Choose your Heroes Carefully

I had promised myself I would not write anything about Tiger Woods and his troubles. I have continued to be amazed by the uproar and media blitz. But I have been more surprised by the reaction of so many of my friends and this post came out of that amazement. Why do we continue to attach our hopes, dreams, and morals to people we don’t even know? Just because a person can hit a ball, throw a ball, or shoot a ball we expect them to be as good or better than us?

So last week I get in this conversation with good friends of mine and one of them still can’t believe Tiger could be so stupid, wrong, immoral, or whatever. He’s never even met the guy. Plenty of our “heroes” have disappointed us over the years. Based on many of their transgressions, what Tiger did could be considered to be not so bad. Heck it appears plenty of people have forgiven/forgotten Bill Clinton’s transgressions. I’m just guessing but I bet he cheated more than Tiger!!

Anyway, this thought came to me during this conversation. I looked at the three guys I was sitting with at Nick’s Bar and I realized they are all bigger heroes to me than any celebrity. I know them and have for years. They are all good husbands and fathers. They try to make the world and people around them better and happy. Then I started thinking about all the other heroes in my life. My wife is incredible. My parents – incredible! My in-laws - raised six successful kids – incredible. Then I thought about all the people that came to our aid during my cardi-astrophe. The love and support they provided was absolutely heroic.

So just maybe we should stop attaching these mythical fantasy attributes to people we don’t even know. Look around your own life and I bet you’ll find plenty of heroes that deserve your respect and admiration.

I sure know I did.

It's already a victory

I wanted to be sure to write this before the election tomorrow in Massachusetts. Coakley vs Brown, a Democrat for the infamous Ted Kennedy seat against a Republican. This election should be a slam dunk for the Dems. But the latest polls all show Brown ahead. Now I won’t believe it ‘till it’s over but one can only hope.

If it really happens it is absolutely a referendum on this past year of congressional politics. Actually, the fact that the race is this close is already a referendum. But watch what happens if Brown actually wins. The democratic spin machine will be in full force. Since the oh so popular Obama couldn’t even help then whom? They may need to bring in the master himself, James Carville, to spin this one.

They’ll say Martha Coakley was a weak candidate.
They’ll say the third party candidate pulled votes away from her.
They’ll say Brown was more likable.

Hell they’ll say whatever they have to shift the talk away from healthcare reform and the rest of this administration’s unpopular agenda.

But it won’t work. Don’t let it work. Every incumbent Congressman/woman should already be shaking in their boots, from both parties. But the Democrats should be more worried. The largest expansion of government and the excessive spending is all on them. The back room deals and late night votes are all on them too.

So yes, tomorrow’s election is a referendum. Just maybe come November there will be a changing of the guard in Congress. Maybe we can get back to enough gridlock so we can have thoughtful, open, and bipartisan decisions.

Hey one can only hope.