Tag: Eagle Scout

A Scout is Kind

Screenshot (71)

Screenshot (72)

“Boy Scouts of America files for Bankruptcy”– Washington Post (02-18-2020)

I am heartbroken after hearing about the bankruptcy filing of the Boy Scouts of America. As an Eagle Scout, I know my life would not be the same without the lessons and experiences I had as a Scout. While I am hopeful that the storied tradition and mission of Scouting will be around for another 100 years, how this situation is handled will determine if that is possible.

HEALING the damage that has occurred and preventing future harm, should be the FIRST PRIORITY.

If that means this organization must come to an end, sadly… that is the way it must be. If they choose to operate in a way that protects or promotes criminal sexual abuse of any form, I would PROUDLY hand my Eagle Scout Badge BACK to the BSA before I would support them, and I believe EVERY Eagle Scout would do the SAME.

We must remember… the ABUSED are not the criminals here, the ABUSERS are. There should be NO TIME LIMIT against coming forward. Their stories help us PREVENT future abuse and we should welcome their stories. We must be focused on making sure it cannot happen again.

 

My Boy Scout Troop dealt with an experience of sexual abuse while I was an active Scout. During one of our monthly camping trips, our newly elected Scout Leader subjected a group of first year Scouts to an “underwear check”. I didn’t attend that camp out… I can’t remember why. I know at the time it was an important reason, but the events of that weekend seem to have overshadowed everything else around it.

As a youth organization, I believe the BSA must address two issues in order to prevent future abuse:

1.) Why did those boys not know that that situation was unacceptable and should have SPOKEN OUT about it immediately?

2.) Why did that boy believe it was possible for him to subject those Scouts to a situation like that without accountability?

 

Preventing sexual abuse requires SPEAKING about sexual abuse, which naturally means educating kids about what IS and IS NOT acceptable. At such a pivotal point in their development, the BSA should take a more active role in educating Scouts about these things, and clearly define expectations to actively promote a safe environment for all members… parents, volunteers, and Scouts.

Everyone must feel SAFE, and the BSA must create an atmosphere where Scouts feel comfortable SPEAKING OUT when they are not. The experiences of the Boy Scouts are not an isolated incident. Many organizations are beginning to open their eyes to abuse within their ranks, and we are learning that many lives have been affected. Many people live their entire lives without speaking of it… and some are affected by it everyday.

SILENCE will not fix the problem in the future, and it will not help victims heal.

If the goal truly is to protect CHILDREN, then we must give them the TOOLS necessary to someday do so for themselves… they need KNOWLEDGE.

What better group is there to provide that knowledge than the BSA?

 

JC

Campaign Statement on Foreign Policy Position: “The Company We Keep”

Our county’s greatest strengths come from our diversity of knowledge accumulated and shared with all citizens in our public schools. Found within that community structure we see the common ideals taught to our children. And within that environment, we find our core values. The uniting principles that inform a great statesman take root in the elementary school at the end of the block.

I have avoided stating a definitive foreign policy platform mainly because I felt ignorant of our overall engagement with other nations. In many ways, my greatest strength is pure ignorance of these relationships. I have no preconceived judgement of these situations. Only impressions, or a vision, of how our relationship in the world overall should be presented… Who are We, as a country? Our face to the world community, what our abilities are, and how we can best help every other nation succeed- The United States of America is a PARTNER in the international community because we ALL succeed when we ALL contribute.

Our county’s greatest strengths come from  our diversity of knowledge accumulated and shared with all citizens in our public schools. Found within that community structure we see the common ideals taught to our children. And within that environment, we find our core values. The uniting principles that inform a great statesman take root in the elementary school at the end of the block.

When we extend our hand in trust and compassion, we help another person learn how to be kind. When we stand side by side with others of sound principles, we present strength through inclusion. When we help our friends when they hurt the most, we rekindle the fire of fraternity that so often can be taken for granted in a family. And it is through our ACTIONS… THAT is how we lead in this world.

We show others how we want to be treated by how we treat them.

We support Liberty and justice for ALL, so at home, so abroad. We support open markets in nations abroad because our markets are open to ALL. We support EQUALITY, as endowed by our Creator, for all of our countrymen, and wish it were so thought the world. How we treat the least amongst ourselves at home, is how we will be seen throughout the world… If you want a ‘clean house’, you gotta start in your own ‘backyard’.

To read the words of true statesmen, like those of Ronald Reagan to Canada in his last official visit in 1987, reminds me of how little I know of world diplomacy. The technical ‘ins and outs’ of political calculations in order to protect rights and interests…

The message attempts, made in ‘good faith’, in honesty and respect, will be received the warmest, even if they are ignorant of some facts. The credibility of the person delivering the message can carry more weight than the message itself. As a citizen of The United States, I expect everyone to respect the Commander in Chief, not ONLY because of the honorable office they occupy, but because they are someone WORTHY OF THAT RESPECT. Someone who holds the values written in Our Constitution within their essence, we should all hope to elect.

As an Eagle Scout, I believe I know what those ideals are that make a President. I live my life within that framework, daily. “On my honor, I will do my best to do my duty.” That is all a person has at the end of the day… their word. Their honor. That is where leadership is born. That is where success begins. That is where we should allow the power of Our President to reside. Because lasting progress only comes when built upon a firm foundation of just moral principles.

And we stand with those who feel the same. Those who do not stand for Liberty and Equality, we will not walk away from our community, but we will not support any nation who seeks to separate instead of unite. We stand strongest when we can declare these ideals to all the world as a benchmark to be measured by, especially when we LIVE it, daily.

That is where my journey will begin. We must be sure of our own position, at home, before we can go and demand to others THIS is how it should be done. Our own moral hypocrisy has diminished our standing around the globe. If we wish to remain free and indepenent, we must assess what we see in the mirror. Then, our desire to be better each day will reflect in those who desire to surround themselves with the same.

That is my agenda. When we expect better from ourselves, we can expect the same from everyone else. “In truth, and in love.”

-Jack Charbonneau

 

“A Scout is Trustworthy”

Have you ever built a fire by rubbing two sticks together? Either by rubbing one on top of the other or using a bow and string method. If you’re not experienced at doing it, to an observer, it looks like a person is just doing a lot of sweating! Keeping the friction going long enough to get that first bit of smoke… it’s exhausting. I’ve done it a handful of times. Now that I think about it, each time was in the middle of summer, in Kansas. That’s probably why I remember a lot of sweating involved. Once, so focused at getting it lit, bent over, constant rubbing, and see the first whiff rise, I lean in to see and… Sweat from the tip of my nose drips into the glowing amber and POOF, gone. Grrr…..

That intense feeling as the smoke starts to rise is how I feel right now. I feel like I am sitting in a dry field, in July, where the heat feels like an oven door opening as you walk around, and I am rubbing two sticks together. It’s starting to smoke. Just a bit. I MIGHT be able to make it catch.

I’ve never had “political motivations”. I had considered doing it later in life. Mitt Romney’s father was said to advise people not to go into public service until they become financially secure. In a way it makes sense, help avoid temptation. Like giving something back to the system that helped you achieve so much.

I realized yesterday why I am so motivated to see this campaign be successful now- I dance with death on a daily basis. No… not exaggerating. Being type one diabetic puts me in a unique position where, if my blood sugar levels drop, I start to feel faint and I see ‘spots’. THEN I get to eat massive amounts of chocolate! DOCTORS ORDERS! I eat more chocolate now after diagnosis than I did when I was a kid! It’s great! My dentist doesn’t like it, but…

T1reaper

The perspective gained from, not just knowing someday I won’t be around anymore, but FEELING like I’m not gonna be around much longer! It’s a clarifying motivator. The last couple years has shown me that I have the power to do whatever I chose. I have the choice. Whatever it is, it begins with a choice. IF I chose to do nothing, then I will die. And if I apply that mentality to life in general, then I should be able to do the impossible.

That’s really what I’m doing everyday. If I want to keep going, I have no choice. I better make the most of my abilities while I have the chance… That’s all. I’m not sure I had a point. Hmmm… I think my blood sugar is low.

Keep your head UP!!

JC

 

 

Kim Jong-un vs. “…Your Mom!”

I am… a giant. At 6’4″, 175 lbs, I stand above everyone. With RARE exception, I can either see over a large crowd unobstructed or my hat (a SpongeBob SquarePants Yellow hat) can bee seen over everyone. I am instantly shocked when someone taller walks into the room. Because it never happens! I have been tall all my life. Tallest in class, tallest in the school. Taller than all but one of my teachers. (second grade, my teacher was 6’1″. I was only 5’6″.) I was the tallest kid in my elementary school at the beginning of 5th grade, but at some point that year, Mindi hit her growth spurt and passed me by a couple inches.

I think that’s the reason I had a crush on her.

When I was in Cub Scouts, around 13 yrs old, my friend Tim’s Mom was our Den Mother. I was 5’6″ or so and a mouthy thirteen year old, and she was as tough as a wolf mother, and not even 4’6″ tall… To my eyes, it was a DRAMATIC height difference. And, being a 13 year old, I liked to… um, kindly reference our differences in height…? (did anyone buy that?)

Right. I would smart off “Oh yeah? What’cha gonna do about it, shorty?”

…. quick aside here. As I write this, I have in my minds eye a scene where I am being sarcastic with Tim’s Mom. I HOPE that’s how it was? I sound like a hell-child writing it out loud! I HOPE that’s how it came across. If not, I guess, Look for my “Apologies and Retractions” section, coming soon!… sigh…

SO, smart-ass me says “What’cha gonna do about it, shorty?” And, bless her heart, all four-foot-nothing walks right up to me, serious as can be, looks me in the eyes and says “No matter how tall you get, I can ALWAYS stand on a chair.”

boom.

She was a wonderful woman. Very caring, loved her being our Den Mother. So she had earned our respect, and each of us tried to show it. And we had seen he grab Tim’s ear a time or two, so we knew NOT to piss her off!

I could not think of a better person to be engaging overseas with aggressive foreign leaders on behalf of the People of the United States. Honestly, who could make decisions that reflect the overall wellbeing of the ENTIRE US better than “…Your Mom!” I would say, in fact, IF Tim’s Mom were to run in 2020, that would be the ONLY possible opponent I could not defeat.

After all, she could just stand on a chair.

 

Don’t Forget, We Will ALL Still Be HERE

No matter what happens. Tomorrow, the Sun will rise, and we will all still be here. Of course, not those who have died, they’ll be dead. But us, the LIVING, we will still be here… together… on the same rock…

The electricity might get knocked out due to a storm, but we will still be here. It might snow in Florida, and we will still be here. An earthquake could flatten a city or cause a tsunami, but we will still be here. A child might die, at school, killed by a person with no hope left, and we will still be here. A man with a gun might decide to take his own life instead, and we will still be here.

The storms WILL come, stronger, more of them. Fibonacci shows us how a life in motion quickens, and we will still be here. Things will be the same… only different, and we will still be here. More of us will understand, more of us will resist the changing tide, and still, we will be here.

We know this. We EXPECT this. We EXPECT hell to unfold on Earth, as we have been told by the past to EXPECT it to happen. We have seen it unfold in our daily lives, sometimes on live TV. AND we are STILL here. And TOMORROW, the Sun will rise.

What we want tomorrow to LOOK like, must be created NOW. Because, no matter what happens, hell and/or high water,

WE WILL ALL STILL BE HERE- TOGETHER!

Keep your head UP!!

JC