'Houston . . . We've Got A Problem'
By William Bailey (07/16/08)
April 13, 1970 . . . (according to NASA), Apollo 13, with astronauts James Lovell, Jr., John Swigert, Jr. and Fred Haise, Jr. aboard was on its way to the Moon to perform the third Lunar landing in a planned series of seven when, about 56 hours into the mission , an oxygen tank blew up, knocking out the command module’s electricity, light and water supply. “Hey, Houston, we’ve had a problem here,” Lovell told Mission Control, adding that some kind of gas was escaping outside the spacecraft. It was oxygen, and the mission quickly shifted from landing on the Moon to getting the astronauts back alive. At the time, Apollo 13 was roughly 200,000 miles from Earth.
The crew moved into the Lunar module to escape the decreasing air pressure in the service module, then prepared to make the necessary swing around the moon in order to boomerang back to Earth. Debris from the explosion had knocked out the navigation system, so the crew used to Sun to guide the crippled craft home. It took nearly four agonizing days after the explosion before they splashed down in the Pacific Ocean.
Okay . . . so this was a harrowing experience for the three astronauts and for those of us who were around at the time or those who have seen the movie version of “Apollo 13”, what’s it got to do with current events. I would suggest that today’s version of the statement might be “America, we’ve got a problem”. I would further suggest that the problem is (simply stated) the Congress . . . the United States Senate and House of Representatives. And while appropriate actions were taken to bring the astronauts safely back to Earth, we can take appropriate actions to deal with the current problem.
The latest Rasmussen poll reports that the public approval of rating has reached the lowest level ever in American history . . . 9%. If math works the way it always has, that means that 91% do NOT approve the current Congress. To say the least, the level of arrogance of the majority of the members of Congress has reached a totally unacceptable level. It is obvious that they have little, if any, concern for the wishes and desires of the American people, the people they were elected to serve. They are caught up in their own personal agendas. The only result that can occur from this is . . . disaster.
Let’s go a little further back in history. The year, 1788. Edward Gibbon author of “The Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire”, sets out five reasons why great civilizations wither and die:
“1) The undermining of the dignity and sanctity of the home, which is the basis for human society;
2) Higher and higher taxes and the spending of public money for free bread and circuses of the populace;
3) The mad craze for pleasure—sports becoming every year more exciting, more brutal, more immoral;
4) The building of great armaments when the real enemy is within—the decay of individual responsibility; and
5, The decay of religion—with faith fading into mere form, losing touch with life, losing power to guide people.”
How does that relate to the “demise” of the effectiveness of Congress ? To me, it’s very simple . . . Congress makes the laws . . . Congress is in control of taxes . . . Laws passed by Congress diminish individual responsibility . . . and, certainly, Congress has lost the ability and power to guide people.
Here’s something else to consider . . . the average age of the world’s civilizations has been about 200 years. There is, say historians, a process through which civilizations and empires move. It looks something like this:
From bondage to spiritual faith
From spiritual faith to great courage
From courage to liberty
From liberty to abundance
From abundance to selfishness
From selfishness to complacency
From complacency to apathy
From apathy to dependence
From dependence back again to bondage
(While the above is often attributed to Alexander Tytler (or Tyler) Arnold Toynbee, or Lord Thomas Macaulay, the truth is that despite the frequent use, the author(s) of the above quotes are unknown. According to the Library of Congress, the above appears in no published work of those speculated to have been the author).
Where do you say the U.S. is in the above process ?
I have stated before that I am far more concerned about the Congressional elections than I am about the Presidential election . . . at least this time around.
There are those who have advocated “throwing the bums out” (Joseph Farah, 7/11/08, www.worldnetdaily.com); “Mad as h--- and not going to take it anymore” (Chuck Norris, 7/14/08, www.worldnetdaily.com); “Purging Political Parasites” (Mychal Massie, 7/15,08, www.worldnetdaily.com). When you combine the current public disapproval rating of the Congress with the number of articles expressing discontent with the Congress, it becomes obvious that action needs to be taken.
In an editorial appearing at www.online.wsj.com , it is stated, “Appropriations Chairman, David Obey recently shut down the annual budget process rather than allow Republicans to offer drilling amendments. He and the Speaker (Nancy Pelosi) know that if they allow a vote, moderate Democrats are sure to defect and the offshore moratorium could end.” Now, grasp the significance of that . . . our gas prices continue to increase at an alarming rate and one man . . . is blocking a possible solution. Do you begin to see the arrogance and power exerted by the members of Congress ?
The First Amendment to the Constitution of the U.S. states in its unequivocal entirety, “Congress shall make no law respecting and establishment of religion , or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceable to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” It appears (at least to this individual) that the time has come for the “We the People” to start petitioning for the redress of grievances; to include, the ever increasing size of the Federal government; the ever increasing size of expenditures of the Federal government; and getting things back “on track” as far as who serves who.
In 1859, Charles Dickens’ “A Tale of Two Cities” was published. While it was a novel and dealt with the cities of London and Paris, the opening paragraph has some application to modern times, without regard to specific cities:
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us . . . “
In 1798, President John Adams asked George Washington (for the second time) to accept the commission as Commander-in-Chief of the Army. Responding to the request of President Adams, Washington wrote, “Feeling how incumbent it is upon every person . . to contribute at all times to his country’s welfare, and especially in a moment like the present when everything we hold dear and sacred is so seriously threatened, I have finally determined to accept the commission of Commander-in-Chief of the Armies of the United States.” ( Taken from Bill Federer’s “American Minute”, 7/13/08, www.americanminute.com ).
In 2008, “everything we hold dear is seriously threatened’, it is time for concerned citizens to accept the “commission” as Americans. It is time for “We the People” to clearly state our sentiments to the Congress.
America . . . we’ve got a problem. What do we do about it ?
William D. Bailey
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