Degradation of Our Leadership

I think we've seen something in the Obama administration that we've never seen before and that is the completion of the process of the American people's loss of confidence and trust it their own government. Bush made some bravely stupid mistakes that alienated many of our allies, but it wasn't until Obama took office and fanned the flames of this alienation with his rhetoric by saying that the last 8 years had been a mistake, that we are sorry for them, and that we will be changing our attitudes toward the world.

That was a colossal mistake. It was a decision to play politics with the entire world rather than to project an air and stance of leadership to the free world. Rather than silently and stoically working to shore up our position and influence in the world, Obama undermined our own integrity by backtracking, cowering and bowing (both literally and figuratively) to those who oppose our interests.

Thus, Barak Obama has stuck a two pronged fork into the integrity and sovereignty of the United States of America, one which has demoralized and angered her people and one that emboldened her enemies.

The question now stands before us, "What will the American people do about it? Will we stand up and fight to retake what ought to be ours, or will we go silently into that night?"

The Dirt Store

For a long time now, I've been taking Been Jammin' with me when I run errands. The Twinlings are getting older now, and yesterday I figured it was about time to start sharing the chance for them to get out and about alone with Da-Da. I told Daniel that if he got his shoes on quickly, I'd take him with me to the "dirt store" (the garden center where I needed to pick up a load of loam).

Mom got him ready and I buckled him into the truck and we rolled down to A. Thomas & Sons in Milton to pick up some loam. We looked at plants and garden fixtures and then he got to watch the front end loader dump it into my truck.

But with all of this, all he kept talking about was, "Where's Jesse? Where's Jesse?"

Turns out, when we got home, the same thing had been happening with the other half of this duo -- Jesse had been asking Mom, "Where's Daniel?"

It's a totally awesome blessing seeing my three boys love their brothers; it's something I always wanted for myself but never had. I love my sisters, but I've always had a bit of envy that they had a bond with each other in a way that I never got to experience. I'm determined to help foster that love in my three sons.