Paineful Truth

There was no post from Paineful Truth last week. Sorry about that. I was teaching myself a lesson - the world keeps spinning whether we debate national politics or not. I unplugged from the news cycle for all of last week. I heard about the big things like the shootings from friends. But I didn’t read the newspaper, listen to political talk shows, or watch the news. It was extremely difficult at first. However, after a couple days I began to wonder where I had found the time to keep such close tabs on the news. I was expecting to come out of those 7 days with profound insights that could change the world. However, during those 7 days, I don’t feel like I learned a whole lot of anything. It wasn’t until getting back into the news, happenings, and current events that I starting seeing things in a new light. I want to share 3 key lessons that I learned. Then I want to ask you a question. Lesson 1: Do Things That Matter I’ve spent countless hours listening to political podcasts. I...

The Constitution, Article 2, Section 3, “He [the President] shall from time to time give to the Congress Information of the State of the Union, and recommend to their Consideration such Measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient...” The State of the Union has become a phrase we use to refer to a speech given by the President. However, it’s more than that. What is the state of the Union? In other words - in what particular condition is the United States of America as a country? The SOTU is the President telling Congress how healthy or sick he believes the country to be, then giving Congress recommendations on how to improve that condition. So what is the state of the Union? What is our particular condition at this moment in time? And what can be done to fix it? In his speech this week, Trump laid out his opinions on the matter. By most rational accounts, it was a good speech. However, I think the condition of the Union can be summed up a little more succinctly. The State o...