Old Hippie

American Fools

2012-01-18T06:49:00.000-08:00

Its origin (a Czech newspaper?) remains a mystery, but its message is dead on …

"The danger to America is not Barack Obama, but a citizenry capable of Entrusting a man like him with the Presidency. It will be far easier to limit And undo the follie of an Obama presidency than to restore the necessary Common sense and good judgment to a depraved electorate, willing to have such a man for their president. The problem is much deeper and far more serious than Obama, who is a mere symptom of what ails America. Blaming the prince of the fools should not blind anyone to the vast confederacy of fools that made him their prince. The Republic can survive a Barack Obama, who is, after all, merely a fool. It is less likely to survive a multitude of fools, such as those who made him their president."

This is so on the mark it's scary. Obama has a legion of foolish Americans who idolize him. There must be legions of Americans who see through this man right into his foolish ideas. Who will win this battle in the end?

I have heard that one should never argue with an idiot. He will drag you down to his level and then beat you with experience. So true. If one is so intent on worshiping his highness, Mr. Obama, then you will never change that person's mind with logic and reason. Give it up. He is a lost cause.

But for the many folks who are smarter than this, you must keep at them whenever possible. Point out the contradictions, the class warfare rhetoric, the obvious inconsistencies in his speeches and actions, the holier-than-thou attitude he displays and his outright contempt for the Constitution. For those things, nobody does it better.

A wise man once said, "It is better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to open one's mouth and remove all doubt." Listen to all the fools around you every day. And soldier onward.

Come on people. We're supposed to be smarter than this. Get this fool out of office and silence the fools across this country who put him there.

Anybody but Obama.

OH

Just Say No

2011-11-21T12:49:00.001-08:00

That's what this administration has been doing when it comes to permitting Americans to create their own jobs their own way. Just say No.

Want 200,00 jobs in Ohio and Pennsylvania? Sorry, but no. Environmental concerns, no really, won't allow hydraulic fracturing to take place. They say it needs to be studied.......and studied.....and studied.

Want 20,00 jobs in the Midwest? Uh, no thanks. Environmental concerns, again, won't allow it because they need to study the route of proposed pipelines to ensure no future leaks. It has been studied already but, no. We need to study it again, at least until the next election has passed.

Want thousands of workers to stay on the job retrieving oil from the Gulf of Mexico? Sorry. We had a major oil leak last year, remember? It's just not safe enough for those nasty, dirty old oil rigs anymore. We must stop this now!

Want 500,000 Green Energy jobs? Wow, really. Sure, let's create them. Uh, no. This administration has its' priorities straight, of course, and the top priority is funneling loans and grants to friends of the administration through green energy companies. Jobs be damned, my supporters get theirs first, sayeth the president.

Want to stop deficit spending? Well, the US government budget has been increased around 25% since 2007. 25%!!! And Congress and this president cannot even SLOW the increase in future spending by 1 f...ing percent! Really! How adult of them.

It will severely hurt the American people if we slow the increases in our budget. It will hurt families and kids and union workers and seniors and whomever else the depends on getting something for nothing from the government.

BS. All it will hurt is the Democrats election chances.

Forget everything you've learned. The Democrats have all the answers. If it isn't related to the Progressive wish list, they have an answer.

Just Say No.

I think I will say no as well. When I mark my ballots next November.

My nickel.
OH

Fair Share

2011-09-20T12:54:00.000-07:00

What is the "Fair Share" of taxes that the president wants "millionaires and billionaires, which always seems to include $200,000aires" to pay? Just what percentage of their income do liberals define as a "Fair Share"?

I have heard this very question asked of many liberal pundits and not one of them gave an answer. The truth is that the term "Fair Share" means whatever they say it means whenever they say it. There is no single answer that could be given because it depends on what grandiose plans they have for spending money they don't have. The term is used as a means of targeting individuals, or corporations, who liberals want to attack.

They cannot give an answer to this question because there will always be some grand plan or cause or something that requires the government to spend more money on at some future date. If they ever caved into that question and said, OK how about 50%, then the next cause for liberal alarm will require more money and 50% will no longer be the correct "Fair Share".

As in Alice in Wonderland, "When I use a word," Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone, "it means just what I choose it to mean - neither more nor less." That is the way with liberals. When they say "Fair Share" it means just what they choose it to mean, no more no less.

Fair share my ass!

OH

Identify, Isolate, Freeze, Escalate

2011-09-12T08:59:00.000-07:00

Saul Alinksy would be proud. More and more often we see these tactics, straight out of Rule #13 in Rules for Radicals, being adopted and used by the good little progressives wildly scrambling for some political traction in the wake of the failures of their Dear Ruler and their liberal pipe dreams.

More often we hear prominent Democrats identifying the TEA Party folks as their main target, Maxine Waters (TEA Party can go straight to hell), Andre Carson (hanging from a tree?), Frederica Wilson (real enemy is the TEA Party), Richard Trumka and Jimmy Hoffa (we are your army, we will take them out), Paul Efen Krugman (complete idiot shill). What an atrocious commentary penned by this Paul Efen Krugman on September 11th. Way to show your true colors Paul.

Maxine Waters rose to fame on the heels of the Rodney King beating and the ensuing LA riots. Now she says the TEA Party is the enemy. More and more liberals are calling out the TEA Party, identifying and isolating them from other straw men the liberals have it in for.

Alinsky coined this rule to battle against opposition. Since we are seeing so much more of this type of name-calling behavior from the left one can only conclude that they have found an enemy worth fighting. An enemy that has enough power that progressives feel the need to "take them out" whenever possible, as Jimmy Hoffa likes to say.

Make no mistake, the battle lines have been drawn. Leftists nationwide will repeat false claims and outrageous lies about the TEA Party because they know the TEA Party has a cogent, coherent and sensible argument. It's hard to argue against logic and facts. The left has found a convenient way to do this.

As their rhetoric against the TEA Party increases we will see many more attacks and outright lies repeated ad infinitum until the next election. A party that clings to their almost religious belief in all things government cannot be expected to see things from a logical point of view. They are so used to running this country, into the ground mostly, that they cannot see the facts when placed in front of them.

John Maynard Keynes is like a god to their beliefs. He could not have been wrong. Just a few billion more dollars to spark business and we are all good. For the umpteenth time, government spending does not create jobs. Business creates jobs and nothing Obama or his ilk can do will change that simple fact. Just get your efen ass out of the way and let Americans be Americans.

Calvin Coolidge once said that the business of America is business. For progressives, the business of America is government.

I'm pretty sure most Americans do not truly feel this way.

my nickel.
OH

Revenues or Taxes?

2011-08-29T11:04:00.000-07:00

Which word do you think describes the act of the government taking money from you to fund it's operations? Revenues or Taxes?

Of course, taxes is the word. But you wouldn't know it from listening to the current President or his followers. Suddenly revenues is the preferred choice of words.

It has become revenues because it is so innocuous sounding, kind of uplifting. Increasing revenues means the government can help more people. That's a good thing.

Taxes, however, evoke a hard, cruel image of mean-spirited, faceless collectors robbing you of your hard-earned money. Increasing taxes means the government hurts more people. That's a bad thing.

Cognitive dissonance again. The true word is TAXES. Taxes are taken from the working people to generate revenues for the government. Increasing either of these means the government can continue on its merry way doing as it pleases with little regard to whether it is actually doing the right things or even making things better.

Nobody likes to pay more taxes. Everyone is in favor of increased revenues. But what is often overlooked in any of these discussions are the numbers of people actually paying any taxes to generate this increased revenue.

When roughly 50% of the people in the country pay ZERO income taxes, it is so much easier to convince them that revenues need to be increased. After all, those people aren't paying anything at all now so why should they even care. Go ahead and raise my neighbor's taxes, see if I care.

When many of these zero income tax workers are actually getting money back when they file their taxes it isn't hard to realize why they are in favor of government increasing revenues. If government revenues increase, perhaps the no taxes people can actually get even more money back that they didn't pay in the first place.

How long can this situation continue? Not very. I think I can already feel Atlas's shoulders shrugging.

My nickel.
OH

Core Beliefs

2011-08-19T08:54:00.000-07:00

What are your core beliefs? The things you truly believe, the things that you adhere to to give your life purpose and meaning? Do you know? Do you care?

Americans used to have a strong set of core beliefs. Individual Liberty stood at the top of the heap. This is what made America America. Without individual liberty we are not any different than any other historical country. Without individual liberty we are merely another failed experiment in governance. We the people created our government in our own image.

You don't have to like our image. You don't have to agree with our government. But you cannot argue that this country has produced more producers, more thinkers and more doers than any other country in history. This was not by accident.

By design our Founders created a revolutionary system of government where the governed actually agreed to give consent to be governed in the first place. Think about it. No other country in the world has ever created a government from scratch with the approval of those to be governed.

Most often, governments are formed by power hungry people who impose their will upon their subjects without the consent of those subjects. History is littered with these failed attempts at governing. These attempts will always fail because there is no buy in from the actual people.

America was created the other way around and we have had the most successful rise in power and stature ever seen in the world. People want to be free. People can manage their own lives quite well on their own without unending help or instructions from any government.

People who believe in themselves, who believe in a higher power than themselves, who follow an internalized set of moral codes can live their own lives quite well without any outside interference. People who rely on others handouts and generosity and those who wish to provide handouts using other people's money will have problems managing their own lives.

Surely there will always be these kinds of people but why do present day politicians want to constantly increase this group of people? Wouldn't it be wiser to induce self-reliance and an individual's belief in himself rather than expressly giving those people constant handouts?

Rioting in England recently displays what happens to people when they have grown to accept everything from their government while doing nothing on their own to improve themselves. Rioting in America will surely follow this same path if we continue to allow government to do everything and anything it wants to "improve" people's lives.

I think many people are lazy. Individual liberty requires personal responsibility. Lazy people don't want and will not accept responsibility. Politicians are the epitome of shirking individual responsibility. John Q Public needs to be cared for because he has had a bad day. Politicians will jump at the chance to make John Q's day into a good day. It will make said politician feel good. It will make John Q Public lazy.

Politicians have a responsibility to make good laws that do not have unintended consequences. The quick fix makes them feel good and by the time the unintended consequences are fully known, another politician will have an equally bad plan to make those unintended consequences go away. Of course, that, too, will have unintended consequences so the exercise in futility goes on and on. And the original reason for the good law is obscured.

Leave your good laws at home. Develop a set of core beliefs that include liberty and responsibility at the personal level and quit trying to modify everyone's behavior to a set of standards that produce equal results.

Not everyone is equal. All results are not the same. You do not know what is best for anyone else except yourself. If you do not know what is best for yourself, you will not find the answer in anyone else. Look inward and recognize your own flaws. Work on those flaws and leave everybody else alone to work on theirs.

My nickel.
OH

Slightly Elasticized with Certitude, Kinetically Speaking

2011-06-03T07:08:00.000-07:00

On May 10, 2010, former auto czar Steve Rattner publicly admitted that “GM may have slightly elasticized the reality of things” in its claims of repayment.

Doesn't "elasticizing" something mean the same thing as, oh, I don't know, LYING? But since it was only "slightly" elasticized, I guess that makes it OK?

On June 1, 2011 current Democrat Congressman from new York, Anthony Weiner, said that he "cannot say with certitude that the picture isn't him", referencing the Twitter pic of him (or someone) in their underwear sent to a 21 year old Seattle girl.

I'd like to know who uses the word "certitude" when certainty is a perfectly good word and much more common?

Words have meanings. Democrats are very, very good at using their words to hide their true intentions. They offer us "kinetic military action" when they really mean "war". Kinetic means pertaining to or causing motion. So our military is in motion around Lybia? wonderful news. But isn't the military always kinetic? Always in motion?

They gave us Overseas Contingency Operation to describe the War on Terror? Why? It sounds better? I don't think so but any Liberal would tell you so. Contingency means dependence on chance or on fulfillment of a condition; uncertainty; fortuitousness; something incidental to a thing. So you can't have a war on terror but you can have a something incidental to terror? Huh?

Elitists in general and Democrats in particular love to substitute obscure words or phrases for the commonly understood words because it makes them sound intelligent and it obscures their real meaning. Nothing magical about that but it is very deceiving to the population a at large.

The common metric for analyzing the effectiveness of government jobs creations bills has always been the actual number of jobs created due to a certain law. But after the Democrats allocated 787 Billion dollars for a "stimulus" bill to create jobs, the metric was changed to "jobs created or saved". Why? Because there is no way to measure jobs saved. Never has been and probably never will be.

Therefore it is an easy way for leaders to bypass criticism of the normal metric, jobs created, since they knew with "certitude" that that number would be weak and ineffective. Adding "jobs saved", which cannot be measured, gave them a wall to hide behind when describing the effectiveness of their near Trillion dollar boondoggle of Liberal wet dreams.

After all, as Obama has stated, it would be much worse if we had done nothing. Really? No one will ever truly know because their numbers can't be measured. Methinks they have been "elasticizing" their numbers.

Gimme a break you ignorant politicians. You think all Americans are idiots. You think we need protecting from ourselves. you think we need you to tell us what to do, how to protect ourselves, how to feed ourselves, how to handle our everyday lives. We don't. We don't need you to control our lives. leave us alone. And stop talking to us like we are infantile children.

You are leading to the brink of catastrophe with our economy, rules and regulations and money distribution schemes. You, Mr. Obama, are encouraging this flight of fantasy because you want to "fundamentally transform America" in your image. Have you looked in the mirror lately?

I truly believe your goal is exactly what you have stated and you will not stop your lunatic plans unless you are forced to stop by the voters. I think there are enough rational, sane Americans left to thwart your plans and put a halt to the fast slide into economic and liberty hell.

I surely hope that is the case. If you and your minions are left in office for another four years, I fear our country, as we have known it, is TOAST. Toppling Off A Steep Terrace.

I say with certitude, we cannot survive another four years of this socialistic rule, kinetically speaking.

My nickel.
OH

More Cognitive Dissonance

2011-05-12T07:59:00.000-07:00

Ding Dong the Witch is Dead. Osama Bin Laden is lying with the fishes.

I think this kill is the most glaring example of cognitive dissonance I have seen yet.

This SEAL team mission was to kill Osama. We learn from our progressive pundits that this is an entirely legal and justified purpose of using the US might. I do not disagree.

But what if the SEAL team had captured this man and brought him in for questioning? Then they would have only been able to ask him questions and nothing more. Punching him after capture would warrant an investigation and possible trial for violating his human rights. Such as what happened to the soldiers accused by a captured terrorist in Iraq of punching him after detaining him.

So outright killing a terrorist is OK but hitting him is not within our moral values as a Nation? Crazy. Cognitive dissonance. How does a person live with oneself while having such a disparate set of ethics?

And have you heard the denunciations from the left about how the information used to locate Bin Laden was NOT gained through water boarding? Yeah, sure. Because water boarding someone is also a violation of human rights but killing him, well, it isn't. Just because we say so.

How about the National Labor Relations Board refusing to allow Boeing Corporation to build a new plant in South Carolina because it is a, gasp, Right to Work State. How dare this corporation make a wise business decision and build here ignoring the unions in Boeing's home state of Washington.

Again, I don't see how liberal minds live with themselves. Business decisions that create profit are demonized by the progressives as greedy and not taking into account the rights, hahahaha, of the workers. Funny, the workers aren't creating any jobs. But somehow Obama's flunkies on this board think unions are being discriminated against and these new jobs should, of course, be all union.

Atlas Shrugged is being played out live everyday all around us. How much longer can we endure this BS before the job creators take their ball and go home? I wonder if the anti-capitalists in this administration will ever make the connection between their job-killing ideas and the fact that jobs are not being created. What is the sound of one hand clapping? Cognitive Dissonance.

My nickel.
OH

Elections Should/Shouldn't Matter

2011-04-13T07:14:00.000-07:00

Well, what do you believe? Should they or shouldn't they?

Nancy Pelosi seems to think they shouldn't matter so much. That's pretty funny since her side got beaten severely in last fall's elections. A sign of a loser's rationalization, perhaps? She certainly didn't feel that way when her Democrats took control of the House in 2006 elevating her to the number three position in our government. She even stated as much in 2009 after passing the monstrous Stimulus Bill saying, yes, we wrote the bill. We won the election.

Nor did Barack Obama after his resounding win in 2008 put him in the White House, as he so pointedly told Republicans during stimulus and budget negotiations in early 2009, "I won". Elections have consequences. Always.

But when Mr. Obama was confronted with the realities of brokering a budget agreement between the two parties, his reaction was quite different. He stated that getting what you want in negotiations is not how it works. Funny how he paints the picture differently depending on which side of the argument he is on. Well, not funny really, it is truly disgusting.

The whole reason we are even having this fight over this year's budget is because the Democrats didn't want to have this discussion last year before the elections. The only real piece of legislation the Congress is required to pass each year, the Federal Budget, was not done simply because of politics.

Thus for any Democrat to demonize the Republicans for trying to pass a budget with cuts is ludicrous since this whole exercise in futility could have been avoided if the Democrats had merely done their job in the first place. It amazes how much gall these people exhibit in criticizing someone for trying to do what the criticizer did not do originally. Simply amazing.

Yes, elections matter. And they should matter. What is the point of having two parties in lock step with one another so voters won't be confused by the difference between the two? That has been the way politics has operated for a long time. Each side taking our country further down the road to socialism, Republicans a bit more slowly than the Democrats would like but both heading in the same wrong-headed direction.

I am glad to see this level of fighting over spending cuts. That discussion is long, long overdue. I am tired of fighting both parties and find it refreshing that the TEA Party movement is having a major effect on our politicians behaviors. Hooray for our side.

Now if you want to get a preview of what America would be like if the TEA Party movement fails to force our legislators to realize that socialism cannot work, go see the movie "Atlas Shrugged". If that doesn't scare you into believing we are nearing the precipice with deficit spending, I'm afraid nothing will.

My only saving thought in this mess is that I am nearly 60 years old and can probably outrun the worst of what is to come for the US. I fear that my daughter and grandchildren will not.

My nickel,
OH

Present, Still

2011-03-24T13:18:00.000-07:00

Barack Obama has served as a Community Organizer, State Senator, US Senator and president. His roll call votes indicate that he voted "present" more often than anything else.

Voting present is not a sign of leadership. It is punting. It forces other people to take up the slack for your indecisiveness. My ex-wife used to get mad at me whenever she asked me what I wanted to eat or to do and I would say, whatever you want. She wanted me to make a decision and I deferred back to her. I voted present. It actually did help my marriage last a bit longer but that is not the way to truly get anything done.

I have never aspired to a leadership capacity partly because it has been my nature to not make a decision until I really, really had to make it. For a year or two I was in a management role in my office but it only led to increased alcohol input to alleviate the strain on my psyche for having to make decisions that I felt uncomfortable making. I demoted myself from that role and was able to kick the drinking dependency.

But I am a lowly peon in our society. I am not the leader of the free world, nor would I ever want to be so. Mr. Obama, however, did everything he could do to get that position. He talked a good talk on the campaign trail and he ran his campaign smartly to overtake the predicted front runner in his party, Hillary Clinton, and on to easily defeat John McCain to win his coveted title and position. He said all the right things, I guess, to get himself elected.

Then he started off with a bang, declaring Guantanamo to be closed within one year and helping push nearly a trillion dollars of Democrats wet dreams into reality. He went on a worldwide public speaking tour criticizing America for her past sins and resetting relations with the world.

Then he started voting present again. And he is still voting present.

Yes, I know, he doesn't vote anymore. Doesn't matter, he's having the same effect. Let someone else start off on a subject and then he will come along and criticize them. He said last year he would test Republicans about slashing government spending but when it came time for him to propose his budget for next year, it was actually larger than ever. No cuts. More spending, nothing about Social Security, Medicare or anything relevant to the discussion.

That is voting present.

Watching him dithering about sending more troops to Afghanistan his first year in office was painful. It took him 3 months to decide to give the generals what they asked for and what he had said on the campaign trail that he would do there. But when he announced the surge, he immediately followed that up by saying the troop draw down would begin in 2011. Some surge.

That is voting present.

His comments about Tunisia and Egypt were from both sides of his mouth as well. On Lybia, I have never seen or heard so much indecisiveness from one administration ever.

What exactly is our mission there? Who's in charge? Why did Bush need 17 UN resolutions and approval from both branches of Congress to go into Iraq while Obama only needs verbal support from organizations we don't even know (who are the rebels in Lybia?) and a vague list of countries with no fire power and the Arab League, who immediately criticized the very no-fly zone enforcement that they had requested.

Ghaddafi must go! No, maybe he can stay. I'm not really sure what we want him to do. This foreign politics stuff is really irritating me. Guess we'll lob a few Tomahawks at them and then consider our mission complete.

That is voting present.

The longer this man is in office the more nervous about our future I become. My greatest fear is that somehow things will turn around for his popularity and complacent, uninformed people will put him back in office for another four years.

I don't think this country can survive another four years of this man in the White House. Voting present.

They say Nero fiddled while Rome burned.

Obama just plays golf and basketball while the world burns.

And he is present, still. Dammit.

OH

High Profile Idiots

2011-03-15T07:07:00.000-07:00

Another celebrity rich guy mouths off about how the rich don't pay enough in taxes. This time it's Stephen King, one of my favorite authors. I will read him no longer.

King has joined many other high profile rich people who think Americans, especially "the rich" should be taxed at higher rates. Warren Buffet complained that his secretary was taxed at a higher rate than he was. Duh, differences between capital gains and earned income.

Bill Gates and his father spearheaded efforts last year to increase taxes on the rich in their home state of Washington, saying the rich can afford more taxes and should be paying more taxes. The effort failed.

Michael Moore stupidly spouts that their isn't a money problem in America, we have plenty of money here, it just isn't in the control of the government. Wow.

All high profile idiots demonstrating their lack of knowledge of America, our country. If any one of these high profile idiots really, truly wanted to pay more taxes to the government, they are perfectly free to do so. The government will most certainly accept their check, no questions asked.

But they will never do that simple thing. I don't know why, but these folks feel that they must drag everybody else into the discussion and force higher taxes on us all. Misery loves company, that's true, but these people don't act miserable. I see it as kind of a holier-than-thou attitude so perverse in elitist circles which is where rich liberal people hang out.

Stuff it! Put up or shut up and leave the criticisms out of it. Mr, Gates and his kind should immediately write very large checks to the federal government to show others how it is done. Warren Buffet should buy out Government Motors and funnel any and all profit he may get out of the business to the imperial federal government as well.

Stephen King should just shut up. At least Charlie Sheen has been very good at making an ass out of himself on a grand scale. That's entertainment. Will he ever complain that he isn't taxed enough?

The people who are so loaded with money they don't know how to spend it or invest it fast enough to satisfy themselves have no business lecturing us on the need for them to pay higher taxes. Just f...ing pay higher taxes and STFU. We don't need to preached to by the likes of people like you.

I have had a lot of respect for these people at times in my life for the things they have done and accomplished with, often times, very daunting circumstances in front of them. They have changed the world in many wonderful profound ways. However, to listen to some of them later in life, it's as if they have learned nothing about how the world works or how they got to the positions that they are now in.

Making a lot of money does not make you any wiser. In many cases it has just the opposite effect. But it isn't the money that does it. It's the power. Money buys power and power is corrupting, in many ways.

High Profile Idiots believe they have avoided that corruption and can speak for everyone.

They don't speak for me.

OH

You can call a cat a dog but he still won't bark

2011-02-17T13:39:00.000-08:00

Words matter. At least the meaning of words matter. The American version of English we often times distort or even completely reverse the meaning of a word. Bad becomes good. Hot and cool can mean the same thing. Context matters. So do culture and location. But we mostly manage to communicate with each other pretty well despite the various definitions of many words.

Then we have politicians and their often too happy to comply media. They can say or do one thing then look you in the eye and insist they never did that. And they believe themselves. Case in point, Obama releases his budget and declares that it is in primary balance as of 2015. In primary balance means they aren't counting interest payments on debt. Really. He says it balances and he believes it balances. It's just that pesky interest payment of several billion dollars a year that he ignores.

Another case? This administration continues to insist that the stimulus worked as planned and saved or created 3 1/2 million jobs. Yet no one can point to any of these jobs and the unemployment rate has stayed above 9% while hundreds of thousands of job seekers have simply given up.

Is Obama serious about cutting the deficit?
Spending cuts of 90 billion leaving a deficit of only 1.1 trillion?
Investing 58 billion on railroads? Does he really believe railroads are the future?

Using the word investment instead of spending does not make it an investment. Does anyone really believe that railroads will win the future? Seriously?

Buying a car is spending. Buying a bank is investment.

Investment implies a possibility of a return or something in return for the investment. Of course, an investment may also lose money but that is not the reason anyone makes an investment.
Government DOES NOT make investments! Governments can only spend. Period.

George Orwell said in 1984 that 62,400 repetitions constitute one truth.

I believe truth is not dependent on repetition. Our minds may think that way since learning by rote is merely learning by repetition but you will suffer sever cognitive dissonance if you believe something is true based solely on the fact that you have heard or read something repeated over and over.

Don't believe that? Try calling your cat a dog over and over again. Tell your family, your friends everyone you meet that your cat is a dog. You may convince yourself and some other people but.... That cat will never bark!

Government investment is simply spending.

My nickel.
OH

Cognitive Dissonance

2011-01-25T09:55:00.000-08:00

- Cognitive dissonance is a psychological phenomenon which refers to the discomfort felt at a discrepancy between what you already know or believe, and new information or interpretation.

For progressive, this can be difficult, if not impossible to overcome.

For some examples, consider:

Social security solvency - We all know that life expectancy has increased dramatically since the beginning of Social Security. Logically one would expect the age of eligibility for these benefits would need to be increased to keep the program solvent. Logically, that is. But many people scream bloody murder if you even consider raising the retirement age even for people who are currently in their 20s and 30s because, dammit, we deserve this benefit unchanged.

Health care bill reduces deficit. No rational person would ever actually expect that adding 20-30 million more people to insurance rolls would actually cost less money. Key word, rational.

Michael Moore is dumbfounded that increasing the number of guns, allowing concealed carry permits, etc., leads to less crime not more. More logic ignored by a liberal.

Progressive have always said that increased taxes leads to more revenue. And the actual reality of increasing taxes has always led to reduced revenue, while reducing taxes has always led to more revenue. If you are liberal, you are amazed at this finding.

Mandatory health insurance or fine was not a tax when law passed, is a tax in court challenge. It just depends on who you are talking to, I guess. Vehemently the democrats argued that it was the responsible thing to do for everyone to be forced to buy health insurance. What tax are you talking about? But once the bill landed in court, Obama lawyers try to argue that it is indeed a tax and it is fully within the powers of the government to levy this tax. Oh vey.

Health care bill will reduce premiums. Again we see quite the opposite in action with premiums rising, as logic would dictate, not dropping.

Health care bill great for business but granted 222 waivers already. I think this is called Crony Capitalism. The rulers make the laws and the rulers decide who should follow the laws and who gets a pass. Really.

Congressmen send letter to Mexican officials to keep secret union ballot yet fight for Card Check in US. This is so hypocritical it's hard to even think about. Do as I say, not as I do. I think that covers it.

Obama pens a Wall Street Journal article in favor of cutting regulations bad for business. He's really trying to be a help to businesses, right? Then how to explain the more than 100,000 pages of new regulations to come from health care, financial reform, net neutrality, carbon emissions yet to be written?

Nancy Pelosi says we have to pass the health care bill to find out what's in it. Because knowing what we are really voting on would be just too damn hard and take too damn long for us to get onto our other top priorities, parties and junkets and stuff like that.

Yet, Nancy Pelosi says her top priority was always deficit reduction. She will never explain why, if that is so, the national deficit increased $5 trillion in her 4 years as Madame Speaker.

New York Times said that Palin's web site cross hair map incited violence. It puzzles me how only her map, not the myriad other similar maps and logos by groups, organizations and agencies of all kinds did not have the same result.

Joe Lieberman was vilified by Democrats for leaving his party to run as an Independent. When Alaska's Lisa Murkowski did the same thing, she was praised. First one was a Democrat the latter a Republican.

Eric Holder sues Arizona for state's immigration law claiming fed law trumps state law. OK, I can actually sort of see that. However, Mr Holder has no intention of suing amnesty cities for refusing to enforce immigration return laws. Where is the moral equivalency on this?

Since the Dept of Education started in 1979 there has been no improvement in student scores. The amount of money disappearing in this department has continually grown and there are no results to justify why this money is needed. If something isn't working, stop doing it.

The belief that a higher minimum wage helps the working poor is a long held belief. After all, when you pay someone more money, he has more to spend and less need on others. True that, but what effect does it have on other workers. It seems that the unemployment rate, especially for poorer workers, always goes up after the minimum wage increases. Curious, huh? Forcing higher labor costs onto business creates consequences for business which results in fewer jobs overall. Pure logic at work.

And tonight we will be treated with Mr. Wonderful calling for more government investment in roads and infrastructure and the like. As I once told a friend of mine, buying a car is not an investment. Obama thinks he can simply use the word investment to replace spending and that makes it OK. Economics 101 is a course I would recommend to him.

It seems like cognitive dissonance could just as easily be called hypocrisy. Continuing cognitive dissonance by letting emotions rule over logic , feelings trump reality, may allow one to state that mandatory insurance is not a tax when it helps you and that it is a tax when that helps you. It does not leave your mind in stable state, however. To avoid insanity one must truly believe that the illogical choice is truly the proper choice. One must ignore inconvenient facts and focus on how it makes them feel.

Feelings, after all, are the true indicator of right and wrong. I can't believe I just typed that sentence. Gawd, how awful.

Saul Alinsky said that the end justifies means when it is on our side. When the other side employs this tactic, it is shameful and wrong.

Learning something new that contradicts what you have always believed is difficult. The new facts are resisted, it is human nature, but eventually they will be seen for what they are, if they are truly the facts.

Continuing to ignore the effects of cognitive dissonance will lead to insanity. I will not go there.

OH

Wink Wink, Nudge Nudge

2010-12-30T16:31:00.000-08:00

The health care bill has no death panels, wink wink.
Medicare enacts end of life planning, nudge nudge.

This administration is not socialist, wink wink.
FCC enacts Net Neutrality regulations, nudge nudge.

Obama does not want to own car companies, wink wink.
GM takeover bypasses bond holders in favor of unions, nudge nudge.

We do not want to control your lives, wink wink.
But we can't just leave what children eat up to the parents, nudge nudge.

I don't mind people being successful and making money, wink wink.
But I think at some point you've made enough, nudge nudge.

I want people to make lots of money, wink wink.
I just think it works better when we spread it around, nudge nudge.

No major innovation in the past 200 years has happened without government, wink wink.
For the first time we will have an economy directed by government, nudge nudge.

Climate change legislation dies in Senate, wink wink.
FDA plans new regulations to fight climate change, nudge nudge.

How many winks and nudges can we endure?

Just asking.

Mayberry Lameness

2010-12-02T07:18:00.000-08:00

Oh my, it's happened again. An actor that I have always respected for his talents and the upstanding character parts he plays has spoken out about his politics. I really wish he had remained silent. I wish all celebrities would remain silent when it comes to airing their political views. They have no greater insight than anyone else, so why should they use their public profile to interject their, usually liberal, political views on their fans.

Andy Griffith, I will no longer watch reruns of your old, wonderful TV show. Something happened to you, I guess, and you feel the public just has to be on board with the worst piece of legislation ever passed by our Congress. To see you using your influence to sell lies to America disgusts me. To know that the Obama administration used you like an old fool to peddle their misinformation about a destructive bill for political opportunism makes me sick to my stomach.

But then, I expect the idiocy from this administration, but what I don't expect is idiots like Andy Griffith duping folks into buying outright lies. I can't stand it. It's just plain wrong.

We are currently in a lame-duck session of Congress. Nothing much usually happens during these sessions but this year the Democrats are especially nervous so they are trying to do more in 3 weeks than they have done the past two years. Go home! Go play with the ducks. Go anywhere do anything but do not pass ANY piece of legislation during the lame-duck session unless it is for funding the government by leaving the tax rates as they have been for the past 7 years.

Lameness from Congress is expected. Lamesness from an old time hero is, well, just lame.

My nickel.
OH

Faith in the Market

2010-11-02T07:22:00.000-07:00

"The basic idea is that if we put our blind faith in the market and we let corporations do whatever they want and we leave everybody else to fend for themselves, then America somehow automatically is going to grow and prosper."

Barack Obama, October 2010

Yessir, that is the basic idea alright. Free markets work. Government planning does not. Period.

For many, many long years the free market functioned well in this society. When things start going wrong is when bureaucrats think they know a better solution, meaning government intervention. This is a very false assumption. Markets work when they are free to innovate, not held to rigid standards by a government that demands influence.

The only thing I would change with Obama's statement is the word "blind". There is no blindness in free market economies. Everyone is doing things to benefit themselves and in the process everybody else benefits. Yes, there is faith, but it is not blind. It may appear to be "willy-nilly" to use a Hillary Clinton phrase, but there is a method to it's madness.

People make economic decisions based on their own personal situations and what they see coming in the future. When their decisions are taken away from them, think health care, for one, they are less likely to buy in to that strategy. And to rebel against it as we have seen leading up to today's election.

President Obama is doing all the things he feels necessary to grow the influence of government and lessen the influence you have upon your own life. This is so wrong-headed and will only lead to a weakening of our country and eventual destruction of our way of life.

Whether Mister Obama thinks there is such a thing as American Exceptionalism, and I think it's clear he does not, it does exist and it exists because we ARE a different kind of country. We do not have the course of our lives charted by the government. Oh sure, many folks do, but they are the lazy and the indolent and they will always be around.

True American Exceptionalism comes from the freedoms we have in our country. And our freedoms are not given by government, they are given by God. The government only gets in the way when its leaders try to help with their pet programs. Let the American people go and we will once again become an exceptional country.

No thanks to President Obama.

OH.

Here's Your Sign, Nancy

2010-10-19T11:10:00.000-07:00

Remember Bill Engvall and his Stupid People rants? I used to get him confused with Jeff Foxworthy until I started watching The Bill Engvall Show a few years ago. Funny guy. And spot on with his observations just as Jeff Foxworthy was with his "You might be a redneck if..." humor.

Anyway, Bill Engvall says that life would be much easier for all of us if only stupid people wore signs so we would know who we were dealing with up front. In one observation he says he is about to fix a flat tire on his truck when a man pulls up to him and asks, "Get a flat tire?" Bill replies, "No, I was just driving along and the other three tires just swelled up on me." Here's you sign.

Nancy Pelosi deserves to have her sign. God knows she has offered up enough stupid comments to earn one. Or several, I'm sure.

Nancy stated before the passage of the ridiculous Health Care Bill that we have to pass the bill to find out what's in it. Amazing insight from a Congressional leader. Of course everyone knows we simply cannot find out what's in a bill BEFORE it is passed because, well, just because, I guess. Nancy just doesn't understand that thinking.

She more recently said that the fastest way to stimulate spending is through unemployment compensation and food stamps. Everyone knows that unemployment benefits and food stamps are spent as fast as they arrive so what better way to push dollars through the economy than by giving these benefits. What an incredible bang for the buck! I wonder if Nancy has ever considered what might happen if the government gave these benefits to everyone. How would our economy fare if this were to happen. Probably blow the world away. How interesting.

Princess Pelosi needs her sign. It may be a redundant message for her to carry her sign around because most rational people who have listened to her logic have already posted a mental footnote about her sign worthiness. But for the masses who really have no idea who this woman is, it may be beneficial in the future.

I have a tee-shirt, I'm actually wearing it underneath my shirt right now, that says, "Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups". I heed that message and I know many people who do the same.

Perhaps if Princess Nancy asked Mr. Engvall nicely, he would give her a sign worthy of her intellect and stature in life.

After all, it's only fair for us to know when we are dealing with a stupid person in a high position. And these days there seems to be more and more of them and they are harder and harder to track.

OH

Cost of Government

2010-09-23T09:58:00.000-07:00

Never in my younger years would I have believed that a tax cut would be labeled as a "cost" to the US Government. But listening to the Liberal Left holler and scream about extending the Bush tax cuts for the "rich" this is exactly how they describe it, as costing the government too much!

How does this perversion of word meanings become entrenched in national discussions? There is one simple little fact that all who use this terminology forget; all of the government's money comes from individuals. Every single solitary penny is taken from individual people in the course of their lives. Government has nothing that they don't take from you and me. NOTHING.

How then can anyone rationally say that a tax cut costs the government anything? How can the act of creating a tax cut be a "gift" to the people they are taking the money from in the first place? Obama thinks it is wrong to "give" rich people any more money. He does not acknowledge that this money is earned by these very same rich people. They're just words after all. Who cares?

Well, I care very much. It is the very choice of words that frames the argument in favor of government-loving liberals. To these people all money is rightfully owned by the government and we are only "allowed" to keep whatever sum they feel is appropriate. Obama feels that at some point you have made enough money, and he is quite willing to define what that point is for every single individual in this country.

PrezBo is probably giddy with excitement over the release of a proposal in the UK whereby all paychecks to individuals would first be sent to the central government so they can deduct the "proper" amount of taxes and then forward the balance on the wage earner. Now there is a grand idea that I'll just bet Obama wishes he had though of first.

Politically left pundits and politicians describe the extension of the tax cuts for the top 2% of income earners as costing the government $700 Billion over ten years. They say the cost is too high. However they fail to describe the extension of the tax cuts for the bottom 98% of wage earners as "costing" the government about $2 Trillion. Why not decry the "cost" of this tax cut extension in the same terms? Politics.

It is very easy to spend other people's money and the Washington elite think they know the right places to spend this money for our own good. I remember President Clinton saying he didn't like the idea of stimulus checks sent to the people because we wouldn't spend it on the right things. Let the goverment know-it-alls spend this money instead in ways that will benefit all of the country better. Yeah, right. Now I'm rotf-lol. (rolling on the floor laughing out loud)

Sure, we'll let the all-knowing, all-seeing, all-powerful, benevolent government elitists have all of our money and we'll be perfectly happy taking whatever they feel we each deserve and spend all the rest on whatever pet projects they "feel" are in vogue at the time. Cradle to grave, our government is the provider of all things good.

And when Atlas shrugs, what will these government elitists do then?

OH

According to Plan

2010-09-01T08:04:00.000-07:00

President Obama's plans are unfolding just as he expected, I believe, aside from the tedious distractions of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. His economic policies are accomplishing exactly what he wanted them to accomplish; push this country closer and closer to the cliff.

I suspect the too-clever-by-half president is secretely reveling in the success of his philosophical rewriting of America through his destructive policies towards capitalism and American exceptionalism. Phase One of the plan is working quite well, thank you.

He came into office with his "supposed" mandate to fundamentally transform this country and he has made good on all that he touches. There has not been one instance where he has acted proud of this country, oh sure, he says he is proud, but what he means is he is proud to be able to take us in a new direction. He is not satisfied with a "willy-nilly" approach in economics with decisions being made by owners of companies based on what is good for their company.

His goal is for all business decisions to be made or heavily influenced by governmental policies, laws or regulations. He will decide, or someone he has appointed, what are the best decisions for a business. The government will determine the direction of our economy by the very laws and regulations and tax breaks or busts that the government decides are necessary to accomplish Mr. President's current goals.

The government will create five year plans, or whatever time period seems to fit their fancy at the time, for what goods and services are to be the preferred ones today. He may change his mind tomorrow and we will all be obliged to follow the course set by our all-knowing, all-seeing director of America. Not really a director, but a ruler? Yes, that is more appropriate.

Ms. Valerie Jarret, one of Obama's early picks for his campaign and White House economic team, and an old friend apparently, declared shortly after the election that Obama would be ready to rule on day one. He was and he is still ruling. It's all going according to plan.

There was a day when rulers were all we had. There was a time when all the decisions of how an economy would function were decided by a ruler. There are places in the world today where a ruler is needed and wanted. That place is not America!

Take your ruler out of our business and stuff Saul Alinsky and his Rules for Radicals in your trash bin. And put Cloward and Piven in that bin as well. We will not miss any of these misguided liberal lunatics or their nefarious policies. Never happen, Obama is a big, big fan.

PrezBo has taken over two car companies turning bankruptcy proceedings on its head in the process. His progressive friends have had a field day spending nearly a trillion dollars on Liberal pipe dreams. He has trashed his predecessor at every opportunity for the past 18 months. He has trashed America's reputation in Muslim countries, has sued the state of Arizona for enforcing immigration laws. He has dissed our long time friends and allies, England and Israel while praising a Honduran coup, muslims in general and the little Napoleon in Iran.

He constantly refers to any idea not consistent with his plan for changing America as bad for the country. He calls Republicans obstructionists when they don't diligently go along with his plan to destroy everything he touches. And he does all of this knowingly and intentionally because he really, truly does want to destroy America.

For if he is successful in overwhelming our system and destroying it in the process, he can justifiably continue to rebuild in his image. An image that FDR would be so proud of and an image in which he, Mr. Obama, will be the savior of the country and be worshiped and praised long into the future by his sycophantic friends and followers.

Yes, indeed. It is all going according to plan.

OH

It Could be Worse?

2010-08-04T06:58:00.000-07:00

Really? You don't say, Mr. President? Heckuva job Barry. You are one amazing Organizer in Chief.

Crikey! Is he really serious? Sadly, the answer is yes, he is dead serious.

God help us all. The Messiah came into office so full of Hope and Change that he thought he was invincible. All of his worshipers agreed, of course, and his truculent little minions in Congress piled on the band wagon to witness the crowning of our king and the new power in action. They are all still waiting, as I am, for the earth to cool, the waters to recede and the healing to begin.

Once so full of promise and ideas the ruling elite in DC have begun to reap the rewards of their arrogance and in-your-face deals that contradict logical arguments and smack of an outright takeover of the country, made in their image, damn you ordinary Americans.

Obama-Pelosi-Reid sold the $862 Billion stimulus package as just that, a stimulus to boost the economy of the US. They said the unemployment rate was in danger of reaching, gasp, 8% if this bill was not passed. The bill was passed and the unemployment rate rose to more than 10% and has settled in at over 9% steadily.

Of course, the true unemployment rate is probably closer to 18-20% with the way they count people looking or not looking anymore for work, but whatever. The stimulus didn't work. But according to our illustrious president things could be much worse. The rate could be 14% or even 15% or more but for the stimulus spending. Wonderful! Heckuva job Barry, I say again.

Pat yourself on the back and raise that grade you gave yourself from a B Plus to a full blown A. After all, the economy could be worse.

Sounds like a great campaign motto to me. Go for it.

OH

We Don't Need no Stinking Constitution!

2010-06-28T08:05:00.000-07:00

For those who believe our Constitution is an old crusty document meant to be changed to reflect the growing enlightenment of our times, you are probably giddy with excitement with the way this Obama administration is quietly ignoring it completely.

For those who feel that the Constitution is the basis of the people granting the role of government to do only that which is specifically granted to it, we are surely appalled by the actions of our leaders this past year.

Our Constitution grants powers to the federal government explicitly and reserves most powers for the states or the people. The federal government derives ALL of its powers from us not the other way around. Government does not grant us rights. Government does not have unlimited power to do whatever its power brokers desire.

We are a Nation of Laws! We do not allow one administration to impose its will on us. We do not allow one man to turn the rule of law on its head when it is politically advantageous or expedient to do so. But our current president has no such beliefs. He truly believes he is above all of that nonsense and he truly does know best what is in our best interests and to hell with the Constitution if it gets in his way.

He loves to talk large and he loves it more when he is on a grand stage, pontificating his grand ideas on an international level because he is just so chock full of wisdom that no one could possibly disagree with his conclusions or his method of accomplishing his goals. Law be damned!

An Ivy League education earns no points in practical experience. Book learning will get you nowhere if you ignore the hard lessons of practical experience. And Mr. Obama ignores everything that doesn't advance his socialist agenda.

For him to take control of Chrysler and General Motors and turn a lawful bankruptcy proceeding on its head and put compensation for his union buddies ahead of the shareholder rights and creditor claims is not an example of our Constitution at work. It is an example of one man putting himself ahead of the rule of law.

When the laws of entry into this country are ignored and when the federal government decides to sue a state for creating a law identical to the federal law, how should we feel about the rule of law? Who gets the last laugh? Is the state wrong to protect its border when the feds have been reluctant to do so? Why is that wrong? How does Obama justify coming down hard on a state who chooses to protect its citizens, a job that the feds have decided not to do? Is it because he is guided by his own law?

That makes it the rule of man. And the rule of man has been tried hundreds and thousands of times in this world and it never ends well. It is the reason our forefathers deliberated so intensely for years over the look and structure of our Constitution. It is intended to keep the rule of man at bay and to decide things based on the rule of law. When we throw out the baby with the bathwater we have gained nothing.

Most men may not truly desire liberty but merely wish for a just master. That is not the prevailing attitude in America. It has never been the prevailing attitude but as that attitude grows in our society through the dumbing down of our citizens and the clamor of what more government can do for ME, we slide farther and farther towards the socialist states of Europe and the evils of third world dictators imposing their own version of what is good for the government to the detriment of its peoples.

Wake up America! Wake up now or kiss your freedom goodbye. As Jack Bauer says on his show "24", "We're running out of time."

OH

Sympathy for the Devil

2010-06-18T15:47:00.000-07:00

The title comes from a 1968 Rolling Stones song off the album Beggar's Banquet. Mick Jagger sings as Lucifer asking for some courtesy, sympathy and taste or he'll lay your soul to waste.

Right about now you may be expecting me to lead into a diatribe about our president, likening him to the devil and begging for some sympathy, courtesy and taste for him because he is certainly in way, way over his head in this job and we're stuck with him for 2 1/2 more years. That would be one way to go, but I have a different Lucifer in mind. Tony Heyward. The face of BP in the Gulf oil spill disaster until today. He has become the devil in the eyes of many Americans but he deserves our sympathy.

I don't mean because he was removed from his high profile position. He'll be fine and it was bound to happen. And I don't mean because he made some stupid comments during this process, everyone does that anyway. And I don't mean anything about what he knew or has done before or during the last two months.

The reason I have sympathy for Tony Heyward is because he endured hours and hours of torturous questioning and lambasting and denigration and contempt from our esteemed legislators who are all too happy to grandstand for the public over one evil entity or another. I commend him for keeping his composure during that ridiculous display of pomposity.

I have sympathy for this man because no one should have to be subjected to a room full of angry, ill-informed legislators who pass laws that don't make sense and that they don't read and that their constituents don't want. Who the hell are they to be using events like this to further their status in life or to grab a few minutes of fame? Who is going to grill Congress for their lack of oversight and responsibility for not performing their jobs properly?

Who is going to drain this swamp? Certainly not Nancy Pelosi. LOL. This swamp is expanding exponentially with no end in sight. Holier than thou attitudes are not what I expect from our elected leaders. Neither do I expect them to pass a stupid bill without reading it. So what does that say about my expectations?

Not wanting to let this crisis go to waste after basically ignoring it for two months, Obama used his Oval Office to tell us to follow him to somewhere, he's not sure where, or how we'll get there, or what we'll do once we get there, but he knows we'll get there and oh, btw, it will cost us much more money but, trust him, it will be worth it. Smashing! What a message. Just like health care!

I have absolutely zero sympathy for this devil. He is more dangerous to our way of life than any politician I know. And I used to say that about his primary opponent, Hillary Clinton. Who knew someone so inexperienced and so smooth-talking with no leadership experience or abilities could actually become president? Huh. Only in America?

We are supposed to be a nation of laws not of man. It is what sets us apart from every other country. It is what has made this country so great for so long. To see these laws being ignored and watch the rule of man being flaunted before our eyes is disgusting. To further watch the showboating of Congressmen to gain a few talking points and to witness a virtual shakedown by the White House of a private, foreign company just boggles my mind. I agree with Congressman Barton, Tony Heyward deserved an apology. Despicable behavior is still despicable behavior no matter the underlying circumstances.

Anyway, so long Tony Heyward. I, for one, hope you get your life back.

OH

Sick to my Stomach

2010-05-21T06:55:00.000-07:00

God help us all! We are living in a world of idiots and lunatics and the lunatics are running the asylum.

State Department officials confess American sins to China, as if a legal state law that mirrors federal law is somehow comparable to Chinese torture and gross mistreatment of its own citizens.

The President of Mexico speaks before Congress lecturing them about how the dreadful Arizona immigration law, which mirrors federal law, is an abomination and must be changed. The Democrats attending his speech give him a standing ovation. Our president echoes those sentiments.

The president of Iran thumbs his nose at our country and our president nearly every day, holds hands with Brazil and Turkey, violates UN sanctions and continues to preach death to Zionists and the Great Satan, US, while we twiddle our thumbs and tell the world we will not retaliate against anyone with our nuclear weapons, which by the way, we are destroying with the goal of having none remaining.

The nation's debt has tripled in the past year, a massive and wasteful health insurance reform bill is greatly increasing our debt and destroying our way of life. A financial reform bill has passed without even mentioning the great three agencies that contributed the most to the mortgage meltdown, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Community Redevelopment Agency.

Thousands of gallons of oil is pouring into the Gulf of Mexico while team Obama is blaming everyone but our government. Their great contribution to solving this problem is more regulations, of course.

More government, that's what we need to solve all of our problems. Government will set us free. Government in spite of the people. Do government officials have any other ideas other than more government for any problem? It would seem not, at least with this administration.

All of this nonsense makes me sick to my stomach. There is so much arrogance in this administration, so much of an attitude that they know better, that makes my stomach churn. So little attention paid to common sense and so much attention given to politically correct statements that there is no there, there anymore.

The emperor has no clothes and neither do any of his minions. I love that word, minion, a servile follower or subordinate of a person in power. Lots of minions in this administration all of them equally clueless as our Dear Leader. Pardon me for borrowing this term of endearment from the North Koreans, but it fits our man so well.

America is in serious T-R-O-U-B-L-E. We are on the brink of losing the freedom and character that has kept us a free nation for so long. Too many people actually want the government to take care of them from cradle to grave. There Oughta Be a Law, was once a regular newspaper comic strip, now it's the hue and cry from every politician and under-achiever in the nation. God help us all if we think that government can help us at all.

It just makes me sick to my stomach constantly.

OH

Thank You, Mr. President

2010-04-19T08:39:00.001-07:00

Yes, indeed. Thank you from the bottom of my anti-progressive/liberal heart!

There, I've said it. Now, you arrogant elitist, stop pissing me off!

You are truly amazing to me, Mr. Obama. Every day I am more and more stunned and disgusted when I hear statements from you belittling the Tea Party movement and its players. I am one of those players, Mr. president, and I am hopping mad at you and your arrogant enablers guiding my country into a cesspool of socialist/fascist claptrap and feel-good bullshit policies. Should I be thanking you for that?

You have the audacity to believe that the American people should be thanking you for not taxing us to death, in fact, even "giving" us a tax break. You keeping less of My money is not Giving Me anything. And any semi-intelligent person can look forwards and know that the recent health insurance reform bill will mean hundreds of billions of new and higher taxes in the near future. For everyone! Should we be thanking you for that?

Last year 47% of the working population paid zero income taxes. And 40% of those slackers actually received money from the government, which is nothing more than pure welfare. You state that last year you fulfilled your promise that 95% of the working people would get a tax cut. Interesting how that works if only 47% are even paying taxes to begin with. Is this the reason you feel we should be thanking you?

When nearly 50% of the workers are paying NO taxes and the other 50% are paying all of the taxes, who should be thanking who? When half of income-tax-paying citizens are paying refundable credits to the half who pay ZERO taxes, who should be thanking who? Welfare from the tax code, what an idea. A refund is now called a tax cut in Obama-speak. Is that what we should be thankful for?

Should we be thanking you because you haven't directly raised income taxes on earners under $250,000? Not yet, anyway? Did you forget about the cigarette tax you signed as soon as you came into office? Right there you broke your campaign promise to not raise taxes on anyone earning less than $250, 000. Immediately you broke any faith someone might have had that you would be true to your word. Is that what we should be thankful for?

And the discussion about taxes always falls to Social Security and Medicare, the so called, payroll taxes. The President will argue that these are taxes paid for by the working poor and the "tax cuts" are rightly justified. But you forget that Social Security and Medicare are really "insurance programs" and therefore those deductions are truly premiums, not taxes. Should everyone be exempt from paying their insurance premiums? Is that something to be thankful for?

There was one campaign promise you made that I paid particular attention to when you proclaimed 5 days before the election. That you would "fundamentally transform America". That stood out like a sore thumb and it scared me to death. Almost made me yearn for Hillary Clinton.

Perhaps that is what you expect me to thank you for? Sorry, but I like America as it is or was before you came onto the scene. No fundamental transformation for me please. Thank you very much but I don't buy snake oil.

Taxes, taxes, taxes. Tea Party people don't detest taxes. We believe there are legitimate reasons for taxes and they are a necessary evil in societies. But you, Mr. Obama, have never met a tax you didn't like. Taxes for your ilk are a requirement to achieve your goals of government control, not as a means to fund a restricted government, but as a means to fund an ever more intrusive and far-reaching government. Perhaps I should be thankful for that?

To you and your followers, taxes are the means to control the people and to force them to follow the dictates of a centralized planning force in the government to guide this country, and its people, on the path they direct. You and your administration and the elitist progressives alike all think you know know better than the common person. You all simply "know" that you have the proper answer to every one of our problems and if we would just shut up and get out of the way, you could finish your work and give us a better life. I reject that idea and will fight you to the bitter end to resist these ideas in my country. We don't want your social brand of government in our country. You can't possible believe I should thank you for that?

Well, then again, maybe I should be doing just that. Without Barack Hussein Obama in the White House with his progressive policies and nanny-state solutions there would be no Tea Party Movement. It is directly because of this president and what he says and does that the common person is rightly riled up and agitated and is showing those emotions on the streets in protest. And that is always a good thing. To get the common man at more involved with what is going on in Washington. And I do sincerely thank you for that!

I I also sincerely believe that you, Mr. Obama, should be thanking the American workers, the high-achievers, the entrepreneurs, the people who actually DO PAY taxes for their money to fund your socialist ideas. How many more times will you chuckle and make jokes at the expense of hard-working, caring citizens who disagree with your ideas? From my point of view, you sir, have become the joke.

And nobody is laughing!

OH

Keep Pushin'

2010-03-22T07:53:00.000-07:00

REO Speedwagon is one of my favorite all time rock and roll bands. And one of my favorite songs of theirs is titled, Keep Pushin'. I sang this song in my head all the many hours I used to run training for the many road races in Hawaii and Florida I participated in. The song inspired me and it still does, to keep doing what I'm doing, no matter how difficult, until the goal is reached. This song will make the pain go away for awhile.

It seems the progressive wing of the Democrat party has adopted this mantra as well but for a detrimental purpose indeed. Keep pushin for universal health care. Keep pushin for energy laws that control global warming. Keep pushin for government control. Keep pushin for less personal decisions and more government mandates. Keep pushin for Senator Kennedy. Keep pushin for all the poor, poor pitiful souls who cannot exist in this life without a government handout. Keep pushin for progress. Progress towards what? Why progress towards making this country exactly like all the failed European countries, socialistic havens of good-intentioned idiots making decisions for all the uninformed, dumb masses of people who cannot seem to take care of themselves.

Yes, keep pushin for progress for the American people, as princess Nancy Pelosi said. Now there's a woman who surely has the very best of intentions for the American people at heart, right? Yeah, right. Mrs. Pelosi is the most dangerous politician in Washington DC. This old hippie beast has only her own self interests at heart. She cares not one iota about the welfare of her constituents. She only cares for helping to transform this country into a socialistic nirvana, where government is the sole arbitrator of virtually everything.

This old San Francisco hippie does a great dis-service to original old hippies, like myself, that grew up to realize that the individual is the important entity in the world, not the government, not minority groups or any group of any kind. Everything revolves around the individual. And anything that takes away individual choices and puts them in the hands of bureaucrats is inherently wrong and damaging to the structure of America.

There is something I've noticed about progressive politicians lately. Whenever they are about to pass or sign some giant piece of legislation that the public does not want or need, they always preface their actions on the fact that this is good for the American people. I cringe now whenever I hear the phrase "for the American people" coming out of a Democrat's mouth. It truly means that the American people are getting royally screwed and there is nothing we can do to stop it.

Back to the pushin again. The Dems really wanted a public option in this masive health reform bill. They couldn't quite muster enough votes for that right now so they settled for something less. But all the while they are busy thinking how next to push this bill a little further towards that government control. They pass an imperfect cap and trade bill hoping that some little piece of it will stick and they can come back later and push for more. Keep pushin is their mantra. Keep pushin until we are over the cliff. Until it's too late to undo what they've done. Keep pushin for just a little bit more.

They've been doing it to us for nearly a century. And they have been pushin at us from both sides of the aisle, Democrats and Republicans alike. The progressive movement started with Republican president Theodore Roosevelt. It continued through Woodrow Wilson, skipped a decade in the 20s and then started up again with a vengeance with FDR. Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid have pushed it to the limit. How far can they push before we stand tall and push back? How many times will they lead us down the path of self-destruction before we refuse to take it anymore? I can only wonder and grieve because I think most Americans are too tired of this fight and too many of us just simply don't care. Too bad.

This is/was a great country. American exceptionalism aside, I think we have lost the will to keep this country great and have determined that we are just another country after all. Like Europe, we will traverse the long and steady decline into financial oblivion and we will not emerge the better for it. I hope like hell I am wrong. But if we are to choose individualism over governmentalism, we must do so right now. The time for hope and change is upon us. Will you be on the side of Americans as individuals or will you be on the side of group think ceding power over your life to bureaucrats who think they have all the answers?

Keep pushin indeed.

OH

Keep Pushin - REO Speewagon

I used to be lonely
till I learned about livin alone
I found other things to keep my mind on
And I'm gettin to know myself
a little bit better
Whoa, I keep pushin' on
Keep pushin' on, yeah

Goin through all the changes
I made so many mistakes
oh yes I did
Tryin to leave behind the heartaches
And sometimes I think
I was a little bit crazy, oh yeah
Whoa, I keep pushin' on

(chorus)
Keep pushin', keep pushin', keep pushin', keep pushin' on
Keep pushin', keep pushin', you know you have got to be so strong
Keep pushin', keep pushin', well even if you think your strength is gone
Keep pushin' on

(instrumental)

Well it's comin' together
I finally feel like a man
oh yes I do
I never thought that I'd be where I am
Oh everyday I wake a little bit higher
Whoa I keep pushin' on, oh yeah

(chorus)

(instrumental)

(chorus)

Progressing

2010-03-05T20:40:00.000-08:00

Much kudos to Glenn Beck for exposing the strategy behind the Obama administration's rush to "fundamentally transform America". Observing the politics behind the present administration's shotgun approach to governing puts a logical face to the idiotic proposals these people have been blasting the country with for the past year. Didn't he just say in January he was going to concentrate on jobs? Yeah, like he can really create any new jobs. But he's back on health care. And he still talks about cap and trade. And nationalizing the student loan system. After essentially taking over GM and Chrysler and giving much control to the unions and elevating the head of SEIU to one on one talks.

Looking at the health insurance issue, it makes no sense to think that adding 30 million people, Dems numbers, to the health insurance rolls without an increase in doctors or medical staff and cutting payments to doctors under Medicare will actually result in better service at cheaper prices and no type of rationing or additional waiting. There is no logic there. It will necessarily overwhelm the health care system and throw it into complete disarray.

It only makes sense as a strategy if you consider Cloward-Piven. These two were Sociologists at Columbia University in the 1960s. They published an article titled "The Weight of the Poor: A Strategy to End Poverty" in Nation magazine in 1966 in which they suggested that the ideal way to transform America is by overwhelming the welfare system by flooding the welfare rolls until the economics of the situation bankrupt it and forces(allows, screams for) government to completely revamp the system closer to socialistic goals. Obama just thinks it works better when the wealth is spread around for everyone.

They argued that the only way to truly achieve the momentum necessary to essentially destroy capitalism and move to a more socialistic society was to recruit as many people as possible, truly poor or not, into the welfare state until it collapsed. Once a system is in crisis and collapses, it can be remade into the image of the maker. By Cloward and Pivens thinking this means more wealth distribution and a far more important role for the Federal government to manage the day to day affairs of it's citizens. Destroy the system and remake it in order to save it. Kind of sounds like George Bush saying he was interfering in the free market to save it when the government rescued the banks.

Anyone who thinks that Obama is not adhering to this philosophy has not taken the time to truly think things through to their logical conclusion. Our president is a dyed-in-the-wool progressive who thinks he and his like-minded elitist friends have all the right answers to all of the country's problems. We are just too stupid to know that Obama knows best.

He stated that he doesn't know how the politics of pushing the massive health care reform bill into law will play out but he just KNOWS that it is the right thing. Trust him, he has all the answers and we need to just let him work his Obama Magic. Have at it then. Onward to destroying America as we have known it. Just progressing.

But health care is just one of many, many issues and areas that team Obama has assaulted with a vengeance in his effort at complete transformation. This is one scary man. Too smart for his own britches and such a good, convincing liar. Of course, it helps when the mainstream media is fully complicit in your goals and objectives.

I observe this man when he speaks and have noticed that he is a very eloquent and dynamic speaker whenever he is reading from a prepared text. But when he has to answer questions on the spur of the moment, he resorts to stammering and drawing out his sentences, as if he is deeply thinking through his answers. Actually, I think he is thinking through his answers but only because he phrases his responses so that they can be taken in more than one way. He is a big picture guy and details weigh him down.

He is really watching his words because he doesn't want to say what he truly believes. If he did, he would lose many of his followers because what he really wants is to remake America into his image, like Cloward and Piven and "Saul Alinsky, Rules for Radicals", and any good progressive would want. He will say whatever is necessary according to his current audience but his core beliefs are wildly different than what he says. His mental Utopia is far different than he would have you believe.

The "fundamental transformation of America" that they are "progressing towards" is total governmental control over everything. Where the rights of the citizens are granted by and revoked by the government who obviously knows best. They will say anything and they will do anything that makes progress towards that goal. The progressive movement is exactly that, a movement towards social control over our economy, our health, our education(which they may already have), our rights, our jobs, our very existence. They won't get there by revolution, rather they will get there step by step. Little by little it happens as it has happened for a century already. One day, very soon, it may be too late to stop the movement and reverse it.

It all just makes me sick to my stomach!

OH

King Barry

2010-01-28T09:56:00.000-08:00

Wow! I've never heard a sitting president directly criticize members of the Supreme Court about one of their decisions on national television. I was listening to his speech, pretty much what I had expected from the man, when I heard him comment about last week's Supreme Court decision to overturn laws banning corporations from contributing to election campaigns. I immediately raised my head and thought, oh my, now he's dissing the judges. This can't go well.

He stood at his lectern and lectured everyone about his aspirations and grand designs for America. He condemned the Senate multiple times for not heeding the call of history and passing his plans like the House of Representative has done.

He accepted some blame in the failure of health care passage but only insofar as the delivery of the message not the message itself. He still clings to his beliefs that government is the only power that can improve American life. He graciously granted the Congress a reprieve from that fruitless effort but only temporarily. His mission is to create a health care bureaucracy even larger than Social Security or Medicare. This is his main reason for being in the White House, he says, and while it can be delayed, it cannot be left to die a natural death.

He said the same about Cap and Trade or the ridiculous Energy bill that the House sailed through last year. Social initiatives to spend money on which reap very little in return.

I think Mr. Obama thought his job would be a piece of cake considering the overwhelming approval heaped upon him during the campaign and the praise and adulation that the main stream media continues to gush about.

Tom Petty's old song, "It's Good to be King" is running through his head and no one can approach him and spill the beans that the king is wearing no clothes. The signs are there, he refuses to read them as such. He prefers to plunge onward in his fight for...... This is where I get hazy, who does he think he is fighting for and who is he fighting against? I can't tell.

He certainly isn't fighting for freedom, his every idea goes against that notion. He is fighting for his political life, perhaps, but that is not a fight most people want to be a part of. As for who he is fighting against, it is the American people. And I believe that most people by now realize that this is how he is.

His fight is for himself, period. He'll say what he needs to say to appease the public but deep inside he only wants to accomplish his goal of a fundamental transformation of America in his image. An image that, I hope, most Americans will reject with a vengeance.

Bye bye King Barry. It was nice knowing you. Can I say with feeling now, I really miss Bill Clinton.

OH

Job Description

2010-01-25T15:48:00.000-08:00

President Obama once avoided an answer on abortion during the campaign, saying that decision was above his pay grade. Now in an interview with Diane Sawyer of ABC News he stated what his job description is. According to him it is to solve problems and help people. Sounds like he's answering a question in a beauty contest. If that's really what he thinks is his job description, it's no wonder he governs like he does.

For too long our presidents and our congressmen and our senators have been acting as if it is their job description to "help people". If I ascribe any belief to that statement at all, it is only if the meaning of "help people" is to leave us the f... alone! Please and respectfully. We don't want your help!

A president's main job description is to protect, defend and uphold the Constitution. He gives it good lip service but he truly has no respect for what it says. We the people do not need nor want to be treated as subjects or children, being told what we need government to do for us. We just need to be left to our own devices to create and do whatever we do all willy-nilly with no central planning or targeted jobs creation or special handouts. A free market, a free society does not mean it must be manipulated by some governmental entity. It should be just that, free.

I hear Obama say that he just didn't get his message out to the people about health care last year. He said he was just too busy solving other problems and dealing with inherited crises that he couldn't spend enough time telling us about his great plans for us. If only he could explain to us his plans in simpler English, then perhaps we ignorant folks could see the light and the brilliance of his ideas for central government to be the helping hand that we need and just don't know.

I get the image of Garret Morris from the original Saturday Night Live cast in a small window in the corner of the screen doing his version of helping the hearing impaired by holding his hands around his mouth and shouting out everything that was being said by the SNL Newsman.

You see, we the people do not have the vastly superior knowledge of the president and his staff of advisers. So whenever he speaks to us about his plans to "fundamentally transform America", we just can't seem to understand it. He just needs to tell us over and over and sooner or later we will get it. I wrote years before about the 42,600 repetitions in George Orwell's 1984. According to the ruling Party that's how many repetitions it took to equal one truth. So we have a lot of speeches to look forward to, it seems. haha.

What he doesn't seem to understand though, is that most of us do get what he is saying. We totally get it. We just vehemently disagree with every facet of it. And speaking for myself, I will never, ever agree with what he and his fellow progressives are trying to do to this country.

So he can speak and preach and even beg and plead until hell freezes over and he isn't going to convince me that his ideas are worthwhile. It doesn't matter if he repeats his message 426,000 times.

Your job description, Mr. President, is to uphold the Constitution, not to help people. Please try to at the very least "do no harm" for your remaining time in that office. Hell, sit back, relax, play golf, drink beer, shoot hoops, travel the world. Just leave us ordinary Americans alone! We don't need your stinking help! We need you to get out of the way.

My nickel,
OH

Catholics Need not Apply

2010-01-15T08:59:00.000-08:00

Martha Coakley, Democrat candidate for Senator in Massachusetts, bared her idiocy in an interview. When asked about medical workers in an emergency room being able to exercise their right to refuse services that they personally considered morally objectionable, a right granted to everyone in this field, she replied "(……uh, eh…um..) The law says that people are allowed to have that. You can have religious freedom but you probably shouldn’t work in the emergency room."

Brilliant answer! Give this woman her promised, and obviously much deserved, seat in the US Senate. I'm amazed that she said that you can have your religious freedom in the first place, but come on. The woman certainly has thought this out carefully and considered every angle to conclude that you should stay out of the emergency room if you want to exercise your religious freedom.

This is what passes as the Democrats answer to Edward Kennedy. Going from bad to worse.

Massachusetts voters, please stop this idiot from gaining membership in the Senate. Please, please, please stop her!

Just read another article about Martha Coakley and her infinite wisdom. This lady gets better all the time. Apparently she thinks this election is hers and she only needs high level endorsements to claim her seat. I think it is a very bad idea to shun Boston Red Sox fans when trying to become their elected Senator.

I repeat. Stop this idiot from entering the Senate!

OH

The Light of Day

2010-01-14T09:43:00.000-08:00

The President's efforts to bring National Health Care to the American people cannot stand up to the light of day. Period. Mr. Obama and Mr. Reid and Mrs. Pelosi will not admit that but it is a fact nonetheless.

How many times did candidate Obama promise that "his" administration would do business differently? That he would put the Health Care negotiations on C-SPAN so that everyone who wanted could watch and see who was making deals and usher in an era of complete transparency. Campaign rhetoric.

These negotiations have all gone on behind closed, and sometimes, locked doors. Only Democrats have been invited to these closed door meetings and only Democrats know what language is in their bills and how those deals were fashioned. Is this transparency?

What few deals we have learned about are far from common sense and rational. How does Harry Reid promise $300 million in breaks for Louisiana to garner the vote of one Senator? How does Nebraska become exempt from Medicare/Medicaid payments that other states have to meet? Or Florida? I mean really! Deals are always made to get legislation passed but has any piece of legislation ever required so many deals, payoff, tax breaks and exemptions to be passed? Doubtful. This is not "Change you can believe in".

The Democrats own this legislation completely and they seem to be proud of it. Why then won't they allow discussions to be broadcast to a curious public? Why are meeting rooms locked and Republicans excluded from all negotiations? Why do they feel like they have to hide behind 2000 pages of bullshit to force Health Care down our throats?

Why indeed. If the Democrats are so damn transparent, why don't they do these things in the light of day? Government in the sunshine, what a novel idea. But not practical when you're crafting bills that will suck the life out of every business and family in the country. Their only hope is that they can pass this monstrosity before enough public outcry condemns them to the scrap heap of politics.

If this bill is so good for America, why are there so many exemptions given to garner votes? Why are the unions Cadillac Health Insurance Plans treated differently than anyone else's health insurance? Why can't they discuss these things in the light of day?

Pitiful and sickening.

OH

Giving Thanks

2009-11-25T07:00:00.001-08:00

Well, it's Thanksgiving again and I am reflecting on just what I have to be thankful for this year. There are many things that come to mind but one giant negative crowds out everything else from my train of thought; the direction of this "progressive Government". I hate it! Absolutely hate the direction Obama and his cronies are taking this country.

But I digress. Let me give thanks. Venus, my wonderful, kind, intelligent, hard-working, loving mom, teacher and my favorite daughter. Yes, she's my only daughter but I couldn't ask for anyone better than her to call my only daughter. I love you, dear.

My son-in-law and my two grandchildren. They are great and healthy and I am thankful to be their father-in-law and grandfather. I love you.

My very best friend ever, Shannon, who has reawakened in me energy that I thought was lost forever. She keeps me active, she keeps me straight, she keeps me thinking and she keeps me young. I love you, sweetheart.

My most wonderful, loving, loyal dog ever I have known, Luna. She is such a joy to me, a blessing every single day of my life. I don't know how I was so lucky to find this companion but I am eternally grateful for her presence in my life. I love you, Luna Belle.

My family, who is not as close as we used to be since my parents have passed away, but I have learned many things from each and every one of you and I am thankful to have been born into such a good family. I love you all.

My friends. I don't have a lot of friends, I never have. But the people I count as my friends are very special to me and I remain loyal to those of you in my inner circle. Acquaintances are fine, but good friends are so much better. Peter, a special shout out to you, my longest friend and hopefully we will always stay close. I love you all.

My country, the greatest country in the world's history. May we be able to weather this storm of dependence and entitlement the "progressive/liberal movement" has drawn us into and return our government to its rightful place of insuring freedom and liberty for all, not the ridiculous class warfare animosity that is being waged around me constantly, often in the name of political correctness or environmentalism. I love America, but I don't love government.

My health, which I believe I contribute positively to in the actions I take to continue my existence on this planet. Good health should never be taken for granted, I did that for many years during my long my drinking phase, which I regret severely, but have been on a healthy course since kicking that awful, negative habit. I guess I love myself for doing this. :<) But I do owe a deep debt to Jack Crosetti, my former boss and good friend, who pushed me and went with me to AA to start me on the road to recovery. May he rest in peace.

Simple pleasures. They are the best. Good conversation with a good friend. Games. Sports. Gator sports especially. Especially Gator basketball. Travel. Seeing new places and learning about different times, cultures and events in history. Doing this with people I love. Like my daughter and son in law and my two grandkids. Sushi. Freedom. I am a thankful person for all of these things. I love life.

And I am thankful for the timing of my life. Too soon and I would have missed some of the most extraordinary inventions of mankind. Too late and I would quite possibly be living in a socialist or fascist or Marxist country where the state dictates every aspect of one's life. And that's exactly where we are heading with Obama at the helm. Faster than I ever thought possible.

Politics scare me. Politics also intrigue me. I can't stand hearing about all the absurdities going on in Washington, yet I can't stand not knowing about those absurdities. I am constantly amazed at the audacity and ignorance and self-serving interests of elected politicians. They keep pushing and people keep nudging them to push harder and harder to benefit one group or another. And all the while our freedoms disappear one by one. Little by little they chip away at the very essence of our individualism, our country's power and reduce it to meaningless drivel. Inaccurate numbers on an over-priced government web site.

And the people who amaze me the most are the common people who think that socialism can work. Those who believe that government control of our lives somehow fulfills the idealistic, utopian dream of a perfect society. These uninformed people who believe their beloved politician actually cares about you and is doing everything in your interest. How can people not see through these blowhards, spending our money and our kids money and our grandkids money while enhancing their own interests. Power and control. Nothing happens unless it benefits their interests in some way. It must further their goals of power and control and they have the purse strings of the American taxpayer to play with. We have to realize that the level of corruption in DC has greatly exceeded its limits and the trend must be stopped and reversed. They are killing the goose that lays the golden eggs to benefit themselves or their pet group.

The assault Obama and Pelosi and Reid have unleashed on our freedoms were predicted by some and encouraged by many. After such division during the Bush years, the hard left thought they were going to get everything they ever dreamed about. Well, almost. Perhaps the message that Obama declared a few days before the election that he will "fundamentally transform America" is finally sinking in to those who are paying attention. I surely hope so.

I truly hope that masses of people will realize that what is happening in DC is NOT what is in the best interests of this country. I truly hope there is someone out there willing and able to lead the charge back to less government and more individual freedoms. I sincerely hope the fundamental transformation can be stopped before it gets going at a full gallop and it will be too late. I hope the tea party protests continue, I would like to attend another one. I wish the FairTax would get a fair discussion in Congress. I wish enough citizens of this country would wake up and stop the overthrow of our capitalistic system before it's too late.

I truly hope I can continue to give thanks for being born in this country. I truly hope the same will be true for my grandkids and their grandkids after them.

Happy Thanksgiving.

OH

Are you serious?

2009-11-06T09:07:00.000-08:00

Famous words from Queen Nancy Pelosi when asked if government requiring individuals to purchase health insurance was constitutional. That's not even in question. Of course it's constitutional. So she repeated the question "Are you serious twice", then moved on to another questioner.

Ditto for Illinois Senator Roland Burris, Barack Obama's temporary replacement in DC. He beileves the constitution explicity states that the government must provide for the health, general welfare and defense of the US. No question there whether it is constitutional.

When pressed on exactly where in the constitution it gives the government the authority to require individuals to purchase health insurance, many politicians will refer to the Interstate Commerce clause and to the Supreme Court decision of the 1930s that gives the government very broad authority to regulate anything that may be interstate commerce whether it currently is interstate or not. A Supreme Court ruling, no less, not an explicit statement in the constitution.

Most legislators today believe the constitution is outdated, an ancient relic of long forgotten times. Most of these legislators have a 'D' behind their name but there are enough of them with the 'R' behind their name that readily agree. As long as these politicians believe this to be true, we the regular citizenry are doomed.

But just this year there seems to be a change blowing in the wind. It started gently with the Tea Party protest on April 15th. It continued through the town hall meetings in August and reared its head again just yesterday on the grounds of the Capitol building. Ordinary Americans are disgusted with the business of politics in Washington, DC. Finally! Finally!

From my perspective, I think the massive takeover of health care by these power hungry bureaucrats will be stopped. I think the same fate awaits the idiotic Cap and Trade bill that the House so happily passed earlier this summer. Too bad we can't stop the spending of the rest of the ridiculous Stimulus bill. But the gauntlet has been thrown down and we'll see how the elite leaders handle it now.

There never seems to be a question anymore whether something the government wants to do is allowed or not. These holier-than-thou people simply assume that anything they want to do they can do. No questions of authority, they derive all the authority they need just by being elected. Bullshit! How arrogant!

How rude and how demeaning! They talk down to us all the time. They think we don't know how to live our lives, how to spend our money, how to decide what is best for ourselves. They think they alone have the answers and they should and will decide everything we need to know and do without our input. Seriously, we are too stupid to know what's best so we need to leave the decisions to them. Trust them and they will take us into the future.

Trust them? Are you serious?

OH

Government Competition

2009-10-01T08:24:00.000-07:00

One of the main messages Democrats have been sending about a government run option for health insurance is that the private insurance companies need some competition to keep them honest. They feel that a public option for health insurance is the best way to generate more competition and help keep cost manageable. Of course, they completely disregard the fact that there already are more than 1100 insurance companies nationwide that offer health insurance plans. But because of draconian government laws these companies are not permitted to sell their products across state lines and, also because of government mandates, we, as individuals, cannot buy an insurance policy tailored to our individual needs, but must purchase coverage for things that the government says we need. I don't see how one more government plan introduces competition in the first place but I'll disregard that sentiment for now.

I want to shift to education for a moment and follow the Democrats logic, if that is possible. For years there has been an effort to introduce competition in education by increasing Charter Schools, home-schooling and private schools. Almost all of these efforts have been thwarted by Democrats, led by the Teacher's Unions, because they feel school choice is too important to be left up to individuals. They believe that government run education is the only way to go and they are afraid that introducing competition to government run schools will be bad for our children.

Where is their spirit of competition on this issue? If competition is so good for insurance companies, why isn't competition also good for education? The answer, of course, is that it isn't competition from the government, it is competition to the government. These same elitists, union members and control freaks heartily believe that only the federal government can manage education and insurance properly. The attitude, as expressed once by Hillary Clinton, is that we can't have people in this country going around making decisions for themselves all willy-nilly. I love that term, by the way.

But how did this country become the great leader in almost every area of life? By individuals going around making decisions all willy-nilly, of course. Government thinks it has all of the answers but truthfully government has no answers except for increasing the role of government. All decisions are made by individuals. All of government's money comes from individuals. All of government's power comes from individuals. Government is not the solution.

The truth would become obvious to everyone if pure school choice were allowed and if pure insurance choices were allowed. Government makes things cost more and run less efficiently. Always. No if, and or buts about it. government will screw up anything it tries to manage, and the only way to protect government's, and unions, interest in schools is to force people to use these schools. This gives them control of the educational process and allows them to teach us what they feel we should be taught.

By creating a government option for health insurance, they would then be able to control all facets of the health care industry. Individual choice be damned. Government knows that most people really don't want to be bothered with these things and if they can only manage to sneak this lunatic idea past those of us who are paying close attention, then they will be able to control our very lives as well as our education.

Make no mistake about it, this fight is not about health care, it is about control. Government wants to control us, our very lives on a daily basis. They want to guide our actions and they want to eliminate individual thought inn the process. We should become good members of state because the State knows best. After all, do you ever see Congress going around making decisions all willy-nilly?

Oh, I am funny sometimes.

OH

Trust Him Not

2009-09-22T09:05:00.000-07:00

President Obama's Green Jobs Czar, Van Jones, resigned after he was exposed as, at least he used to be, a self-avowed Communist and a 9/11 Truther. While resigning his office he claimed he was a victim of a smear campaign by the right wing. Funny, all I ever saw was him speaking in his own words claiming that white people sent poison to the poor black and Hispanic neighborhoods. No one rearranged any of his statements or took them out of context. No smear campaign to be found anywhere.

President Obama's Information and Regulatory Affairs Czar, Cass Sundstein, has stated his opinion that animals should have the right to sue in court. I can't think of anything to respond to that! He also believes hunting should be banned.

President Obama's new FCC Diversity Czar, Mark Lloyd, has stated his dismay at the US past actions of thwarting Hugo Chavez in his attempts to take over the media in Venezuela and continue his socialistic takeover of that country. He also has railed against the imbalance of opinion on the evil "talk radio".

President Obama and Secretary of State Clinton have expressed their support for ousted Honduras leader, Manuel Zelaya, without regard for the Honduras Constitution which states that no person may change their Constitution to allow themselves to be president more than one elected term. The Honduran Supreme Court ordered his arrest on June 28, 2009. After all, what is a Constitution anyway? Just something else to be ignored when it does not fit your aims.

President Obama canceled the proposed missile shield in Eastern Europe for purposes of defense of Poland and The Czech Republic, among other countries, on the very anniversary of Russia's 70th anniversary of their invasion of Poland leading up to World War II. Such timing is inexcusable and par for the course for this administration.

Candidate Obama promised that he would not raise taxes on Americans earning less than $250,000 even by one dime. That's the same dime he promised would cause him to veto any National Health Care reform bill, if that dime spent was more than the Health Bill budgeted. One of his and Congress' first acts was to raise the federal taxes on cigarettes, which disproportionally affect people earning less than $250,000 a year. This Health Care fiasco has the potential to raise everyone's taxes by much more than one dime.

President Obama went on the Sunday news programs and stated that forcing every American to buy Health Insurance or face penalties from the Federal Government can not be called a tax. He even made fun of George Stephanopoulis for resorting to his dictionary to look up the definition of "tax", a sum of money demanded by a government for its support or for specific facilities or services, levied upon incomes, property, sales, etc. Sure sounds like a tax to me. Do you think Americans will silently allow the government to force them to buy health insurance. Does anyone in Washington ever even think about the Constitution anymore?

The House of Representatives passd an energy bill this summer, the Waxman-Markey Energy Bill aka, Cap and Trade, which is the government's misguided attempt to play in the global warming arena. This ridiculous attempt to control business through the use of energy will cost Americans plenty of money. Does President Obama think this qualifies as a tax?

President Obama also told George Stephanopoulis that the ACORN mess is not something he has followed closely. He says he wasn't aware that ACORN even got much federal funding. Seriously? Obama was weaned by ACORN. He was their lawyer. He worked for their Project Vote Campaign. He was a proud community organizer for ACORN before he got involved in politics. He told ACORN folks that they would have a seat at the table in his administration so that he could use their ideas in setting his agenda. President Obama has a short and convenient memory.

President Obama once stated that he wasn't interested in probing the previous administration and their efforts to fight terrorism in regards to potential abuses of terrorists housed at Guatanamo. He was actually against the investigation before he was for it, because now he has decided to let Attorney General, Eric Holder, go ahead and appoint a special prosecutor to look into possible CIA abuse. Even after seven prior CIA directors sent him a letter asking him to stop the investigation, he says he backs Holder's decision.

President Obama said shortly before the November election that we are five days away from fundamentally transforming the United States of America. Well, this is one promise that he didn't shy away from. He is certainly hell-bent on fundamentally transforming America. But what that fundamental change is doing to this country is something I would rather not be a part of in any way, shape or form.

President Obama, I trust you not!

OH

All the News That's Fit to Ignore

2009-09-09T09:28:00.000-07:00

Hooray for the New York Times. You have become completely irrelevant to all Americans. You have been traveling in that direction for quite some time now but you have reached your goal. Congratulations. It's been good knowing you.

The one most trusted news organization in the United States that has forever been the leader in bringing us information and truth about our government, no matter how ugly that truth may be, has abdicated it's journalistic integrity to completely ignore a story about an unwholesome entity's intrusion into the corridors of the White House.

Have you heard the name Van Jones lately? Not if you read the NY Times, you haven't. Van Jones was Obama's appointed czar of Green Jobs. Green Jobs. Criminey! What a job! Van Jones is a self-avowed Communist. Self-avowed means he readily admits it. He really believes in Communism.

I have said many times before that the environmental movement started in the 60s and 70s was a victim of their own success. They managed to awaken Americans to the problem , we acted quickly and started cleaning things up. They were stunned, I believe, at the quickness of their success. And that got others thinking about the environmental movement in different ways.

Green on the outside and red on the inside. Watermelons. Environmentalists became the front for the Communist movement inside of America. How can anyone argue against the environment? Makes perfect cover for their nefarious ideas about infiltrating government. Communists had long ago predicted that America will be taken without a shot, from within. It is happening now.

And it worked! It worked so well, one of them made it inside the White house with a platform any environmentalist, or communist, would envy. Until Glenn Beck did a little research. And brought his findings to his viewers. And other media pundits started paying attention and doing their own investigations, thanks Michelle Malkin, and finding out about this man in a seemingly innocuous job who holds some very radical views indeed.

9/11 Truther? Wow. In our government. With the ear of the most powerful single person on the planet. Stunning.

However, not really as stunning as the main stream media's complete ignorance of the matter. Led by the NY Times, none of the MSM, ABC, CBS, NBC, whatever, Washington Post. No one even so much as hinted at the controversy surrounding one of Obama's appointments. Not until he went so far as to resign. Hard to ignore it then, but gimme a break.

Where have you gone Joe DiMaggio? Used to be a respected paper, known for quality journalism. Add this omission as another nail in the coffin of the newspaper who once bravely owned up to it's tag line, now it simply ignores it.

OH

Are You Ready for Some Football?

2009-09-05T08:08:00.000-07:00

I am. College Football, that is. It's useless to try and fight it. I can't fight this feeling any longer. I live in the land of the Florida Gators and have for the past 24 years. I did resist the College Football euphoria that engulfs this area every fall for maybe 2 years. But I couldn't fight it anymore. The feelings are just too strong to ignore forever.

So I became a loyal Gator fan somewhere around 1987. The performance of Emmitt Smith had something to do with that at the time. He was incredible. And I also became a fan of the lowly basketball team in the days of Vernon Maxwell and Andrew Moten, the M and M boys. Good stuff.

You see, I had always been a Major League Baseball and NBA fan. More accurately, a St. Louis Cardinals and Boston Celtics fan. Big time. I never looked at College sports. I was not interested in that level of play. I had a brief interest in the NFL, notably the San Diego Chargers when I lived in San Diego that centered mostly on quarterback Dan Fouts., a great passing quarterback. But I rarely ever paid any attention to any College level sports.

But I succumbed in 1987, with the constant exposure to a well-loved local College team. And I love it. Thankfully I still have much interest in the Cardinals, so the summertime still gives me a reason to be passionate about sports. That ties me over until school is back in session and football begins again.

And that day is today. Coming off of a National Championship season last year, their 2nd in 3 seasons, with the entire starting defense returning and the always potent offense headed by a Hesiman winner in Tim Tebow, I have heard it said that Superman wears Tim Tebow pajamas, the excitement for an undefeated season and a repeat Championship is high as it has ever been.

Gainesville is an exciting place in the fall. A magical place where you can feel the excitement in the air vibrating with anticipation at the next game. For those who do not enjoy sports of any kind, this is not the place to be. But for those who do, it is like heaven on earth.

Yeah, I know, college towns are liberal bastions of thought. This is true. I can't stand the politics in Alachua County. I see stupidity and lack of reason everyday and everywhere, but all of that is canceled out by the enjoyment of rugged competition of the nation's best athletes. It's just a game but it is the best way I know of letting it all go by taking a break from the tedium and stress of everyday life and simply rooting for my favorite team in my favorite sports. It's somewhat cathartic, and I like it.

These four months pass by so quickly and before you know it, it will be Christmas. But it will be an exciting four months with lots of ups and downs. It always is.

So come on, Hank. I am Ready for Some Football!

Let's play!

OH.

Who's the Boss?

2009-08-28T07:15:00.000-07:00

I thought after last year's successful campaign by Barack Obama that we would see a real change in a leader taking control of his situation, setting his agenda and pushing his priorities through Congress. What I have seen is a leader abdicating his leadership role to Nancy Pelosi, taking his agenda from Rahm Emanuel and pushing his priorities to the people as if he were still on the campaign trail.

Give it up Barack! You won the damn election so get off your campaign horse and start acting like a leader instead of a campaigner. You thought this was going to be easy, didn't you? You thought that Americans were in love with you and anything you even mentioned would be grasped by someone in your party and taken to completion with no guidance or forethought by you required. You couldn't have been more wrong.

How arrogant you have been in your rush to criticize everything Bush and most things American. You have gone on a worldwide apology tour for America which enabled you to pray for forgiveness for George Bush's numerous sins against the world. And the world loved seeing you apologize. And your sycophant followers in America loved your apologies as well. All was seeming right with the world again, according to the liberal mantras.

You squandered your good will immediately once you got in office by pushing a massive, ridiculous stimulus/porkulus bill that has stimulated nothing but Democrats demands for more pork and more government spending. You massive omnibus spending bill, the leftover task from last year's do-nothing Congress only served to further your party's desire for more power, more control, more spending, more government influence more of the same old shit we always get from politicians bent on making a name for themselves. And you followed that up quickly with the largest budget in US history including the largest single year deficit and you and your fellow Democrats patted each other on the back for ramming these things through Congress in record time.

I have been trying to decide if you are really an intelligent, thinking person who truly believes big government is the answer or if you simply like having the adulation and praise heaped upon you to mollify your tremendous ego. Either way you are proving to be an extremely ineffective leader of the free world and a disappointment to more and more people everyday.

It's a shame. I didn't vote for you, never would, but I always have hopes that a new president may actually prove to be more than what he seems. Someone who understands that once in office, the job becomes leaading with a rational mind and specific plan and methods of achieving your goals. I believe the only true agenda you believe in comes from the Rules for Radicals that your hero Saul Alinsky became so famous for. It's really a shame.

You have a limited time in office to accomplish your goals but you refuse to be straight with the American people about just what exactly those goals are. Because you know deep inside that your goals are not really the goals of the vast majority of the American people. Your goals are formed and hidden from the public because you know that if we knew your true intentions, there would be no f...ing way in hell you could accomplish them.

I wish you NO success in your agenda. I have NO desire to live in a socialized country. I have NO faith that you will wake up and realize you have been wrong. I have NO love for a president that thinks spreading the wealth around works better for everyone. I have NO doubt that America will be a worse place to live 4 years from now. I have NO idea how long we can endure the idiocy and scatterbrained approach to governing we have been seeing this year.

I do, however, believe that enough Americans loyal to the true spirit of a Constitutional Republic and what it means will rise up and present enough roadblocks to stop the mad rush to government health care intrusion and the idiocy referred to as Cap and Trade. I believe this will be stopped this time. But I fear we cannot stop it forever. Each generation coming up becomes more and more accustomed to government involvement in their lives and each generation seems to want and demand more of it. The tipping point is sure to happen sometime.

I only desire to outrun it.

OH

Spaghetti Fight or Can of Worms

2009-08-12T08:00:00.000-07:00

Mark Steyn wrote a piece for The National Review which encapsulates my thoughts perfectly concerning the Obama agenda for passing health care reform. He states:

It doesn’t matter what form of governmentalized health care gets passed as long as it passes. Once it’s in place, it will be “reformed”, endlessly, but it will never be undone. Same with a lot of the other stuff: Keep throwing the spaghetti at the wall. The Republicans may pick off the odd strand but, if you keep it coming fast enough, by the end of Obama’s first year the wall will be a great writhing mass of pasta entwined like copulating anacondas in some jungle simulacrum of Hef’s grotto. And that’s a good image of how government will slither into every corner of your life: You can try and pull one of those spaghetti strings out but it’ll be all tied up with a hundred others and you’ll never untangle them.

Steyn hits the nail on the head with this analysis, which can be read in full by following the link. Keep throwing the shit out there in different directions and different subjects faster than the news cycles can keep up and sooner or later something has to stick. The Dearest Leader managed to ram through the Stimulus Bill, the Omnibus Spending Bill and a vastly inflated Budget Bill fast enough score points with his progressive followers but later efforts to do the same with Health Care and Cap and Trade have hit snags.

So now I hear that Obama is planning on tackling Immigration Reform this year and "strengthening", not reforming, Social Security next year. Wonderful. This man sometimes acts like he's hopped up on Ritalin or something. He goes off on diversions like interjecting himself between a local police department and a friend of his simply because he is a black man and he really knows what it's like to be treated differently and he feels like he is a master of race relations. He alluded to this disturbing event between a white policeman and a black professor as a teachable moment for improving race relations and he is just the man to do the teaching. He has all of the answers, just ask him if you don't believe that.

I saw the policeman/professor incident as a "class" issue not a racial one. Not every incident between two people of different races is about the difference in race. Obama, being the great knower of race relations, sees everything this way. Kind of like a hammer that sees every problem as a nail, Obama sees every problem as a racial one. And he can fix it. Yes, he can. Can't we all just get along?

Just recently Obama was trying to play up his plans for health care and was upset about the opposition to his plans. He declared that he wanted the people that got us into this mess to get out of the way and not do a lot of talking. So, just sit down and shut up and let me run the country the way I want. You lost, I won. Get over it! The great Community Organizer has turned against community organizing? Only because these organizers have a different point of view than he has! Dissent is bad when it is happening to you, huh.

Hell of a thing for the president to say. Hell of a way for the president to believe that any American citizen should simply shut up and let him have his way because he won. Crikey! This is still America and his view is no more or less important, or right, than anyone else's. The only difference is that he has the bully pulpit to preach and admonish and shame and teach. And he obviously knows way more than us ordinary citizens, so we should put our trust in him and he will lead us to the promised land. Believe in Me and I will show you the Way. F... NO!

So I continue to watch bewildered and befuddled at the amazing indifference of our DC elites to the role of government in general, and to the people whose views differ from theirs, in particular. Have the Republicans learned enough from this man and from the reactions of those against his ideas to remake themselves into a party that can be trusted to do the "right", constitutional things if they manage to regain any power? I surely hope so but I won't hold my breath.

I have a Murphy's Law poster in my office that has hung there for about 22 years. I refer to it's many sayings frequently, they are often so very true. One of my favorite lines is this: "Once you open a can of worms, the only way to recan them is to use a bigger can." Obama has opened up a big can of worms with his shotgun approach to governance. I believe this to be a part of his plan, because once the can is open and the worms start crawling around, you have to at a very minimum go get that bigger can. Read the can as "government".

So whether the analogy is spaghetti or worms, it is all very slippery, slimy, sticky stuff that is hard to contain easily. Some of the spaghetti sticks to the wall and some of the worms slither away to cause trouble somewhere else.

In closing I'll refer to a line from a song from the classic Pink Floyd Album, "The Wall". "And the worms ate into his brain." Waiting for the worms.

OH

Same Old Song and Dance

2009-07-27T11:50:00.000-07:00

Amazingly enough another politician has opened his mouth and stuck his foot deeply inside. This time the prize goes to John Conyers, Democrat Congressman from Michigan. He stated "What good is reading the bill if it’s a thousand pages and you don’t have two days and two lawyers to find out what it means after you read the bill?”

Such a brilliant statement by one of our elected officials tasked with deciding whether or not to pass the National Health Care Bill. He wonders why on earth anyone would actually read something important that they are attaching their signature to?

I hardly even know how to respond to that line of idiocy. I suppose he just signs anything and everything placed in front of him? Is this man for real? Are we supposed to be as naive as him to believe that whatever happens to be included in this bill, however it is worded and whatever the actual details are (many of which will not be filled in until much later) is good and proper and desirable and legal and if not, well we can always fix it later?

Disastrous and incredibly arrogant and elitist. If you, Mr. John Conyers, cannot be bothered to actually read every single bill that you vote for or against, then perhaps you should look for a job in another profession. You obviously cannot handle the detailed, precision work involved in passing legislation. Perhaps Government Motors has a job you can handle better.

It seems to me to be a very common theme amongst our Federal legislators these days. Hurry up and pass something and work out the details later. Everyone knows the devil himself is in those very details, so who really has an interest in exposing him? Just get the damned thing passed, signed and into law, then we'll discuss it. Wonderful logic.

I'm wondering, if John Conyers thinks it does no good to read a bill that's 1000 pages long unless you have a lawyer and two days to figure it out, why should the American people think this is such a good idea. Didn't Congress just pass a law directing the Credit Card Companies to make their terms and agreements easy to understand and posted prominently on the web for anyone to access?

Why, yes they did do just that very thing last month. It's standard procedure for Washington to tell everyone else how they should act and run their business but always, always exempting themselves. Shouldn't this Health Care Bill be simple enough for the ordinary citizen to understand? After all, the ordinary citizen is who will have to abide by the rules.

And how damn long does it take to type something up and put a link to it on a web site so that anyone could read what's in it. I guarantee anyone that there are many, many ordinary citizens that would take the time to read and understand everything in this bill if it were made easily available to them, as was once promised by both the President and Congress. And they would not be hesitant to report what they learn on every facet of this complicated, bloated monstrosity.

The very reason they do not read large bills and do not make them available for others to read is because they know these bills will not stand under the scrutiny of their details. They practice deception while preaching transparency.

Same old song and dance.

OH

Czars Galore

2009-07-01T17:21:00.000-07:00

czar - noun

1.	an emperor or king.

2.	(often initial capital letter) the former emperor of Russia.

3.	an autocratic ruler or leader.

4.	any person exercising great authority or power in a particular field: a czar of industry.

Obviously the term "czar" in the United States fits definition 4 above and I would like to know just how many czars is enough for this new, transparent president? We may never know because he keeps creating new ones all the time.

It seems to me that creating a position of czar of anything is simply a left-handed attempt to circumvent the Constitutional duties of the president and Congress. There is not one czar position whose authority did not already fall under a constitutional or congressional mandated department in the first place. It just smacks of a president usurping powers from where they currently reside so that he who rules from the White House can exert greater control without getting it from the Constitution or Congress.

Our government is not supposed to work this way. I never liked the idea of a drug czar since the official appointment of a drug czar in the late 60s or early 70s. It seems Richard Nixon coined the phrase "War on Drugs" in 1969 and what better time to create a czar than to handle this idiotic, useless "War". Nixon felt emboldened to create this term since Lyndon Johnson coined the phrase "War on Poverty" to gin up support for his incredibly naive "Great Society".

I see no point in creating more bureaucracy and pushing our country closer and closer to socialism or fascism or communism or statism or marxism or whatever term trips your trigger. America is a Capitalistic country and needs to stay that way. No country has ever created more wealth and knowledge and good than this country foistered by a climate of free enterprise and hard work. Why are we trying to change that?

Here a czar, there a czar, everywhere a czar czar. Hey, that's what we need now, a "czar czar". Someone needs to control and oversee all the other czars. God knows Obama doesn't have the time to do so. I wait patiently for that announcement.

Will the 4th Estate in this country ever wake up and stand up for our Constitution? Doubtful, in the near future anyway. Maybe Obama needs to appoint a Media Czar to oversee what is being reported on in this country and take control of information. I wonder how the media would react if their chosen one did something like that? Perhaps then they would wake up and start to question authority instead of abetting it. Or would they cower in fear of their signal caller?

I am sometimes a dreamer, I know. But I'm not the only one. John Lennon roll over in your grave. I just used one of your lines but not in the way you meant it.

OK, how about Dream On, sing for the years, sing for the laughter, sing for the tears. Sing with me, if it's just for today, maybe tomorrow the good Lord will take you away. Sorry, Aerosmith.

Alright, I'm just getting kinda punchy right now. I've been working long hours and lots of days and I'm really, really tired. I'm so Tired, I haven't slept a wink. Oops. Slipped into a Beatles tune. Sorry.

I'm going to quit now. Hey Peter, do you like this one? Leave a comment.

Bye Bye Love. Was that a song by the Cars or the car czar? Lol.

TTFN,
OH.

A Vote for Iran

2009-06-20T18:21:00.000-07:00

I've been watching the videos from Iran the past few days and have been amazed at these people. Good for them. Standing up to an oppressive government and speaking their minds. You gotta love the way they get out the news through Twitter and YouTube. The Ayatollahs are finding out it's much harder to control the means of communication these days. Hooray for the Internet.

I wish the Iranian people well. I hope they make their voices heard and their wills known. And I hope they make Iran a better place to live and a peaceful society and throw off the chains of oppression and discover true freedom.

I think it's a shame that we here in the Land of the Free seem to take our freedoms and liberties for granted all too often. We seem to give up our rights and responsibilities all too easily. We almost beg our own government to take care of us in exchange for security and stability. Whatever happened to the spirit of the average American, pulling himself up by his bootstraps and working hard to hopefully enjoy the good feelings of a successful life? Instead we scream for the government to help us through the economic crisis, to provide for our retirement and our health care, to educate our children, to rob Peter to pay Paul to give us what we want now.

Too bad we've lost our way. Too bad for the Americans growing up today. Too bad for my daughter and grandkids. We've mortgaged our future to ease a little pain. We've robbed Peter and Paul is still screaming for more. What's the next step in this downward spiral?

I suggest we focus our attention on the citizens of Iran for a time and watch how people who have had very little freedom and few liberties behave when they've had enough of being told what is good for them by someone who cares not at all about how they truly feel. Perhaps we can learn some lessons on how to fight for your rights.

My nickel,
OH

Right, Privilege or Responsibility

2009-06-01T11:52:00.000-07:00

I'm talking about health care in America. Is health care a right, a privilege or a responsibility? The answer to this one question tells me a whole heck of a lot about you and your belief system.

Right, "noun":
that which is due to anyone by just claim, legal guarantees, moral principles, etc..

Privilege, "noun":
a grant to an individual, corporation, etc., of a special right or immunity, under certain conditions.

Responsibility, "noun":
Something for which one is responsible; a duty, obligation, or burden.

So now that the definitions are listed, which answer is the right one for you?

President Obama and many other politicians believe it is a right of every American to have accessible, affordable health care, regardless of the circumstances. I just want to know how one person can have the right to to take my income, through the form of taxes, to pay for their medical bills.

My neighbor could never legally or morally come to me directly and force me to pay for his hospital or doctor bill. His accepting medical care is his responsibility to pay for it but not by using my money. So how could health care for everyone regardless of circumstances possibly be anyone's right at all?

In other societies not built on the laws of a republic there are privileged classes where health care is probably truly a privilege. It doesn't work that way here. You do not need to be of a certain class or group or status in society to receive health care. Medicine is not only for the privileged in America, never has been. Anyone can walk into any hospital and receive emergency medical attention.

In this country health care is a responsibility. In fact, it is a responsibility in every country but some governments have taken on that responsibility. Some socialized countries have established a social fabric of health care aided, supported or managed by their governments because their citizens had determined that health care is a right. Those countries provide medical care "for free". But there is nothing that is "free" in the sense that there is a cost associated with everything. If you do not pay for it, someone else is. And I believe that if you use medical services, then you are the responsible party to pay for it. Not your neighbor.

It really is that simple to me. Health care is a responsibility period. You cannot demand that someone use their time and training to provide you with care if you do not intend to pay for it. Begging the government to take the "responsibility" for health care will not fix anyone's problems. You need to take that task upon yourself.

What, do you think the government should pay for everyone's life insurance, or car insurance or home owner's insurance? What about food. Surely no one can survive very long without food. Should the government be responsible for filling everyone's bellies to their satisfaction? Why not? If we want them to pay for our right to health care than surely we should have them paying for our right to food. Why is it any different?

We have already established too many entitlements in this country. Too much government doing too much private business. Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid already the monster programs stretching out for decades and no way to pay for any of it. What is the point in adding another entitlement that will turn into another huge program and generate more incredible deficits? To give the people what they want? Phooey!

If people were smart enough to realize that politicians will tell you whatever you want to hear, perhaps there would be no need to worry about ever passing something as ridiculously stupid as national health care. But most people are not only stupid, they actually believe politicians when they are telling them something they want to believe. This program will be different. This time we will get it right.

Sure! And I have a bridge for sale in Brooklyn.

OH

Pot, Meet the Kettle

2009-05-22T17:18:00.000-07:00

I love this little old saying. It tickles me when I see something that fits the description. In this case, the pot is the President and the Congress, while the kettle is the Credit Card Companies.

Congress just passed, and the president will soon sign a bill aimed at the credit card companies imposing more stringent regulations upon them in conducting their business. Among these regulations is the mandate that their rules and contractual agreements be written in plain English that the ordinary American can understand.

Hello! Have you looked at the Internal Revenue Service code? Have you ever read the massive amounts of paragraphs and pages detailing the requirements of compliance with these codes? Have you ever filed your own income tax and read the instructions?

I rest my case!

Enact the FairTax.

OH

Hell in a Bucket

2009-05-21T12:54:00.001-07:00

My apologies to The Grateful Dead for stealing one of their song titles, but it seems to fit so aptly because that is where I see US going. But the similarity stops there because the next line of the song is "at least I'm enjoying the ride". I can't say that I or anyone who believes in Capitalism and free market economics is enjoying this ride at all.

But I suppose there are a great many Obama supporters that are truly enjoying this ride to the max. PrezBo shouts out so many orders from DC so rapidly that it feels like shotgun blasts being sent around the country continuously. Conservatives try desperately to knock down the pellets being fired but there are far too many of them to stop them all and far too few willing to try, at least so far.

Close Guatanamo. Pass $787 billion stimulus bill, which was little more than many democratic pipe dreams being fulfilled, far too little stimulus of any kind. He's going to veto legislation with earmarks, yet he signs an omnibus spending bill filled with ridiculous earmarks and states that he will start next year. Yeah, right.

Propose a $3.5 trillion budget which will increase our federal deficit more than all of the previous 43 presidents combined. Then he goes out and preaches that we need to exercise fiscal restraint and these budget deficits are unsustainable. Duh! You just said two completely opposite things again. No problem, though, because your media will cover these things up for you.

Ask a perfectly willing Congress for $634 billion for National Health Care without so much as an idea of what that means or how this money will be spent. He'll figure that out later, damn the details. Just do it!

Hurry up and enact Cap and Trade, like a bait and switch, because we need to stop global warming. Does the proposal for reducing carbon output actually have merit, will it actually make a difference in global temperature. The Heritage Foundation says no, but what does that matter. Environmentalist/liberals want it, it shall be done. We'll figure out the science later, after we start collecting billions of windfall profits from private business to fund some of our socialist programs. And Al Gore finally retires a billionaire.

Ignore the elephants in the room, Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security. $100 trillion in future unfunded liabilities in these programs? So what. We'll figure out how to deal with that later. Just pass the damn health care and cap and trade and shut up about it. I know what I'm doing. The audacity of elitism.

Support Chrysler with tax money until they are on the brink of bankruptcy and then take over the company while letting General Motors witness what is in store for them shortly. Fire the CEO of GM and install someone who will listen to the gubmint, dammit! Stop Chrysler from going into bankruptcy, saving them from that awful fate and then turn the normal process for dissolving or reorganizing a company on its head by allowing the unions 55% ownership in the company, give the rest to a foreign company, Fiat, and refuse to pay the secured creditors all of the money that was once guaranteed to them and then demonize those groups that refused to go along with the deal as greedy speculators. Groups such as teacher's and police's pension funds.

Enact an "income tax cut" for 95% of American taxpayers, while not acknowledging the fact that barely more than half or so of income earners are actually taxpayers at all. How is a tax credit the same thing as a tax cut. It's not, it's welfare. But he is not a socialist. God forbid you call him one. If it looks like a duck, quacks like a duck and walks like a duck, it's a chicken. That's what Obama would like us to believe.

State that you will not raise taxes on anyone earning less than $250,000 a year and then immediately raise cigarette taxes and announce plans to to raise the miles per gallon requirements on US cars and begin plans for a massive energy tax, disguised as protecting the environment, both of which which will raise the price of cars, gasoline, electricity, virtually everything for everybody.

He says he doesn't want to run banks yet he takes control of the banks, for the good of the economy. He says he doesn't want to run car companies yet he takes over car companies for the good of the economy. He says he's not a socialist, but you know what, he plays one in real life. What, are we stupid? I believe the answer to that is a resounding YES.

And that is the real problem with this administration. He knows we're stupid. He depends on us being stupid. Most Americans are stupid or, at the very least, ignorant. He was voted into office not because of what he believes but because of the intense hatred of his predecessor.

People, most people, don't take the time or don't have the time to stay tuned into the facts of what goes on in Washington on a daily basis. And that is the purpose of the constant shotgun blasts he sends out so often. Fire enough BS and see how much can get passed before the public wakes up. Ignorance and stupidity are Obama's friends. And the Fourth Estate is all too wiling to sing his praises instead of doing their duty and exposing all the facts objectively.

Most people do not pay attention to politics in DC because it is so far removed from them. More people pay attention to politics or government machinations at the local level. This is how our framework of government was designed to operate. Decisions should be made at the closest level to the people. City, county, state and at the very bottom, the feds. Federal government should be challenged by states for their encroachment into the state's constitutional duties. We would all be better informed if more power were left at the more local level and less power be usurped by the federal level. We have turned this model upside down and it no longer functions within the bounds of the Constitution or even Common Sense.

But getting back to our current president, we see his face on TV far too often. He speaks on too many subjects and he looks and sounds like he is still on the campaign trail, peddling his rhetoric and hawking his wares and spending far too much time in the spotlight. He is betting on the ignorance and stupidity of the people with the help of the adoring media to pass as much of his socialistic/marxist agenda as possible while he still has most people fooled.

God help us. We may be going to hell in a bucket and I do not enjoy this ride.

OH

TEA Time in America

2009-04-16T08:58:00.000-07:00

WOW! Could it really be possible that a majority of Americans are finally waking up and realizing how oppressive our federal government has become? Nothing could make me happier.

I attended the Gainesville TEA Party yesterday afternoon and was impressed at the turnout for liberty in this liberal bastion of Alachua County. I estimated about 500 people there at 5:00 which doesn't sound like a lot of people but, for a weekday afternoon in Gainesville, this was fantastic.

People actually do care about freedom in this country still. Sometimes I have my doubts because all we are told by the imperial federal government and the mainstream media is that government is there to help us. That government is the only resource that can pull us out of our financial downward spiral. Often times I feel little hope for this republic because it seems like so many people really only want whatever they can get out of the government. Don't people realize that the government put us in this financial position by meddling in the free market to begin with?

It seems like so many, many years ago that John Kennedy implored Americans to ask not what your country can do for you but to ask what you can do for your country. Attitudes have changed so much since then that too many people are no longer asking the government to do something for them, but rather they are demanding that it be done. That attitude needs to change if we are to continue to be a free country.

Now if your desire is to be governed by an all-knowing, all-seeing, beneficient group of political pretenders, then you should be very satisfied with the man in the White House and his syncophants Pelosi and Reid on Capitol Hill and what they have been doing.

But if you believe that you are the owner of yourself and your life and your property, then you must be scared shitless about the recent direction of our government. It looks like Texas governor, Rick Perry, has the right idea. Texas has sent a resolution to the federal government asking them to stay out of the state's business and get back to following the Constitution as it was written.

The Tenth Amendment states very plainly that all powers not SPECIFICALLY enumerated in the constitution to the federal government shall be reserved to the states or to the people. That is certainly not the way it has been working for many, many years. Federal laws are written so as to force states to comply with them under penalty. They have no right in the Constitution to do that. Yet they do that all the time and nobody seems to care that it isn't constitutional anymore.

Until the TEA parties began. Thank you Rick Santelli for your rant at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange in February. You are a true patriot. TEA, which stands for Taxed Enough Already, is a grassroots movement that hopefully will outlive tax day protests. We need to take drastic action to stop the growth of our government while we still can. We are very close to having 50% of the population paying no taxes and once that threshhold is passed, hope may be lost to reverse the trend.

I love this country. I wouldn't live anywhere else. But the direction we are steering will destroy our ideals and our form of government completely. We the people must exercise our rights and shout out common sense to all the idiots that can't see past their socialistl bias.

There is still hope. And as the FairTax supporters signs read yesterday, Mr. Obama, give me liberty and you can keep the change!

OH

Few men desire Liberty

2009-04-01T08:05:00.000-07:00

Few men desire liberty; most men wish only for a just master.
Gaius Sallustius Crispus, generally known simply as Sallust, (86-34 BC), a Roman historian

I first heard this quote about 10 years ago and it has puzzled me ever since. Could it be true that most men truly wish to be ruled by someone else? It sounds absurd to me. I have never felt this way. How is it that a rational-thinking person could want to be controlled by someone other than himself? Why would an adult not want to make his own decisions and guide his own life based on what he/she thinks is best for themselves?

This idea demotes people to positions of servitude in exchange for lack of personal responsibility. AHA! Perhaps that's the ticket. That sounds like an entitlement attitude, you have the power, you give me what I need and you take responsibility for whatever goes wrong. Me, I'm just a small piece of this puzzle and I cannot be expected to govern myself.

Liberty requires responsibility. To be free you must accept the responsibility for yourself and your actions. If you make a mistake, you must endure the consequences of that mistake. If you make a great decision, you can reap the rewards for that decision. It's not rocket science to understand this.

And therein lies the real issue, I suspect. Not many people have a problem accepting rewards for good decision-making. Everyone likes a pat on the back or a bonus check or public praise for doing a job well. Not many are as accepting of criticism or negative feedback for doing a job poorly. Criticism affects their feelings of self-esteem, which liberals know is the wrong way to treat people. Everyone is a winner and winning raises everyone's esteem and there are no losers in our utopian, progressive world.

Does this indicate a weak person? Or a weak society? Perhaps so. I remember times during my childhood years when I felt unjustly punished for something I had done and tried to pass the blame onto someone else. The Family Circus comic strip even has a pseudo character called "Not Me", for a common child's response to who did something wrong, and I pulled that card on more than one occasion. Kind of hard for me to get away with that line, however, since my brother and sisters were much older than me and my sisters had moved away. And my mom was a smart woman!

As I grew older and more mature, however, I no longer tried to deflect blame away from myself, it never worked like I planned anyway. I learned that accepting responsibility for my actions, good or bad, was the better choice because ultimately it all came back to me anyway. The true measure of a man is not what he does in public but how he behaves when no one is looking.

I believe that wholeheartedly. It gets back to the karma thing, whether you believe in karma or not, what you do will come back to you. Do good and you will reap good things. Do bad and you will be cursed. Much more complicated than that, but basically true.

I remember a woman who worked with/for me for a time when I was in charge of developing new guidelines for writing and naming software. Previously they were called standards and the first thing I did was change that to guidelines. I felt we didn't need hard and fast rules that covered every situation but rather some general rules of thumb to follow and allow the programmers to flesh out the details as they pertained to their particular situation.

This woman insisted that she needed standards, hard and fast rules to follow. She said she didn't want to make her own programming decisions but rather needed to be instructed on exactly what to do. I was amazed by that line of thought. She wanted a just master after all. So, perhaps I do have some insight into why few men really want liberty and freedom; they just don't know how to handle it.

So now that Barack Obama is in the White House and he has the backing of Nancy Pelosi in Congress and Harry Reid in the Senate, this group of stooges is going about the business of installing government as the just master of the American people. Every effort they undertake is fed by the idea that most Americans do not want liberty and freedom and the feedback they receive proves them right.

Those who screamed the loudest about the tyranny of George W Bush and his oppressive big government intrusions are now happily and joyfully turning over more power to the federal government than ever before. The fires of big government are just getting stoked and the inferno will be massive. And the liberals and the uninformed and the spineless conservatives are helping the fire burn brighter. Call it socialism, call it fascism, call it benevolent governance, it doesn't matter what the name. It's all destroying capitalism in the name of "the people" and that scares me more than I can admit.

Some kids never grow up, and for the most part I'm content to let idiots be idiots and ignore them. They may be just as well off being ruled by a master instead of themselves. Not me! When the idiots are running the show, it's time to be very, very scared. Most men may only wish for a just master.....

As for me, give me liberty or give me a f*ing break! Period!

OH

Color Me Underimpressed

2009-02-25T09:56:00.001-08:00

I watched President Obama on center stage last night giving his not-a-state-of-the-union address before a joint session of Congress. I have little to say that is positive. I am, however, positive that the goofy San Francisco ditz smiling behind him and jumping up from her chair to applaud like she was sitting on a giant spring is completely batty.

Obama talks a good talk, that is, when he has a teleprompter to read from. Let someone ask him a question off the cuff and he stutters and stammers and grasps for words. He reminds me of a deer in the headlights sometimes, because his answers never seem very well thought out. This is a signal to me that he doesn't truly believe what he is telling us.

If your core beliefs are well-defined and you live your life based upon those core beliefs, you will not struggle to answer every question and you don't have to sprinkle every answer with nuances. His stammers tell me that he isn't sure what he really believes and he is trying to answer in such a way as to hide that fact. I think he is pulling the wool over the liberal's eyes. Conservatives are not so easily fooled.

No matter how many times he states that the recession was inherited from his predecessor, or that the deficit was inherited or whatever issue he is dealing with is leftover from someone else, all of those issues are now his and his alone. The OPR triumverate in DC have bought the problems and whatever else happens is upon their shoulders. Will they accept the blame if what they try to do doesn't work? Past experience makes that unlikely.

Have the White House and Congress not watched the stock market the past month? Do they not think the market's negative reactions have anything to do with what they are planning for this country? Even today after his eloquent speech last night, the market is falling still further. Obama gives good oratory, especially on a grand stage like last night. Unfortunately he is always short on details. And we all know the devil is in the details. But then. Americans don't really care about the small stuff, do we?

For better or for worse, we are stuck with liberal philosophy in DC for awhile, so be prepared to bend over at a moment's notice. Nothing is safe from the ravages of left wing liberals in complete charge. This is change we can believe in?

I have held my criticisms since the election, hoping against hope that perhaps there would be some changes for the better. Stupid me. Obama campaigned as a liberal and he's apparently going to govern as one.

Color me underimpressed.

OH

The Sky is Falling: Hurry Up and Wait!

2009-02-23T10:25:00.000-08:00

Same old story, same old song and dance! I've seen it many times and I'm always amazed.

Paulson and the Bush administration yelled that the sky was falling in September 2008. We HAD to do SOMETHING NOW. If we didn't, the sky would fall and America would come crashing down. Hurry up, the pundits, politicians and analysts were screaming! Hurry up dammit! The bailout bill passed and...

5 months later and barely half of what was allotted for the financial crisis of a lifetime has been spent. And none of it was spent the way the EXPERTS told us it had to be spent. And nothing looks any different in the financial world.

Enter Barack Obama and his "Yes We Can" mantra of politics. His immediate priority was the Stimulus Bill. Lordy. Hurry up and pass this Economic Recovery and Reinvestment Plan or America will come crashing down around us. Who cares if this is the right bill or the right time or the right priority. Just pass it and hurry up about it or else.

It was so rushed through the Congress that NO ONE had a chance to even read it. Americans don't care if the government wastes money on pork projects, we were told. They simply want action and they want it now.

So the Democrats pass the bloated bill, the largest spending package in history, without even reading it! Even more amazing, the Democrats just days before passed a resolution stating that all appropriations bills would be posted on a web site for 48 hours to allow the American public to read and digest the bill, before it was voted on in Congress. It wasn't.

Then they pass the stupid thing and go out of town. President, I'm in a hurry to get things done, Obama, having watched his Congress pass the bill, then promptly goes on a three-day weekend and finally signs the bill in Denver to be out of the political spotlight.

Spineless and stupid. That's our congress and that's our president. As Obama declared during brief negotiations with Republicans, "We won!" So shut up and let us run things. I suggest we do just that.

Shut up our oppositions to this Liberal triumvirate in Washington. Obama, Pelosi and Reid can just drive the whole ship into ruin and that's just the way it has to be. Liberals need to hurry up and kill this economy and I will simply wait and see what is left after their carnage plays out.

I'm 57 years old and I believe I can outrun most of the idiocy that spills out of DC until I die. God help my daughter and grandkids, they have too far to run. The Sky is indeed falling and all we can do is....

Hurry up and wait.

OH

Words and Meanings

2009-01-27T07:28:00.000-08:00

Words have meanings. Words are how we communicate our thoughts to other people. Words are important and we often forget how important a word really is. Of course, a word is nothing without a meaning. Meanings are what is really communicated through words after all. If you use a made-up word to express something to someone else, your meaning will be lost if the other person isn't aware of the word. It remains nonsensical if either party doesn't know the meaning of the words you are using. Duh, right?

The English language is the most versatile language on the planet. It is easily adaptable to new technologies, new contexts and new spellings. It is littered with exceptions to rules and even exceptions to the exceptions. No other language has the ability to transform itself as easily, especially in regards to context, which is most often picked up in slang, eventually making its way as new meanings in the dictionary.

I love this about the English language, at least the Americanized version. Need a new word to describe something new, make one up. It's no problem and you can pick your choice of spelling. If it catches on, it will become known by all and Webster will soon recognize it in their publications. Technology uses this technique and is one reason why English is the preferred language of science and computers. Try to add new words to French or Spanish. Pretty hard and you mostly get words that sound sort of like their English equivalents. Dare you to try in Japanese or Chinese.

But politicians have brought words and meanings to new lows. Why would we expect otherwise from this group of people. Need to promote your party's spending plans? How about calling it a stimulus? Or even better yet, call it re-investment? That will get positive attention and make the sheeple think you are really doing something positive.

Trying to make a point that the economy is not as good as you think it should be? Call it a depression. It doesn't matter if it fits the economic definition of a depression. This is America and we will change the definition as we see fit, whenever it suits our purposes.

Let's call a bill to eliminate secret ballots for a union election "The Employee Free Choice Act". Never mind that there is no free choice being exercised in this bill. Quite the opposite, it eliminates your choice to vote on allowing a union in the workplace entirely. But that is irrelevant. The general public is oblivious to details, they only hear sound bites. So if the bill is totally misnamed, so much the better for the unions trying to force their way into a workplace.

How about forcing private businesses in radio and television to air ideas and attitudes and opinions that they do not agree with, advertisers don't want to pay for and their watchers and listeners don't want to see or listen to. Let's call that one The Fariness Doctrine. Sounds so grand, doesn't it. But who decides what is fair? Government, of course.

So much of this change of meanings can be blamed on political correctness. When a janitor was a janitor, the meaning of his title was fairly standard and known to most everyone. When he became a sanitation engineer, the meaning became less obvious and less standard. And politicians love disguising their real intentions behind high-sounding names that play well with the public.

Do not be fooled. You can call a pig a rose and vice-versa, but it doesn't change the true essence of either the pig or the rose. Words and phrases have meanings but you better not take those words and meanings at face value without digging deeper into who is using them first. When someone says turn the AC up, are you sure they mean to make it warmer or cooler?

Remember that sometimes bad means bad and sometimes bad means good.

OH

Open Mouth, Insert Foot

2009-01-07T16:23:00.000-08:00

It is simply amazing how often I see, hear or read about this happening to public figures, particularly, politicians. Some big news event happens and all the politicians and analysts and reporters are trying to be the first one to state their opinion on the matter before all the facts are even known. You'd think they'd learn by watching it happen to other people but it doesn't seem so.

Recently Harry Reid, Senator from Nevada and Majority Leader of the Senate, decided to voice his unmistakable will that Roland Burris would not be seated in the Senate, that no one appointed by Governor Blago would be seated in the Senate. Dick Durbin chimed in with equal sentiment. Within the week both of them are backtracking on what they said and most probably will complete an about face on the matter and Burris will be seated.

Why the big hue and cry in the first place. It made them look like complete idiots. Open mouth, insert foot. Amazing. Does Harry Reid learn from that? No. Today he stated that Norm Coleman, recent apparent "loser" to Al Franken in Minnesota, would never serve in the Senate again. Open mouth, insert foot? We'll wait and see.

A few years ago Congressman John Murtha from Pennsylvania said the Marines charged with killing innocent civilians were guilty of murder. Later all were found to be innocent. No apology was ever offered. Open mouth, insert foot. He also called his own constituents racists. And when the uproar came about being called racists, he changed that to rednecks. Much better Congressman. Open mouth, insert foot.

Former president Bill Clinton stated in front of the world that he never had sexual relations with that woman, Monica Lewinsky. Later investigations revealed a completely different version of the facts. Open mouth, insert ....?

Mr. Clinton also stated on his first campaign trail run that he had smoked marijuana but he didn't inhale. He said he didn't like it. No way to prove the validity of that statement but come on! Why does someone even think to say something like that with the public spotlight on them?

John Kerry, Senator of Massachusetts, who by the way also served in Vietnam, stated that he had actually voted for the war in Iraq before he voted against it. What is he trying to say about himself? That he is a loosely principled man who rejects his convictions depending on which way the political wind is blowing? Amen brother. Open mouth, insert foot.

I can never forget former Governor Gray of California when the state was faced with a huge budget shortfall stating that the problem was not a lack of revenue but rather a lack of funding. Those beliefs led to him being recalled as Governor and to the election of former actor Arnold Schwartzenegger. Open mouth, insert foot.

Nancy Pelosi said the House of Representatives would be a better, cleaner, more efficient place when the Democrats took control in 2007 and they would tackle all the big issues and end the culture of corruption the Republicans had established.

Since then their approval rating has been the lowest ever recorded, dipping into the single digits, even lower than the hated George W. Bush, gasp. They passed no single piece of legislation that they had intended. They couldn't even pass a budget on time, their major priority for the year. And they have recently managed to self implode by creating their own culture of corruption after another resounding victory at the polls, including total control over the House, Senate and the Presidency. A partisan politician's dream turned into a partisan politician's nightmare. Rod Blago, open mouth insert both feet.

George Bush 41 said on his campaign trail in 1991, "Read my lips. No new taxes." And then turned around and raised taxes considerably a year or two later. Open mouth, insert foot.

The politicians are constantly astonishing me with their haste to judgment and their hurried, impromptu thoughts on virtually any subject. They love the grandstand acts when they get to hold hearings, always televised and well-covered by the press, on whatever outrage they deem popular enough at the time. Using the bully pulpit to promote their holier-than-thou attitudes, tongue-lashing grown citizens, ball players on how to conduct their lives, car executives on how to travel and run a profitable business and lecturing oil company executives on how to run a business but not too efficiently or make too much money or we'll take it from you. Lots of open mouths in the US Congress. And lots of wet feet, too.

A wise man once said, "It is better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt." Why don't more people listen to this wise man?

My nickel.
OH

"Who really cares about it being unconstitutional?"

2008-11-26T07:11:00.000-08:00

Pittsburgh City Councilwoman Tonya Payne is a typical Flaming Liberal!

The title of this blog is a quote by her about legislation she voted for and is likely to pass which requires citizens to report a lost or stolen firearm within 24 hours or be subject to a $500 fine.

Holy cow!

"This is what's right to do, and if this means that we have to go out and have a court battle, then that's fine ... We have plenty of dead bodies coming up in our streets every single day, and that is unacceptable."

So her "cure" is to punish people with a fine for lost or stolen firearms? Such is the way the liberal mind operates. Government knows best and damn you folks who cannot understand that concept.

The legislation passed 6-1 with 2 abstaining and the lonely voice of reason belongs to Councilman Ricky Burgess. He said, "This legislation will not strike a blow to straw purchasers,". This ordinance will not be enforced, no loopholes will be closed and no lives will be saved, because no municipality can legally regulate firearms of any kind, at any time, for any reason."

Someone who gets it. What about the other 6 who voted in favor? Do they also believe that local governments can do whatever they deem best whether it flies in the face of the US Constitution or not? It certainly looks that way. At least 2 people were unsure enough to abstain from voting at all.

How can someone who ignores the constitutionality os a law because she "feels" it is the "right" thing to do, be in control of any governmental office? Probably because the socialist movement is alive and thriving in our Capitalistic Constitutional Republic. And with the selection of a Marxist thinking president the trend away from capitalism and toward socialism is only going to accelerate.

The saddest part of this equation, is that the conservative in this country are giving in and giving up. The task of educating the public about issues and dealing within the framework of our Constitution is getting harder and harder. We are an instant gratification society and we want what we want when we want it. Damned the logic and legality! Government works for me and I demand my free rewards and benefits.

I'm stunned every day by the liberal arguments buzzing around me and the lack of rational thought and competing ideas from the Fourth Estate, which I think killed itself this election year. News organizations are supposed to be the watchdogs of government and report to the public whatever they know about the issues with an objective point of view.

To educate not to indoctrinate! The mass media abandoned all pretenses of that code this election cycle and they will never go back. Their headlines and stories are more cheerleading than information.

The United States Government IS NOT a democracy! We are a Constitutional Republic. We are governed by laws not by man. We cannot make laws based upon what is the popular point of view at the time. We are required to debate and legislate within the framework of what the Constitution states is appropriate actions of government. We cannot legislate what we "feel" would be right. government does not have a free reign in its actions. Government and its politicians are required to behave like good stewards of this government not run roughshod over it whenever it suits their needs.

Who really cares about it being unconstitutional? I DO!

Do you?

OH

Spreading the Wealth?

2008-10-20T07:14:00.000-07:00

Joe Biden was asked about Obama's tax plan to give refundable tax credits to people who pay zero income taxes by raising the tax rates on people making over $250,000 a year. He was asked how this redistribution plan fit in with the American ideals of hard work and success. He responded by saying that "giving" people who work hard and earn less a break on their taxes is not called redistribution, it is called fairness. Oh, really!

Joe Biden also stated that paying income taxes is a patriotic thing to do in America. If indeed paying taxes is a patriotic thing to do, then why does he and Obama want to take even more people off of the tax rolls in this country? Shouldn't everyone have to pay at least a little bit to enjoy that patriotic feeling?

Barack Obama was asked by a man on the street if he was going to raise his taxes. He said, "I think when you spread the wealth around, it's good for everybody." And he is just the man who would spread that wealth around. Who do you suppose will benefit from this wealth spreading? Where does he get the right to decide how such wealth should be spread?

Obama has never properly answered how his plan will give "tax cuts" to 95% of working Americans. That is an impossible task since roughly 32% or nearly 43 million working Americans already have NO income tax liabilities, hence there are no taxes to cut. Furthermore, about 53% of those or roughly 23 million already get a "refund" check for earned income or child care. However many liberal bloggers and reporters have sprung to his aid on this topic. Their claim is that these people who pay no income tax are still responsible for paying "payroll taxes". So that justifies giving them, and in this case I do mean "giving", a check from the federal government. Money for Nothing! And your chicks for free. :<)

Don't like the way your plan is attacked on its facts, then change the definition of a few words and voila! Liberals are very good at reframing an argument. And the general public will probably buy into it because we really want something for nothing. Yes, social security and medicare have been incorporated into the general revenue stream as well as most other taxes. There is still separate tax rates for each service. You're not talking about cutting those tax rates. You're trying to label a check to people as a tax cut! That's ridiculous and that's what liberals do all the time.

Why do liberals think that half the population should be paying absolutely nothing towards the running of our government. And why indeed should liberals be "giving" money to one group that is collected from another? It is truly redistribution and no amount of arguments calling it fairness or patriotism will ever change the fact that it is socialism.

Does this not scare people to death? It scares the hell out of me. Why should anyone in government be able to pick winners and losers? Who in government is wise enough to decide the proper amount of wealth and stuff any one person should have? Will Barack Obama be like old King Solomon and split the baby in half in the name of fairness? I don't want a king in this country, I want responsibility, period!

I do not dislike Senator Obama. I think he is very charismatic and quite likable. He is certainly a dynamic speaker and has the ability to insire people, an ability that is rare among public personalities. But his ideas for running our country are wrong and dangerous. He will not inspire people to further this country, he will inspire people to take more from this country. His is not a recipe for success, his is a recipe for following socialistic Europe further down the road to nowhere. Kiss American Exceptionalism goodbye.

Kiss America goodbye. Once the triumverate of Barack Obama, Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi have control of our government, we will no longer recognize it as our beloved country. It will become the New Order of Socialism and we will no longer be world leaders, but world followers. God, help us survive these idiots.

My nickel,
OH.

Why I am not a Democrat

2008-09-04T09:13:00.000-07:00

I need to start this piece out by stating that I am actually a registered democrat but I don't subscribe to the democratic party principles at all. I am registered as a democrat because the county I live in is largely democrat and almost all of the local elections are dominated by democrats. Most local elections do not have a republican candidate, therefore most of these elections are decided in the partisan primaries. I like to have a say in local elections, therefore, I remain registered as a democrat in order to vote.

That said, I am not a firm believer in the republican platform either but their ideals, not their actions, are closer to what I believe than democrats. I flirted with the libertarian party for awhile, more agreement in principles, but they get zero votes in local elections and national primaries. And I have found over the years that libertarians are extremely stubborn and have some very odd ideas about defending our country. So I shun the libertarian party as well.

I guess I really am an independent. I've never really liked the sound of that word, it's almost as if you can't make up your mind who you support so declaring independence has seemed kind of like a cop-out to me. Oh well, I guess it really doesn't matter one way or another. What I do believe is the government that governs best is the government that governs least.

But back to the original point, why I am not a democrat.

I am not a democrat because I like to think for myself. I am not a democrat because I value freedom, liberty and personal independence above government solutions. I believe, as Ronald Reagan did, that government is not the solution to our nation's problems, but rather government is the problem. I am not a democrat because I don't value my feelings over rational thought. I value practical ideas, personal responsibility and free markets.

I am not a democrat because I think this country is great because of what its citizens do in spite of our government. I do not believe this country is great because of what our government does. I am not a democrat because I despise socialism in all of its forms. I am not a democrat because I don't discuss or argue an issue based on how I feel but based on what I believe. I am not a democrat because I form opinions based on facts not feelings or what I think "should" be right or fair. Life isn't fair, I've gotten used to it.

I am not a democrat because I am not a lifelong idealist, I am a practicalist(sic). I am not a democrat because I approach issues of governmental intervention/interference based on what is constitutional not based upon what mood the country happens to be in about a particular topic. Let the wind blow wildly, that's what wind does, but my opinions are not subject to popularity, and neither should the government's be.

I am not a democrat because I believe the Constitution is not a dynamic document, subject to reinterpretation over time. I am not a democrat because I don't believe the judicial system should be able to make laws from the bench. I am not a democrat because I believe the government should not be a tool for the redistribution of wealth. I believe social and entitlement programs should be handled by charities, churches and organizations that specialize in those areas with the help and contributions by individuals who choose to do so. I believe I can spend my money more wisely than the government can.

I am not a democrat because I believe the government should not have a monopoly on education. I believe parents should decide which school is right for their child and not be forced to pay for the education of others as well. I believe in school choice and paying for what you use. I am not a democrat because I believe individuals should buy and be responsible for their own health insurance and health care not the government. What's next? Having national car insurance or national house/rental insurance, or natural life insurance. It has to stop!

I am not a democrat because I wholly believe in capitalism and free market innovations, not in government solutions and not in government management. I am not a democrat because I do not believe the government can run any business or enterprise more effectively, efficiently and more cost effective than private enterprise. I believe there is nothing that the government does that cannot be done better by private business except governing. And once again, the government that governs best is the government that governs least.

I am not a democrat because I do not buy into the global warming swindle. I do not believe the science is 100% sure there actually is global warming. Even if there is global warming occurring, it has not been proven to be caused by carbon-dioxide or anything mankind is doing. I believe it is much more likely that global warming would be caused by a natural occurrence, like maybe changes in the sun, than by a minute amount of a natural compound like carbon-dioxide. I am not a democrat because I believe Al Gore is completely wrong. Even if there is global warming, I don't believe there is anything we can do to stop it short of destroying ourselves economically.

I am not a democrat because I believe it is every citizen's right as granted in the Constitution, to keep and bear arms in the event of protecting ourselves from others, to use recreationally or to use against a tyrannous government should it become necessary. I believe that any outright ban on something only creates a black market and huge profitability for those willing to risk it.

I am not a democrat because the democrat party of today has changed so much from what it was back in John Kennedy's day. I am not a democrat because I prefer to ask not what my country can do for me. I am not a democrat because I prefer to take personal responsibility for my life, my actions, my choices, my mistakes, my triumphs and my failings. I am not a democrat because I do not, no I cannot, blame any of my personal troubles on someone else. I hold myself accountable for my actions and when I make a mistake or a bad choice, I own up to it and I pay the price for it. And I try to do better next time.

I am not a democrat because I think that there are much better answers in business and a free market than there are in government. I am not a democrat because I love my country unconditionally and will defend American principles against any antagonists from outside our country and from within this country. I am not a democrat because I know that some ideas are worth fighting for, that some some wars are necessary and that sometimes things take longer to work out than was thought. I am not a democrat because those facts do not scare me or make me want to quit just because things are going bad. I am not a democrat because I believe going into Iraq was the right decision and I have never wavered from that point of view. I supported the surge and I have trusted our generals to make the right decisions.

I am not a democrat because I believe Ahmadinejad when he says he wants to destroy the Zionist regime. I believe the Islamic Jihadists when they say they want to kill all of the infidels, of which America and Israel stand at the top of their list. I am not a democrat because I have no faith in the United Nations whatsoever and I believe our country should resign from that useless, corrupt organization.

I am a slow, careful thinker. Always have been. I spent a good part of my life deciding what my core value system really was. What it is that I truly, deeply believe in. I am not afraid to stand on the fence over an issue. I can often see both sides of an issue and perhaps even a third, less obvious side. I see no need to have an opinion on every single issue. Some things just really don't matter to me and I see no need to form an opinion. But on issues that matter, that I do care about and have considered completely and have formed an opinion, I will stand firm in my beliefs and will act according to my core principles unless the the situation changes. I believe, as Winston Churchill once said when asked why he had changed his mind about something, when the facts change, I change my opinion. What do you do?

In short, I think, therefore I am not a democrat.

my nickel,
OH

Paper, Plastic or Canvas?

2008-08-18T12:51:00.000-07:00

Most people who really know me would not think I would be one to use a canvas bag while shopping at a grocery store. After all, I believe the hysteria over Global Warming/Climate Change to be a hoax/scare tactic meant more to destroy capitalism and advance socialism than to actually Save the Planet.

But there I am carrying my green-colored, "green" canvas bag into Publix to carry my items rather than accepting the paper or plastic line at the checkout lane. And I do this proudly, with my head held high, offering no apologies to any who might think I'm foolish or denying my beliefs or stupid-looking carrying around my own shopping bag.

You know what, I don't care! Let me explain my grocery shopping habits. I live alone, except for my Luna dog, and I eat most of my meals at home from food bought at the grocery store. I don't keep a large supply of foodstuff at home because I'm not a big eater, I never know what I might feel like eating and I don't want to have to throw away spoiled food.

Besides, I pass many grocery stores on my trip back and forth to work, so stopping into Publix everyday or every other day for a few minutes is just not a big deal to me. Now, spending an hour or more walking through the crowded store aisles trying to load up a cart with massive amounts of food, cart it to the car, unload into the car, and then unload into the house and then into the refrigerator or pantry really does bother me immensely. So I would much rather make many short trips than one extended one.

And during these short trips, I find it much more expedient to go through the Express Lane than the unpredictable Non-Express Lanes. :<) Therefore I never buy more than I can carry in my arms or no more than 10 items per trip. I have behaved in this manner for 20 years or so and I'm not expecting to change my behavior anytime soon. And every trip of less than 10 items would always generate at least 2 and perhaps as many as 3 or 4 plastic bags for me to carry the stuff home in and then, what to do with the ever-mounting plastic bags.

Some ordinary uses for these bags I've discovered include putting them inside small trash cans, like in the bathroom, picking up Luna's dog poop from someone else's yard, which my dog does very rarely and accumulating them in a large trash bag and taking them back to Publix for their recycle bin. Duh! What a waste!

It occurred to me that I was the perfect type of shopper for using the canvas bags that Publix began offering for it's customers, at a price of course, but still dirt cheap. So my friend Shannon got one of these bags for me, since I always seemed to forget to get one for myself when I was at the store, and I have been a satisfied user ever since.

Of course, there are times when I simply forget to bring the bag into the store with me, even though I keep it in the back seat of my car for that purpose. But I'm changing my habits and remembering most of the time now. I almost even took it into Winn Dixie with me the other day, but decided maybe I shouldn't carry a competitor's bag for use in their store. I'll probably even get over that one eventually. After all, what counts is that I am not using any further resources in the way of bags, right?

I still do not believe in man-made global warming but I have recycled my paper, plastic and aluminum for many years already, the cities in Alachua County make that extremely easy. But I also do not believe in using resources, any resources, unnecessarily. I am conscious of my own footprint, not carbon-related, but feel it is wrong to waste things when it is not necessary.

I simply pay attention to what I do, what I use, how I affect my surroundings in a subtle, conservative manner. That seems only right to me. So adding the use of a bright green canvas bag for grocery shopping is a perfect fit for me and I am happy to be doing it.

OH

A Fine Line

2008-07-19T08:48:00.000-07:00

skeptic: One who instinctively or habitually doubts, questions, or disagrees with assertions or generally accepted conclusions.

cynic: A person whose outlook is scornfully and often habitually negative.

There is a fine line between a skeptic and a cynic. A skeptic can be a good person to be around. He will stay grounded in reality yet stay open to all possibilities. A cynic may be not so good to be around. He will think only in negative terms, cast doubt upon everything and literally take the fun out of life.

I have come to the conclusion that it is very beneficial to be a skeptic while it is very detrimental to be a cynic. Skepticism helps protect you from rash decisions and foolish choices. If you are skeptical you proceed more carefully and make better informed decisions by not trusting overly optimistic claims or people. You are more grounded in reality and will tend not to be unduly influenced by things that you see and hear.

But one has to be careful to guard against being too skeptical. Over skepticism leads to cynicism and negative attitudes. Negative attitudes can be helpful sometimes but an abundance of negativity simply makes you someone to be avoided. Cynics have few true friends because of their nature. No one likes to be around someone who always spouts negative thoughts and ideas.

I think there is a fine line between these two attitudes similar to there being a fine line between love and hate. It can be fairly easy to fall into hate with someone you love or to fall into love with someone you think you hate. This is true with skepticism. Exhibit too much of it and it crosses the fine line and becomes cynicism.

Skepticism can be productive, cynicism can be destructive. Which one sounds better to you?

OH

Maybe I'm Amazed

2008-06-26T09:08:00.000-07:00

The topic once again is the US Supreme Court. But this time it is a good thing. Although I am not particularly in agreement with their decision about no mandatory death penalty for criminals who rape children, I'm not inclined to be outraged about it. The death penalty has its own set of issues surrounding it already.

But what I do find simply amazing, in light of the recent rulings against American civil liberties, is the overturning of the ban on handguns in the District of Columbia.

They got this one correct. Hooray. Finally challenged in the highest court, they have ruled that government cannot ban the possession or ownership of handguns because the second amendment confers this right upon individual citizens not just armed state militias.

Color me amazed, surprised and delighted, for a change.

OH.

Again?

2008-06-03T11:59:00.000-07:00

Once again the Supreme Court has made a wrongheaded decision. Let's give constitutional guarantees to people we have fought against on a battlefield in time of war. Smart idea. That shouldn't cause a problem with anything. Wow!

Just picture a terrorist who was captured in battle in Iraq or Afghanistan waltzing into Federal Court, American Federal Court, and demanding that the person who captured him be present in the courtroom in for him to confront as allowed by our constitution for its citizens.

Now is that any way to fight a war? Hell no. I guess Democrats may get what they want after all. If any captured soldier can ask for and receive his day in our Federal court, then what is the point in fighting any wars at all?

Does this mean that being a citizen of the USA is meaningless? You can be in this country illegally and get free medical care, a driver license, welfare benefits and a free education. You can go to war with this country and demand a hearing in our courts. What is the point in having an American Citizenship if the benefits allowed a citizen are granted to every Tom, Dick and Harry in the world?

I am sick to my stomach!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Why does Barack Obama think that this is a good idea? He feels that prosecuting prisoners of war in American courtrooms is the right thing to do. Since when have non-US citizens on foreign soil, let alone on a battlefield, deserve United States Constitutional rights? It is not in the Constitution. It is nowhere but in the fantasy minds of ulta liberals who seem to want to run this country in the ground at every opportunity. And they are doing so with the help of the Supreme Court.

Outrageous indeed!

OH

I Lean to the Left

2008-04-29T13:16:00.000-07:00

What I mean by leaning to the left actually refers to the left hemisphere of my brain. The left side is primarily responsible for logic, critical thought, analysis, rationalization, objectivity and looking at parts of something. Whereas the right side is primarily responsible for creativity, random thoughts, subjectivity, emotions and looking at the big picture. Obviously both halves of the brain are important and the best brain would be an equal balance between both types of thinking.

But most of us fall predominantly on one side or the other. I have taken several tests to determine the dominant side of my brain and usually I fall somewhat balanced but always leaning to the left. I revere logic and science more than art and feeling good. I accept this and I am happy being this way. It makes sense to me.

I believe that critical, logical thinking is more important to myself and to the world than what I feel emotionally. It baffles me when people make decisions based on a feeling or a whim. I would never invest in a stock based upon how I "feel" about it or the company. I need to know hard "facts" about the business and, no matter what that business might be, I need to know that they have a reasonable business model that is able to make money and make a profit in that endeavor. Buying a lottery ticket because I feel lucky is never in my plan.

I also like to have government make decisions based on a sound, rational basis, grounded in fact and history rather than decisions based upon what we feel we should be doing and what we think might happen. I make my decisions that way and I expect no less from government.

But this is not what we usually see in politics. Most politics involves determining what most people want and then doing whatever it takes to give that to us. Often without a true venting or reveal of hidden dangers or unintended consequences. Pandering to voters will keep a politician in office and in power which to them is their bottom line.

Whenever I have a conversation with someone of liberal persuasion, it doesn't take long to hear the emotional arguments come to the forefront. I shun emotional sides of a debate and always look for the facts of the matter. My feelings about a subject derive from the facts surrounding it. Liberals tend to allow their feelings on a subject to determine their position not the facts on the ground. How sad it must be to live one's life this way.

I find it a little bit ironic that the left side of the brain is the logical side while those on the left side of politics are far from logical. And it is also interesting to me that the left side of the brain in regards to motor skills controls the right side of the body and vice-versa. I think this tells us that in order to function at our very best we need to have a certain amount of harmony between the left and the right sides. It is in our best interest to try to achieve some sort of balance.

I believe this applies to political left and right as well. There has been such a huge divide between the left and right political sides that harmony is unachievable. I have written about stubborn Libertarians, but the same thing applies, perhaps even more so, with Democrats and Republicans. Each side has entrenched themselves in their separate ideologies and never the twain shall meet. This doesn't bode well for the future of America.

One can hear many emotional arguments about what our country should be doing to help the poor or to reduce gas prices or to provide national health care for everyone. Most all of these kinds of arguments rely upon one's feelings about the subject. If you feel that it is government's responsibility to help someone who has not taken his own responsibilities seriously, you can only support that argument with feelings; feelings for the unfortunate circumstances that led to the misery in question.

There is no logical reason for demanding that the government help anyone based upon the Constitution or the Bill of Rights. Nowhere in those documents does it state that government is responsible for the complete well-being of its citizens. Its only duty is provide a level playing field for everyone to live and compete in. Once government power is used beyond that scope, the only thing that can happen is for the situation in question to get worse.

For once this power is unleashed to better a particular group there is no longer any argument about who the government should be offering extra help to as opposed to any other group. This is not the way our Founding Fathers envisioned the role of our government. Help one group and you have to help them all. Anything else is preferential treatment and as such, unfair to all of us.

So I spend a whole lot of my life puzzled by the constant demands made upon our governments that have nothing to do with governing. Handouts, specially protected rights, ie; disabled, veterans, females, senior citizens, babies, teenagers, people of color, illegals and now transgendered people. It never ends.

And I believe this is a direct result of enacting laws and using the powers of government to appease our feelings and make us feels good about ourselves instead of using logic and reason to reject bad ideas out of hand and focus only on what government is supposed to be doing. Social work is best left to private parties and organizations for whom that is their primary purpose. Governments need to practice tough love.

Feelings about Global Warming are starting to force our government leaders to make some very costly and long-lasting mistakes. We should let science sort this issue out and tell us if it truly is a problem, and whether it is man-made and if there is anything we can actually do to change it. I suspect the answer is no on all accounts but I don't think all of the research and facts are in yet to really be able to answer those questions. Why should we run willy-nilly into major lifestyle changes, -ethanol, no nuclear plants, no coal burning, no drilling for oil in our country, no new refineries, without being 100% positive that any of it will have the intended, positive outcomes. just because Al Gore says so?

Making these types of decisions without all the facts drives a left-brained person crazy. And that's where I find myself frequently these days.

OH

Meet the Press

2008-04-17T13:25:00.000-07:00

Global warming is such a scam! For that matter, so is global poverty. And that can also be said for almost ANY cause that gets pushed to the forefront of the Main Stream Media these days.

I was taught that the purpose of the Press is to objectively report on all the facts going on with whatever is in the national interest. They are the folks who probe the inner workings of government, who ferret out the facts from the misinformation and present what is really going on with this issue or that issue or that politician or whatever.

This is a noble cause and they have done a pretty good job overall throughout the history of this country.

But something has changed during my lifetime and what I observe now is that the press has shifted from their objective reporting to biased reporting with little regard for the facts and more attention given to the emotions and feelings surrounding the issues. This is not a favorable turn of events for the common people who rely upon this reporting to base our own opinions upon.

After all, if we are receiving slanted information, or not all of the relevant information or even incorrect factual information then we have no true basis for making any informed decisions at all.

Thank God for the Internet, Talk Radio and other sources of information retrieval. One can do his own research on the web these days and with enough time and determination, find out the facts of just about anything. But it is not an easy task and most people will not put forth the effort required to check out details and facts and do the proper crosschecking to insure that their information is correct. The Mainstream Media is still the primary means of disseminating information to the masses.

And this is exactly why the Press exists, to inform us truthfully and without bias and allow us to know the difference between the facts and opinions so we are able to decide. We can no longer trust the Press to do this for us. Which is why I thank God for the Internet, but it shouldn't be this way.

When did this attitude of the Press change to reflect their own agenda as opposed to the facts? I have my theory that this, too, is a bi-product of my generation. The dreaming hippie revolution, anti-government, Woodward and Bernstein bringing down Nixon, stopping the Vietnam War, lowering the voting age and then moving into the environment.

There was complicity in the Press for my generation to do these things. Hell, we became the Press to enable these things to be done. My generation set a different agenda and trashed the old traditions along the way. And one of those trashed traditions included an objective Press. We turned that into a subjective Press so that we could get our agenda done. I use "we" loosely here, I NEVER subscribed to this philosophy!

Be careful what you wish for because once the main issues were dealt with, not all hippies moved on with their life and ideals as most adults do. Some hippies migrated to the environmental movement and took their own agenda to a new level. Ever heard the term "watermelon" applied to radical environmentalists? Green on the outside, denoting ecology, and red on the inside, denoting communism/socialism perhaps fascism. I don't trust any environmentalist on the surface.

In my younger years, an approaching ice age was all the scare and early environmental supporters were very scared of this concept. Now the issue has morphed into global warming and the required radical measures necessary to stop this madness. Even as the years seem to become not as warm as the fanatics predicted it has become necessary to their cause to switch the term again to be climate change. This is perfect because now they can use the same term regardless of the impending doom approaching with the weather. How convenient.

And sickening. Even normally sane conservatives are bending to the climate change crowd and are beginning us on the path to destroying our capitalistic economy in favor of protecting our planet. What hogwash!

With the Press advocating drastic changes/taxes/whatever to save us from ourselves, they are able to constantly harass everyone, including children, with their whining about greenhouse gases. What a megaphone for them to pursue their agenda and bring the United States down to the level of the socialistic countries of Europe! Such thorough abuse of the power of the Press.

And that's all I got to say about that!
OH

Big Oil

2008-03-31T13:12:00.000-07:00

It's that time of year again. Time for our holier-than-thou politicians in Washington DC to put on their dog and pony show by grilling oil company executives about the high price of oil and gas products and their "record" profits. Doesn't Congress have anything better to do than constantly harass businesses about their businesses? Oh yeah. I forgot about their constant meddling in steroid use in Major League Baseball. Yuch!

These pandering politicians love to spotlight big oil executives because they are so easy to demonize considering their products are always at center stage. Everyone needs oil or gas and nobody likes paying higher prices for it. And most everyone in this country has been brainwashed into believing that it's all the fault of oil companies when prices continue to go up. And also to believe that Congress has any part whatsoever in determining the price of anything on the open market.

So Congress gets out their best clothes and polishes up their best rants and raves to impress the people making them think they really care about them and feeling their pain at the pumps and, well, we're damn sure going to do something about these outrageous record profits. Can you say "windfall profits tax"?

Sickening! Disgusting! A complete waste of time. And par for the course for Congress.

Will we ever get responsible, effective government? Will the elected lunatics ever get tired of putting on their show and making grandiose claims and accusations about things which they know very little about and in which government has no business? Doubtful but I can hope.

Name one other business that Congress investigates routinely trying to find some kind of wrongdoing. I could maybe cut them some slack if this was a once in a lifetime event and they were trying to learn more about how this market works. But this has become a regular occurrence and all I see coming out of these investigations is grandstanding and partisan speeches by people in authority that should know much better. And it generates a lot of angry attitudes towards the oil companies.

And let's face it, we all need the products that the oil companies produce. We need it desperately. It just doesn't make sense to alienate the very folks who are supplying a product that everyone wants and needs just to try to earn a few brownie points with the uninformed electorate.

Leave Big Oil alone. Clean up your own yard first and stick to your constitutional business. And quit playing politics on America's dime.

OH

Wishin' and Hopin'

2008-03-04T13:51:00.001-08:00

My apologies to Dusty Springfield, the singer who recorded this song in the early 60s.

I guess all of the media writers and anti-Bush crowd are very pleased with themselves by now. They have been talking about (and wishin' and hopin' for) a possible recession for months and maybe even years and if you repeat something long enough and often enough, it is likely to eventually be true. Glory Hallelujah! America's economy is in the dumps. Time for rejoicing, singing and dancing and many, many 'I told you sos' to go around.

Makes me sick to my stomach. Only in America could there people rejoicing because the economy is in a downturn. Proves to them that Bush has had it wrong all along. And that the socialists and anti-capitalists have it just right. Can't we all just get along?

Why do people love it when bad things happen to other people? Why does someone take pleasure in someone else's misfortunes? It is very hard for me to understand that people cheer for the successful to be beaten down. I don't see how it helps someone if someone else does badly yet we exhibit this kind of behavior frequently. Down with the mighty! Up with the underdog! It's a great rallying cry but it is a fleeting philosophy.

This behavior must be built-in to our human nature because it is not consistent. We are fast approaching the beginning of another March Madness where college basketball enthusiasts are in heaven for a few weeks. It is a stage for the underdogs. Unless you are a die-hard Duke fan, you will be rooting for a Winthrop or a George Mason or whoever plays against Duke because Duke is just so, so..... perennially good.

About 10 years ago a relatively unknown school from the Pacific Northwest made it to the Elite 8, beating my favorite team, Florida, along the way. The entire NCAA basketball world was rooting for Gonzaga to go all the way. In the past decade Gonzaga has become a consistently good basketball team, making the tournament every year with an ever higher seed. Two years ago they were seeded 3rd and most of the basketball world was rooting for Xavier to take them out in the first round. It happens all the time.

But I still don't understand it. We are a fickle people. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion whether it is logical or not. I prefer to invest my wishin' and hopin' thoughts to positive benefits not towards negative ones. I don't wish any ill will on either Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama. I think that it really doesn't matter which one gets the nomination so I'm not hopin' for Hillary so McCain will have an easier target. I was hopin' for Mike Huckabee and wishin' that more Americans would understand and support the FairTax but I will not wish or hope against anyone. For any reason.

OH

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot! Over!

2008-02-21T07:52:00.000-08:00

I read in awe an article where Bob Geldoff, the Live-Aid promoter and former Boomtown Rat, praised George Bush for assistance he delivered to Africa in fighting the spread of Aids. Here is a hard-nosed liberal praising one of the most hated presidents in history and chastising the media and other liberals for not recognizing the good Bush has done.

WTF!

The liberal media giant New York Times endorses Republican John McCain. The very conservative Ann Coulter seriously considers throwing her support behind the very liberal Hillary Clinton to defeat the Republican John McCain.

WTF!

Rock stars are telling candidates NOT to play their songs. TV news journalists are claiming thrills running up their leg when listening to Obama speak. The most gorgeous Halle Berry states she would do ANYTHING Obama tells me to do! I have a couple suggestions.

WTF!

I hear Democrats decrying the evil, underhanded tactics of the Clinton machine in spreading rumors, lies and innuendos about another politician. It doesn't go over as well when the candidate they are trashing is also a Democrat and a black one at that.

WTF!

People are fainting left and right while listening to a candidate's stump speech! Can anyone say hero-worship?

WTF!

This year has been very entertaining and it promises to continue to entertain us. What we probably should be feeling is disgust. We have an all out American Idol contest going on and the dumb masses have fallen hook, line and sinker for the best entertainer in politics.

I am not surprised. Maybe I should be but life just seems to be so full of surprises that not much is really all that unusual. Not surprisingly, I won't be voting for a Democrat or a Republican again this year. I also will not be voting Green Party, Cynthia McKinney really disgusts me.

I may not be voting at all. The entire process just seems so worthless.

WTF!
OH

Today I Feel Like a Woman

2008-01-29T08:11:00.001-08:00

http://www.gainesvillesun.com/article/20080129/NEWS/801290319/1002/NEWS

I woke up this morning with a strange feeling overtaking my senses. What the hell is going on, I wondered aloud. What is this incredible urge I have to put on makeup and wear a dress to work today. How did I come by these strong feelings for female empathy, a rising urge deep inside to vote for Hillary Clinton because she is a woman, just as I feel today? Why do I feel a really strong sensual desire for Gainesville City Commissioner Jack Donovan? Why do I feel like a sister, a sister's sister, to Gainesville City Mayor Pegeen Hanrahan? There can only be one reason.

Today I feel like a woman.

Today I am free to feel like a woman. Today the Gainesville City Commission has granted me equal protection under the law to feel and behave exactly like a woman. Today the Gainesville City Commission has granted me the freedom to walk into the ladies bathroom and do my business there, as any other woman does, because today I FEEL like a woman! What a grand relief! What a huge, heavy burden off my shoulders!

Thank you so much, Gainesville City Commission.

I understand that this is such a major problem for so, so many people that it commanded the attention of our local leaders to set things right. It's about time that cross dressers can truly experience the pleasures of the opposite sex without being the opposite sex exactly. But cross dressing is not even a requirement of the ordinance. You can simply FEEL that you are a member of the opposite sex. That's all it takes. That's all liberals really believe is necessary to identify with the opposite sex. Perhaps you'll FEEL differently tomorrow but that's another day.

This is the liberal bastion of Gainesville, in the heart of North Central Florida where the University of Florida resides. This is the blue dot amongst the sea of red on election maps. This is the city where gender identity is not predicated on your physical makeup but solely on your emotional state of mind. Feelings. How do YOU feel today.

Get in touch with your feminine side and experience the interiors of Gainesville's finest women's rooms. Take the tour and check out the offerings on the other side of the rest room walls. If anybody tries to stop you from entering a women's room, do not fear. The law is on your side. Just tell them you FEEL like a woman. They can't stop you. It's your right.

BUT, you had better to make sure that the women's room you are trying to enter is not in City Hall or one of the other City Agencies. Because this wonderful, groundbreaking law protecting gender identity feelings DO NOT apply to the city's own facilities. That's right, it's another case of nanny-state government telling you to do as we say, not as we do. The local politicians have learned well from the federal politicians. Pass any obtuse, insane law you want, but exempt yourselves. After all, the elite of the city should not have to be bothered with the same rules as the great unwashed. Trust us, we know what is best for you.

So, today I FEEL like a woman. It's just a shame that I work in a building exempted from this law. I have always yearned to see the inside of the women's room. I guess maybe I will have to go visit a local eatery and see how my new feelings are received there.

I was born with male body parts but, dammit, I FEEL like a woman.

OH

Stubborn Libertarians

2007-12-11T09:31:00.000-08:00

I've often considered my political viewpoints as Libertarian and have had hopes that perhaps the Libertarian Party would gain in popularity as the Democrats and Republicans become more and more like each other. I still believe that a majority of people hold dearly to libertarian points of view more than they realize even though most everyone likes to associate their viewpoints with either of the prevailing major parties. I've always thought that was mostly because people like to be part of a mainstream group rather than a minor one even if they don't believe all of the particular party platform.

I now believe that that the Libertarian Party is pretty much useless and perhaps even dangerous. They certainly are a principled group of individuals! Libertarians hold admirable beliefs about the governing makeup and authority as written in the Constitution and one would think they might do well in control of major governmental positions. But that belief is just plain wrong.

Libertarians are stubborn. Stubborn as mules. They won't give an inch from their steadfast views in a spirit of compromise. They want things their way and their way only, no middle ground at all. They will never make progress with this attitude.

Why do I say that? The FairTax. Eliminate the IRS and generate government revenue from a retail sales tax. The IRS is one of the most behemoth institutions in our government and nobody likes dealing with them or their incredibly complex regulations. Nobody except Congress, that is. And they like it because it allows them to give perks and punishments to people through the tax code. They get to decide what behavior should be encouraged and what behavior should be rewarded by writing tax codes to benefit or hurt certain actions. And to keep themselves in office wielding power.

In everything the federal government does that causes the most harm and affects the most people, it is the Internal Revenue Service and its multitude of regulations. Which are constantly changing. At the whim of our esteemed legislators inside the beltway. With the scores of lobbyists peddling influence to gain favors for their interests. None of this is in the best interests of America as a nation or the people as a whole. It is all bullshit!

It should be a Libertarian's dream to end the IRS. It is my dream. But Libertarians have a funny way of looking at this issue, and others as well. They are so distrustful of government that they think we will actually end up with a FairTax and still have the Income Tax. They would like to eliminate the IRS but their distrustful and stubborn nature refuses to let them compromise on the issues. Instead they rail on the IRS and say that we should be paying no taxes. Useless position.

The government must be funded. What we would like the government to actually be funding is an entirely different question. The FairTax does not delve into that debate. It is only meant to replace the current unfair taxes, not to reduce the amount of overall money the government receives in taxes. In order to make progress, you must separate the two issues. If you do not, nothing will ever change.

So I have changed my viewpoint on Libertarians now to more accurately reflect their positions. That is why I titled this blog Stubborn Libertarians. If they would only give a little to gain so much more, we could be on the road to real progress. Instead, we have donkeys and elephants and mules.

My nickel.
OH

The Do-Nothing Congress

2007-11-05T12:16:00.001-08:00

I like it that way. I mean, I like it when Congress doesn't pass any new legislation because that means they cannot screw up something more than it already is screwed up. I've read that the House of Representatives has held over 1000 votes in 2007 which is a new record for votes cast in one year. They have been "in session" for 146 days which is near a record number of days also. I can tell those wacky Dems in Congress have been extra busy also by the number of Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee e-mails I receive soliciting my money to stop the Republicans and stand up for their America. (I am a registered Democrat in Name Only due to living in the liberal bastion of Gainesville, Florida. If I weren't registered Democrat, I would rarely get to vote in local elections).

Yet this vote-happy House has managed to get only 107 bills signed into law and most of those are far from significant. I mean, who really cares what the name of a Post office or Federal Building is. Useless legislation. The one real noticeable bill turned into a law is the increase in the Federal Minimum Wage. WOW! What a life changer that one is. Many states already have their own version of a minimum wage and most exceed the Federal level so why they even bothered with this is beyond my comprehension. (Muttering under my breath, it is not the government's job to tell employers how much they have to pay their employees, no matter what level of government is involved, but hey, I don't get to vote on those issues directly.)

So as far as the Congress getting any actual legislative work done, I am a happy camper. As for all of their inane attempts to pull our troops out of Iraq, to allow the Mexican Invasion to continue unabated or to tax, tax, tax, cheers for the American public, at the urging of talk radio, to let these power brokers in DC know how we really feel and make them stop passing ridiculous legislation. I'd rather watch them knock themselves out in the Capital Building arguing over Rush Limbaugh's semantics than feel the effects of their increasingly socialistic laws.

But, I still have a bone to pick with these "leaders", maybe they should be called "elected placeholders". The ONE and ONLY requirement for Congress to accomplish every single year is to pass a budget. That's it. Doesn't sound like an impossible task. There are thousands of local governments and private businesses and even common family households agreeing on a budget every year without much fanfare. It is not rocket surgery or brain science.

Yet, here we are more than one full month into the new fiscal year and they have so far passed ZERO budget bills. I think there are 12 separate appropriations bills that need passing and forwarded to the president. This is the same year in and year out. They have passed none. And they aren't even talking about them. They find lots of other interesting BS to occupy their time but they never seem to get around to doing the job for which they are being paid.

I like it. Congress is finally accomplishing what I want them to accomplish, Nothing. If they can't get together and dismantle broken laws and discuss the Fair Tax and quit treating the public as someone who needs to be watched out for in all aspects of life, then I prefer they do exactly nothing. But for God's sake, can't you at least put together a budget? A real budget complete with all your favorite earmarks and pet projects. We've come to expect those crazy perks and we all like to laugh and moan about your level of idiocy using the taxpayer's buck.

OH

Cockamamie Ideas

2007-10-29T07:37:00.000-07:00

"Cockamamie is the child's version of 'decalcomania,' dye transfers that youngsters used to put on their hands and arms. Since they were cheap, they soon wore off. So, 'cockamamie' first meant anything trifling or second-rate, and later came to mean simply silly or laughable." From "Morris Dictionary of Word and Phrase Origins" by William and Mary Morris (HarperCollins, New York, 1977, 1988).

Interesting word, cockamamie. I've never thought much about the word and actually don't recall hearing it used in many years. Then last week I heard it on a rerun of "Charmed" , you know the show about the three witches. Piper asked who comes up with all these cockamamie rules anyway concerning an explanation given about the powers and their intervention in human events.

Then I read an article about the Michigan primary and Senator Carl Levin trying to end New Hampshire's "cockamamie" first-in-the-nation role in presidential primaries. Intrigued because I had come across this seldom used word twice in a couple of days, I began to think about the various things I see, hear and read that simply fit this word's definition. Here are a few.

John Edwards, a former Democratic senator from North Carolina, says the federal government should underwrite universal pre-kindergarten, create matching savings accounts for low-income people, mandate a minimum wage of $9.50 and provide a million new Section 8 housing vouchers for the poor. He also pledged to start a government-funded public higher education program called "College for Everyone."

Hillary Clinton has declared she would like to "give" every child born in America a $5000 savings account, "give" everyone a $1000 Individual Retirement Account (I thought Social Security was supposed to be government's answer to retirement) and provide government managed universal health care for all Americans.

Barbara Boxer, Senator from California's Beserkely area, stated that the wildfires in California would have been controlled faster and better if their National Guard were not off fighting in Iraq, even though only 2000 are deployed in Iraq and over 17000 were not even called in to fight the fires.

California Lieutenant Governor, John Garamendi said, "We must also consider the degree to which global warming creates or perpetuates the conditions that allow these devastating wildfires to consume our state." Perhaps it just may have something to do with the terrain and climate conditions in the areas that people have decided to live. Can everything can be blamed on global warming?

Apparently it can since according to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev. talking to reporters last week, "One reason why we have the fires in California is global warming."

And talk about the topmost cockamamie thing I have witnessed in the past two weeks, Al Gore wins the Nobel Peace Prize. He made a damn movie! Not a very factual one at that and he wins a peace prize? Give him an Oscar if you want but a Nobel peace prize? Good God, how cockamamie is that?

I asked a liberal friend of mine if he thought Al Gore deserved the Nobel Peace Prize. He said as much as anybody else. I guess since a history of former winners includes Jimmy Carter and Yassir Arafat, he may well be correct.

And that's cockamamie to me.

OH

Stop Continental Drift

2007-10-11T18:35:00.000-07:00

There is a movement afoot and it is huge. The biggest. The earth itself is moving. But it isn't moving in unison, it is moving in pieces. These pieces are bumping up against each other. And this phenomenon is happening all over the globe. Everywhere on the planet a large part of our very earth is grinding into another large part of the earth. This causes untold devastation in the form of earthquakes and volcanoes and tidal waves. And our government doesn't even care.

It is only going to get worse. Day by day the movements continue and more and more places are threatened by major disasters. Millions of people are threatened. Millions of species of animals are threatened. The very outlines of our continents and islands are changing and we stand by just letting it all happen.

Where is the outcry? Where are the minions bringing this approaching catastrophe to our attention? Why do they shun every shred of evidence which proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that our foundation is crumbling?

Well I am here to start a new movement against this impending global crisis. I believe it is way past time for this government and every other government on the planet to confront this problem head-on. We should devote every available resource to this problem. We should raise taxes in every country to promote the global cause which I call, 'Stop Continental Drift'.

No effort should be spared in solving this urgent problem, for the very ground we walk upon is at grave risk. It simply astounds me that the world is so utterly ignorant of this issue. I'm sure if we could spread the word a little more effectively, we could convert every soul to this cause. We must do this for our children. It is they who deserve this earth to remain the way that we left it, so stopping this insane drifting of the continents must surely be the number one priority of this century and every century until there is no more problem.

Stop Continental Drift.
(because it makes as much sense as stop global warming)

OH

Rushing to Judgment

2007-09-25T10:22:00.000-07:00

Just last week the majority of Democrat Senators refused to condemn MoveOn.org for its very negative ad in the New York Times which blatantly slammed General Petraeus as General Betray Us even before he had given his report on conditions in Iraq. That is sad enough on its own but these same Democrat Senators have really shown their colors this week.

This week the Democrat Senators have been slamming Rush Limbaugh for supposedly calling some of the American troops phony soldiers. Oh, so suddenly they are great supporters of our military. Never mind that what Rush said bears no resemblance to what these Senators say he said. They seem to feel that they needed to go on the offensive to prove that they really do support our people in the military.

Who cannot see through this facade? Who is stupid or naive enough to believe that this ridiculous attack on a "talk show host" is anything but disingenuous at best, a purely political ploy to garner support of their followers and to take the heat off them for their prior lack of support of General Petraeus?

I certainly hope the majority of the thinking people of this country can see through this idiocy. This attempt to deceive the American public is so blatant and obvious that it defies logic. Perhaps these Senators could explain how their actions stand up to the test of consistent beliefs. How can you refuse to condemn full-page smear ads against a sitting General before he even speaks and then turn around and condemn a talk show host for something he did not say.

No one in his right mind can state that Rush Limbaugh does not support American soldiers. He has a long history of doing so and it is not even in question. But taking words out of context during a conversation and using them against him is unconscionable. Seems to be pretty much par for the course in politics and this is not good.

Politicians need to be more responsible, more intelligent and less political. We expect them to be so. We expect them to behave consistently and not to stoop to such obvious partisan politics especially related to members of the force who are trying to protect our way of life. God forbid that they actually support the leaders of our military! They confirm the man's appointment to the position and then tell him that he is lying. Why? Because he didn't say what they wanted him to say? Amazing!

The more I see this stupid hypocrisy playing out in the halls of Congress, the less I feel that America is in good hands. These idiots see a way to influence the sheeple who are not paying attention and grab some headlines by offering phony condemnation. Make themselves look like heroes of the moment and people will forget what cowards they actually are.

It takes courage and conviction to believe in what you do and to reflect that belief in consistent actions and reactions. It should be something we take for granted, that people will behave and believe consistently. It seems that politicians only consistent behavior is protecting their turf and perks and power that comes with being a politician. If it is good for me and helps keep me in office, then that is how I will behave. If it conflicts with my internal beliefs, I will put my beliefs on hold for the good of the party.

And why in the hell are Senators spending their time in Congress condemning a talk show host in the first place. This is not even their job. There are far more important issues that they should be discussing, issues that actually are the responsibility of Congress. Perhaps if the budget was passed, the immigration issue were fixed, the FairTax was passed, maybe they could have time to spend on trivial matters that are not in thier domain. But even then they should rise above such grandstanding and leave partisan politics out of the Capitol Building.

Partisan Bull. Keep it going Rush. We know you are consistent in your support.

OH.

Move It On Over

2007-09-21T08:53:00.000-07:00

Which Senators are beholden to MoveOn.org?

Disgusting, outrageous and inconceivable that a United States Senator would not vote to support the Commanding General in war-time Iraq. Hard to believe that it actually had to come to a vote to showcase the Democrat party and the choke-hold that MoveOn.org has upon it.

"Who would have ever expected anybody to go after a general in the field at a time of war, launch a smear campaign against a man we've entrusted with our mission in Iraq?" Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell asked on the Senate floor. "Any group that does this sort of thing ought to be condemned. Let's take sides. General Petraeus or MoveOn.org. Which one are we going to believe? Which one are we going to condemn?"

Apparently some Democrats march to a vastly different beat than most Americans, at least 25 Senators, add 3 more who, for whatever reason, skipped the vote entirely. Afraid to alienate their biggest source of political contributions, they refused to side with a career general who is currently doing his job very well overseas.

This seems to prove what MoveOn has claimed before, that they own the Democrat Party, bought and paid for. No matter what their political belief system stands for, there is absolutely no reason for anyone to accede to a Political Action Group's demands simply to continue to receive money from that organization. It shows that they are putting their own political ambitions above their own self respect.

How can anyone observing this have any respect left for those refusing to endorse a well-respected General simply doing his job? I certainly don't.

NAYs ---25
Akaka (D-HI) Bingaman (D-NM) Boxer (D-CA) Brown (D-OH) Byrd (D-WV) Clinton (D-NY) Dodd (D-CT) Durbin (D-IL) Feingold (D-WI)	Harkin (D-IA) Inouye (D-HI) Kennedy (D-MA) Kerry (D-MA) Lautenberg (D-NJ) Levin (D-MI) Menendez (D-NJ) Murray (D-WA) Reed (D-RI)	Reid (D-NV) Rockefeller (D-WV) Sanders (I-VT) Schumer (D-NY) Stabenow (D-MI) Whitehouse (D-RI) Wyden (D-OR)

Not Voting - 3
Biden (D-DE)	Cantwell (D-WA)	Obama (D-IL)

That's my nickel,
OH

The Pigs are Walking

2007-09-18T10:52:00.000-07:00

"When I'm president, privatization is off the table because it's not the answer to anything."
Hillary Rodham, September 3, 2007 AARP Legislative Conference.

"Society cannot allow the private sector to do whatever it wants," said Chavez, speaking on the first day of classes.
Hugo Chavez, Venezuelan President, September 17, 2007

Ever read George Orwell's fantasy novel "Animal Farm"? Wonderful piece of literature. Great allegory about animals rebelling against the wicked farmer and taking control of the farm and their own destinies in the name of and for the good of all animals.

Trouble begins brewing however, as the pigs slowly begin to take on traits of the scoundrel farmer who so infuriated them to begin with. They had defined a set of "Commandments" for the animals but as it became to the pigs' advantage, those "Commandments" were secretly altered in the dead of night to justify the pigs' ever-increasingly man-like behavior. My favorite one was "All animals are equal", which was altered in the dead of night by Squealer to be "All animals are equal but some are more equal than others".

Their original seven commandments were boiled down to "Four legs good, two legs bad", with wings counting as legs. But Squealer taught the sheep to say "Four legs good, two legs better" to prepare the animals for the pigs eventual shift to walking upright which is the way the book ended. The pigs gradually changed the commandments and their own behavior as they slowly morphed into the very beings that they rebelled against in the first place. Does that sound at all familiar?

In an episode of "Lost" last season, the character Artz makes a comment that the pigs are walking, meaning the island leaders were taking advantage of their status to give themselves favors the rest of the islanders couldn't enjoy. I love it when pop culture references literature like that.

Today we see Hugo Chavez, the "elected" president of Venezuela acting like a pig on two legs. He has decided that "his" presidency should be favored above all others and is taking steps to ensure that his term in office will be long and comfortable. Screw the masses, I will be the great protector and as such will be afforded the luxuries that I want and deserve. He has nationalized the oil industry, television and radio, schools all in the name of "the people" but he really is seeking ultimate power. Sacrifice the mass of individuals for the good of a few select individuals through the power of government. And in Hugo's case, he isn't even trying to be sneaky about it.

We also see Hillary speaking out against the individual once again by stating that privatization is off the table because it is not the answer to anything. We can infer through this statement then that the only way to make things work is through government programs, according to Hillary.

This is the very argument made by Democrats during the discussions about whether to federalize the security operations at American airports. I believe it was Tom Daschel that said to professionalize we must federalize. Each of these people feel that the answer to problems in a country is to federalize it, to make it a government function and to regulate and control behavior.

If you believe this is the way to run a country, shame on you. If there is one tenet about our United States of America that I truly believe it is that we are a great country because of our Constitution and our people. America is not great because of its government but in spite of it. And the Constitution is the reason the people in this country have led the way on many fronts during our 200+ years of existence.

If we allow politicians like Hillary their way, we will move forward on the path to our own self-destruction, much like Hugo Chavez is doing to his country in South America. How many times do we need to see Socialism fail before we give up on trying to become Socialist? How many times can we beat back the attacks on our very freedoms and liberties before we say we've had enough?

Government is best which governs least. It is an age old adage that seems to always be in question, at least for many people. Why does anyone think that government can do a better job than the marketplace in any endeavor? Government has never proved that it can be economical or efficient. Government uses brute force and glue to make things work its way. Government would have you pound a round peg into a square hole because that is what our research has shown to be most effective. But who provided the research? Someone with an agenda, someone who has a contract with the government to provide round pegs and square holes.

Our founders spent a lot of time and thought on our Constitution and it has worked wonderfully well for a long, long time and there is no reason it cannot continue to do so. We cannot allow politicians to rewrite our "Commandments" based on expediency or whatever the masses may want or whatever the leaders may want.

If you feel government is best which governs most, then perhaps you may want to take up residence in Venezuela. But don't try to change this country into something it was never intended to be. I love this country but I hate it when the pigs start walking!

OH

Customer No Service

2007-09-05T10:49:00.000-07:00

I have heard the consumer guru Clark Howard talk about Customer No Service before but I recently experienced my worst case scenario with Dish Network and my gas company.

On July 28, 2007 there was a very large thunderstorm system in my area and I witnessed two lightning strikes very close to my house. My daughter and family were there and getting ready to pack up the car and drive home. We were talking on the screen porch when we saw lightning strike my neighbor's yard just past the fence. Whew, loud and scary was what we all thought. Then about 20-25 minutes later another strike occurred just a few feet beyond the back door in my yard. My daughter and son-in-law said they could smell the burning from the strike. Very lucky, we all agreed.

Not long afterwards I noticed the phone was dead and the remote for my Dish Network was working very slowly. It occurred to me that the last time that happened was the previous summer when another nearby lightning strike hit by my house and caused the Dish receiver to start acting strangely and also blew out my DSL box. Great, I thought. Another problem with my phone line and satellite system. If only that were the end of this story.

Venus and company decided to go out for dinner and wait out the storm so they could finish packing. Knowing my dog's fear of storms and thunder, I decided to stay home and they would bring me something. Good decision on my part.

About 30 minutes after they left I heard what sounded like a jet engine coming from the south side of my house. I rushed to the back bedroom and saw a wall of flame shooting past the window. Holy crap! So I rushed outside to see firsthand and there were flames shooting 10-15 feet above the roof of my house from a propane tank. The flames were licking at the siding, the eaves and the two tall oak trees. Holier shit, I thought! My house is going up in smoke.

I started to run into the house to call 911 when I remembered I had no phone. Panicky, I ran across the street and my neighbor was already on his phone talking to 911. It seemed a lot longer but the flames subsided in probably 20 seconds or so and left a slow leak coming from the bottom of one of my propane tanks. So the house isn't going up in smoke after all. Wow!

The two propane tanks had just been filled the day before as I had run out. There were two tanks, each holding about 20 gallons of fuel and one of them had a hole in the bottom presumably from the lightning which leaked for a good 45 minutes. Luckily the other one was untouched.

The fire department sprayed water on the leaking tank until a guy from Ferrellgas came out and they removed the tank to an open field and burned off the residual gas. I really wanted to talk to the gas man but he left without so much as saying a word to me. He left the remaining tank there sitting in the sand and leaning at an angle looking like it was going to fall down. He never should not have left the tank in that state. Jeff and I managed to maneuver it up on the concrete blocks so it would stand straight and not fall over.

My daughter and family left for home about an hour or so later and the following morning I caught a flight for a week of training in Toronto. Great timing! I would deal with my issues when I got home.

Dish Network technical support was a nightmare. They have this helpful computer voice that tries to understand what you are speaking and suggest ways to fix your problem. This concept needs a whole lot more work. I finally got frustrated with the voice and managed to persuade it to let me talk to a real person. I got help with the DVR receiver, they would send me a new one but for some reason, they wanted me to troubleshoot the unit I keep on the porch. I had to move it into the computer room which was unaffected and see if it worked OK there. It didn't. But now I had to go back through the talking voice for help and that led to more frustration and one 25 minute wait for no one. I finally gave up.

The new receiver came and worked alright but I had to get back on the phone, maneuver my way to a real person again to get the service reactivated. I tried to get the support person to help me with the broken porch receiver but she put me back in another queue to talk to someone else and I gave up on that wait as well.

A week later the new DVR receiver started having problems and I found myself back on the horrible phone system trying to get help once more. This time, after a long, long wait listening to elevator music punctuated with ads about their services, I got them to send a person to the house to fix both receivers. Hooray. The tech came out two days later and fixed all of the problems, including installing a new, supposedly more reliable dish and a new porch receiver. But the DVR receiver was still broke and it took another day and another trip to bring another DVR receiver, my third of the summer and fifth in 2 1/2 years before it was all better. Now this tech guy said I can call them if I have any more problems and not have to go wading through the horribly inefficient phone system anymore. Double yey! He also grounded the system as it wasn't grounded before which explains why it is so susceptible to lightning.

My experiences with Ferrellgas was less rewarding. As I said, both tanks had just been filled the day before the lightning strike. Those tanks had no gauges on them so there was no way to know how much gas I had left until I ran completely out. Then it would be a waiting game because the gas company only delivered to my area on Fridays, that's it. Even if I were completely out and had a house full of company, as I did this time.

As I mentioned, the gas guy didn't come and speak to me the night of the incident. I looked around for him to ask him about the remaining tank and he was gone. Once I got back home from Toronto I called Ferrellgas and asked them if it was OK to use the remaining tank. I had to leave a voice mail and wait two days for someone to even call me back. Then they scheduled a day for the gas guy to come check out the inside of the house to ensure all was OK and I could turn on the gas. I took the day off work and waited. He was supposed to be there between 8 and 10 in the morning. By 4:00 I decided to go outside and just turn on the gas anyway, I didn't think it would be a problem. When I got to the tank, it was gone and in its place was a note that said DO NOT USE. What? How rude is that!

So the gas man comes out to the house again on a pre-arranged meeting and he doesn't even bother to knock on my door to talk to me. He just takes the tank away and slaps up a sign. Wow, such superior service! I had just had a conversation with Venus about maybe switching from gas to electric but I was hesitant because I prefer cooking with gas. The explosion of the propane tank had me thinking perhaps it was time to switch.

But since I didn't have the outlets necessary for a stove and a water heater I thought I would use up the last gas tank and be able to take my time in getting the electric upgrade and buying new appliances. Now my mind was made up for me, it seemed. I had the bill for the tank fillup at home and was going to pay it but the crappy service I had gotten and the complete lack of customer service concerning this incident changed my mind. I was not going to pay for the gas. I wrote a letter stating such and pointed out the lack of attention by their company and sent the bill back. I then started looking for an electric stove and water heater.

A week or two later I got a call from Ferrellgas from someone in their Risk Management Department. I called her back and gave her an earful about their lousy customer service and lack of communication with me and told her I wasn't paying the bill and wanted no further communication with this company ever again. She apologized but sympathized. I haven't received another bill or any other communication from them since then. Good.

I called a local electrician and he seemed eager to help. He made a date to some give me an estimate for the job and then didn't show up nor did he call. No customer service here. I wasn't as surprised by that action as it seems commonplace with anyone in the trades and I have experienced such attitudes in the past. But I still need an electrician. I had thought Home Depot would be good as I could buy the appliances there and they would take care of the install but Home Depot doesn't do electricity. I was on my own for that.

Really feeling lost in Customer No Service a friend of mine came through for me. Wendy has a cousin who is an electrician and he is a man of his word. He called me, came out to the house the next day, gave an estimate and is coming on Friday to do the work. Finally somebody who actually provides true customer service.

I guess I shouldn't be so surprised about the lack of customer service these days. It seems to be a widespread occurrence not simply isolated incidents. It still leaves me wondering, though. How is a business supposed to stay in business and be successful if they don't take the time and attention to care for their existing customers when they have a problem?

I guess that is really just a rhetorical question anymore?

Heavy sigh,
OH

Much Ado About Nothing

2007-07-03T08:14:00.001-07:00

Scooter Libby was relieved of doing jail time by President George Bush. So what? He did nothing that would warrant spending a couple years in jail anyway. If anyone should have been sentenced to jail time for exposing a "so-called" covert CIA agent, it should have been Richard Armitage, the man who actually did leak Valerie Plame's name to the media. Not Mr. Libby at all.

Much ado about nothing.

Paris Hilton spends 23 days in jail. So what? She was released early by a sympathetic sheriff, who was immediately chastised, and ordered to return to jail and serve her term. She knowingly violated a law and she paid a price for it. I think she is much better off for it.

Much ado about nothing.

Martha Stewart served some time in jail herself. She violated the law as well, served her time and is back on track managing her businesses and expanding them. She lived and learned her lessons well. I think she was a sacrifice to the people who believe the rich have it made and she did nothing any more egregious than any other smart business person would do, but she got caught and she paid the price for it. So what?

Much ado about nothing.

The Immigration Bill was defeated in the Senate because the people in this country finally shouted loud enough for Washington to hear them and their angry rantings forced the Senators to do the right thing, for a change. These people think they can do whatever they feel like doing and are now very angry that they could not force an extremely bad law into being because "talk radio runs the country". So what? I don't care if the Senate and the House do nothing this entire year. Or the next year! Whatever they do to try to "fix" a problem only seems to create even more problems later on, but they don't care about that because that just gives them more chance to force more bad laws upon us. Bad laws that have dire consequences for everyone but the legislators themselves. So what?

Much ado about nothing.

All of what we hear and see going on in Washington, DC is really the same bullshit, much ado about nothing. Long, long ago the folks who represent us in the Capital quit caring about what is Constitutional and what is good for the country. They focus their time and efforts on getting and maintaining their power. At all costs. True legislation is a thing of the past. All that matters is what is best for their political career.

Much ado about nothing.

I would like to see Congress start an investigation into the Tenth Amendment. I would like them to really examine all, every single federal law, with an eye towards the very constitutionality of that law. Is it really a valid function of the federal government. If it is not, get rid of it, no ifs, ands or buts. Start all over. Give the power back to the states except where the constitution explicitly gives it to the feds.

Let abortion be a states issue. Let drugs be a states issue. Let education be a states issue. Let health care be a states issue. Let the federal government deal with immigration, the courts system and national defense and security. Nothing else. As it says in the constitution, let all matters not spelled out as federal responsibilities be decided by the states. As it should be and as it was in the beginning.

Instead of spending two years watching idiots try to gather support for a run at the presidency and the next two years crying foul about anything the electee says and does, we could make the presidency a more symbolic position than anything else. Let him/her, god forbid it ain't Hilary, deal with international relations. Let local governments actually govern themselves instead of sticking them with mandates, many of which are unfunded.

People always think that this next election is the most important election we've ever had. That the mounting problems of our time call for extraordinary efforts and gobs of money to fix. It's all a smoke screen. We don't need more laws passed by power hungry officials. We need precisely fewer laws and more individual responsibility. Many of our so-called problems of the day would go away if we quit throwing money at them and let our society work them out on their own without government interference and regulation.

Until government somehow becomes aware of the fact that they are always the elephant in the room, I say all that happens in DC is just much ado about nothing.

Happy Independence Day,
OH

Sanctuary

2007-06-20T13:16:00.000-07:00

Sanctuary -noun
1. immunity afforded by refuge in such a place

Illegal Alien –noun

1.	a foreigner who has entered or resides in a country unlawfully or without the country's authorization.

2.	a foreigner who enters the U.S. without an entry or immigrant visa, esp. a person who crosses the border by avoiding inspection or who overstays the period of time allowed as a visitor, tourist, or businessperson.

This is not a difficult concept to understand. If you are in this country illegally, you are an illegal alien plain and simple. If you are not a citizen of this country, you are not entitled to the same considerations as a citizen. Citizenship is given to those born in this country and to those who ask for and abide by the regulations to become one, not to persons who steal their way into this country and expect the same treatment.

I have heard the stories of cities that consider themselves "sanctuary cities" in regards to illegal aliens. How is this legal and in what way do these governments, run by citizens, actually believe that what they are doing is right and proper? Are they not breaking the law as well as the illegals? Surely this cannot be tolerated. Allowing any city or local government to ignore the Federal law is absolutely wrong and this practice needs to cease immediately.

It is not the choice of local officials to refuse to enforce any law they desire. We are a nation of laws, the rule of law always trumps the rule of man in America. We have a Constitution that states that very specifically. If you deem a law wrong you must lobby to change that law, you cannot refuse to abide by it. When you do that, you are setting the rule of man above the rule of law and that contradicts everything this country was founded upon.

Let's just let every local and state government pick and choose which Federal laws they desire to follow. Anarchy will follow. Granted, our Federal government does not have the necessary manpower, or will it would seem, to follow up on every single illegal alien in this country. But that is not the point. Enforcement of other Federal laws would greatly diminish the number of illegals living here and thus reduce the potential difficulty of local governments to comply with the Federal law concerning illegal aliens.

We don't need to spend, or waste, countless hours debating a "comprehensive immigration" bill. The laws are already on the books to solve this problem. They simply need to be enforced, not ignored. It would seem to be such a simple concept that Congress cannot or refuses to grasp. They enjoy the grandstanding on divisive issues. They get to reap enormous political benefit by appearing to search for complex solutions to grand problems. All the while they are ignoring previous attempts to solve the problem.

And in the end, no one is better off because of their solutions. All of this illegal immigration and sanctuary business was thoroughly debated 20 years ago. A comprehensive solution was passed through Congress and the illegal alien problem was pronounced solved. However this legislation was never enforced, except for granting amnesty to all the then illegal aliens, and the problem was forgotten until recently. Time again for more grandstanding and bullshit to force more useless and destructive legislation on us to once again pronounce the problem solved so we can get on with other useless business, like admitting defeat in Iraq and punishing Scooter Libby and Alberto Gonzalez.

Enough already! Stop the BS. In fact, I would suggest to Congress to close up shop and go home for four years. Let's have a real "do-nothing" Congress for awhile. Maybe after four years of no Congress, we can actually get back to things that really matter to this nation of laws. We don't need government passing law after useless law. We need enforcement of existing laws. Punish the people who do not respect our laws be they illegal aliens or prominent city officials. Stop sanctuary cities and let's abolish this idiotic idea of the rule of man.

A pure democracy is two wolves and a sheep deciding on what to eat for dinner. That is not what this country is meant to be.

My $.05
OH

STFU Jimmy Carter!

2007-06-19T12:52:00.000-07:00

Jimmy Carter should simply Shut The F*** Up! Every time this man makes the news, I am more amazed by his outright idiocy. How he ever was elected president of this country is beyond my comprehension and how he manages to constantly get his ridiculous anti-American and anti-Jewish comments in the press is even more unbelievable.

Jimmy pals around with dictators like Hugo Chavez and declares their elections above board and honorable. He is a friend of any despot and socialist who will tolerate him. He declares American elections fraught with fraud and criticizes every movement by the current president regarding foreign policy as ignorant and detrimental. His latest blame-America statements say we should not be disfavoring the Hamas group, a known terrorist organization bent on the destruction of Israel and the US. Go away!

Long hailed as a brilliant mediator in bringing about an agreement between the PLO and the Jewish state, nothing ever changed in that relationship. It was a failure as was his presidency. I remember vividly the long lines at gas stations, the shortages and the runaway inflation. Price and wage controls anyone? What a joke.

And he has the audacity to declare the Bush presidency one of the worst in US history. Perhaps he doesn't remember that he presided over one of our worst economic periods ever, no thanks to his policies of price and wage controls. Remember the word coined for the results of his policies, Stagflation. And who can forget the year long fiasco of Irans' kidnapped Americans, his botched rescue attempt and that toothy smile he always gives the cameras? Publicity hound!

I suppose only in America can a failed presidency be the springboard to fame and fortune and relevancy. At least relevancy in the eyes of his socialist followers and admirers. If Hugo Chavez said kind words about me, I would be afraid. Jimmy loves the spotlight and thrives on stating obviously stupid statements.

I say again, STFU Jimmy Carter.
OH

It's IST not ISM

2007-06-14T07:00:00.000-07:00

It's the terrorists we are fighting not terrorism. We fight the terrorists because they fight us. We fight them because they want to kill us. They do not try to hide this fact. This is their obsession.

Apologists try to explain away acts by terrorists by stating that they are only reacting to American or Israeli or British aggression. They believe that the insurgents/terrorists in Iraq would stop being terrorists if only we would get our military out of Iraq. Horse hockey.

The apologists for terrorists do not understand them. And this is difficult for me to accept because the terrorists unequivocally state their desire and goal to eradicate all persons not Muslim. They do not even try to hide that fact yet we do not listen to them. Sympathizers try to explain terroristic behavior as normal and understandable. They believe that terrorism will die a natural death if America would only talk with them and let them express themselves freely. Their free expression kills people yet we should ignore that.

Any person who believes America is to blame for the 911 attacks is not thinking logically. By making America the bad guy and believing that we essentially asked for and were the cause of the terrorist attacks is not being true to the facts. It is like blaming a hotly-dressed woman for a rape because the man had no control over his actions; if she hadn't looked so sexy, I wouldn't have raped her. Ridiculous!

It is so stupid to place blame on an attackee for the crimes of an attacker that I can hardly believe anyone actually believes this way. However, I am realistic enough to know that many, many people feel exactly this way. Put the blame on someone else. If they had not acted in such a way, I would not have responded in such a way. You made me mad. Grow up!

We are each responsible for our own actions and decisions. No one else. A belief system does not cause anyone to act a certain way. You cause yourself to act a certain way. You are the creator of your universe. You control how you act and how you respond to every single stimuli you encounter. It's all you.

If a person commits a terroristic act, he is to blame. Not his religion. Not whatever wrong may have been done to him by another. Nothing and no one but himself. All of us. Take control of your life, your thoughts, your actions, your beliefs. Act as if you are in control and stop blaming someone or something else.

It's always the individual. Always. Never forget that the individual is the center of the universe.

My nickel.
OH

180 Degrees Off

2007-03-26T11:53:00.000-07:00

I pity the poor, poor liberals these days. (not really) They are in such disarray since their beloved Democrats seized power in Congress. They are learning that all is not as it seems in politics. Their brief honeymoon with their devoted followers was brief indeed. Now the lefties are heaping their venom towards their own kind. Of course, they still have plenty left for their right side of the aisle as well.

Not satisfied with the Dems push to condemn all things Iraq, their socialistic supporters feel (there's that word again, feelings are just SO important with lefties), that they are not going far enough in stopping the war and redistributing American incomes properly. Failing to win support for a non-binding resolution condemning the war in Iraq, they plowed ahead and passed a bill requiring troops to start coming home by a certain date and to all be home by a certain date in 2008. As stupid as this sounds to a rational thinker, it isn't enough for the extreme liberals. They demand the Democrats bring all troops home immediately! Just who exactly IS the Commander in Chief of the US Armed Forces? It sure isn't Congress!

And if their demands aren't enough there's always the Hollywood elitists who somehow think that they have the knowledge of how to properly govern this country. They are busy screaming about how wrong this war in Iraq is and how we, read US Government, are not doing enough things to help the poor. We need to provide national health care and jobs for everybody, or at least a living wage, and handouts to those who are less fortunate? We need to provide for all of Africa's needs while we absorb all the illegal aliens Mexico can send over and also provide them with free, to the illegals, medical care and schooling and Social Security benefits? We need to control every single aspect of your daily lives because we are the government and we know best, how could you even think otherwise? We need to stop catering to the individual because it takes a village to raise a child? Excuse me?

The ridiculous Sean Penn, what a spokesman, had this to say at an Oakland TownHall meeting about Iraq. "Let's make this crystal clear: We do support our troops, but not the exploitation of them and their families," he said. "The money that's spent on this war would be better spent on building levees in New Orleans and health care in Africa and care for our veterans. Iraq is not our toilet. It's a country of human beings whose lives that were once oppressed by Saddam are now in Dante's Inferno."

Sean thinks America should spend its money on New Orleans levees, health care and in Africa instead of protecting our nation against Islamic Jihadists. We can both agree that more money should be funneled towards our veterans but the agreement stops there.

According to our Constitution, yes we still have the same one as we have always had, states that the federal Government's job is to protect and defend our borders against intruders and those who would do us harm, both foreign and domestic. Whether you agree with our current role in Iraq or not, we are the de facto power in the world and the world looks upon us to help solve their problems. We went into Iraq to solve the United Nations problem of a renegade regime that no one had the balls to confront. Eighteen resolutions stated that Saddam must comply with the agreed upon terms or else. After a few or elses and seeing no consequences, Iraq openly defied the UN and America called their bluff. Perhaps Saddam should have taken us at our word.

Now that we are there, we cannot abandon the Iraqi people and leave them helplessly in turmoil. We should be committed to assisting their new government as long as they are also helping themselves to independence. We told them we would and we should honor our word. This is proper action by our government, the defense of our interests, the Iraqis. This is closer to proper government actions than transferring money from one group of people to another. Defense from radical extremists whose stated intentions are to kill us IS a constitutional function of government.

Why do people think that not spending money in Iraq would mean a boon of money to spend on health care or something else? Health care is YOUR OWN RESPONSIBILITY. It is not up to the government to ensure that your medical needs are paid for. It is not up tp the government to be your nanny. There is not a cache of money waiting to be released from defense spending to spend on social programs. Social programs suck and they don't work! And that money doesn't actually grow on trees, they get it from us.

If you think I want to spend my money, through taxes, to help anyone get health care because they "feel" like they cannot afford it themselves, they are nuts. It's not anyone's problem but their own. Besides, if you want a glimpse of socialized health care in this country, simply look at Walter Reed Hospital. Defend me but don't mother me.

If socialist types want to help the poor and the so-called "less fortunate", there is nothing stopping them from doing so. They can donate all the money and time they desire at a private charity or church, they don't need to use the power of government to take money from me to give to someone who they "feel" is more deserving. Churches and charities exist for that very purpose and they don't extort money from unwilling participants to do their job.

Stop twisting the responsibilites of the government and take some personal responsibility upon yourself. Freedom isn't free. It takes hard work and sacrifice and sometimes it takes lives. Our military knows this and they are out there doing their job. It's time more citizens of this country took it upon themselves to do their jobs. And quit whining about the government not doing theirs.

I think Sean Penn and his fellow socialists are exactly 180 degrees off course.

And that's my nickel today.
OH

Animal Activism

2007-03-21T20:10:00.000-07:00

God, I can't believe these iditoc, so-called animal activists! Killing a baby polar bear rather than allowing humans to feed it. How does this make sense? They have managed to twist the meaning of animal rights to include the right to die. Not really the "right" to die but a "demand" to kill.

This cute litte, cuddly, adorable baby bear and his brother were abandoned by its mother. Left to die by starvation. The brother did just that. Finally the Berlin Zookeepers intervened and saved Cute Knut, as he became known.

"Feeding by hand is not species-appropriate but a gross violation of animal protection laws," animal rights activist Frank Albrecht was quoted as saying by the mass-circulation Bild daily, which has featured regular photo spreads tracking fuzzy Knut's frolicking.

"The zoo must kill the bear."

.How ridiculous is that? I wonder if he would have the same opinion if it were someone facing death row or a life in prison. Is it better for him to die rather than to live like that? In that unnatural state?

How does this man feel that mankind can be the enforcer of nature's laws? We do things every single day that alter the course of our or someone else's lives. Most of the time we do this without ever knowing what we changed. Every decision we make has the potential to be a gross violation of nature's laws. How can he possibly know that killing this poor defenseless bear bear is what is best for him? How can he know?

He cannot. Yet he "feels" like he knows what is best and that is all the real reason he needs. It's about imposing his will, where his will isn't wanted. He is, after all, an "animal rights activist" and his wisdom should not be questioned.

Just wondering, were the people who were calling for Terry Schiavo to be pulled off of life support "human rights activists"? After all, feeding by intravenous tube is not really "species-appropriate" either.

My nickel.
OH

Mandating Action

2007-01-11T13:16:00.000-08:00

Recently I had an issue with an Oracle database at work which required about a day and a half to resolve. The disk drives which hold the vast majority of the data died and had to be reformatted. This is not a trivial effort and required the work of myself and a Network Admin to reload the data from tape backups and recover the database. The disk drive failed at about 10:30 Wednesday morning and the database was back up by 8:30 Friday morning with no loss of data.

In the meantime a person in authority in another office who uses our Oracle database became livid and very demanding. She stated that the database had to be up in order for her workers to edit their data and if it wasn't made available immediately, she was going to call our boss. She was making a mandate that the database work. I laughed my ass off. She can demand all she wants but it isn't going to work until all the problems are resolved by the people who know how to resolve them. Notifying my boss was her solution to mandate that her needs be satisfied. How stupid is that?

After I thought about that for a few minutes, I decided I had seen or heard parallels to this attitude before, from Congress, or more specifically, liberal members of Congress. They believe Congress or the President should mandate to auto makers that cars get better gas mileage. Because, after all, if we tell them to do it, they have to comply. We are the government and whatever we mandate must become reality. ROTFLOL!

Have you ever read Atlas Shrugged by Ian Rand? If not, I highly recommend it. This book was written before its time and is not an easy read but the points made are so applicable to today's government lunacy that it is very eerie. It's like the book is coming to life right before us.

Why is it that some people feel government is the answer to all of our problems? This kind of thinking that if the government mandates something to occur that it will automatically occur as they envision is ludicrous. The government in Atlas Shrugged mandated all sorts of things to the big businesses of the country. They demanded they be good "corporate citizens" and create jobs they didn't need and to pay wages they couldn't afford because the people of this country deserve to have a job and be paid a decent salary.

That same elitist attitude abounds in America today and it dumfounds me how people can subscribe to that line of thinking because it is just so illogical. To think that government can mandate an action to be so even if the science and technology is not available to make it happen is so out of touch with reality that anyone I meet who believes this automatically has my disdain. This country has been successful because of its people. Many would have you believe that America's success is because of its government. It just isn't true.

Necessity is the mother of invention and it always will be. Capitalism decides which products are accepted and which will work through the natural selection of the marketplace. Any intervention in the natural order by a government will not improve the natural order, it will only pervert it and weaken it. Let the marketplace work and it will. Mandate impossible things and it will fall apart.

I think it's really as simple as that.

OH

Donkeys and Elephants

2006-11-10T07:30:00.000-08:00

Wow, I'm so very glad this election season is finally over. What a nasty time it has been. I've not seen this much divisiveness in politics since the 60s when my generation set out to change the world, which we did, but not necessarily in the way we expected.

Another Old Hippie, Nancy Pelosi, with her San Francisco Values, geez, will be the new leader in the House of Representatives as former leader, Dennis Hastert, will start to work his way out of the political spotlight. So great, we have our first female leader in Congress and she is so far left of center, she thinks San Francisco Values will work in all of America. Pooh! By the way, How about the potential cat fight brewing between Nancy Pelosi and Hillary Clinton? East versus west. This is a power struggle that will be fun to watch.

I actually had hope in the early 90s that politics could be going in a good direction. The end of the Cold War with Russia, the Republican Contract with America and the boom times of the dot com revolution all seemed positive influences to me and maybe the country could get itself out of debt and get the government out of our lives, at least somewhat.

But the old phrase absolute power corrupts absolutely proved true once again. As John McCain said on Wednesday after the election, we came to Washington to change government and government changed us. How sad and true. The pendulum swings back to the left again even more this time perhaps.

Nancy Pelosi, John Murtha, Harry Reid, Ted Kennedy, John Kerry and the other leftwing leaders of the Democrats had better be careful themselves. Another old phrase, be careful what you wish for, it may come true, may well apply to the newly elected Congress. After sniping, whining and doing nothing but criticizing everything the president does, the Dems now have the burden of showing us what they believe is the right way to run a country. I feel that they are not up to the task.

George Bush is perhaps the most liberal Republican we have had in the White House. No spending vetoes, new big dollar programs like No Child Left Behind, Medicaid drug coverage, increased farm subsidies and a doubling of our budget in 6 years, even with the events of 9/11, do not endear the president or members of Congress to conservative or libertarian believers in this country. We feel cheated and robbed of opportunities to further reduce government and allow the citizens to make personal choices about our own lives without the influence of Uncle Sam in everything we do.

It constantly amazes me how many people feel the government is supposed to be the great protector. The government has no conscience and should not be a nanny to its citizens. It is never been more true today than when Ronald Reagan said when first approaching the presidency, Government is not the answer to our problems. Government is the problem. And it is even a bigger problem today than when he stated his belief in the early 1980's.

All the donkeys and elephants want basically the same thing these days. Power! It all comes back to that concept and each side will do anything it takes to achieve and maintain that power. This election we saw a 9 to 1 difference in money spent on negative campaigns versus positive campaigns. One race for Congress in Florida was so negative on both sides, that I couldn't even bring myself to vote for the man I used to believe in. So I left it blank. I think I would rather see a position left unfilled than to fill it with someone who can only talk about the negative aspects of another person.

Government is best that governs least. I truly believe this philosophy but unfortunately, that view is not shared by most people in this country. Too bad. America became a great country not because of its government but because of its people. But good people in a bad government tend to turn bad themselves.

I hope the Republican party fully realizes why they were so soundly thumped in this past election. I hope they get themselves back on track with their, what used to be, core values and remain true to those values. If the Libertarian Party had any gonads, they would make their presence known to America. Be willing to compromise on some of their beliefs for the good of our country. Stop the border invasion and realize that sometimes people will die in wars and that sometimes this is necessary. Make people understand that passing off their own problems to big government does not solve the problem, it only makes it worse. Rally around the Fair Tax. If Libertarians could do that, they could storm into Washington and effect some real shrinkage in government. I won't hold my breath.

Donkeys and Elephants, those are our choices. Sad to say, the differences between them are not so very great anymore. Hold onto their power base, that's uppermost in their minds. Not deciding whether it is government's job or not, which most of the time it isn't. Let us be who we can be on our own. Get out of our lives and stop making all of our decision for us.

America can survive for another 230 years but not at the rate we are growing this government. The government is the elephant in the room full of jackasses. We don't need anymore elephants and we don't need any more jackasses.

My nickel.
OH

Life's Been Good to me So Far

2006-10-26T09:46:00.000-07:00

I have had a good life so far. No real complaints, nothing I would consider a deep regret. I have good friends, good family, a good job, a great dog, good health and over all, I am on course to fulfill my life's goals. I am blessed and I know it and I am thankful for it.

During this 2006 election season I am struck by the negative tone of candidate's advertisements. All of them. Negative. Nothing positive at all. I have not seen one ad that touts the positive aspects of the candidate endorsing the ad. Every one has a negative slant about the opponent. Is this really helpful to anyone? I think not.

It's hard to select a candidate when all the talk is negative. Vote for the lesser of two evils. Seems to be the way the political landscape has been moving for awhile. It's hard to stay positive when all you hear is negativity. How about some "hooray for mes" now and then?

I don't see much benefit to anyone through constant campaign criticism. My mother taught me that if you have nothing nice to say about someone, don't say anything at all. I don't like most of the politicians I see campaigning. I don't say much about them. There's no point to it really. Why is everyone so focused on what isn't instead of what is?

Criticism is easy. Everybody seems to like to talk smack about someone else. Why not tell me about yourself instead. Why are you a good person? What would you do in office? Tell me why you deserve to have my vote. Don't tell me why someone else does not deserve to have it.

The human brain has trouble processing the concept of "not". I think God did this intentionally. We should focus our energies on positives not negatives. I am glad for what I have. I am not sorry for things I do not have. It isn't productive to be negative. No one likes to hear negativity all day every day. Switch your point of view.

I am thankful for my life. I am thankful for my parents who raised me to be a productive, decent human being. I am thankful for the way my decisions have turned out. I don't have anything that I sincerely wish I had done differently. I could never be sure that if I changed even some simple aspect of my life so far that it would have turned out any better. I have made my share of mistakes and I am thankful for them. Mistakes are good. Mistakes teach us volumes.

There are so many things to gripe about in today's fast-paced, negatively slanted world. I do my share of griping and much of it appears in this blog. But today I am not griping. Today I am simply thankful to be here. I am not always this way but that's OK. Focus on the positive.

Life has been berry, berry good to me. So Far!

9/11

2006-09-11T12:06:00.000-07:00

It's been five years since that day. I was in the dentist's office that morning getting my teeth cleaned. When I turned on the radio in my car on the way to work at about 9:00 AM, I heard the news that a plane had crashed into the World Trade Center. Weird, I thought. How does a pilot make a mistake like that. Then 5 minutes later and the report of another plane crashing into the other tower and I knew that it was no accident.

I cannot describe the feelings and thoughts running through my head that morning as I drove to work. I wanted to tell everyone in the office when I got there because everyone needed to know this. But news travels fast in the Internet age and everyone already knew by the time I got there. In fact, most people were watching the TV in the conference room. Somber was the mood for the entire day, indeed the entire week and even month.

As I reflect upon that day five years ago, I also reflect upon a couple of other days that are burned into my memory. A Defining Moment of the Times is how I've heard some journalists refer to this phenomenon. Where were you and what were you doing when the WTC was first hit? Everyone alive in this country at the time will remember forever.

My first Defining Moment came in 1963. I was 12 years old and sitting in Mr. Sweatman's 5th period Math class at Franklin Junior High School in Aurora, Illinois on November 22, 1963 when the public address system came to life and told us that President Kennedy had been shot and killed. I knew immediately that a significant historical event was taking place. They let us out of school for the remainder of the day. It was a Friday and my year-older friend, Toby Brian and I walked home from school very slowly. There was a light falling snow coming down and we were in no hurry to finish our walk home. I spent the next 3 days, school remained closed for his funeral on Monday, glued to the television watching non-stop coverage of the story including Oswald's murder in Dallas and the surreal funeral in Washington. I had campaigned for JFK in 1960 and admired and respected him for his courage and manner and the news of his death touched me forever.

Another Defining Moment was when Neil Armstrong first set foot on the moon in July of 1969. I was watching TV with my parents in our home in Aurora, Illinois. I had just graduated from High School the month before and I was enjoying a work-free summer and planning a trip to Woodstock in August. I took that trip but never made it further than Detroit where I spent a week partying with my nephew Mike. The moon landing and first steps were an exciting culmination of the race in space and made me feel extremely proud that we fulfilled the goal that President Kennedy had laid out for us earlier in the decade.

The next Defining Moment I remember was that cold day in January 1986 when the space shuttle Challenger exploded shortly after takeoff. I had been working for Alachua County then for less than a year and a group of us, maybe 6 or 7, were watching the liftoff from my boss' office in downtown Gainesville, Florida. Two people were looking through binoculars and the rest of us could still see the trail of smoke climbing skyward. When one guy saw the smoke plume split apart into two distinct plumes he said, that's not right. Turn on the radio. I will never forget the solemn faces on everyone at work that day and the next fews days after. And I never think of a space flight in the same way since then.

Especially when another of these Defining Moments came in February of 2003 when the Space Shuttle Columbia burned up on re-entry into the atmosphere. It was the day I was to pick up my brand new 2003 Saturn Vue in Tampa. My nephew Jerry and I had driven over from Winter Garden to Tampa, I signed the papers and we were on our way back to Orlando when we stopped into a Waffle House to have breakfast. It was a Saturday morning and when we went to the counter to pay for the meal, we saw the television and heard them talking about the shuttle being disintegrated. We were each in shock that another shuttle could be lost and I drove the rest of the way to Winter Garden listening to the details on the radio.

There is no point to this blog. I have no special news nor any profound revelations to share. I am simply remembering another time when things looked and felt really, really bad. Sometimes things simply are what they are and we can only accept them and share them and even cry about them.

Peace.
OH

BE

2006-08-25T10:54:00.000-07:00

BE. It's not what you think! In this case, BE, means Barium Enema! And it's not at all a fun experience.

During my annual blood, urine and stool tests this year the lab found blood in my stool. I don't know what causes that, there could be many reasons. But once this discovery is made, you can be sure it's going to mean further tests to get more specific information to determine if it means anything that will require further action and more tests or treatment.

I know this is a part of the body growing older and beginning to wear out. It's old age encroaching on every aspect of your life. It sucks! Bill Clinton recently turned 60 and his comment was, "I'm 60 and I hate it!" I can sympathize with his feelings. After all, in the past 2 years I have had a cat scan, an ultrasound, an MRI, sinus surgery to remove polyps and now this.

My doctor told me I had two alternatives to get further information about the blood in my stool. One way was very invasive and expensive and included being put under to have a scope inserted and threaded through my colon, a colonoscopy. The other way is less invasive and cheaper but required me to be awake to participate in the exploration.

Having recently heard horror stories about routine colonoscopy that went terribly wrong, I opted for the enema. How bad can it be, I thought? Shoot some barium in my rectum and take some pictures and I'm done. HA!

Both procedures require the same preparation before the test which means a complete cleaning out of the intestines so a good, close look can be had at the insides of the colon, in this case, the lower intestines. So I spent the day before the test drinking lots of fluids, drinking broth and boullion(sic), drinking some "professional cleaning-out fluid", which tastes nasty, taking some pills to loosen the bowels and a self-enema to top off the evening. And lots and lots of trips to the bathroom all day long.

I arrived at AGH Radiology department on Friday morning and donned my gown and lay on the table all ready for the procedure. A cute, young nurse told me I'd feel some discomfort and gaseousness but they would work quickly to minimize it. Then she told me she was going to insert the tip into my rectum and to please just relax. HAHAHA! Right!

Then she gave me a surprise. Once the tip finally made its way into my rectum, this cute, young nurse told me she was going to expand the bulb inside so that the tip of the enema tube would stay in place. Huh? They are going to close up my butt and leave that thing in there? Yikes. It was all I could do to keep from screaming but I gritted my teeth and proceeded to "get used" to having this thing sticking into my butt. My oh my.

Once the technician, another cute, young lady, was ready, they loosened the clip on the barium bag and it started flowing into my colon. Now there's a feeling. Warm, gooey barium flowing into your intestines. There was a monitor above my head and I could watch, fascinated, as the barium filled up the colon. At least this was a nice distraction to keep my mind off the fact that I had a tube in my butt. The lady tech told me I had a pretty colon. Said she bet no one had ever said that to me before. All of us laughed.

Then it was turn on your left side, lay on your back, turn onto your right side, turn onto your stomach, lay on your back. You get the drift. All the while the tube is sticking out of me. Once the barium pictures were finished, they let it drain out but the tube remained in place. Then came the really fun part, not.

There is ball on the outside of the tube that, when pushed, forces air into the colon. They do this to expand the colon so that they can get a good look at all parts of the inside. I get that. Let me just say that whenever the nurse squeezed that ball and air shot into my colon, it felt exactly like a fart in reverse. And it really is exactly that.

The air goes in but it can't come back out because, remember, my butt's plugged. So I can feel the achiness of a fart after the air is shot in and an extreme urge to let it back out but it only travels further along the intestines and the ache slowly dissipates. A fart in reverse. Very interesting and unpleasant.

Once all the picture taking is complete, they make you lay on your stomach until they verify that the pictures are OK before they remove the plug. When the plug comes out, I can feel sticky stuff excreting from my body and I am a shade embarrassed, because it feels like I just took a shit. It really is the barium coming out, because, after all, I cleaned myself out completely the day before so what else is there inside of me but what they just put in there.

Then I got off the table and walked to the bathroom to take off the gown and put on my clothes. Barium everywhere! Barium dripping onto the floor. Barium all over my genitals and my butt and dripping down my legs. Not a wonderful feeling. Also, barium dries quickly and turns into a chalky substance. Yuck. My stool was extremely gassy and white. The gasiness went away quickly but the white stayed around for two days.

It's been one week since I had the BE, and I had the upper GI test yesterday, drinking lots of barium, but it wasn't so bad, and I must say I have felt absolutely wonderful the entire week. I have no pain in my stomach like I often feel. My stool is of perfect color, texture and quality. I often rate my stool and I always look at it, so I know what I'm saying here. Besides that, I have a healthy appetite and increased energy and I am sleeping well.

I don't know if the BE is helping me to feel better, I doubt it. But perhaps the cleansing of the bowels has something to do with it. Maybe my increased attention to yoga and meditation is helping, too. I really don't know. I only know that I have felt great this past week.

I don't know that I would recommend anyone to take the BE route as opposed to the colonoscopy route, but I think it had a positive effect on me. Remebering the discomfort, I was reamed, OK, if I ever have to have this procedure done again, I may opt for the colonoscopy next time. It's hard to get over that initial feeling of the dreaded tip being inserted where it shouldn't be inserted. I could never be gay!!!

One tenet of yoga and meditation that I have tried to abide by but haven't always been very successful is to BE HERE NOW. BE takes on a whole new meaning for me these days.

OH

un

2006-08-08T11:43:00.000-07:00

According to dictionary.com:

un-¹
pref.

Not: unhappy.
Opposite of; contrary to: unrest.

un-²
pref.

To reverse or undo the result of a specified action: unbind.
To deprive of or remove a specified thing: unfrock.
To release, free, or remove from: unyoke.

United Nations
Abbr. UN

An international organization composed of most of the countries of the world. It was founded in 1945 to promote peace, security, and economic development.

Sounds like the abbreviation for the United Nations is actually fitting. After all, the UN has made a lot of people around the world very unhappy and they certainly have shied away from all of the world's unrest. They frequently try to undo any actions a sovereign nation takes to defend itself from its enemies and unbind themselves of any meaningful action in support of freedom. They have deprived certain peoples of their inalienable rights, such as their very lives, by refusing to take action where action is needed, think Rwanda, which is unfair. But I can't think of any instances where the UN has actually released or freed any citizens anywhere. Certainly sounds like an UNorganization to me.

This group of world representatives is a travesty in operation and deserves to be unseated from its New York home and sent packing to anywhere else, perhaps moving it to Beirut or Teheran or maybe even Pyongyang where its motive will be more in line with its unactions.

Time and again the UN shows itself as it really is, an anti-American, anti-freedom, pariah organization which couldn't even exist, much less have any credibility at all, without the US fighting its battles and funding its operations. Are you grateful to this pseudo-government for managing the Saddam-era Oil for Food program which featured so much corruption and mismanagement that Kofi Annan's son was able to become a millionaire and such American-unfriendly countries like France and Russia to dominate the Security Council and allow under-the-table payoffs to their own hand-picked officials and corporations?

I am so unimpressed with this organization that I find it hard to believe that anyone in this country can actually think it is worth saving. Look at their track record. Point out one thing they have been involved in that has occurred on the world stage that has been positive. Bet you can't find anything. Point out one instance where the UN has been a friend to the US. All of their viewpoints are anti-American and they simply love to take the contrary opinion of siding with terrorists against the US and Israel. They actually remind me of our wonderful(yeah, right) ACLU.

The task of the United Nations is to promote peace, security and economic development. Where have they done that? When have they sided with economic development anywhere in the world? Except for their own economic development, that is. When have they promoted peace? Oh yeah, right now they want peace between Israel and Hezbollah. They want a cease fire from Israel and hope that Lebanon can reign in Hezbollah, something they have never been able to do by themselves.

UN peacekeepers sit alongside Hezbollah terrorists and watch them fire rockets at Israeli targets. They remain comfortable in their assignments of observing but never doing anything to actually promote peace.(How many years have they supervised in Lebanon?)

Sometimes peace has to be won through fighting. Sometimes talk does not produce any viable results. Sometimes enemies will never be able to co-exist peacefully. When this happens, it is best to just let them beat each other to a pulp until one side wins. But the UN realizes that a terrorist organization cannot be beaten down like an organized country can. So they do their best to level the playing field, for the terrorists. And they call for a cease fire because they know an organized country will obey international law while a terrorist group will not. By its very nature, it does not have to do so.

So the rules for terrorists are different than for civilized nations. We expect civilized nations to respect life and property to some extent even in war. We never expect a terrorist group to do so. Only when it is to their advantage in some way will terrorists ever respect law. Only when they can win something for nothing will they invoke civilized societies to call for peace. After all, terrorist need time to regroup and rearm, too.

Kofi Anna has condemned Israel for defending itself and its citizens. Kofi Annan has never condemned Hezbollah and its terrorists. The UN is worthless and should not receive any support from US anymore without a major change in its directions and support. If they feel we are worse than the terrorists, then they should get out of our house!

Let's undo this useless organization. And that is my unofficial opinion on that!

OH