Auschwitz or Buchenwald... who cares?

Auschwitz or Buchenwald... who cares?

Barack Obama's Grandfather and/or Great Uncle helped to liberate tortured Jews from a Nazi death camp in World War II. That is a great thing and the Obama family should be proud beyond words at the role their family members played in such a significant event.

It seems as though the Democratic Heir apparent, Barack Obama, was speaking before a crowd yesterday in New Mexico and he mentioned that his Great Uncle had helped to liberate Auschwitz in World War II. It didn't take Republicans long to wikipedia Auschwitz and discover that Soviet troops in fact, liberated the death camp in January of 1945. "Oh, he's a liar! Tar and feather that Boy!" They were quick to yell!!! (okay, maybe they just whispered the tar and feathers part - but I'm sure someone said it!)

Barack has since corrected himself. I believe he got his death camps mixed up. Don't you just hate it when that happens?

You have Auschwitz, where between 1.1 and 2.5 million Jews were killed, and then you have Buchenwald were 56,000 Jews were killed. That is what drives me to ask - Who Cares?

No... NOT "Who Cares about murdered Jews?" I mean - "Who Cares about an error in which camp was liberated?!?!?" You had hundreds of thousands and millions of people that were imprisoned, tortured, murdered and you have crazy Republicans trying to hold a slip of the tongue against a man and his family's military history. Someone is REALLY trying to make that an issue! My God - people, we have to get serious here!!!!

Auschwitz or Buchenwald? Who cares? Why is it that people can't just embrace what Obama's family did? Why create such a furor over something like that? Especially when so few Republicans on The Hill have their own children in Service to our country. Why blow Barack's comments so far out of line. So he said one camp and not the other. Big woop. The Bottom line is this - His Great Uncle was out there in the snow and mud and blood of Germany's battlefield. He was probably getting shot at and watching his fellow soldiers [or Marines] getting killed, but he and many brave others pressed on until a Nazi death camp was put down and liberated. As a lot of people like to say, "He was doing The Damn Thing!" Something like that should not be chewed on and chewed up and used a political fodder by anyone.

This is a serious time America and we need serious people to get our mess straightened out. Play time is over.

TTBM

As bad as it could be...

I filled up yesterday and I paid $3.79 a gallon, for regular. When the pump stopped ticking my money away, the damage came to $72.02. "My God." I thought.

To say I wasn't happy is putting it mildly.

The whole time I stood at the pump and stared at my money disappearing, I found myself in my usual rage over the oil companies. This was so unfair. These rich bastards are making quarterly profits that are bigger than the Gross Domestic Product of hundreds of countries! Now they wanted my money too! It just wasn't fair! I was pretty pissed.

Then I oddly thought of a woman that I saw on the cover of the newspaper today. It was the woman in the picture accompanying this post. The picture was a little different but the woman is the same. In the picture I saw, she was alone, kneeling and crying and the caption said that her daughter had died.

Her DAUGHTER had died in the recent earthquake.

Her DAUGHTER had died.

My gas cost me $72 dollars... and her DAUGHTER died.

My children were home, safe and sound with their mother. I was with them just a few minutes later. We had spaghetti for dinner. It was pretty good... and her DAUGHTER died.

It is so very easy to overlook your blessings. For me, I suppose I get pissed off just a tad bit more than the average person. I'll be the first person to tell you that I can be a bit of a jerk sometimes. If you've read my blog before, I'm sure you'll agree with that. But, yesterday I really allowed myself to take in the good fortune that I have.

These gas prices will not be the end of my life. $4, $5 even $6 a gallon will not be the end of my life. I won't really feel any pain from it. All that may happen to me may be... I won't be buying an X-Box 360 or a flat screen HD television this year [or next]; I may have to get rid of my SUV and buy a neat lil'hybrid; I may have to give up $200 Hugo Boss shoes and buy $60 Kenneth Cole's instead; I may have to stop fussing over $7 cooking oil and $6 a gallon milk. But, God willing I'll still have my wife and kids. I'll have what is really important to me.

I have to remember to practice what I try to preach to my kids... I have to remember that I'm a citizen of the world and not just a citizen of my town, state and country. With 100,000 dead and dying in cyclone ravaged Myanmar and 50,000 feared dead in parts of earthquake shattered China, and dozens and dozens of families left homeless in the central plains of the United States after weeks of tornadoes - My Problems don't seem as bad as I sometimes think they are.

Now, I'm a little less worried about my next trip to Citgo.

TTBM