As we approach the ending of this week, Dr. Seuss week, so named for Theodore Geisel, aka, Dr. Seuss, it might be valuable to pause for a moment and reflect on the lessons he wove in so many of his stories. Amidst the odd-looking creatures, the tongue-twisting rhymes, the ever-exotic places his characters found themselves in, there always seemed to be something familiar, something very human about his tales. It surely is not by coincidence or just plain luck that he authored 60 books with over 200 million copies in print. No, what continues to delight new generations of “Cat in the Hat” fans or “Horton Hears a Who” or the culinary crazy “Green Eggs and Ham” is not just the adventures they are taken on but the lessons they remember long after they return back to their starting place.

And what would these lessons include? Treat others with dignity and respect regardless of what they look or sound like (yes, even if they have stars on their bellies!). Make sure you listen to what others have to say regardless of how soft that sound may be or whose voice it comes from. Don’t be scared of the unknown, believing in yourself can act like a passport to get to know lots of people and places (and maybe even breakfast foods) you might not have been open to even trying before. And of course, make sure if you make a mess be sure and clean it up before Mom comes back home.

As I continue my own political journey (15 Counties in 15 days) throughout the 7th congressional district, I will continue to listen to what others have to say as they share their own hopes, concerns and questions with me. But if I am offered green eggs and ham I may just have to grab a jelly donut instead!

PS: This blog is dedicated to the Dr. Seuss fans who asked me why I thought so many kids and even adults liked Dr. Seuss stories so much.

By the way, Theodore Geisel was born March 2, 1904 and died in 1991.

Today marks the day where we honor our past US Presidents though historically it was when we celebrated George Washington’s birthday (according to the Gregorian or new style calendar, President Washington’s birthday was February 22nd 1732, according to the Julian or old Anglican style calendar, his birthday was marked as February 11th, 1732) and then later it seemed like we were celebrating both Washington’s Birthday and then President Lincoln’s Birthday (February 12th) in the same month. Washington’s birthday was marked as a federal holiday and Lincoln’s as a public holiday (some state choosing not to honor his birthday as a state holiday).

In 1968, the US Congress, taking its cue perhaps from merchant advertising that had already begun using the term “President’s Day” to “celebrate a day of sales” decided to enact a single national holiday honoring our presidents. Regardless, today we mark this day to honor the many great leaders who served in the White House and helped shape our great nation. It may interest you to know that one of our presidents, William H. Taft, also served as Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court in addition to being president.

For me, I have been able to appreciate certain qualities of many of our past presidents regardless of their own brand of politics-for example, President Carter for his humanity and humility, President Reagan for his natural optimism and charisma and of course leaders like George Washington for his great and selfless service in helping create our new nation.

Happy President’s Day!

Well, while the Tea Party Nation were inside the lovely (and very warm) Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center dining on lobster and about $570 or more lighter in their pocket, anxiously awaiting Sarah Palin, I had the honor of being with about 75-100 hearty “Grassroots for Greg” ralliers across the street. Yep, they had come from throughout the district and state to brave the cold and let their voice be heard for real change. They dubbed it the “Stop Marsha/Go Greg” Rally and no one got charged admission and no one certainly walked away with a fat, for-profit, speaker’s fee. Their message was simple yet I think profound-Congressman Marsha Blackburn had quit on the Tea Party just like she’s quit on the good folks of congressional district 7 of Tennessee. They want change and support my campaign as a fresh, positive and moderate alternative. So, while it was cold outside these enthusiastic “Grassroots for Greg” ralliers helped this race for US Congress continue to heat up. I’ve attached some rally pics in case y’all are interested. We’ll let others exhort their followers to a revolutionary overthrow of our system. As for us, we’ll keep reaching out to people of all political stripes, trying to work together to find sensible, effective solutions to our common challenges. In other words, maybe an effective Solution instead of an extremist, Revolution is what is needed here!

…then everything begins to look like a nail.

What, you may ask does this have to do with today’s reported exchange between our Lt. Governor here in Tennessee, Ron Ramsey, and Maclin Davis, former attorney for the state Republican Party at the Nashville Republicans First Tuesday Club? Well, when Mr. Davis asked Mr. Ramsey about his stance on the notorious, conspiracy-driven Birther Bill and President Obama’s US Citizenship, Mr. Ramsey professed that he simply “didn’t know” if the President was indeed a US Citizen (and thus a legitimate occupant of the Oval Office).

Perhaps by parsing his answer this way, Ramsey thought he could have it both ways-give a wink and a nod to the conspiracy theorists who refuse to let go of this offensive nonsense (think Gollum in Lord of the Rings) like his fellow GOP member and my opponent Marsha Blackburn, herself, a co-sponsor of “Birther” legislation in Congress, while still pleading ignorance. Wrong. This type of blind, misguided partisanship is not only offensive to President Obama, the man, it offends everyone who also respects the office of the president and all it stands for and represents both to we, Americans and to our friends and foes abroad. Don’t these “Birther” enablers like Congresswoman Blackburn see that by continually calling into question the man that our nation duly elected it only serves to potentially weaken his standing as a president abroad and by association, the office of the president? Really, do some folks have no shame at all?

For someone like Mrs. Blackburn who claims to be an ardent foe of less nor more government, “Birther” bills such as the one she has sponsored would only serve to create more not less government, spend more not less of our tax dollars and create more not less bureacracy. Besides, is this really where we want our leaders to be focused?

Putting aside this type of destructive and polarizing nonsense is what we need to do and the sooner the better. I applaud Republican leaders like Mike Huckabee who has rejected the kind of blind, destructive partisanship folks like Mrs. Blackburn and others seem to embrace without question or reason.

But then again when the only thing you seem to have in your tool-box is a hammer then everything really does begin to look just like a nail.

So, our campaign has received many e-mails in the last day or two about the upcoming Tea Party Convention in Nashville, February 4-6th. More to the point, many of you asked me what I think of my opponent, Marsha Blackburn, who seems ready to break her promise to attend this little shindig and introduce her good friend, Sarah Palin, at the gathering.

Well, as I have been saying all along, and as the President remarked tonight, people are fed up with the extremism, the divisiveness and the never-ending partisan bickering we see in Congress every day. Right here in Tennessee, I have been calling for the good people of our state to show the rest of the nation that this kind of nonsense and leaders that encourage it, like Blackburn, is simply not the best way to move our state and nation forward.

As I have said many times before and will to the future, I steadfastly defend our collective right of freedom of assembly and of association. I do this even, especially when, I do not embrace the message of those doing the protesting. However, unlike Congressman Blackburn, who continues to seem much more interested in standing in front of a camera, rather than standing up for those of us in her district, I will continue to work hard at finding solutions to our common challenges. Anyone who has ever achieved anything of real value knows full well that the real hard work is done after the camera stops rolling. Less partisan “talking points” and more positive, innovative action is what we need.

As for Marsha and the TeaBaggers? Well, she can try and spin her almost certain quitting on the Tea Partiers any which we she may. For all any of us knows she may just have caught wind that there were a whole lot of folks fixing to “‘welcome” her and the teabaggers when they descended upon us. And by “welcome,” I mean let them all know they don’t speak for us and that there is an alternative to the extremist politics of Blackburn and the TeaBaggers.

In short, looks like Marsha was expecting a “coronation.” What she may now be trying to avoid is finding herself smack-dab in the middle of a good old democratic, free-for-all. Well, I guess she could always just quit and stay home. Seems that approach is becoming popular in certain circles these days.

Want an alternative? Check us out at www.rabidoux4congress.com.

Happy New Year!

“We are what and where we are because we have first imagined it.” Donald Curtis

While it is always tempting to put far too much emphasis on any one day or in this case, a new year, it does seem appropriate to take some stock of where we’ve been, where we want to be and of course the all important “How,” as in How best to get there! For many of us this opportune day will take the form of “new year resolutions” and just as predictably for many it will mean that these “resolutions” will be broken and put away nearly as quickly as they were taken out. Sort of like some of the holiday gifts received by the youngest among us! However, these “resolutions” are really nothing more than personal and professional goals. And achieving them is as much science as it is art, determination, willpower or general “stick-to-it-iveness.”

Years ago, my wife Mara and I began to approach goal-setting in a far more scientific way than ever before. Not coincidentally, we also began to reach more and more of our goals in a shorter fashion than ever before! While I don’t profess to have cornered the market of successful goal-setting and successful goal-reaching, I have learned some lessons about this through trial and error and of course “modeling” others who seemed to really know better than I, what they were doing in this regard. below are the Top 5 Lessons of successful goal-setting that have worked the best for us. I hope they work for you in your new year’s resolutions as well!

1. Write it Down! Saying your goals out loud to yourself is one thing, even sharing it with family and friends is another, but nothing seems to register with your brain or triggers you to take something serious as when you write it down and keep the goal in front of you as you try and pursue it.

2. Be precise! Many people lose the battle with resolutions before they barely begin because of imprecision. For example, you could say “I’d like to lose weight.” Well, let’s say you lost a pound. Have you reached your goal? What if you say “I’d like to lose 50 pounds?” That might be a more inspiring and worthy goal but you’d also need to be precise as to When you wanted to reach your goal. Many want overnight success which could be unhealthy, we can’t forget that we didn’t get overweight by eating too much for one meal! Works the same with money. Many want to be wealthier. But if someone gave you a quarter you would technically have more money than before, but would you have reached your goal? Being specific in what and when you want something makes it more likely you will eventually get what you seek.

3. Don’t neglect the “How!” All goal-setting needs to be followed up with the “How” or plan of action to reach the goal. The best way I learned of creating the way is actually not to try and re-invent the wheel but to look around and note who was doing or had already done what I wanted to do. How did they get there? How did they make it happen? Chances are good that I could use their example and “model” my steps after what they did. The not-so secret is that they probably did the same when they were first starting on their path to reaching their stated (and written) goal.

4. Be Accountable! Many of us don’t state a goal, write it down and then share or announce it to family and friends because of the obvious risk to our reputation if we don’t actually reach the goal. But here’s what seems to be an aspect of the science of goal-setting-the more we share the deeper our commitment to our goal seems to be. Keeping it to yourself only seems to make it that much easier to ditch when the going gets rough.

5. Have Fun Along the Way! The reason why so many of us seek “miracle weight loss plans” or “overnight success” is that who really wants to go through the frequent drudgery of reaching a goal? I’ve found that if I can have fun at least at stops along the way to a goal I am more likely to stick to the goal even when there are times when it seemed more struggle than it was worth.

I can tell you that looking at the goals I set over the years there does seem to be some remarkable consistency in many of them. Serving the public, trying to make a positive difference, connecting with other like-minded people, trying to continue to cultivate and nurture my faith and my family, these seem to have and continue to run through many of my goals. I still have many I want to reach and the challenge this represents still keeps me real motivated.

And what are some of my 2010 New Years Resolutions? Well, I want to wake up each day and continue to be the best husband, father teacher, mediator and leader I can possibly be. Specifically, I want to earn the honor of being elected US Congressman for District 7, Tennessee by the good people of this district. Now that’s a goal worth working as hard as I can possibly work for to make this dream come true.

What dreams do you have for 2010?

“Nothing Happens Unless First a Dream”-Carl Sandburg

On this the holiest of nights, let us all take a moment to pause and recall the profound majesty of being, the welcome burden of having a unique and valuable role to play to help make this world a better place than when we found it.

May you and your family be blessed and safe.

I wish all a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

APSU’s own, Men’s Basketball coach Dave Loos became the all-time winningest coach ever last night in the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) with 320 career victories and hopefully, many more on the way!

Coach Loos has become an institution in his own right here at APSU as he also has marked his 20th season to go along with his 320 wins. But in keeping with the modesty and humility that has epitomized his tenure, Coach Loos was quick to share the accolades and give credit to the many folks over the years that helped him reach the top. From the many student players to assistant coaches, to university backers, alumni, campus presidents, fans and his own family, this is one coach who knows it truly is a team victory and a team effort to succeed.

I applaud Coach Loos not only in reaching this wonderful milestone but also in the way he got there. It’s nice to know that you can still do the right thing by your players and fans and still win!

As a member of the academic communiuty at Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, Tennessee it gives me even more pride today than usual to say “Let’s Go Peay!”

Over 3,000 Tennessee National Guard Members will be soon headed to Iraq. Many are now at Camp Shelby in Mississippi to get final training and orders prior to their scheduled deployment in Iraq.

Among this group are over 100 National Guard members from the Clarksville/Montgomery and Springfield areas of Tennessee.

As many of us are winding down our work schedules and civilian duties so as to prepare for some time with family and friends this holiday season let’s be sure to keep in mind the sacrifice these brave folks make for their state and nation. It is especially hard on them and their families around this time.

Our state of Tennessee has always been first to volunteer for tough tasks and challenges throughout our nation’s history. Since the Iraq war began Tennessee has certainly bore its share and more so of the burden of this conflict. I again not only salute our fellow Tennesseans as they prepare for deployment but also strongly urge our leaders in Washington DC to seek ways to even better provide support and services to the families of our soldiers both around this time and to the future.

Please join me in also asking that this most recent group of soldiers be blessed as they prepare for duty in Iraq and return to us and their families safely.

As today draws to a close, I would be remiss if I did not take a more formal moment today and remember the tragedy that was Pearl harbor, truly a day that as president Franklin Roosevelt declared at the time that would “live in infamy.” For many of my students the horror of September 11th is a day for them that continues to live in infamy. As Americans, as a nation that has done so much in our relatively short history to combat totalitarianism and the many forces that have over the years sought to extinguish the flame of freedom and replace it with darkness both of these tragic attacks should never be forgotten. Nor should the bravery of our heroes then and now who did and continue to do so much so that the rest of us may live in a free and open democracy ever be forgotten.

So, on this day, as I offer a final salute to the brave Americans who paid the ultimate price at Pearl Harbor I also think of how we must never forget the lessons learned throughout our history. Perhaps one of the foremost lessons is that there can be no substitute for eternal vigilance, no substitute for a collective steely resolve forged from history’s experiences that while it may bend must never be broken.

Every new generation brings its own challenges and threats to our way of life. Thankfully, every generation also brings new leaders of men and women who choose to accept the baton from the previous one with a sense of pride and vigor. I know this to be true as I am fortunate to work everyday with young leaders who are carrying on the legacy of the heroes before them.

May the dawning of each new day continue to refurbish the flame of freedom here in our homeland and around the world.