The Tale of Two Bus Tours

                      "Thus says the Lord: Stand by the roads and look, and
                        ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is:
                        and walk in it, and find rest for your souls ..." 
                                                                                    Jeremiah 6:16


The sequel to Sarah Palin's road trip, the One Nation bus tour, has just wrapped up and she again took America along for a ride to highlight our nation's history and historical sites to remind us of the principles that founded this country. As with its first leg, although the stops at its destinations have been short, the reception had been warm, judging from the crowds that swarmed around the former governor. Even reporters from some not-so-friendly media were quite contented with the no-holds-barred exchange they had with her. Could it be that the door is cracking a bit for a "fundamental restoration"  of objective and unbiased reporting from our local and national journalists?

Aboard the One Nation bus, Sarah Palin made a stop at the state fair in Des Moines, mingling with the local Iowans, listening to their views and stories. Forget about the fly-on-the-wall. That fat butter cow was a better witness to some very interesting conversations and Q-&-A's that took place there as people munched on their fried twinkies and octodogs.The bus also rolled into Illinois in the Land of Lincoln in Springfield and in Dixon, the boyhood town of Ronald Reagan.  Reagan once said, "While I take inspiration in the past, like most Americans, I live for the future." It's a clear reminder of what this bus tour is all about. Re-learning from our history to guide our country to a better tomorrow. This road trip also led her to Missouri, the birthplace of the much-loved witty Samuel Clemens (a.k.a. Mark Twain) and former President Harry Truman. It's quite fitting that Sarah Palin would be paying homage to Truman who in 1948 fought against the pollsters and the smart boys of the media who bluffed the voters with their propaganda blitz, called their bluff, told the people the TRUTH and won the election."  The bus rested its engine after making a stop at Kansas City, Missouri with Sarah Palin paying her respects to our WWI vets.

Meanwhile, President Obama has embarked on a road trip of his own. The White House touted it as a jobs bus tour for the president to "talk to folks about growing the economy, creating jobs ". Jobs creation: Americans have heard that line before. In fact, this is the seventh time that  this administration has pivoted to focus like a laser beam on jobs creation. The last six times the president tried to "save or create" jobs, the results were eerily the same: more unemployed Americans. Back in January 2009 when he took office, the unemployment rate was  7.6%. Now it stands at 9.1% .

On the trail, the President promised to put forth a specific economic plan next month when the Congress comes back from recess. He should have waited until September to hit the road when he is ready to present his concrete proposals on getting us out of this economic quagmire. Or not do a bus tour at all at this time. He could have just announced from the White House that a major announcement on jobs creation is coming up and save the taxpayers a bundle of money to pay for his trip, security details and his million dollar high-tech ride. With no specific programs and policies to tell his audience, the President cruised the Midwest to simply vent out his frustrations on a divided Congress who refuses to bend to his biddings, the Tea Partiers who insist that Washington balance the  budget and cut spending and just about everybody else that gets in his way instead of offering ways on how the country can move forward together. His proposals currently on the table are the patent reform bill (!)  - just exactly what the people in the unemployment lines are clamoring for in time of a recession, and his favorite dream green jobs (like the manufacture of the electric car, Volt, that even his Hollywood friends are not rushing to buy). Clearly, this junket has nothing to do with creating jobs for the American workers. It really is all about saving just one job - Barack Obama's. We might as well call it The One's Job Bus Tour.

Back in 2008 the voters hitched their wagons on Barack Obama who promised to lead us on a fundamental transformation of America to a  post-partisan, post-racial and a more perfect union. He pledged to usher an age when  "the rise of the ocean will slow and the planet will heal."  Yet, for all his lofty vision, he could not even dig the country out of the ditch. He has stopped long ago talking about driving the car, holding on to the car keys so he could get us out of this economic gutter. We are now deeper in debt, less respected in the world, even more divided as a country. The ditch is now a sinkhole and if Americans do not wise up in the next election, we could end up in blackhole.

The One Nation tour's mission got it right. God has shed His grace on this country. He has blessed this country with independent, most innovative and the freest people on earth and the richest resources to sustain us all. We need to go back to the basics and be reminded of the old-fashioned values and ethics that made this country exceptional. We are a nation founded in hard work and common sense principles of fairness and practicality. We do not need a government playing God demanding that things be done the Washington way, twisting the Constitution to force their own agenda on us, telling us what to feed our children, stifling our ingenuity with endless regulations and  providing us with every imaginable social services  from cradle to grave. The government should not devalue its people's work ethic by making workers reliant on endless uneployment insurance checks instead of paving the way for job creation. This is America where everything is possible for anybody willing to make it so. The government's role is to create a healthy, competitive environment where free market can thrive and allow its people to make all that is possible to happen.

The fact is America goes on a road trip herself every four years.  Destination:  Presidential Election. Each time we find ourselves at a fork in the road. Do we turn left or right?  Do we want more of the same or do we change direction? A candidate once reminded the voters that elections have consequences. 2012 will soon be upon us. Many campaign bus tours will soon take off. The question to us Americans is: Who do we want behind the wheel?