A Salute to Albert Gore

I read today that Al Gore testified on "Global Warming" before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. I didn't bother to read what he said because life is just too darn short. I have to give it to him though. Al is probably the greatest con artist of modern times. First he scares the crap out of everybody with his silly movie - a combination of propaganda and pseudo-science - all the while raking in the box office dough. Then he travels around the world spreading more fear and helplessness - and collecting generous speaking fees, of course. Meanwhile he starts a company that sells something called "Carbon Offsets" so that the guilty can buy (at bargain prices, I'm sure) to cancel out their "Carbon Footprint". [Sort of like the Church selling indulgences to frightened sinners during the Middle Ages.] When he's not zipping off to exotic locales in private jets and stretch limos he stays in one of his several houses, including the family mansion which uses something like eighteen to twenty times the electricity of the average American household. While he's there he can count the profits he's raking in from his shares of Occidental Petroleum. One wonders how much the price of oil has been affected by his crusade to "Saved the Planet". It's no wonder he didn't want to run for President again - he didn't want to take the pay cut - and who needs the grief anyway. Bernie Madoff is under house arrest for stealing billions in a failed Ponzi scheme and Governor Blagojevich is facing impeachment for selling a seat in the Senate. Al gets a Nobel Prize, an Academy Award and the adulation of millions of gullible idiots. Is this a great country or what?

Just Another Hater

I was once an avid reader of newspapers. I like the feel of the paper and the wide variety of stories, from state and local news to sports and even Dear Abby. My very favorite part (besides the funnies, of course) has always been the editorial/opinions section. I've made it clear in a previous post that I enjoyed reading the "Letters to the Editor", but I also liked the columnists. I tried to read both conservative and liberal columnists so that I could at least try to understand both sides of the controversial issues of the day. One of my favorites was a fellow named Leonard Pitts, who wrote for the Miami Herald the last time I checked. Mr. Pitts is Black and a flaming liberal and I rarely agreed with anything he said, but he wrote with such beauty, power and passion that he was a joy to read anyway. Over the last few years, however, Mr. Pitts slowly succumbed to hatred. Like so many in his profession he drank the Kool-Aid, drank it to the last drop and gradually became just another hater. No more intelligence, no more reason - just column after dreary column repeating the same old crap that every other wild eyed liberal hater was spewing. His growing hatred affected his style as well as his substance and I finally quit reading his column because it just wasn't worth it. I'm sure I wasn't the only one. I learned a long time ago that you can't reason with a hater. You'll never change their mind and you'll wind up angry, tired and sad. Hate isn't rational and in the end it generally harms the hater far more than the hated.

I hope now that we have a new president Mr. Pitts will be able to recover some of his former abilities. Like so many others I get my news from the internet now. Newspapers are dying, many deservedly so. Someday I may Google Mr. Pitts and check out his writings to see if he is able to recapture his style, but not anytime soon. There is too much hate in the world already. I don't need any more from him.

I'm Back

I'm not really sure why I stopped. I've had a lot to say, but with the election and all there was already too much political B.S.on the internet and I guess I didn't want to add any more. After all, what do I know? I'm a middle aged white guy living in a small town in the middle of Texas. I haven't traveled the world (I have been to Canada, Mexico and Colombia) or participated in anything historically significant. I took the same history and political science courses in high school and college everyone else took (I did make A's, though). The only elected office I've held in recent memory is president of the local Rotary Club. As passionately as I care about the politics of my country, I guess I felt as though I didn't have anything worth saying that others weren't already saying much better than I ever could. In the end it all made me so very tired of the whole mess. I just wanted it to be over with and didn't feel like writing much of anything and so I didn't.

I can't say I'm pleased with the man we elected as president (to be honest, I can't yet say I'm upset with him either). To be honest I wasn't all that excited about John McCain. There are some reasonable conclusions one can draw, however, from the last few months.

The first is that the old saw that anybody can grow up to be president is true. Any student of American politics who knew Mr. Obama's life story would have to be amazed at the utter unlikelihood of his election. He is of mixed race, and his black father was African, not African-American so there was no guarantee that Black America would accept him as one of their own. Despite notable clashes with Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson he was able to win them over completely. He had to overcome the ferocious Hillary Clinton and her massive machine to win the nomination. To this day I don't know how he did it. Perhaps the Clintons' hold on the Democrats isn't as powerful as everyone thought. Here is a man with nothing going for him but his race, his looks and his speaking ability. His political achievements and executive experience are non-existent. He isn't a war hero or a well known actor. He has no business experience and (I may be wrong) I don't think he's ever had a paying job outside of politics. Yet against all odds he was able to pull it off. I didn't vote for him and remain dubious about his abilities but I can certainly understand the pride and joy in the African American Community. [I think the first thing Mr. Obama should do during his inaugural address is apologize to John McCain and the RNC for suggesting that they would try to use his race against him. It was a despicable, divisive thing to do and he owes the Republicans and the nation a sincere apology.]

The second conclusion one can draw is that the national news media is overwhelmingly biased when it comes to politics. It is a known fact that something like 80% of journalists in newsrooms across the U.S. vote Democrat. How can anyone who watched the deranged, hysterical coverage of Governor Palin after her nomination not admit otherwise? Really? She faked pregnancy while serving as a governor? Can anyone seriously suggest that had she been a Democrat and Mr. Obama had chosen her for a running mate that things would have gone much differently? She would have been portrayed as a political goddess and the most difficult question Charles Gibson or Katie Couric would have asked would have been something like, "how did it feel when you found out your teenage daughter was pregnant?" or "how do you manage to make time for your family?" Hell, she'd be more popular than Oprah. [If you think about it, she and Mr. Obama have a lot in common. She is a woman (also an "oppressed minority"), good looking and well spoken. Other than being a Republican the only significant difference was that she had some (albeit not much) executive experience.] Now it has become impossible to trust the likes of CBS, NBC, ABC, Fox News and CNN when it comes to political news. Venerable organizations like Reuters, AP, The New York Times, Washington Post, Boston Globe etc, etc... have lost my trust and the trust of many more like me. They don't much seem to care and their response has been to either deny the obvious truth or pretend that it doesn't matter. Many of these institutions are failing and I guess they'll be replaced by internet news outlets. We'll have to wait and see if this is a good thing or not. Probably not.

The last conclusion is probably the most significant. It is painfully clear that our educational system has failed. Way too many people in this country are woefully ignorant about our history, our economic system and the way our government works. Even worse - they don't want to know. This does not bode well for the future. Especially when you consider that so many people have come to see themselves as dependent on the government for their well being. I believe that it is a disaster in the making and we have no one but ourselves to blame.

I wish Mr. Obama well and I will pray for him as I prayed for President Bush. He seems like a happily married man who loves his kids, and a guy like that can't be all bad. For better and for worse he is our President now (at least he will be after the 20th) and his success will be our nation's success. He will certainly begin his term with more good will than did his predecessor, and he has an almost worshipful news media to boot. I suspect most of his problems will come from his own party, at least at first. A significant percentage of his most ardent followers are utterly convinced that the first thing he's going to do after the inauguration is arrest Mr. Bush for war crimes and bring home the troops. They are going to be sorely disappointed when he does neither. Considering the degree of hatred they exhibited toward President Bush they may be even worse when they realize their hopes have been betrayed. Everybody knows what happens to messiahs.

Oh, To Be Like Socrates

I really don't want to have a political blog. I don't hate many things in this world, but I genuinely HATE most of the political discussions I read on the Internet. It seems that anyone who offers an opinion, no matter how well reasoned, on either side of any issue is immediately buried by an avalanche of obscenity filled attacks on their intelligence, character and integrity. Even more irritating is the tendency to call someone a "Nazi" or a "fascist" and voila, whatever they say is no longer valid or important enough to be heard. I doubt that most of the people who use those terms so freely even know what they really mean.

There was a time, not long ago, when I subscribed to a fairly decent newspaper - The Dallas Morning News. One of my favorite sections was the Opinion Page and the Letters to the Editor. I enjoyed the give and take on the issues of the day. Even though I am politically conservative I learned to respect (but not agree with) the opinions of some leftward leaning columnists like Richard Cohen, Ellen Goodman and Leonard Pitts. Letters to the Editor were vetted by the editorial board and the really nasty ones weren't usually printed. Also, the letter writer had to include their real name and address. I know this because I wrote a couple of letters over the years and the paper sent me postcards asking me to verify that I had indeed written them.

The Dallas Morning News no longer delivers to my little town so I'm reduced to getting most my news here on the Internet (I refuse to watch TV news. It sucks in so many ways - but that's another post). It seems that every other website has a "comments" section which I suppose is to encourage feedback. Even You-Tube has a comments section, though I can't for the life of me understand why. I finally stopped reading most comments because they are a ridiculous waste of time. Besides being barely literate, most of them are downright foul. It's hard to believe how much enjoyment people seem to get from insulting one another. I'm not afraid of controversy but so called "flame wars" are just a depressing waste of time.

After reading (and commenting) on Martha's blog I'm happy to say that I am pretty impressed by the civility of the discussions. Her readers respect each other enough to refrain from personal attacks even when they strongly disagree with each other. There was a fairly passionate debate with Candy Minx over socialized health care and nary a harsh word or epithet was hurled. When it was over I felt like we were all a little smarter and we certainly had a lot to think about. That's not a bad result.

Whenever I read the harsh invective that passes for political discussion on the web I have to wonder what people are thinking. Have you ever persuaded anyone by pissing them off? I know I haven't, and I've certainly done my share of pissing people off (right Martha?). Instead of winning them over to my point of view it usually results in the other person tuning me out and never listening to me ever again. And even worse, insulting someone because of their opinion (no matter how misguided that opinion may be) is like reading Shakespeare to a pig. It's a complete waste of time and it annoys the pig (I think Mark Twain said this).

Some of the things I've learned (the hard way, of course) over the years: 1) Don't argue with an angry person. You will only make them angrier. 2) Don't argue with a stupid person. It will only drag you down to their level. I've found that when a stupid person tries to stir up controversy it's best to just smile and nod, then change the subject. 3) If you lose your temper, you've probably lost the argument too. 4) You don't win debates by shouting down your opponent. 5) Never ask someone to share their opinion and then attack them for it. This is extremely bad form. 6) If you have to resort to angry personal attacks to make your point then you are probably wrong to begin with. 7) If you question another person's deeply held beliefs, especially their religious (or anti-religious) beliefs, do so with great care and respect, otherwise you will probably lose a friend and you may create an enemy.

If you think about it, isn't the ultimate goal in a debate to win other's to your point of view? What is really the best way to do that? How did you arrive at your own opinions? I think old Socrates had the right idea. He just kept asking questions and let the other person come to his own conclusions. I sincerely wish I had the patience and wisdom to emulate him.

Things Are Not So Bad As They Seem

I just read an article on Yahoo about how terrible everything is and how so many people feel helpless and discouraged. It was so stupid it almost made me laugh. To anyone who regularly reads the news the mere presence of that article is an indication of a slow news day. The article says that only seventeen percent of Americans think the country is moving in "the right direction", whatever that means. If you think about it, it's a pretty silly question to begin with. If you put a hundred Americans together in one room, ninety-seven of them wouldn't have a clue where the country has been, much less where it is going. They don't know and they don't want to know. They know all about Britney and Paris' latest escapades but they couldn't name the Vice President or Secretary of State if their lives depended on it. The other three know where we've been, but they violently disagree about which way we should go.

We live in a culture that is saturated by news every hour of every day. Since most journalistic enterprises live by the creed "If it Bleeds it Leads" most of the news we see and hear is bad. You hear all about the droughts and floods, but pleasant weather never makes the headlines. The so-called war in Iraq hasn't been a war for years. The actual war was over in a matter of weeks. It's been an occupation ever since and seems to be going pretty well in the last few months but you'd never know it by watching the news. You would think that most people (even if they opposed the invasion) would want things to go well there. God knows the Iraqis have suffered terribly under the dictatorship of Saddam and since the invasion began. You would think most people would wish them peace, prosperity and the freedom to live their lives as they see fit. Unfortunately that doesn't seem to be the case. There appear to be many in the journalistic community that equate peace, prosperity and freedom for the Iraqis as a victory for George Bush and that is simply unthinkable. So they keep stirring the pot.

High gas prices are probably the leading cause of doom and gloom lately. Americans are woefully ignorant of how the oil and gas business works and, as usual, we are poorly served by our news media. If a situation really bothers me or makes me mad I try to learn as much about it as possible so I can support the politicians and policies that are most likely to change it. I'm afraid that most Americans would rather just find someone to blame. The oil companies might not be at fault (Learn all you can and then judge for yourselves) but they make easy scapegoats - sort of like the Jews during the Black Plague. I don't pretend to be an expert on economics but common sense tells me that the law of supply and demand is probably more to blame than anything else. If we want the price to come down we either need to make more or use less (or a combination of the two). Perhaps we should allow the oil companies to drill offshore and in ANWR. Maybe we should all ride bicycles or drive electric cars. One thing I know for sure and that is if politicians get involved it will only get worse.

In the meantime, the sun still rises every morning. I watched several professional sporting events on television this weekend - soccer, baseball and arena football - and all the stadiums were full in spite of the terrible economy. I checked the latest unemployment stats - hovering around 5% - and they are better than just about anywhere else in the world. Last week I read that Americans' life expectancy had gone up yet again, in spite of all those dreaded chemicals and genetically modified foods and awful diseases floating around out there. My office looks out on a four-lane highway and as far as I can tell there is as much traffic as ever, in spite of the high gas prices. I went to the grocery store in San Angelo yesterday and it was full of customers with carts overflowing, in spite of high food prices. I know a lot of people, but I don't know anyone who lost their home to forclosure, in spite of the sub-prime lending fiasco. Those folks in Iowa who've suffered through the flooding will come back stronger than ever, because that is their nature. You don't hear them whining about FEMA or Bush or crying for help. They are used to adversity, hard work and taking care of their own.

The bottom line is this: There are over six billion people on this planet insuring a constant abundance of bad news. There will always be disasters both man-made and otherwise. Bad news is what sells. Sometimes it's best to trash the newspaper, turn off the tv, shut down the computer and just go fishing.

Twenty-Five Years

I graduated from veterinary school exactly twenty-five years ago today. I've seen a lot of changes. The most profound change has been the influx of women into the profession. Right now the student population at veterinary colleges nationwide is 80% female. My class (Texas A&M - 1983) was exactly 50:50. This is a pretty remarkable turn of events considering there were hardly any women veterinarians at all before 1970. The women in my class (and those I've known since graduation) were all completely capable of doing anything I could do. There were a few hard-core feminists when we started, but by the time we graduated I think they realized that nobody cared about their gender. They earned (or failed to earn) respect from their peers based on their abilities. This was as it should be. It will be interesting to see what develops over the next thirty years as we old geezers retire and are replaced by young women. I wonder if there is a similar trend in the UK and Europe (Red or Asterisk, if you read this maybe you could check that out for me.)

I've been in Ballinger for almost twenty years after spending my first five years of practice in Fort Worth. Things have changed a lot here as well. People care more about their pets for one thing. The older rural population had a utilitarian view of animals. Each and every creature served a purpose and was valued accordingly. If an animal failed to fulfill its function (ie. a Border Collie that wouldn't herd sheep) or if it developed an illness that cost more to cure than it was worth, it was put down without a second thought, usually with a bullet to the head (euthanasia performed by a vet cost money). These people weren't cruel. They didn't let their animals suffer. They just saw everything as having a strictly economic value. I quickly decided that it wasn't my place to judge them, but I did try my best to enlighten them, usually with mixed results. Happily that view is becoming a thing of the past. A lot of those folks have passed away and their children tend to see their pets as members of the family. They are embarrassed when they spend money on them, but they do it anyway.

There has been a profound change in agriculture since I came here. When I first arrived on the scene cattle and sheep were abundant. I saw them daily and in substantial numbers. Now the commercial sheep business in this part of the state is all but dead (there are a lot more goats, though) and I might see one cow a week. There were 12 to 15 small dairies (less than 100 cows) when I came here. Now there is one. There are, however,several enormous dairies with 1000 or more cows, but these enterprises use out of town consultants for their veterinary needs. The men and women that farm and ranch are getting old and their children aren't interested in taking their places. A lot of land has been placed in CRP (a government program that pays landowners to idle their land) or sold to city people for recreational use. The illegal immigrants that used to do all the dirty work are now working on construction crews in big cities. Most of the infrastructure (barns, working pens, fences...) is crumbling. When my time here is over I really don't think I will be replaced. The days of the small town vet are almost over.

I'm glad I chose this profession. I wanted to be able to help sick animals. I wanted to earn a decent living. I didn't want every day to be the same. I wanted to be challenged mentally and physically. I wanted to make a difference in my community. It hasn't always been easy. I've made plenty of stupid mistakes. I've lost my temper. I've had some spectacular failures. I haven't been much of a businessman. I've had to weather some serious storms - a ten year drought, a rabies epidemic, plagues of grasshoppers and army worms, the arrival of Africanized Bees, Fire Ants and West Nile Virus. I once did a C-section on a cow in weather so cold that the metal instruments froze to my fingers they way your tongue sticks to a Popsicle. I've done a C-section on a daschund by flashlight during a massive hailstorm. I've palpated (stuck my arm up their rectum to feel for a calf) 350 cows in four hours. I've had to tell people I love dearly that their beloved pet was dying. All in all it has been very humbling, and very rewarding. I have indeed been blessed.

Responsibility Is Not A Bad Thing

My daughter Martha's latest post got me to thinking about men and responsibility. My dad was born in 1928. His family lived in Topeka, but in the summers he was sent to work on his grandparents farm. When he was nine years old he was driving a horse & mule powered binder while his uncles stacked the sheaves. Any money he made was given to his parents. Later on he got a paper route and again, any money he made went to help feed his four brothers and two sisters. His story was not unusual; in fact it was typical for young men of that generation to pitch in and help their families survive. Frankly, that was the way things were for every generation back to Adam. Boys coulnd't stay boys for long. They were men (or at least worked like men) by the time they were sixteen. Responsibility came to them naturally. They were raised with it. It was as natural as eating or breathing. Something has changed.



After World War II there was a tremendous economic boom, and with it came a profound change in how children, especially boys, were raised. An enormous number of men served in the armed forces and then went to college on the GI Bill. My dad was one of them. He was the first person in the history of his family to ever get to go to college. In the 1950's a college degree was worth a lot of money. My dad, unlike his dad, was able to raise a family in relative comfort on his salary alone. Mom stayed home with the kids, like most other moms in those days. Labor laws kept me from working at a serious job until I was sixteen, and even then, any money I made I got to keep for myself. My family simply did not need me. I had chores, of course, but they were piddly things like mowing the yeard and cleaning the garage. If I hadn't done them someone else would have. Talk about a dramatic shift. Middle Class America is huge, and it's young men aren't genuinely needed by anyone, at least not until they are old enough to start their own families. For most young men the first real responsibility they get is handed to them in the person of their firstborn child. Fifty years ago it was unusual for a man to abandon his family. These days it happens all the time.

And then there's the culture. Father's on TV are always portrayed as complete buffoons. Who wants to be Al Bundy or Homer Simpson? Responsibility is always viewed as some sort of personal disaster. Oh my God! A wife! A mortgage! A job! A kid! It's no wonder so many young men refuse to grow up.

Mind you, I'm not really trying to pin the blame on anyone here. I think this thing has been an unexpected development in American society. We really don't have a good way to grow young boys into men anymore. I don't really know what the solution is, either. I wish I did. There are a couple of things that I think will help. First and foremost, boys need role models, and men who aren't afraid of responsibility need to step up and meet the challenge. I've tried to do my part. I've been a mentor at the local junior high for three years. I like to think I've done a little good, but time will tell.