Get Up and Be Somebody!

   Teenagers love to sleep in on Saturday mornings. I know that I did. Monday through Friday I would drag myself out of bed with the thought of Saturday morning being buried under my covers oblivious to the world for as long as possible. I say for as long as possible because my dad didn't believe in "sleeping in." Sure I would get an extra hour or two than what I got on the weekdays, but I wanted all day. I wanted at least until mid-afternoon. But unless I was sick, around 10:00 a.m. I'd hear a knock on the bedroom door and dad would mutter "time to get up" and walk away. I would wonder what in the hell is the matter with this man? One time I stomped downstairs to ask him just that, and he yelled back "It's time to get up and BE SOMEBODY! Damn!!" I stomped back to my bedroom, probably slamming the door, and just sat there and thought about what he said. Be somebody? Who? What? Was I supposed to try to cure cancer on Saturday mornings? Maybe I could work for world peace and have it done by church on Sunday. After that day when I would hear the knock and him muttering that it was time to get up the words GET UP AND BE SOMEBODY would crash into my mind. I'm 52-years old and those words come to mind more often than I, or he, ever could have predicted.
    America, it's time to get up and be somebody! This country has a debt burden that it can not continue to carry and those in government do not seem to have the will or the guts to address it. In fact we wasted the last three years on a failed stimulus plan that left us with crushing unemployment, deeper debt, and expanding deficits. Our financial woes have become a national security concern. We are weakened and getting weaker. I contend that this is happening intentionally so that the system will collapse and can be replaced or "saved" by converting to a more European-style Socialist system. I believe that Bush made some bad decisions that started the ball rolling, but this new administration that believes in "never letting a good crisis go to waste" is using this perfect storm to bring about their vision for America.
   We have in power now an administration who wants to "fundamentally change" America. Our president and the Progressive Democrats believe that government is the answer to every problem, that we need to spend our way out of this crisis, that debt and deficits don't matter, that America (that means you) is a country that needs to apologize to the world for being arrogant Capitalists, that we need to "spread the wealth around" (not only in America but also globally), and any group or any individual who stands in their way is demonized and destroyed when possible.
   We also have a generation of citizens who believe that they are entitled to everything without being required to work for anything. They want to nurse from the teet of government from cradle to grave. They want to pass high school without being able to read. They want a college degree free-of-charge that is spoon fed to them by complacent professors. They want to have babies that they can not afford and expect the government to feed them with WIC and food stamps and welfare checks. They want high-paying jobs without being willing to start at the bottom and work their way up in a company. They want free cell phones and it's their civil right to have a computer. They want designer clothes and expensive cars. They want it all, but they aren't willing to invest the sweat to get it all. They would rather take it from those who did. They want to take it from that breed of American that still exists that earns whatever degree of success they were willing to work to achieve. They worked hard to get an education. They worked hard to sell that innovative idea and to build a successful business. They made smart investments. Then comes along the unproductive who think they are entitled to take from the productive.
   I have a confession to make. (I make a lot of confessions. It helps me sleep well at night.) I am an under achiever. I could have taken advantage of opportunities like school grants and loans to get a good education. Every single American can get an education if they are willing to work for it. I didn't do it. I started, but I didn't complete it. I didn't earn the degree. I had a  great job that paid well and had room for growth. I didn't stick with it. Now I can follow this by giving pretty good excuses for under achieving, but I'm not going to do it because I accept full responsibility for who I grew up to become. Part of accepting that is also accepting the limitations that under achieving has created for me. I do not expect someone who made the best use of all the opportunities available to better themselves, their living conditions, their income, and their lifestyle to give me anything! Nobody owes me a thing! They earned what they have. America is the land of opportunity. People still come from all over the world for the opportunity to succeed. In America we are promised the freedom to pursue happiness, but we are not guaranteed outcomes. If we try and we fail we are free to try again and again. Without freedom and without hard work there is no success. There are only handouts and theft from those who have paid their dues. It's a beautiful system and it has worked! People fight to get into American... not out!
    Now just because I have lived a life of relative mediocrity does not mean that I can't still get up and be somebody. In the haze of my under achievement I can still make out the truth of the situation that I see endangering our great country and our way of life. I may not have taken advantage of opportunities, but I want my children and their children to have the freedom and the choices that I had to succeed or not. There is a movement brewing that seeks to take away a system of reward for hard work. It's Marxist in nature and we all know that Socialism and Communism never, ever work. More often they lead to the tyranny of a few over the masses, which is the very thing they claim to hate. The few aren't a small group of super achievers. No, they are usually mere cronies of those in authority who are used to keep them in power. It always has led to mass murder and the slavery ("re-education") of those who do not comply. If  you think that this can not happen in America you are wrong.
   We have an administration (in two of the three branches that influence the third branch) that prefers a nanny state. We have the entitled masses. We have big unions with expanding agendas. We have a media that is complicit. We have taken God out of our culture. We have become so PC that it limits our freedom of speech. Our educational system politically and morally indoctrinates our youth and produces illiterates. Our right to bear arms is threatened by laws cloaked in safety. We have property rights taken at will. We have government bailouts and takeovers. The Occupy Wall Street crowd is a mixture of everything that threatens America. Do your research and you will see.
    I don't know about you, but I'm ready to get up and be somebody! America we have to get off of the couch, out from in front of our large-screen TVs, off of the computer games, out of the bars and buffets, and whatever it is that is distracting us and do something. I am doing things that I've never done before. Every single person who gets it should figure out what it is that they can do and do it.
   I'm not muttering it. I'm shouting it. GET UP AND BE SOMEBODY!!!!

If you feel compelled to do something and are not sure where to start,

 JOIN YOUR LOCAL TEA PARTY.

These Boots Are Made for Walking

   This song came out in 1966. I was 7-years-old, but I think it was popular for quite awhile and it has even been recorded by several new artists in recent years. Around the time that this song was released, go-go boots were all the rage. I had two pairs, one in white and and one in black patent leather and I wore them up until was about aged 12. They were knee-high, tight fitting on the leg, with a club heel and a long zipper up the calf. I don't think I was the only little girl that felt the power of the go-go boots and this song! When Nancy would sing that "these boots are gonna walk all over you," I could picture myself stomping over boys that make girls cry, men who hit their wives, alcoholics who became scary when they drink, and I was going to stomp those boots all the way to college and to that high-paying job that would free me from all of the inequities that I perceived from a very young age. There was power in those boots!
   My power boots took me to technical school where I was the only girl in my electronics class. They took me to the local community college electronics program. They took me to a good-paying job as a technician and then an engineering writer. I still felt the power when I bought my own car, had credit in my own name (something women enjoy and take for granted now), and secured my own apartment. That said, I have to admit that I didn't always win the battles with men in my personal relationships. Don't get me wrong, I put up a good fight. Sometimes I won, most times I didn't, but I had the option to march away when I would grow weary in battle. The generation of women before me often times didn't have that very simple option of walking away because they were financially dependent on their husbands. Where was she going to go? How would she support herself and her children? I had determined at a very young age that I would never be that powerless. I have since learned to never say "I'll never" or "I'll always," because as soon as you say it you are probably going to be tested on whatever it was you made those assertions. I surely was.
    I know what domestic violence feels like. I know what it feels like when someone lords his income over you when you have sacrificed your own to raise your children. I know the humiliation of having a husband that lives as if he isn't married and disrespects you in the community that you are trying to live and raise children. I don't share this for sensationalism, I admit this because I wouldn't be authentic when talking about women's issues if I didn't. Getting an education and a good job changed many things, but it didn't automatically change things in the realm of relationships. The only thing it changed was that a woman didn't have to spend her entire life as a martyr or a second class citizen. When enough was enough she could leave! That was profoundly liberating but could also be very complicated, especially if a woman aspires to live a spiritual life as I have always striven to do. Most religions frown on divorce and many condemn those who divorce and remarry. In some churches it is the only unforgivable sin! It's more grievous than murder. I won't get into the theology here. I don't take divorce lightly, and whether it is your fault or the other persons it is excruciatingly painful. I have worked out my own salvation with fear and trembling and every woman contemplating divorce will have to do that for herself. My point here is that we have choices now. I have choices. My daughters have choices. Thank God we have choices!
   I feel I have laid the groundwork now so that I can continue my story of a liberal woman gone conservative, and from changing my party affiliation from Democrat to Republican,  all the way to getting involved in the TEA Party movement. In 2007 I found myself divorced and starting over (again), physically tormented by a disability from a birth defect gone awry, socially secluded, with a nest that was almost empty, and devoid of a dream or a vision for my future. It was astonishing how far backwards I had gone and how hopeless and alone that I felt. Where was the girl with the go-go boots? I didn't know where to start, so I started where I normally do with a prayer. I prayed God I don't know where to begin. I don't know how to find a friend. I don't even know if I have anything left to live a  life of substance. I had put everything I had into raising three girls and now they were all graduated or graduating from high school and didn't need me anymore (or at least not as much). I hadn't continued my education. I hadn't kept my skills updated. I was depleted. After I pray I normally have some quiet time and see if I can hear God's response. I know that sounds ludicrous to some, but that is my normal. I felt like God was telling me to just keep putting one foot in front of the other and He would open doors. I just needed to walk through them. I just needed to not doubt myself or Him and keep walking. I got out the virtual go-go boots and put them on.

    Things started to happen quickly. I was still using a cane at times, very overweight from inactivity due to a chronic back problem, and like I said before, without hope or a vision for my future. The city where I live was starting a program in my area called Neighborhoods 1st where the city is divided into smaller neighborhoods, a citizen group is formed, and the group and city staff work together on issues specific to their neighborhood. I was at the first meeting even though I had lived a reclusive life for almost ten years except for involvement with my children, their school, their activities, and their friends. When it came time to choose officers, a woman I didn't even know nominated me for vice president. I served as VP for one year and as president for almost three years. Through this experience I met many friends and made many contacts. I needed to use skills that I thought were long gone such as organizing, planning, writing, and using social networking and the computer for the maintenance and growth of the group. Imagine that.
    I kept on walking through every door. An opportunity to serve as a victim advocate for the police department was brought to my attention. The loss of my sister to a murder-suicide gave me the compassion and the desire to serve on this team. I kept on walking.
   Meanwhile, the country has elected the most liberal senator with the least experience of any president in the country's history. My radar was picking up on dangerous vibes. The blind adulation was eerie. The refusal of the liberal media to take an honest look at this man, his belief system, his history, his dubious friends and connections, and his lack of experience was frustrating and frightening. Anyone who dared to bring up any of these issues was immediately branded a racist. It was like a nightmare when you can't wake up. I worried. I watched the news being hyper vigilant. I felt powerless as I watched not only Obama win the presidency but also the House and the Senate become dominated by progressive liberals who want to "fundamentally change America." After seeing the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) passed at the end of the Bush administration and watching the passing of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act in February of 2009, bank and Wall Street bailouts, and the government takeover of private corporations by the new Obama administration I felt with all my heart that something needed to be done quickly or this country would soon become something that I no longer recognized and that my children would be robbed of their American heritage. I saw this country rolling downhill fast toward bankruptcy only to be "saved" by those who wish to change us into a European style socialist country. Then I heard about the now famous Rick Santelli rant about the need for a modern-day tea party and the Glenn Beck 912 Project. I liked the 912 Project message that "we are not alone" and "they [progressive liberals] don't surround us, we surround them." A spark of hope ignited. Then I heard that there was going to be a Taxed Enough Already (TEA) Party all across America on tax day, which was April 15, 2009.  Are ya ready boots...
    I was still very much a loner even though I had begun to come out of my shell through Neighborhoods 1st. While I had always followed politics I had never been active in any way except for voting. I was still dealing with chronic pain daily and used a cane. Yet, the more I heard about this upcoming TEA Party the more compelled I felt to be a part of it. I heard of a website where you could register in your hometown as someone interested in participating. I had never done anything like that before, but I signed on and registered. I thought I was registering to participate, but when I received a message thanking me for volunteering to organize the TEA Party in my area I panicked. I couldn't figure out how to undo it, and a couple of days later I received a call from a young man named Neil Parrott asking me if I was organizing a rally in Hagerstown. I blabbered on about how it was a mistake and that I only wanted to participate in the rally not organize it. He said that he was going to organize it and would keep me updated. I was so relieved.
   It then occurred to me that I was going to need signs for the rally. I found some on-line, saved them to my thumb drive, and took them to Staples to be printed on card stock and laminated. I then went to the hardware store and bought garden stakes to mount the signs onto and use as handles. I had never done anything like this before! No one told me to do this. I was compelled.
  When April 15th arrived it was a cold and rainy day and that makes my pain issues worse. I didn't care. I was going. I started to fear what and who I might see at the rally. What if they were skin heads? What if they were violent? I didn't care. I was going. Cane, umbrella, and protest signs in hand I walked downtown ready for anything. Right away I saw a woman that I knew from Neighborhoods 1st who lived on my street and I was a little relieved. I saw Neil Parrott and he didn't appear to be a skin head. I was more relieved. People slowly began to arrive until there were about 300 people there in the pouring rain, lining both sides of the main street through town. The protesters were normal, everyday people who were enthusiastically protesting in a lawful, non-violent, considerate manner. It was amazing! Most of the cars passing us on the street honked their horns in solidarity with our message. No more bailouts! No new taxes! Protect our Constitution! It grew colder and rained hard at times and my back was killing me. I refused to leave until it was over. I stood there for three hours. There was one man with an oxygen tank. I figured that if he could do it, then I could do it too. When it was over I was in so much pain that I didn't think I could make it  home. The neighbor that I saw there put me on a bus and made sure I made it home. I was spent, but I was full of hope for the first time in a very long while. I was ready to commit to this movement in any way that I could for as long is it took to turn things around in this country.
    Just a little over two years later, that young man who organized the event is now our state delegate. He turned the Hagerstown TEA Party over to a seven-member board and I am the vice president. Who knew? This is exciting because it is proof that you are never too old, too sick, too lost, too depleted, or too anything to decide to live a life that matters. This is real hope! Just figure out what is important to you and pull yourself up by your bootstraps.
    Are ya ready boots? START WALKING!!!

TEA Party, W. Washington Street, Hagerstown, MD