Pappy's Balderdash

Missing a few days

2009-12-03T06:17:00.003-06:00

Sorry, I had to take a few days off to go and get my new ride. I traded my V-twin Yamaha Road Star for a new Honda Goldwing. It looks just like the one in this picture. I found a dealer in Palestine, Texas with a great sale on some 2008 models still in inventory, so I decided the time was right. Palestine is 483 miles from my house so I had to try and find a window in the weather. The dealership, normally open until 5:00 PM. was going to close at 3:00 PM.

Saturday was the only day in the weather forecast without the possibility of rain. I packed my gear for a hard ride and set out at 6:30 AM. My old Road Star didn't let me down. Nine short hours later with stops only for gasoline and comfort, I arrived in front of the dealership. I reached them by cell phone and they agreed to stay until I arrived to give me an estimate on my bike. The estimate was within the acceptable range so I told them I would see them on Tuesday. They are closed on Sunday and Monday. An old FBI buddy of mine was there to help broker the deal. I followed him another 50 miles to Tyler, Texas and parked my cycle in his garage. He is 77 years young and had just purchased a used Honda 1300 cc adventure bike to go with his Goldwing Trike.

We visited friends from years past and told war stories. Most of them still have some semblance of the truth, but as the years have passed the legend has become the authority. It rained on Sunday night and turned cooler. On Monday I rode Harold's trike and he rode his new adventure bike. At the halfway point in the trip we switched rides and headed for a local motorcycle shop and burger bar. The burgers were great and we got to look at all the latest in riding accessories before we headed home.

In the evenings we watched the news and both agreed we are in deep aaaah, well, you know. I could feel some future posts rumbling around in the back of my brain. But, my main concern for the next day was the weather. Rain and further cooling were in the forecast.

We awoke on Tuesday morning to a cool and cloudy day. I put on most of the clothes I brought with me and we headed back for Palestine. Harold took most of my gear in his car and I rode the Yamaha. Even with the layers of clothing I was cold when we got to the dealership. We spent the morning doing paperwork and making the new bike ready. I had to get a short course in all the instruments and buttons on my new ride. The dash looks like the cockpit display on a 747. It has navigation, radio, heated seats and handlebars, and a variety of other features I've yet to figure out. The clouds continued to build and by the time I left at noon they looked down right leaky. The air was definitely getting cooler. I looked like the little brother in the seasonal favorite, "A Christmas Story" with all my layers of clothing topped by my "Frog Togs" rain gear. I had to get help to get my leg across the saddle of the bike. I left just after noon and headed south. I hoped to get half way before I stopped. The first fifty miles were dry.

Soon the rain started to hit my windshield and a cold northwest wind buffeted me from the right side. The Goldwing's heated seats and handle bars sure felt good. After a hundred and ten more miles I was numb. The rain was getting harder and I decided to tuck it in for the night. I found a budget motel with a large overhang on the front and pulled in. The desk clerk had to put a towel down on the counter when I signed in. I unloaded my gear and stripped down to only one layer and turned the heater in the room on high. I had articles of damp clothing hanging on every chair in the room. I called home and told Bebe and the girls I had stopped for the night. I was without covered transportation in a relatively small town and the rain wasn't going to stop until morning. I made a pot of coffee and ate my last cereal bar. My daughter called a friend she knew who lived in the area and he brought me a burger meal from a local restaurant. By the time he arrived, I had moderated the heat in the room, showered, and put on my last set of clean clothes. I thanked him for his considerate treatment of the elderly and after he left I finished off my meal and settled in for the night.

It was cold and dry the next morning and I packed up and headed south. The rest of the ride was dry and without incident. I listened to the radio through my headset in my helmet and enjoyed the quiet smooth ride of my six cylinder Honda. After I unpacked, I sat down and opened my e-mail to find 129 new entries. Thanks for all the blog comments. I will be trying to decide which area of concern needs further examination.

"President Obama was shown in photos Friday smiling with the couple who crashed his state dinner. The photos showed the husband, the wife and the president. If it's a crime to talk your way into the White House without a background check, all three of them could face charges." --comedian Argus Hamilton

I'm Going Green.

2009-11-22T07:15:00.004-06:00

Once again Louisiana and Arkansas tip the scales in favor of socialism. Two Senators bought off for their vote. 300,000,000 dollars to the sink hole known as Louisiana for the vote of Mary Landrieu. Blanche Lincoln I don't understand. Her constituents in Arkansas were overwhelmingly against the bill, so I guess she doesn't want to return to the Senate for another term. Just make a list of the ones who voted to move this monster of a bill forward and make sure they never darken the door of any other legislative forum. In fact it would probably be a good idea to just clean out the entire barrel and start over. Even the Chinese communists knew enough to council Obama against proceeding with this legislation.

"Some cause happiness wherever they go; others, whenever they go." - Oscar Wilde

Let's Investigate

2009-11-19T22:15:00.006-06:00

Who's ruining the U. S.? It doesn't take a congressional investigative committee to figure that one out. It is mostly liberal Democrat lawyers, politicians, and judges. There are complicit Republicans who bowed to the pressure, but for many many years, the government work force has been watered down by the insane press for diversity, equality, and a don't ask/don't tell attitude in hiring and promotion.

Should there be a black in this or that position? The correct answer is sure, if they are the best qualified for the job and competed on an equal basis for it. Should there be a woman president? Should there be a Latina supreme court justice? The questions are absurd. If any one of the named protected classes are the best qualified for the job and competed on an equal basis for it, then most right thinking Americans would answer with a resounding yes.

That hasn't been how the scenario played out. All questions designed to ferret out critical information essential to making sure the most qualified person gets the job were prohibited in job interview situations. Law suits and legal rulings prevented hiring panels from asking personal questions designed to get beyond the fluff of a resume. Upper level government management received bonuses at the end of the year for filling quotas in hiring and promoting of protected classes. To many it didn't matter if the candidates were qualified as long as they fit the list from which they could pick for some extra money. Now a president can occupy the highest office in the land while hiding his entire background from the U. S. voters. He can appoint large cadres of Czars who do not have to be cleared by our legislators before going to work. That's how you get pin heads like Barack Hussein Obama and Eric Holder.

Who's responsible for the massacre at Fort Hood? The very people who claim to be investigating it are responsible. We are fighting a war with Islam. Muslims everywhere are active participants in the world wide jihad. They all have different roles. Some are terrorists and warriors, while others are silent partners. Make no mistake. They all have the same goal. The destruction of all who don't believe as they do. None should be allowed to come to, or stay in this country. None should be allowed to participate in any role related to the military, or any other job that involves security or access to government documents.

We can't afford one more government program. All government spending bills should be taken off the table until we regain control of our debt. All TARP monies and stimulus money not already spent should be recalled and added back to the U. S. Treasury. All funds that go to support illegal aliens should be withdrawn and all illegal aliens in this country should be deported. They should no longer be referred to as immigrants. Immigrants are those who go through legal channels to gain entry into the United States. The others are illegal aliens.

All enemy combatants currently housed at Guantanamo should stay there and be tried by military tribunals. No money should be spent to move, house, or try these terrorists in a civilian court on the mainland. Our pinheaded Attorney General should be run out of office for inability to handle the job. Our president should immediately resign his position for the same reason. This whole election process and subsequent nightmare is an embarrassment to the voters in the country. I know there wasn't a clear cut choice, but I feel many wish they had not voted as they did. Had they known what a Bozo Obama would turn out to be they would have voted differently.

If this administration is not going to support our troops, we need to get them all back here until we can fill the position of Commander in Chief with someone who is qualified and motivated to do the job. The circus is not fun and should be shut down immediately. If any legislator (Republican, Democrat, or Independent) does not do his dead level best to stop this run away train they should be recalled.

We don't need anymore blame shifting investigations to tell us what we already know. Our leadership let us down and a terrorist was pushed through the ranks until he found an opportune time to fulfill his holy Muslim mission of killing as many infidels as possible. Get rid of all of them now.

I've Been Thinking

2009-11-19T06:15:00.004-06:00

I was just sitting out in the jungle the other day after an invigorating romp in the treetops thinking that perhaps we have over evolved. Somewhere along the line we passed the pinnacle of common sense and critical thinking and now we are headed into the nether land of open minded nothingness.

Programs, speeches, books, and lectures are now unnecessarily long because of all the dalliance we have to do in trying to include all the buzz words, and trying not to offend anyone in the every increasing list of protected classes. Every statement must be proceeded by phrases like, "I realize there are exceptions". If you didn't, even though every one should know there are exceptions, some watchdog of politically correct speechifying would challenge your very right to be on the planet.

Are we not able to recognize each others differences? Apparently not. Our federal government has come up with a check list of various classifications on all its forms to make sure we can place ourselves in the proper pigeon hole. I have studied the list and am tempted to check "other" at the bottom, but the small line they give you to explain your non-classification is so small I can't get it all in. Some classifications are on skin color, some on sir name and linguistics, some on historic continental origin, some on facial features, and other. If you happen to be a combination you can choose which group you want to be in. Some of the classes have been determined by the courts to need special help so they are given preferential treatment to make things fair. So, if you are a mixture it pays to choose the group receiving the most benefits. Now we've added certain aberrant sexual choices to the mix and granted these folks additional protection under the law in addition to whatever pigeon hole they were already in.

How did we do it in the old days? How did people decide who they were comfortable with? As I remember we hung with people who were in the same socio-economic strata as we were for one. We felt comfortable with one group above us, and one group below us. Strictly on a socio-economic scale we felt uncomfortable going outside these parameters. Further we tended to group together based on cultural and moral practices. People who worked hard for a living and taught their kids the value of hard work, responsibility, and self reliance tended to group with others who did the same. Within these groups, cultural and racial groups might further form communities based on their cultural practices, but they felt comfortable mingling with those of different faiths, ethnicities, and physical differences in the larger pool who shared many of the same goals for social behavior.

These diverse but related groups might not spend a lot of time mixing, but they respected and felt comfortable living in close proximity to each other. Think about it. How much time do we spend mixing outside the parameters previously mentioned today? I can tell you. Very little. Some people force and contrive situations to make it appear as though we do, but in reality we don't. Every time the federal government tries to artificially balance the scale they end up creating imbalance and resentment. The result is a further separation of the groups they are trying to bring together. It is unfair to those, who by hard work and proven responsibility, have moved themselves into a position to be recognized as sharing universal values of acceptable behavior to be lumped by some artificial classification with those who don't work, and whose behavior is outside legal and acceptable social standards.

Hard working, right acting people everywhere distance themselves from those who aren't willing to contribute. It is not their language, skin color, or continental origin that makes some unacceptable.

We must be able to speak in plain language when talking about the enemies of our great nation. Religions, like Islam, who have as a basic tenet of their religion the annihilation of all who don't believe as they do must be banned from our nation.

We must call terrorists by their real names and not some euphemism.

We must apply the rules of war to captured terrorists and not the rules granted to citizens of our country when they have their day in court.

We must realize that aberrant sexual behavior does not deserve protection under the law. These people already have protection under the law because they are citizens of this nation. No citizen deserves any special consideration not afforded all citizens. That's why hate crime legislation is so unnecessary. I predicted, and it has been realized, that other aberrant sexual deviants would seek the same protections. Pedophiles now have been added to the list. Why? Because homosexuals are very active in trying to gain a following. If they have children in the home you can be assured these children are being taught the same aberrant behavior. Aberrant sexual behavior is a learned response. Because of our fear of offending some groups we have taken it out of the psychological diagnostic manuals as a psychological problem. That doesn't mean it's not one. We register some sex offenders including pedophiles, and then give them special protection under the law. How stupid is that? Believe me when I tell you others with more disgusting sexual practices will be added to the list if we continue on this path of ignoring what we know to be right and wrong. In case you are asking yourself, I do believe there are clear and binding rules for human behavior.

It is time to stand and be counted. I believe there are more of us than there are of them. We must push back and push back hard at every opportunity to do so. We must support the media sources who tell the truth and ignore those who don't.

He who asks is a fool for five minutes, but he who does not ask remains a fool forever.
- Chinese Proverb

Another Failed Presidency

2009-11-17T17:52:00.003-06:00

Dr. Hunt is a social and cultural anthropologist, who has had nearly 30 years experience in planning, conducting, and managing research in the field of youth studies, and drug and alcohol research. Currently Dr. Hunt is a Senior Research Scientist at the Institute for Scientific Analysis and the Principal Investigator on three National Institutes on Health projects.

Another Failed Presidency
By Geoffrey P. Hunt

Barrack Obama is on track to have the most spectacularly failed presidency since Woodrow Wilson. In the modern era, we've seen several failed presidencies--led by Jimmy Carter and LBJ. Failed presidents have one strong common trait-- they are repudiated, in the vernacular, spat out.

Of course, LBJ wisely took the exit ramp early, avoiding a shove into oncoming traffic by his own party. Richard Nixon indeed resigned in disgrace, yet his reputation as a statesman has been partially restored by his triumphant overture to China .

But, Barack Obama is failing. Failing big. Failing fast. And failing everywhere: foreign policy, domestic initiatives, and most importantly, in forging connections with the American people. The incomparable Dorothy Rabinowitz in the Wall Street Journal put her finger on it: He is failing because he has no understanding of the American people, and may indeed loathe them. Fred Barnes of the Weekly Standard says he is failing because he has lost control of his message, and is overexposed. Clarice Feldman of American Thinker produced a dispositive commentary showing that Obama is failing because fundamentally he is neither smart nor articulate; his intellectual dishonesty is conspicuous by its audacity and lack of shame.

But, there is something more seriously wrong: How could a new president riding in on a wave of unprecedented promise and goodwill have forfeited his tenure and become a lame duck in six months? His poll ratings are in free fall.. In generic balloting, the Republicans have now seized a five point advantage. This truly is unbelievable. What's going on?

No narrative. Obama doesn't have a narrative. No, not a narrative about himself. He has a self-narrative, much of it fabricated, cleverly disguised or written by someone else. But this self-narrative is isolated and doesn't connect with us. He doesn't have an American narrative that draws upon the rest of us. All successful presidents have a narrative about the American character that intersects with their own where they display a command of history and reveal an authenticity at the core of their personality that resonates in a positive endearing way with the majority of Americans. We admire those presidents whose narratives not only touch our own, but who seem stronger, wiser, and smarter than we are. Presidents we admire are aspirational peers, even those whose politics don't align exactly with our own: Teddy Roosevelt, FDR, Harry Truman, Ike, Reagan.

But not this president.. It's not so much that he's a phony, knows nothing about economics, is historically illiterate, and woefully small minded for the size of the task- all contributory of course. It's that he's not one of us. And whatever he is, his profile is fuzzy and devoid of content, like a cardboard cutout made from delaminated corrugated paper.

Moreover, he doesn't command our respect and is unable to appeal to our own common sense. His notions of right and wrong are repugnant and how things work just don't add up. They are not existential. His descriptions of the world we live in don't make sense and don't correspond with our experience. In the meantime, while we've been struggling to take a measurement of this man, he's dissed just about every one of us--financiers, energy producers, banks, insurance executives, police officers, doctors, nurses, hospital administrators, post office workers, and anybody else who has a non- green job. Expect Obama to lament at his last press conference in 2012: "For those of you I offended, I apologize. For those of you who were not offended, you just didn't give me enough time; if only I'd had a second term, I could have offended you too."

Mercifully, the Founders at the Constitutional Convention in 1787 devised a useful remedy for such a desperate state--staggered terms for both houses of the legislature and the executive. An equally abominable Congress can get voted out next year. With a new Congress, there's always hope of legislative gridlock until we vote for president again two short years after that.

Yes, small presidents do fail, Barack Obama among them. The coyotes howl but the wagon train keeps rolling along. Hopefully, we will all have the will to make sure this will be a one-term presidency as I don't think we can survive two terms.

"This country and this people seem to have been made for each other, and
it appears as if it was the design of Providence that an inheritance so
proper and convenient for a band of brethren, united to each other by
the strongest of ties, should never be split into a number of unsocial,
jealous, and alien sovereignties." --John Jay, Federalist No. 2

Doctor Debt

2009-11-16T11:43:00.005-06:00

I am not a Democrat. I am not a Republican. I am an American citizen who votes for people who share my values and beliefs. Since Reagan, I have voted for Republicans in National elections. Not because they were Republicans or believed just as I did, but because the National Democrat Party is so far removed from everything I believe that I was forced to vote against them. We have not had a real strong conservative candidate since Reagan. The Republicans were given a mandate by the core of freedom loving Americans, but they squandered their power by caving in to the pressure of the liberal left who mocked their conservatism. Some were morally bereft, others pandered to special interests, and others couldn't take being called mean spirited because of their fiscal and moral conservatism. All the policies that would have led to a strong economy and responsible populace that were introduced by Ronald Reagan were chipped away at by succeeding presidents and legislatures until virtually nothing remains.

We impeached the worthless piece of trash from Arkansas, but he was never removed from office as he should have been.

During all that time, the Democrats lied, denied, and made counter allegations to alter the public's perception of things their leadership deemed as worthy of consideration in light of their situational view of morality. When the Republicans had the reins, the Democrats were obstructionists. When they had the reins, they blamed the Republicans for all manner of evil in spite of clear and plentiful evidence that they were the ones who caused everything to go to the dogs.

They still roll out the "Bush is to blame" banners to divert attention from their current efforts to sell us into slavery to the global system. They continue to wreck our economy. President Bush recently apologized for his actions that allowed the Democrats to spend trillions of dollars to bolster an economy they caused to crash. He said his actions in relation to the TARP funds went against his beliefs in capitalism. Our current president refuses to let anyone examine and verify his past and spends millions to keep it a secret. He is aided in these efforts by the National Democrat Party and the unvetted presidential appointees in the cabinet.

I recently read a commentary on the lack luster efforts of our current president and his "War Council" which tried to draw some parallel between the lack of response by this administration in Afghanistan and the response of president Bush to hurricane Katrina. Now that's a stretch.

A natural disaster of mega proportions hits the southern Gulf Coast of the U. S. and does immense damage. Mississippi is severely damaged. The U. S. government is in no way responsible to respond. However, we are a benevolent country and that's what we do. The logistics of just getting into the region are difficult. I know, I was trying to get there to check on my relatives. All along the Gulf Coast people are in dire straights. However, the only people who are screaming that they have been neglected are the people in New Orleans, Louisiana. These people were warned, but refused to leave until it was impossible to get out. Then they showed us all why they were unable to get out by continuing their irresponsible behavior after the storm. Their mayor, Ray Nagin, got on the air and proved to us all just how stupid he is. (The brilliant citizens of New Orleans re-elected this moron after the storm.) Their Democrat governor's response was equally inept. The standard racist hate mongers, Jessie Jackson, and Al Sharpton showed their asses to the American people by blaming white people for the flooding that resulted from the hurricane's rains and storm surge. In reality, the people of Mississippi suffered far worse than those in New Orleans. They were mentioned only in passing by the State media. My point. The response was as fast as anyone could reasonably expect the Federal government to act. It had nothing to do with the president at the time and only the race mongers made it appear so. Of course the politicians on both sides were only too willing to open investigations and assign blame to some of the appointed chiefs in various government agencies who handle such matters while distancing themselves from any knowledge of the whole matter.

Now to Afghanistan. Our troops are at war with Muslim jihadists from a variety of sects and in need of backup. This president is probably the most inept person to ever be elected to the office of president in recent history. I think he even tops Jimmy Carter. However, his allegiance to the Muslims of this world is preventing our troops from getting the help they need. This is in no way comparable to the government's benevolent and extensive response to the victims of hurricane Katrina. President Bush helped us in many ways after September 11, 2001 and he made tough decisions with the information he had available. I recall that everyone in this country was behind him until it was safe for the Democrat cowards to crawl out of their rat holes and start making political hay again. We are not fooled by your desire to destroy this country and give it to the globalists. We will see you at the polls. Like the idiots in the city of New Orleans, Louisiana you are showing us your stupidity on a daily basis. Keep it up and you won't win one seat. If you are Republican and siding with this group, the same goes for you. We will get someone to represent us fairly and honorably even if we have to make up some new party to get them on the ballot.

The will to be stupid is a very powerful force, but there are always alternatives.
- Lois McMaster Bujold

Islam

2009-11-12T06:36:00.005-06:00

I was watching a portion of the Bill O'Reilly Show on Fox News last night while waiting for the next episode in the C.S.I. trilogy. Bill and some News Babe were discussing remarks made by Pat Robertson concerning Muslims. Pat basically stated that Islam was not a legitimate religion as we understand religion, but a world political ideology set on taking over and ruling the world. Bill and associate thought Pat's position extreme and his comments not good for our current situation. Bill went on to comment about good Muslims. In case you don't know me by now, I don't blindly follow anyone on Fox News or anywhere for that matter. I can only take these news types in very small doses. I get my information from a number of trusted sources, and I process the information through my life hardened thought processor.
I happened to agree with Pat Robertson's assessment on this occasion. There is something telling about the photo above that troubles me. Let me break down my reasoning for you.

All over the world followers of Islam are killing innocent people by the millions to foist their cult rooted system of belief and government on all who refuse to knuckle under.

All follower's of Islam follow the same rules and laws, and are indoctrinated in the same belief system as those who actively carry out these acts of terror and genocide.

We were attacked in our own country most recently (this past week) in Fort Hood, Texas by an Islamic jihadist posing as a U. S. Soldier.

We were attacked most memorably on September 11, 2001 by numerous Islamic terrorists operating without impunity in our own country.

We have been at war with the warriors of this oppressive world terrorist force on numerous fronts since.

The funds from all Muslims world wide are funding the efforts of terrorists everywhere. They may be operating in what appear to be legitimate circles and occupations, but they are terrorists set on taking over, and they use the legitimate to mask the acts of their warriors.

I think Bill O'Reilly and others are overlooking some very obvious clues that will eventually kill us.

Things I've gleaned from people who have worked with the middle eastern Muslim populations;

They have no qualms about lying to your face and stabbing you in the back. It is not a violation of their religious tenets to lie to infidels (that's everyone who is not Muslim).

They prefer sneak attacks rather than face to face confrontation.

Historically, they have done the same to rival factions within their own brotherhood.

They plan to overpopulate the existing non-Muslim populations as another means of gaining control.

They are not "nice" people, and they certainly aren't people who lover's of freedom would want as their task masters.

We will never be able to cease our war efforts against them.

Regardless of how much we rebuild and reeducate, we will not win them over or turn them away from their stone-age beliefs. As long as they remain true to Islam, we are going to have a huge problem with them.

I think those who separate good and bad Muslims are naive. I think they are ignoring glaring obvious clues. I believe there is very good evidence to support my thought that the highest office in our land has been infiltrated. Go back to the comment about Muslims having no qualms about lying to infidels and I think you have a good explanation for the actions of our current president, Barack Hussein Obama.

You cannot formulate an effective military strategy for success in a war against Islamic terrorists when the enemy is helping you with the strategy.

We need to wake up and take control of the situation by rooting Islam out of the United States of America. All Muslims should be forced to leave this country and go to countries where the predominant religion is Islam.

We should either make our military goal one of inflicting as much damage as possible in the areas where terrorists are trained for as long as it takes, or get out all together. We should not rebuild anything. Muslims are never going to be our friends. I know that reality doesn't fit our westernized Judeo/Christian sensibilities, but this problem requires thinking outside the box. If we fail to take a strict course of action like this, then we will fall to their onslaught.

The greatest mistake is trying to be more agreeable than you can be.
- Walter Bagehot

Veteran's Day

2009-11-11T10:27:00.002-06:00

Thank you so much for your service to our great country. This little bit of gratitude goes out to all who have served in our Armed Forces, or are currently serving. Your unselfish sacrifice is appreciated by all of us who value our freedom, and realize the price paid in the past to secure it, and the price currently being paid to maintain it. Keep up the good work.

AMERICA

Out of revolution,

the grip of monarch’s rule.

Driven by freedom.

Necessity.

Founded on values

from God’s holy book,

the glue that binds,

in trust,

its varied masses.

America

Through fire of war,

without,

within,

was forged in strength

a strong republic.

America

And though the vision dims

in her prosperity,

she rises to the challenge

when tyrants seek

to quell her voice.

America

Blessed by God,

we must hold those

values close

that bound

our loose knit colonies

in their infancy.

America

Dennis Price

What's The Difference

2009-11-10T08:08:00.002-06:00

Today, Tuesday November 10, 2009 our President, Barack Hussein Obama, is scheduled to make an appearance at Fort Hood, Texas. In the photo above he performs one of his classic salutes. Maybe he had been having a few beers with some buddies while he worked on the military strategy in Afghanistan. Anyway he will make time to go to Fort Hood. I like George W. Bush as a human being. I thought that despite his lack of verbal eloquence, he had a good heart, and showed genuine concern to those who were suffering. I never had the feeling he was there strictly for the photo op. I did not like the way he eventually caved to the temptation to increase the size of government and go along with the Democrats into the abyss, but he presided over probably the most troubling event in our history as a free nation and I think he made the right choices. I believe this short observation by someone working at Fort Hood says it all.

"A friend of mine made an observation today in light of the announcement that
President Obama would be here (along with about 100 Congressional
Representatives and Senators) on Tuesday for a memorial service
commemorating those brutally murdered in a terrorist attack here last week.

My friend commented that "the President was here Friday (George and Laura
Bush were here meeting with victims and their family members Friday and into
Saturday morning -- until about 0200 hours), Obama will be here Tuesday." I
think this says a lot. We expect that there will be a big show of things
tomorrow and I would expect maximum disruption with getting onto post most
of the day. Interestingly, George and Laura came here many, many times
during his tenure, to talk to family members of those lost in the war. Most
of the time, no one was aware of his presence -- as he said -- it was a
private matter between him and the families, not a photo op or public
spectacle. Says a lot about the character of the man, don't you think? "

Mediocrity knows nothing higher than itself, but talent instantly recognizes genius.
- Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Who Got What?

2009-11-09T21:01:00.003-06:00

The Pelosi led House of Representatives barely passed one of the biggest pieces of Snake Oil legislation ever to disgrace their legislative body. I understand the vote count was 220 for and 215 against. 29 Blue Dog Democrats voted against it, but one traitorous Republican from Louisiana sold out. Joseph Cao let the promise of forgiveness of a billion plus dollar debt for Louisiana sell our children and grandchildren into slavery. I hope you remember all these U. S. Representatives who voted for this garbage when it comes time to vote. The bill was also supported by a number of major organizations in exchange for some promise from the government. These organizations were willing to take a profit at the expense of our freedom in this nation. One, the AARP, is going to get the small pieces of my two ID cards in the mail this week. Let's see who all sold out.

OBAMACARE ENDORSEMENTS: WHAT THE BRIBE WAS

By DICK MORRIS & EILEEN MCGANN

Published on TheHill.com on November 6, 2009

Printer-Friendly Version

As the suicidal Democratic congressmen proceed to rubber-stamp the Obama healthcare reform despite the drubbing their party took in the '09 elections, the president trotted out the endorsements of the AMA and the AARP to stimulate support. But these -- and the other endorsements -- his package has received are all bought and paid for.

Here are the deals:

* The American Medical Association (AMA) was facing a 21 percent cut in physicians' reimbursements under the current law. Obama promised to kill the cut if they backed his bill. The cuts are the fruit of a law requiring annual 5-6 percent reductions in doctor reimbursements for treating Medicare patients. Bravely, each year Congress has rolled the cuts over, suspending them but not repealing them. So each year, the accumulated cuts threaten doctors. By now, they have risen to 21 percent. With this blackmail leverage, Obama compelled the AMA to support his bill...or else!

* The AARP got a financial windfall in return for its support of the healthcare bill. Over the past decade, the AARP has morphed from an advocacy group to an insurance company (through its subsidiary company). It is one of the main suppliers of Medi-gap insurance, a high-cost, privately purchased coverage that picks up where Medicare leaves off. But President Bush-43 passed the Medicare Advantage program, which offered a subsidized, lower-cost alternative to Medi-gap. Under Medicare Advantage, the elderly get all the extra coverage they need plus coordinated, well-managed care, usually by the same physician. So more than 10 million seniors went with Medicare Advantage, cutting into AARP Medi-gap revenues.

Presto! Obama solved their problem. He eliminates subsidies for Medicare Advantage. The elderly will have to pay more for coverage under Medigap, but the AARP -- which supposedly represents them -- will make more money. (If this galls you, join the American Seniors Association, the alternative group; contact sbarton@americanseniors.org. This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .)

* The drug industry backed ObamaCare and, in return, got a 10-year limit of $80 billion on cuts in prescription drug costs. (A drop in the bucket of their almost $3 trillion projected cost over the next decade.) They also got administration assurances that it will continue to bar lower-cost Canadian drugs from coming into the U.S. All it had to do was put its formidable advertising budget at the disposal of the administration.

* Insurance companies got access to 40 million potential new customers. But when the Senate Finance Committee lowered the fine that would be imposed on those who don't buy insurance from $3,500 to $1,500, the insurance companies jumped ship and now oppose the bill, albeit for the worst of motives.

The only industry that refused to knuckle under was the medical device makers. They stood for principle and wouldn't go along with Obama's blackmail. So the Senate Finance Committee retaliated by imposing a tax on medical devices such as automated wheelchairs, pacemakers, arterial stents, prosthetic limbs, artificial knees and hips and other necessary accoutrements of healthcare.

So these endorsements are not freely given, but bought and paid for by an administration that is intent on passing its program at any cost.

That Does It.

2009-11-08T07:20:00.003-06:00

All human situations have their inconveniences. We feel those of the present but neither see nor feel those of the future; and hence we often make troublesome changes without amendment, and frequently for the worse.
- Benjamin Franklin

Well They've done it now. Our Pelosi led House of Representatives has just passed the most dangerous piece of garbage legislation ever to disgrace the floor. I'm sure the sycophant representatives from South Texas slobbered their way to the "For" button. I can almost assure you they didn't read it. The house voted 220 to 215 for the passage. I hope the names of the 220 traitors who voted for this bill are put on billboards across this great nation for all patriotic Americans to see. We should not only vote them out, but show up after election day and run them out of D.C. on a rail.

Today I defer to a good friend who knows as I do the true consequences of following politicians who are not only out to line their own pockets, but who have a social agenda to destroy our country in the process. They trample the very document that, along with strong Christian values, made this country the best in the world. His name is David and he sees the world without all the facade. His lifetime of work in solving horrible crimes have left him with senses that few possess. In addition, he has a great talent for putting his thoughts on paper.

"David's Thoughts"

Well folks, I was just watching the health care debate on C-SPAN until I
couldn't stomach it anymore. However, I think the corrupt Democrat from
New York, Charlie Rangel, defined this issue very succinctly from the
Democratic perspective.

He basically said that national, government run health care is more
important than freedom. In fact, he said it twice within one minute. He
then chastised Republicans who had opposed Medicare back in the 1960's
by saying that they thought "simple freedom" was more important than
what they called at the time a government take over of health care.

So there you have it. Rangel is a powerful liberal Democrat and he was
speaking for virtually all liberals. Government is more important than
freedom. He also confirmed that the government's first venture into
health care, Medicare, was a precursor of national health care of the
type now being considered. The opponents in the 1960's were right except
I don't believe even they could have imagined that if you don't want it
and don't buy, they will send you to prison.

Didn't know about that? Could it be because the House bill wherein this
provision exists has not been posted on the White House web site as
Obama promised all bills would be?

The Joint Commission on Taxation in response to a letter of inquiry from
a Republican Congressman makes it clear that Americans who do not
maintain “acceptable health insurance coverage” and who choose not to
pay the bill’s new individual mandate tax (generally 2.5% of income),
are subject to numerous civil and criminal penalties, including criminal
fines of up to $250,000 and imprisonment of up to five years.”

In other words, the government will decide if your health care is
sufficient for you and if they decide it's not, and you don't comply
with governmental instructions immediately, you will face civil fines
and be criminally prosecuted.

And this is just the beginning. I saw Congressman James Clyburn, a black
Democrat who is the majority whip in the House, interviewed on FOX News
the other day. He was asked what provision of the Constitution
authorized Congress to spend one nickel on health care. He cavalierly
replied, “There’s nothing in the Constitution that says that the federal
government has anything to do with most of the stuff we do.”

For 50 years now leftist liberals have packed the courts with those of
their ilk. The courts have invented something they call "the living
Constitution." What this means is that they can interpret it anyway they
please in order to fulfill the agenda de jour without regard to original
intent. In plain English, by ignoring the plain meaning of the
Constitution, the foundation for all of our laws, they have gradually
turned our country away from the Rule of Law toward the Rule of Men.

We have seen laws passed since the 1960's which conform to this same
philosophy. Medicare was just one of them. This administration and
Democratic Congress are now implementing plans leftist liberals have
been waiting 60 or more years to see enacted, and as I said previously,
they are just getting started.

These people have no agreement whatsoever with the ideas of personal
freedom and rugged individualism which made this country the best for
its citizens in the history of the world. In fact, their idea is to make
us all subjects, not citizens.

If you agree with my thoughts, the time is already past for drastic
action. We can no longer just sit back and vote. We must aggressively
move to stop all of this by forming groups which monitor and put
pressure on our elective representatives each and every day. We must do
it en masse to show we mean business. We must do it now. If we don't,
our children and grandchildren will never know the freedom or even the
prosperity we have known. The Great American Experiment will be
dead...and it will have succumbed on our watch.

David

"It does not take a majority to prevail ... but rather an irate, tireless minority, keen on setting brushfires of freedom in the minds of men." --Samuel Adams

Wonder About Response?

2009-11-07T22:39:00.003-06:00

Have you wondered about the Slow to No response on action against Muslims in this country and elsewhere? Well take a look at this video link submitted by an anonymous commenter on my last posting. This is a pretty telling compilation of clips from various speeches made by this president.

Almost there.

2009-11-06T07:45:00.005-06:00

Thank you for waiting. I have been slowing inching my way out of a deep hole of late, and unable to form a meaningful thought between bouts of coughing. The last few days have been relatively peaceful and I can see the light clearly now. The doctor said everything was clear on my tests and ushered me out of his office before I caught something else. Meanwhile a lot has been happening and I am anxious to start pontificating.

Our headline this morning reads, "Disgruntled major kills 12 at Fort Hood." It is not until you read the name of the suspect that you wonder, "How did we miss this one?" Nidal Malik Hasan, M.D. can be seen buying something while dressed in traditional middle eastern dress in a nearby convenience store surveillance video on the morning of the shooting. We are fighting his relatives and probably members of his church. Why is he wearing the uniform of the United States Army? His relatives are Jordanian which may mean they are Palestinian but carrying a Jordanian passport. Many carry passports from Jordan and Egypt even though they were born elsewhere. We are going to see more of these deluded suicidal warriors of the Muslim jihad pulling off their little mini attacks as our country flounders under a lack of leadership. They are emboldened by the kinship they feel to the (most likely Muslim) president, Barack Hussein Obama. His unwillingness to support our military efforts in the middle east will empower the cowardly followers of Allah here in this country to act. While president Obama, and his equally unqualified vice president, Joe Biden go through the motions of trying to formulate a great strategy our country, our troops remain at risk. Neither man has one ounce of military experience (or much life experience for that matter) to draw on when making these very serious decisions. And, like most career politicians concerned with their own personal agendas, they are not listening to the career military experts. We had better do something of major significance very soon.

Back to my question, "How did we miss this one?" We missed him because in our insipid and politically correct society we ignore the real threats so as not to offend anyone. We allow gang bangers, and Muslims, and other misfits into our military services. They come out better trained to do the kinds of things they did before they enlisted. This has to stop. I would suggest that since we are at war with the Muslims (all of them either support the notion of killing all infidels, or they support those who do) that we banish them from the United States. I think Australia may have already done this. I think we should cancel all student visas, and other visas for people of middle eastern descent who embrace the Muslim religion. I think we should retroactively root out and deport all Muslims in this country. What about freedom of religion you say? If the major tenet of the religion is the destruction of our way of life, and the death of all who don't believe as they do, I think all considerations under the freedom of religion portion of our constitution are trumped. Get them out of here and keep them out of here. I am talking every last one of them. This is war. We can either take severe action now, or we will be overtaken by their shear numbers. They are procreating faster than any population on the face of the Earth.

I think we should call our president to task and make him reveal his background. If he is not qualified to hold the office, as I believe, he should be the first one on the boat out of here. Our leaders have to show some backbone and push back this hostile take over of our republic. I think the majority of our people are realizing political parties really don't matter when it comes to saving our way of life. I believe they will push back hard when they realize we have allowed ourselves to be pushed into a corner. I was encouraged by the actions of the voters in the most recent elections and the presence of the voters at the Capitol who voiced their opposition to the ridiculous legislation the current majority leaders, Pelosi and Reid are trying to shove down our throats. I hope for a wholesale sweep of all those who can't seem to decide whose side they are on. I believe we will see this in the next elections.

Aren't you glad I'm feeling better?

When a man says he approves of something in principle, it means he hasn't the slightest intention of putting it into practice.
- Otto von Bismarck

Halloween

2009-10-31T09:40:00.003-05:00

Gosh, it's been a few days since I posted anything. How time flies when you are coughing your tendons loose from your ribs. My post flu/pre-pneumonia like hold over was not going away. I took a ten hour drive north to Waco, Texas to look at some touring motorcycles individuals had for sale. My trek started last Monday and I returned to the Valley on Wednesday. By then I knew my feverish body was not recovering as it should. So, on Thursday I returned to my doctor. After shots, Nebulizer treatments, X-Rays, Tylenol, and blood work I drove home to lie on the couch and cough in private. I now own a Nebulizer and am taking treatments twice daily.

The idea to suffer in peace was interrupted by my little Goblins who roused me from coughing couch to show off their Halloween costumes and practice their "Trick or Treat" approach. Bebe appears to be immune to all the little germs that cross our threshold after thirty plus years of daily contact with the little virus factories. My day was brightened by their antics and little slobbery kisses I was sure were full of multiple strains of contagion. After all my reserves were depleted, I retreated to the bedroom to recover.

I got up during snack time. I can't miss that. We all sit around the table and have our afternoon snacks and practice our sharing lessons. When I picked up my meds at Walgreen's, I went down the candy isle and picked out several of my favorites. I especially like the caramel candies with the powdered sugar centers. I only get them at Halloween. The bowl on the hutch behind me was brimming with the goodies and my little Incredible Hulk said, "You have plenty of candy to share Pappy." I grinned and handed out the sugary treats. Soon everyone had a mouth full of chewy caramel which dripped down chins and onto place mats. Big gobs of caramel stuck to the roofs of small mouths and had to be dislodged with gooey fingers.

Tonight's the night. My little dinosaur and action hero will be making the rounds. I am staying home to greet the little tykes who invade our neighborhood to fill their candy bags. I sure it won't be long before we are told by the government we can't do this anymore. I won't predict an exact date for complete recovery, but I am building up some steam to take a shot at the politics of the day.

Story from 1968

2009-10-26T07:34:00.005-05:00

I thought I would dredge up something from my early writing days(1968). I posted this story before for those of you who are keepers of my blog information, but it's Fall and time for a man's hunting instincts to kick in. In the print above, a young Daniel Boone hunts to provide his family with food. I hope you enjoy reading this again (or perhaps for the first time). I will be on the road for an old man's walk about for a couple of days.

The Heart of a Man

The distant crowing of a rooster pierced the early morning silence. It was soon followed by similar, shrill, grating cry as another barnyard herald joined the fugue of the feathered symphony. Inside the front room of a weathered house, a pile of quilts in the middle of a big, old-fashioned, poster-bed began to unfold, and slowly assumed a more recognizable shape. A few short strands of matted red hair emerged from under the lumpy patchwork. Suddenly a freckled hand swept open the warm cotton nest exposing a sparsely clad body to the filtered chill of the room. Thirteen year old David Reins slowly raised himself into a sitting position, and turned so his legs slid off the edge of the bed, and dangled aimlessly as his mind focused on his surroundings. He glanced through the darkness and his eyes stopped as the luminous dial of the alarm clock came into view. The hands were spread to read five o’clock.

David knew his mother would object. Just in the last year she had become extremely overprotective. David eased his weight onto his bare feet. His hands kept steady pressure on the rusty bed springs until he was in a position to release them slowly and silently. Everything had been carefully placed so it could be found easily without the use of a light. His faded blue jeans, and his old checkered flannel shirt were carefully dropped on a short bench which stood in front of the dressing table with its three arched-topped mirrors. His worn leather boots were directly beneath the bench. From the top of each boot, a thick wool sock hung like a large worm about to escape a tin can. David was almost ready. All he had left to do was to pick up the canvas hunting coat, and the shotgun that stood by the dusty, old chifforobe next to the door. The coat and the shotgun had belonged to his father who died just the year before. The coat was stiff and heavy. The shell slots in each pocket were full, and the vinyl game pouch at the back of the coat still smelled of last year’s hunting successes. David’s arms hung inside the warmth of the sleeves which were several inches too long. He pushed them back in accordion fashion so his hand could grasp the cold, blued-steel barrel of the Winchester .12 gauge.

David opened the door and stepped outside. His eyes watered, his cheeks burned, and his nostrils ached as he followed the white puffs of his breath through the darkness. A November cold front was moving across the southern countryside. His boots crunched and grated on the gravel in his grandfather’s driveway as he moved toward the gap in the barbed wire fence that opened into the woods. David stopped at the gap. The roosters had stopped crowing. Everything was quiet. It was the silent time of dawn when everything pauses to await the crest of the sun. His heart began to beat faster as he gazed into the dark chasm formed by a large hickory-nut tree and some small pin-oaks whose branches arched over the narrow path that led deep into the swamp of the creek. Things were different; he missed his father’s presence on the trail beside him. David’s numb fingers fumbled in the pocket of his hunting coat as he pried three of the new magnum plastic shells from their slots. He pressed two shells into the magazine, then he moved the slide beneath the barrel all the way back, and with a quick, forward jerk it slid back into position, chambering on of the shells. Even with a loaded gun, David still had trouble getting his feet to move further down the dark pathway.

Soon he heard the gurgling of the creek that signaled his arrival at the prime squirrel hunting area. David moved himself into position beneath one of the decaying, hollow, hardwood trees that lined both sides of the creek. His listened patiently for the tell-tale chatter of the gray squirrel. The darkness faded with the rising of the sun, and David’s surroundings became clearly visible. Suddenly the silence of the swamp was broken by a bedlam of chatter. David’s keen brown eyes turned skyward as they caught a slight movement on a leafless limb of a nearby oak. The fluffy tail of the fat squirrel moved slowly back and forth in a motion similar to that of a metronome, as he barked indignantly at those who had invaded his private play ground during the night. David’s muscles tightened as he slowly raised himself and lifted the heavy shotgun to his shoulder. His thumb caught the exposed hammer and pulled it back into the cocked position with a slight click. He gripped the large gun as firmly as possible, and planted both feet firmly into the spongy soil. His arm extended full length down the dark oil stained stock, and his forefinger stretched to make a slight arch around the trigger. David moved the barrel so that the silver bead at the end was centered on the squirrel’s body. His heart began to pound furiously, his face took on a powdered appearance, and shiny beads of sweat appeared on his brow. His finger nervously began to pressure the trigger. The guttural roar of the shotgun ruptured the early morning serenity of the swamp. David struggled to retain his balance as the barrel spewed forth its contents and arched skyward. His ears rang, his shoulder throbbed, and his nostrils were filled with the strong sulphur smell of burning gun powder. Beneath the tree, David could see a writhing lump of gray fur. He moved quickly toward his prize, pushing aside the underbrush as he went. He stopped and gazed down at the suffering creature in sickening horror. The wounded squirrel’s teeth were bared in pain, and his eyes focused momentarily on the creature that loomed over him. His hind legs moved in quick staccato jerks, and dark red drops of blood oozed from the bristled fur that covered his body. David’s stomach retched, and twisted. He wanted to cry. The squirrel twisted again and stirred the dry, spongy leaves. David knew that the job must be finished. He had seen his father do it dozens of times. He knew the suffering had to be stopped, but not it seemed so brutal. He leaned his gun up against a tree, and extended his trembling hand down, and grasped the warm underside of the squirrel. He could feel the tiny thumping beat of the heart, and see the rise and fall of the miniature chest as it expanded against his fingers. He knew if he was going to do it he couldn’t wait any longer. Carefully he placed the small head on the exposed root of a nearby oak. David’s jaw tightened. There was no time for second thoughts as he raised his boot and slammed it forcefully down causing the oak to resound with a muffled thud. He glanced at the squirrel once more, sighed, put the squirrel in his pouch, shouldered his gun, and headed home.

H1N1 Squared

2009-10-24T22:32:00.004-05:00

I spoke too soon. Just when I started to think I was in recovery, I started oinking again. An entirely different set of symptoms added themselves to the dry non-productive cough. I just started eating again today. Bebe said she knew I was really sick when I made it a day and a half without any food at all. I slept for the better part of two days. After checking the symptom list for the Swine flu, I determined I must have had a pretty fair case. I weighed this morning and discovered I lost five pounds. However, I probably should take another look in the morning. I was into comfort food all day as part of my recovery. One of the symptoms not mentioned was an aversion to blogging and Facebook. I hope this stuff doesn't have a part three waiting to jump on me tomorrow. I think I'll get Bebe to spray me with Lysol disinfectant spray in the morning.

I won't have to get a swine flu shot now.

Back to the keyboard.

2009-10-22T12:29:00.002-05:00

The fever and chills are gone. The dry non-productive cough is still an occasional distraction. I just took my final Levaquin tablet and that completes my medicine regimen. The government is still in full out destroy the United States of America mode, and our troops in the middle east languish while the Emperor of Washington D.C. holds his lavish weekly dinner parties. With a few exceptions, the Republican party continues to wimp around and support candidates who are Republicrats.

The White House and it's lap dog, the main stream media, continue to claim they want diversity while at the same time doing all they can to stifle any thought except their own. Be careful of arguments that start with errant logic. If you start with an errant premise, then the conclusion you draw will most likely be wrong.

The modern day Democrat politicians and socialist radicals have no qualms about lying and presenting half truths. They use pseuo-science and structured studies to support their globalist policies, and created crisis. They blame everyone but themselves for the current economic mess and failed foreign policy. We all know who was in control of the law making bodies for the better part of the George W. Bush presidency. They speak of transparency while the president spends millions to keep his history a secret. Can you spell "Hypocrite"? Republicans caved on their mandate to keep government within the bounds manageable financial reality, but the Democrats just continue to lie and spend while telling us that their uncontrolled spending will not affect the deficit. "You lie" Mr. President. We are in trouble.

Get the facts, or the facts will get you. And when you get them, get them right, or they will get you wrong.
- Dr. Thomas Fuller

Autumn Leaves

2009-10-18T06:47:00.004-05:00

Twisting leaf in wind.

Green, it moves with limb and twig

youth has strength to spare.

Twisting leaf in wind.

Red, it leaves its lofty perch

color to be seen.

Twisting leaf in wind.

Brown, it’s blown from place to place

no one knows it’s there.

Dennis Price

No one really listens to anyone else, and if you try it for a while you'll see why.
- Mignon McLaughlin

The Doctor's Office

2009-10-17T05:53:00.005-05:00

It started mid-week with a little pre-nasal drip. I thought I had overdosed on Dove's dark chocolate while attempting to boost my anti-oxidant levels. Food allergies, who knew? I have some very powerful prescription anti-histamine tablets for just that purpose, so I took one. The end result was a full day either in bed or on the couch without as much as a rational thought. I knew once the medication wore off I would feel better. However, as I approached the twenty four hour mark I still had no desire to rise from my bed. My joints ached and I developed a persistent dry cough. We were expecting guests for the weekend and I wasn't making any progress. I have my doctor's cell phone number but I never call it.

I am not a good patient. I hate sitting in waiting rooms trying not to cough. While I still had strength I drug myself to the phone and dialed the secret number. I was fully expecting that Doc would not want to see me either, but would call in a prescription for me to pick up. Not. He said, "Knowing you, you are probably telling me about half the story. Get in here now." I pulled on the nearest available clothes and drove myself to his office.

Upon arrival, I contacted the receptionist who gave me a clipboard with a half ream of paper attached. Since my doc had changed his office location it would be necessary for me to update my medical file and request my records from the old clinic. I dutifully set about my task while trying desperately to stifle my cough until I was put in the little room to await my exam. I always worry that in an already weakened condition I will be more susceptible to the plethora of germs roaming the waiting area.

Soon a nurse came to the reception area door and called my name. She led me down the hall and put me in a small exam room. She was dressed in scrubs and she carried a clip board. No reason to think she might not be a nurse right? She asked me why I was there to see the doctor. I told her my wife wanted a break. She then asked me if I had taken any medication before coming to the office. I told her I had taken two extra strength Excedrin tablets about an hour before driving over. I knew I might be in trouble when she asked what Excedrin was and after several unsuccessful tries to write it on the clipboard, she finally asked me how to spell it. She took my blood pressure and temperature and recorded the results. She informed me my temperature was slightly elevated. I told her I figured as much since I couldn't recall being run over by a truck. I was not overly confident, but I thought maybe a real nurse would appear after I saw the doctor. My doctor came in and did that fist to fist greeting so popular these days and did all the things doctors can do in the two minutes allotted for your exam. At the end he said I probably had some strain of the flu. He ordered a three minute Nebulizer treatment and an antibiotic shot and told me he would call in a couple of prescriptions.

Guess who walks in with the Nebulizer? You guessed it, first day nurse Betty. She was talking to herself as she worked trying hard to remember the steps in setting up for this complicated procedure. "I'm washing my hands now. I'm undoing the sterile cover from the tubing and mouth piece. etc." She fumbled with the machine trying to set it on a rounded portion not designed to serve as the base. I moved in and showed her the four little rubber feet designed to act as the base. This machine had one switch and one nozzle for the attachment of the tubing. You guessed it. She couldn't locate the nozzle. I knew she must have trained at an on-line nursing school. After I assembled the apparatus, I turned it on and gave myself the treatment. Now all that was left to do was the anti-biotic shot and I would be on my way home. I was hoping for a more mature nurse to appear. In walks mumbling Betty with a filled syringe and asks me if I would prefer the shot in my arm or in my hip. I opted for the hip. Larger target right? While she once again talked herself through washing her hands and putting on her gloves I took the initiative and made ready to expose my buttocks. I loosened my trousers and pulled down the top of my briefs on the right side and tucked my shirt up for easy access. She asked if I was ready and I told her yes. I suddenly felt her pinch up the skin on the left side and start talking her way through the procedure. "It's going in now. I'm pushing the thingy and making it go in. Oh good it's going in." I don't really know how long it took, but I've never had a shot that took as long to complete. When she was done she sighed and said, "Oh good, you're not bleeding." I redressed and using my good right leg to propel myself, I drug my pain numbed left lower limb back to the reception area. After making sure that the prescriptions had been called in to the proper pharmacy I left.

Perhaps in a year or two when I go back she will have mastered the technique.

One man alone can be pretty dumb sometimes, but for real bona fide stupidity, there ain't nothin' can beat teamwork.
- Edward Abbey

A Big Mess.

2009-10-16T08:35:00.004-05:00

I have had the misfortune of seeing messes equal to or greater than this one during my 30 years in and around law enforcement. I can tell you folks. Things are in a mess. I've had two long days to think about it. Something in the air has rendered me helpless to control my cough. In my mature years, I developed allergies to certain plants and grasses and apparently they are blowing around in the air. On day one I took a prescription anti-histamine. The coughing continued, but it was a dry cough and I was reduced to drooling and dragging one foot behind me in the manner of Igor. After a day of naps, I began to feel normal again, but the scratchy feeling just at the base of my throat wouldn't go away. I continued to cough on a regular and annoying schedule. Both nights I slept in my recliner. This morning I awoke with very little coughing. The tingle is still present, but I am no longer compelled to cough every ten seconds.

A cool front (that's about all we get at this latitude) was scheduled to blow through here during the night. I walked out to get the paper this morning and thought Al Gore was in town for a speech. The air was hot and humid. Now I'm back in front of my computer screen trying to go for a record - no coughs at all in fifteen minutes. I woke up in the middle of the night and felt as though it was morning. Well it was morning, but really just an hour or two past midnight. Interesting T.V. fare at that hour. I surfed the 100 plus channels of infomercials and reality show re-runs and finally settled on the tier containing among other things the Discovery channel. The program was about a temple dedicated to the Kama Sutra in India. This temple was built in ancient times and is covered with carvings of all the sexual positions contained in the Kama Sutra. The interesting aspect of the show was listening to academics (mostly from India) try to explain the historical significance of this art. That diversion lasted about ten minutes before I turned the T.V. off and returned to my nest building. Sleeping while sitting upright is an art form. I dreamed of smoke filled bar rooms with lots of coughing and getting up to go to the bathroom. Daylight moved me to rise. Our paper has gone up to $14.25 per month delivered. This for a paper that is so light most mornings the paper boy can't throw if there is any wind at all. I buy it for the crossword puzzle and the scramble. I covered it in about three minutes.

The number of things that need to be addressed is so long I can't do it in a single post. I am however looking forward to a weekend of football games. I look for the little things to fight the boredom. I love it when the sports babe gets trampled by the coach as he rushes to the locker room to vent on his offensive linemen who can't remember the snap count. I also like to flip through the half-time fill where players who couldn't remember the snap count, and coaches who ran over sports babes all talk at the same time and pretend they know something about the game. I hate to tell them, but putting on an expensive suit doesn't increase your I. Q.

I could do my community volunteer service by going to the parking lot at Wal-Mart and picking up valley snowballs. Those are the pampers our voting populace discards at random in every open space along with their lunch trash. Moving the shopping carts to the corral is another worthwhile service, or directing traffic at the entry way so the folks learn that "Exit" and "Enter" are two distinctly different words in English even though they both start with "E". If I were the Border Patrol, I would set up a kiosk at the front door and check papers. You already get checked by the "anti-theft" patrol as you exit even though these same "agents" have just watched you check out. The people with the baggy clothing and hooded sweatshirts (rarely appropriate wear here) with bulges at every pocket don't get stopped because the "patrol" is so busy doing a strip search on you. We wouldn't want to risk being accused of racial profiling by stopping an obvious shop lifting gang banger now would we?

The problem with all this is societal. A large portion of the voting populace can't, or don't read and are therefore highly unlikely to read this or any other cogent rant. Instead of requiring people to meet basic standards of achievement prior to marking a ballot, we choose to lower the standards so they won't be embarrassed. The same is true in schools and universities. Let them in on lowered standards and make sure they pass to avoid law suits and accusations of racial bias. Grant them amnesty if they are illegal thereby nullifying the efforts of those immigrants who have labored to get their paperwork in order and obtain legal status. What about all the stupid white people in this country? You can ridicule them all you like because nobody cares. It's not that they are missing out on being arrested, harassed, and made fun of, but nobody would take a case where a white defendant is unfairly treated. We are in a mess of our own making. Living the good life has caused us to become desensitized to the moral and societal decay rotting away the foundations of our way of life. How do you suppose the room in the picture above became cluttered like that? One piece of garbage at a time was thrown down and never picked up.

The prospect of a long day at the beach makes me panic. There is no harder work I can think of than taking myself off to somewhere pleasant, where I am forced to stay for hours and 'have fun'.

- Phillip Lopate

Ask the doctor.

2009-10-15T09:33:00.002-05:00

I know many doctors have a lot to do and don't feel inclined to join in the debate on what we need in health care. I found an article written at the end of August this year by a doctor in Jackson, MS. He hits an area of concern that the politicians do not want to address. Why? Because it highlights the irresponsibility of a large segment of the voting population. Those of us who have had the misfortune to need emergency room services have had our blood pressure raised by being triaged behind patients who obviously, through personal neglect and active abuse have ruined their health. Most claim an inability to pay and are therefore wards of the Federal Government in the area of health care. Read this article. It hits the nail on the head.

Add to this those who are not here legally, but who use the emergency room doctor as their personal health care provider, and you have a condition where those who have done their best to be responsible and provide for themselves can't find a seat. It's not that we are uncaring, but these issues have to be addressed. We must look at the big picture. Don't let your politicians gloss over some of the real salient issues that affect our quality of medical care in this country. We must exercise some tough love in order to straighten things out.

Dear Sirs:

"During my last night's shift in the ER, I had the pleasure of evaluating a patient with a shiny new gold tooth, pierced tongue, multiple elaborate tattoos, a very expensive brand of tennis shoes and a new cellular telephone equipped with her favorite R&B tune for a ringtone.

Glancing over the chart, one could not help noticing her payer status: Medicaid.

She smokes more than one costly pack of cigarettes every day and, somehow, still has money to buy beer.

And our president expects me to pay for this woman's health care?

Our nation's health care crisis is not a shortage of quality hospitals, doctors or nurses. It is a crisis of culture - a culture in which it is perfectly acceptable to spend money on pleasures and vices while refusing to take care of one's self or, heaven forbid, purchase health insurance. A culture that thinks "I can do whatever I want to because someone else will always take care of me".

Life is really not that hard. Most of us reap what we sow. Don't you agree?

STARNER JONES, MD

Jackson , MS

Sometimes I think the surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that none of it has tried to contact us.
- Bill Watterson

Not yours to give.

2009-10-12T22:24:00.003-05:00

David Crockett

As we argue and posture on the great government give away programs of this current administration we must remember that the funds they so easily squander are not theirs to give away. The "Commerce Clause" in the U. S. Constitution has been so bastardized it is no longer recognizable. As we will see in the selected sections of the following article this was never provided for by our Constitution. The first level of responsibility for one's care is his own personal duty. The second is his family. The third is his neighbors. The fourth his church, and perhaps the fifth his State. The federal government does not fit into the equation. Let's examine early governmental thought on this issue.

Not Yours To Give

Mark Alexander

Publisher, PatriotPost.US

"I cannot undertake to lay my finger on that article of the Constitution which granted a right to Congress of expending, on objects of benevolence, the money of their constituents..." --James Madison

David Crockett is less known for the several terms he served in Congress between 1827 and 1835 during the presidency of his old commander, Andrew Jackson.

According to the Register of Debates for the House of Representatives, 20th Congress, 1st Session on April 2, 1828, Crocket stood to challenge the constitutionality of one of the earliest welfare spending bills.

While the exact text of his speech was not recorded in full (as that was not the practice of the time), the spirit of his words was captured years later under the heading "Not yours to give" in the book "The Life of Colonel David Crockett" by Edward Ellis.

Ellis wrote, "One day in the House of Representatives a bill was taken up appropriating money for the benefit of a widow of a distinguished naval officer. Several beautiful speeches had been made in its support. The Speaker was just about to put the question when Crockett arose..."

According to Ellis, Crockett said, "Mr. Speaker; I have as much respect for the memory of the deceased, and as much sympathy for the sufferings of the living, if suffering there be, as any man in this House, but we must not permit our respect for the dead or our sympathy for a part of the living to lead us into an act of injustice to the balance of the living. I will not go into an argument to prove that Congress has not the power to appropriate this money as an act of charity. Every member upon this floor knows it. We have the right, as individuals, to give away as much of our own money as we please in charity; but as members of Congress we have no right so to appropriate a dollar of the public money. Some eloquent appeals have been made to us upon the ground that it is a debt due the deceased. Mr. Speaker, the deceased lived long after the close of the war; he was in office to the day of his death, and I have never heard that the government was in arrears to him.

"Every man in this House knows it is not a debt. We cannot, without the grossest corruption, appropriate this money as the payment of a debt. We have not the semblance of authority to appropriate it as charity. Mr. Speaker, I have said we have the right to give as much money of our own as we please. I am the poorest man on this floor. I cannot vote for this bill, but I will give one week's pay to the object, and if every member of Congress will do the same, it will amount to more than the bill asks."

Though the measure was expected to receive unanimous support, after Crockett's objection, it did not pass.

Ellis recounts that Crocket was later asked by a friend why he had opposed the appropriation, and he replied: "Several years ago I was one evening standing on the steps of the Capitol with some other members of Congress, when our attention was attracted by a great light over in Georgetown. It was evidently a large fire. We jumped into a hack and drove over as fast as we could. In spite of all that could be done, many houses were burned and many families made houseless, and, besides, some of them had lost all but the clothes they had on. The weather was very cold, and when I saw so many women and children suffering, I felt that something ought to be done for them. The next morning a bill was introduced appropriating $20,000 for their relief. We put aside all other business and rushed it through as soon as it could be done."

Crocket explained, "The next summer, when it began to be time to think about election, I concluded I would take a scout around among the boys of my district. I had no opposition there, but, as the election was some time off, I did not know what might turn up. When riding one day in a part of my district in which I was more of a stranger than any other, I saw a man in a field plowing and coming toward the road. I gauged my gait so that we should meet as he came to the fence. As he came up, I spoke to the man. He replied politely, but, as I thought, rather coldly.

"I began: 'Well, friend, I am one of those unfortunate beings called candidates, and..."

His constituent interrupted, "Yes I know you; you are Colonel Crockett. I have seen you once before, and voted for you the last time you were elected. I suppose you are out electioneering now, but you had better not waste your time or mine, I shall not vote for you again."

Crockett replied, "This was a sockdolager ... I begged him to tell me what was the matter."

The farmer said, "Well, Colonel, it is hardly worth-while to waste time or words upon it. I do not see how it can be mended, but you gave a vote last winter which shows that either you have not capacity to understand the Constitution, or that you are wanting in the honesty and firmness to be guided by it. In either case you are not the man to represent me. But I beg your pardon for expressing it in that way. I did not intend to avail myself of the privilege of the constituent to speak plainly to a candidate for the purpose of insulting or wounding you. I intend by it only to say that your understanding of the Constitution is very different from mine; and I will say to you what, but for my rudeness, I should not have said, that I believe you to be honest. But an understanding of the Constitution different from mine I cannot overlook, because the Constitution, to be worth anything, must be held sacred, and rigidly observed in all its provisions. The man who wields power and misinterprets it is the more dangerous the more honest he is."

Crocket responded, "Well, my friend; I may as well own up. You have got me there. But certainly nobody will complain that a great and rich country like ours should give the insignificant sum of $20,000 to relieve its suffering women and children, particularly with a full and overflowing Treasury, and I am sure, if you had been there, you would have done just as I did."

But the farmer fired back, "It is not the amount, Colonel, that I complain of; it is the principle. In the first place, the government ought to have in the Treasury no more than enough for its legitimate purposes. But that has nothing with the question. The power of collecting and disbursing money at pleasure is the most dangerous power that can be entrusted to man. ... So you see, Colonel, you have violated the Constitution in what I consider a vital point. It is a precedent fraught with danger to the country, for when Congress once begins to stretch its power beyond the limits of the Constitution, there is no limit to it, and no security for the people."

Thus, Crockett explained of his opposition to support the widow of that distinguished naval officer: "Now, sir, you know why I made that speech yesterday."

Third Parties

2009-10-11T05:55:00.004-05:00

Like many people, I have on occasion thought that the right thing to do was to break away from both established political parties and form a new one. It seems like the only viable way to flush the political toilet and get rid of all the undesirable waste there. However, history has shown that doing so always results in a watering down of the conservative base and victory for the party with the polar opposite platform. I think this article gives some insight into some unintended consequences of the process.

The Real Problem with Third Parties

By C. Edmund Wright

Yes third parties always lose national elections. Not only that, if successful enough to grow, their very existence guarantees victory for the candidate or party most opposed to the beliefs of the third party voters. But this is not even the real problem with them.

The real problem is third parties are like virgins: Upon consummation, they are no longer virgins.

The purity is gone by definition.

(There is a great Dennis Miller bit about the terrorists, 72 virgins, bewilderment, 3 a.m. and so on that would be a fabulous analogy here - but this is a family website.)

Part of the problem with third parties is that the frustrated call for them -- at least on the right -- is really a plea for something else altogether. They are also generally built on a cult of personality and not ideas. More on that later.

First, consider some lessons from the last significant third party effort: the Ross Perot "Reform Party" of 1992-1996. Though there were philosophical and intellectual problems with the movement that caused far fewer to fall for the act the second time around, it still enabled the election of a man far to the left of Perot voters in both elections.

In 1992, there was just enough tough-minded pragmatism in Perot's message to successfully siphon off angry Republicans and Reagan Democrats from the "kinder and gentler" George H.W. Bush. Bush only got 38% of the vote. That gave Bill Clinton the White House with 43% of the vote. Perot polled most of the other 19%.

The irony is this: the Perot message -- much of which resurfaced in 1994 in the Contract with America -- was about 80% Reagan conservatism with a little pro-choice and Republican bashing thrown in on the side.

But nobody noticed this publicly for some reason. Well, at least not Bush 41 or his campaign, neither of whom ever did understand Reagan. And certainly not the Perot followers, whose main source of pride was that they were Perot supporters. Had they connected the dots that most of what Perot stood for was conservative fiscal policy, they would not have voted in a manner to allow the most liberal of the three candidates to gain the White House.

Many couldn't tell you why they supported Perot really. But they were almost arrogant in their "none of the above" stand. They were Reform Party proud and enjoyed the feeling that they were on the ground floor of something. In this way, Perot meetings almost had the flavor of an early Herbalife Opportunity meeting.

This is not unique among third party movements either.

The real kicker, however, is this: the Reform Party became what any political movement of any size becomes, a political party. You know, an insider's game of aphrodisiacal power, access and turf protection. Just like the parties so hated by the Perot people. Even the non-political outsiders who joined "on the ground floor" and got jobs within the campaign operation quickly embraced their newfound political status and quickly moved to protect their turf within the party.

The newbies were in for a rude awakening however. You might remember that Perot needed a political team and he went outside his groupie universe and hired Republican re-tread Ed Rollins to run his campaign. Rollins is the consummate Washingtonian insider and he naturally did what Washington insiders do. He hired a lot of other Washington insiders to work with him on the campaign.

Thus, the Reform Party was being re-formed by the consummate party hack.

A political party apparatus was born and the baby came equipped with a full diaper. The "pro's" hired by Rollins were dismissive of the groupies and the groupies were resentful of the pro's horning in on their turf.

Well what do you know -- the problem with political parties is not the R or the D in front of their name after all. The problem is that they are run and staffed by imperfect creatures known as people and people do what people do. They act in self-preservation.

In this way, parties are somewhat microcosms of government in general. Power is defined by how large their budgets are and by how much control they have over others. People in government are therefore often motivated to work at cross-purposes with constituents. Thus, as stated by Ronald Reagan, government is a necessary evil.

Political parties are much the same. Certainly this is true of today's two main parties and it proved true for the supposedly wind driven snow pure Reform Party as well. Funny how this works. To play in the game of politics, you have to have a political team. And political teams are called parties. And they have inherent flaws. Period.

So what is it that people crying out for a third party really want? I submit it is simply smaller government. Huh?

Human beings in positions of power in government or a political party will always act to sustain their universe -- which is either a government agency or some fiefdom within the party.

It is a law of nature. It can't be broken. And this is always going to irritate folks not in the political system. So forming a third party will either result in something so small that it is inconsequential -- or it will be successful enough to grow large and thus become that which it was supposed to replace.

A smaller government, however, greatly reduces the source of irritation. This is classic Reaganism by the way. He understood this. In 1980, 84 and 94, the leaders of the GOP understood this too. (Yes, I know they have forgotten.)

Our country is now suffering from way too much government. When government grows, it also grows in influence and the entire party-lobbying-union-community organizing complex grows. The source of irritation is so big that we can hardly escape it in any phase of your life. We are surrounded by bureaucrats who control our life while our taxes pay for their gold-plated health and retirement plans.

And don't call them at 8:59 am or 5:01 pm and expect an answer either.

One way to release frustration is to just say "throw all the bums out" and to push for a third party. Understandable, but it denies the reality that the next set of bums will be infected with human nature just like this set.

The only answer to this frustration is a smaller government political system. And like it or not, the very flawed GOP -- with all of their big government RINO's -- is the best hope to slow down or stop the big government juggernaut of Team Obama.

The third party energy should be funneled into taking back the Republican Party -- to return it to the base beliefs that created the Reagan Revolution which did so much for America and for freedom everywhere. Reagan was a Republican, but he was quick to invite liberal Republicans to "go their own way."

We cannot create a bum-proof government or bum proof parties. But a smaller government makes US a bit more bum proof. And you know what, I think that is what the Founding Fathers were saying all along with that little document they scratched out in Philadelphia.

A Joke.

2009-10-09T06:12:00.003-05:00

Just when I thought it was safe to go outside again, along comes the headline, "Barack Hussein Obama wins the Nobel Peace Prize." This "Global" award has become a monumental joke. First Al Gore wins for some phony science global green speak book and now ten months into his presidency, the Big O wins. For what? Name one thing Barack Hussein Obama has done to bring about peace. If fact name one thing Barry Barack Hussein Soetero Obama has done that is worthy of any kind of award. This man will go down in history (even revised history) as the biggest joke to ever mess up the oath of office. What a sham. He's not even the first "African American president. We all know that barrier was broken by Bill Clinton. Folks, we haven't begun to see the destruction and chaos this un-vetted interloper is going to bring down on the heads of the American taxpayer. Say what you want about past administrations (and you would probably be right) but you won't even be close to the "wish we hadn't done that" cry that will come out of your over-taxed third world mouth when this guy is through. We were always worried about enemies from outside our borders scheming to take us down. But right here within our own unprotected borders, illegal immigrants, temporary stay terrorists, and subversive citizens were plotting our demise. We are getting a smattering of brave support from a handful of elected representatives, and a significant number of right thinking Americans are letting their voices be heard, but I wonder if anything short of divine intervention will pull us out of this mire. We were lulled to sleep by our successes and we allowed our treasury to be pillaged and our financial institutions and mega corporations to run with unabated greed. Getting our hands on the steering wheel again is not going to be easy. If the current proposed legislation is passed, and I mean anything with a price tag attached, we are done for financially and so are our children and their children. We are being sucked into the giant global whirlpool and half of our citizenry are swimming right for it without their life jackets properly fastened. Don't worry so much about keeping what you've worked so hard for because it will be worthless soon, instead fight as hard as you can to keep the free republic our forefathers founded.

If all else fails, immortality can always be assured by spectacular error.
- John Kenneth Galbraith

Dreams

2009-10-07T06:38:00.004-05:00

All of us dream, but not all of us remember our dreams. They creep into our subconscious thoughts during our slumber and relieve us of the pressures of the day. Their acts play out in surreal scenes so vivid on occasion they wake us up. At other times we rise from our beds with a hazy recollection of snippets that make us blush or chuckle. We try and interpret recurring dreams, but it is only conjecture. I wrote this poem to paint a word picture of dreams.

Dream Catcher

Seeping into consciousness from

the land of Koala Queue,

a tangled mass of mystery

appears from the mist of Roo.

From a eucalyptus canopy,

where all the leaves are blue,

comes the answer to your

riddle in electro-coded goo.

The blue Koala’s whisper

travels on a turquoise wind,

and synaptic gaps convey his

thoughts to the place where

yours begin.

Dennis Price

Not Funny

2009-10-06T18:26:00.004-05:00

David Letterman - Not Funny. Never has been Funny. Won't ever be funny. Just another example of the depths to which network television is willing to stoop. Along with the garbage mongers of Hollywood, California these bottom feeders use their status as alleged entertainers to hawk their own brand of social justice. It doesn't play well when the doors to their houses are opened and the smelly contents spill out into the public street. I don't watch this drivel, but I hope it disappears so that those who lack good judgement will be forced to find more suitable fare. Good night David Letterman. It's way past your bedtime.

Brett Favre

2009-10-06T05:54:00.005-05:00

If you are a football fan, you have to appreciate great talent when you see it. Brett Favre, the guy whose name confuses spellers everywhere. I first saw him play at my Alma Mater, the University of Southern Mississippi, during his last year there. I knew there was something special about his football abilities then. I had the same feeling when I watched Earl Campbell play during his senior year at John Tyler High School in Tyler, Texas.

Some football games don't live up to their billing, but last night's game between the Green Bay Packers and the Minnesota Vikings certainly did. Two very good football teams battled to the final whistle. There are great football players on both sides, but there is one player who has proved that no matter who he plays for, the game is better because he showed up.

It is hard to grasp what he brings to the game. Even when his team loses he is fun to watch. Brett Favre is a player's player. He never seems to lose his youthful exuberance. It mirrors the feeling I used to get as a youngster when we lined up on Sunday afternoon to play a game of sandlot football. It is what has been lost in the big business world of professional athletics today. I rarely watch professional sports anymore, but if I know Brett is playing, I tune in.

I don't know how much longer he'll play. Sometimes I fear for his health and wish he would retire before his body is damaged beyond repair, but as long as he's out there, the game is better for it. To that boy/man from the never never land of Kiln, Mississippi, I say thanks for playing the game.

Only Here.

2009-10-05T10:52:00.003-05:00

I don't know why we spend thousands of tax dollars on major news events like Obama's trip to Copenhagen to make a bid for the 2016 Olympics when no one publishes the important photographs. This photo was taken by an alert photo journalist working for Pappy's News Network and forwarded to me this morning. Obama was behind the curtains awaiting the almost certain news that Chicago won and working on his acceptance speech when the committee announced that Chicago got the fewest votes and was eliminated. My photographer caught this rare moment in the life of our president. Anyone with a knowledge of how Chicago politics works would have had a similar reaction. It is scary when you can't pay back those who tweaked the system to get you in office.

My Poetry

2009-10-04T20:13:00.003-05:00

Ah, the famous poets through the ages. You already have my picture on the sidebar. Here are two of my poems on poetry.

Poetry.

Euphony.

Dark, light.

Rhymed, not.

Metered, free.

Long, brief.

Symphony

I Salute You William Shakespeare

If I could just remember who wrote what,

and what they said,

I would quote them in my poetry,

the living and the dead.

I would be obtuse and dark,

droning on in endless prose.

not caring where my poem’s been

not knowing where it goes.

They’d think I’m educated,

worldly, pithy, hard.

For sure an academic.

cutting edge, avant garde.”

I would throw the cesspool at them

from bathroom to bordello.

A gasp, a blush, a whisper,

“He is such a brilliant fellow.”

They would clap when I was finished,

softly sigh, and nod assent.

And wonder if the others

had a clue of what I meant.

Dennis Price

Upside Down

2009-10-02T07:36:00.002-05:00

We are living in a world where many traditional values are being tossed out the window. Turning just a few things upside down can result in something that is not very pretty. We need to turn those important functions right side up again and keep them that way. We are the only country to be founded on Christian principles and values. A large part of our world is returning to the Christian base we were founded on, (huge numbers even in countries where it is prohibited) but many in our country are abandoning the very things that made us great. Our current leadership's statist leanings have failed everywhere they have been tried. Revisionists with agendas that remove God from the equation would have us believe we are ignorant dupes blindly following a dead religion. They just can't make their argument stick in spite of their efforts to wrest the children from the ideals taught by Christian parents. They have pushed their "Science is Everything" agenda of re-indoctrination into our public schools and major universities using the support of the very people they are trying to undermine. Science is important, but in the end we are still left with the unanswered questions that scream creation by design and not by accident. Meanwhile, here in the greatest country on the face of the Earth, we are wallowing in the insipid nothingness of blind humanism. We should act responsibly toward our environment but the truth is very little we do impacts it significantly. We should strive for peace with everyone, but the truth is despots don't respond to peace. We should treat everyone fairly, but the truth is there will always be those who don't. We must operate with the guidance provided by God our creator and understand that he is ultimately the one who controls the outcome. In the meantime, He has provided us with governments to keep us safe and relatively peaceful so that we can spend time honoring him. When our government fails to do this, we have constitutional provisions to change it. We need to exercise these legal controls by electing legislators who respect our constitution, and appointing judges who are of like mind.

Estimated amount of glucose used by an adult human brain each day, expressed in M&Ms: 250 - Harper's Index

Real Torture?

2009-09-30T07:18:00.004-05:00

George Everett "Bud" Day, born February 24, 1925, is a retired U.S. Air Force Colonel and Command Pilot who served during the Vietnam War. He is often cited as being the most decorated U.S. service member since General Douglas MacArthur, having received some seventy decorations, a majority for actions in combat. Day is a recipient of the Medal of Honor.

I got shot down over N Vietnam in 1967, a Sqdn. Commander. After I returned in 1973..I published 2 books that dealt a lot with "real torture" in Hanoi .. Our make believe president is branding our country as a bunch of torturers when he has no idea what torture is.

As for me, put thru a mock execution because I would not respond... pistol whipped on the head...same event.. Couple of days later... hung by my feet all day. I escaped and a couple of weeks later, I got shot and recaptured. Shot was OK...what happened afterwardswas not.

They marched me to Vinh..put me in the rope trick, trick...almost pulled my arms out of the sockets. Beat me on the head with a little wooden rod until my eyes were swelled shut, and my unshot, unbroken hand a pulp.

Next day hung me by the arms...rebroke my right wrist...wiped out the nerves in my arms that control the hands...rolled my fingers up into a ball. Only left the slightest movement of my L forefinger. So I started answering with some incredible lies.

Sent me to Hanoi strapped to a barrel of gas in the back of a truck.

Hanoi..on my knees....rope trick again. Beaten by a big fool.

Into leg irons on a bed in Heartbreak Hotel.

Much kneeling--hands up at Zoo.

Really bad beating for refusing to condemn Lyndon Johnson.

Several more kneeling events. I could see my knee bone thru kneeling holes.

There was an escape from the annex to the Zoo. I was the Senior Officer of a large building because of escape...they started a mass torture of all commanders.

I think it was July 7, 1969...they started beating me with a car fan belt. In first 2 days I took over 300 strokes...then stopped counting because I never thought I would live thru it.

They continued day-nite torture to get me to confess to a non-existent part in the escape. This went on for at least 3 days. On my knees... fan belting...cut open my scrotum with fan belt stroke. opened up
both knee holes again. My fanny looked like hamburger...I could not lie on my back.

They tortured me into admitting that I was in on the escape...and that my 2 room-mates knew about it.

The next day I denied the lie.

They commenced torturing me again with 3- 6- or 9 strokes of the fan belt every day from about July 11 or 12rh..to 14 October 1969. I continued to refuse to lie about my roommates again.

Now, the point of this is that our make-believe president has declared to the world that we (U.S..) are a bunch of torturers...Thus it will be OK to torture us next time when they catch us...because that is what the U.S. does.

Our make-believe president is a know nothing fool who thinks that pouring a little water on some one's face, or hanging a pair of womens pants over an Arabs head is TORTURE. He is a meathead.

I just talked to MOH holder Leo Thorsness, who was also in my squadron, in jail...as was John McCain...and we agree that McCain does not speak for the POW group when he claims that Al Gharib was torture...or that "water boarding" is torture.

Our president and those fools around him who keep bad mouthing our great country are a disgrace to the United States . Please pass this info on to Sean Hannity. He is free to use it to point out the stupidity of the claims that water boarding...which has no after effect...is torture. If it got the Arab to cough up the story about how he planned the attack on the twin towers in NYC...hurrah for the guy who poured the water.

Dreaming permits each and every one of us to be quietly and safely insane every night of our lives. - William Dement

Sum of our parts

2009-09-29T05:22:00.005-05:00

We are the sum of our various parts. Our physical component is the most obvious to strangers, while our mental and spiritual components remain hidden to outsiders. We can manipulate what others see at times, but stress can remove the facade. We are on occasion blind to aspects of our own behavior and must be alerted to aberrations by those who know us best, or professionals probing the hidden areas. We are unique and complicated. We are most comfortable with those who share a number of common factors with us. But, our liaisons outside our comfort zone can be enlightening and interesting even though accompanied by some tension and distrust. We often find more common ground than expected and good friendships can be the result.

MR. ME AND MR. WHO

A rivulet of water ran down my mirror,

splitting my image in two.

I thought I could see them both in that scene,

Mr. Me, and Mr. Who.

Mr. Me, is on the outside,

he’s always looking in.

Mr. Who is on the inside

looking out at his old friend.

Mr. Me is aging,

he thinks of getting old.

Mr. Who is just a boy,

his age is still on hold.

Mr. Me is what you see

when you look my way.

Mr. Who is what I think,

sometimes what I say.

Mr. Me, and Mr. Who

have been there from the start.

One looking in, the other out,

they’ll never live apart.

If you see me on the street

and, if I should see you,

you’ll shake hands with Mr. Me,

but be seen by Mr. Who.

Dennis Price

We don't see things as they are, we see things as we are.
- Anais Nin

Old Rodeo Cowboy

2009-09-28T12:33:00.002-05:00

OLD RODEO CHAMP

I saw an old pickup all loaded with melons

one hot summer’s evening not too far from Austin.

Sitting beside it, a graying bent cowboy

in faded blue Wranglers watching the cars pass.

I stopped, we spoke, he arose from his lawn chair,

struggled to stand, and walked to his truck’s bed.

“Good ones?” I asked. “Sweet ones?”

He nodded. “Three dollars a piece or two for a five spot.”

“Pick me a good one.” I said as we stood there.

He turned a few over, and looked at their skin.

“Rabbits won’t scratch the ones that aren’t sweet.”

He said nonchalantly, his blue eyes a’ sparkle.

I found a scarred one and placed it aside.

“I’m Dennis,” I offered.

“I’m Joe,” he replied

“Did you farm all your life?

He answered, “No”.

Then I stood there and listened for two hours or so.

“I’m a Rodeo Champ.” He smiled as he spoke.

“Or I was through the fifties, that’s a few years ago.”

“I did it all. Rough stock, ropin’.

“We had to back then - the purses were small.”

“Bulls were my favorite. Everyone liked them.

I got extra money when side bets were made.”

He told me about it, the good rides, the great ones.

Clay Bank, Poison Ivy, the rankest of all.

Each ride was re-told from cinching to buzzer.

The bucks, the twists, the bruising come downs.

I finally left. He was smiling and waving.

Three bucks and two hours well spent for us both.

Dennis Price

Wild Thoughts

2009-09-27T07:32:00.006-05:00

OCTOBER MUSINGS

Ah! Today wild thoughts took my mind.

Ideas blown by gusty breezes

Slipped into consciousness.

Towering trees in some virgin forest long past.

A crystal stream.

Wild geese set against a gray winter’s sky.

A log cabin.

A warm stone fireplace.

A flannel shirt.

A friendly dog.

A need to hunt.

A good hot cup of morning coffee.

A biscuit.

It is crisp October air that brings them on,

So strong I almost let them take me where they will.

Dennis Price

Real Global Warming

2009-09-23T09:47:00.004-05:00

There may just be something to this global warming thing. With the emergence of our new highly trained and vastly experienced leader, minor tyrants are turning into major threats. Just recently in New York, a real terrorist strike situation was averted when authorities were able to intercept the people responsible and put a stop to their actions.

The Obama administration wants us to focus on his various policies for bankrupting the U. S. economy and pushing our world status further into the commode, rather than paying attention to his failed foreign policy. Moammar has emerged from hiding and is even considering a return to his tent here in the U. S. The Iranians continue to push forward with their plans to make nuclear weapons, and the North Koreans have come out of their bunkers and resumed their "peaceful" saber rattling. Hugo Chavez and the Castros are continuing with their oppressive moves in Central and South America.

All the while our little narcissistic teleprompter reading wannabe parades himself before handpicked audiences and bravely stumps for socialism and anarchy. Running out from behind the curtains like some guest on a late night comedy show, he bows before every possible tyrant, and apologizes for the fact the U. S. is the number one protector of free people in the entire world.

Past failures at the presidency like Carter and Clinton, and a plethora of slobbering sycophants, hurl accusations and demeaning labels at the millions of Americans who still have some sense of common sense and decency. All the while they deny any role in the economic woes that beset the U. S. during the past several years. All they can come up with is the tired and mostly baseless blaming of past president George W. Bush.

Get over it. This president has, in a short span of months, made massive failures a life style. When George W. Bush is compared to our current incompetent, he looks like a genius. Never mind that we are already in receivership and mortgaged to the hilt to the Chinese, these boobs press headlong into the passage of policies that will vastly increase taxes, and prices on already strapped taxpayers while at the same time lowering our quality of life.

Now our great leaders are now going to override the recommendations of our generals in the field in Afghanistan and come up with their own strategy. Let's see now, how many years of combat experience, no make that military experience, no make that experience at anything that matters, does our little Napoleon have? No need to whip out your pocket Wang to compute this one, none. Who does little man Obama turn to for military advice? Lyin' Joe Biden.

Here is a portion of his bio from Wikipedia: Joseph Robinette "Joe" Biden, Jr. (pronounced /ˈdʒoʊzɨf rɒbɨˈnɛt ˈbaɪdən/; born November 20, 1942), is the 47th and current Vice President of the United States. He was a United States Senator from Delaware from January 3, 1973 until his resignation on January 15, 2009, following his election to the Vice Presidency. Biden was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania and lived there for ten years before moving to Delaware. He became an attorney in 1969, and was elected to a county council in 1970. Biden was first elected to the Senate in 1972 and became the sixth-youngest senator in U.S. history. He was re-elected to the Senate six times, and was thefourth most senior senator at the time of his resignation and is 14th longest serving Senator in history.

Do you see any mention of anything related to military tactics here? No. But these two geniuses are going to come up with a strategy for military operations in Afghanistan to override the intelligence they are getting from the professional military people in the field. Now that is bone head stupid. That is exactly the kind of arrogance and stupidity that we witnessed when another great Democrat President, Lyndon B. Johnson politicized the war in Viet Nam.

We have already had a weakening of our intelligence gathering abilities through the irresponsible actions of that pin head, Eric Holder. Many former directors of our main foreign intelligence force have strongly advised against any further action in this matter. Do these enemies of freedom listen? No. Their advice consists of making sure we advise captured terrorists in a war zone of their rights under the Miranda decision. They are not citizens of the United States, and they are not in the United States, so they have no protection under our laws. They are rebel insurgents intent on not only killing our soldiers in the war zone, but on killing all the innocent people they can who oppose their radical Islamic movement. They have signed no conventions or agreements and are not subject to any protections under anyones law. If we do not literally crush and annihilate every one of them we can find they will come back like weeds and once again make life miserable for us here in the U. S.

All the while, Mr. Wizard is in front of the U. N. playing up to the very people who will eventually kill us. And, what is he talking about? Global Warming. Using junk science, the globalists seek to exercise power over every nation in the world. Why? Do you think it is because they give one hoot about the environment? No. It is a power play. I will tell you that our abandonment of our allies by removing missile shields in Europe to appease the Russians, and in failing to act against Iran and North Korea will likely cause us some real global warming and soon.

I don't care what political party you belong to, you had better wake up and smell the cordite. Get these life long politicians and wannabes out of Washington D.C. Root them out of your statehouses and governors' mansions. Clean the slate during the next elections. We have got to get our nation back. We should go after every member of this administration's cabinet with every legal mean at our disposal. If our investigative agencies would focus on the people in the White House for a while, I am almost certain they wouldn't stand up to the scrutiny.

Simple Wisdom

2009-09-21T07:45:00.003-05:00

There is no greater importance in all the world like knowing you are right and that the wave of the world is wrong, yet the wave crashes upon you.
- Norman Mailer

Staying in Touch.

2009-09-20T05:42:00.002-05:00

Here's an anonymous cowboy poem with a great message.

Jake, the rancher, went one day
To fix a distant fence.
The wind was cold and gusty
And the clouds rolled gray and dense.

As he pounded the last staples in
And gathered tools to go,
The temperature had fallen,
The wind and snow began to blow.

When he finally reached his pickup,
He felt a heavy heart.
From the sound of that ignition
He knew it wouldn't start.

So Jake did what most of us
Would do if we had been there.
He humbly bowed his balding head
And sent aloft a prayer.

As he turned the key for the last time,
He softly cursed his luck
They found him three days later,
Frozen stiff in that old truck.

Now Jake had been around in life
And done his share of roaming.
But when he saw Heaven, he was shocked --
It looked just like Wyoming !

Of all the saints in Heaven,
His favorite was St. Peter.

So they sat and talked a minute or two,
Or maybe it was three.
Nobody was keeping' score --
In Heaven, time is free.

'I've always heard,' Jake said to Pete,
'that God will answer prayer,
But one time I asked for help,
Well, he just plain wasn't there.'

'Does God answer prayers of some,
And ignore the prayers of others?
That don't seem exactly square --
I know all men are brothers.'

'Or does he randomly reply,
Without good rhyme or reason?
Maybe, it's the time of day,
The weather or the season.'

'Now I ain't trying to act smart,
It's just the way I feel.
And I was wondering', could you tell me --
What the heck's the deal?!'

Peter listened very patiently
And when Jake was done,
There were smiles of recognition,
And he said, 'So, you're the one!!'

That day your truck, it wouldn't start,
And you sent your prayer a flying,
You gave us all a real bad time,
With hundreds of us trying.'

'A thousand angels rushed,
To check the status of your file,
But you know, Jake, we hadn't heard
From you in quite a long while.'

'And though all prayers are answered,
And God ain't got no quota,
He didn't recognize your voice,
And started a truck in Minnesota'

Be sure to stay in touch.

I'll Tell You What It Isn't.

2009-09-18T17:47:00.005-05:00

It isn't racism. Our former President, Jimmy Carter, has once again proved how out of touch with reality he really is. I too was born and reared in the South. I know what racism is.

In fact, let's look at the definition for a couple of key words from Webster's New World College Dictionary.

The word "race" comes right after the word "raccoon dog" and I use the second definition; any of the different varieties or populations of human beings distinguished by a.) physical traits such as hair, eyes, skin color, body shape, etc. The three primary divisions are Caucasoid, Negroid, and Mongoloid, although many subdivisions of these are called races....

Racism; a doctrine or teaching, without scientific support, that claims to find racial differences in character, intelligence, etc.....

I doubt if you can find many true racists in our country today. The word "racism", as it is now used in certain political and legal circles, is an "excuse" word to divert attention from real and unacceptable behavior.

All peoples have experienced some negative aspects of racism.

Most have overcome its ability to affect what they do by making sure they achieve something worthwhile to set the record straight. You rarely hear real achievers using the "excuse" word.

They have been accepted by others who have struggled to make their mark and are accepted. Their achievements define their being and not their superficial appearance.

The primary catalyst in the perpetuation of division between the races has been the federal government. Their interference in the lives of all Americans is equal to pealing a fresh scab off of a healing wound.

I have watched and interacted with people from all socio-economic, and racial strata , and have yet to see "race" as the determining factor in anything.

People in our society today are very cloistered and rarely interact with others at an interpersonal level except within restricted parameters. Some of these are; socio-economic strata; religion; politics; family relationship; personal beliefs; ethnic and cultural practices; and value systems. If people can find common ground in some of these basic areas, then they tend to bind and interact with those who are like minded. If individuals are too far afield in any of these areas they will probably be excluded.

Ethnic and cultural differences can cause populations to group along racial lines. They are not doing so because others are racists, but because they feel comfortable being with those who think and act more like they do. If these same people are achievers and abide by the rules accepted by a civilized society, then they are accepted in spite of their cultural differences. However, the majority of their social interaction may take place within their chosen group.

The others, who operate outside the realm of socially accepted behavior, are shunned. Not for their racial identification, but because of their unacceptable behavior. Unscrupulous politicians, and social trouble makers can make a lot of money keeping this segment of the population upset. This societal sub-set is usually made up of those with poor educations, and little if any job skills. They live on the handouts and stolen booty from those who have made something of their lives and pay their taxes. They are easily manipulated and motivated by shallow sound bite slogans that promise a better life with no change in life style. This segment of society and those who live off their misery are the ones who shout "Racism" every time they are arrested or challenged because of their unacceptable behavior.

The faces of the working Americans from all races and cultures can be seen among the sea of faces showing up at rallies to protest the forced take over of our country by radical extremists. Don't be dissuaded by the baseless accusations from the minions who prowl the halls of government and pretend to be representing the people of this great country. They will be unmasked and the good people of the United States will make their voices heard loud and clear in the upcoming elections. If you are not for us, you are against us and we will root you out of your plush burrows and replace you with men and women of common sense and dignity.

The two most common elements in the universe are Hydrogen and stupidity.
- Harlan Ellison

Swine Flu etc.

2009-09-16T06:36:00.005-05:00

Most doctors can recognize the symptoms of Swine Flu without subjecting you to extensive lab tests. I check the mirror daily for the most common symptoms myself. In todays paper, economist Thomas Sowell addresses the health care issue in his editorial entitled, "Fables for adults reducing us to children." He relates the old fable of the dog with the bone in his mouth crossing the creek on a log. The dog sees his reflection in the water below and thinks it is another dog with a bigger bone. He lets go of the bone he has in his mouth and it falls into the water and is lost. Sowell says, "Today we are living in a time when the president of the United States is telling us that he is going to help us take that other dog's bone away ---and the result is likely to be very much like what it was in the children's fable."

He goes on to say most of us lived in a time when not everyone had health insurance and it wasn't the end of the world as most progressives would have us believe. You may be asking yourself, "How did that work?" Well, we were on a pay as you go plan. When we got sick, we took care of the medical expenses by paying them out just as you would other large debts, a little every month. Sowell further states, "Is this ideal? No. But if every deviation from the ideal is a reason to be panicked and stampeded into putting dangerous arbitrary powers into the hands of government, then go directly to totalitarianism, do not pass 'Go,' do not collect $200.00."

The point is we already have a good bone. Don't let it go hoping to get a bigger imaginary bone from someone else - it's not going to happen.

"Cherish, therefore, the spirit of our people, and keep alive their
attention. Do not be too severe upon their errors, but reclaim them by
enlightening them. If once they become inattentive to the public
affairs, you and I, and Congress, and Assemblies, Judges, and Governors,
shall all become wolves." --Thomas Jefferson, letter to Edward
Carrington, 1787

The Alleged Cure All

2009-09-14T15:22:00.003-05:00

Here is what "the Obama" is now selling. I've been gone for a few days and away from news of any significance. When I returned home, I noticed "the Prentender" is still in office. Some things are going to take a little longer than we would like. No more Van Jones, No more Acorn, and the realization by the Obama White House that Joe Wilson was indeed right in his comment to the president. They have adjusted their figures on the uninsured to delete the illegal aliens in this country. I have yet to see the president apologize to Representative Wilson. When California tried to legislate the illegals out of their system, the courts put them right back in. Illegals now crowd our free clinics and emergency rooms and are affored health care our own folks who have worked and paid for cannot receive. Don't believe for one minute they won't be a major financial drain on any bill regarding heath care run by the federal government.

It was the legislation regarding immigration pushed through by the late Senator Edward Kennedy that caused the illegal immigration mess we have today. That was passed with numerous promises of a smoother and more workable immigration program. The real outcome was one of the biggest government screw-ups in history. Go figure.

I do understand that some judge in California is going to hear arguments concerning Obama's legal qualifications to hold the office of President. I'm interested to see how this will play out. More and more dirty laundry is being aired by the former governor of Illinois. It seems that most of the major players now in the White House, or on staff, were involved in the picking of Obama's replacement when he became president. This should also provide an interesting look at the under belly of Chicago politics and the president's role in making it all happen.

Even though the press is not covering the 9-12-09 protests in Washington, D. C. properly, it was refreshing to see a sea of caring Americans making their collective voices heard. It is no longer a protest by party affiliation, but rather people with good business and common sense who have had enough of the lies, uncontrolled spending, and over taxation of all working Americans. I plan to join my local group on as many occasions as possible to continue the pressure. I would love to see a clean house in 2010.

I think our next project should be to get rid of Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid. I think Mrs. Pelosi's wranglings on behalf of her husband should be enough to get the ball rolling. I really think the movement to cleanse the White House is gaining momentum and should continue without let up.

In great affairs men show themselves as they wish to be seen; in small things they show themselves as they are.
- Nicholas Chamfort

Backing up my posts.

2009-09-10T16:21:00.003-05:00

Thought you might like these pictures. Says a lot doesn't it? We know what's happening. Don't treat us like mushrooms.

Obama said he will put the question of Tort reform in the hands of Kathleen Sebelius, Director of the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Sebelius served as executive director and chief lobbyist for the Kansas Trial Lawyers Association (now Kansas Association for Justice) from 1977-1986. Wikipedia.

Looks like the Fox will be in charge of the hen house.

Joe Wilson

2009-09-10T11:22:00.008-05:00

I didn't know this South Carolina representative's name before last night. Now he is the subject of all sorts of righteous indignation from the Democrat side of the aisle. His single word outburst "Liar", or something to that effect, during President Obama's speech last evening may not have been the best political move ever, but it certainly was the echo of what was being screamed at the television screen by thousands, perhaps millions, of thinking Americans around this great land of ours.

I have provided you with all the evidence I can think of in the last few weeks from all sorts of sources and have tried to make sense of it all in my commentary. Bottom line; The supporters of these most recent efforts at shoving a Health Care/Health Insurance reform bill down our throats are lying. I can't say it much plainer than that. Joe Wilson may have said it at the wrong time, but he spoke the truth. I think people in all political subdivisions, races, and career paths are beginning to realize the big trouble our country is in because of this administration. They are speaking out and telling their representatives the truth. When you are accustomed to parroting the party line, the truth hurts. It negates all the pablum talking point letters and speeches made by these blind pundits. So, in typical Democrat fashion (they wrote the book on civil disobedience and mud slinging politics) they lash out with all sorts of lies, denials, and counter allegations. I think working Americans in all realms are realizing we are being screwed in a huge way by the Oligarchy in and around the White House. I think rank and file union members are breaking with their Organized Crime controlled leadership and joining the every expanding ranks of taxpayers who are saying "We know what you are doing and we won't stand for it any longer."

None of this legislation should even be considered. I don't care what your political leanings are, it is all unconstitutional. We shouldn't even be arguing about this. The government has no business at all in business, health care, education, the Arts, the environment, or anything outside its limited scope of duties outlined in our U. S. Constitution. Reform should come from the silent segment of our population who rarely raises its voice. We should police the purveyors of goods and services ourselves with no government intervention what so ever. Responsible doctors and lawyers should police their own ranks. Responsible insurance companies should provide the goods and services they are contracted to provide, and responsible business owners should strive for quality goods and exemplary service to their customers. Responsible citizens should be the watch dogs over the whole process and should use their support to move good business forward, and their withdrawal of support to get rid of bad businesses. If we all acted responsibly then we would have no need for labor unions.

I'm all for increasing my level of participation. We just need the federal government to get out of the way. Remember, these guys work for us. No matter how much they name call and malign the working man, they work for him. They are there to serve him. Never forget that. When it comes election time, remember who is causing us trouble right now and cast your vote to get rid of them. If you are intimidated by thugs, identify them, take their pictures, and find out who they work for. We already have laws on the books to cover this type of behavior. If like Joe Wilson, your emotions get the best of you and you have to shout, shout the truth. More people are listing every day.

If a thing isn't worth saying, you sing it.
- Pierre Beaumarchais

Constitutional?

2009-09-09T06:05:00.002-05:00

If you read this blog at all, you know that on several occasions I have questioned the constitutionality of any Health Care Reform bill. I have also added the disclaimer related to my qualifications to make such a statement. Now I've found an editorial piece by a retired Constitutional Attorney addressing the issue. Let's examine his take on the matter.

The Truth About the Health Care Bills - Michael Connelly, Ret. Constitutional Attorney 08.24.09

Well, I have done it! I have read the entire text of proposed House Bill 3200: The Affordable Health Care Choices Act of 2009. I studied it with particular emphasis from my area of expertise, constitutional law. I was frankly concerned that parts of the proposed law that were being discussed might be unconstitutional. What I found was far worse than what I had heard or expected.

To begin with, much of what has been said about the law and its implications is in fact true, despite what the Democrats and the media are saying. The law does provide for rationing of health care, particularly where senior citizens and other classes of citizens are involved, free health care for illegal immigrants, free abortion services, and probably forced participation in abortions by members of the medical profession.

The Bill will also eventually force private insurance companies out of business and put everyone into a government run system. All decisions about personal health care will ultimately be made by federal bureaucrats and most of them will not be health care professionals. Hospital admissions, payments to physicians, and allocations of necessary medical devices will be strictly controlled.

However, as scary as all of that it, it just scratches the surface. In fact, I have concluded that this legislation really has no intention of providing affordable health care choices. Instead it is a convenient cover for the most massive transfer of power to the Executive Branch of government that has ever occurred, or even been contemplated. If this law or a similar one is adopted, major portions of the Constitution of the United States will effectively have been destroyed.

The first thing to go will be the masterfully crafted balance of power between the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial branches of the U.S. Government. The Congress will be transferring to the Obama Administration authority in a number of different areas over the lives of the American people and the businesses they own. The irony is that the Congress doesn’t have any authority to legislate in most of those areas to begin with. I defy anyone to read the text of the U.S. Constitution and find any authority granted to the members of Congress to regulate health care.

This legislation also provides for access by the appointees of the Obama administration of all of your personal healthcare information, your personal financial information, and the information of your employer, physician, and hospital. All of this is a direct violation of the specific provisions of the 4th Amendment to the Constitution protecting against unreasonable searches and seizures. You can also forget about the right to privacy. That will have been legislated into oblivion regardless of what the 3rd and 4th Amendments may provide.

If you decide not to have healthcare insurance or if you have private insurance that is not deemed “acceptable” to the “Health Choices Administrator” appointed by Obama there will be a tax imposed on you. It is called a “tax” instead of a fine because of the intent to avoid application of the due process clause of the 5th Amendment. However, that doesn’t work because since there is nothing in the law that allows you to contest or appeal the imposition of the tax, it is definitely depriving someone of property without the “due process of law.

So, there are three of those pesky amendments that the far left hate so much out the original ten in the Bill of Rights that are effectively nullified by this law. It doesn’t stop there though. The 9th Amendment that provides: “The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people;” The 10th Amendment states: “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are preserved to the States respectively, or to the people.” Under the provisions of this piece of Congressional handiwork neither the people nor the states are going to have any rights or powers at all in many areas that once were theirs to control.

I could write many more pages about this legislation, but I think you get the idea. This is not about health care; it is about seizing power and limiting rights. Article 6 of the Constitution requires the members of both houses of Congress to “be bound by oath or affirmation” to support the Constitution. If I was a member of Congress I would not be able to vote for this legislation or anything like it without feeling I was violating that sacred oath or affirmation. If I voted for it anyway I would hope the American people would hold me accountable.

For those who might doubt the nature of this threat I suggest they consult the source. Here is a link to the Constitution: http://www.archives.gov/ex hibits/charters/constituti on_transcript.html

And another to the Bill of Rights: http://www.archives.gov/ex hibits/charters/bill_of_ri ghts_transcript.html

There you can see exactly what we are about to have taken from us.

Michael Connelly
Retired attorney,
Constitutional Law Instructor
Carrollton , Texas

So, Pappy may have been right all along.

If at first you don't succeed, find out if the loser gets anything.
- Bill Lyon

What's Wrong With It?

2009-09-08T08:11:00.003-05:00

The question in the title is being asked by some, who I believe may not know or understand why others have a problem with the President's speech to the school children of this nation. If you read the text, which has changed in tone from the original proposal, it sounds like most other speeches given to students at graduations or opening school assemblies. I doubt if you could find much in the text that is in any way controversial. Then as some have asked, "What's wrong with it?"

Let me attempt an explanation. The confidence of the American people in its governing bodies in Washington, D.C. is at an all time low. This is true of all branches. The President's approval numbers are in free fall. Why? He sounded so good during the campaign and the things he said were what many wanted to hear. He is still in campaign mode and saying many of the those things still in public forums and addresses. Why the problem? It's because he says one thing, but his actions say something completely different. His past is a shadow. We now know that his past alliances with radical communists and racists were not just casual alliances. He has filled his cabinet with tax cheats, liars, communists, radical racists, and people with very questionable credentials. He is trying to force feed legislation written by these enemies of the United States to our legislators at huge expense while making a mockery of foreign policy and endangering our national security. He has been caught in numerous lies, and he has no conscience about saying one thing to one group and a completely different thing to another group. He is mustering an army of Union thugs and racial radicals to cause disturbances at otherwise peaceful gatherings, and he does all this with a very distasteful arrogance.

In his article entitled "Another Failed Presidency", Dr. Geoffrey P. Hunt puts it this way;

No narrative. Obama doesn't have a narrative. No, not a narrative about
himself. He has a self-narrative, much of it fabricated, cleverly disguised
or written by someone else. But this self-narrative is isolated and doesn't
connect with us. He doesn't have an American narrative that draws upon the
rest of us. All successful presidents have a narrative about the American
character that intersects with their own where they display a command of
history and reveal an authenticity at the core of their personality that
resonates in a positive endearing way with the majority of Americans. We
admire those presidents whose narratives not only touch our own, but who
seem stronger, wiser, and smarter than we are. Presidents we admire are
aspirational peers, even those whose politics don't align exactly with our
own: Teddy Roosevelt, FDR, Harry Truman, Ike, Reagan.

But not this president. It's not so much that he's a phony, knows nothing
about economics, is historically illiterate, and woefully small minded for
the size of the task-- all contributory of course. It's that he's not one
of us. And whatever he is, his profile is fuzzy and devoid of content, like
a cardboard cutout made from delaminated corrugated paper. Moreover, he
doesn't command our respect and is unable to appeal to our own common sense.
His notions of right and wrong are repugnant and how things work just don't
add up. They are not existential. His descriptions of the world we live in
don't make sense and don't correspond with our experience.

In the meantime, while we've been struggling to take a measurement of this
man, he's dissed just about every one of us--financiers, energy producers,
banks, insurance executives, police officers, doctors, nurses, hospital
administrators, post office workers, and anybody else who has a non-green
job.

Folks, its not the message, it is the messenger. There is no trust there, and the mask is off. Thinking Americans understand, and dispite being maligned and impuned by the E-Lites, they are holding the line. I am proud to be counted as one who has a renewed interest in what's going on in Washington, D.C. and how it is being done.

I don't know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody.
- Bill Cosby

The E-Lites

2009-09-07T02:01:00.002-05:00

I graduated from Harvard. Have you ever been intimidated by such a statement? Don't be.

Title: The revolt against the elite
Source: American Thinker
URL Source: http://www.americanthinker.com/2009/09/the_revolt_against_the_elite.html
Published: Sep 6, 2009
Author: Gary Horne

The revolt keeps growing, from tea parties to angry town hall meetings across the country, an uprising against the attempts of an elite to force on us an all-powerful State, about as welcome as grandma's cod-liver oil. Examples of revolt go beyond irate callers to radio talk shows. Take for instance the incident at a Frankie Valli concert recently posted on American Thinker, and the disgust and anger in Joe Sheffat's article. Sen. Barbara Boxer encountered it, as did Sen. Claire McCaskill, who made the mistake of asking if she was trusted.

The elite seem unable to comprehend that anyone could possibly oppose their infinitely superior wisdom, hence the strange and radical smears against the town hall opposition. No one could possibly have a better idea than us, the elite, therefore the town hall "mobs" must be fakes. Anyone, like Ronald Reagan, George Bush, or Sarah Palin, who thinks differently than us, the elite, surely must be of lower intellect. The elite are unable to understand that this is not about taxes, or health care, or politics. It is about them!

The American Elite Shoppe carries several varieties (not available in Walmart): Elites in Power, Elites in Towers, Elites in Flowers, and Elites in Choirs.

The Elites in Power are much of the Congress and many with powerful positions in the administration or as government bureaucrats. There they proceed to coerce the rest of us since they know better than us how to run our lives. The Elites in Towers (otherwise known as intellectuals) are in university humanities and "social science" departments or think tanks where they make the irrational appear rational, turn black into white, and take theories which have never worked and spin them into golden dreams. They hold a mysterious "wisdom" known only to themselves which invariably is contrary to common sense. They provide the ideas for the Elites in Power. Elites in Flowers curse mankind for not bowing before nature. Elites in Choirs sing from their media posts the praises of the other elites and their ideas.

This is not to impugn the integrity of members of Congress who respect the views of their constituents and the Constitution, professors who think rather than "intellectualize," true outdoorsmen, or responsible journalists. These do not currently wield any power and the revolt is not against them.

Most elites have spent their lives in universities or politics, or otherwise isolated from the rest of us, and almost never have run a business, or even earned a living in the manner most of us do. (Community organizing does not qualify.)

Some examples for Elites in Power (from government web site biographies):

Sen. Harry Reid - degree: law, business experience: 0, In Congress since: 1982 Sen. John Kerry - degree: law, business experience: 0, In Congress since: 1984 Barney Frank - degrees: political science, law, business experience: 0, In Congress since: 1981 Nancy Pelosi - business experience: 0 (worked for DNC), In Congress since: 1987

Lack of experience doesn't stop the elite from thinking themselves superior and not subject to the same rules as rest of us. Congress often excludes itself from laws, as in the proposed health care legislation. Corruption for them can be overlooked, or pasted over with a sufficient dose of BS. To erase any accountability when caught breaking the rules, the elite simply use the magic word; mistake.

Some examples:

The White House today called Daschle's failure to pay more than $100,000 in back taxes a "serious mistake," but the president still "absolutely" supports his nomination to be secretary of Health and Human Services. The Obama team said Mr. Geithner's taxes have been paid in full, and that he didn't intend to avoid payment, but made a mistake common for employees of international institutions. Rangel has been under fire for failing to report income from a rental property he owns in the Dominican Republic. He admitted Tuesday he had not paid tax on the income, but said it was a mistake and that he would pay whatever back taxes he owes. During his confirmation hearing Thursday, Attorney General-designate Eric Holder conceded that he "made mistakes" during the Marc Rich pardon incident that were "not typical" of his conduct over the bulk of his career. The White House says Judge Sotomayor admits she made a mistake when she suggested a Latino woman would make a better judge than a white male.

The elite think our mistakes are more serious and see us as needing their benevolent care, since we don't have their level of "sophistication". Such arrogance is the road to tyranny, as warned by writer C. S. Lewis:

Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive.

For the sake of benevolence, the Elites in Power are willing to implement by force the Elites in Towers' utopian fantasies. The Benevolent Eliteness accepts the advice of intellectuals with little or no critical scrutiny. The blind acceptance of global warming is one example. As a result, unrealistic grandiose schemes are proposed which always seem to result in the need for more Benevolent Elitenesses.

Many of Ronald Reagan's accomplishments were after passing over advice from intellectuals. As Peggy Noonan says in When Character Was King,

For instance, he did not think that people with great degrees or great success were necessarily smart. He had little interest in credentials. He once told me - he told a lot of people - that an economist was a person with a Phi Beta Kappa key on one end of his watch chain and nothing on the other. Meaning: A lot of them don't know what time it is.

He didn't dislike intellectuals, and to the extent he had heroes a lot of them were intellectuals - Madison, Jefferson, the founders - and in his own time Milton Friedman, Friedrich Hayek, Whittaker Chambers. But in general he did not favor the intellectuals of his time because he found so many of them to be high-IQ dimwits. He had a natural and instinctive agreement with George Orwell's famous putdown that a particular idea was so stupid only an intellectual would believe it.

A degree from Harvard does not wisdom make. In fact, the longer an individual stays in academia, the fewer credits they earn in the College of the Real World.

Implementing the ideas of such intellectuals can result in disaster. Pol Pot was merely putting into practice the philosophical principles he learned from French intellectuals. Recent events caused me to dust off my copy of The Ominous Parallels by Leonard Peikoff (1982), which demonstrates the parallels of our situation to pre-Hitler Germany. Dr. Peikoff discusses the role of philosophy and the intellectuals:

The root cause of Nazism lies in a power that most people ignore, disparage - and underestimate. The cause is not the events hailed or cursed in headlines and street rallies, but the esoteric writings of the professors who, decades or centuries earlier, laid the foundation for those events.

"[The Nazi] death camps," notes a writer* in the New York Times, "were conceived, built and often administered by Ph.D.'s"

Dr. Peikoff describes the roots of today's revolt:

The hope of the United States lies in the philosophical breach between the American people and the intellectuals.

The people admire material wealth, practical success, technological innovation. The intellectuals dismiss such values as "middle class," and say that machines are destroying the globe. The people admire self-reliance, productiveness, and the other virtues of the so-called "work ethic." The intellectuals say that these virtues are impossible, unnecessary, antisocial, and/or "Puritan compulsiveness."

The people approve of personal ambition, are eager to pursue their own happiness, think that a man should not live on handouts but should earn what he gets, and reject the insistent demands for self-immolation. The intellectuals denounce this - every element of it - as selfish and therefore vicious.

The people hotly reject the proliferating manifestations of the welfare state, from soaring welfare rolls to forced busing to sexual quotas. The intellectuals condemn this as unfeeling, racist, "sexist."

Leonard Peikoff's observations are just as valid, maybe more so, than 27 years ago. The gap between the people and the elites has become a chasm, into which the elites are about to fall.

A fine quotation is a diamond on the finger of a man of wit, and a pebble in the hand of a fool. - Joseph Roux

Gone Fishing.

2009-09-05T16:57:00.005-05:00

We have had very little rain here since May, and while the newspaper forecast showed a 30% chance of thunderstorms we had very little concern. Our thunderstorms usually come in the afternoon and are very scattered. My son-in-law, Leonel, asked me if I would like to join him for a morning of fishing on the Laguna Madre. I have two new rods and reels that had yet to see the shallows of South Texas, so I quickly said yes. I spent the evening rigging my gear to muscle in some Bull Reds and large Speckled Trout.

At 4:50 A. M. I put out the garbage can for pick up and saw my ride come into the cul-de-sac. His big black Tahoe was hauling an almost new Dargel Skout. We picked up his brother, and brother-in-law and set out for Arroyo City. There was very little wind and the full moon was hidden by light cloud cover. We ran over a small cottontail rabbit in route, and some commented that it was bad Karma.

It was still dark when we arrived at the boat launch and put the boat in the water. Distant lightning occasionally flashed at the horizon, but the water in the Arroyo Colorado was like glass. We didn't have a spotlight, but we followed a boat out who did. Leonel, the ultimate techie, checked the weather radar on his I-phone and gave us the "almost clear" as it seemed the storm was moving away from our area. I rode in the front seat with Brian and watched the dark waters for obstacles. Tiny spits of sparse rain hit our faces as we powered into the dark bay. We turned south and reached a point that seemed to be safely out of the boat traffic and started our drift into the shallow waters off the inter-coastal. We were all using top water plugs and had already landed a small red and trout (not keepers) when dawn broke.

The sky to the northwest of us seemed fairly clear, however the skies to the east and south looked ominous. The sound of tinkling rain whispered across the glassy water and gave us our first hint of things to come. Distant rumblings continued and the clouds seemed to be forming a semi-circle around our boat. The fish were still striking, so we ignored the ever increasing intensity of the once distant rumbles.

The fish suddenly stopped all activity. We could now see rain approaching from three sides so we stowed the gear and headed for what appeared to be clearer skies to the north. For a short time we sped along in a bubble, but the rain had now surrounded us and we had already gone north of the mouth of the Arroyo. The wind picked up and a torrential rain was stinging our faces. Leonel decided to slow the boat as we headed back for the dock. Suddenly, without warning, a huge bolt of lightning with an immediate crack of thunder hit very near the boat. All heads went down as the throttle was thrust forward. No one was concerned with the stinging rain anymore. Someone made a comment about the cottontail. We made it back to the boat launch without further incident, but so did the half of south Texas who had decided to fish today.

We made for a friend's covered docks just a short way up the arroyo and docked there. The rain abated, but the clouds continued to look threatening over the Gulf. My daughter and her boyfriend arrived in his boat at the same time. We stood around and visited for a while before deciding that sitting on the couch watching some college football might be a better option. I enjoyed the adventure with the guys, but getting out of those soaked clothes and into a hot shower was really nice.

It is better to have a permanent income than to be fascinating.
- Oscar Wilde

Let's See Now....

2009-09-04T06:32:00.004-05:00

If they confuse us enough we'll give up, right? I hope not. You cannot explain the unexplainable. I want to try in a very short space to explain what I know of the U. S. Constitution. I am not a constitutional scholar, but I can grasp concepts pretty well when I study them. The reason things seem so hard to understand today is because we have strayed so far a field from the original intent of our governing document, logical arguments are no longer viable. Go back to the writings of our founding fathers and see what they intended. They were trying to form a government to help the various United States succeed. They did not want a controlling central government, but rather one that facilitated the exercise of free commerce and freedom from outside oppression. They chose a representative form of government where all would be heard from. The federal government was to;

A. Provide for National Security.

B. Regulate interstate commerce.

C. Manufacture our currency.

D. Tax us to pay for the services rendered.

The welfare of the populace outside these four areas was to be reserved for the States. All of the functions of the federal government were to facilitate our growth and prosperity.

Here are some areas the founding fathers never intended the federal government to meddle in:

A. Education

B. Welfare

C. The Arts

D. The Environment

E. Health Care

F. The private ownership of Firearms

G. The control of privately owned lands

H. Energy

I. Other areas reserved solely for the States.

J. Global concerns unless it relates to National Security.

The government was never intended to have its representatives be primarily lawyers. It was designed to have a well rounded group from all career groups to come for a limited time and serve their country. Politics was not intended as a life long occupation.

Crafty lawyers and gifted political pontificators have convinced a gullible American public of the legitimacy and necessity for their benevolent actions throughout our history. In periods of great economic stress, or conversely in periods of peace and prosperity these social engineers have chopped out footholds on the backs of the taxpayers to push their own personally lucrative agendas forward in the name of the common good. Our own malaise and indifference to their actions has exacerbated the problem to its current unsustainable position.

We have finally awakened and decided to take our civic responsibility seriously, and we are being scoffed at by the people we sent to serve us. We are being labeled by those who desire to maintain the status quo, in an effort to discourage our continued participation in the process.

What should we do?

Hold the line. Stand firm. Vote out those who have made Washington, D.C. their home. If your representatives are maligning you, vote them out. Whatever your political party, find good people who are willing to give up several years of their lives to represent you. Change the laws so that we the people set their salaries and benefits, and make it impossible for any lawmaker to exempt himself from the laws he passes. Limit their terms and find fresh people with good common sense. Don't accept government handouts. They are all being paid for by the taxpaying segment of the population. Do without if you have to.

Resend all the current legislation that is not within the original purview of the U. S. Constitution and find new ways within the various State governments to address social problems.

Resend all governmental racial classifications.

Balance the budget. If we don't have the money, don't spend the money.

Resend all foreign assistance until our own Treasury is back in order.

Stop illegal immigration. Forcefully administer all laws related to the same.

Reduce taxes and do away with our current unreadable tax code and go for a simpler system.

Be responsible in your civic duties, and consider your fellowman in your business dealings.

All U. S. citizens should have equal standing in all legislation passed by our law makers.

Expell all peoples who have as their stated purpose the destruction of our way of life.

Those are my general thoughts on the matter. You may wish to add your own in the comments section. Pappy

The greatest challenge to any thinker is stating the problem in a way that will allow a solution. - Bertrand Russell

It's All Built on Lies.

2009-09-03T21:40:00.003-05:00

Walter Williams

President Obama and congressional supporters estimate that his health care plan will cost between $50 and $65 billion a year. Such cost estimates are lies whether they come from a Democratic president and Congress, or a Republican president and Congress. You say, "Williams, you don't show much trust in the White House and Congress." Let's check out their past dishonesty.

At its start, in 1966, Medicare cost $3 billion. The House Ways and Means Committee, along with President Johnson, estimated that Medicare would cost an inflation-adjusted $12 billion by 1990. In 1990, Medicare topped $107 billion. That's nine times Congress' prediction. Today's Medicare tab comes to $420 billion with no signs of leveling off. How much confidence can we have in any cost estimates by the White House or Congress?

Another part of the Medicare lie is found in Section 1801 of the 1965 Medicare Act that reads: "Nothing in this title shall be construed to authorize any federal officer or employee to exercise any supervision or control over the practice of medicine, or the manner in which medical services are provided, or over the selection, tenure, or compensation of any officer, or employee, or any institution, agency or person providing health care services." Ask your doctor or hospital whether this is true.

Lies and deception are by no means restricted to modern times. During the legislative debate prior to ratification of the 16th Amendment, President Howard Taft and congressional supporters said that only the rich would ever pay federal income taxes. In 1916, only one-half of 1 percent of income earners paid income taxes. Those earning $250,000 a year in today's dollars paid 1 percent, and those earning $6 million in today's dollars paid 7 percent. The lie that only the rich would ever pay income taxes was simply a lie to exploit the politics of envy and dupe Americans into ratifying the 16th Amendment.

The proposed tax increases that the White House and Congress are proposing will probably pass. According to the Washington, D.C.-based Tax Foundation, during 2006, roughly 43.4 million tax returns, representing 91 million individuals, had no federal tax liability. That's out of a total of 136 million federal tax returns. Adding to this figure are 15 million households and individuals who file no tax return at all. Roughly 121 million Americans -- or 41 percent of the U.S. population -- are completely outside the federal income tax system. These people represent a natural constituency for big-spending politicians. Since they have no federal income tax obligation, what do they care about higher taxes or tax cuts?

Another big congressional lie is Social Security. Here's what a 1936 government pamphlet on Social Security said: "After the first 3 years -- that is to say, beginning in 1940 -- you will pay, and your employer will pay, 1.5 cents for each dollar you earn, up to $3,000 a year ... beginning in 1943, you will pay 2 cents, and so will your employer, for every dollar you earn for the next 3 years. ... And finally, beginning in 1949, twelve years from now, you and your employer will each pay 3 cents on each dollar you earn, up to $3,000 a year." Here's Congress's lying promise: "That is the most you will ever pay." Let's repeat that last sentence: "That is the most you will ever pay." Compare that to today's reality, including Medicare, which is 7.65 cents on each dollar that you earn up to nearly $107,000, which comes to $8,185.

The Social Security pamphlet closes with another lie: "Beginning November 24, 1936, the United States government will set up a Social Security account for you ... The checks will come to you as a right." First, there's no Social Security account containing your money, but more importantly, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled on two occasions that Americans have no legal right to Social Security payments.

We can thank public education for American gullibility.

Never Give Up.

2009-09-03T05:53:00.004-05:00

September 01, 2009

The Prince of Lies

By John Griffing

"A lie told often enough becomes truth." - Vladimir Lenin

President Obama's skill as a liar is critical to his success as a Socialist.

Considering the zeal with which President Obama has in a very short time remade America, we can conclude that he will not stop until America is completely socialist. But one building block remains: government-controlled healthcare. As Lenin once said, "Medicine is the keystone in the arch of socialism." To embark upon such an ambitious project that has yet failed at every attempt, President Obama must lie, since it is clear that a sizeable majority opposes his healthcare reform.

And President Obama is a most gifted liar. We're not talking about a new Clintonian era of likeable misinformation. This is not, "I didn't inhale." President Clinton's loveable way of twisting the truth pales in comparison to Obama's brazen boldness in lying even when Obama knows he will be caught.

President Obama is a special breed of liar, employing an array of varying techniques intended to marshal public emotion in his favor. For example, he uses his own grandmother to gain sympathy for a plan that will leave millions of grandmothers without care.

Unlike his predecessors, when caught in the midst of a deception, Obama is not deterred. He lies to cover his lies. Remember confessed terrorist Bill Ayers? First, then-Senator Obama denied knowing Ayers at all. Then, when the evidence was incontrovertible that Obama had indeed not only known Ayers, but also worked with him professionally, Obama changed his defense to one of ignorance, claiming that he was only a child when Ayers committed his crimes, and assumed that Ayers had been rehabilitated. Obama has continued and applied this pattern to a host of crucial national questions.

Obama is a Socialist. And the authentic Socialist is not driven by morality or truth, but by the end that justifies the means.

This philosophy reveals itself quite starkly in President Obama's patent fabrications regarding his healthcare reform plans. Observe the consistent mismatch between the facts and what Obama says:

Obama says that he does not support a "single-payer system" even though his comments in favor of single-payer healthcare are on tape, and his "public option" amounts to a piecemeal takeover of private-sector medical coverage.

Obama says, "You will not be waiting in any lines," but Section 1151 of HR 3200 penalizes hospitals for the costs incurred in readmitting patients, permitting the Health and Human Services Secretary to "reduce" payments to hospitals for readmission, a decision likely to force the sick out into the cold. If a cancer patient has a relapse, they might as well get drunk on morphine, because readmission will be exceedingly difficult.

Obama ridicules the idea of "death panels" as right-wing hysteria, saying that HR 3200 contains no such entity. He is right. The Independent Medicare Advisory Council, the source of the death panel concerns, is the topic of another bill introduced by the Obama Administration. Its job? To cut Medicare payments. And specific sections of his proposed legislation create mechanisms that will result in the loss of care for elderly persons. In addition, Medicare Advantage programs would be ended, a cut of $150 billion. This has not stopped the President from saying, "We are not talking about cutting Medicare benefits."

Obama makes the transparently false claim that private insurance will not be affected by HR 3200, and that those who like their current plans can keep them, despite the fact that individual Americans will only be allowed to obtain private plans for a 5 year grace period, and government plans will become the default should citizens switch employers.

Obama says that "46 million of our fellow citizens have no coverage. They are just vulnerable. If something happens, they go bankrupt, or they don't get the care they need." But everyone can currently obtain care, even if they cannot pay. That is why 60 hospitals in California have closed, because the law requires them to treat everyone. And that 46 million number is known to be bogus, since 9.7 million of this number are illegal aliens. By one estimate, 14 million Americans choose not to obtaincoverage. 18 million are under 34 and are either dependents or simply opt not to seek insurance, according to one study. When these numbers are subtracted, only 5 million uninsured remain.

Obama says that "we will make sure that no insurance company or government bureaucrat gets between you and the care you need," but responding to a Medicare recipient that had been denied the only drug that would alleviate his condition, Obama had this to say, "Look, there may be -- in nine out of 10 cases, the generic might work as well or better than the brand name. And we don't want to just subsidize the drug companies if you've got one that works just as well as another."

Obama says that the healthcare reform measure will not be used to expand federal funding of abortions, knowing that the vaunted Hyde amendment applies only to Medicaid, not the public option, and that the Capps Amendment, as passed by the House Energy and Commerce Committee, explicitly requires every enrollee of a government-subsidized health insurance plan to be charged an extra fee to cover abortions. Obama can hardly plead ignorance.

Obama makes outrageous claims that his healthcare reform will reduce the deficit and rein in healthcare spending, but the CBO says just the opposite. How can the present healthcare crisis, supposedly a crisis of spending, be solved with more spending, and by an institution known for its reckless disregard for fiscal realities?

At the heart of this barrage of deception and dishonesty is an uncommon genius, innate to only the most devious sort. While Obama's opponents spend their precious time addressing each new lie, Obama will keep the focus off the end-zone, and government healthcare will sail into place. This strategy has a name; it is called "the big lie," and it depends on a fundamental truth of human nature: fatigue.

At some point, citizens grow weary of hearing that their leaders are out for their ill, that political policies are nothing more than grand deceptions. Who wants to believe their President is a serial liar that seeks to impose full Socialism on the land of the free? Some truths are too big to contemplate, an observation that would lead one of the world's most successful propagandists to write:

"It would never come into their [the people's] heads to fabricate colossal untruths, and they would not believe that others could have the impudence to distort the truth so infamously. Even though the facts which prove this to be so may be brought clearly to their minds, they will still doubt and waver and will continue to think that there may be some other explanation."

Obama is counting on this principle. Most Americans are growing tired and are ready for some sort of compromise, but we cannot give in to this impulse. Obama will not give up and neither can we. Be encouraged. Don't lose hope. We must push forward, and keep the heat on the enemies of freedom. Americans must stay alert or the lie of all lies will consume what is left of liberty in America.

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I personally prefer freedom with all its warts and flaws to tyranny with its smothering oppression. Dennis Price

Priceless

2009-09-02T16:11:00.001-05:00

What are we doing?

2009-09-01T07:08:00.004-05:00

Clinton was abysmal in the area of gathering and using information that might protect our country, because like many "Progressives" he could not stand the intelligence gathering community. He neutered as much of it as he possibly could. The "Progressives" mulled over all the possibilities and debated them against the tenets of the "New World Order", but in the end we were left with nothing but endless socio-bable. As a result, the "Insurgents" gained the upper hand and struck us where our wallet stood out the furthest. It took drastic measures to gain the upper hand. Now all sorts of amatuer Monday morning quarterbacks are carping from the comfort of their posh homes about all the abuses foreign agents (not dressed in battle garb or spy suits) have received at the hands of the "shadow forces" of our government. I think the comic illustration above speaks volumes about what these men and women are all about. We may not like them, or approve of what they do, but we sure wouldn't be sitting in our comfortable homes writing about them if they weren't there. Now our Czar in Chief and his radical staff of convicted felons, tax cheats, traitors, racists, thugs, and local insurgents, are once again attacking the very people that could reveal their (The Progressives) true intentions for the further destruction of our country. Be careful what you wish for.

CIA Counter-Terrorism Expert: Obama and Holder 'At War' with Agency

Monday, August 31, 2009 7:59 PM

By: Kent Clizbe

Article Font Size

In the early days and weeks after September 11, 2001, a small cadre of men (and a few women) with vast amounts of intelligence experience reported to the Langley, Virginia headquarters of the CIA. These unsung heroes were then dispatched across the globe to run operations against the Al-Qaeda conspirators who leveled the World Trade Center and struck the nerve center of the US military.

The FBI, a domestic law enforcement agency, did not have the ability or skills needed to track down and strike the attackers overseas. The Pentagon, with F22s, nuclear aircraft carriers, intercontinental ballistic missiles, and battalions of the best armor in the history of mankind, was like an elephant attacked by a mouse—mighty, but helpless in its mammoth rage.

Our best hope lay with the grey-bearded intelligence professionals who fanned out across the world. Supplementing the skeleton crew of staff officers left in the wake of the Clintons’ anti-intelligence scourging of the CIA, the volunteers went to the Middle East, Asia, Europe, Africa, South America, to the most remote and isolated outposts in the world. Sometimes they worked with friendly forces, and sometimes they worked alone. They focused like a laser beam on one thing — stop the next attack. Their mission: Seek and destroy the terrorist planners, facilitators, trainers, financiers, and their infrastructure wherever they were.

Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, CIA officers, both the contractors and the over-extended staff officers, launched dozens of initiatives. The Counter-terrorist Center’s motto, “Deny, Disrupt, Destroy,” became the reason for our living. We left our families for months on end and sacrificed personal and professional lives to fight the Global War on Terror. Google “Jihadists in Paradise,” for an unauthorized account of one of my contributions (which I have been advised that I can neither confirm nor deny).

As I did my part in the Middle East, Southeast Asia, and Africa, my family tried to maintain a semblance of normalcy at home. My son was in eighth grade in September 2001. I did not see him graduate the next summer. I was home less than six months for each of the first three of his high school years. Even with my nightly phone calls, his attitude and grades plummeted in my absence. He went from a happy, engaged, charming 13 year old with straight A’s and a focus on the future, to a sullen, uncommunicative, high school flunky. I put my successful and lucrative executive recruiting business on hold for eight years. Finally, after five years of constant travel, my family sacrifice account was overdrawn. Coming home was an option for me, and I took it.

Others did not take that option, and they sacrificed the quality of their marriages, participation in their children’s and grandchildren’s lives, the profitability of their businesses, and more. Personal and professional issues festered and rotted while they fought to keep America safe and prevented further attacks on our homeland.

In contrast, where was Eric Holder? Before leaving President Clinton’s employ, he orchestrated the pardons of several Puerto Rican separatist terrorists. Then in 2003, as a partner in the Washington law firm of Covington & Burling, Mr Holder’s client, Chiquita Brands, admitted paying to support terrorist death squads in Colombia and paid a $25 million fine. During the time that my friends worked to disrupt and destroy terrorist networks threatening America, Holder’s firm represented — for free — 16 terrorist detainees held at Guantanamo.

Has he made any personal or professional sacrifices since his country was attacked in 2001? If he has, it is difficult to find them. When the Special Prosecutor comes calling, maybe someone from Covington & Burling can represent my colleagues for free, like they did for Lakhdar Boumedienne and ten other terrorists in Gitmo.

The Holder/Obama Global War on the CIA (GWCIA) has only just begun, as it debuted with “grisly revelations” of revving drills, gunshots in the next cell, and threats against a terrorist’s children. The GWOT is not for the faint of heart, nor the queasy. No war ever has been. There may be slight improprieties stashed in the CIA’s closets, but the liberal-appeasing GWCIA is foolhardy and dangerous.

Mike Spann, was the first to die in the GWOT. He won’t have to worry about the Holder/Obama GWCIA. But others in the Agency are very worried. While we sacrificed to achieve incremental victories, Holder and Obama plotted and schemed — not against those “evil-mongers” who killed our countrymen, but against those of us hunting the terrorists. Something is rotten in the state of Denmark. The odor is not from Langley, Mr Holder.

Kent Clizbe is a former member of the CIA's Directorate of Operations. In 2001, in the aftermath of Sept.11th, he returned to the CIA to serve multiple Counter-Terrorism deployments. In 2005, he was awarded the Intelligence Community Seal Medallion for his anti-terrorism work.

Fair and Balanced Reporting.

2009-08-28T15:03:00.003-05:00

I don't recall anything in the life of this man worthy of calling him a "Great American." An annonymous contributor reminded me of a few of the more well know reasons for my opinion. Some will remain buried.

As soon as his cancer was detected, I noticed the immediate attempt at the "canonization" of old Teddy Kennedy by the mainstream media. They are saying what a "great American" he is. I say, let's get a couple things clear & not twist the facts to change the real history.

1. He was caught cheating at Harvard when he attended it. He was expelled twice, once for cheating on a test, and once for paying a classmate to cheat for him.

2. While expelled, Kennedy enlisted in the Army, but mistakenly signed up for four years instead of two. Oops! The man can't count to four! His father, Joseph P. Kennedy, former U.S. Ambassador to England (a step up from
bootlegging liquor into the US from Canada during prohibition), pulled the necessary strings to have his enlistment shortened to two years, and to ensure that he served in Europe, not Korea, where a war was raging No preferential treatment for him, like he charged that President Bush received.

3. Kennedy was assigned to Paris, never advanced beyond the rank of Private, and returned to Harvard upon being discharged. Imagine a person of his "education" NEVER advancing past the rank of Private!

4. While attending law school at the University of Virginia, he was cited for reckless driving four times, including once when he was clocked driving 90 miles per hour in a residential neighborhood with his headlights off after dark... Yet his Virginia driver's license was never revoked. Coincidentally, he passed the bar exam in 1959. Amazing!

5. In 1964, he was seriously injured in a plane crash and hospitalized for several months. Test results done by the hospital at the time he was admitted had shown he was legally intoxicated. The results of those tests remained a "state secret" until in the 1980's when the report was unsealed. Didn't hear about that from the unbiased media, did we?

6. On July 19, 1969, Kennedy attended a party on Chappaquiddick Island in Massachusetts. At about 11:00 PM, he borrowed his chauffeur's keys to his Oldsmobile limousine and offered to give a ride home to Mary Jo Kopechne, a campaign worker. Leaving the island via an unlit bridge with no guard rail, Kennedy steered the car off the bridge, flipped, and into Poucha Pond.

7. He swam to shore and walked back to the party passing several houses and a fire station. Two friends then returned with him to the scene of the accident. According to their later testimony, they told him what he already knew - that he was required by law to immediately report the accident to the authorities. Instead Kennedy made his way to his hotel, called his lawyer, and went to sleep. Kennedy called the police the next morning and by then the wreck had already been discovered. Before dying Kopechne had scratched at the upholstered floor above her head in the upside-down car.

The Kennedy family began "calling in favors", ensuring that any inquiry would be contained. Her corpse was whisked out-of-state to her family before an autopsy could be conducted.

Further details are uncertain, but after the accident Kennedy says he repeatedly dove under the water trying to rescue Kopechne and he didn't call police because he was in a state of shock. It is widely assumed Kennedy was drunk, and he held off calling police in hopes that his family could fix the problem overnight. Since the accident Kennedy's "political enemies" have referred to him as the distinguished Senator from Chappaquiddick. He pleaded guilty to leaving the scene of an accident, and was given a SUSPENDED SENTENCE OF TWO MONTHS.

Kopechne's family received a small payout from the Kennedy's insurance policy and never sued. There was later an effort to have her body exhumed and autopsied, but her family successfully fought against this in court, and Kennedy's family paid their attorney's bills.... a "token of friendship."

8. Kennedy has held his Senate seat for more than forty years, but considering his longevity, his accomplishments seem scant. He authored or argued for legislation that ensured a variety of civil rights, increased the minimum wage in 1981, made access to health care easier for the indigent, funded Meals on Wheels for fixed-income seniors, and is widely held as the "standard-bearer for liberalism".

In his very first Senate roll he was the floor manager for the bill that turned U.S. immigration policy upside down and opened the floodgate for immigrants from third world countries….

9. Since that time, he has been the prime instigator and author of every expansion of an increase in immigration up to and including the latest attempt to grant amnesty to illegal aliens.

Not to mention the pious grilling he gave the last two Supreme Court nominees, as if he was the standard bearer for the nation in matters of "what is right" What a pompous ass!

10. He is known around Washington as a public drunk, loud, boisterous, and very disrespectful to ladies. JERK is a better description than "great American".

"A blonde in every pond" is his motto.

Let's not allow the spin doctors to make this jerk a hero -- how quickly the American public forgets what his real legacy is.

Annonymous

Just Becasue They Say It, Doesn't Make It So.

2009-08-28T08:06:00.002-05:00

If fifty million people say a foolish thing, it is still a foolish thing.
- Anatole France

Run, Fat Boy, Run

2009-08-27T07:03:00.003-05:00

Two weeks (that's fourteen days) have passed and I'm still here. I started walking an hour every morning. I already gave up caffeine. I'm trying to find something to give me a little spark.

Then, this past Tuesday, I started to jog. On lap three of my four lap regimen I forced my legs to start a rudimentary striding movement just above the level of a walk. It was early morning and dark outside except for the small areas lit by the street lights. The street lamps seemed to be swaying, and I noticed a few lights coming on in homes around our neighborhood. I'm not sure how far from the epicenter the shock waves could be felt, but close in it seemed to be causing a stir. As I rounded the corner and slowed again to a walk my neighbor John came outside with his camera and said, "I'm going to get a picture of this."

As I turned to face him, the outflow of my breath fogged the lens of his camera and I was able to escape without being placed on Facebook. I alternated between walking and jogging and was on the final lap when once again I passed John's house. I thought I was clear, but he came riding out of his garage on an old Huffy Cruiser pedaling hard while holding a digital camera in his right hand. He rode up beside me and snapped away. I was in the zone.

I repeated the pattern this morning. I know scripture foretells an increase in earthquakes in the latter days, but if you have been experiencing minor tremors this week don't worry. It could be me. I am hungry now and already thinking about a nap. It's not ever 8:00 A.M. yet.

Show Me the Money.

2009-08-26T05:25:00.005-05:00

We got ours the "New Fashioned Way" we stole it. Yes folks, all that money you are grubbing around to get your hands on is yours, your kids, and your grand kids. It has been stolen by those who want to pay off their major bloc supporters, the politicians in Washington, D. C. The U. S. Treasury is being looted and our own tax dollars are being piddled out in bailouts, political payoffs, money for bogus efforts to "Green Up", payments to foreign governments, bloated salaries and retirements for members of the House and Senate, Pork spending, and Czars. The list is endless and seems to grow everyday. And yet, smiling citizens line up to get some, and businesses continue their failed business practices and take all they can get. You are paying your own down payments for cars, appliances, and whatever else the government in its wisdom can come up with, with the hard earned and easily taken tax dollars and future tax dollars of every taxpayer in America.

I for one do not intend to take one dollar from any government sponsored program. We do not need the "Government" to tell us what to do, what to buy, what to read, or what we can listen to. It is unconstitutional for them to do so. The government has so misused the "Commerce Clause" in the constitution that even constitutional scholars can't make heads or tales of the loose nexus they attach to every life controlling tentacle. As individual States however, we can hold to the provisions of the Tenth Amendment to the U. S. Constitution and refuse to be bullied by a government that has grown too large, and has illegally bullied its way into every facet of our lives.

In a recent column, economist Thomas Sowell states,

Let's go back to square one. The universe was not made to our specifications. Nor were human beings. So there is nothing surprising in the fact that we are dissatisfied with many things at many times. The big question is whether we are prepared to follow any politician who claims to be able to "solve" our "problem."If we are, then there will be a never ending series of "solutions," each causing new problems calling for still more "solutions."

That way lies a never-ending quest, costing ever increasing amounts of the taxpayers' money and-- more important-- ever greater losses of your freedom to live your own life as you see fit, rather than as presumptuous elites dictate.

Ultimately, our choice is to give up Utopian quests or give up our freedom. This has been recognized for centuries by some, but many others have not yet faced that reality, even today. If you think government should "do something" about anything that ticks you off, or anything you want and don't have, then you have made your choice between Utopia and freedom.

The truth is we must be able to put up with some level of injustice and inequity in order to preserve our freedom. Utopia is not real. Evil in our society is usually rooted out and punished, but we cannot ignore the fact we are human and mistakes will be made. Even when our politicians tell us differently, we know from history that Oligarchies only benefit the ruling elite and the poor still receive crumbs.

All this talk of "Crisis" is planned to create fear. Without an abiding faith in Almighty God, people are left to put their trust in the "Nanny State" to solve their every problem. It will never happen folks. In just a few months we have seen our National debt soar, and all the while those in power tell us that new mega-spending programs are deficit neutral. For all of you who believe this, I say quit watching "American Idol" for a few minutes and do the math. Do something for yourselves and by yourselves for a change. Our freedom has been bought with the blood and sacrifice of our forefathers and should not be handed over without a fight to a bunch of Marxist radicals who don't even like our country. This includes our mysterious new president and his plethora of unvetted advisers from convicted felons, to self avowed communists. This is no longer Democrat, Republican, or Independent, it is a fight for our very survival and you had better ready yourself for it.

Be prepared to make wholesale changes in 2010. I believe if someone in Washington, D.C. with some clout and resources decided to check out our new Commander in Chief, he would not stand up to the investigation. What we have now is a "ram it down your throat" by force, heavy handed bunch of Chicago style gangster politicians controlling the White House. Our Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi is out of touch and out of control. Our Attorney General is making a mockery of our legal system. Our Secretary of State is an abysmal embarrassment. We have no foreign policy, and our National Security has been severely weakened. Most of our Democrat Representatives and Senators, along with weak kneed Republicans, are marching in lock step with the bullies. The American voting public is being labeled with terms like radical, racist, and trouble maker, while the real radicals, racists, and trouble makers occupy the highest offices in our land.

Push back America. We have always fought our way out when we were pushed into a corner.

"Always remember that you are Americans, and it is your birthright to dream great dreams in this sweet and blessed land, truly the greatest, freest, strongest nation on Earth."----Ronald Reagan

Well, Stanley, this is another fine mess you've gotten us into.

2009-08-24T18:26:00.004-05:00

We are in a mess. Our government is out of control. I think it is time to shut this train down. An unvetted President who refuses to allow his background information to be examined is only a teleprompted figure head. 36 Czars and counting who have managed to avoid the FBI background checks, and are exempt from vetting by Congress are calling the shots without challenge. The U. S. Attorney General Eric Holder is trying to neuter our intelligence community while the President says he is not in favor of doing so. There has to be some provision in the interest of National Security for stopping this coup. This whole movement to bankrupt the treasury and plunge the U. S. economy into ruin is designed to create a mega crisis where people will be forced to depend on the only people who have any funds left and those will be the labor unions and the elitist Oligarchy controlling the government. We can't let this happen. The American people can stop this shadowy revolution if we try. Stop taking the tax money they are throwing around and put the fear of God in your representatives.

Shut down the labor Unions.

Shut down the funds to Community Organizers like Acorn.

Pass legislation to retroactively outlaw Czars.

Don't participate in any stimulus programs.

Don't purchase products from companies receiving stimulus money.

Create new banks to drive the current institutions out of business.

Start paying as you go.

Pay for all of your office visits to the doctor out of pocket and have insurance only for catastrophic events.

Form new Insurance Companies with realistic guidelines and reasonable charges.

Remove government regulation from every possible area not specifically granted them by the U. S. Constitution.

Lower taxes.

Never forget who is doing this to us.

Be responsible citizens.

Be reasonable businessmen and women who take a profit, but don't rob the people who are their customers.

The time has come for some tough love.

Let the States provide sustenance for only those who truly need it and only for a moderate amount of time.

Keep the pressure on Washington, D. C. until they can't operate anymore. Make them responsive to the people they were elected to serve.

Make a list of all those politicians who are maligning the American voting populace and defeat them at the polls as soon as possible. (Regardless of party affiliation)

Pay careful attention to what your president is reading. "The Post American World"

Pay attention to the people he is taking advice from.

This crash isn't going to take long.

Pray to the God of this Universe to intercede on our behalf.

A good friend of mine sent this to me. It should give you pause.

You know, after income, sales, SSN,Medicare, property taxes etc, I am keeping just a tad over 50% in my pocket. Seems to me that if 10% is good enough for the Lord, it darn sure ought to be good enough for the government.

I was talking to an old state police buddy of mine last week and he was telling me that he had gone into private investigative work after he retired. He specialized in oil field investigations and after a few years was doing quite well; however, his net profits became so low he went to see his CPA. The CPA told him he was simply making too much money and didn't have enough write offs. As a result, he could only expect 35 to 40 cents on the dollar as net. As a result, he simply shut his business down and went home.

Now isn't that a hell of a mess? It really provides incentive, doesn't it?

No denying the facts.

2009-08-23T18:26:00.005-05:00

Always denying responsibility for failed programs, the Democrats always have a hard time with the evidence. Whenever anyone tries to prove a point using facts, they all start talking at the same time in an effort to smother the truth. While greedy politicians on both sides of the aisle are complicit in the financial downfall of our government, Democrats played the lead role even during times when they didn't hold the majority or the White House. During these years their obstructionist policies and procedures thwarted efforts to curb wasteful spending on social programs and efforts to reduce taxes.

If there is anyone out there that doesn't know this, this is the best visual presentation I ever saw.... Now don't be mad at old people,

just remember who did this.......

Franklin Delano. Roosevelt
32^nd. President, Democrat
Terms of Office March 4, 1933, to April 12, 1945

Our Social Security
Franklin Delano Roosevelt (Terms of Office March 4, 1933, to April 12, 1945), aDemocrat, introduced the Social Security (FICA) Program.. He Promised:

1.) That participation in the Program would be Completely voluntary,
2.) That the participants would only have to pay 1% of the first $1,400 of their annual Incomes into the Program,
3.) That the money the participants elected to put Into the Program would be deductible from Their income for tax purposes each year,
4.) That the money the participants put into the Independent 'Trust Fund' rather than into the General operating fund, and therefore, would Only be used to fund the Social Security Retirement Program, and no other Government program, and
5.) That the annuity payments to the retirees would never be taxed as income.
Since many of us have paid into FICA for years and are now receiving a Social Security check every month -- and then finding that we are getting taxedon 85% of the money we paid to the Federal government to 'Put Away' -- you may be interested in the following:

----------THEN---------------------------------------------------

Dwight David Eisenhower
34^th. President, Republican,
Term Of Office: January 20, 1953 to January 20, 1961

Insert by Vincent Peter Render,

If I recall correctly, 1958 is the first year that Congress, not President Eisenhower, voted to remove some funds from Social Security and put it into the General Fund for Congress to spend.
If I recall correctly, it was a democratically controlled Congress.
>From what I understand, Congress logic at that time was that there was so much money in Social Security Fund that it would never run out / be used up for the purpose it was intended / set aside for.

-------------WORSE STILL------------------------------------------------

Lyndon Baines Johnson 36^th. President,Democrat
Term Of Office: November 22, 1963 to January 20, 1969

Question: Which Political Party took Social Security from the Independent 'Trust Fund' and put it into the General Fund so that Congress could spend it?

Answer: It was Lyndon B. Johnson (Democrat,Term of Office: November 22,1963 to January 20, 1969) and the democratically Controlled House and Senate.

--------------------------------------------------------------------
Question: Which Political Party eliminated the income tax Deduction for Social Security
(FICA) withholding?
Answer: The Democratic Party.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

William Jefferson Clinton
(Bill Clinton)
42^nd. President
Democrat Term of Office: January 20, 1993 to January 20, 2001

Albert Arnold Gore, Jr.
(Al Gore)
45^th. Vice President

Democrat Term of Office: January 20, 1993 to January 20, 2001

Question: Which Political Party started taxing Social Security annuities?
Answer: The Democratic Party, with Albert Arnold Gore, Jr. (Al Gore) [Vice President Term of Office: January 10, 1993 to January 20, 2001] casting the 'tie-breaking' deciding vote as President of the Senate, while he was Vice President of the US ..

------------------THE STRAW THAT BROKE THE CAMEL'S BACK !!-------------------------------------------------

James Earl Carter, Jr
(Jimmy Carter)
39^thPresident, Democrat
Term of Office: January 20, 1977 to January 20, 1981

Question: Which Political Party decided to start giving Annuitypayments to immigrants?

AND MY FAVORITE:

ANSWER: That's right! JAMES EARL CARTER, JR. (JIMMY CARTER) (DEMOCRAT, TERM OF OFFICE: JANUARY 20, 1977 TO JANUARY 20, 1981 AND THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY.
IMMIGRANTS MOVED INTO THIS COUNTRY, AND AT AGE 65, BEGAN TO RECEIVE SOCIAL SECURITY PAYMENTS: THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY GAVE THESE PAYMENTS TO THEM, EVEN THOUGH THEY NEVER PAID A DIME INTO IT!

Have you ever seen a Jack-ass eating briers...!

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Then, after violating the original contract (FICA), the Democrats turn around and tell you that the Republicans want to take your Social Security away!

And the worst part about it is uninformed citizens believe it!

If enough people receive this, maybe a seed of Awareness will be planted and maybe changes WILL evolve! .. Maybe not, some Democrats are awfully sure of what isn't so. But it's worth a try. How many people can YOU send this to?
Actions speak louder than bumper stickers.
AND CONGRESS GIVES THEMSELVES 100% RETIREMENT FOR ONLY SERVING ONE TERM!!!

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Thomas Jefferson
3^rd. President, Democrat
Term of Office: January 20, 1777 to January 20, 1781

"A government big enough to give you everything you want, is strong enough to take everything you have".
Thomas Jefferson

What Really Happened in Montana.

2009-08-22T02:01:00.000-05:00

Let's see if the Dems are being honest about these Town Hall meetings on Health Care. Recently in Houston, where Representative Gene Green (D) was having a Town Hall Meeting, members of the radical racist group "La Raza" (The Race) came to heckle peaceful protesters outside the meeting. Wonder who orchestrated that? These politicians, including our president, are not being honest about wanting to hear from the people. You will not see this in the main stream media, so I thought I would give you one citizen's report on what happened when the president showed up there. They always claim the tickets to these events are handed out randomly, but that is a half truth just like their current health care bill.

Subject: What Really Happened Last Week in Montana

Hello All,

By now you have probably heard that President Obama came to Montana last
Friday. However, there are many things that the major news has not
covered. I feel that since Bill and I live here and we were at the airport
on Friday I should share some facts with you.

On Wednesday, August 5th it was announced locally that the President
would be coming here. There are many groups here that are against his
healthcare and huge spending so those groups began talking and
deciding on what they were going to do. The White House would not release
ANY details other than the date.

On about Tuesday Bill found out that they would be holding the "Town
Hall" at the airport. (This is only because Bill knows EVERYONE at the
airport) Our airport is actually located outside of Belgrade (tinytown) in
a very remote location. Nothing is around there. They chose to use a
hangar that is the most remotely located hangar. You could not pick a
more remote location, and you can not get to it easily. It is totally
secluded from the public.

FYI: We have many areas in Belgrade and Bozeman which could have held a
large amount of folks with sufficient parking.gymnasiums/auditoriums). All
of which have chairs and tables, and would not have to be SHIPPED IN!!
$$$$$

During the week, cargo by the TONS was being shipped in constantly.
Airport employees could not believe how it just kept coming. Though
it was our President coming several expressed how excessive it was,
especially during a recession. $$$$$

Late Tuesday/early Wednesday the 12th, they said that tickets would
be handed out on Thursday 9am at two locations and the president would be
arriving around 12:30 Friday.

Thursday morning about 600 tickets were passed out. However, 1500
were printed at a Local printing shop per White House request.
Hmmmm......900 tickets just DISAPPEARED. This same morning someone called
into the radio from the local UPS branch and said that THOUSANDS of
Dollars of Lobster were shipped in for Obama. Montana has some of the
best beef in the nation!!! And it would have been really wonderful to help
out the local economy.

Anyone heard of the Recession?? Just think...with all of the traveling
the White House is doing. $$$$$ One can only imagine what else we are
paying for.

On Friday Bill and I got out to the airport about 10:45am. The groups
that wanted to protest Obama's spending and healthcare had gotten a
permit to protest and that area was roped off. But that was not to be.
A large bus carrying SEIU (Service Employees International Union)
members drove up onto the area (illegally)and unloaded right there. It
was quite a commotion and there were specifically 2 SEIU men trying
to make trouble and start a fight. Police did get involved and arrested
the one man but they said they did not have the manpower to remove
the SEIU crowd. The SEIU crowd was very organized and young. About 99%
were under the age of 30 and they were not locals! They had bullhorns and
PROFESSIONALLY made signs. Some even wore preprinted T-shirts. Oh, and
Planned Parenthood folks were with them.....professing abortion rights
with their T-shirts and preprinted signs. (BTW, all these folks did have
a permit to protest in ANOTHER area)

Those against healthcare/spending moved away from the SEIU crowd to
avoid confrontation. They were orderly and respectful. Even though
SEIU kept coming over and walking through, continuing to be very
intimidating and aggressive at the direction of the one SEIU man.

So we had Montana folks from ALL OVER the state with their homemade
signs and their DOGS with homemade signs. We had cowboys, nurses,
doctors you name it. There was even a guy from Texas who had been
driving through. He found out about the occasion, went to the store,
made a sign, and came to protest.

If you are wondering about the press.....Well, all of the major
networks were over by that remote hangar I mentioned. They were
conveniently parked on the other side of the buildings FAR away. None
of these crowds were even visible to them. I have my doubts that they
knew anything about the crowds. We did have some local news media around
us from this state and Idaho.

Speaking of the local media...they were invited. However, all
questions were to be turned into the White House in advance of the event.
Wouldn't want anyone to have to think off the top of their head.

It was very obvious that it was meant to be totally controlled by the
White House. Everything was orchestrated down to the last detail to
make it appear that Montana is just crazy for Obama and government
healthcare. Even those people that talked about their insurance
woes........the White House called our local HRDC (Human Resource and
Development Committee) and asked for names. Then the White House
asked those folks to come. Smoke and mirrors...EVERYTHING was
staged!!!!!!!!!!!

I am very dismayed about what I learned about our current White
House. The amount of control and manipulation was unbelievable. I felt I
was not living in the United States of America, more like the USSR!! I
was physically nauseous. Bill and I have been around when Presidents or
Heads of State visit. It has NEVER been like this. I am truly very
frightened for our country. America needs your prayers and your voices.

If you care about our country please get involved. Know the issues. And
let Congress hear your voices again and again!! If they are willing
to put forth so much effort to BULLY a small town one can only imagine
what is going on in Washington DC. Scary!!

Kathy,

Bozeman, Montana