When you stop for a moment and critically listen to what is being said or being portrayed in the news, more often than not you will find yourself shaking your head and wondering just what in the hell it was that you just watched. It's not limited to media, however; voters sometimes surprise us all with their decisions.
This past election cycle provided us with evidence that people have a tendency to be lazy and rarely look closely at the candidates. The County Clerk race in Oklahoma County is a great example. The aggregate result was a runoff with a beleaguered incumbent who should have been gone years ago and a trumpet player who is apparently a friend of the Keatings and of the Fallins. We get to choose on the Republican side between a candidate with lots of really bad experience and another who really has no clue what goes on in the Clerk's office.
We are so screwed and yes, I'm still shaking my head.
Then there is the terrorist attack madness in Turkey. I watched video of terrorists shooting people and then blowing themselves up. More than 20 people were killed and others injured by these animals and CBS showed it in all its horror but then they criticized Donald Trump for his hard line on terrorism and contrasted Hillary Clinton's more soft approach to interrogation techniques.
I really shook my head after that one.
We live in increasingly bizarre times and I am still wondering how in the hell we ended up with the two candidates we have for POTUS in this day and age. Look, I get the anger and frustration, but damn. If this is the best we've got, we're in a whole lot of trouble. The POTUS race is just one of many examples of how the decline of western civilization continues at an alarming pace. We're afraid to handle terrorists as they should be handled, we elect career politicians with impunity, the news is filled to overflowing with death and destruction, and yes, we still have men and women in uniform fighting overseas with their hands tied behind their back.
If that doesn't make you shake your head, you're part of the problem.
What are some of the solutions? Here are my recommendations:
1. Limit the amount of news we watch and when we watch the news, stick to local news and leave the national news to the mind-numbed dill weeds.
2. Limit negativity. There are some people in our lives who live to be negative, to find a problem in every little thing. Eliminate these people from our lives and at least limit our exposure. There are people who wake up every single morning with a million excuses and rants about why you can't do something and they are full-tilt energy sucking leeches. Scrape 'em off.
3. Be positive. Challenge ourselves to spend a few moments each day to do the whole positive affirmation thing. It may seem corny at first, but there is a lack of positivity and when you encourage yourself and encourage those around you, the possibilities become endless.
4. Be happy. We are alive, we are breathing, and we still live in the greatest country in the world and that should make us happy. Share some happiness with your friends and loved ones and watch how the environment begins to shift.
Yeah, there are times that make us shake our heads as we look around and see the soup sandwich that is our screwed up culture, but there are also opportunities to be an agent of change. I challenge you to be the change; to be the person that inspires others. We can do this.
Of course, these are my opinions and I could be wrong. Or not.
Ron "Gorilla" Black
