Excision - To Excise

Anyone who is unfortunate enough to require surgery will experience an excision. Webster's dictionary describes the word "Excision" as, "The act or procedure of removing by or as if by cutting out". The purpose is to remove diseased or damaged tissue. In times gone by, swords or cutlasses were used in combat. When used, the weapon would sometimes sever a body part e.g. an ear, finger(s), hand, etc. The difference between the two is that an excision is meant to heal a person whereas a sword or cutlass is meant to cause death.

In the Bible, an exhortation may be found in Matthew, Chap 5, verses 27 - 32 "If thy hand offends thee, cut it off; If thy eye offends thee, pluck it out.

In both the medical and Biblical sense, if a part of an organism is severely diseased, it is recommended it be removed or death of that organism would occur.

When I worked in the emergency room (ER) of a hospital in Philadelphia, it took quite a while for me to understand why so many clients aka patients waited so long, after noticing symptoms that signaled "something was wrong", to come to the ER for help. Let's face it, when we do not "feel good", we first attempt to "fix" the problem ourselves. We may take a Tylenol, drink some liquid, lay down, etc. We may even think that a "good night's sleep" will fix us. We drag ourselves into bed and try to sleep but without success. The distractions that were present during the day and the darkness now seem to magnify our symptoms. Some times we may wait hours or even days before we admit our self care is not working, It is only then we come to the ER for expert help. The only problem with that train of thought is that the longer we wait to seek help, we may be doing ourselves irreparable harm. In fact, I have witnessed a few cases when waiting too long to seek help resulted in that person's demise.

For a moment, let us think of our society as an organism that is experiencing symptoms that prompt us to realize "something is wrong". We may even consider attempting to "fix" whatever is wrong by ourselves but we're not sure how to go about it. We try to "put up with" the symptoms for some period of time. In some cases, months or even years go by but the symptoms persist.

We try to extend every opportunity to our "leaders" the "experts" to resolve the problem but to no avail. Let us look at the present situation that is facing our society. You know, the one that was and is caused by he "experts" who are supposed to know what they are doing; supposed to provide the help we all need; supposed to think of the ones they are "leading" and not just themselves. Think of them as the "heart" of the organism (our society).

Who are these "experts"? They are none other than the ones we voted into office to provide the leadership we all expect but many, if not most, times are sorely disappointed. How long can a living organism remain viable with a heart that that does not function as it should? In the case of a human, just four to six minutes.

Perhaps, at one tome or another,you were not satisfied with the care you received from a medical person or facility. In other cases you were not satisfied with a product you purchased or a service you employed. What did you do about it? I doubt you did nothing. In fact, lawyers are just waiting in the wings to assist you to solve such scenarios.

OK, let's put all these thoughts together so as to arrive at a solution to the fiscal dilemma in which we find ourselves.

1. We know what the root of the problem is -dysfunctional leadership
2. We know that we cannot solve the problem ourselves - It's too big
3. We know we need help - Ethical, truthful leadership is needed

It does not lend itself to want to win but be faint of heart. Neither does it require a "rocket ship" mentality to arrive at the conclusion what the next step should be. What it does require is commitment, resolve, and a plan to "take the high ground" and "take no prisoners". Planning requires time and thought. We have just a short time to design and initiate our plan. Let us not fail to utilize our time wisely. Let us do our homework and reap the benefits.

I have given some clues in previous blogs that will assist in laying the groundwork for a successful campaign. It is therefore recommended you review the following blogs: Habit, Something Good or Bad? 30 OCT 09; next, look at The Good, the Bad and the Ugly 20 NOV 09; then look at the next three Twas the Night Before Christmas; Sheep, Ostrich, Falcon or Owl; and Need vs Want. The last three were posted on 27 NOV, 4 DEC, and 11 DEC respectively.

There are a number of web sites that are recommended that will provide important information. The first is www.PTCC.US (Pennsylvania Taxpayers Cyber Coalition); the next is www.pa2010.com ; and the last I strongly recommend without equivocation is www.SamRohrer.org.

Semper Fidelis

Nurse John