It Starts At The Dinner Table…..

By: J Robert Giles

@JRobertGiles

“Each day of our lives, we make deposits in the memory banks of our children.”   - Charles R. Swindoll

 

It’s a cliché to say that being a parent changes the way you look at things. Of course it does. For most of us, becoming a parent means an abrupt, loud, and completely exhausting end to the life we had led to that point. It doesn’t matter how old the parents are or how well planned the pregnancy may have been, once that child arrives, the world of the parent is a completely different one. Parents find a joy in seeing the world through the eyes of their children. There’s an indescribable sense of pleasure to be found in watching your child figure out a concept with which you yourself struggled as a child. Some are more momentous like watching them suffer a competitive loss but take away the appropriate lessons. Others are more humorous like watching a 7 year old boy in complete awe of the “curly fry.” The feeling a parent has at the end of a really good day with their kids is a spiritual experience. It can’t be duplicated.

Is it too much to ask for a government who feels the same way about this country? Is it out of the realm of possibility for us to take control of the spiraling mess that has been created in Washington DC? A parent, even one whose abilities may have been called into question a time or two, would move heaven and earth to protect their kids. Does anybody in this country feel that our government would feel the same way about us as their kids? Many of the values that parents try to instill in their children are values our government does not believe in. Even the most selfish of men will do everything in his power to steer his kids clear of the mistakes he has made in his own life. A parent would recognize trends in their children that have led down destructive paths in their own history. Our government has no such instinct. A parent would gladly sacrifice time and emotion to impart the wisdom of independence onto his children. A parent wants their kids to know the sheer joy of working towards a successful goal. Whether that goal is athletic, scholastic, or personal a parent knows that the work put in is twice as valuable as the goal itself could ever be. Our government has chosen a different parenting style. Our government has chosen to breed a mentality of dependency. An involved and effective parent would never allow a child to label laziness and greed as anything but laziness and greed and we would never encourage our kids to demand the fruits of another man’s labor. A good parent knows that there is infinitely more pride to be found in independence than there will ever be in dependence.

If the government cared about America as a parent cares about their children, then the issue of debt would not be at the center of every election this country will face for the rest of my lifetime. Think about that…..the amount of debt we have allowed to accrue under just ONE President will still be a burden long after any of the eyes reading these words have closed for the final time. A parent doesn’t prepare their children for life in such a fashion. Those who do are the ones who benefit most from our government’s complete lack of responsibility. A parent who feels no remorse in leaving a staggering financial burden to their children doesn’t deserve to have kids in the first place. That doesn’t mean that all parents who leave a debt to their kids are failures, it just means that those who actively plan to do so are failures. While I make no attempt to hide the fact that I am conservative when it comes to politics, this issue goes well beyond party affiliation. Figuring out who is to blame for the decay in the relationship between citizen and government is just as big a waste of time as trying to figure out who started the fight between brother and sister. It doesn’t matter, it just needs to stop.

A good parent would never, in a million years, choose the interests of his or her friends over the safety and needs of his or her own children. Every time our government makes a decision based solely in ideology, that’s exactly what they’re doing. Every time Barack Hussein Obama kills a job-producing, price-at-the-pump reducing, pipeline proposal so that Canadian oil can still be transported via the railroads owned by a “close personal friend,” he’s choosing that friend’s needs over yours. Every time Barack Hussein Obama travels to Maine and meets with the Union Leaders but refuses to meet with the suffering fisherman who desperately need a morale boost, he’s choosing the needs of his  friends over yours. Every time His Barackness eats a puppy, he’s taking it directly from the hands of YOUR daughter. Every time Nancy Pelosi speaks, she’s defying what’s actually needed in favor of what’s needed to keep her and her friends in “power.” Every time Bill Clinton uses a Cuban cigar to pleasure his fat-chicks, he’s disregarding American need. Every time taxpayer money is used to advance ideology, it’s the same as you strapping your own children into the back of a Chevy Volt full of highly volatile, absurdly flammable, materials.

In November, it will finally be time for all of us to demand a better government. It will be time for all of us to stand up and scream until the “politicians” on Capitol Hill start behaving a little more like parents. The Presidential Election is only a symbol of that resolve. The results will come in our ability to stick to our demands well after the polls close. No longer can we stand by and allow horrible decisions to be made but only show concern when an election is looming. That’s what got us here. November will mark the family intervention that hopefully sets this country back on track toward the future we all know is waiting for us. A future that requires hard work by all, not just those who haven’t yet figured out how to milk the system. A future where dependency is frowned upon and integrity is honorable. A future where America stops wearing a diaper, puts on our big-boy pants, and finally starts to take more pride in the journey than the destination.

As always, thanks for playing.

J Robert Giles