Feast and Famine

It seems like we live in a constant state between these two extremes… feast or famine. Thankfully, in our society, in this day and age, in this country, it is rarely literally a feast or famine in terms of food.

Most recently in my observations of life, it seems to be a feast or famine of relationships or time. Many of us have just come out of the “holiday season,” which can be considered a time of feasting. Feasting literally on food, which always seems to be the centerpiece of any gathering in my family (more specifically dessert), and feasting on time with family. As we come out of that time of feasting, some of us head into a time of famine.

For instance, I was talking with a friend at my daughter’s school. We spoke about Christmas break and how wonderful and relaxing it was for her husband to be at home and just having their family spend time together. Feasting. But then comes the famine. Her husband will be traveling for his work during most of each week for the foreseeable future. She remarked that the time they spent together (feasting) will cause his absence (famine) to just be that much more difficult.

I can also see it in my own life and relationships. We worked hard over the last couple of weeks to feast on time with my parents as they prepared for their journey to South Asia for the next two years. They left on Monday and I just got an email from my dad this morning that they had arrived at their destination safely and were trying to rest from the long hours of travel. So we have entered an extended time of famine in our relationship with my parents.

Mike and I also spent a weekend just absolutely feasting on time with one another. It was a precious time between just the two of us. But like they say, “What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.” I wish that were not the case here, but he has a very busy month or so ahead of him at work and most of his evenings will be spent working after the kids get in bed. So, it may be a time of relative famine for us (just as it was this fall while we were working so hard on the living room).

However, feast and famine are two sides of the same coin. And the real paradox comes when it seems like both extremes are happening at the same time; heads and tails, feast and famine. Which is how I would describe the political scene right now as presidential candidates campaign for their party’s nomination. The media is almost gluttonous on sound bites and news about the caucuses, primaries, and candidates. I could very literally feast on cnn.com’s Political Ticker every day. However, there is a real famine of ideal candidates.

Why is that? Because we are human. We can’t please 100% of the people 100% of the time. Because as humans, we can find fault with anything and anyone.

As I say this, I may need to clarify that I am not going to speak of the Democratic Party candidates at length. If you know me, you know that I’m not a Democrat and that the idea of any of them as President of the United States scares my socks off. My prediction is that Mrs. Clinton will get the nomination, but it will be interesting to see if Barak Obama can pull it off instead. That said, I have certain idealistic differences with the Democratic Party and although I know they believe they are right, I disagree.

So there… I said it out loud without really saying it (hey - maybe I should be a politician)… I’m a Republican.

And as a Republican I can say that I have no idea who is going to come up with our party’s nomination. But I can say that there is not now, nor will there ever be a perfect, ideal, hit the nail on the head on every issue candidate. The best we can do is find who we line up with most consistently on basic principles, the issues, and personality.

And that, my friends, takes a little bit of work and effort on our part. You can’t just do it on the sound bites you get from the television and the Political Ticker. You’ve got to do some looking and investigating on your own into the candidates as my friend Sherri has been doing. Our nation is not just about being a patriot. In my opinion, anyone can do that – it’s easy. But to really take hold of what this great nation is about is hard. You’ve got to work for it. It’s about being an active part of the process and knowing what you are doing when you go to the polls.
If I may suggest a couple of sites, check out http://www.opinionjournal.com/ and http://www.ibdeditorials.com/ . They usually write good pieces from a conservative and sound business view-point.

So as a conservative Republican, my guy right now is Fred Thompson. I'm not sure what initally drew me to him, but as I have heard him speak of and read what he has written concerning his over-riding ideals and views, he is who I most closely line up with. As I listen and read, everything he says and does seems to be thoroughly thought out and well considered.

Here is where you say, “WHAT? Aren’t you a Christian? I thought all evangelical Christians were voting for and supporting Huckabee.” Well, friend, that’s where you’re wrong. We can’t vote for someone just because he is an outspoken man of faith. Although I respect that about him and I believe men of faith should put themselves in the position to be in politics, for me, that’s not the only issue. Just consider Jimmy Carter for a moment. He is a devout Christian and a Sunday school teacher, and his Presidency was an absolute wreck as far as I can see. As I look at Mr. Huckabee’s track record in Arkansas and the kinds of programs he favors, he seems to be less and less of a true conservative when it comes to governing. Here’s an article that I thought summed it up nicely: http://www.ibdeditorials.com/IBDArticles.aspx?id=284342372964795

Now, I will say, as I did before, that there is no perfect candidate, and there has been plenty of criticism of Fred Thompson. There are those that say he is lazy as far as the schedule he keeps. Personally, I see that has working to have balance in his life… something many Americans have lost sight of. And, he did support McCain-Feingold, which my husband claims is an infringement on 1st Amendment rights of freedom of political speech (I say Mike should just go join the ACLU – what a liberal… LOL!).

However, as compared to the rest of the field, he’s the one I would want running. Mitt Romney – again seems pretty liberal in his governing (same sex marriage in Massachusetts, and supporting the healthcare insurance requirement) and has had so many positions I can’t keep straight where he stands… talk about trying to please all the people all the time. John McCain – I’m with him on some things, but call it what you want, it’s amnesty even if it has strings attached and immigration has a great deal to do with national security. Rudy Giuliani – probably the most proven executive in the bunch and I can get over the pro-choice thing if he gets the nod, but do we really need to publicly fund abortions? Ron Paul – although he has some good ideas, he’s just nuts if you ask me.

I can’t wait for it to all be over in November, but on the other hand, I dread the outcome at the same time. Just like feast and famine.