In a Pickle

Quite frankly neither my life nor the atmosphere around Greenville has changed much since the financial mess hit the fan and the airwaves (or cable lines) in October. Sure the 401Ks and 403bs are disappearing, and that is quite awful considering how we working folk have been so encouraged or perhaps duped into putting as much as we could into them, and homes are slower to sell, but restaurants are filled to capacity and businesses are still hiring. Economy and job-wise, Greenville is still one of the best places to live according to Forbes, and the secret is out. People from the hardest hit areas that we hear about on the woeful news are moving in. That's OK. We citizens are free to move wherever we choose thereby creating an even more colorful American mosaic.

But really...what a crazy mess this has become. This is where the slippery slope is now, and though the outrageous bailouts, stimulus, spending, and budget seem to be the focus, it is really about the push for the cultural, societal and governmental change that continues to take us far away from the heartbeat that kept America the Beautiful alive and well. I mainly feel that as a country, our vision is gone and our way is lost and neither will return unless America can be free to be truthful, grateful and selfless, and not pander to all these whiny groups interested in covering their own hides or forcing their own agendas.

New stats say about three-fourths of us feel that our neighbors have better judgment than the goofballs running the country. A big majority, silently frustrated. Personally I found Rick Santelli's so-called "rant" at the NYSE last week to be refreshing and heroic, and I am proud of our Senator DeMint, but they seem like voices crying in the wilderness.