Maybe the heat got me, but after reading Mike Rowe’s Facebook Post, it angered me that people do this, even people that I know…I even do it myself. We vilify anyone who has an opinion different then ours…and
then we wonder what’s wrong with the country…And after all, aren’t we all in this together?
I really like Mike, he’s doing some great things….the article is below…

He has a point. Too many people, especially politicians and including the president would rather demonize their opponents then work for the American people, after all that’s who they represent. President Obama however many time he may prefer going at it alone, helps no one, maybe his big fat ego….but he doesn’t make the standard of living for the unemployed American any better. He picks social issues while important to certain segments of the country, though mostly important to his base and forgets about Joe smith and Juan Garcia or even, Debbie White who are struggling to make ends meet pay their mortgage and educate their kids…these folks like millions of Americans don’t lose sleep over the pill, some endangered mouse in New Mexico, they have more important things to worry about! Losing good paying jobs that go over seas or to illegal immigrants who will work for less.
Schools are graduating Ill prepared kids, who can’t read , write or have simple check balancing skills.
It’s really sad that we have such a divided country and we demonize any good idea not because it wouldn’t work but because it came from a democrat or a republican.

Politicians including the president will never go without food, without seeing a good doctor or without a job, they will become multi millionaires sitting on the boards of big business, who helped them get elected, they will command speaking fees in the hundreds of thousands of dollars….do we honestly think or believe that these people will think about us, what their policies and laws have done to us, to the country. Will they lament their bad decisions? Of course not…they will continue to amass great fortunes on the backs of the people they’ve over taxed, jobs they sent over seas or jobs they’ve shut down to appease someone somewhere who reminded them, remember all the money I donated!

Americans no longer hold politicians accountable, and after giving them so much power, these same politicians can lift a finger and the IRS, Homeland security, the EPA, they’ll be on your back like a vulture on a dead deer! They will label you an enemy of the state, a homegrown terrorist, a religious terrorist….UnAmerican, a homophobe, anti woman…A government that can threaten ordinary citizens is no longer a government of the people, by the people, it is a tyrannical entity that will grow power to squash descent and destroy freedoms. We have fed the beast, and continue to feed it, every time we shut down our neighbor, our friend, our family, because their opinion is different then ours! Civil discourse, is the norm. We have a press that is suppose to stand in between us and the government, reporting the law breakers and corruption, instead they have joined the politicians, they have become an arm of the government, demonizing anyone who speaks out.
Again we say nothing! We have no power, our voices are muted, either in fear or in submission, or complicit in the act of subversion against ones citizens, ones neighbors.

The saying, “It is better to die on ones feet then to die on ones knees”, resonates today as loudly as it did when Emiliano Zapata spoke those words….FREEDOM….it is the rallying cry for millions of people all over the world. But like us, they waited too long, thinking, our government, our politicians our leaders will never do that! Give someone enough power and they will do anything, try and take it away and they kill you.

Like everyone who inhabits this planet, we are not a perfect people, we are not a perfect world. We all struggle in someway, our journey in this life is not always easy, and we all strive for the basic needs, food shelter, happiness, peace, for our selfs but also and most importantly for our children.
If I had a crystal ball, I could say, this is crazy what I say, but history has shown us the road we take is not always good, and the leaders we trust do not always seek the same things we do. Life would grant me the greatest gift to never see these horrors occur, but we must always be vigilant…as my mother in law would say, el diablo nunca muere! Like a thief in the night, he comes while we sleep to rob of us possessions. Freedom is too important for the thief’s who encircle our days, they dole it out to whom they see fit to whomever they think worthy. Freedom is a precious gift.

Freedom is to be guarded with Eternal vigilance.
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[Bob Reidel: “Mike – Saw you hangin with Bill Maher. I had no idea you were a liberal. Really blew me away. Love everything you do but now that I know who you really are, I won’t be tuning in to watch anything your involved with.”]

Well, hi there, Bob. How’s it going? Since your comment is not the only one of its kind, I thought I’d take a moment to address it.

Bill Maher is opinionated, polarizing and controversial. I get it. So is Bill O’Reilly, which is probably why I heard the same comments after I did his show. (“How could you Mike? How could you?”)

Truth is, every time I go on Fox, my liberal friends squeal. And every time I show up on MSNBC, my conservative pals whine. Not because they disagree with my position – everyone agrees that closing the skills gap is something that needs to happen. No, these days, people get bent simply if I appear on shows they don’t like, or sit too close to people they don’t care for.

What’s up with that? Is our country so divided that my mere proximity to the “other side” prompts otherwise sensible adults to scoop up their marbles and go home?

Back in 2008, I wrote an open letter to President Obama, offering to help him promote those 3 million “shovel-ready” jobs he promised to create during his campaign. (I suspected they might be a tough sell, given our country’s current relationship with the shovel.) Within hours, hundreds of conservatives accused me of “engaging with a socialist,” and threatened to stop watching Dirty Jobs with Mike Rowe if I didn’t come to my senses.

When I made the same offer to Mitt Romney (who actually responded), thousands of liberals chastised me for “engaging with a greedy capitalist,” and threatened to stop watching Dirty Jobs if I didn’t take it back.

You may ask, “But what did these people think about the issue at hand?” Who knows? They were too busy being outraged by my proximity to the devil. (Poor Ed Shultz at MSNBC nearly burst into tears. “You were on the wrong stage, Mike! The wrong stage!! With the wrong candidate!!!”)

Oy.

Here’s the thing, Bob – Profoundly Disconnected (http://profoundlydisconnected.com/) is not a PR campaign for Mike Rowe. It’s a PR campaign for skilled labor and alternative education. PR campaigns need … that’s right, PR, and if I limit my appearances to those shows that I personally watch, hosted only by those personalities with whom I personally agree, I might as well start a church and preach to the choir.

Point is, I didn’t go on Real Time to endorse BM, and I didn’t go on The Factor to endorse BO. I went on because millions of people watch those shows. I approached our liberal president for the same reason. Likewise, his conservative opponent. And I showed up on Sesame Street with the same agenda that I took to Congress.

Closing the skills gap is bigger than you or me or any particular venue, and Real Time gave me an opportunity to reach 5 million people. I’m grateful for that, and I’ll do it again if they want me back.

As for Bill Maher off-camera, you’ll be pleased to know that the guy was a perfect gentleman. His staff is excellent, and his after-party included an open bar with a spread I’ve never seen in such a setting. Bill took the time to hang out with his guests and their friends after the show, chatting about this and that for over an hour, and taking pictures with anyone who wanted one. Trust me, that’s rare.