Dear America,

Good Morning America! The sun is shining, the air is clear, all is right with the world.

Oh, if I were a boy... I would have played football.  And given my Monday through Friday positioning, high upon my own little soapbox throne, you just have to know I would be on offense, and then realize a half a second later, yeah that's right... I'd be playing quarterback....so let's just get that out in the open now and fugetaboutit, it's really not about me.

Where am I off to this morning, God only knows; but let me say this, sometimes we miss the point entirely when navigating the field of controversy, opinion, solutions, in deciding our ultimate future, or in simple matters of the every day.  What happens in front of us can be so deceiving from what really happened; sometimes a glimpse of something, doesn't reflect the whole truth; sometimes, miracles are made in split second timing, while real long term advancement can only be made through the exchange of heartfelt convictions, both sides offering their very best offense, along with a steady stream of defenses rising to meet the needs as the seasons change, as the game shifts, and moves, and makes an afternoon of it, and if really lucky, the makings of a legend.


Epic feats of courage and excellence, day in and day out; a commitment to the whole team, and especially to yourself, to be everything you can be.

Sure it's only a game of football, but and how!  Come every Sunday, from the lazy days of summer, bouncing into fall, and into the dead of winter, we are hunkered down in an annual celebration for months on end; okay, maybe not all of us.  For some, ho hum, football doesn't even come up in conversation, let alone provide any fodder for family ritual and relaxation; but really, take a moment with me, if you will, indulge me.

You know what's really made in America?

Things like the last 10 seconds between Houston Texans and the New York Jets: Mark Sanchez to Santonio Holmes, TOUCHDOWN.  This, after having been down by four and going 72 yards in 45 seconds to make it happen.

This doesn't exactly tell the whole story though, does it?  Anyone who watched the entire game would tell you, the Jets lost a sixteen point lead in the game, as Houston came firing back on all cylinders, just moments before. Jets went from winning at 23-7, to being down by four in a gridiron second.

But remember this is America, anything can happen; and this is made for TV, made in America, FOOTBALL at it's best. Just when you think it's all over, it ain't over.

Who should be cheering on the sidelines on this fine November morning... America, that's who...opa!  

Yeah, yeah, we can't all be Jets fans, and really, I'm not one of them; I could care less about this team.  But boy, does this girl love the come back; does this girl love the dynamic of being down and out with seconds to go; does this  girl love it when the writing on the wall is wrong; does this girl love it that, even when the best of strategies are in play, sometimes reality takes over, other forces join in...and when it's all said and done, you just have to be ready for anything.  So what does this all boil down to?

Living with convictions and principles that will withstand the test of time; keeping to what we know, keeping to the foundation, and building upon that, day in and day out; sticking to a pattern that works, conditioning like there is no tomorrow and being prepared for whatever might be thrown our way.

This also reminds me that the end result can be deceiving; the end game, the stats, may not relay the whole truth.


As an example of this in a world of nukes and matters of international affairs, there is more than meets the eye going on with the New START Treaty.  Obama, in his Saturday radio address, apparently was making his point using a tried and true Republican to make his case, to rest his strategy upon someone hailed by all, in a tactic to sway Senator Jon Kyl to bend (over) --  the decision to wait for the new session of congress before signing to a deal that could potentially harm America's defenses has Obama sidelined and steaming.

Now, this matter is definitely over my pay grade, but a group who studies and weighs the strategies left, right and center -- and one of my favorite sideline coaches laying out the field of global governance against America, is The Heritage Foundation.  A must read is this morning's Morning Bell...

After getting quite the summation by the folks at Heritage, and in the unlikelihood of world domination by evil forces coming to my town anytime soon...I choose to wait with Kyl, too.

We know, even in the best of times, even when ahead by ten, or merely down by one, things could change.

What is the big rush for Obama?  Why now?  Does he need a win that bad that he is willing to jeopardize America's security -- give in too much, relax our defenses, and let the world back us into a corner, or worse?  Again, what's the rush when so much is at stake?  Why does this administration constantly fall back on the coming of a crisis, the appeal of mounting fear, to gain traction and popular opinion to forge ahead -- even if it risks everything we know and love?

We have seen what happens with a rush to judgment (the police acted "stupidly"...), a rush to legislation (health care pushed through late Christmas Eve -- and we all know why now -- as out of the 2300 page playbook, we only like perhaps five), a rush to fix things or cast blame  (whether it be the oil slick removal, an over priced stimulus  package, over leveraged buyouts of unscrupulous car companies, the building of a mosque near Ground Zero, the trial of Ghailani in NYC -- and to think...getting off on all 280 counts, except one)...you get my drift.

None of these actions were based on the real playbook for America, none of these things.

The Constitution... our Declaration of Independence... our Federalist Papers... our Gettysburg Address... and most of all, in this moment, our Common Sense... gives us the ability to stay true to the strategies that work, the foundation laid by our founders,  and gives us everything we need to know.  The truth is, we have strayed from the ultimate playbook; and we don't even recognize it anymore, as it is masked under a false sense of security carried out by an administration who might sound tough, might say the right things, might be all bells and whistles, cheerleaders and props, but the substance is simply not there.

You Barack Obama are no Ronald Reagan.  To walk around in the same realm as that guy, to even sprint for a minute in his cleats, you gotta another thing coming; no, correction, you've got a whole line of offenses coming, with we the people running defense all the way to the end zone.   I don't even care if that analogy doesn't  make sense --  it's a beautiful sunny day! not a cloud in the sky! and it's a Monday even!  Day after a great day of football (and God! ...being Sunday and all)...

...but it's the audacity-in-chief, the cocky quarterback standing at the fifty yard line wondering which way to go, and against the home team no less, that just chaps my deri'rere; you believe, dear president, that by uttering Reagan's name a few times, clicking your heals, that it would be enough to win us over, like magic, a miracle, a Hail Mary with ten seconds to go.  The truth is, only a few games really go down that way -- and a season is a long,      long       time.

The making of a franchise, with America's name on it, doesn't rest upon short term gains with long term repercussions; we are in it, to win it, no matter what it is, based upon the tried and true, a strategy that has endured for centuries. (And a new START Treaty, rushed into action,  is probably not the best of times to test this)

WE condition ourselves to believe in miracles, yes, but we play for the every day of getting the job done -- methodically, conscientiously,  painstakingly and joyfully; whether it happens in this season, or the next, we do not jeopardize our future relying on highfalutin highballs to simply make a good play once in awhile and be gone next year on an injury.

We are in it for the long haul, what is best for the team, the whole team and nothing but the team -- except perhaps, a charity or two.. or try three hundred -- maybe even troubling ourselves with a genuine concern for the community at large, giving back what we can, and more -- and even going so far as teaching our children a thing or two about good sportsmanship, humility, the reward of hard work, and the disgrace to fall from having it all to landing in jail to having it all again (with an added bonus of God's grace on thee, thank you Michael Vick)...

Today, it's all about America, and America's favorite past time, all rolled up into one yummy pigskin -- now, if we could only weave bacon into this, it would be a perfect day.

Make it a Good Day, G