Return To Honor

We live in a time where everything seems upside down and backwards. Having just elected a U.S. President by the largest margin of popularity in recent history with slogans of positive change and “Yes, we can,” we naively assumed that significant change would be forthcoming any day now.
A lot of things have changed, all right, but not many of them appear to have been all that positive…at least not for middle-class Americans. Not being particularly political in nature, I was nonetheless hopeful that something positive would come from the millions contributed to, raised and spent on both campaigns, and I have suffered through like everyone else the billions spent on bailouts, executive bonuses and comprehensive healthcare reform that doesn’t seem to amount to anything truly beneficial for the majority of us. What sort of “positive change” has taken place so far, and how long do we wait for the pieces to fit together so that the simplest real changes might come? Is it so hard, really?
Despite some ridiculously simple solutions that have been offered by mathematicians and economists who seem to have a lot of common sense, still things keep getting more complicated and elusive, and we appear to have yet another “runaway” government out of touch with reality and with us…their true employers. Once again we find ourselves on yet another roller coaster ride, over which it feels like we have no control.
But we do have control. We just don’t realize it because we don’t understand the sheer simplicity of how control works. It’s not about opinion polls, elections or chains of command. It’s about setting higher standards for ourselves that can give us each a firm foundation in our own lives first, then by example and demonstration greater and greater impact and influence on those we deal with every day. Gradually, those standards can become immutable and non-negotiable, such that it becomes clear who does and who does not embrace those standards.
The standards I’m talking about are not philosophical, esoteric or theological. They are the core principles and values that made this country, and some past civilizations, great. Among them are moral values such as telling the truth, courage, honesty, respecting others and valuing one’s own self. There are others, but if we can get even a few of those down, we can change our lives, and influence others to change theirs. Ultimately, that will change the world, and bring sensibility and sanity back.
I know that seems a bit altruistic and far-fetched, but it’s true. We just lost touch with the common and simple values we all know in our hearts are right and true, no matter what philosophy or religion one embraces. We may not be able to change radical terrorists, but we can gradually change the people we deal with every day, and in turn they can impact more of their contacts until eventually people are treating one another respectfully. It can happen…and yes, we can…make a difference in the world, one person at a time.

Don Kirchner
Sedona, AZ

Senator Jim Webb, Virginia

This country puts too many people behind bars for too long. Most elected officials, afraid of being tarred as soft on crime, ignore these problems. Sen. Jim Webb, a Democrat of Virginia, is now courageously stepping into the void, calling for a national commission to re-assess criminal justice policy. Other members of Congress should show the same courage and rally to the cause.

The United States has the world’s highest reported incarceration rate. Although it has less than 5 percent of the world’s population, it has almost one-quarter of the world’s prisoners. And for the first time in history, more than 1 in 100 American adults are behind bars.

Many inmates are serving long sentences for nonviolent crimes, including minor drug offenses. It also is extraordinarily expensive. Billions of dollars now being spent on prisons each year could be used in far more socially productive ways.

Senator Webb — a former Marine and secretary of the Navy in the Reagan administration — is in many ways an unlikely person to champion criminal justice reform. But his background makes him an especially effective advocate for a cause that has often been associated with liberals and academics.

In his two years in the Senate, Mr. Webb has held hearings on the cost of mass incarceration and on the criminal justice system’s response to the problems of illegal drugs. He also has called attention to the challenges of prisoner re-entry and of the need to provide released inmates, who have paid their debts to society, more help getting jobs and resuming productive lives.

Mr. Webb says he intends to introduce legislation to create a national commission to investigate these issues. With Barack Obama in the White House, and strong Democratic majorities in Congress, the political climate should be more favorable than it has been in years. And the economic downturn should make both federal and state lawmakers receptive to the idea of reforming a prison system that is as wasteful as it is inhumane.

SOURCE: NEW YORK TIMES

Who is Jim Webb?

# Senator from Virginia
# Former Secretary of the Navy
# Former Assistant Secretary of Defense for Reserve Affairs
# Platoon leader with the 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, Vietnam
# Awarded the Navy Cross
# Awarded a Silver Star
# Awarded two Bronze Stars
# Awarded two Purple Hearts
# Emmy Award winning war reporter
# Author of six best selling novels

This website is dedicated to the hundreds of thousands of men and women who are facing one of the scariest moments in their lives — one of those forks in the road that can determine the course of the rest of your life. You have to find a job coming from difficult circumstances. You can use all the help you can get, but how to find it?

First, I want everyone to know that we have all the tools you will need to put you on an even playing field with your competition. With the economy losing millions of jobs under the incompetence of our almost former President, you’ve got an uphill battle ahead, but you do have an organization on your side. We will be providing resources you can use online, NOW. This website is not only to help you in adjusting to the cold cruel world, but to give you a place to express yourselves as this blog grows.

In the song, “Wish You Were Here”, by Pink Floyd (and how many haven’t uttered those words in their minds over and over again?), Roger Waters really gets to the heart of the “caged” experience and his music conveys the kind of feeling I’d like visitors to this site to have as you become comfortable with TCF (The Cost of Freedom). He talks about experiencing the “same old fears, year after year”. Pink Floyd:

I often tell people I’ve counseled to consider leaving incarceration for “freedom” similar to a death. The old you is dead. The past is history. Your challenge is to focus on what lies ahead, your future. You are very lucky. Because the death you are experiencing is in no way like a real death experience. For instance, rock star Eric Clapton lost his beloved 4 year-old son, Conor, in a fall from a building in New York. For almost a year, he couldn’t sing, perform, or function. Then, he overcame it by facing it head-on, and writing a song for his son, “Tears in Heaven”. Enjoy the song and make sure to bookmark this site.

Posted by: The Candid Blogger

Don Kirchner's True Story - "A Matter of Time"

Don Kirchner's newest book "Return To Honor"

As I watch the political debates and the news about the candidates on both sides, I’m surprised not to see or hear mention of crime prevention as a part of anyone’s campaign platform…even though our good senator from Arizona, John McCain, is an endorser of our Re-Entry efforts. Why not? They all know that proper “re-entry” programs for released offenders is an essential component of crime reduction because the U.S. Congress just recently passed the Second Chance Act and sent it to the President…who introduced it to Congress last year.