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It’s all my fault!

Posted by Ralph at 04:50 Ask A Coot!, principles

Nov 082012

“Elections belong to the people. It’s their decision. If they decide to turn their back on the fire and burn their behinds, then they will just have to sit on their blisters.”

― Abraham Lincoln

It’s over. All the hype and hysteria; all the pathos and melodrama; all the lies and deceit: They are all history. And we are just about in the same place we were before. There is no mandate for change. The players stay in place and nobody seems to care about the fiscal cliff ahead or the dependency model that reelecting the President endorses. I don’t believe that the voters voted with their heads but it is what it is. The problem is what to do next.

Face the fire!

The country may be going to hell in a hand basket but more than 50 percent of the people who vote don’t seem to notice- or maybe they just like the warmer temperatures. Whatever the virtues of the American independence and can do spirit, they don’t seem to resonate with voters anymore.

Gurus always say that you can’t fix a problem unless you take ownership. Up until now I’ve been telling myself that the problem is those other people. I don’t have a problem. I have the right attitude and appreciation of our country and freedoms. Well, the truth is that if I don’t have a problem; if I didn’t have any responsibility for the sorry state our country is in then I don’t have a prayer for doing anything to change it. The only thing I can change is myself.

My Agenda is Clear.

I have been lazy. I have been complacent and self-indulgent. I didn’t do my part for the country I love and the result is revealed in the election results. I depended on somebody else to defend my rights and privileges and coasted through the campaign. It is my fault. I claim the failure and commit to fixing myself in order to be the citizen I need to be and correct our country’s course.

So forgive the gloomy tone today. I just needed to work through all my rationalizations and disappointment about the election and own up to my failure. Those blisters I’m sitting on are all my own. And if I want something to change, it’s up to me.

Ralph

Ralph is the inspiration for Cantankerous Old Coots and is our Grand Duke of Cantankerousness

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Ham sammiches, clothespins, and voting despite the smell

Posted by Bob@HayleStorm Interactive at 07:15 Bob's Politics, Headline News, Problems and solutions, videos

May 232012

MMMM Samish

Well…the Republican debates are over, the slash and burn trashing the candidates gave each other has died off, and one question remains:

“Did they damage each other so badly in the public’s eyes that folks will stay home from the polls in disgust?

Political columnist and talking head pundit Charles Krauthammer says no, that Obama is so unpopular on the right that, “Even a ham sandwich could beat him.” That MAY be, but… Continue reading »

Bob@HayleStorm Interactive

Bob comes to us with a skeptical attitude and a full cup of Cantankerousness. He also writes about homesteading and yurts over at JuicyMaters.com and rants about politics at Common-Sense-Conversation.com Most of the time, though, you'll find him at HayleStorm.net, cranking out great websites for clients OR writing tutorials teaching them to build their own sites.

Coots Lesson 16: Take a stand, unless you need to change

Posted by Justin at 10:12 Coots Lessons

Jan 252012

I like a little Canadian show called “The Red Green Show“. It is about a bunch of older guys who are just going through life with duct tape. Check it out on PBS sometime. The reason I bring this up is the basis for this lesson. The men on this show belong to the Possum Lodge and while their motto is “Quando Omni Flunkus Moritai” meaning “When all else fails play dead” they begin each meeting with the mans prayer.

“I’m a man, but I can change, if I have to, I guess.” Lets face it, most people associate Cantankerous Old coots with Men. There are women too, don’t start sending me emails about equality and all of that BS, but the first thing that pops into most people’s minds are old cranky men.

I am a man, Ralph is a man and Bob is a real man’s man. We all exhibit levels of Cantankerousity that ebb and flow with the day. We can take a subject and jump all over it, reach down its throat and turn it inside out and return the bloody carcass to the owner. Or not. It just depends.

That is today’s lesson. While discretion may be the better part of valor, the laws of cantankerosity demand immediate action. They demand saying what you feel, (link to lesson 4), letting it show on your face (link to lesson 5), and not giving a rats ass about it (link to lesson 13).

The law also demands that you be able to change. Note that I didn’t say willing. If you are willing to change you become one of those namby pamby nancy boys from accounting. You must only be able to change. If you have to. I guess.

You will find that in life there are a number of things to take sides on. Coming up next month are the midterm elections. There every red blooded American has the duty to go cast a vote for whoever spends the most money on campaign advertising. Make that cast a vote for whoever convinces you that they will lie the least when in office.

Bob has already weighed in with his voting strategy saying:

Next month’s voting strategy…if you are in, you’re out.

Short, sweet, simple.

Is that the right attitude to have? Probably. Bob has a position. He is taking a stand and being true to his Cantankerous self. Yet if one of those currently elected officials headed out to the JuicyMaters(.com) headquarters offering huge tax breaks or cash for his vote (never mind the legality here) Bob has to be able to change his mind. Or not.

Now I am not saying that you should be so wishy washy that it is hard to figure out just which side you are on (see President Obama during the last election). Figure out where you want to be and work your damndest to end up there. If there is a good reason to change, however, do it. And if people give you crap about it, you can really wax Cantankerous on their asses.

Justin

Justin is the young Coot with a Cantankerous Soul who continues to be educated by older, more cootish Ralph and Bob. His Cantankerosity is his own.

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