Without question, one of the greatest leaders in American history was Abraham Lincoln. If you have not read "Team of Rivals", do yourself a favor and read it when you have some free time. It will provide a stark contrast between effective, hard-nosed, courageous leadership and what we have inflicted upon ourselves by electing Barack Obama to the most important and complex executive leadership position in the history of the world.
I am tired of hearing about the bad hand Obama was dealt when he took office. Lincoln did not exactly inherit a basket of fruit when he took office. President Buchanan left a pending disaster when he left office. Having read read several books on Abraham Lincoln, I don't recall him griping about the mess he inherited. That's because Lincoln was a leader. He took the heat when things went wrong. He surrounded himself with talented people and he got things done. He owned the problems. He communicated ideas, solutions, and strategies to a nation torn apart by war. He considered himself president of the entire nation, even the part of the nation in rebellion.
Please contrast this to president Obama. In one of his most inept, self-serving, and shameful speeches ever, on a day when markets across the world were looking for resolute strategies and actionable ideas Obama delivered a blame-shifting, petulant, weak-kneed harangue that further rattled skittish markets.
When Obama took the reigns of power in 2009, he had literally zero leadership experience and zero executive experience. We are paying the price for that now in a big way. I have never led a major public corporation or been a public executive. However, I have held executive leadership positions in small companies and local leadership positions in large companies. This does not make me an expert on executive leadership, but it gives me infinitely more experience than Barack Obama. Here are a few tips for the naive yet condescending "leader" of our nation:
When things get rough, your people look to you for strength. They want a rally point. They want direction. They want to hear what you think and more importantly what you are going to do to make things better.
When things don't go well, leaders take ownership. They take responsibility for the situation at hand, whether they caused it or not. Leaders don't care how we got here, leaders care how we are going to get out of here.
When business or the economy is in the tank, people want assurances that you are in charge, that you understand the problem, and that you have clear and actionable plans to reverse course. People don't care about blame, they aren't interested in the rear view mirror. Employees and citizens are forward looking. They have obligations and responsibilities. They have dreams and aspirations. Passing the buck, making excuses, and blaming others for the current state of affairs does not advance the ball. The opportunity cost of lost time and energy dreaming up blame-game strategies is something real leaders will not pay under any circumstance.
The democrats and republicans all have attack dogs and paid mouth pieces to lead their partisan charges. Barack, you need to let your hired guns do their jobs. Let David Axelrod worry about vilifying the Tea Party, you have work to do and problems to fix. You don't have time to waste worrying about how to make your opponents look bad. (here is a little free advice, republicans are pretty good at making themselves look bad without any help)Instead, you need to figure out what it means to be a leader. You need to bring your on-the-job executive training to an close and start leading this nation. Develop a plan Mr President. Quit passing the buck. Quit attacking the Tea Party. Quit blaming President Bush. You are the president, you are supposed to be leading this nation. We are in trouble, get off your high horse, quit playing the blame game, and fix the problem. (Here's a little more free advice - a thriving economy spins off much more in tax revenues than a shrinking one. Economies don't thrive on government spending. Excessive government spending represents an opportunity cost of capital not being put to its best use. If you don't understand this, go talk to Walter Williams, he will explain it you.)
Barack Obama, you are president of the United States. You are the most important executive in the world. It is time to start acting like it. Your incompetence is crushing us. No one cares whose fault this is. It is time to solve the problem. If you had any executive acumen or leadership experience, you would know this already.
Leaders lead. Politicians assign blame. Which one have you been for the past 3 years? No one gave you this job, you asked for it. It's past time to start doing it like a leader and not like a politician.
Monday, August 8, 2011
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Another Easy Problem Made Hard
Debt problem? Well, this is pretty easy. Stop spending so much dadgum money, and quit committing to spending so much dadgum money in the future. The problem goes away very easily following this simple strategy. Want to solve this problem? Great, let's get to work:
ObamaCare...gone. I just saved us well over a $ 1 trillion dollars over the next 10 years.
Cut funding for Iraq and Afghanistan by 50% by the end of the coming fiscal year, and then by 75% the following year. Lybia, not spending another dime bombing Lybia. I might let New York ship their garbage over there an dump it in Moammar's front lawn, but that should be revenue neutral. Hell, given what those trendy Manhattanites throw away, I might be able to sell that junk and turn Moammar's lawn into a revenue center. New Yorks' junk is Lybia's trasure. I just saved another trillion plus over the next 10years.
Raise Social Security age by 2 years for anyone under 55 and index all future increases to inflation. Boom, just saved another trillion plus.
I haven't even started on Medicare and Medicaid yet. I guarantee there is trillion of saving is each program over the next ten years, minimum.
Subsidies for Ethanol...over. Really easy one there, I saved billions, lowered food prices, and cleaned up the environment in one swoop. Feeling hot today, so let's keep going.
In 5 minutes, I have cut spending by well over 7 trillion dollars, probably even more.
Need more revenue? Done. I am cutting the corporate tax to 10% and wiping out the loopholes, so now every profitable business is paying into the coffers no matter how much they pay their tax attorney...in fact they can probably put those folks to work creating value for the stock holders instead of figuring out how to sidestep paying taxes. Guess what else? Those trillions of profits trapped over seas because no rational business person would repatriate them at 65 cents on the dollar, all those bucks just came home to momma and are driving net new investments in the domestic private sector.
BTW, since the doom of ObamaCare is now gone and business knows what it will cost to hire new employees, unemployment is getting ready to drop...driving up tax receipts and driving down billions in federal aid to unemployed families.
If the CBO would score me on this, I am thinking over 10 years just saved at least 8-10 trillion in spending and drove tax revenues through the roof with robust economic growth, and I did all this for free. Once again, simple problems made very difficult by our geniuses in Washington.
I'd like to have those ninnies who write for Salon and The Daily Kos try to come up with a better plan. After they finished complimenting each other on how smart they are, admiring the new ripped up t-shirt collection, and cursing former president Bush, I am pretty sure they would settle on a plan to raise taxes on those mean "rich" people who buy things, hire people, and provide capital for markets that need it. Corporate jets would not only lose their tax breaks, I am pretty sure they would be banned...except the ones that Al Gore, Jane Fonda, and George Soros use. I am guessing oil would be taxed more, so we would have less of it. That's helpful.I am pretty sure we would spend more money we don't have on green energy projects that don't work. When green energy is ready, I am pretty sure the capitalists left in this country will figure out how to make a killing by making it affordable and accessible to the masses. If Washington provides it through subsidies, it will be as successful as ethanol. 'nuff said.
We have 300M people in the United States. Is everyone going to love my plan? Nope. But I am not trying to make everyone love me, I am trying to solve the problem. Maybe that's where things go awry in Washington. If Obama was as freaking smart as he thinks he is and as his minions on MSNBC tell us he is, you'd think he could figure this out on his own. That Ivy league diploma is losing a little bit of its shine.
Well, that didn't take very long. You can thank me later.
ObamaCare...gone. I just saved us well over a $ 1 trillion dollars over the next 10 years.
Cut funding for Iraq and Afghanistan by 50% by the end of the coming fiscal year, and then by 75% the following year. Lybia, not spending another dime bombing Lybia. I might let New York ship their garbage over there an dump it in Moammar's front lawn, but that should be revenue neutral. Hell, given what those trendy Manhattanites throw away, I might be able to sell that junk and turn Moammar's lawn into a revenue center. New Yorks' junk is Lybia's trasure. I just saved another trillion plus over the next 10years.
Raise Social Security age by 2 years for anyone under 55 and index all future increases to inflation. Boom, just saved another trillion plus.
I haven't even started on Medicare and Medicaid yet. I guarantee there is trillion of saving is each program over the next ten years, minimum.
Subsidies for Ethanol...over. Really easy one there, I saved billions, lowered food prices, and cleaned up the environment in one swoop. Feeling hot today, so let's keep going.
In 5 minutes, I have cut spending by well over 7 trillion dollars, probably even more.
Need more revenue? Done. I am cutting the corporate tax to 10% and wiping out the loopholes, so now every profitable business is paying into the coffers no matter how much they pay their tax attorney...in fact they can probably put those folks to work creating value for the stock holders instead of figuring out how to sidestep paying taxes. Guess what else? Those trillions of profits trapped over seas because no rational business person would repatriate them at 65 cents on the dollar, all those bucks just came home to momma and are driving net new investments in the domestic private sector.
BTW, since the doom of ObamaCare is now gone and business knows what it will cost to hire new employees, unemployment is getting ready to drop...driving up tax receipts and driving down billions in federal aid to unemployed families.
If the CBO would score me on this, I am thinking over 10 years just saved at least 8-10 trillion in spending and drove tax revenues through the roof with robust economic growth, and I did all this for free. Once again, simple problems made very difficult by our geniuses in Washington.
I'd like to have those ninnies who write for Salon and The Daily Kos try to come up with a better plan. After they finished complimenting each other on how smart they are, admiring the new ripped up t-shirt collection, and cursing former president Bush, I am pretty sure they would settle on a plan to raise taxes on those mean "rich" people who buy things, hire people, and provide capital for markets that need it. Corporate jets would not only lose their tax breaks, I am pretty sure they would be banned...except the ones that Al Gore, Jane Fonda, and George Soros use. I am guessing oil would be taxed more, so we would have less of it. That's helpful.I am pretty sure we would spend more money we don't have on green energy projects that don't work. When green energy is ready, I am pretty sure the capitalists left in this country will figure out how to make a killing by making it affordable and accessible to the masses. If Washington provides it through subsidies, it will be as successful as ethanol. 'nuff said.
We have 300M people in the United States. Is everyone going to love my plan? Nope. But I am not trying to make everyone love me, I am trying to solve the problem. Maybe that's where things go awry in Washington. If Obama was as freaking smart as he thinks he is and as his minions on MSNBC tell us he is, you'd think he could figure this out on his own. That Ivy league diploma is losing a little bit of its shine.
Well, that didn't take very long. You can thank me later.
Friday, July 1, 2011
No Mas! - Probabaly not what you are thinking....
This is for my niece Lindsay who told me I needed to lighten up in my blog posts...
A while ago, one of the many delightfully wandering and inane conversations over beer with one of my good friends, who I have known since 6th grade, meandered to the Tom Hanks movie “Castaway”. Why the conversation went there, I have no idea, but in the random walk of conversation topics, this was just as likely as any other topic. My friend stated that he would not have lasted a week as a castaway on an island because as he aged his eyesight had gotten so bad that not only could he not read a stop sign without contacts lenses, but he couldn’t see a stop sign without contacts. He stated that as soon as his contact lenses dried up, he would essentially became the “blind castaway” and walk off a cliff he couldn’t see in broad daylight. The thought that popped in my head as he described his likely fate as a castaway was…”reality show” somewhere in this tale of woe was a great reality show.
Several years ago, when I was training for my second marathon, I became overly sensitive to even moderate heat and/or humidity. When I am exercising, working in the yard, or running with my luggage down a long concourse to catch a flight, if there is a trace of heat or humidity, I start to perspire…profusely. My golfing friends have noticed this (how could they not?) and now I am the justified object of ridicule when I have to change my shirt after walking 9 holes. I usually forget that my shorts are plaid and pack a second shirt that is striped which helps my back nine immeasurably. The last time I sweated out my golf shirt and was changing to my backup, I had a thought pop in my head…”reality show”.
Ideas bounce around in my head for a long time before they fuse with other equally ridiculous ideas and are merged into a ridiculous concept. Sitting on the tarmac waiting to takeoff this week, my two reality show ideas fused into what I think is a winning idea.
Let’s take two people, like my friend and me…with seemingly minor ailments in modern, civilized society, and put them on separate but essentially equal remote tropical islands as castaways and see how harmless ailments are magnified into intolerable handicaps until the ailment eventually becomes their undoing. The show would be called “No Mas!”. Here is how an episode might work:
My essentially blind friend would be put on an island by himself with a film crew to record his every move and make sure he does not actually walk off a cliff once his contacts dry up.They would film him trying to forage for food, chasing what he thought were edible rodents that turned out to be rocks. Chasing what he thought was a harmless edible monkey that turned out to be a feral boar with 4 inch fangs. Assume he was able to fashion a fishing spear while he could still see. Now imagine him throwing the spear trying to catch fish after his contacts have dried up. If a fish was large enough for him to see, it would likely be a submerged bolder or a shark the size of Jaws….either way, spear fishing rocks or man eating sharks is good reality show fun. Imagine he was able to find crabs to eat. Any crab he could see would be enormous. In his blinded state, he might be able to grab a giant crab, but there is no way he could see to fend off the crab’s giant pinchers. So a crab-grab is really a suicide mission of the hand (manocide?) Food might be within his grasp, but there is going to be hell to pay. Viewers would certainly be treated to a series of slapstick head bumps and trip-and-fall events as well as tossing and losing his fishing spear at objects, none of which were fish….zainey reality show fun.
On the flip side, I would be on another island, doing everything I could to either preserve fluid or find fluids. I imagine that my stay would be more of a game of strategy but no less futile. Do I just try not to sweat, or do I risk sweating, looking for water, knowing that the drain and the bottom of the tub is letting water run out faster than I am finding it? How does one not sweat in the tropical heat and sun? I can imagine trying a conservation strategy first. Standing up to my neck in sea water trying my best not to sweat until the sun goes down and it is safe for me to move around. Given my acute ADD, I suspect I could stand still in neck-deep water for maybe 10 minutes before I became totally bored or totally paranoid and convinced that I was going to be attacked by a school of piranhas. Conservation having been tried and failed as a way to win the game, I suspect I would then begin a futile search for water – looking for dew drops on leaves that dried up while I was standing in water up to my neck, running around looking for streams that don’t exist, all the while sweating like a mule. I expect strategy would devolve into beating coconuts to death. The race for hydration would be on…could I refill the tub before the last drop ran out, before my competitor declared “No Mas!”?
“No Mas!” ends when one of the castaways has had enough and raises the “No Mas!” flag signaling he has had enough. Alternately, the castaway could light a roman candle that spells out “No Mas!” in firework smoke. The first castaway to declare “No Mas!” would lose, unbeknownst to the other castaway. This is where “No Mas!” really takes shape. Say I declare “No Mas!” first. I lose the game, but also I get picked up by a helicopter and flown to a tropical Four Seasons to recover from my ordeal. My competitor stays on his island, bumping his head on tree limbs and getting his hands mauled by crabs…despite that fact he is the unwitting “winner” of “No Mas!”. Once he declares also “No Mas!” he would be declared the “No Mas!”winner….and told that I had been sunning myself at the Four Seasons for the past week. I suppose he would get a check for like $ 200K or something and maybe I get the runners up check that for “No Mas!” which is the other “No Mas!” joke because the runner up check is for “Nada”.
Maybe I haven’t had enough sleep, but this sounds like good clean fun to me, fun until the point when I have to declare “No Mas”. We could follow this up with “Celebrity No Mas!”
A while ago, one of the many delightfully wandering and inane conversations over beer with one of my good friends, who I have known since 6th grade, meandered to the Tom Hanks movie “Castaway”. Why the conversation went there, I have no idea, but in the random walk of conversation topics, this was just as likely as any other topic. My friend stated that he would not have lasted a week as a castaway on an island because as he aged his eyesight had gotten so bad that not only could he not read a stop sign without contacts lenses, but he couldn’t see a stop sign without contacts. He stated that as soon as his contact lenses dried up, he would essentially became the “blind castaway” and walk off a cliff he couldn’t see in broad daylight. The thought that popped in my head as he described his likely fate as a castaway was…”reality show” somewhere in this tale of woe was a great reality show.
Several years ago, when I was training for my second marathon, I became overly sensitive to even moderate heat and/or humidity. When I am exercising, working in the yard, or running with my luggage down a long concourse to catch a flight, if there is a trace of heat or humidity, I start to perspire…profusely. My golfing friends have noticed this (how could they not?) and now I am the justified object of ridicule when I have to change my shirt after walking 9 holes. I usually forget that my shorts are plaid and pack a second shirt that is striped which helps my back nine immeasurably. The last time I sweated out my golf shirt and was changing to my backup, I had a thought pop in my head…”reality show”.
Ideas bounce around in my head for a long time before they fuse with other equally ridiculous ideas and are merged into a ridiculous concept. Sitting on the tarmac waiting to takeoff this week, my two reality show ideas fused into what I think is a winning idea.
Let’s take two people, like my friend and me…with seemingly minor ailments in modern, civilized society, and put them on separate but essentially equal remote tropical islands as castaways and see how harmless ailments are magnified into intolerable handicaps until the ailment eventually becomes their undoing. The show would be called “No Mas!”. Here is how an episode might work:
My essentially blind friend would be put on an island by himself with a film crew to record his every move and make sure he does not actually walk off a cliff once his contacts dry up.They would film him trying to forage for food, chasing what he thought were edible rodents that turned out to be rocks. Chasing what he thought was a harmless edible monkey that turned out to be a feral boar with 4 inch fangs. Assume he was able to fashion a fishing spear while he could still see. Now imagine him throwing the spear trying to catch fish after his contacts have dried up. If a fish was large enough for him to see, it would likely be a submerged bolder or a shark the size of Jaws….either way, spear fishing rocks or man eating sharks is good reality show fun. Imagine he was able to find crabs to eat. Any crab he could see would be enormous. In his blinded state, he might be able to grab a giant crab, but there is no way he could see to fend off the crab’s giant pinchers. So a crab-grab is really a suicide mission of the hand (manocide?) Food might be within his grasp, but there is going to be hell to pay. Viewers would certainly be treated to a series of slapstick head bumps and trip-and-fall events as well as tossing and losing his fishing spear at objects, none of which were fish….zainey reality show fun.
On the flip side, I would be on another island, doing everything I could to either preserve fluid or find fluids. I imagine that my stay would be more of a game of strategy but no less futile. Do I just try not to sweat, or do I risk sweating, looking for water, knowing that the drain and the bottom of the tub is letting water run out faster than I am finding it? How does one not sweat in the tropical heat and sun? I can imagine trying a conservation strategy first. Standing up to my neck in sea water trying my best not to sweat until the sun goes down and it is safe for me to move around. Given my acute ADD, I suspect I could stand still in neck-deep water for maybe 10 minutes before I became totally bored or totally paranoid and convinced that I was going to be attacked by a school of piranhas. Conservation having been tried and failed as a way to win the game, I suspect I would then begin a futile search for water – looking for dew drops on leaves that dried up while I was standing in water up to my neck, running around looking for streams that don’t exist, all the while sweating like a mule. I expect strategy would devolve into beating coconuts to death. The race for hydration would be on…could I refill the tub before the last drop ran out, before my competitor declared “No Mas!”?
“No Mas!” ends when one of the castaways has had enough and raises the “No Mas!” flag signaling he has had enough. Alternately, the castaway could light a roman candle that spells out “No Mas!” in firework smoke. The first castaway to declare “No Mas!” would lose, unbeknownst to the other castaway. This is where “No Mas!” really takes shape. Say I declare “No Mas!” first. I lose the game, but also I get picked up by a helicopter and flown to a tropical Four Seasons to recover from my ordeal. My competitor stays on his island, bumping his head on tree limbs and getting his hands mauled by crabs…despite that fact he is the unwitting “winner” of “No Mas!”. Once he declares also “No Mas!” he would be declared the “No Mas!”winner….and told that I had been sunning myself at the Four Seasons for the past week. I suppose he would get a check for like $ 200K or something and maybe I get the runners up check that for “No Mas!” which is the other “No Mas!” joke because the runner up check is for “Nada”.
Maybe I haven’t had enough sleep, but this sounds like good clean fun to me, fun until the point when I have to declare “No Mas”. We could follow this up with “Celebrity No Mas!”
Saturday, June 25, 2011
Summer's Special Challenges
It is officially summer and the travel season is in full swing. For better or worse I have been a pretty frequent year-round traveller for many years. I can't help but notice that the attire of the American travelling public seems to be in a perpetual state of decline. Summer seems to bring out the worst in travel attire. Airports, train stations, hotel lobbys are all pretty much the same story. Rag-tag travellers, frequently sporting clothes that should have been tossed years ago.
It is odd that people seem to intentionally dress down when travelling. I understand travel dress that is comfortable, but some of the outfits of the travelling public are at best ridiculous. Walking to catch a train this week in Union Station, it seemed that each gate had a cadre of clowns getting ready to board their train, each more ridoculously clad than the last. It kind of makes me pine for the days that I have seen in old movies and news clips, but never experienced when people dressed up when they travelled. Rich, poor, black, white...male travellers were wearing coats and ties, female travellers in dresses. What drove me to long for the days of dressing up to travel? The male foot, that's what.
I have nothing against the male foot. In fact, I am a fan. I have two myself and use them daily. They have carried me across the finish lines of four marathons. They get me to work every day. I walk 18 holes far more often than I ride. I don't know what I would do without them. However, there is a fact about the male foot the travellers need to understand. The male foot, while tremendously useful, is neither attractive nor decorative. Its asthetics are the inverse of its functionality. It needs to be kept away from sight. Especially when travelling, the male foot needs to be like a good umpire crew in a baseball game. They are doing their job, the game could not proceed without them, but when they are at their best, no one notices them, they are essentially invisible. The male foot needs to be similarly invisible when travelling. The only thing that makes an airplane meal on a cross country flight less appealing is sharing that meal with exposed male feet in flip flops.
While the male foot in flip flops or sandals is the nadir of the male traveller's woredrobe. A close second is the sockless male foot stuffed into a flimpsy black Italian loafers, when wearing shorts. Who in the world thinks this is a good look? When your mother told you that if you were in an accident, she hoped you would be wearing clean underwear...I think she assumed that your outward appearance would not include fat feet stuffed into loafers paired with short pants...while you stood in line to board your flight to Paris. Maybe Parisians are rude to Americans because they can spot us a mile away.
No one is ever going to call my sense of fashion hip or trendy. Puttering around the house or the neighborhood, I am the first one to choose comfort over style and am all for flip flops and shorts. However, I think we can get the male foot undercover where it belongs. I call on wives and mothers everywhere to help keep the male foot hidden from view. Help us help you. This is not the time to be polite. We are drowning in a sea of bad male footwear. I think this is a case of "by any means necessary". Ladies, this fight is up to you. Good luck, like always, we can't help ourselves and are counting on you.
It is odd that people seem to intentionally dress down when travelling. I understand travel dress that is comfortable, but some of the outfits of the travelling public are at best ridiculous. Walking to catch a train this week in Union Station, it seemed that each gate had a cadre of clowns getting ready to board their train, each more ridoculously clad than the last. It kind of makes me pine for the days that I have seen in old movies and news clips, but never experienced when people dressed up when they travelled. Rich, poor, black, white...male travellers were wearing coats and ties, female travellers in dresses. What drove me to long for the days of dressing up to travel? The male foot, that's what.
I have nothing against the male foot. In fact, I am a fan. I have two myself and use them daily. They have carried me across the finish lines of four marathons. They get me to work every day. I walk 18 holes far more often than I ride. I don't know what I would do without them. However, there is a fact about the male foot the travellers need to understand. The male foot, while tremendously useful, is neither attractive nor decorative. Its asthetics are the inverse of its functionality. It needs to be kept away from sight. Especially when travelling, the male foot needs to be like a good umpire crew in a baseball game. They are doing their job, the game could not proceed without them, but when they are at their best, no one notices them, they are essentially invisible. The male foot needs to be similarly invisible when travelling. The only thing that makes an airplane meal on a cross country flight less appealing is sharing that meal with exposed male feet in flip flops.
While the male foot in flip flops or sandals is the nadir of the male traveller's woredrobe. A close second is the sockless male foot stuffed into a flimpsy black Italian loafers, when wearing shorts. Who in the world thinks this is a good look? When your mother told you that if you were in an accident, she hoped you would be wearing clean underwear...I think she assumed that your outward appearance would not include fat feet stuffed into loafers paired with short pants...while you stood in line to board your flight to Paris. Maybe Parisians are rude to Americans because they can spot us a mile away.
No one is ever going to call my sense of fashion hip or trendy. Puttering around the house or the neighborhood, I am the first one to choose comfort over style and am all for flip flops and shorts. However, I think we can get the male foot undercover where it belongs. I call on wives and mothers everywhere to help keep the male foot hidden from view. Help us help you. This is not the time to be polite. We are drowning in a sea of bad male footwear. I think this is a case of "by any means necessary". Ladies, this fight is up to you. Good luck, like always, we can't help ourselves and are counting on you.
Saturday, June 11, 2011
Not Exactly "Give Peace a Chance" But Time for a Change
I am not a war monger. I am certainly no peace nick. I believe that when the United States is pushed into a situation where war is the only answer we should go in 100%, win with devastating force, and then get out after we have accomplished our objectives.
I am also a realist and understand that the United States has finite resources. Our cash resources are becoming more finite every month. Our access to seemingly endless credit is thankfully drawing to a close. This is cause for great angst and consternation for citizens, investors, and patriots.
I think the time has come to wind down both the Afghanistan and Iraq campaigns, not because they are not worthy and noble, but because we have not gone in with everything we have to win decisive victory and hence have costly years-long struggles in which we are playing by self imposed "rules" so we do not upset local leaders, other nations, and "independent" voters. Mostly however, I believe we have to draw down our resources in Afghanistan and Iraq with all haste because we simply do not have the cash to pay for these endeavors in nation building. It is time for America to decide what it can afford and what it cannot. Two foreign campaigns with less than clear final resolution have become something we simply do not have the cash to support.
I realize that we have to plan for as orderly a transition as possible, but I would plan to cut funding for both Iraq and Afghanistan by 75% in 12 months. Our foreign campaign should then shift into a large scale, new-century warfare. I would invest heavily in Drone attacks, intelligence operations, special forces, and cyber attacks against our enemies. A massive investment in these new tools of war would cost far less than our traditional deployments of hundreds of thousands of troops across the globe. The objective would be to keep Al Qaeda, the Taliban, et al off balance by continually and aggressively striking at their leadership and infrastructure assets killing and destroying whomever and whatever we have to without reservation.
I recognize that this change in US policy is not without national security risk. However, as the nation begins to realize that there is not an infinite source of cash to fund endless social programs and entitlements, we are a the point where everything that is a cost to the United States government has to be on the table for review. Our investments in Iraq and Afghanistan have been costly, with questionable hard returns. These are investments we cannot continue to fund, so we need a swift exist strategy and a massive shift to more cost effective ways of fighting those who would destroy us, before we do it to ourselves.
I am also a realist and understand that the United States has finite resources. Our cash resources are becoming more finite every month. Our access to seemingly endless credit is thankfully drawing to a close. This is cause for great angst and consternation for citizens, investors, and patriots.
I think the time has come to wind down both the Afghanistan and Iraq campaigns, not because they are not worthy and noble, but because we have not gone in with everything we have to win decisive victory and hence have costly years-long struggles in which we are playing by self imposed "rules" so we do not upset local leaders, other nations, and "independent" voters. Mostly however, I believe we have to draw down our resources in Afghanistan and Iraq with all haste because we simply do not have the cash to pay for these endeavors in nation building. It is time for America to decide what it can afford and what it cannot. Two foreign campaigns with less than clear final resolution have become something we simply do not have the cash to support.
I realize that we have to plan for as orderly a transition as possible, but I would plan to cut funding for both Iraq and Afghanistan by 75% in 12 months. Our foreign campaign should then shift into a large scale, new-century warfare. I would invest heavily in Drone attacks, intelligence operations, special forces, and cyber attacks against our enemies. A massive investment in these new tools of war would cost far less than our traditional deployments of hundreds of thousands of troops across the globe. The objective would be to keep Al Qaeda, the Taliban, et al off balance by continually and aggressively striking at their leadership and infrastructure assets killing and destroying whomever and whatever we have to without reservation.
I recognize that this change in US policy is not without national security risk. However, as the nation begins to realize that there is not an infinite source of cash to fund endless social programs and entitlements, we are a the point where everything that is a cost to the United States government has to be on the table for review. Our investments in Iraq and Afghanistan have been costly, with questionable hard returns. These are investments we cannot continue to fund, so we need a swift exist strategy and a massive shift to more cost effective ways of fighting those who would destroy us, before we do it to ourselves.
Sunday, June 5, 2011
The Greatest Victory
On its 67th anniversary, D-Day stands as one of the great accomplishments in military history. An invasion of necessity, not of choice, dictated by the Nazi takeover of the continent of Europe, the invasion to liberate Europe remains startling in its impact on our world. It is equally awe inspiring in its story, its drama, and its magnitude.
Over two years in its preparation, I am always struck by how the allies pulled victory from the jaws of defeat and changed the face of the world. Despite years of careful planning, training, and mock invasions, before the first Higgins boat dropped its ramp, the D-Day invasion plans were in disarray. Pre-invasion paratroopers were scattered across Normandy, with few in the right DZ, sometimes miles from their objective. Separated from their equipment by a last minute decision to add a tethered equipment bag to the jump, soldiers were in the wrong place, ill-equipped, not ill-prepared, but in a tenuous situation to say the least.
On the beaches of Normandy, bombing raids the nights before D-Day intended to soften the German resistance completely missed their targets. Expected rag-tag German conscripts defending the beaches turned out to be well armed, well trained, highly motivated German units more than ready to repel an attack. Expected fox holes for cover on the beaches weren't there. Units uniformly missed their landing zones. Swimming tanks sunk. The weather was awful, the low tide created hundreds of yards of open killing fields for German defenders, waves of allied units were met with machine gun fire from well fortified German positions.
After years of training, the entire D-Day operation was in tatters minutes after H-Hour. Omaha Beach was particularly disastrous as entire platoons were wiped our before they hit the beach. The boys from Bedford Virginia took the highest casualty toll of any unit in the invasion force. In its early stages, D-Day was a recipe for disaster. Eisenhower had a public statement at the ready stating why the D-Day invasion had failed and restating the allied commitment to the liberation of Europe.
However, D-Day wasn't a disaster. It wasn't the greatest allied set back in WW II. D-Day was in fact our finest hour. Though thousands of slain brave soldiers will be forever young, storming the beaches of Normandy, fighting to liberate people they never knew and would never meet, the story of D-Day is one of "get it done". It is what made America great and what can keep America great. The American soldiers on Omaha beach found ways to traverse the beaches, scale the cliffs, take out German positions, and secure a toehold on the continent of Europe. It was gruesome. It was gutty. It was the shining example of American resolve and the ultimate example of American ingenuity. Lost soldiers regrouped into new platoons, NCOs devised new attack strategies while under fire on the beach, and the expeditionary force that should have been obliterated and shoved back into the sea carried the day and set in motion the ultimate destruction of the German atrocity.
On Monday, when we remember the events of D-Day, when we reflect on the thousands whose final resting spot is marked with a tiny white stone thousands of miles away, I hope we think of American resolve. I hope it inspires us to stand on our own two feet, to cut our own path, and to strive for greatest good. Every day the news paper obituaries read of the deaths of those who served in WW II. These were the ones fortunate enough to return home. They, along with their fallen brothers in arms left a large legacy for all of us to follow. I hope we are up to the task. I hope the leadership of our nation, stops on Monday to reflect upon the magnitude of this event, of the sacrifices made by those who got it done on D-Day. The problems we are facing today pale in comparison. I think a little reflection and perspective might be just what this country needs as we forge ahead. Let's storm the beach, let's climb the cliffs, let's take on the fight. I think we owe it to those who showed us how 67 years ago.
Over two years in its preparation, I am always struck by how the allies pulled victory from the jaws of defeat and changed the face of the world. Despite years of careful planning, training, and mock invasions, before the first Higgins boat dropped its ramp, the D-Day invasion plans were in disarray. Pre-invasion paratroopers were scattered across Normandy, with few in the right DZ, sometimes miles from their objective. Separated from their equipment by a last minute decision to add a tethered equipment bag to the jump, soldiers were in the wrong place, ill-equipped, not ill-prepared, but in a tenuous situation to say the least.
On the beaches of Normandy, bombing raids the nights before D-Day intended to soften the German resistance completely missed their targets. Expected rag-tag German conscripts defending the beaches turned out to be well armed, well trained, highly motivated German units more than ready to repel an attack. Expected fox holes for cover on the beaches weren't there. Units uniformly missed their landing zones. Swimming tanks sunk. The weather was awful, the low tide created hundreds of yards of open killing fields for German defenders, waves of allied units were met with machine gun fire from well fortified German positions.
After years of training, the entire D-Day operation was in tatters minutes after H-Hour. Omaha Beach was particularly disastrous as entire platoons were wiped our before they hit the beach. The boys from Bedford Virginia took the highest casualty toll of any unit in the invasion force. In its early stages, D-Day was a recipe for disaster. Eisenhower had a public statement at the ready stating why the D-Day invasion had failed and restating the allied commitment to the liberation of Europe.
However, D-Day wasn't a disaster. It wasn't the greatest allied set back in WW II. D-Day was in fact our finest hour. Though thousands of slain brave soldiers will be forever young, storming the beaches of Normandy, fighting to liberate people they never knew and would never meet, the story of D-Day is one of "get it done". It is what made America great and what can keep America great. The American soldiers on Omaha beach found ways to traverse the beaches, scale the cliffs, take out German positions, and secure a toehold on the continent of Europe. It was gruesome. It was gutty. It was the shining example of American resolve and the ultimate example of American ingenuity. Lost soldiers regrouped into new platoons, NCOs devised new attack strategies while under fire on the beach, and the expeditionary force that should have been obliterated and shoved back into the sea carried the day and set in motion the ultimate destruction of the German atrocity.
On Monday, when we remember the events of D-Day, when we reflect on the thousands whose final resting spot is marked with a tiny white stone thousands of miles away, I hope we think of American resolve. I hope it inspires us to stand on our own two feet, to cut our own path, and to strive for greatest good. Every day the news paper obituaries read of the deaths of those who served in WW II. These were the ones fortunate enough to return home. They, along with their fallen brothers in arms left a large legacy for all of us to follow. I hope we are up to the task. I hope the leadership of our nation, stops on Monday to reflect upon the magnitude of this event, of the sacrifices made by those who got it done on D-Day. The problems we are facing today pale in comparison. I think a little reflection and perspective might be just what this country needs as we forge ahead. Let's storm the beach, let's climb the cliffs, let's take on the fight. I think we owe it to those who showed us how 67 years ago.
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Climate Change...Is there anything it can't do?
If climate change alarmists weren't a threat to economic prosperity and personal liberty they would be very entertaining and highly valued in tense times when we could all use some comic relief.
Active hurricane seasons are caused by global warming. Passive hurricane seasons apparently are also caused by global warming. Lots of snow, global warming. Absence of snow, you guessed it, global warming. Incongruous events of drought and flood are simultaneously the result of global warming and more global warming. Is there anything that is not a consequence of global warming? Red Sox finally break the curse of the Bambino...brought to you I assume by global warming.
When I opened today's RTD to see the front page adorned with an article connecting the tragic tornadoes in the midwest with global warming, I laughed not at the tragedy, but at the predictability of the conclusions drawn by climate change zealots. I knew this was coming, I was only surprised that it had taken this long to find its way into the media.
Apparently the only constant in our lives untouched by the reach of global warming is the perpetual futility of the Chicago Cubs pursuit of a world series championship. Happily something is more powerful than the reach of global warming, and if you have watched the Cubs play this year, I am sure you will agree.
Active hurricane seasons are caused by global warming. Passive hurricane seasons apparently are also caused by global warming. Lots of snow, global warming. Absence of snow, you guessed it, global warming. Incongruous events of drought and flood are simultaneously the result of global warming and more global warming. Is there anything that is not a consequence of global warming? Red Sox finally break the curse of the Bambino...brought to you I assume by global warming.
When I opened today's RTD to see the front page adorned with an article connecting the tragic tornadoes in the midwest with global warming, I laughed not at the tragedy, but at the predictability of the conclusions drawn by climate change zealots. I knew this was coming, I was only surprised that it had taken this long to find its way into the media.
Apparently the only constant in our lives untouched by the reach of global warming is the perpetual futility of the Chicago Cubs pursuit of a world series championship. Happily something is more powerful than the reach of global warming, and if you have watched the Cubs play this year, I am sure you will agree.
Monday, May 16, 2011
Undeniable Truth About Tax Policy
Unfortunately, the presidential election season is in full swing a full 18 months before election day. If any season is going to start early and run longer than normal, I wish it were duck season, but I digress. Since the president has started giving stump speeches masked as policy speeches, republicans have started their predictable implosions, and the three networks have hit high gear backing their man, I suspect there is going to be a lot of commentary about taxes and tax policy. The blather is likely to be intolerable grandstanding. Here are some simple truths to keep in mind to cut through the electioneering coming over the next 18 months:
Tax rates matter less than tax revenues. The optimal tax rates are the rates that generate the most tax revenue. The tax rates that generate the most tax revenue are the rates that generate the most economic activity and the highest sustained rate of growth.
The reality is, no one knows what the optimal tax rate is. There is lots of theoretical discussion and spirited debate, but finding the optimal rate is part art, part science. However, we know a few things for certain:
The highest revenue take in US history occurred in 2007 at $ 2.56T. To give a little perspective on tax revenue growth as well as spending growth, 20 years earlier, tax receipts were $ .854T...yet we are in a spiral of debt spending. The top marginal rate in the 3 largest tax revenue years (2005-2007) in history was 35%. Is that cause and effect? Nope. However, one could easily argue that a lower rate could have generated a larger, more sustained economic growth, generating even higher revenues. The dopes who make comments to the effect that "The 2003 tax cuts were tax cuts we couldn't afford" and "were not paid for" are simply denying the truth of history as tax receipts were never higher than during the Bush years. The Bush tax rates generated a flood of tax revenues. The problem was the government spent every last dollar plus about 15 cents for each dollar collected. The Obama crew has upped the debt spending ante to spending $ 1.40 for every dollar we collect in tax revenue. When the wave of the economic cycle turned in 2008 as is always does, tax revenue declined, yet spending went through the roof, hence our $ 14T in debt.
Tax rates should optimize economic activity. Finding and selling the optimal rate is a difficult act. However, it is part of the historical record that the largest takes in tax revenue history were collected with the current marginal rates. If we had not topped our record collections with record spending, we may not be in the ditch we are in today. Tax policy is important for driving economic growth. Spending policy is important to avoid killing it.
Speaking of seasons...we have a full duck season, almost 2 full baseball seasons, and two 4th of July's to go before we cast votes in the next election. That is not a rosey forecaast.
Tax rates matter less than tax revenues. The optimal tax rates are the rates that generate the most tax revenue. The tax rates that generate the most tax revenue are the rates that generate the most economic activity and the highest sustained rate of growth.
The reality is, no one knows what the optimal tax rate is. There is lots of theoretical discussion and spirited debate, but finding the optimal rate is part art, part science. However, we know a few things for certain:
The highest revenue take in US history occurred in 2007 at $ 2.56T. To give a little perspective on tax revenue growth as well as spending growth, 20 years earlier, tax receipts were $ .854T...yet we are in a spiral of debt spending. The top marginal rate in the 3 largest tax revenue years (2005-2007) in history was 35%. Is that cause and effect? Nope. However, one could easily argue that a lower rate could have generated a larger, more sustained economic growth, generating even higher revenues. The dopes who make comments to the effect that "The 2003 tax cuts were tax cuts we couldn't afford" and "were not paid for" are simply denying the truth of history as tax receipts were never higher than during the Bush years. The Bush tax rates generated a flood of tax revenues. The problem was the government spent every last dollar plus about 15 cents for each dollar collected. The Obama crew has upped the debt spending ante to spending $ 1.40 for every dollar we collect in tax revenue. When the wave of the economic cycle turned in 2008 as is always does, tax revenue declined, yet spending went through the roof, hence our $ 14T in debt.
Tax rates should optimize economic activity. Finding and selling the optimal rate is a difficult act. However, it is part of the historical record that the largest takes in tax revenue history were collected with the current marginal rates. If we had not topped our record collections with record spending, we may not be in the ditch we are in today. Tax policy is important for driving economic growth. Spending policy is important to avoid killing it.
Speaking of seasons...we have a full duck season, almost 2 full baseball seasons, and two 4th of July's to go before we cast votes in the next election. That is not a rosey forecaast.
Sunday, May 8, 2011
My All-Time Great Baseball Lineup...
I have always liked to bounce around the idea of my ideal starting line up if I could pick any players from the modern era (call it 1950 to the present)who would be in my starting lineup. Willie Mays is the only easy decision I had putting my "all-time" lineup togther, the rest were pretty tough and many great players did not make the list. BTW, cheaters like Barry Bonds, Mark McGuire, and Roger Clemens are not eligible, neither is Ricky Henderson because he always seemed like such a pain in the rump - the Ty Cobb of his time. Here we go...
1B - Albert Pujols
2B - Jackie Robonson
SS - Ozzie Smith
3B - Brooks Robinson
C - Johnny Bench
LF - Mickey Mantle
CF - Willie Mays
RF - Ken Griffey, Jr
Some of the decisions are made with the thought of putting a line up together and rating defensive skill as an important decision criteria. It would have been easy to pick Mike Schmidt at the third base, but while a great fielder, Brooks Robinson was better and seemed a better bat control hitter versus having another "bopper" in the lineup. Similar thoughts with SS where clearly Cal Ripken and A-Rod make sense, but no one was a better fielder than Ozzie and he provides additional speed to this line up.
Batting Order....maybe
2B - Jackie Robinson
3B - Brooks Robinson
LF - Mickey Mantle
CF - Willie Mays
1B - Albert Pujols
RF - Ken Griffey, Jr
C - Johnny Bench
SS - Ozzie Smith
Starting Rotation:
Sandy Koufax
Bob Gibson
Greg Maddux
Randy Johnson
Juan Marichal
The reality is that you could come up with a second line up just as good as this one. Just off the top of my head, an outfield of Hank Aaron, Frank Robinson, and Roberto Clemente would be pretty impressive. An infield of Jeff Bagwell at first (maybe Willie McCovey instead) Joe Morgan at second, Cal Ripken at short, Mike Schmidt at third, and Yogi Berra or Roy Campanella behind the plate makes a formidable lineup.
Baseball is a game of history and statistics. It is what makes it a great game, maybe the greatest game.
1B - Albert Pujols
2B - Jackie Robonson
SS - Ozzie Smith
3B - Brooks Robinson
C - Johnny Bench
LF - Mickey Mantle
CF - Willie Mays
RF - Ken Griffey, Jr
Some of the decisions are made with the thought of putting a line up together and rating defensive skill as an important decision criteria. It would have been easy to pick Mike Schmidt at the third base, but while a great fielder, Brooks Robinson was better and seemed a better bat control hitter versus having another "bopper" in the lineup. Similar thoughts with SS where clearly Cal Ripken and A-Rod make sense, but no one was a better fielder than Ozzie and he provides additional speed to this line up.
Batting Order....maybe
2B - Jackie Robinson
3B - Brooks Robinson
LF - Mickey Mantle
CF - Willie Mays
1B - Albert Pujols
RF - Ken Griffey, Jr
C - Johnny Bench
SS - Ozzie Smith
Starting Rotation:
Sandy Koufax
Bob Gibson
Greg Maddux
Randy Johnson
Juan Marichal
The reality is that you could come up with a second line up just as good as this one. Just off the top of my head, an outfield of Hank Aaron, Frank Robinson, and Roberto Clemente would be pretty impressive. An infield of Jeff Bagwell at first (maybe Willie McCovey instead) Joe Morgan at second, Cal Ripken at short, Mike Schmidt at third, and Yogi Berra or Roy Campanella behind the plate makes a formidable lineup.
Baseball is a game of history and statistics. It is what makes it a great game, maybe the greatest game.
Thursday, May 5, 2011
"At Least It's Clean Dirt" - Mother's Day Tribute to "Boy Moms"
I am convinced that when God makes moms, He has a plan. He knows whether He is creating a "girl mom", a "boy mom", or an "mixed mom". All moms are special people. I am married to a quintessential girl mom which has been a delightful and perpetual learning experience for me. My mom is the mother of three boys. She is, and continues to be, the epitome of a "boy mom", a great "boy mom", and in my opinion the best "boy mom".
"Boy moms" have a special patience, a special understanding, and a special outlook on life. I am not saying it is better than the other kinds of moms, its just a little different when you are the mom in a house full of boys. Things get broken, things get lost, mud and dirt become a routine part of life. Let me explain...
Boys are rarely great communicators, especially when we reach the completely awkward and taciturn adolescent years. One of the first signs that a mom is a "boy mom" starts with complete comfort in being called just that..."mom". Not "mommy" or "mother", but "mom". Mom is the perfect name for boys to call their mother. It is easy for us to say and it can sometimes be grunted as much as spoken. However most important of all, when boys have lost something we really need right away, like a baseball glove or car keys, we scream "MOOOOOMMMM!!!!" at the top our lungs. My mom almost always knew where my glove was, where my shoes were, or where I had left my car keys. The problem was solved, the panic ended, the crisis over. "Boy moms" are great problem solvers...especially for boys' unique, self inflicted problems, that boy moms know really aren't problems at all.
"Boy moms" are the world's best sports fans, whether they like sports or not. They attend an endless number of sporting events on weekends, during the week, night or day. My mom spent countless hours sitting on hard, cold steel bleachers, watching her boys play football and baseball. Cheering when we did well, and still cheering when we didn't.
Probably above all other attributes, "boy moms" know how to roll with the punches and make the best of the ridiculous situations that only boys create.
Occasionally my brothers and I would get to spend the night with our grandparents.(Until I had kids of my own, I didn't realize that this meant my parents had plans for the night and were looking forward to well earned a break from their boys.) My maternal grandmother was a classic southern, christian lady. She made the best homemade applesauce I have ever had, she was an avid fan of Lawrence Welk, and she was a stickler for good manners. She was a great influence on my brothers and me. However, she was not a "boy mom" and my mom knew she was not a "boy mom". Whenever we went to my grandparents house, it was important that my mom drop off boys who were presentable.
I recall one summer day when we were going to spend the night with my grandparents. I think we had specific instructions that day that we were spending the night at "Grandmom's" so don't get too dirty. ("Boy moms" know that instructions to stay clean are acts of folly, so a request for only moderate filth is reasonable) So, my older brother and I spent the day in the woods behind our house digging random holes in the mud, building forts that immediately collapsed, and essentially wallowing in dirt. When we came in, my mom knew she was going to have a tough time making us presentable for my grandparents. After we bathed we were still filthy. I recall my mom getting a brush and soap holding our arms over the bathroom sink, scrubbing us for what seemed like hours. Futile hours at that, as the Virginia red clay ground into our arms, hands and fingernails would not yield. Realizing that the fight was over, that this was one of those times she was just going to have to roll with it, my mom turned off the water, toweled us off and said "well, at least its clean dirt"
I think that is what makes "boy moms" special...at least it's clean dirt. She knew that we were going to show up at our grandparent's house with head to toe mud stains, she knew that she would likely get a call about it after our stay, and she also knew that it was all okay...this is what boys do, and she loved us for it.
It was great growing up with the world's best "boy mom". Thanks mom! Happy Mother's Day! We love you!
"Boy moms" have a special patience, a special understanding, and a special outlook on life. I am not saying it is better than the other kinds of moms, its just a little different when you are the mom in a house full of boys. Things get broken, things get lost, mud and dirt become a routine part of life. Let me explain...
Boys are rarely great communicators, especially when we reach the completely awkward and taciturn adolescent years. One of the first signs that a mom is a "boy mom" starts with complete comfort in being called just that..."mom". Not "mommy" or "mother", but "mom". Mom is the perfect name for boys to call their mother. It is easy for us to say and it can sometimes be grunted as much as spoken. However most important of all, when boys have lost something we really need right away, like a baseball glove or car keys, we scream "MOOOOOMMMM!!!!" at the top our lungs. My mom almost always knew where my glove was, where my shoes were, or where I had left my car keys. The problem was solved, the panic ended, the crisis over. "Boy moms" are great problem solvers...especially for boys' unique, self inflicted problems, that boy moms know really aren't problems at all.
"Boy moms" are the world's best sports fans, whether they like sports or not. They attend an endless number of sporting events on weekends, during the week, night or day. My mom spent countless hours sitting on hard, cold steel bleachers, watching her boys play football and baseball. Cheering when we did well, and still cheering when we didn't.
Probably above all other attributes, "boy moms" know how to roll with the punches and make the best of the ridiculous situations that only boys create.
Occasionally my brothers and I would get to spend the night with our grandparents.(Until I had kids of my own, I didn't realize that this meant my parents had plans for the night and were looking forward to well earned a break from their boys.) My maternal grandmother was a classic southern, christian lady. She made the best homemade applesauce I have ever had, she was an avid fan of Lawrence Welk, and she was a stickler for good manners. She was a great influence on my brothers and me. However, she was not a "boy mom" and my mom knew she was not a "boy mom". Whenever we went to my grandparents house, it was important that my mom drop off boys who were presentable.
I recall one summer day when we were going to spend the night with my grandparents. I think we had specific instructions that day that we were spending the night at "Grandmom's" so don't get too dirty. ("Boy moms" know that instructions to stay clean are acts of folly, so a request for only moderate filth is reasonable) So, my older brother and I spent the day in the woods behind our house digging random holes in the mud, building forts that immediately collapsed, and essentially wallowing in dirt. When we came in, my mom knew she was going to have a tough time making us presentable for my grandparents. After we bathed we were still filthy. I recall my mom getting a brush and soap holding our arms over the bathroom sink, scrubbing us for what seemed like hours. Futile hours at that, as the Virginia red clay ground into our arms, hands and fingernails would not yield. Realizing that the fight was over, that this was one of those times she was just going to have to roll with it, my mom turned off the water, toweled us off and said "well, at least its clean dirt"
I think that is what makes "boy moms" special...at least it's clean dirt. She knew that we were going to show up at our grandparent's house with head to toe mud stains, she knew that she would likely get a call about it after our stay, and she also knew that it was all okay...this is what boys do, and she loved us for it.
It was great growing up with the world's best "boy mom". Thanks mom! Happy Mother's Day! We love you!
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