Mark Knows It All

The tragedy in Aurora, Colorado, has given this nation pause. Pyramided on top of the school shooting in Chardon, OH, and the Giffords shooting and the Virginia Tech massacre not to mention Columbine, America is once again asking the question what is wrong in our society that this keeps happening. Unfortunately, there is plenty of blame to go around, and none of it is fixable. Sure you are going to get the anti-gun lobby screaming and yelling, and maybe they are right but I don’t think so. The issues are much more profound. We have lost our way in this country. The foundation upon which America was built is crumbling. For over two hundred years we were rooted in the Protestant work ethic and individual initiative. Our moral code was rooted in the church. Our support group was the family. Help and charity came from within, and we were a generous people. Not anymore. Families are no longer important as alternative life styles have risen to the surface. Marriages are delaye...

I try to keep the Mark Knows It All blog somewhat a-political concentrating on quality of life issues. From time to time, however, something happens which is so politically offensive that I have to comment. Two such things happened over this past week. Barack Obama, in a candid off the tele-prompter moment, finally said what he believed. Those people who are successful didn’t get that way themselves. They owe their success to the government. Really? He was right about one thing. He said that there are lots of smart, hard working people out there who don’t succeed. That’s true. Most small businesses in the United States fail. But we are all in there trying. I consider myself to be a hard working lawyer, and there are lots of lawyers who are financially more successful than me. So what? I admire them. These guys and gals are the ones I aspire to be even at my age. They make me work harder and smarter. That’s how it’s supposed to be. A friend of mine opened a small business several ...

My chorus is doing some outreach concerts over the next few weeks. One of them is for the South High School alumni. This is an older group with a lot of veterans from WWII and Korea, and they requested some patriotic music. Our director pulled out the old war horses: God Bless America, Battle Hymn of the Republic, Shenandoah, America, the National Anthem, and God of Our Fathers. These are the songs that stirred America’s soul. But this time, as we practiced them tonight, it didn’t seem the same. Ronald Reagan’s Morning in America has turned into a nightmare. Here is a country where half of working Americans pay no income tax. Here is a country that saw 85,000 people go on Social Security Disability last month, while only creating 80,000 new jobs. Here is a country on the brink of a second recession after never really recovering from the last one. Here is a country where people are all but strip searched before boarding an airplane. Here is a country where government is ...

Our washing machine went kaput over the weekend. The repairman came today to see if it could be salvaged. It needed a new switch, and would cost $250.00 to fix. He suggested that we buy a new washing machine rather than spend so much fixing up one that was a few years older than God. So off my wife went to Sears to see what could be had. She came home with amazing news. A mid price washing machine…a Samsung top loader… delivered and installed would cost around $1,100.00. Holy Crap!!! My wife said that this washer was midrange in price. They had some cheaper, but if the water was too hot they would melt. Now I know it has been awhile since I looked at washer/dryers. We have two sets in our basement, one we bought 35 years ago ourselves, and one that came with the house…now over 40 years old. Obviously we got our money’s worth out of both and we should quit our bitchin’. But Geeze Louise. Add a dryer and you would be pushing $1800.00. Back in the day you could buy both for...