Barbara

This coming Monday is Groundhog Day and I’m thinking, shadow or not, we’re in for a lot more winter. That’s good for snow-removal businesses or ski hills, but not so good for Mr. Gore and his entourage of crack sciencefictionists. Someday soon the people of this world are going to figure out that weather changes are normal and using those new-fangled curly lightbulbs won’t keep the icecaps from dripping.

Groundhog day is a favorite holiday of mine. Mostly because government employees don’t get the day off. Government employees tend to gripe about their jobs and their pay more than the average American, and yet they have more paid holidays, more benefits, and manage to work a lot less even when they’re on the clock.

It’s not surprising to hear recent news stories of Postal workers stuffing mail in storage lockers or dumpsters just so they don’t have to deliver it. I’m sure the thought of performing their job to the best of their ability must stress them out. The ones that actually do deliver quickly and efficiently park their trucks somewhere inconspicuous and hide for the rest of the day. They wouldn’t want their delivery route lengthened so they actually have to work the whole eight hours they’re getting paid for. It’s a conundrum. If you work hard, you get more work. If you’re lazy, you don’t. Postal workers don’t get fired. They get bigger attitudes. 

I know you’re probably saying, like my husband always reminds me, that the United States Postal Service is not actually an entity of the Federal government. Really? Then why the name? Why do they get all the same benefits? Why is it a federal offense to tamper with the US mail? Why does it never make money but always runs in the red and has to raise the price of stamps yearly? Why are they contemplating cutting mail delivery days instead of canning deadweight employees? Sounds like government to me.

Then there’s the Internal Revenue Service. If they actually hired competent people, anger wouldn’t course through the veins of accountants all over the country when they have to call and ask a question. When the IRS doesn’t know something they blame-shift, and when you press them for an answer they put you on hold and take a coffee break. They might come back on line and they might not. 

And last, but certainly not least in the gimme socialist state of D.C. are our own special representatives and senators who know how to spend like there’s no tomorrow. They give themselves raises even while telling their constituents that they “feel their pain” in this economy slump.

The Big O gave himself and his cohorts a grand old party with martinis and $100 a serving steaks after getting the “stimulus package” passed through the House of Reps. The next day he reprimanded those evil CEO’s on Wall Street who gave themselves bonuses while Americans suffered. Then he sauntered off to his two-hour exercise routine to contemplate what he would have at his next celebration when the Senate cow-towed to his wishes. But he is the king after all, so  “let us eat cake!”

There are some holidays government employees have no business getting paid for.  Labor Day is one of them. It’s ironic they feel they deserve such a day. Here is a quote from the president of the American Foundation of Labor: “Labor Day, the first Monday in September, is a creation of the labor movement and is dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers. It constitutes a yearly national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity and well-being of our country.”

Has any government employee contributed to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country? 

We have more people employed in government than in manufacturing and construction combined. Now Obama wants to “create” more government jobs for people who think getting paid to do as little as possible is the American dream. People who care more about themselves than the people they serve. It’s the Big O’s way of “redistributing the wealth” and turning our country completely into a socialist state.

Groundhog day is actually a special holiday for those of us not employed by the government. When we stick our necks out of the hole we’ve been pushed into, if the enormous shadow of government falls upon us, it means another thousand years of winter. Oh for that Global Warming to take effect. 

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Once upon a time there was a clear distinction between winners and losers. The winners went home with a trophy, money, movie deal, or whatever they were playing for. The losers went home dejected and empty-handed.

In sports, the winning coach gets a raise or an offer for a better job. The losing coach gets bad publicity and oftentimes replaced.

On American Idol the winner gets to make an album and tour the country. The losers make albums and tour the country. I don’t get that. But the worst infraction of the rules of winners and losers comes in the form of one young man named, Sanjaya.

Not only is this boy-man still getting face time on the morning news, but he had the “audacity” to write a memoir, as though he’s actually lived a life. What is he? Nineteen?

Sanjaya isn’t a very good singer. But he’s very good at drama. He wept often during the weeks he was on the American Idol show. When that didn’t move Simon, he started arranging his hair in crazy Mohawks and girly curls. As his lack of true talent became more and more obvious, he became more and more outrageous. Apparently, millions of ten and eleven-year-old girls were calling in to vote for him, but eventually, (thankfully), he was axed.

I find it hard to believe he had enough life story or even words to fill a book. Perhaps it’s a picture book memoir, or one of those flip books where the character inside looks as though they are changing and moving, but really aren’t.

Sanjaya–still strange but with a new hairdo, was making the news circuit this morning to publicize this book of his and inform everyone that he is working on an album.

Why am I still surprised when publishers print this drivel?

 They’ve snatched up so many memoirs in the past couple of years that later turned out to be complete fabrications. At least this time they should know what’s true and what’s not. Millions of viewers watched Sanjaya for weeks on end make a fool of himself. Besides, the litmus test for a true memoir is if Oprah does not promote it for her booklist. Apparently, she passed on this one. She’s probably still engrossed in that memoir of the girl who survived a Nazi prisoner camp by hiding in the woods and living with wolves. I can see where she might be fooled. After all, Tarzan was raised by wolves.

Publishers usually want to know an author has a platform and an audience before taking on a project. Sanjaya seems to have a platform. Just the fact that he was a contestant on American Idol gets him booked on Good Morning America. But does he have an audience anymore? Those ten and eleven-year-old girls are now twelve or thirteen. Will this skinny, off-key man-child still hold the same appeal as he did two years ago? Or have they crushed on a manlier type like Robert Pattinson (star of the vampire movie Twilight)?

I don’t know about you, but I will be watching the New York Times best seller list with bated breath. 

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There is so little worry these days about offending the God of this Universe. Even many of those who profess to believe in a deity, refuse to let the notion influence their daily lives. The “fear of the Lord,” (knowledge that he exists, is all-seeing, all-knowing, all-powerful, could smash us all like insects if He weren’t so merciful), has been replaced with a generic belief in “something bigger than ourselves,” but apparently not big enough to matter much, or just “God is love, spread it around,” like sixties beatnik rhetoric.

The Bible states in Psalms 14:1, The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.”

In Great Britain there are some very foolish people.  A group of atheists decided to emblazon their message of hopelessness on the sides of buses. They set up a pledgebank for donations and apparently got enough unbelievers to chip in for messages on up to 800 buses.

Their superior slogan is, “There’s probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life.”

Even given that Great Britain has nearly eradicated all religious tendencies from it’s population, you would think there would still be plenty of Christians around to be offended by such a campaign. Only 200 voiced complaints. 

The organization plans to spread their message around the world. They’ve already put the slogan, “The bad news is that God does not exist. The good news is that we do not need him,” on buses in Italy and Spain.

The atheists in our country were busy before the inauguration, trying to make sure no one mentioned God or prayed to a higher power during the ceremony. Thankfully, their petitions were thrown out of court this time. But what about next time? What about when the buses come here? Will anyone notice, or care enough to lodge a complaint? Will children grow up reading on billboards that God is just an imaginary character like that jolly elf that delivers presents on Christmas day?

Proverbs 9:10 says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.”

No Fear has been a brand name slogan for the last few years. Extreme sports fanatics wear t-shirts, caps, etc, promoting the notion that they aren’t afraid of anything. I say they don’t use much wisdom or common sense. They break bones, pull muscles, sometimes get killed, all for the thrill of the ride.

It’s one thing to be fearless in your extracurricular activities, whether it’s mountain climbing, bungee jumping, or motocross, but lacking fear of God is not just death-defying—it’s damning, for eternity.

Whether you believe or not doesn’t make God less than what he is—AWESOME & HOLY  

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