The Greatest of These

In the gospel according to Obama, three things remain forever ... celebrity, apology and sacrifice. It's a toss up as to which of these he thinks is the greatest.

Celebrity is certainly important to him. The fawning press always adds a bit of unthinking adulation to an evening out, which eliminates the need for pharmaceutical assistance on Presidential date nights. And it is celebrity which allows him, like a superstar athlete or the current box office phenom, to embrace that sense of entitlement, the infallibility of purpose and the disdain for the laws of the common people.

Apology is also an essential part of Obama. Internationally, he apologizes on our behalf, though he is, of course, blameless. Domestically it's a little trickier because he must demand apologies from some groups and completely ignore the need for confession in others. I've made a handy list, in case you are keeping score:

Apology required:
===========
private bond holders

executives with compensation contracts

the poor bastard who took the fall for the Air Force One & Statue of Liberty photo shoot

Pro-life groups & Bill O'Reilly for the murder of Dr. Tiller

Americans who drive SUVs and use incandescent bulbs or plastic grocery bags

Apology ignored:
===========
labor unions

politicians corrupted by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac who instigated the housing crisis

Mr. & Mrs. Obama for their extravagant date night and frequent international faux pas

Muslim extremists, Microsofts 'Rendition' game for XBox, Keith Olbermann and Code Pink for the murder of Pvt. William Long

Environmentalists who have crippled our infrastructure and undermined our national security

Recently, however, sacrifice seems to be taking the lead, at least in terms of frequency. We are hearing it more often than 'self reflection' (which is the precursor to apology) and 'the rule of law' (which, for celebrities, should actually be read as 'the rule of MY law'). Every college graduate in the country is now expected to sacrifice their personal success, and the investment in their education, for the good of the community. And those dang rich people just have not given enough; they need to bleed. And American citizens in general will just have to suck it up and suffer more taxes, greater debt, fewer choices and the undermining of our entire social fabric because, well, that's the sacrifice we will have to make to implement Obama's vision which, as an added benefit, will secure the political power base for the socialist cause for decades.

As much as I hate to drag out the cliched 'according to Webster', it's instructive here. The dictionary has three primary definitions for 'sacrifice.'

1. The act of offering something to a deity in propitiation or homage, especially the ritual slaughter of an animal or a person.

2. Forfeiture of something highly valued for the sake of one considered to have a greater value or claim.

3. Relinquishment of something at less than its presumed value.

In this case, all definitions apply.

Obama perceives himself as a deity, or at least considers his vision of re-made America as an ideological (holy?) mission, to which we owe homage. A wide variety of things are being slaughtered ... capitalism, individualism, personal responsibility, liberty, ambition. If you're the deity, sacrifice is a beautiful thing.* Things are going bad? Obviously, the worshippers have not sacrificed enough! Things are going great? Obviously, the worshippers need to sacrifice more in thanks for their blessings! It's not so much 'win-win' as 'those in charge can't lose.'

Obama told the Notre Dame grads that they will be expected to "struggle together, and sacrifice together." To what end? Why, to serve "the community" of course! Those things you highly value, your labor, your education, your liberty, your individualism, well, they are now less important than the community, the government, the state. When I review my 20th century history, several national leaders promoted the old 'duty to the state' idea ... Wilson, FDR, Kennedy ... Mussolini, Hitler, Stalin, Mao, Ho Chi Minh, Pol Pot. If Obama had any intelligence, he would realize that his famous "failed policies of the past" comment is actually referring to these guys, not Bush!

Obama also devalues what he's asking us to give up; what we have, individually, is not nearly as important as what the government needs. He thinks money is not valuable to 'the rich', which completely ignores the human effort required to obtain it. Higher taxes for the rich is just a marginal sacrifice in his world. He's right in one sense, money, in itself, is not that important. But when you declare that a college education is a right, and everyone is entitled to it, not only do you water down the experience and put it on the path to mediocrity, you also eliminate the effort and the striving for success that makes it valuable in the first place. When you declare that housing must be affordable to all, you can't elevate the poor without bringing down the rich, which eliminates the incentive to acheive. When Obama insists that our safety and security were acheived through illegal and unprincipled means, he is removing the honor and pride that must be assigned to the task, if you expect good men and women to volunteer and perhaps make the ultimate sacrifice.

True leaders strive for respect, not celebrity. They trade in principles, not apology. They make sacrifices; they don't demand them.

I have sacrificed quite a bit recently. Income. My retirement investments. Time to spend on things like this blog. Peace of mind about my families future. My faith in the American political process. My sense of humor.

I am, however, willing to give up a bit more if necessary ... for the good of the country, of course.

Things I am willing to sacrifice:
=================================
The Department of Education
My compact fluorescent light bulbs
An extra clip of ammo so that someone else can be armed
The Department of Agriculture
50% of my Social Security contributions to date in exchange for the rest in cash, right now
Any and all Obama press coverage except one annual State of the Union address or, even better, testimony at the impeachment

* I have to thank Rob Bell and his "The Gods Aren't Angry" tour for this particular insight.

The only thing we have to fear ...

I've neglected the blog, but that doesn't mean I haven't been thinking about things. Here's a half dozen or so ideas for blog posts that I've crammed into one.

With the announcement of the 'missing link' fossil you couldn't help but hear the drumbeats pronouncing "science is king!" Even Google got in the act by using a fossil graphic on its home page. Personally, evolution makes sense to me, but you can almost hear its most vocal proponents going "nyah! nyah! nyah! ... your Bible is wrong! Here's proof that religious people are ignorant!" I don't think the Bible is a science text book. For their sake, I hope they don't turn to science for spiritual answers.

Liberals like to invoke evolution as an example that, like life, morals and society and laws must change; the constitution is a "living" document. If they truly embraced evolution and natural selection, then why do they endorse corporate bailouts, welfare, social security and universal healthcare? Doesn't that undermine the natural selection process and create a less productive, less efficient species? Can any of these types of government sponsored programs be rationally supported?

It seems like the whole point of declaring "science is king" is so that the corollary, "And I, as human, am King of Science!" can be invoked. God is a threat to these rational types, not because he's going to physically strike them down, but because at some point, God forces you to humility. Royals can't have that, can they?

As long as we are talking about the Bible ... a scripture reading at church planted the seed of an idea for a blog post. The scripture is John 15:15 and it says:

I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.

Typically, I try to avoid using scripture in blog posts ... primarily because some people will immediately put you in the 'ignorant' category (see above) ... but this one struck me. I've often commented on Obama's arrogance and the general arrogance of leaders who think they know better than me when it comes to my running my own life. People like that think of others as servants, someone from which they can demand a sacrifice (heard any commencement speeches lately?). I think they have the relationship backwards.

As long as I'm quoting scripture, why not go whole hog. When is the appropriate time to invoke morality? Is it when you are choosing abortion, or before you had the sex which created the baby? Why are we indignantly moral concerning the so-called torture of enemies, but morals become irrelevant (or simply relative) in the abortion debate?

Why is it that "sex is natural and you can't prevent teenagers from having sex so you must give them condoms ... sexual behavior can't be legislated", but its okay to have a myriad of eating laws including taxes on fat and sugar "for our own good." Is eating not natural, too? What about our appetite to succeed? You can't ask teenagers to keep their pants on, but you can dumb down their education and instill a sense of entitlement in them?

Speaking of entitlement, how in the hell did Joe Biden EVER get this far in life? He must have been the star pupil in his 'Independent Living' class. All that time he bragged about commuting on the train no one ever mentioned that it was the 'short' train. What a maroon. Seriously. The people of Delaware should be ashamed. I defy anyone to find where he has ever made a completely intelligible speech. I pray for Barack Obama's health and safety every day because his backups, Biden and Pelosi ... well, I can't even bear to think about it.

From the privileged Joe Biden, good ol' workin' man Joe, we move on to the famous and extravagantly wealthy ... Gates, Winfrey, Buffett, Soros, my uncle Ted ... who recently met in New York to discuss charity and the impact that the 'economic crisis' is having. God bless 'em, they give a LOT to charity, but seriously, do you think they have any concept of 'real life'? If you told any of them they would have to live on a million a year, could they do it? What percentage of the million would they donate? I'm happy for them, I'm glad they are successful and I wouldn't begrudge them a penny of the money they've earned, but don't you think this could have been handled with a conference call or an emailed Powerpoint presentation? Executives get belittled for flying corporate jets, but no one thinks twice about the wastefulness of our celebrity class.

Speaking of billionaires, I hear that some of them are leaving NY and CA because of the tax burden. I think Texas should make a commercial and run it in Los Angeles and New York City and invite them all to move on down here. We love billionaires. I also think getting George W. Bush to star in the commercial is an excellent idea ...

Y'all come on down. There ain't no state income tax, we got killer Tex-Mex and you don't have to pretend to be all liberal and enlightened. It'll be fun. You'll see.

Wouldn't that be delicious? Does anyone have W's email address? Maybe I'll just run this over to his house later on.

And finally, there's this. There are a whole host of folks still giving Obama the benefit of the doubt. It could be typical American apathy. It could be they think they are being kind and generous and patient. It could be that they are trying to compensate for all those right wing extremists. Maybe it's a white guilt. It could be any of those things, but I'm sensing that underneath it all, people are afraid. They're afraid he's going to succeed, or (for the weak minded) that he won't. He used 'Hope' to get elected, and now that he has the power he's got a new theme. Fear.

A Reader

Last year, before the election, a friend convinced me to start a blog. It's been fun. I think that part of me was hoping for the "starlet discovered at the soda fountain" story ... someone would read what I wrote and proclaim "GENIUS!"

I am perhaps, and however, primarily a reader and I suspect my writing, while occasionally clever, will never be profitable or acclaimed. In the meantime, I'll continue to read, and occasionally, steal ideas from the good writers I find.

I read Mark Levin's book, "Liberty and Tyranny: A Conservative Manifesto" and was expecting the typical conservative talk show host rant/memoir. Instead I got a cogent, concise, concrete (Mr. Nooncaster would be proud) and well reasoned dissertation on the conservative perspective. Critics might say that his picture of "the statist" is overstated, but then, they'd be wrong. Read this book, and you will understand that conservativism is not a club of knuckle-dragging old white guys. Conservatism has intellectual, and logical, heft and that the left is not nearly as smart as they present themselves to be. They are on the wrong side of most arguments if you consider experience, history and logic trustworthy guides.

Anyway. Read the book.

I liked the book so much, I bought 5 extra copies from Amazon and sent them to friends. I get that Chris Matthews 'tingle-up-my-leg' just thinking about a book espousing conservative principles being at the top of the best seller list for weeks. I'd like to see it up there for the rest of the year.

I sent one to my friend Tom, with the following gift note:

To: Buddy Tom
From: Texas Redneck
because you'll never buy this yourself & because it sums up conservativism nicely & I hope you pass it on to your kids

Of course, some of the people I sent a copy to are not as interested in knowledge as Tom, so as a personal touch to get their attention, I customized the gift note ...

Speaker Nancy Pelosi
Office of the Speaker
H-232, US Capitol
Washington, DC 20515

To: Speaker Pelosi
From: Charlie Tuna, American Samoa

Levin's book on your shelf ... is it more like a caterpillar? or Celine Dion?

Enjoy!




Representative Barney Frank
2252 Rayburn Building
Washington, DC 20515

To: Representative Frank
From: Moses Gobie

"These two entities—Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac—are not facing any kind of financial crisis"

Thanks a bunch, Barney!





Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid
522 Hart Senate Office Bldg
Washington, DC 20510

To: Senator Harry Reid
From: J. Brown-Whittemore

will fares on your train from L.A. to L.V. be subsidized so we can gamble our tax cuts?

You love Levin? Enjoy!





President Barack Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW
Washington, DC 20500
202-456-1414

To: President Obama
From: Tony Ayers

I hear you are a reader. Hope you enjoy the nice gesture.
Levin's a big fan ... of that Constitution you swore to protect.

It cost me $17.74 to buy each book and have it shipped from Amazon. I figure these people will never read my blog ... and even if they did, they probably wouldn't understand it. They do, however, understand and acknowledge gifts. And Levin says what they need to hear much more better than I do. Ideologues aren't much for reasoned discussion, but perhaps a bright shiny object will get their attention.

I hope every conservative who can afford it sends a few extra copies to their DC favorites. They ignore the elected Republicans. They ignore and deny TEA parties. They insult us at every opportunity by denigrating our ideas and describing us a "bitter clingers" and "right wing extremists". Perhaps instead of throwing shoes, we need to throw the book at them.

Liberal Disconnect

Recently my sister wrote, "I'm a conservative and I believe in capitalism. I can figure most things out, but I don't understand liberals." I sympathize. The disconnect between liberal words and liberal actions is maddening.*

A list on Facebook said "Five People I Would Like to Punch in the Face." They were:

1. George Bush
2. Karl Rove
3. Rush Limbaugh
4. Sean Hannity
5. Dick Cheney

President Obama's policies are naive, self serving and dangerous. As a person he seems shallow and deceitful. Rahm Emmanuel is every bit as partisan, and probably more mean spirited, than Karl Rove. There are no liberal equivalents to Limbaugh and Hannity, unless you want to count Olbermann, Letterman, Stewart or almost any network news anchor ... but individually they are inconsequential; none of them have ever been verbally attacked by a President or a presidential candidate. And Joe Biden couldn't hold Dick Cheney's jock strap. But I've never wanted to punch any of them. It is, however, an instructive list for anyone wanting to understand how liberals think.

A list like this is made because it's divisive. It's a hate list. If you don't hate George Bush, you're stupid or uninformed or unenlightened. The list maker doesn't need to be informed or enlightened because popular culture and the main stream media have already validated their opinion. "The science", or in this case "the opinion", is already in. It's been defined for you and if you fail to subscribe to what your betters are telling you, then you are "the other." Liberals have no tolerance for dissent.

A list like this comes from arrogance, the hallmark of the liberal. It's obvious in every liberal policy and position. Taxes? They want control of your money because they can manage it better than you. Foreign policy? Entire cultures, built around hating America and its principles, will change their ways simply because the liberal elites are now in charge. Second amendment? If you're not liberal, you obviously don't understand how dangerous it is to have the ignorant masses armed. Health care? Liberals really can't trust people to manage their own health care ... or retirement ... or car purchases ... or education ... or environment ... or charitable contributions ...

Apologizing for America is not a demonstration of humility, it is the ultimate arrogance, assuming the role of spokesman for generations of Americans and validating the undeserved contempt of an unappreciative world.

You make a list like this because you really can't trust anyone. Self interest, in the liberal mind, has a negative connotation. Self interested to them means greedy, not ambitious, and even ambition is suspect. Liberals don't believe that "others" will follow rules, and so more rules are always preferred. Note, however, that if you are a liberal, if you count yourself among this enlightened elite, then the rules do not apply. Rules are for "others."

You make a list like this because you have no core beliefs. Liberal political opinions are more informed by what "sounds good" than what "is good." Distinguishing between sounding good and being good requires a definition for "good" which cannot be defined without a moral foundation. Inalienable rights? A liberal might say:

We are so much more sophisticated than those provincial white males that founded the country ... surely you don't believe that those antiquated ideas can apply to our 'post-modern' society? How quaint!

Without a core belief system, the general public opinion is easily shaped and the public itself is easily divided, grouped and controlled. Without a belief in true equality, a belief in the rights and responsibilities of the individual, there is no mutual trust. Liberals can't trust the states, much less individual citizens, to take care of themselves. They want the power concentrated at the federal level, preferably with their elite group in charge because they know best how to protect us from ourselves.

This year's Tax Day Tea Parties were not about just about taxes. It's hard to believe that anyone, liberals included, believes that the government is a good steward of our money. It's an issue we can confidently agree upon. The people who attended the Tea Parties were 'just folks' ... not elites, not "right wing radicals", not power brokers and deal makers. The anti-Tea Party media tied themselves in knots by alternating between reporting and ridiculing the protestors. How dare the public disagree with what they've been told to believe. The Tea Parties were about fundamental beliefs, not the crisis of the week. It appears that the American public is just about fed up with having their beliefs undermined.

The Tea Parties did not create division, nor were they based on arrogance. They affirmed that there are things we can all agree on and that those things are grounded in our basic beliefs. Liberals intentionally divide along the lines of race, sex, faith, education and class. Conservatives believe in uniting behind common beliefs, one of which is individual freedom, not group differences. Liberals struggle with the problems of "other people". Conservatives struggle with self-sufficiency, personal responsibility and duty. Liberals must constantly adjust their position, referencing popular opinion and the latest trend. Conservatives must constantly evaluate the changing world to determine the best way to apply their core beliefs to new issues.

There is a disconnect between what liberals say and what they do. Liberals say "equality", but create laws to keep minorities subordinate. They say "prosperity", but want to control and limit it. They say "peace", but promote surrender. They say "justice", but celebrate cop killers and terrorists.

A list like this perfectly describes how modern liberals think. Create division. Assign yourself the "correct" position. Marginalize and ridicule dissenters. Repeat when necessary to maintain the position of power. If you think saying you would like to punch George Bush in the face says something about you, that it identifies you as one of enlightened, you're right. It does.

* Just when I thought I had this out of my system, on the way to work I hear that President Obama is holding his first full cabinet meeting today, and on the agenda are ideas from every department head on how they can trim $100 million dollars from their budgets. That's million, with an 'M'. Liberals say "we're cutting the budget!" on one hand, while appropriating billions ( with a 'B') and trillions ( with a 'T') of your money with the other. I particularly enjoyed these lines from our President ...

In the coming weeks, I will be announcing the elimination of dozens of government programs shown to be wasteful or ineffective. In this effort, there will be no sacred cows and no pet projects. All across America, families are making hard choices, and it's time their government did the same.

That is why I have assembled a team of management, technology and budget experts to guide us in this work, leaders who will help us revamp government operations from top to bottom and ensure that the federal government is truly working for the American people.

Let me translate. What he's really saying is ...

I plan on empowering a select group of my friends and supporters to determine which programs we will continue to fund, to further ensure your dependency on the federal government and to continue our attack on your outdated beliefs.

Liberal

It was very cold outside; a thick layer of ice grew on the inside of the single paned and poorly glazed window. It was only inches from my face as I slept in the bedroom next to the kitchen. The bed covers consisted of flannel sheets and two heavy quilts that Grandma Turner had made ... the 'prettier' one was on top. I knew Dad was up, even though it was dark outside, because I woke up in a sweat. When Dad got up and came into the kitchen he always closed the bedroom door, trying to minimize the noise. He didn't realize that the space heater in the bedroom quickly turned the top bunk into a roasting oven.

For some reason, this time, I got up, instead of shedding covers and feigning sleep. I opened the door asking if breakfast was pancakes or waffles, there was a pause, a plan was forming, and I heard, "Get dressed. We're going out for breakfast. You're going to work with me today." I made a mental note for the next time similar circumstances occurred.

It was early, too early for the cafe downtown to be open, but I didn't ask questions. I got dressed, with minimal whining, and Dad filled up the silver and the green thermos with coffee. He put sugar in the green one. He sent me out to start the pickup to get it, and the defroster, warm. A shivering return, without jacket or hat or gloves, prompted his barely perceptible head shake, my corresponding weak nod and a trip to the closet.

Soon we were at the warehouse (WAHR-house), fueling up the bobtail and filling its tanks with alcohol (AL-kee-haul). The alcohol was for the natural gas pipelines up north, to keep them from freezing. Exhaust from the diesel engine ran through a large cylindrical pipe, that served as the front bumper, and exited underneath the right front, a good place to warm your feet. Liberal, Kansas was our destination and I was already wishing I had grabbed a few other clothing items from the closet.

The first leg of the trip was to Perryton, 70 miles north. Sugared coffee, a symphony of drafty whistling from the bobtail's poorly fit cab and the occasional security light at a ranch house were the only things worthy of attention in the dark of the early morning drive. We stopped at the Dutch Inn for breakfast and since the company was picking up the check I got the chicken fried steak and eggs with biscuits, cream gravy and a short stack of pancakes. I had milk to drink since my stomach was already suffering from a coffee induced acid wash. Dad had toast and sausage and orange juice. I asked why he didn't get the steak and eggs and he replied that he had had enough of that stuff growing up which confused me, since I knew he grew up dirt poor.

He grew up on a homestead farm and ranch in Gray County, near Alanreed. They fed themselves with what they raised or bartered for and occasionally bought. They had steak and eggs every morning, unless the hens didn't lay, and then they just had steak, or some form of beef. They slaughtered their own steers for meat, but they had no refrigeration. They were also feeding 10 or 12 people at every meal so it didn't make sense to salt or smoke the whole thing when they would probably be eating it soon. The solution was to haul the carcass up to the top of the windmill with a block and tackle, "where the flys couldn't blow it." Every morning one of the boys would lower it down, Grandma Turner would cut off what she needed for the day, and then they'd hoist it back up. Gather some eggs from the laying hens and there you have your steak and eggs.

What they didn't have was toasted fresh bread. Toasted usually meant the bread was stale or moldy; fresh bread was eaten with churned butter. Nor did they have sausage, unless they made it themselves, and then it was usually smoked, not fresh breakfast links or patties. And orange juice was a true luxury. He said that oranges and pecans and socks were usually what he got in his Christmas stocking, in the good years. I could usually tell when Dad was stretching the truth, making an insignificant story into an epic, but this wasn't one of those times. My fine breakfast was difficult to finish, but I did, in appreciation of my new interpretation of 'feast' and in the hope of avoiding the "you're a dang sight better off than I was" speech.

We stopped at various booster stations on the way to Liberal near Booker, Darrouzett, Follett and Beaver, OK. The booster stations were impressive. The huge natural gas fired engines, with over-sized radiators, had a pop-pop-pop-pop exhaust you could hear from miles away in the flat, rural landscape. They shook the ground around them. At each booster station was an overhead tank, with plumbing that connected to the natural gas pipeline. Our job was to fill up those tanks with methanol, to be pumped into the pipeline, to prevent any water vapor that happened to be there from freezing. It had been below freezing for days. At noon on this Saturday, it was still in the single digits.

At each station there were always several various sized rubber balls scattered around. After a few stops I was curious enough to pick one up and Dad explained that they were used to clean the line. Somewhere farther north the balls were put into the pipeline and the pressure of the gas moved them down the line. They were different sizes because of wear and almost all of them, at least the ones on the ground, were cracked and brittle.

We stopped at the cafe in Elmwood, OK for lunch, though us working men called it dinner. The waitress knew Dad; it was a regular route and he stopped there often. I had a cheeseburger and Dad had the chicken fry. It was still freezing, but we drank iced tea. We each had a small bowl of cobbler ... cherry for me and peach for Dad ... and then it was on to Liberal.

Even then I viewed vehicles as having personalities ... the trusty steed, the tireless worker, the gracefully aging. The bobtail was the ornery bastard. The clutch was going and I just knew it would leave us stranded at some remote location. The exhaust, despite being a good foot warmer, sent too many fumes back into the cab. The cab had more than drafty rattles, it had un-closable floorboard vents, which might have been great in the summer. The seats had no head rest or arm rests or seat belts so there was no napping, only perching and sliding on the vinyl. The more methanol we unloaded, the bouncier the ride got. And, of course, there was no radio. Dad sang.

We made it to Liberal, which must be the nexus for all natural gas pipelines because we made several stops with none of them very far apart. The work was done and we started the 3 hour drive back home. Along the way Dad sang Bob Wills, talked about "batchin' it" in a line shack on some old ranch and told stories about one-eyed mares, pickin' cotton, how to set a corner fence post and various other handy tidbits. I still don't believe he roped that white tail deer.

We had made a big circle through the small towns in the panhandles of Texas and Oklahoma, with a quick, short dip into Kansas, and now we were makin' a bee-line back home, to Pampa, due south on US Highway 83 in a bobtail truck that I'd just as soon cuss at as ride in. The sun set somewhere along the way home; it was a glorious high plains one. I watched its glory fade from overwhelming to what happened, bouncing along, snatching snippets of panhandle from Dad's running monologue, soaking in the high lonesome and wondering how in the hell I wound up in a near broke truck, anonymously delivering alcohol, and freezing my ass off. At least we were heading home.

When we got home there were two plates of left overs, covered with other plates, in the oven. It was Saturday night, Mom was at work. We ate quickly and as I scraped the plates Dad made dessert ... peanut butter and syrup, with torn up pieces of white bread stirred in. After that, the dishes were rinsed and stacked and I went straight to my unmade bed, being sure to ask Dad to leave the door open.

It was cold here the other morning, though not below freezing. It was hot upstairs when I went to wake up the boy. He'd kicked the covers off and though his eyes were closed, I'm sure he heard me and the dog coming up the stairs. He forgot to take a jacket to school that day. His mother was not pleased, but I sort of understood.

Heat rises. You are what you eat. Like father, like son. Heading home is a good feeling. Some things don't change ... and shouldn't.