What Will It Take To Return The USA To Its Intended Course?

We are on the banks of the Rubicon - that "point of no return" at which the Republic can be lost for the foreseeable future, if not lost forever! Should the current administration be permitted by We the People to continue on its present course, it will be a future of darkness, decline, and despair for our children and grandchildren. What can we as individuals do to redirect our government?

In a nutshell we must CHANGE THE SYSTEM FROM THAT WHICH IT HAS BECOME. And just how do we do that?

1. November 2nd, 2010 is election day. About half our national House of "Representatives" and 30-odd national Senators are up for re-election. DO NOT VOTE FOR ANY INCUMBENTS! They apparently have not understood our written requests, made using the English language, nor have they paid any attention to the poll results regarding Obamacare, or to the Tea Party activities, or the Town Hall Meetings. It is crucial that we communicate with them in a way they will understand - at the voting booth. Remove all the incumbents from office, and perhaps the remainder will finally understand our message.
2. TALK IS CHEAP! As we have known for decades - or perhaps centuries - the vast majority of politicians are professional liars. Lies, untruths, mistruths and technical omissions are their stock-in-trade. They will tell each audience addressed during their campaign, tailor-made lies designed to garner the majority of votes from that group of voters. For one group it may be "White is the new black!", and for another "Black is the new white!". Adapt the message to suit the desires of the audience. In order for our intended system of governance to be resurrected we must replace the incumbents with proven conservatives. And not just those who claim to be conservatives. We must replace them with politicians with documented, consistently conservative records. If there are none running in your district then it becomes a "best guess" situation, but do not re-elect incumbents! This is primarily those Democrats who sold their votes (Nebraska's Ben Nelson, Ohio's Kucinich - a really CHEAP date, etc.) and those Republicans who sold out the American people (Louisiana's Anh "Joseph" Cao, etc.). They have proven by their actions that they are not representing the will of the majority of voters. Also, see how many working-class candidates you can vote into office (see paragraph 5, below).

3. Procedural Changes in Congress. Bills may be written by anybody - as is obvious in so much of our legislation, which makes so little sense. But a bill must be introduced into the legislative process by a member of Congress. From the time of introduction the bill then follows a rather circuitous route within Congress to committees, hearings, debates, etc., in both the House and the Senate. That's all fair enough, I suppose... insuring that the bill is (ostensibly) properly reviewed prior to acceptance or rejection. But there is a problem in the procedure - one that is known but never acknowledged within that legislative body. If a bill passes the hearing stage it then goes for "markup", and this is where the problem lies... markup is where the AMENDMENTS are placed in the bill. The problem is that amendments that are totally unrelated to the issue(s) addressed (I call them "hitchhikers") by the bill are - more often than not - attached to the bill. When was the last time a bill establishing a military budget passed that only included things related to the military? Hitchhikers for education, welfare, bridges to nowhere, and aircraft that the military neither requested, nor wants, nor needs are attached to the bill! A bill should pass or fail on its own merits, or be rejected in the next step of the process and returned for reconsideration if it contains requests that are unrelated to the basic intent of that bill. Bills should also be of reasonable readability in both language and length. If it takes more than 50 pages to say what you want then there is something terribly wrong. If it takes more than 100 pages somebody is trying to pull a fast one. More than 200 pages, and the sponsor should be required to defend the bill in open session, and be subject to censure and a fine for wasting the time of our legislature. When it takes more than 50 pages to ask for something that is truly needed, then the bill is rife with smoke, mirrors and earmarks. Congress should follow the KISS rule - Keep It Simple, Stupid - and NO HITCHHIKERS!
4. Eliminate access to Congress by professional lobbyists and special interest groups. One team of no more than three entity-employed volunteer representatives PER INDUSTRY or UNION would be acceptable, with no budget allowance other than employer provided transportation and lodging reservations, and reimbursable food expenses not to exceed $50 per day. Such restrictions would certainly impede, if not eliminate, the buying of Congressional favors.

5. Take the government back from Big Money. It should be obvious - to anybody that is not comatose (or already deceased) - that our elected officials are incapable of representing the working-class in a responsible manner. Would you spend millions of dollars to get a job that pays $174,000 per year? Not if you had any sense. Perhaps campaign spending limits of $350,000 for State legislators would level the playing field, and make it possible for a working-class candidate to actually get elected. If one couldn't raise that kind of money for their campaign then they probably shouldn't be running for office. After all, it's just $2,000 more than the job pays in 2 years, and would only be an average of a $5 contribution from 70,000 people.

Once upon a time, our Congress was composed of volunteers. These volunteers were men who so believed in our Republic that they worked to establish it without pay. (In 1813 they granted themselves a pay of $8 per day... paid only for the days which they actually attended to the business of the government.) Originally they were men of some learning, but mostly men of native intelligence, common sense, honor and the courage of their convictions. Open and vigorous disagreement and debate was commonplace. There was no strict party affiliation at the outset, rather, separation among Americans was primarily along philosophical lines, rather than party loyalties. Most were what we would call "Independents" today. (The earliest American political parties were the Federalists and the Republicans. George Washington declined labels, but was philosophically aligned with the Federalists, as was John Adams, Washington's VP and his successor as the 2nd President of the United States of America. The Republicans became the Democratic Party in 1828, with the Federalists becoming the Whigs in 1840 [having consumed the supporters of the Anti-Masonic Party in 1838] and finally morphing into the Republican Party in 1856. Yes, it did become a bit confusing back then.)
Our government has become an all-consuming Behemoth, that repeatedly ignores the expressed will of We the People. Government is nothing more - or anything less - than a necessary evil, of which WE are - Constitutionally - the masters... yet the government ignores our commands and turns upon us. The Obama regime goes so far as to label those citizens who would have the government follow the Constitution - upon which our nation was founded - as "terrorists" and "anarchists". Perhaps no government is better than unresponsive government, and perhaps those labeled as "terrorists" by the liberal left "progressives" are recognized as "patriots" by the conservative right.
OUR NATION WAS NOT FOUNDED ON A PHILOSOPHY OF "REDISTRIBUTION OF WEALTH" OR "SOCIALIZED" ANYTHING. IT WAS FOUNDED UNDER THE CONCEPT OF GOD-GIVEN RIGHTS - INCLUDING THE RIGHT OF ALL CITIZENS TO REAP THE BENEFITS OF THEIR OWN LABORS -

INDIVIDUALLY!

In the words of Thomas Jefferson: "God forbid we should ever be twenty years without such a rebellion. The people cannot be all, and always, well informed. The part which is wrong will be discontented, in proportion to the importance of the facts they misconceive. If they remain quiet under such misconceptions, it is lethargy, the forerunner of death to the public liberty. ...
And what country can preserve its liberties, if its rulers are not warned from time to time, that this people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms. The remedy is to set them right as to the facts, pardon and pacify them. What signify a few lives lost in a century or two? The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time, with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is its natural manure."
Manure is what Washington has been feeding us for decades. Let us tell them we're full - and we will have no more of it!

"THESE ARE THE TIMES THAT TRY MENS SOULS."

Those words were penned by Thomas Paine - American - on December 23rd, 1776, in a pamphlet called "The Crisis". Words which are as applicable today as they were 233 years ago. Paine was a true believer in freedom. Freedom from, freedom to, and freedom for all Americans. Freedom from tyranny and government oppression. Freedom to assemble, associate, speak, write and worship. Freedom for all motivated Americans to develop their full potential, or to earn a fair and reasonable wage for their labors. To worship - or not - in the manner of their own choosing, and to be the architects of their own destiny. Thomas Paine, although something less than a social and financial success, was the personification of "the American spirit".

At that time Paine was expressing his opposition to Britain's King George III's tyrannical rule over the American colonies. The wording is a bit archaic, and therefore awkward for today's reader, but tyranny is still tyranny, and revolution is still revolution. "These ARE the time that try mens souls."

In today's United States of America there is a significant political, philosophical, and moral rift between the left-wing "liberal progressives", and the right-wing "conservative traditionalists". There is a second Revolutionary War being fought as I write this blog. Thus far the skirmishes have been restricted to the mass media, the halls of Congress, and the "town hall meetings"... and the fusillades are only verbal. Retaliatory barrages from the White House consist of verbal smokescreens designed to blind and confuse the opposition forces, while simultaneously obscuring the intent of those who wish to rule rather than govern and discrediting those who are most outspoken against the rapid, insidious development of the infrastructure needed to support that rule. Citizens are governed by choice - slaves are ruled by whatever means necessary! Paine also said, "Britain, with an army to enforce her tyranny, has declared that she has a right (not only to TAX) but "to BIND us in ALL CASES WHATSOEVER" and if being bound in that manner, is not slavery, then is there not such a thing as slavery upon earth." (Two hundred thirty three years is a bit long, but I think that - were Thomas Paine alive today - he would be having a deja vu experience.)

Paine continues, delineating the difference between Tories (conservatives, sometimes called "loyalists") and Whigs (liberals, social reformists, believed in loose interpretation of the Constitution) -"Why is it that the enemy have left the New England provinces, and made these middle ones the seat of war? The answer is easy: New England is not infested with Tories, and we are. I have been tender in raising the cry against these men, and used numberless arguments to show them their danger, but it will not do to sacrifice a world either to their folly or their baseness. The period is now arrived, in which either they or we must change our sentiments, or one or both must fall. And what is a Tory? Good God! What is he? I should not be afraid to go with a hundred Whigs against a thousand Tories, were they to attempt to get into arms. Every Tory is a coward; for servile, slavish, self-interested fear is the foundation of Toryism; and a man under such influence, though he may be cruel, never can be brave."

Today's "Tories" are, politically speaking, primarily Republicans, Independents and assorted impotent-third-party followers. Mostly conservatives, they believe that the Constitution is an enduring document requiring little, if any, "interpretation". They also believe that the best government is the least government.

The "Whigs" of today are the Democrats - and their liberal following of government-dependent entitlement whores, who would sell our freedoms for a big screen TV and a couple of more government give-away programs. They believe the Constitution is a "living document" - one that should be changed as often as they change their minds... or their underwear, whichever comes first. The "blame America first" crowd, whose words and actions echo those of the Pogo Possum cartoon of 1970, wherein he proclaims "We have met the enemy and he is us."
The difference today is that the Tories are the ones who would "protect and defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic", while the Whigs would tremble, quake and hide, while crying out for their nanny-government to protect and save them.

Our constitution - for all the wonderful rights it does promise us - it does not promise that we will be given anything other than that which we earn! It does not promise that we have a right to take that which another has earned, nor do we have a right to not be embarrassed, inconvenienced or otherwise upset by something we may experience during our appointed time on this Earth. We have the opportunity to fail in our endeavors, as well as the opportunity to succeed! How we exercise those rights and opportunities is entirely up to us.

Thomas Paine was not just a "man of his time"... he was a man for all times, and his words ring as true today as they did on December 23, 1776! Where will you be when the voices of opposition are silenced... right before the other noises begin?

Obama's Belgrade Montana "Town Hall Meeting" SCAM Unveiled

I received most of the following as a forwarded email, originated by a local resident of Belgrade Montana, regarding the "Presidential Town Hall Meeting" held there on August 18th. I personally have no knowledge of the accuracy of any of it, but it does support my assessment of Friday, August 14th, regarding the staging of the meeting and the general makeup of the audience.

(See: "TOWN HALL MEETING" Defined - Obama did NOT have one in Montana)

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SMOKE & MIRRORS, TRUCKED IN GANGS, SELECTIVE TICKET HOLDERS AND PRE-SUBMITTED QUESTIONS.
By now you have probably heard that President Obama came to Montana last Friday. However, there are many things that the major news has not covered. I feel that since Joe and I live here and we were at the airport on Friday I should share some facts with you.

On Wednesday, August 5th it was announced locally that the President would be coming here. There are many groups here that are against his healthcare and huge spending so those groups began talking and deciding on what they were going to do. The White House would not release ANY details other than the date.

On about Tuesday Joe found out that they would be holding the "Town Hall" at the airport. (This is only because Joe knows EVERYONE at the airport) Our airport is actually located outside of Belgrade (tiny town) in a very remote location. Nothing is around there. They chose to use a hangar that is the most remotely located hangar. You could not pick a more remote location, and you cannot get to it easily. It is totally secluded from the public.

FYI: We have many areas in Belgrade and Bozeman which could have held a large amount of folks with sufficient parking. (gymnasiums/auditoriums). All of which have chairs and tables, and would not have to be SHIPPED IN!! ($$$$$)

During the week, cargo by the TONS was being shipped in constantly. Airport employees could not believe how it just kept coming. Though it was our President coming several expressed how excessive it was, especially during a recession. ($$$$$)

Late Tuesday/early Wednesday the 12th, they said that tickets would be handed out on Thursday 9am at two locations and the president would be arriving around 12:30 Friday.

Thursday morning about 600 tickets were passed out. However, 1500 were printed at a local printing shop per White House request. Hmmmm......900 tickets just DISAPPEARED.

This same morning someone called into the radio from the local UPS branch and said that THOUSANDS of Dollars of Lobster were shipped in for Obama (Montana has some of the best beef in the nation, and it would have been really wonderful to help out the local economy!) Anyone heard of the Recession?? Just think...with all of the traveling the White House is doing ($$$$$). One can only imagine what else we are paying for.

On Friday Joe and I got out to the airport about 10:45am. The groups that wanted to protest Obama's spending and healthcare had gotten a permit to protest and that area was roped off. But that was not to be. A large bus carrying SEIU (Service Employees International Union) members drove up onto the area (illegal)and unloaded right there. It was quite a commotion and there were specifically 2 SEIU men trying to make trouble and start a fight. Police did get involved and arrested the one man but they said they did not have the manpower to remove the SEIU crowd.

The SEIU crowd was very organized and young. About 99% were under the age of 30 and they were not locals! They had bullhorns and PROFESSIONALLY made signs. Some even wore preprinted T-shirts. Oh, and Planned Parenthood folks were with them... professing abortion rights with their T-shirts and preprinted signs. (BTW, all these folks did have a permit to protest in ANOTHER area)

Those against healthcare/spending moved away from the SEIU crowd to avoid confrontation. They were orderly and respectful. Even though SEIU kept coming over and walking through, continuing to be very intimidating and aggressive at the direction of the one SEIU man (apparently the head thug).

So we had Montana folks from ALL OVER the state with their homemade signs, and their DOGS with homemade signs. We had cowboys, nurses, doctors you name it. There was even a guy from Texas who had been driving through. He found out about the occasion, went to the store, made a sign, and came to protest.

If you are wondering about the press... well, all of the major networks were over by that remote hangar I mentioned. They were conveniently parked on the other side of the buildings FAR away. None of these crowds were even visible to them. I have my doubts that they knew anything about the crowds.

We did have some local news media around us from this state and Idaho. Speaking of the local media...they were invited. However, all questions were to be turned into the White House in advance of the event. Wouldn't want anyone to have to think off the top of their head.

It was very obvious that it was meant to be totally controlled by the White House. Everything was orchestrated down to the last detail to make it appear that Montana is just crazy for Obama and government healthcare. Even those people that talked about their insurance woes... the White House called our local HRDC (Human Resource and Development Committee) and asked for names. Then the White House asked those folks to come. Smoke and mirrors... EVERYTHING was staged!!!!!!!!!!!

I am very dismayed about what I learned about our current White House. The amount of control and manipulation was unbelievable. I felt I was not living in the United States of America, more like the USSR!! I was physically nauseous. Joe and I have been around when Presidents or Heads of State visit. It has NEVER been like this. I am truly very frightened for our country. America needs your prayers and your voices. If you care about our country please get involved. Know the issues. And let Congress hear your voices again and again!! If they are willing to put forth so much effort to BULLY a small town one can only imagine what is going on
in Washington DC. Scary!!

Sue
Bozeman, Montana
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Thank you , Sue!

This may be the closet thing to the truth that the American public will ever see about Obama's Montana town hall meeting. I performed due diligence, and researched all the newspapers (the 3 B's - Bozeman, Billings, and Belgrade) in that area for further information about the attendees, and found nothing about the rank and file citizens, other than a few pre-approved questions that were asked of The Usurper. There was no mention of busloads of SEIU members, or of even minor confrontations... nor was there any mention of a single difficult question being asked. According to the media, everybody loved Obama and his National Health Scare Plan.

This could be explained, according to Sue, by the placement of the national media out of view of the health plan protestors. That, together with media's love affair for Übermeister Obama makes for very slanted reporting. Interestingly, our local town hall meeting in Grants Pass, OR was also heavily attended by SEIU members. Until then, I had never before seen anyone in Grants Pass wearing an SEIU T-shirt (The Service Employees International Union is the largest and fastest growing union in North America.)

The closest information I could find reflecting anything even slightly negative about the Montana town hall meeting was in the Belgrade (Montana) News: "Most people in the largely Obama-friendly crowd were favorable of the president's funding formula." The fact that it was "largely Obama-friendly" is most likely due to the busing in of supporters from outside the Belgrade area, and the White House's total orchestration of the event. (Look at it this way - if you were throwing a party, would you invite - and be surrounded for an hour or more by - people you knew didn't like you? As Homer Simpson might say... "DOH!" (Granted, Homer is neither a great intellect nor a respected philosopher, but he does recognize stupidity [at least after the fact] when he has been a part of it. Oh, and for you liberals who may think The Simpsons is a "reality show"... IT'S A CARTOON!)

Each day, more and more liberals are slapping their foreheads and going "DOH!" as they reflect upon their choice for President of the United States of America. Obama has eight months in office and has yet to keep one promise he made to the American people! However, with the creation of his Czar Zoo, he has obviously kept his promises to his political allies and fund raisers.

Exactly how stupid are the American people? Watch closely as Obama pushes the envelope in his attempts to make that determination! SMOKE AND MIRRORS..........

"TOWN HALL MEETING" Defined - Obama did NOT have one in Montana

A town hall meeting is an informal public meeting derived from the traditional town meetings of New England. Similarly to those meetings, everybody in a community is invited to attend, voice their opinions, and hear the responses from public figures and elected officials.

That, my friends, describes how a Town Hall Meeting should be conducted! However, your illustrious President, His Royal Highness and Messiah, Barack Hussein Obama turned the meeting in Montana into a lecture, simply stumping for his socialistic "universal Health Care" program. As you may have noticed from my previous blog posting, this was an unsurprising tactic. Obama's audience was carefully chosen to insure there would be no dissenting opinions expressed as he, once again, bamboozled the American public with yet another well-received speech. There was no doubt going in that this campaign tactic would work in his favor, inasmuch as he, his staff and his Secret Service detail insured that those opposed to expanding government and government controls over our private lives would be denied entry into the event.

Montanans, on the whole, are neither followers nor political lapdogs - they are independent, hard-working, self-sufficient, conservative citizens who are still imbued with much of the pioneer spirit of the 19th century American West. The true spirit of Montana was not accurately represented at Obama's "Town Hall Meeting"... but, what else can we expect from the smoke and mirrors philosophy of this administration?

There is transparency in this administration, but you have to be willing to remove those rose-colored glasses and actually look through the smoke screen. What one sees is not a better America, but simply an attempt to change America into a European-style socialist nation, ruled by government and special interest groups as opposed to representing, reflecting, and preserving the will of the people and the Constitution of the United States of America! Obama also seems intent upon insuring American energy needs remain hostage to the greed of his middle-eastern, Muslim brethren.

The acceptance of this so-called "Town Hall meeting" as being anything other than deliberate, choreographed political theater should be an embarrassment to us all... and shame on those of us who see it as anything other than the political sham it was!

Town Hall Meeting - Grants Pass OR - Aug 12, 2009

Well, by golly... I went to my first Town Hall meeting this afternoon. The meeting was scheduled for 5:15pm, and people began arriving around 3pm, which I know because I took a motorcycle ride past the Ann Basker Auditorium at 3pm and there were two people already waiting. I returned there about 3:30 after ironing a collared shirt to wear, so I'd "look respectable". By the time 5:15 rolled around there must have been about 4oo people crowded outside that venue.

You may recall that I have mentioned before how these politicians seem to choose their venue carefully and based upon limited seating capacity, so they don't have to hear too many complaints about how Washington is ruining the country... well, today was no exception! The Ann Basker Auditorium seats (or did for this particular event, anyway) 140 people, when 3 blocks away there was the Grants Pass High School Performing Arts Center that has a capacity of several thousand people.

Defending Obamacare was Congressman Peter DeFazio (D - 4th District, OR), whose voting record is generally liberal, yet he didn't impress me as a radical left-wing nut job. In the past, DeFazio has shown flashes of courage and independence, by not always keeping in the prescribed "party lock-step" mode. "Perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer" (thank you Henry David Thoreau) sometimes. These actions are not so infrequent as to be called rare, really, but they are infrequent enough to enable him to avoid the label of "Blue Dog Democrat". ("Defending" may not be the right word to begin this paragraph with either. He pimped the party line, but he did so without great enthusiasm. My take was that he was beginning to lean in the direction of Obamacare, but that he lacked the moral conviction to commit his full energies to that bill.)

By now you're probably wondering to yourself, "Well?? How the hell did the Town Hall meeting go?" Prior to the meeting there were some lukewarm exchanges outside, but no fists were thrown, nor were people really "getting in each others face", nor were they raising their voices much above that volume necessary for normal conversation in a crowd of that size. All-in-all it was pretty boring outside. Once the doors opened there was a semi-uncomfortable rush to get inside, since they had announced how many seats were available just before they opened the doors to the auditorium. (Luckily, I was the tenth person in line and made it inside within the first 5 seconds after the doors opened. And yes, I did push past a couple of left-wing, union line jumpers to accomplish that feat.)

After everyone was seated and awaiting the arrival of Rep. DeFazio, there was a bit more of the "lukewarm" antagonism tossed back and forth between the liberal, left-wing "I want the Government to be my daddy and take care of me forever." crowd, and the conservative, right-wing "We want the Government to stay the hell out of our lives, to follow the Constitution, and to allow us access to what we need to take care of ourselves!" group. And again, nothing got out of control. There were several times one group or the other tried to shout down a speaker, but regained their composure and returned to acting as adults within 10 seconds or so. Feelings ran strong on both sides, but there were no physical confrontations at all, and the verbal confrontations (also called "disagreements") were of very limited duration, and only at a slightly elevated volume. I believe there was an unplanned balance in the attendance, and it seemed that the number of people either for or against Obamacare was about even. There are certain media outlets that are claiming the Obama administration has "plants" in the audience of the Town Hall meetings, and that may be true to some small degree, but I believe the left - at least at our Town Hall meeting - was primarily represented by genuinely concerned citizens... as was the conservative right. BUT - those so-called "Town Hall Meetings" at which Obama appears are another story entirely. Of course they will be stacked with Obama supporters! What good politician (isn't that an oxymoron?) who is pimping his pet project wouldn't want to be seen on national TV with maximum support if he could arrange it? And, since the Secret Service provides the entry control at any Presidential event, they determine who gets inside and who doesn't. If you don't know the "secret handshake" (which would literally be something like having an invitation or your name on a guest list) you don't get in. Wearing a T-shirt that reflects conservative values, or if it displays any message that is contrary to Obama's socialist plans is also enough to keep you out.

According to plan, Representative DeFazio was Mr. Punctuality and arrived at precisely 5:15pm, and he departed at 6:16pm ( I won't fault him for a 1 minute overrun, but I will report it because it was so close to being perfect timing). The Josephine County Sheriff attended in his official capacity, along with a Deputy and two Grants Pass City Officers. DeFazio had a good handle on the subject matter (even if it was replete with party propaganda), and had obviously "done his homework". He even claimed to have read the entire 1108 page bill!

There were the usual concerns on each side - National health care vs private insurance; "How old will the government let me live to be"; and, "Where's the money coming from for this program?", etc. The only question he really dodged was, "IF Obamacare is so good, why aren't the House, Senate and Executive branch using it instead of just the rest of the citizens... why do YOU need gold plated health care?"

Did I come away from the Town Hall meeting feeling that I had learned anything new, or was inclined to change my mind about how I felt? No. Did I feel more comfortable about the ever-increasing role of our ever-expanding Government in our lives? Not a bit. Did I feel as if I had just wasted an hour of my life? Not exactly... it could have been more enlightening, but it wasn't exactly a Black Hole in my life either. Besides, anybody that goes to a meeting with any politician, and expects to come away from that meeting with a different understanding or perspective is going to be sorely disappointed.

I'm certain there are others who were in attendance, and heard the same words I heard - but carrying a totally different message than the one I heard - that felt as if the weight of the world had been lifted from their shoulders by Rep. DeFazio. I am equally certain there were those who left the meeting feeling as if the weight of the world had doubled in just 61 short minutes. And then there were the rest of us...

There's no way I could be wrong about this, since it is my perception of what I experienced this afternoon. So, neener-neener-neener to those of you who may think I am wrong!