with. What good is the right to vote if your votes can merely be negated the next time someone comes along who doesn’t agree with them? To me that’s not a republic, that’s a monarchy. That kind of behavior is not indicative of a president of a free country, it’s indicative of a tyrant. And how does this behavior reinforce in any way his so-called goals of bi-partisan cooperation. I’m starting to wonder seriously if we haven’t just been taken over by a King and his “King’s men.” In light of Obama’s complete disregard for the will of this nation’s people, he’s allowed for federal monies to be spent on stem cell research. Many people supported President Bush’s actions on stem-cell research. I, for one, certainly did, out of my devotion to the freedoms of the Constitution and my firmly held religious beliefs. It is immoral to take of the wealth from one people to give to another. And that’s exactly what he’s doing with this allocation. It is in violation of the religious beliefs of millions of Americans in our country as well. This isn’t even HIS money to allocate to such a cause. It is for the function of the government whose primary purpose is to protect the rights and freedoms of the people of this nation! Perhaps if we weren’t taxed so high, then private enterprise would still have money to fund such research themselves and not burden the American taxpayer with a process so repugnant to the senses of many.

I wonder how many other presidential policies he will attempt to reverse? Perhaps he’d like to teach George Washington a thing or two and decide to reverse his policy on the right to keep and bear arms… oh wait, Obama’s already trying to do that.

“No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms. The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government”
— Thomas Jefferson, 1 Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

“The very atmosphere of firearms anywhere and everywhere restrains evil interference – they deserve a place of honor with all that’s good”
— George Washington

“The best we can hope for concerning the people at large is that they be properly armed.”
— Alexander Hamilton, The Federalist Papers at 184-188

Or perhaps he’d like to reinstitute the Sedition Act which Thomas Jefferson specifically abolished. Perhaps he’d like to reinstate the errors of other presidents while he’s at it such as the internment camps which violated the rights of hundreds of thousands of Japanese-Americans during World War II. Perhaps he’d like to get rid of the Declaration of Independence altogether so as not to be inconvenience with any conflict of conscience.

I don’t believe that the majority of our government-elected officials are serving the people any longer. They are serving themselves to get power and gain, and we apathetic sheep are allowing it. While Obama’s not even able to keep his campaign promises for an entire week, he’s sabotaging more of our country’s freedoms. Why doesn’t he show some dignity and put to rest the accusations of his heritage, to prove once and for all that he is legally able to be elected President of our nation instead of sending his dogs to the courthouse to use every convoluted and perverted law of privacy to protect that information from ever being released? If he has nothing to hide then why won’t he show this information instead of bullying his citizens in court, now at the cost to American taxpayers?

Here’s a warning “Mr. President.” If you are not able to even create a façade of class and decorum when you are in front of the cameras for all the world to see, then I suspect you are doing much worse behind our backs. Remember, the Declaration of Independence reads “…Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.” I, for one, will not consent or stand idly by while you insult this great nation with your representation of us, nor will I allow you to strip us of any more of our liberties. You are truly the last straw—of the indignity of liberties lost. I will use all of my influence to right the real wrongs of our past leaders.

I suppose that if nothing else, I appreciate you for waking me up from my nap of stupor. Had it not been for your blatant and bold uncivilized behavior, I might still be sleeping.

Copyright 2009 Kellene Bishop. All rights reserved.
You are welcome to repost this information so long as it is credited to Kellene Bishop.  

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The beginning of a business…ain’t it grand?

Hot off the press…I just got an abbreviated copy of the transcript from the 3M Mastermind call today which Eliza Vaile hosted.  I just wanted to post this part about perceiving a beginning in the proper perspective (with their permission of course).  I thought it was GREAT!!

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Most of us, when we started our business, the very thought of even starting a business seemed like a Herculean task.  Frankly, that’s only because it hadn’t been done before for most of us.  Many of you have served as literal pioneers in what you’re bringing to the market. 

 

I’m sure that when Ben Franklin discovered the electrical effects of lightening, he thought it was a pretty big deal at the time as well. However, the availability of electricity is a very common assumption for most of us all over the world nowadays.  In fact, I’m so accustomed to it, that on those rare occasions when it does go off during a storm or something, I find myself thinking, oh well, I’ll just watch some TV while I wait for the power to come back on.  (Do any of you do that too?)

 

Anyway, while we’re not disputing the value of electricity in our lives, we do have to recognize that it wasn’t the top of the mountain, or the ultimate accomplishment, so to speak.   So much more has been done to generate power, and ease and convenience in our lives since then, right?  And we all realize that we have to learn to walk prior to running.  However, most of us mistakenly give ourselves way too long of a trial period for walking before we attempt to run. And in doing so, we limit the amazing ripple effect that could have been realized, had we pushed sooner or harder. We hesitate to participate in a bigger league or broader scope of possibilities.  What I’m teaching you here is that we need to be acceptant of larger and more successful beginnings. There’s always a beginning- But the beginning is perfectly capable of BEING GREAT!  Beginnings need not be feeble, sub-standard, or insignificant.  I worked in a print shop when I was 13, and I always came across interesting printed matter. One customer had a bumper sticker printed up just for her, and I have NEVER forgotten it, because I found it to be so profound.  “Just because I’m paranoid, doesn’t mean they aren’t after me.”  Just because someone is new doesn’t mean they can’t do a good job.  Just because we do make mistakes, doesn’t mean we’re not competent.

 

Michelangelo is well known for his work on the Sistine chapel… what you may not know, is it wasn’t because of his experience in painting that made this wonder of the world so magnificent!

 

 

He was from Florence, Italy.  In those days the Pope could basically just demand that you do such and such.  If you did not perform, you would be imprisoned without a second thought and for the rest of your life!

 

What most people do not know is that he was NOT a painter.  He was a sculpturer!  He was still required to do this task though.  So he took a mere 3 months of painting training, and he then went to work and painted the Sistine Chapel!  Isn’t it interesting that reality would suggest that those who TRAINED Michelangelo would be better suited for this task. But no. The burden was laid on Michelangelo to perform superbly.  I suppose he could have done an “OK” job.  I suppose he could have excused the absence of a perfect painting to the fact that this was after all, his first attempt.  But he was armed with this TRUTH.  There’s always a beginning. But a beginning is not an excuse, reason, or cause for a sub-standard performance.  Even though many of us are “beginning” a new path, a new career, perhaps even a new workout regime or other discipline, it need not be feeble.  It can be splendid!

 

Those of you who have the privilege of being parents- When you first held your brand new baby in your arms, didn’t you find yourself saying “Oh, he or she is so “Perfect”?!  This little bundle of joy is merely at the beginning of their life.  And yet most of us look at them and hold them and see just how perfectly beautiful they are.  Is not this indicative of the truth that beginnings can be fabulous?

 

Walt Disney first created Disneyland. It was a massive undertaking.  He was scoffed at and scorned for dreaming so big!  Millions of individuals have attended that theme park over the last 50 years? with a critical, even cynical perspective, and yet millions have been converted to it’s magic… to his belief that a beginning effort can be wonderful!  He then went on to prove that it wasn’t a fluke!  He did it again, even better with Disney World! Guess what.  Euro Disney was not so successful when it first opened.  Even as great as the other two Disney park ventures were, it didn’t mean that they all were going to be great and wildly successful.  But that doesn’t lessen the success of their beginning, right?

 

George Washington was the first ever General of the United States as well as the very first U.S. president! And what a fabulous job he did in both of those capacities.

 

Don’t get me wrong…Michelangelo, Child Birth, Walt Disney, George Washington- all of these involve a great deal of labor and challenges. But they are STILL worth it, right?.  And they can still be amazing. There’s no rule that says a beginning has to be mediocre.

 

There will be all of these same challenges inherent in a project that doesn’t start out so wonderful as well. 

 

We are all plagued with some type of malfunctions- but does that mean that we are in any way programmed for failure simply because we are new at something or “just” a small business owner?  Believing in beginnings is actually critical to your happiness and success. Because if you allow yourself to perceive otherwise then you can and WILL always blame someone or something or some circumstances in your life for you mistakes, shortcomings, etc, and then you will ALWAYS perform less than you are truly capable of.  Remember, “there are no victims, only volunteers.”

 

We can’t bar ourselves from doing something new because it’s imperative to our success as business owners. We’ve got to be willing to forge ahead in order to stay relevant to our customers.  We can’t afford to tell ourselves that we’re not even going to try because of fright, intimidation or some other reason, because in a lot of cases in today’s economy, we may be ignoring our only shot at playing in the game.   As Robert Ringer says, “If life’s a game, we might as well play hard to win.”  Why NOT have fun and try to win?

 

 

*********** That’s all of it that I got permission to share for now.  I strongly recommend that if you’re an entrepreneur, you register as a primary member of 3M Mastermind.  It’s free! And their monthly training webinars are excellent!  Just go to http://www.3mmastermind.com

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