They look like big, good, strong hands, don’t they? I always thought that’s what they were. — The NeverEnding Story

There are few more harrowing moments when you realize that no matter how hard you try, how strong you are, or how much you fight, those you love will suffer.  You can comfort, you can protect, you can sacrifice, but their fate is their own, and the worst sometimes happens.  The best you can hope for is to shield them from what you can, and to trust that they can do for themselves when you fail.

This is the captain. We’re having a little problem with our entry sequence, so we may experience some slight turbulence and then… explode. — Serenity

There is rarely a bad outcome from telling the truth.  Get the bad news out early, let folks deal with it, then enjoy the good news. Sugar coating or covering up does nothing but erode trust.

Fozzie: Hey, why don’t you join us?
Gonzo: Where are you going?
Fozzie: We’re following our dream!
Gonzo: Really? I have a dream, too!
Fozzie: Oh?
Gonzo: But you’ll think it’s stupid.
Fozzie: No we won’t, tell us, tell us!
Gonzo: Well, I want to go to Bombay, India and become a movie star.
Fozzie: You don’t go to Bombay to become a movie star! You go where we’re going: Hollywood.
Gonzo: Sure, if you want to do it the *easy* way.

— The Muppet Movie

Sometimes, life gives points for style, albeit rarely.  Doing things the hard way only makes sense if you have already proven that you can do them the easy way, or you are trying to learn how to improve your performance in the easy route.

But… but maybe he’s only a little crazy like painters or composers or… or some of those men in Washington. — Miracle on 34th Street

Right now, the Republican-led House of Representatives is disregarding the people who put them in power and overwhelmingly voted to increase their majority in the next Congress so that they can make nice with President Obama and get home for Christmas.  The new spending bill fully funds Obamacare, the President’s end-around amnesty, and a plethora of other things that ought to be show stoppers.

Makes me wonder why we bothered to go to the polls in November.  Giving the President and his ilk a drubbing was supposed to give the opposition a back bone and boot them in the ass to stand up to them.  Once again, I’m disappointed and I really don’t know why I expected anything else.