Creative Speculation

Had a good talk with my grown son this morning and part of that conversation included how rich people CAN be decent and told him about how Warren personally thanked that manager at his DQ for standing up to a customer who stole from a blind man. My son works hard for a living and he's had good and bad managers and companies to work for so it was very easy for him to relate to it.

It was only a 40 minute drive but when we get going, we just touch a lot of points and our previous conversations kind of fill in the blanks. Being back on DU more recently reminded me of the good and the ugly of being DEMs. We are so diverse and inclusive and opinionated. WHEN we can get together on things we agree on we get so much done. Then we also have to deal with the sh** storms when we're dealing with the other stuff. Kind of set the tone for he and I to stay on the points we've agreed about before, but with little updates as they pertain to the situations today.

We got into talking about how George Washington and Ben Franklin were wealthy but not so greedy and disrespectful of the people they dealt with. And that Washington wasn't some dumb ass General, if he told someone to do something, he could actually roll up his own sleeves and pitch in because he wasn't as "removed" from his soldiers as so many leaders are.

That Washington was the kind of leader envisioned by the founders because they didn't want some king.
(Started with "Why the H*** doesn't the President HAVE the power to fix this sh**? He should be the most POWERFUL person in the country.&quot

We talked about Citizens United and campaign finance reform and how certain wealthy people have so much and majority of the country 80% are living off 7% of the wealth of the US. Came up with an idea of a "Congressional Boot Camp" where anyone running for office wanting to prove their mettle would have to live for 90 days on what most poor people get on assistance programs. Kind of like the "SNAP" challenge but with the other factors included and some safe environment and place to process it, of course. Show them the community side of poverty where good people come together to help each other up when they fall down.

How we just have to hang in there until 2014, but also about possibility of yanking some of these yahoos who there may be enough proof of wrong doing. I think there has to be a mental health clause for people like Michelle Bachmann (I live in MN. I believe in God, but I still think she's gone over the deep end.)

It used to be he and I would talk when I drove him all over to his friends houses and such. This morning it was like we were back in that space and opening up my mind to the "what if" of more decent rich people than greedy rich people gave me the patience to work with him to get there. So cool.

Yesterday he and I were all over each other and he said things that were really mean. I just had a heart attack scare Friday, so I've been trying to push back some of the stress people are always handing me. He had his own stuff and needed to vent but I wasn't feeling so great when I went to my room to chill out. Then he came and apologized at the door after a long walk around the block his wife made him take to cool down.

I was impressed. Guys typically don't apologize and my son has become one of those for the most part... something about having to keep his testosterone levels in tact. So I went downstairs and told him that I was impressed. That it surprises me HOW adult he is... I mean so much more than just 18 and legal, but really becoming a seasoned adult who isn't above working together to make his family strong.

But even though I got very little sleep last night because I spent it here, I think I figured some things out for myself.