Merry Christmas and Happy New Year
THE SANDS OF CHRISTMAS
by Michael Marks
I had no Christmas spirit when I breathed a weary sigh,And looked across the table where the bills were piled too high.The laundry wasn't finished and the car I had to fix,My stocks were down another point, the Chargers lost by six.And so with only minutes till my son got home from schoolI gave up on the drudgery and grabbed a wooden stool.
The burdens that I carried were about all I could take,And so I flipped the TV on to catch a little break.I came upon a desert scene in shades of tan and rust,No snowflakes hung upon the wind, just clouds of swirling dust.And where the reindeer should have stood before a laden sleigh,Eight Humvees ran a column right behind an M1A.A group of boys walked past the tank, not one was past his teensTheir eyes were hard as polished flint, their faces drawn and lean.They walked the street in armor with their rifles shouldered tight,Their dearest wish for Christmas! , just to have a silent night.Other soldiers gathered, hunkered down against the wind,To share a scrap of mail and dreams of going home again
.There wasn't much at all to put their lonely hearts at ease,They had no Christmas turkey, just a pack of MREs.They didn't have a garland or a stocking I could see,They didn't need an ornament--they lacked a Christmas tree.They didn't have a present even though it was tradition,The only boxes I could see were labeled "ammunition."I felt a little tug and found my son now by my side,He asked me what it was I feared, and why it was I cried.
I swept him up into my arms and held him oh so near
And kissed him on the forehead as I whispered in his ear."There's nothing wrong, my little son, for safe we sleep tonightOur heroes stand on foreign land to give us all the right,To worry on the things in life that mean nothing at all,Instead of wondering if we will be the next to fall."He looked at me as children do and said, "It's always right,To thank the ones who help us and perhaps that we should write."And so we pushed aside the bills and sat to draft a note,To thank the many far from home and this is what we wrote:"God bless you all and keep you safe and speed your way back home.Remember that we love you so, and that you're not alone.The gift you give you share with all, a present every day,You give the gift of liberty and that we can't repay."
Michael Marks: "I freely submit this poem for reprint without reservation--this is an open and grateful tribute to the men and women who serve every day to keep our nation
by Michael Marks
I had no Christmas spirit when I breathed a weary sigh,And looked across the table where the bills were piled too high.The laundry wasn't finished and the car I had to fix,My stocks were down another point, the Chargers lost by six.And so with only minutes till my son got home from schoolI gave up on the drudgery and grabbed a wooden stool.
The burdens that I carried were about all I could take,And so I flipped the TV on to catch a little break.I came upon a desert scene in shades of tan and rust,No snowflakes hung upon the wind, just clouds of swirling dust.And where the reindeer should have stood before a laden sleigh,Eight Humvees ran a column right behind an M1A.A group of boys walked past the tank, not one was past his teensTheir eyes were hard as polished flint, their faces drawn and lean.They walked the street in armor with their rifles shouldered tight,Their dearest wish for Christmas! , just to have a silent night.Other soldiers gathered, hunkered down against the wind,To share a scrap of mail and dreams of going home again
.There wasn't much at all to put their lonely hearts at ease,They had no Christmas turkey, just a pack of MREs.They didn't have a garland or a stocking I could see,They didn't need an ornament--they lacked a Christmas tree.They didn't have a present even though it was tradition,The only boxes I could see were labeled "ammunition."I felt a little tug and found my son now by my side,He asked me what it was I feared, and why it was I cried.
I swept him up into my arms and held him oh so near
And kissed him on the forehead as I whispered in his ear."There's nothing wrong, my little son, for safe we sleep tonightOur heroes stand on foreign land to give us all the right,To worry on the things in life that mean nothing at all,Instead of wondering if we will be the next to fall."He looked at me as children do and said, "It's always right,To thank the ones who help us and perhaps that we should write."And so we pushed aside the bills and sat to draft a note,To thank the many far from home and this is what we wrote:"God bless you all and keep you safe and speed your way back home.Remember that we love you so, and that you're not alone.The gift you give you share with all, a present every day,You give the gift of liberty and that we can't repay."
Michael Marks: "I freely submit this poem for reprint without reservation--this is an open and grateful tribute to the men and women who serve every day to keep our nation
posted by Michele @ 4:07 PM
10 Comments:
This blog has been silent for too long. Let's kick things off with a column from the great George Will, one of the few actual conservatives looking out for this country. Anyone care to discuss?
For the House GOP, A Belated Evolution
By George F. Will
Tuesday, January 10, 2006; Washington Post
Before evolution produced creatures of our perfection, there was a three-ton
dinosaur, the stegosaurus, so neurologically sluggish that when its tail was
injured, significant time elapsed before news of the trauma meandered up its
long spine to its walnut-size brain. This primitive beast, not the dignified
elephant, should be the symbol of House Republicans.
Yes, one should not taint all of them because of the behavior of most of
them. Why, perhaps half a dozen of the 231 Republican representatives
authored none of the transportation bill's 6,371 earmarks -- pork projects.
And now among House Republicans there are Darwinian stirrings, prompted by
concerns about survival.
In Washington, such concerns often are confused with and substitute for
moral epiphanies. Tom DeLay will not return as leader of House Republicans,
whose new fastidiousness is not yet so severe that they are impatient with
Ohio Rep. Bob Ney's continuing chairmanship of the Committee on House
Administration, in spite of services he rendered to Jack Abramoff. Ney has
explained, by way of extenuation -- yes, extenuation -- that he did not know
what he was doing.
Anyway, catalyzed by DeLay's decision to recede, House Republicans, perhaps
emboldened by the examples of Afghanistan and Iraq, are going to risk
elections. When they elect their leaders, they should consider the
following:
The national pastime is no longer baseball, it is rent-seeking -- bending
public power for private advantage. There are two reasons why rent-seeking
has become so lurid, but those reasons for today's dystopian politics are
reasons why most suggested cures seem utopian.
The first reason is big government -- the regulatory state. This year
Washington will disperse $2.6 trillion, which is a small portion of
Washington's economic consequences, considering the costs and benefits
distributed by incessant fiddling with the tax code, and by government's
regulatory fidgets.
Second, House Republicans, after 40 years in the minority, have, since 1994,
wallowed in the pleasures of power. They have practiced DeLayism, or "K
Street conservatism." This involves exuberantly serving rent-seekers, who
hire K Street lobbyists as helpers. For House Republicans the aim of the
game is to build political support. But Republicans shed their conservatism
in the process of securing their seats in the service, they say, of
conservatism.
Liberals practice "K Street liberalism" with an easy conscience because they
believe government should do as much as possible for as many interests as
possible. But "K Street conservatism" compounds unseemliness with hypocrisy.
Until the Bush administration, with its incontinent spending, unleashed an
especially conscienceless Republican control of both political branches,
conservatives pretended to believe in limited government. The past five
years, during which the number of registered lobbyists more than doubled,
have proved that, for some Republicans, conservative virtue was merely the
absence of opportunity for vice.
The way to reduce rent-seeking is to reduce the government's role in the
allocation of wealth and opportunity. People serious about reducing the role
of money in politics should be serious about reducing the role of politics
in distributing money. But those most eager to do the former -- liberals,
generally -- are the least eager to do the latter.
A surgical reform would be congressional term limits, which would end
careerism, thereby changing the incentives for entering politics and for
becoming, when in office, an enabler of rent-seekers in exchange for their
help in retaining office forever. The movement for limits -- a Madisonian
reform to alter the dynamic of interestedness that inevitably animates
politics -- was surging until four months after Republicans took control of
the House. In May 1995 the Supreme Court ruled 5 to 4 that congressional
terms could not be limited by states' statutes. Hence a constitutional
amendment is necessary. Hence Congress must initiate limits on itself. That
will never happen.
Although bribery already is a crime and lobbying is constitutionally
protected (the First Amendment right "to petition the government for a
redress of grievances"), a few institutional reforms milder than term limits
might be useful. But none will be more than marginally important, absent the
philosophical renewal of conservatism. To which end, whom should Republicans
elect?
Roy Blunt of Missouri, the man who was selected, not elected, to replace
DeLay, is a champion of earmarks as a form of constituent service. If, as
one member says, "the problem is not just DeLay but 'DeLay Inc.' " Blunt is
not the solution. So far -- the field may expand -- the choice for majority
leader is between Blunt and John Boehner of Ohio. A salient fact: In 15
years in the House, Boehner has never put an earmark in an appropriations or
transportation bill.
I declare this blog dead.
Merry Christmas and Happy new Year to you also Maddie. Like you, I have been too busy to blog. Too much to do and to little time in which to do it.
This to will pass. Will be back around Feb 1 - I think.
Appreciate the poem and all the men and women
Maddie, we miss you! Come back!
Jim
Perhaps Maddie finally succumbed to ignorance and jingoism. It tends to catch with a person after a while. I think the president may have fallen under the same spell. It’s really quite a shame.
Good to know you are alright. Thanks for stopping by.
Why will nobody comment on the George Will column?
Dearest Maddie-
We miss you. PLEASE come back.
Jim
I liked this statement in Will's article:
A salient fact: In 15
years in the House, Boehner has never put an earmark in an appropriations or
transportation bill.
Your blog keeps getting better and better! Your older articles are not as good as newer ones you have a lot more creativity and originality now keep it up!
Post a Comment
<< Home