Modern Conservative Woman

Eric Holder, Lannie Breuer and Fast & Furious

2011-12-08T09:08:00.000-06:00

It never fails to amaze me how, throughout history, men have done wrong hand in hand with their peers, only to be genuinely surprised when they are thrown under the bus.

I picture these men in high, powerful places looking genuinely shocked when the hammer finally comes down, and they realize the jig is up.

It is almost comical to think of the looks on their faces when they realize all these people they trusted to have their back when the feds showed up are really turning their own backs.

Why is it criminals never realize there is no honor amongst them, until it is time for honor to muster up?

Casey Anthony Predicts the Future

2011-07-02T23:09:00.005-05:00

You would have to be living under a rock to be less than acutely aware a young woman on trial for her life in south Florida for allegedly murdering her two year-old daughter in 2008. The Casey Anthony trial has eclipsed the trial of OJ Simpson as the trial of the century. There are many factors playing into this, most primarily being the role social media has played in bringing the trial right into the homes of the American people, and the macabre fascination is has wrought in common citizens.

Infanticide, or the murder of a child by its mother, is considered one of the most heinous acts of evil one human being can impose upon another. It requires an unhinging from basic humanity that once separated, cannot be reunited. A woman who is capable of killing her child is capable of committing any other heinous act imaginable. She is able to, both literally and metaphorically, kill a part of herself, both by shutting off the humanity in her soul, and by killing a child she carried as part of her own body, her own flesh and blood, for nearly a year of her life.

Why are Americans and substantial portions of the rest of the English-speaking world as well, no doubt, so fixated on the drama playing out in that Florida courtroom? Why are we so fascinated with the legal proceedings against young this petite young woman accused of the murder of her own baby? Well, let's be honest, the legal proceedings themselves notwithstanding, the viewing public is enthralled not by the buffoonery and jesting of the sophomoric defense team, nor by the righteously indignant, sharp-tongued verbal lashings by the prosecution, but by the players in the family drama themselves. Average people cannot imagine what it is like to be going through what the various members of this doomed family are going through. For those of us obsessed with this trial, it is safe danger, experiencing the darkness from a distance.

It is that thrilling danger that seems to be the draw for many people. Anyone who has watched the news and seen any reports of the trial at all have seen varying examples of the lowest a human soul can be dragged. From the disgusting examples of Dark Ages mentality when the dregs of unemployed society fought out in front of the courthouse to get in line for a seat, to the times when we all gasp as we see Casey laughing at something she finds humorous, this dark form of entertainment has not disappointed. The National Enquirer has managed to squeeze its way in, fairly legitimately this time, surprising enough. There is a mistress, and some questionable party behavior, and a mysterious older brother who is hurt by being left out, but has managed to mostly keep himself removed.

Casey Anthony is both a sign of the times and a predictor of the future. Here in our current time, when the world has become so dog-eat-dog, it's easy to imagine there are people who could convince themselves there might have been some extenuating circumstance that excuses Casey Anthony or that she is just being shafted by the state of Florida. This article won't attempt to argue the validity of the cases presented by either side of the court proceedings in this case. However, it goes without saying, the defense is clearly doing whatever in the farthest stretches of the mind they have to do to get Casey off.

It is this mentality of shucking responsibility that is a sign of the times. Defense lawyers are walking cliches for pulling some of the most ridiculous shenanigans to get some of the most heinous criminals in history out of trouble. This nonchalant shaking-off of any notion of personal responsibility is eroding our society to a point of making petite, pretty young women into baby-killing monsters, with mysterious tattoos, exotic mistresses, estranged aloof brothers, all thrown into the mix to make it more exciting. Has our craving for excitement with a touch of the macabre dragged this trial outside the realm of the logical and made it so Hollywood it simply become a salacious real-life soap opera? Or are the details just that sordid and sinister and sad? Either way, it is a tell-tale sign of the attitudes people have towards life and personal responsibility these days.

This whole crime, trial and media circus surrounding it have done nothing more than slam another few nails into the coffin of hope for the human spirit. If you are a Twitter fan, and you have followed the trial on Twitter, you may have noticed there is a growing subculture of early twenty-somethings who are firmly convinced this whole thing is the fault of the older Anthonys. According to the wise, bed- & bar-hopping generation currently learning to run our country, George and Cindy Anthony are completely and utterly at fault for the death of their granddaughter, however the method of death.
Photo courtesy Orlando Sentinel

This learned hypothesis is not based on any scientific or tangible proof or evidence they have gathered, rather on a group mentality that everything Casey did wrong was her parents fault. Having gotten the general and sometimes very specifics of attitudes of quite a few young people in their early twenties, I have come to the conclusion we might have a very rocky road ahead of us as a society, if society is hanging out on Twitter, which, as I understand it, it is.

These mostly college age people feel the elder Anthony's most espcially Cindy,were responsible for Caylee's eventual death by forcing Casey to be a mother she didn't want to be, and basically pushing her into a corner. Yes, let's go with that theory, that won't open the door for every young mother in America to kill her baby and then blame it on his mother. That is one thing people need to remember when making decisions from an emotional, indignantly righteous point of view. This case is so high profile, it will be used for many, many years to come as precedent. Belvin Perry not only holds Casey Anthony's life in his hands, but the lives of many people, young women specifically, will come through his docket and those who come after him, and be affected by this tragedy forever. He can't un-know this situation. Sadly, none of us can.

It is this group of idealistic young people with skewed visions of righteousness and justice who are going to run our country in the very next few years. This generation has grown up under the blanket of the-then newly re-burgeoning progressive movement, the movement to make America shed it's traditional roots and values and adopt more global, less nationalistic values. It is a dangerous avenue to walk down, that college boulevard containing these globally-minded progressive young people who have been brought up not on math and real United States and world history but on theories of revolution and philosophy versus logic.

If a child is dead, someone is responsible. Not necessarily at fault for her death, but responsible. No one is accepting responsibility for the tragic death of a beautiful child with so many joy and potential, and that is, hopefully, the final crime here.

Commoners' Ultimatum

2011-07-02T15:57:00.000-05:00

Since all the not-so-new-anymore Administration's plans all promised to take a while, but work out in the end, then I have a suggestion of my own I'll just throw how in the air up there. Why don't we stop worrying so much about how prisoners are treated (fed, bed, not dead? good.), give money back to our SCHOOLS, so children can stop sharing mathbooks that neither has ever brought home in their lifetime because there simply isn't enough to go around, and EDUCATE OUR CHILDREN, put THEM back out into the workforce educated, and let everyone be ready to SACRIFICE a little personal comfort between now and then, and stop living so extravagantly and playing the violins while the ship is cracking half and sinking. Then when we have educated the future leaders, on MORE THAN REVOLUTIONS AND HOW TO TEAR DOWN SOCIETIES, but stuff like, uh, math, science, history, and English, we let them give us some fresh ideas for how to do some things. We're already laying a Biblically-sized financial burden on their shoulders, we need to quit messing around and get some stuff done, and face that we have just let things get out of hand. This includes myself and the rest of the general population of started feeling like the Jetsons and like everything had to be so easy-breezy-leisurely. What happened to that pioneer spirit of our ancestors? Where are the daughters of ROSIE THE RIVETER and the sons of the DOUGHBOYS? Where is that same strength of character and patriotic pride and strong faith that is the backbone of what this society is?

I am so tired of listening to politicians bloviate about NOTHING, and then blow smoke up each others' butts when they need something from each other, and meanwhile we're down here paying their EXHORBITANT, SELF-DECLARED salaries from our pocketbooks. It's time someone step up who is willing to make a decent living, but not live like a king, and make all the other politicians do the same thing, and stop with incredibly irresponsible wasteful spending on things that are simply ludicrous, and giving money to government programs that are allowing a PRIVILEGED few to sit on their butts and live off society. We are tired of being bled dry. We are tired of paying huge co-pays an premiums to go get our ulcers treaed so we can truck it back up there to the old salt grind to earn some money to put some bread on our table and fill rich politicians' pockets. It's wrong, and IT SHOULD END TODAY. We are tired of being told you'll pass a bill so we, the ignorant and uninformed, can know what's in it. PASS A BILL THAT WILL AFFECT OUR LIVES BEFORE WE CAN READ IT? Have all the proponents of this gargantuan piece of legislature even TRIED to read this thing before being the official cheerleaders on it's behalf? I got to page twenty-seven and was nearly blind, and had 'I don't even know how many' other documents that were footnoted in the healthcare bill to explain certain portions contained therein. It was confusing beyond belief. And then we are encouraged by the audacity of the senator who is righteously unrememerable but who told the American public the representatives who were signing it had NOT read it because it was written by, and supposed to be read by, a BUNCH OF LAWYERS. This particular gentleman himself was a lawyer. This is the kind of blatant, non-chalant entitlement attitude we have come to resent in our politicians and those who are succubbusses on the public dime. We are tired of being forced to pay for government programs we don't like, ALL OF US. Whether we are black or white, young or old, atheist or Christian, man or woman, Republican or Democrat, conservative or liberal, we can all agree on one thing: We are ready for REPRESENTATIVES, NOT LEADERS, who are willing to work for a fair wage, just like the rest of us do, and engage in the activity of working to suit the larger body of people they represent, NOT WORK FOR THEIR OWN END OR JUST TO SUIT THEIR OWN DESIGN, and work on behalf of the people entirely and solely, and be willing to not bend or sway with public opinion or trending emotions but to stand firm in his or her steadfast beliefs and those beliefs for which he or she presented himself as being in possession of at the time of being duly appointed by the people to act solely on their benefit and behalf and behalf of the morals and values for which they stand as a whole, and not engage in any party activities that do not directly support and uphold the wishes and directives of the people represented.

We are tired of being subjected to class warfare by spiteful, warring politicians who are just out to keep themselves in Italian suits an summer homes. Most of us don't have summer homes, and you shouldn't get to just because you're a politician, because that should mean a true SERVANT of the people, which is not quite the same as the currently popular LEADERS. Healthy, functional people who are allowed to sign legal contracts are responsible for themselves and do not lead to be LEAD AROUND, rather, they need a central figure to represent them before a central governing body. This terminal mentality we are born with the right to be taken care of our whole lives is ludicrous. Cavemen didn't have a government to take care of them, and they are not to be pitied or considered lacking, rather they were responsible for themselves and a government body giving them assistance would really have done them no good, nor would they have understood it. It is only here, in a our ever-more apathetic society, have we become not even so capable as cavemen to care for ourselves, rather needing an adult babysitting agency to do it.

We are tired of seeing our minorities being physically imprisoned by 'leaders' in their respective communities who are merely snake-oil salesmen with PDAs who benefit themselves off the chronic poverty of their brothers. We have more respect for these people than they will ever realize, and it's sad they turn to these hate-mongering truth-twisters for their leadership. These people are snakes, and they do not care about the people they supposedly 'organize', and thank goodness there are a growing number of people in these communities who are realizing this and trying to educate the neighbors.

We are tired of getting the runaround, period. We are ready for a representative who we do what we want, what we say, what we regard as right, not because he or she is forced to, but because it is their shared belief. We want representatives who have beliefs, have morals, have values, of SOME sort, and these values are firm and do not sway with the tide of popular emotional sway. We want representatives who value the same traditions, protocols and expectations of human behavior as we hold dear, and live by these as stringently as would be expected of any public figure who is a role model for strength of character and representative wherewithall.

We want honesty, truth, purpose, and a straight moral compass. We want transparency within reason, and we a mutual respect of the ideals that are the backbone of who we are.

LETTER TO TSA on Behalf of 95 yo Cancer Victim Assaulted by TSA Agent

2011-06-30T17:58:00.000-05:00

I am contacting you on behalf of all the perfect strangers out there who are being ASSAULTED by TSA agents. Let it be known on behalf on the traveling public, the TSA is now the priesthood of the federal government. Apparently this is where child molesters and those whose tastes run to the elderly hide. I am appalled at the treatment I have heard today of the little 95 year-old lady who was ASSAULTED by one of your agents. This has gotten completely out of hand. Considering how widely known it is that a good percentage of the terrorists who make it into this country come through our southern borders, then it seems ridiculous to even have all these stringent rules about pat-downs.

According to the news, the object that set off the 'alarm' at the airport where the woman I referred to earlier was, happened to be the remnants of a bowel movement. It is disgusting and reprehensible that a woman that age suffering with cancer was put through such a travesty. Personally, I would have physically dealt with it, and he wouldn't have touched my mother, regardless if I wound up in jail. A lot of people feel this way about their MOTHERS. A 95 year-old woman? Seriously? A cause for alarm in her diaper??? HELLO? This person ought to be fired and even arrested. Then I learn they would not even let the woman's daughter in the room with her.

What kind of Nazis do you people have working for you? I can totally understand treating everyone the same and not wanting to concentrate on people of certain cultures, but how about a little common sense and sparing someone's dignity? You people are going to let this continue until something terrible is going to happen--either a little old person will pure die from a heart attack or something, or some lunatic is going to go postal over the treatment of his mother or child and wreak havoc in a huge airport. Is this what you want? You want to keep pushing the average citizen into such corners?

Typically, when I write a letter of complaint or concern, I try to be more eloquent and attempt to get my point across in a more calm manner. However, this is such a putrid idea of "customer service" and "keeping the public safe", at this point, I just want someone to read this letter and hear how angry members of the traveling public are. Thank you so much for keeping my family safe from this evil 95 year-old cancer patient in an adult diaper covered in her own excrement. I feel so safe now, knowing this heinous criminal has had her britches cleaned out in public, and has had her dignity and pride soiled, just like that dirty adult diaper. Unless you people want to start being slapped with lawsuits left and right, (which SOMEONE is bound to win sooner or later) you better pull your child molesting, elderly-people-assaulting sex creep fiends off the floor and send them to collect baggage. Of course then we'll find out they are digging through luggage, hanging bras from their heads and running around waving dildos around like Indians. This is pretty much the way A LOT of the general public feels about your so-called protection of the public. Check the opinions in popular forums. Or don't, since you all obviously have figured out the best way to handle your customers. No wonder, I as a car rental manager, have seen my business improve thanks to all the people who don't want to be 'felt up' while going to their sister's wedding, or don't want poor grandma to have to strip to her dirty diaper in an airport.

Spit in your eye for your treatment of this woman. This is unacceptable, and the public is about to let you know that.

Trina L. Grant

ANGRY CITIZEN

Policing Egypt's Culture Clash

2011-02-04T14:16:00.001-06:00

Part I: Burning the Bridge Over the Generation Gap

It's a New Generation Come to Call

The Muslim world is facing a historically noteworthy political upheaval with the likely removal of Egypt's autocratic ruler, Hosni Mubarak, a non-religious Muslim who has reigned supreme for the last thirty some-odd years. The student-led rebellion currently broiling against Mubarak's unchallenged rule over the Egyptian people is going into its second week, as the rest of the world watches with bated breath for every new development. The situation has garnered the label "student-led" because it is was originated mostly by a majority of thirty-somethings and younger, who constitute more than half the total population of Egypt and are almost unanimously without work. They are educated, Westernized young people who are far more secularized than their predecessors. This is not a religious fight for them, rather a political one.

These particular protests are unique from those in the past. The young, educated protesters who started the original movement to remove Mubarak from power are primarily of the cyber-age. They have been exposed to technology and allowed to take advantage of it. One of the benefits of Mubarak's tenuous friendship with the United States has been a virtual free-flow of information making the younger Egyptian populace fluent in Western technology, lifestyle and of course, mentalities. The inevitable outcome of such an open-ended relationship is the exchange of ideas. This has resulted in the Egyptians having exposure to more than just name-brand jeans. The sheer volume of cell phone video that was able to make it to YouTube after Mubarak's orders for a complete Internet blackout was testament to the widespread desire amongst the young Egyptians to be able to exercise their God-given free will.

Cyber-Bullying, Mubarak Style

The use of cell phones to keep the rest of the world up-to-date on what was happening in Egypt is also a tribute to the much over-looked aspect of the origination of the riots: multi-media access. Young Egyptians were turning on their laptops and cell phones and tuning in to Facebook to spread the word about the plans for peaceful protests to show their unhappiness with Mubarak's government. His ill-advised, knee-jerk decision to take all Internet access away from from the people drew stern criticism from all corners of the free world, most especially United States President Barack Obama, who emphasized the Western opinion that Internet access should be as much a right as being able to read.

Even such sharp criticism paled in comparison to the violent reactions by the protesters, now ranging in age from mere toddlers to the geriatric and crippled. Young and old alike turned out en masse to express their sincere rage at the eventual total media blackout that included all cell phone, radio and television coverage. A primarily peaceful protest quickly turned into a hellish din as the local authorities began to venture out in armored vehicles and full riot gear.

A Virtual War Zone

The very sight of police and government authorities seemed to enrage the protesters even further. Suddenly they produced burning tires as if to provide a supplemental light source to the rapidly waining day. The populace saw police interference as just another method of quelling the rising call for democracy. To the utter shock and no little amount of discomfort, the rest of the world watched anxiously as the conflict in Egypt continued for days, escalating in intensity as spokespeople for the uprising volleyed back and forth with Mubarak's people. After sending his family to London for safekeeping, Mubarek appeared to be hunkering down and preparing for a fight to the death, declaring his intent to, "die on Egyptian soil", even as he sent his military to the streets of Cairo in tanks.

As the situation stands looking into a third week of demonstrations, it appears the young protesters are not ready to give up, nor is Mubarek. Mubarek was rumored to have sent his own anti-protesters into the crowds on horses and camels, carrying whips and swords. This decisive action added fuel to an already flammable situation, sending the protesters into a collective rage, and causing further bloodshed and chaos. Today however, the situation seems to have calmed down somewhat, with the protesters marching along in orderly crowds, apparently appeased by the lack of Mubarek supporters in their midst.

A Vision of the Future

What does all this hold for the future of Egypt and the rest of the Middle East? That remains to be seen, as this historical power struggle plays out on the world stage. One of the more imperative questions is whether or not the United States will become involved. The widely broadcast knowledge of the United States' nearly thirty years of support for Mubarek and his regime has not gone unnoticed, both in the West and in the Muslim world. Most of the protesters and demonstrators are just old enough to have lived under Mubarak's rule their whole lives, and they are quite aware, thanks mostly to Mubarek himself, that the United States has been indirectly responsible for Mubarak's being able to continue to rule with such an iron fist.

In the main square in Cairo, Egypt's capital city, the students have gathered in huge numbers to demand the immediate removal of Mubarek from power. Having come to an apparent impasse, will the anti-Mubarek faction call for the United States to help instill democracy, or will they turn on the United States for supporting Mubarek all these years? Would US military interference even be welcomed by the Egyptian populace? The next few days could very well be a historical turning point for already shaky alliances all over the world.

Do you feel the United States should get involved in the situation in Egypt, especially regarding their support of Mubarak the last thirty years? Do you have friends or family involved in the conflict, or personal knowledge of the uprising?

Be on the lookout for Part II: The Role of the United States, soon!

Milquetoast Crumbles, Pelosi Fires Back: Gibbs Claims Premature Dem Defeat in Congress

2010-07-14T11:48:00.000-05:00

Robert Gibbs, Whitehouse spokesperson, admitted Tuesday he believes the Democrats have lost the majority in Congress. A seething Nancy Pelosi fired back upon learning of Gibbs' remarks, which were uttered long before the results from the polls were tallied after the Congressional election for the year 2010. What is very surprising about all this to me is the way Robert Gibbs has spent the last two years staunchly defending his personal saviour, the almighty Obama. It is that much harder, then, to believe he is so easily giving in to the inevitable tide of Republicans which will almost surely be surging into the capitol in 2011. Concession has not been one of Robert Gibbs' strong suits, and as such it makes you wonder why this White House is so ready to admit defeat. Should we prepare ourselves for an administration that goes out with as lackluster an exit as to match the fanfare with which it entered?

Still Thinking About the Victims

2009-09-11T09:29:00.000-05:00

Wow, what a day, right? Today is a day that dregs up emotions in myself no other day can. I lost my dad when I was 13. His birthday and the anniversary of his death do not affect me in the same way as September 11. Of course, Fox News and every other channel on television are not playing twenty-four hour coverage of those days. I cannot say I understand people who are not affected by this day. This is a day when my heart is heavy.

This morning, when I took my girls to school, I cranked up the car and flipped on the radio. Our favorite morning radio show hostess, Amy Pollard (Great American Road Trip) said one word, "Well", and the tone in her voice suddenly brought my sleepy mind to alertness. I happened to look down and realized I was wearing my beat-up old Tasmanian Devil t-shirt I permanently borrowed from my girlfriend Brooke. I was wearing this favorite old t-shirt eight years ago, when I held my then one-year-old daughter on my left hip, with my cell phone in my right hand. I was breathing very quickly, and as I sank to my knees, I asked my now ex-husband what was going on. He told me World War III had started, to pack a bag, take the baby and go to my mother's house.

I am such a sap. I know I will be emotional all day. You know, people lose parents and grandparents and even children. We see pictures of people who were shot, and images of war and all kinds of horrible things that slowly build a wall of cynicism in our hearts. After a while, horrific things stop being quite so horrific. It is then that we are able to close ourselves off to the pain and misery of September 11, 2001. I wish I could make some people feel as deeply as I do when I think to myself, "That person is dead. They are not alive. They cannot hug that little girl. They cannot call their mother on the phone. They don't breathe, or laugh, or cry." Some of those people suffered unimaginable, un-Godly agony as they lay in those buildings just waiting to die, while others screamed and moaned around them, and black smoke and gases filled their mouths and lungs and burned their eyes. Some people lay there for days, able to hear the voices of their would-be rescuers, who simply could not move rubble out of the way to get to the hopeless, doomed victims without causing even more catastrophe.

Can you imagine lying beneath a pile of rubble and skyscraper, the lower half of your body crushed beyond repair, which you already know, not able to have water, with drywall and dirt and smoke and soot and any manner of disgusting debris in your eyes and nose and mouth? All the while, you can hear the voices of firefighters and people who want help you. Yet, you know, deep in your heart, you will never again see the sky, or your family or anyone else you love. Maybe a stranger's hand reaches through a crevice and someone tells you, "I will not leave you." And it is the hand of the last person you will ever touch or see or talk to. You tell them to tell your family how much you love them. You thank them for their help. You allow darkness to take over. This is how I imagine the last moments of some of the poor people who were crushed in the towers, or at the Pentagon.

Someone was on the phone with their broker. Someone was glancing at a picture of his granddaughter as he took a sip of his soda and went on to the next line of his report. A woman was grabbing a paper towel to dry her hands in the ladies' room. A couple of people were pouring cups of coffee and talking about whether or not Michael Jordan would be retiring from the NBA. For others I imagine just enough time to be confused and then realize death was immediately imminent as they were swallowed by a ball of fire. Some of them were swallowed by a monster of flame and smoke that completely obliterated their physical bodies before they knew anything. They may have had time to register heat on the side of their head and face before they ceased to exist.

I realize the vivid images I have painted seem awful. And, indeed they are. I want people to think awful. I want people to remember how awful it was. I don't want people to forget it happened once and could happened again. I don't want people to abuse the truth or try to disguise the magnitude of what happened that day, or how it changed our country, our world, our lives. Think of the pile of bodies there would have been if all those people had just been killed and piled up. Thousands of human lives. Thousands of innocent people who kissed wives, and touched a child's curl at her temple once more before leaving her at daycare. Most of the interviews I have seen have been with sisters of pilots and wives of passengers. One group I have never heard much from is the parents and families of the children at the daycare which was in one of the World Trade Center towers. To have lost a grown family member in the tragedy is bad enough. To imagine those sweet, chubby, rosy-cheeked, silken-haired babies dying in the same manner as all those office workers is both agonizingly heartbreaking and also enough to induce a feeling of hot rage.

I guess they are who I think of the most, the children. For myself, when I see politicians and government workers who want to show pictures of CIA operatives to confirmed, known Al-Queida members I am disgusted. I wish they would hold up a picture of one of those babies' bodies, if they were able to find any, and say, "Now, did this guy hold you under water for a few seconds longer than what made you comfortable after your friends did this to this innocent baby?" I want someone to shove a picture of any body from those horrific events in the face of that woman I keep seeing on Fox News who won't answer questions about why she is supporting and working for an investigation about "torture" of known terrorists, otherwise known as a "swirly" in American high schools.

I don't understand people who work against the welfare of this country. I don't understand what they are able to tell themselves at night when they lay their heads on their 100% Egyptian cotton 300-thread-count pillowcases after they have been telling the public they are doing positive things for the country. Somehow informing known terrorists we are quick to jump to their defense at the certain demise of loyal American patriots who performed an unimaginably distasteful duty to serve their country and keep it safe just doesn't strike me as doing positive work for our country.

September 11, 2001 was the November 8, 1963 of my generation. It was the day you remember what you were wearing, what you were doing, who you were with. I remember arriving at work that afternoon, looking up and seeing three little pieces of curling ribbon tied to my boss's car antenna; red, white and blue. I can see it clear as day. Those three little strings gave me hope, silly enough. Realizing that old curmudgeon who usually didn't show much emotion or awareness, really, was patriotic, and cared about his country, made my heart fraught with just that little bit less dread of the unknown future.

September 11 does not need to fade into American history in the way Pearl Harbor has. It doesn't need to turn into sanctimonious ceremonies with flower wreaths and emotional speeches and florid words of dramatic ardor. This day should forever be a reminder of what we have, how hard others worked to get it, and how we are going to have to continue to work hard to keep it. Whatever people cite as their reason for wishing to destroy someone else, it really comes down to want. The destroyed either has what the destroyer wants, took what the destroyer wants back, or wants what the destroyer has. With every fiber of my being I believe as long as the majority of Americans are Christian people and remember this country was founded for purpose of religious freedom, God will protect our country.

Where were you at the exact second you realized our country was under attack. What was your reaction? Do you think we are more safe eight years later? What is your opinion of the "9/11 Truthers" who feel President George W. Bush machinated the 9/11 attacks to instigate a conflict?

Carrie Prejean, You Have Been Seen & Heard, Now Sit Down & Shut Up

2009-09-01T11:34:00.001-05:00

Congratulations, Carrie Prejean. You have been seen and heard, so would you please sit down and shut up? Isn't there a clothing line somewhere this girl can attach herself to? I'm tired of her taking up space where real news could be. Whether or not you agree with Miss California's stance on homosexuality or not, you have to give her grudging props for keeping herself in the spotlight. Did she see the Miss USA crown was out of sight and decide to go for the shock factor to get the attention back on her? I don't know. I do know Perez Hilton (yuck, spit on ground) is the one who seems to have finally taken the high road, if for no other reason than he let it go. The lovely Miss Prejean is doing anything she can think of to keep herself in the public eye. When the hubbub from the pageant died down, the blond bombshell scrambled around, not biding her time on scraping up another fifteen minutes.

When The Donald didn't bite and get into a feud with this former un-known would-be starlet, she flounced off to start another spat. Can anyone else picture Miss Prejean in high school? There she is, coming down the hallway like a character in a movie, her hair swishing unbelievably over her shoulders, a herd of not-quite-as-pretty girls trailing behind as her social entourage, awestruck boys' heads turning in slow motion, as they stop conversations just to stare at the beauty queen and bask in her aura of perfection. Then when she realizes everyone turns back to what they were doing after she passes, she fakes a fall and starts to cry. Then her parents sue the school for allowing someone to lay a minuscule piece of debris on the floor, just so she, the persecuted Carried Prejean, would have some of her awesomeness scraped off. Oh please. This girl needs to get some kind of commercial going, and find a doormat of a man to marry who will put up with her drama and attention-seeking. She wrote a book, so when she reaches her sales cap with the four thousand people who also bought the Princess Diana expose, she can just move on to another little project. She appears to be slightly more intelligent than her counterparts, so I'm sure she will have no problem finding some cheesy manager who can keep her set up with car shows. Before you know it, she will have a talk show where she can discuss with her loyal viewers her innate fear of dolphins, gerr-fren.

Just as a little sidenote to this complete waste of my time, I think Miss Prejean messed up when she decided to use the Miss USA pageant to gain notoriety for any reason other than being Miss USA. Those pageant people don't seem to like scandal. They are one of the few entertainment sectors that do not appreciate the publicity they get from bad press. They like to keep things clean, and family-friendly. The little old ladies and working-class families who make up the small group of consumers who still watch the event do not want Playboy playtoys feuding with loud-mouthed gay boys. The fascination Western culture has with the feuds and drama of celebrities has been purposefully kept out of the professional pageant circuit. Pageant moms could not logically defend living vicariously through their daughters' lives if those same daughters were being primed to pose for gentlemen's magazines.

Ok, so here's my disclaimer. I'm not your typical frumpy beauty queen hater. I don't usually care about this stuff, I'm into politics and things that actually affect the lives of people who don't make a living looking like Barbie. I actually think the women are beautiful, and I'm happy for the people who get to use the pageant for bettering their lives in the way of college scholarships and such. But I don't hate Mylie Cyrus, or Brittany or any of those other silly girls who have no consequence on my life whatsoever until they raise the price of their little girls' line of jeans at Wal-Mart. I just wanted to declare that to give my diatribe some credibility and remove myself from the association with overweight people with bad skin who don't wash their hair or pluck their uni-brow and sit around hating people who care to bathe and go outside.

Anyway, until all this garbage surfaced I wasn't aware of the difference between the Miss USA pageant and the Miss America pageant. Apparently the difference is the Miss USA pageant is spelled U-S-A, and the Miss America pageant is spelled A-M-E-R-I-C-A. Like Miss Prejean herself said, it's a beauty pageant. Monopoly only pays you $10 if you win, remember? I'm sincerely fed up with watching this woman take up time when I could be finding out about health care of the war on terrorism. I think this is about all I have to say about it 'til I really get fed up and send Fox News a scathing letter requesting that they puh-leeze report on something besides Carrie Prejean, when quite frankly, I cannot imagine I am the only logically thinking person who just does not give a crap who she is suing or forgiving or loving, or lunching with or signing a book deal with or posing for. Yep, that's it.

Trina's Got Her Groove Back - or - Paul Revere Is Jumping Around and Screaming

2009-08-26T16:38:00.000-05:00

Ok, I realize there is a state of mind where you are not going to be moved, are not willing to change your thinking. I guess you could say that about me. Despite knowing most people reading this will snarl and call me a racist hick, I offer no apologies for my feelings and opinions. I pay attention, I watch other stuff besides Fox News, and I know what people like to say about conservatives, white Protestant Southerners, at that. So, I realize at the particular juncture of historical unrest, my opinion is not popular. But you know, I just have to say, there is some stuff going on that is really creepy.

Ok, I know Glenn Beck is a florid, shrieking bastion of bawdy patriotism. But you have to admit the guy has some pretty convincing evidence, if you get past the weeping sessions and costume changes. Don't get me wrong, I love the guy. I think he is hilarious sometimes. But he really says stuff that scares me, and when I say scared, I don't mean scared like "boogety-boogety-boo" , 'cause Glenn Beck said so, and it's sensational, and let's just roll with that for a moment. No, I mean scared like maybe they did what they intended to, which scares me, but he is always fair enough to tell his viewers to go check things out for themselves, which I do. I'm a born researcher and digger. My ex-brother-in-law used to say I could tell who was coming through the neighborhood by the sound of their car. I digress.

So, today Glenn had Rush on. See the thing about these two guys is, they say stuff that makes sense, at least to me. I don't think it is any more fair for someone from the "left" to dismiss the concerns and feelings of the other side, than it is for us to do it, which they say we do and they don't, and we say they do, and we don't. Sigh. The bottom line is this: I truly have this gut-feeling something bad is looming in the distance. See, when I listen to Glenn Beck and he rolls video of our new FCC "Diversity Czar" talking about Hugo Chavez (spit) and his "great revolution" down in Venezuela, I get nervous. You know, on another quick point, I have to agree with Glenn on the whole thing about calling those guys "czars". Aren't we Americans in the habit of calling our statesmen names that we either made up or came from, like, Latin, (not as in Latin American, either)? I don't like the word czar. It makes me think of, ahem, revolutions and blood on snowy streets and other horrors and crazy monks with weird eyes.

Americans have become too enamored with themselves. Not to say we need to go around apologizing for it, much less bending over in a foreign country. Notice I did not say "bowing". But, yeah, Americans have forgotten that we are one of the youngest nations in the world still, and we aren't completely invincible to being destroyed. It seems so implausible as to not be possible that America should ever fall? But what if it does? What if it does? What will we do? Oh man, I guess that was a bit on the hysterical side. Anyway, I realize there is a garishness to the way Glenn and Rush present themselves, certainly Glenn Beck more so. They are, however, the Paul Reveres of their time. Did those colonists just wave a dismissive hand and say, "Ach, he's crazy, I'm going back to bed. If they get me, I'll guess they'll be the one's paying for my return trip"? No. They got up and fought to keep their hard-won freedom.

When people publicly and ostentatiously represent their views that are in direct antipathy to those values upon which this country was founded, I have to ask why our president consorts with them and even gives them titled positions in his administration. We have tried calling our congressman. Didn't do any good. We got the pat form letter. I honestly don't know what else to do other than use the God-given skills that make my living. I also agree with Glenn that people who consider themselves true patriots have an obligation to ask questions and keep those who are in charge in check. Those town halls forums are great. I love to see those people getting excited. It's even more exciting to know the taunts and name calling from the liberals about the local "Tea Bag" parties were dismissed with less than a moment's thought, practically. I hardly ever hear that ridiculous term anymore. It really says a lot for our society when such a vulgar term was made popular from high schools to our top political circles. That's rather disappointing. "Tree-hugging, bleeding-heart, hippie liberal nut", my dad's term for people who protested meat packing plants and stuff, why, that's nowhere near as bad! But, hey that's where our society is going, right?

It is hard to see how things have started to shift, ever so slowly. But the rules have changed. As the right began to lose complete control of the country, eventually there was a time when everyone wanted everything to be "equal". No problem there. There was definitely a problem with the status quo for many a decade. But the winds have change have continue to blow and gotten stronger and now the burden is leaning on the right to adopt new value systems and conform to new standards, many of whom are not ready to do so.

What Kind of Craziness Are They Up to Now?

2009-08-18T11:02:00.001-05:00

The White House just can't seem to get it together. They have developed a reputation for "oopsies" and changing their minds and stances on issues on a moment's notice. Late last week Obama declared the possibility of dropping the public choice section of the health care reform bill. This weekend, Kathleen Sibelius, Director of Health and Human Services, made a television announcement asserting the public option is not an integral part of the bill. Citizens are getting one story and then the next. It would take a card counter's imagination to be able to keep up with all the contradicting reports coming from our nation's headquarters.

The latest scandal involves some mysterious e-mails purportedly sent uninvited to people who had not requested any information from the White House. I received the specific letter from David Axelrod which is the particular e-mail causing all the controversy. I, however, voluntarily signed up for e-mail alerts from the White House. I did that because I want to be able to keep tabs on what the federal government is telling its citizens. Keep your friends close, and all that...but anyway, all this ruckus is thanks in part to Major Garrett, chief White House correspondent for Fox News Channel. During a press conference with Robert Gibbs late last week, Garrett interjected some pointed questions regarding some e-mails Garrett was alleged to have received from friends, stating they had received the e-mails from the White House without instigation. Gibbs fumbled around in his usually bumbling fashion for several minutes, even going so far as to push aside other questions to "needle" Major Garrett. The incident has turned into a low-key feud, primarily fueled by the media on both sides of the aisle.

Questions still remain unanswered, however. Milquetoast, pardon me, I mean Robert Gibbs, was, as of last week, being very tight-lipped about the matter. As far as this blogger is concerned, the issue has not been resolved, and only continues to grow steam as it goes along. I am saying 'out loud' I believe the government is trying to take over the airwaves (check out the proposed tax on private radio stations), the newspapers (this has pretty much been accomplished) and with GE owning half the country, has managed to get a pretty good grip on a lot of television networks as well. If the White House wants to throw around the word "conspiracy", I'm sure there are plenty of folks around who could give them a run for their money in a debate on conspiracies any day. I don't think the President wants to start getting involved in a war of ideologies with what has primarily been considered a very dogged, tenacious fringe group of society. Yet it seems Mr. Obama is wanting to hint at something "sinister" afoot with the discovery of the mysterious e-mails.

This latest socio-political mess is yet another example of the bumbling, ineffectual mediocrity of character and skill currently in office. All those tired-looking people who run around like monkeys on crack when NBC news cameras are in their faces for another Brian Anderson special just don't really know what they are doing, do they? Every one of them smiles at the cameras and look so smug, yet, what is being produced from the current White House administration is the epitome of inefficiency, and is starting to look more like a case of delusions of grandeur enabled by the the majority of the Democratic party and a bunch of over-educated coat-tail riders who "organized" themselves right into lucrative federal jobs. (Just don't keep talking about those stupid e-mails those crazy right-wingers are going to try to paint as propaganda.) Don't forget those yummy hamburgers from time to time. Knuckle bumps all around.

Mr. Specter, You and Your Buddies Better Pay Attention

2009-08-11T09:06:00.000-05:00

As I write this, Arlen Specter is artfully answering questions from a group at a Town Hall meeting in Lebanon, Pennsylvania. There is no angry mob, a man is pointing out he was not paid to be there, and there appears to be about a dozen people there to support Mr. Specter's cause. He was just questioned by an active member of the Republican party who helped Specter get elected as to why he switched to the Democratic party without asking permission. I love it. Mr. Specter keeps trying to steer the questioning back to health care. I suppose he had his answers prepared for health care, presuming that was the main subject on most of the attendees' minds. There has been only one emotional outpouring from a woman who reiterated many citizens' feelings, beginning to get upset at one point. Not to dismiss the impassioned nature of any of the questions, for sure.

I like the wide range of question topics proposed by the people attending the meeting. They are talking about everything from the government acquisition of General Motors to whether or not Mr. Specter has read the Quran and is able to understand the need to keep Guantanamo Bay open. It has really kept things interesting. I have been Tweeting about it throughout the broadcast. I really have to give Mr. Specter due credit. He seems to know more about the bill than any other politician I have heard talk about it. This old guy did not stay alive in the shark tank of Washington, DC without being a tough old bird, I suppose. I have to say he appears to be listening, mostly, and he gives some good answers. Sometimes he is quite dismissive with some questions, but the "angry mob" isn't lynching him yet. They are having to keep switching out microphone so they can change the batteries.

I am watching American citizens act out the very essence of the American spirit. I don't think apple pie and baseball hold a candle to town hall meetings with government representatives when it comes to "Americana". It is impossible to imagine legal, safe meetings such as this happening in any country on earth. It is for this reason, besides many others, that I am so proud to be an American. I love this country, and respect it with a reverence trailing only my love of God, and my love of my family and mankind. I, being a crier, shed tears many times a week while partaking in my obsessive viewing of the news.

Mr. Specter was generally pretty respectful of his constituents. I believe this is because these people are not showing out, or screaming or acting like an "angry mob". I wish all the people who are expressing the feelings and concerns at these meetings would realize they only discredit their cause when they scream and shout. The wild posturing and shouting over the speakers is exactly what the 'other side' wants them to do, to dismantle their own credibility. If the questioners would remain calm and express their views in a controlled manner, it would be one less point for the pro-reform cause to be able to use against those opposed to the bill.

There are, as always, those who will use any opportunity to raise a ruckus about something, anything. Yet they do not know, or maybe just don't care, that they are doing a disfavor to those who are truly impassioned about the cause to save the freedoms for hard-working Americans. I think our representatives should remember they can tell themselves and the country anything they want to, but the truth is the truth. There are many, many people who do not want this health care reform bill to pass. There have been enough people now making their case for this bill to be scrapped completely that it should give pause to these men and women who will be looking to keep their jobs next year.

Billy Graham's Prayer for Our Nation

2009-08-05T16:34:00.000-05:00

Billy Graham's Prayer For Our Nation

THIS MAN SURE HAS A GOOD VIEW OF WHAT'S HAPPENING TO OUR COUNTRY!
'Heavenly Father, we come before you today to ask your forgiveness and to seek your direction and guidance. We know Your Word says, 'Woe to those who call evil good,' but that is exactly what we have done. We have lost our spiritual equilibrium and reversed our values. We have exploited the poor and called it the lottery. We have rewarded laziness and called it welfare.. We have killed our unborn and called it choice. We have shot abortionists and called it justifiable. We have neglected to discipline our children and called it building self esteem. We have abused power and called it politics... We have coveted our neighbor's possessions and called it ambition. We have polluted the air with profanity and pornography and called it freedom of expression. We have ridiculed the time-honored values of our forefathers and called it enlightenment. Search us, Oh God, and know our hearts today; cleanse us from every sin and Set us free. Amen!'

Commentator Paul Harvey aired this prayer on his radio program, 'The Rest of the Story,' before he died and received a larger response to this program than any other he has ever aired. With the Lord's help, may this prayer sweep over our nation and wholeheartedly become our desire so that we again can be called 'One nation under God...'Think about this: If you forward this prayer to everyone on your e-mail list, in less than 30 days it would be heard by the world. (It's worth a try!) One Nation Under God.

The Trials of Being First Lady

2009-08-05T10:41:00.000-05:00

First Lady Requires More Than Twenty Attendants

Recession, Depression, What, Michelle Worry?

July 7, 2009

Dr. Paul L. Williams

"In my own life, in my own small way, I have tried to give back to this country that has given me so much," she said. "See, that's why I left a job at a big law firm for a career in public service," [says] Michelle Obama.

No, Michele Obama does not get paid to serve as the First Lady and she doesn't perform any official duties. But this hasn't deterred her from hiring an unprecedented number of staffers to cater to her every whim and to satisfy her every request in the midst of the Great Recession. Just think Mary Lincoln was taken to task for purchasing china for the White House during the Civil War. And Mamie Eisenhower had to shell out the salary for her personal secretary.

How things have changed! If you're one of the tens of millions of Americans facing certain destitution, earning less than subsistence wages stocking the shelves at Wal-Mart or serving up McDonald cheeseburgers, prepare to scream and then come to realize that the benefit package for these servants of Miz Michelle are the same as members of the national security and defense departments and the bill for these assorted lackeys is paid by John Q. Public:

1. $172,2000 - Sher, Susan (Chief Of Staff)

2. $140,000 - Frye, Jocelyn C. (Deputy Assistant to the President and Director of Policy And Projects For The First Lady)

3. $113,000 - Rogers, Desiree G. (Special Assistant to the President and White House Social Secretary)

4. $102,000 - Johnston, Camille Y. (Special Assistant to the President and Director of Communications for the First Lady)

5. Winter, Melissa E. (Special Assistant to the President and Deputy Chief Of Staff to the First Lady)

6. $90,000 - Medina , David S. (Deputy Chief Of Staff to the First Lady)

7. $84,000 - Lelyveld, Catherine M. (Director and Press Secretary to the First Lady)

8. $75,000 - Starkey, Frances M. (Director of Scheduling and Advance for the First Lady)

9. $70,000 - Sanders, Trooper (Deputy Director of Policy and Projects for the First Lady)

10. $65,000 - Burnough, Erinn J. (Deputy Director and Deputy Social Secretary)

11. Reinstein, Joseph B. (Deputy Director and Deputy Social Secretary)

12. $62,000 - Goodman, Jennifer R. (Deputy Director of Scheduling and Events Coordinator For The First Lady)

13. $60,000 - Fitts, Alan O. (Deputy Director of Advance and Trip Director for the First Lady)

14. Lewis, Dana M. (Special Assistant and Personal Aide to the First Lady)

15. $52,500 - Mustaphi, Semonti M. (Associate Director and Deputy Press Secretary To The First Lady)

16. $50,000 - Jarvis, Kristen E. (Special Assistant for Scheduling and Traveling Aide To The First Lady)

17. $45,000 - Lechtenberg, Tyler A. (Associate Director of Correspondence For The First Lady)

18. Tubman, Samantha (Deputy Associate Director, Social Office)

19. $40,000 - Boswell, Joseph J. (Executive Assistant to the Chief Of Staff to the First Lady)

20. $36,000 - Armbruster, Sally M. (Staff Assistant to the Social Secretary)

21. Bookey, Natalie (Staff Assistant)

22. Jackson, Deilia A. (Deputy Associate Director of Correspondence for the First Lady)

There has never been anyone in the White House at any time who has created such an army of staffers whose sole duties are the facilitation of the First Lady's social life. One wonders why she needs so much help, at taxpayer expense, when even Hillary, only had three; Jackie Kennedy one; Laura Bush one; and prior to Mamie Eisenhower social help came from the President's own pocket.

Note: This does not include makeup artist Ingrid Grimes-Miles, 49, and "First Hairstylist" Johnny Wright, 31, both of whom travelled aboard Air Force One to Europe .

canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/12652

Those Stupid Right-Wing Nuts

2009-08-04T15:16:00.000-05:00

Shake your head, go ahead and change channels. This is sort of a rant. I'll get right to it: I keep hearing proponents of Obama's health care bill trying to systematically dismantle any argument from the other side. Some of the typical rhetoric is: the protests and outrage in town hall meetings is not a real example of American sentiment, that right-wing nuts are just trying to place hurdles in the way of proactive health care reform just for the hell of it, that the people screaming and chanting in town halls are not causing productive discourse, and my personal favorite, that these crazy right-wing nuts who do not represent the popular majority in America are robotically following the rhetoric of the other right-wing nuts who lead them around by their collective noses.

I don't know if anyone else is tired of subtly being called stupid, but I sure am. I am a vocal opponent of this SOCIALIZED medicine and I'm not being lead around blindly by anyone. I am researching and learning and gleaning important information and making decisions for myself. I want to address the points from 'the other side' I hear of the most. First, I resent the notion that I cannot think for myself, and that I am too stupid to understand what I need for my own welfare. I am perfectly capable of making decisions about my own health care and that of my family. Yes, yes, I know the "pro-Os" tout the proposed health care system will allow people to keep their insurance and continue to choose their own path with their medical care. Yada, yada, yada...I simply don't believe it. I am not being bullish and obstinate and refusing to even consider the other side. I have researched and read and discovered plenty, and what I have found leads me to decide I don't agree with this proposed plan and I do not believe it is the best way to provide good health care for Americans. Quite frankly, I don't think the government is obliged to provide health care for people just by virtue of the fact they are alive. This whole thing is just going to add fuel to the notion of dependency on the government.

Secondly, 'pro-Os' are currently espousing a supposed belief that all the people we are seeing on videos and news reports who are showing a sincere anger and disillusionment are not representative of most of America. I do not believe that either. I am hearing the same things right here in my own area. I go into gas stations and hear people talking about this. It is an insult to the intelligence and tenacity of Americans to say these people do not have a valid argument. When I see normal-looking (ie, hair is cut, appear to be clean, no peace-signs or tie-dye) people marching down their city streets carrying signs and demanding JUST TO BE LISTENED TO, I know I am seeing a cross-section of our country.

And then, to suggest fiscal conservatives are just trying to place needless hurdles in the path of the saving grace of the American health care system is just ludicrous. It is hard to picture your average factory-worker with three kids and a mortgage sitting around trying to figure out neat little tricks to suggest to his congressman regarding how to stump those darn tree-hugging liberals. Please. We're drowning out here! HELLO! We are drowning and we are looking for life rafts and they are throwing us cinder blocks labeled 'life preserver'.

Trust me when I tell you Americans are waking up. I wasn't sure there for a while. I used to watch the news and shake my head and tell my husband, "The whole country has turned into a bunch of apathetic couch potatoes. They would walk into slavery open-eyed as long as their masters were willing to feed and house them and provide some type of brain-killing entertainment." I'm thinking now I may have assumed too quickly. I am seeing things on TV that warm my heart and strengthen my resolve. It is time for Americans to take back the rights bestowed upon us by the men and women who had very different ideas for the direction of this nation than where it is currently going.

Finally, I resent squeaky-voiced mouth-pieces trying to talk over the bubbly Cavuto to say that those people raising all kinds of heck in town hall meetings aren't being productive by yelling and screaming and chanting. Ok, so I ask anyone who would care to answer: What would be more productive? We called our state representatives...didn't do a bit of good. I have typed until my fingers are ready to come off, and we have talked to people about it until I'm sure those who simply don't care really are tired of hearing it. If I fall into the category of 'right-wing nut' I officially don't care. What I do care about is the research I have done that shows the unbelievable wait times for health care in other countries with SOCIALIZED medicine. I have already had a brush with cancer. My dad died from cancer, so did his brother. I'm just biding my time. What do I do if I'm told I have to wait an interminable time to treat a possibly terminal illness? Now days I'm able to get the health care I need because I have insurance. But guess what? When I didn't have insurance, I didn't expect anyone to provide it for me. I took into consideration the fact that I had made the life choices that had gotten me to the place where I was unable to afford health insurance and I waited until I could afford some, and prayed I didn't get sick. But, I did not expect anyone to provide something for me I could have provided for myself if I had only made better choices in life.

This all comes back to accountability. When the government takes care of the needs of the people down to the tiniest detail, where is the drive to do for oneself? Where is the reason to strive for more? It is just this type of situation that leads into a downhill slide to complete dependency on the government. I absolutely do not want that for my life, and cannot imagine why anyone else would want it either. I am not saying there should be no help for the disadvantaged at all, but it should be more carefully dispensed, not just given to everyone who has a backache or asthma. Yessss, I'm sure you do know where I'm going with that. Another post, another day.

So, I've pretty much had my say, for now. I will not shut up. I may not have a voice. It is entirely possible that not one person will ever read this post, or any other writing I have done in defense of my position on health care reform. But, I will continue to try. I firmly believe part of the accountability I refer to is to use your God-given talents and skills to promote the greater good. Since I am a writer, I'm going to write. I am going to try to make people see that depending on the government, or even relying on it, for that matter, is not the answer to life's problems. The government is not there to take care of each and every need of the people. Part of the pleasure of living is making your way in life, and knowing you did it. What's the point of living at all if you are merely born to eat, sleep, and die?

Congresswoman Lynn Merriweather Reveals Our Nation's Biggest Problem: BOTCHED PLASTIC SURGERIES

2009-07-30T12:37:00.000-05:00

Congresswoman Says Botched Plastic Surgery Most Important Issue Facing U.S."

Healthcare Reform

2009-07-21T15:49:00.000-05:00

I am doing something I feel like I should have done a long time ago. I am taking a stand. I have had enough of our government "leaders" using the average American to further lavish lifestyles and grabs for power. I absolutely and with no ambiguity oppose the President's current healthcare reform bill. I have provided several resources below for those of you who do not care to pay another dollar into an already depleted economic infrastructure that has begun to draw its last dying breaths. If you agree with me that ENOUGH IS ENOUGH, and definitively oppose having to pay into and be subject to a government-run healthcare system, then please check out some of the information below and take some kind of action. At least become informed, so that you can honestly say you have some valuable opinions on the subject.

If you do not know what is going on in your country, you can be made to do ANYTHING, whether you want to believe it or not. At least get the facts, so that you can decide for yourself if you want to keep paying for other people to live. These are just a few of the innumerable resources that are out there. Again, I encourage everyone to find out about this. Whether you realize it or not, you are about to be subject to the same restrictions and limitations placed on Medicaid and Medicare, two of the most broken, ridiculously useless government-run programs in our nation's history. Please take the time to educate yourself. It's your money, and your health.

RESOURCES

Bluedog Democrats - these are the guys on the Democratic side that will throw the vote over healthcare reform one way or another. Remember that there's an election year coming up, and those are sometimes the magical words for men who are themselves used to getting what they want. This list includes the list of each moderate Democrat from each state, as well as their phone and fax numbers, and if available, their Twitter and Facebook addresses. Bobby Bright would probably apply for most of the recipients of this letter. For the rest of you, please check it out and see if your guy is on there.

HealthReform.gov - this is the federal government's official site detailing the facts of the bill, as much as the civilian public is allowed to know, anyway.

Health and Human Services (HHS) Report on Healthcare Reform - this is the official word from the Department of Health and Human Services (directed by Kathleen Sebelius) on the quality of healthcare in America. The report consists of two subreports, National Healthcare Quality Report (NHQR) and the National Healthcare Disparities Report (NHDR)1. The NHQR reports on the quality of healthcare received, by standards of care, timeliness of treatment, etc. The NHDR reports on the disparity of healthcare across the nation, meaning the quality of care for various demographics, such as race, ethnicity and other factors such as children and the elderly.

Alabama Overall Healthcare Quality Report - it looks really bad, basically, but you can go see for yourself

Georgia Overall Healthcare Quality Report - Georgia actually looks worse than Alabama, with its overall state healthcare being firmly in the weak range

The White House Forum on Healthcare Reform - this is the official transcript of everything the government thought we needed to know about all their meetings over healthcare reform

Income Tax Surtax Should Not Fund Government Health Care Expansion - this is an easily understandable article from The Heritage Foundation with some interesting facts about the proposed income tax surtaxes for the top twenty percent of the income earners in the country. For those who are all for "taxing the rich, to give to the poor", just remember that what goes around comes around. After the fed begins to tax the "rich", the rich aren't going to have pity on us when it's our turn. Keep that in mind.

Please realize this is a timely matter. The President has written this bill that contains legislature related to federally-funded abortions and other murky subjects. The bill is over 1,000 pages long, and the people who have to vote on it have very little time to sit down and go over it. It's time we started standing up for ourselves. I'm not going to sit quietly by and become a slave to any government. While my words may sound controversial and even militaristic, I am simply asking people to find out what is going to be happening to them and what the government is going to do.

Quit Picking on My Jesus

2009-06-26T10:23:00.000-05:00

With all the hubbub over the latest politician's infidelity to his wife, children and constituents, the story of Mark Sanford still follows the footsteps of many of his peers and comrades. I personally left a scathing comment on Salon.com, in response to a story that touted Sanford as "human" and "real". (Please be advised by "scathing" I mean angry...forgot to [**] "the v-word"). However, the thing I am seeing the most in commentary on various stories about Sanford is blame laid at the foot of all Christians and "Bible-thumpers". How come when a well-known person falls or does something bad, if he has been a church-goer or has presented himself as a Christian, it suddenly becomes a matter of Christian hypocrisy? Yes, I realize those of us who represent followers of Christ are, indeed, held to a higher standard. Yet, when it came to light that Bill Clinton was the skirt-chaser of the ages (Ted Kennedy's protege?), no Democrats or liberals or left-leaning people started talking about his being a Democrat. Bill Clinton went to church. No, he didn't define himself by Christianity, but he still went to church. Doesn't that make him a hypocrite? Why does everybody come down on God? How come when non-Christians do something wrong, no one picks out a certain aspect of their life and blames that for their hypocrisy?

We are all hypocrites in some way. What about liberal thinkers who honestly, truly believe that every person who lives below the Mason-Dixon line and says the word "ain't" and goes to church is an uneducated idiot who doesn't deserve the respect given to criminals? What is it about us Christians? Sure there are lots of people who tout themselves as Christians who clearly don't live the Christian life. Of course there are also liberals who claim to love the common people yet live in big fine houses and make their living (a much larger, more expansive living than the people they represent) off the back-bending labor of the common man. Not every Christian is a hypocritical, bigoted redneck. Yep, I'm a redneck, I suppose, and not ashamed to say it. And I'm more than proud to say I'm a Christian. And I live every day of my life trying to show people that. Am I an exception? No. I'm one of many, many Christians in this world who truly love Jesus Christ, and want every single other person on the face of the planet to love Him as much as I do, and be with Him when they die. If that sounds over-simplified, so be it.

It is very simple, in essence. It is so easy to blame other people and their shortcomings on something you do not approve of, or are disdainful of. Yet, it seems to me no other group is as popularly derided by the mainstream of thought as Christianity. There are Christian people out there who genuinely want to see others know Christ, and His love for humanity. Yet, those people are usually quiet, gentle people who speak with their actions and not their words. It is so much easier to make news out of the horrific than the sacred. Sacred is not fun, it is not salacious or exciting. It doesn't make headlines. Yet, I truly believe, down to the marrow of my bones, that my Jesus is looking at this world and crying for His children. We are lost. We are hurting. And we are turning on each other and the One who would never leave us or deny us a chance to pour out our heart.

So, I'm going to let the jaded and cynical people keep doing their thing-dragging others down into the pit of misery they live in. In the meantime, I will continue to tell people of the Jesus I know, the Jesus who didn't let me down. My Jesus doesn't like it when Republican or Democratic politicians cheat on their families (note I said families, because that it just the way it is). My Jesus does not condone people using His name to get into the group they want to get into, or some kind of recognition. My Jesus is not happy about all this. Yet, does he fire back with nasty rebuttals and name-calling? No, He simply stands humbly by while human beings nail him to that cross, time and again. I truly believe the man who was Jesus Christ is now in Heaven with the one and only God of the ages, and they are both looking down with breaking hearts on this mess we have made for ourselves. I don't care if this sounds stupid, or ignorant. I'm entitled to my opinion and my love for Jesus, just like gay people are supposed to be able to love who they want, for example. I'm really tired of people picking on my Jesus. It makes me angry on His behalf. Not many people today deny that a man named Jesus of Nazareth willingly crawled up onto a wooden beam and lay there without fighting while he was nailed to it, with no TV cameras there to record it for the inevitable civil case that would follow.

Who else would do it? Whether you believe in the spiritual aspect of the Crucifixion or not, who else would be insane enough to do that? Those railroad spikes were not just a low-gauge piercing, meant to shock and repulse. Jesus' piercings killed him, and He wasn't making a fashion statement. He willingly suffered one of the most horrific, brutal deaths in recorded history so that when people finally do come to know Him, they will understand just how serious He was about "saving" everyone on earth.

He would never say this to anyone, because He is filled with unconditional love. As much as I try, I'm not there yet. So, I will say what Jesus never would: Until you crawl up on a cross for gazillions of people who don't even believe in you, and who, thousands of years later will still mock you and deride you, quit picking on my Jesus.

Money Meltdown Causing Evacuation of Wall Street

2009-04-13T10:24:00.000-05:00

Check out my latest article at Ground Report about the migration of top financial minds from Wall Street to Main Street:

Money Meltdown Causing Evacuation of Wall Street

Welcome to Planet Earth, Make Yourself at Home

2009-04-03T11:32:00.000-05:00

This writer is by no means a math genius, has never claimed to be. I did very poorly in math in school, math in college was a nightmare, and the only way I learned how to do math at all was working with money my entire adult life. I'm pretty sure two plus two still equals four, but you give me cash money and I'm a dream cashier or manager. Ok now that I am finished simultaneously giving myself a complex and tooting my own horn, I'll get right to the point. Three and one-half trillion dollars is a lot of money. Ok, I laugh and look around my empty office. Is that the understatement of the year? Maybe it would have more impact like this: $3,500,000,000. It's so much money it makes me feel stupid.

IDIOCRACY or LIES?

That being said, again, I will try to get back to my point. Like I said earlier, I understand math about as much as men. I may not know a lot about what I'm talking about, to be quite frank. I understand that the mind-boggling figures that we are being barraged with on a daily basis have served to desensitize us to the ever-unabashed spending spree that our government is on. This post is not to serve as a rant about whether or not we should have bailed this one out or that one, or who the fault belongs to in our current "financial crisis". Truly, readers, this is ridiculous.

Back to pointing out my lack of math skills, and understanding of global financial matters...but there is not actually that much money, is there? What kind of "debt" is three-and-a-half trillion dollars? We went from being surprised that we were starting to "talk in the billions" just last year, to being totally blase about this notion of trillions of dollars in deficit. Debt, deficit, maybe they aren't even the same thing. I don't know. That's how terribly confusing all this is. But, I just keep hearing the numbers racking up higher and higher, and all I can think to myself is, "Are they just putting off telling us, 'It's over', to prevent wide-spread panic?".

WE'RE STILL WAITING

Seriously, I mean, what is left? What kind of security is there to cling to? The FDIC is a joke. Money is a joke. Stocks are a joke. Retirement funds are a joke. They (as in, the government) keep telling the populace to, "Wait and see, it will get better." Well, a certain writer's ex-husband used to say the same thing when his paycheck never made it home intact. My mistake at the time was to believe him, and hold out for better days. Well, maybe I should have waited around for his grandmother to pass away and leave him the $11,000 that the bank lien on any future property took before he ever saw it. He still borrows money from his dad to pay the bills. And our government is going to keep "borrowing" from us and future generations.

FORCED PRIDE?

I swear, some days I just want to get online and scream at the monitor as I type in all caps about my discontent with the current state of the nation and world. But then I realize I would sound like the other billion or so ranters out there, and that no one would listen. So, I try the calm, reasonable route. I hope this didn't sound like a rant. Maybe it was. I'm just tired of this mess. I'm tired of hearing about it. I'm tired of watching rich men and women who are completely out of touch with how most of the nation lives stand in front of microphones and preach to us about how we should be proud to do this and that to save our country. It kind of defeats the purpose, if you're going for pride, to force someone to do something, and then expect them to be proud of it.

ADMITTING DEFEAT: I RANT

So, I'm asking. How has any of this helped anyone who ever reads this? How has all this governmental blah-blah made any one American's life better? Ok, yeah, this is a rant. I don't care. I don't if I'm not always eloquent. I don't care if I run off-course every now and again. I'm gonna say what I have to say, while it's still legal to say it. I'm not conspiracy theorist, so I'm not going to say, "It's coming." It's here. Welcome to Planet Earth. Just keep us full, let us keep our cable, and don't make us think too much, and the place is yours for the taking. Enjoy. Our parents and grandparents worked so hard to make it nice for you.

Don't Put a Band-Aid on the Roof If There's a Crack in the Foundation

2009-03-30T13:16:00.001-05:00

In all of the political hubbub over the economy and the war and all the other colossal events of our time, a crack is growing wider and wider at the foundation of our society that no one is paying attention to. Our school children are being cheated out of the educations they deserve because of lack of funding. After reading an article at Salon magazine by Glenn Greenwald, "Jim Webb's Courage vs the "pragmatism" excuse for politicians", I was inspired to add a few of points of my own.

Strange Sense of Priorities?

People fight it out all the way to the Supreme Court to ensure that children are informed of all of their options when it comes to contraception, and that they are not being forced to observe others paying homage to the deity of their choice. Yet, no one squawks when teachers across the country are having to spend money out of their own pocket for school supplies and items necessary for a proper learning environment, or ask the parents of their students for help. Parents are being asked to donate more school supplies, and to volunteer more of their time, and teachers are even selling advertisement space at the bottom of tests to make extra money for their classroom needs.

Active Advocate

I am certainly an (active) advocate of parents being completely involved in their children's educations. I do not begrudge the things I have to do to help my children have as fine an education as I am able to provide for them. As parents of three, my husband and I make it a requirement of our lives to do everything we can to guide our children and help them get the best education they possibly can. As a citizen of Alabama, with two children in small rural county schools, which have, by the way, suffered from budget cuts, it gets more difficult every year to buy all the supplies they need, and help the teachers with what they need, all the while knowing that there are other places in the country where children are getting a much better education. What is even more infuriating, is knowing that there are people who are so intense about prisoners rights, when we could halt this ending trail of tears to the penitentiaries, just by raising a fuss to the right people about the state of our education systems.

A Better Start Begats a Better Finish

My point is, while I do agree that people are going to prison over crimes that do not warrant the punishment they are given, as pointed out in the article (while child rapists walk after six months, incidentally), it must be said that if we started at the root of the problem, so to speak, we would heal not only the symptoms, but the cause. In other words, if we improved our school systems, and spent money on our children instead of our convicts, maybe we could catch some of these children who are doomed for a life of crime before they had a chance to enter the criminal environment, and give them a better chance than they might normally have had.

Inevibility

Prisons should be bad places that are scary and unpleasant, and they should be bad enough that the things that could happen to you there would be a deterrent for going. But, if people are educated, and taught to believe that there is a better way out there for them than an inevitable life of crime, then prison would not be an option in their minds. When an entire society of people, such as many of the impoverished here in the deep rural South, believe that there is no other way for them to live than what they have always known, then that is what they do. They follow in the footsteps of their older brothers and fathers, and they commit crimes and ride it out as long as it will take them, and then they go to prison and they learn how to do it smarter and better next time.

Sense & Sensibility

If we educate people to believe that it is quite possible that they can achieve what they want to go after, and that it should be something honest, and honorable and something worth striving for, then a life of crime will be something that is not desirable to them. Prisons should be cold, dank, austere, sad, lonely, harsh places, that no man in his right mind would want to go to. Schools should be bright, beautiful, joyful places where children are happy, and eager to learn, and grow, and come to be good, upstanding, educated people who want to make something of their lives. Now, you tell me: Where would you spend the money?

Leave for Semi-Vacation, Come Back Looking for a Change of Scenery

2009-03-12T17:51:00.000-05:00

Just a short little update...I have been out having a hysterectomy (fun!! by the way, you should try it), and I haven't been posting to any of my blogs. In fact, I have barely been online at all. Ahhh, the miserable life of the laptop-less. Anyway, I'm getting up and moving around again, so I will be trying to post more frequently again. And: BIG NEWS! I am changing the name. Maybe not so good an idea? I don't know. I'm going to try it and see. Even though I don't think the new name will be any less polarizing, maybe it will shine a little bit better light on me. It's just, I don't know, lately, every time I look at the name of the blog, I see in my minds eye: The Political Southern Woman...who can read and write. Hence, to put me a less of a demographical disadvantage, I'm toning the name down a bit. How's this: Modern Conservative Woman
Well, I hope you like it.

The not-so-good-an-idea part, well, that's something else. My only worry is finding all the places that I have linked to this blog, changing the link text. Any ideas?

Off-Shore Accounts Drying Up Like a Desert Haze

2009-02-19T13:29:00.000-06:00

The days of the robber barons stashing their blood money in secreted vaults in Switzerland are no more. After settling a suit filed by the Department of Justice alleging that the Swiss banking system had intentionally and willfully helped American account-holders escape paying taxes on their overseas investments and accounts. The punishment is harsh, some $780 million is expected to be paid by the Swiss government to the United States government as renumeration for the evasive tactics.

As of the writing of this article, account-holders all over the world were lining up in droves at various branches, only to be told they would not be able to get their money out as of yet. UBS has also agreed to stop allowing clients with undelcared accounts to use the bank's services. The names of all the account-holders of this type that the bank already had are in custody of the United States government.

What do we do when rich people start to scramble around and worry? Does that mean that it's finally ok to say that the sky is falling? What does it take to get people to take notice that even the rich people are about to be poor because this whole stinking bureaucratic mess has even gotten hold of the nest eggs of the rich and worry-free, and now, well, they're not quite so worry-free. As with all the signs of the times that are continuously and every day more ominously falling out of the sky and hitting us blue-collar folks on the heads, take it as a sign of the times when the mega-rich are about to become the mega-incarcerated, and rich guys are taking flying leaps out of moving airplanes to escape the feds, and people are being layed off from their jobs by the thousands a day.

If I had a show I guess I would be screaming at the cameras like a mad-woman, trying to make people realize that unless they plan to sit and around and take whatever is thrown at them by a liberal, socialist-leaning government, then they had better get up and start writing some emails and making some phone calls. Is this the way it goes now? Is this the policy-of-the-day?

WE BUY GAS FROM THESE PEOPLE...ENOUGH SAID - Girl gets a year in jail, 100 lashes for being gang-raped

2009-02-11T12:30:00.000-06:00

Saudi Gazette - Girl gets a year in jail, 100 lashes for BEING GANG RAPED

We buy gas from these people. Enough said.

Wake Up, America!!

2009-02-06T13:30:00.000-06:00

"Reasonable people adapt themselves to the world. Unreasonable people attempt to adapt the world to themselves. All progress, therefore, depends on unreasonable people."
-George Bernard Shaw

Hello AMERICAN PUBLIC!?!? Those guys in Washington are not listening to you grumble from your couch as you religiously watch the latest episode of "American Idle". You must get up off the couch and put the chips away, and call your representatives and anyone else who will pick up the phone and listen. And you must get away from MySpace for just a few minutes to seize the power of your rights. Letters, petitions, emails and phone calls are the order of the day. The guys who were supposed to be watching out for things up there for us obviously aren't doing their job, and it's time to clean house.

We are marching down the narrow, dreary road to Socialism. Our private commercial banks have been taken over by the government, who out of necessity, I suppose, have put a cap on the earning potential of the CEO of any company who received bailout funds. That is going to help. The American economy is like a stab victim who is hooked up to transfusions in each arm, yet the doctors have not stitched up the wound, and the blood is flowing out as fast as they are pumping it in.

Where are the sons and daughters of Rosie the Riveter? Where are the people who were raised on what was harvested from a victory garden? Where has America gone? Where are the heroes, who faces go in the history books because they finally came in and took it upon themselves to fix some mess that the overly-large government had gotten us into? I suppose that in a country where our first lady touts herself as never having been proud of being an American until the year 2008, and people cheer for her, you can't really expect much in the way of self-sufficiency and strength of character.

The time for grumbling and grousing and fussing about who the President is has come to an end. It is time for Americans, who fly their American flags on the front of their houses, and tie the little red, white and blue ribbons to their cars, to take a stand and quit sitting around waiting for someone else to do it. No one else is going to do it. Who is going to be the smart guy who finally calls an end to this madness?

This supposed "Stimulus Package", according to a press conference with the President from just last night, is now safely called a "Spending Package". It is ok to call it that because the President said so. The news starts rolling in today that, wonder of wonders, it appears that the people who ran the big banks into the ground and stole money the whole time might have presented a less-than-accurate figure of how much their companies are worth. It appears they stole more money by lying about how much they needed. Ahhh well. Just another stunt by rich people to get richer, right?

Ok, people, let's be blunt about a few things. Women cooked on the side of the road with mink stoles around their necks in 1933. Global warming? Can you say "dust bowl"? Does anybody remember (hearing about??) when we used our precious, God-given earth with such reckless abandon that it literally rebelled on us, right in the midst of the Depression, wreaking even worse catastrophic results for the Americans who were already destitute and starving? It can happen again. We as Americans think we are so smart. We think we are invincible. I bet the Romans were still thinking that while Nero was fiddling, huh?

A couple of points I have made before: Greece, the greatest empire up to its time, fell. Rome, the greatest empire up to its time, fell, and the ensuing period referred to as the "Dark Ages" nearly spelled the cataclysmic extinction of mankind. Yet, Western culture, America's in particular, has taught modern man that somebody, somewhere is smart enough, rich enough, powerful enough, charismatic enough, or just plain tough enough to keep us going indefinitely. The laws of probability are against us, and the odds keep stacking up every day.

The political messiah who promised big change is now losing the support of his own party, in light of the continuing economic absurdity. So, here is my attempt at making a stand. I challenge anyone who calls himself an American to stand with me, and take the time to use the power of citizenry to "make a change" that counts. It's going to take getting up in peoples' faces. It's going to take a show of strength from the common man. It is going to require that we cast aside the disgusting bog of apathy that has weighed this country down since the dawn of project housing (by the way, a heroic, honest man stood for something and lost his life so people could live off the hard work of others; he would be so proud, I'm sure). If no one does anything, the powers that be, whomever they may be, will continue to do whatever they want. Realize that the men in Armani suits being driven around in the long black cars, who make the rules but don't follow them, who say one thing and do another, and who set themselves on pedestals of their own making, do not really care if your kids eat. Their kids are warm and comfortable at Ivy League colleges, staring into a bright (maybe??) future in law or trading. They are not lying in their goose-down covered beds every night and going over in their heads, one by one, all the millions of kids who go without food or shelter or love in our once-wealthy country.

The fact is that we know for sure that, thanks to selfish, greedy, hell-bound pieces of doo-doo like Bernie Madoff and others like him, some of that money that is supposedly floating around on Wall Street really, truly, is not there. We are allowing the patients to run the asylum, folks. Don't say that it's not like we can do anything about it. This country was founded and made and kept and protected by men who took it upon themselves to become the fanatics, to start the fuss, to raise some cane about something. Any movement starts out small, with just the ideals of one or a few. Someone had to make it their cause to establish a country that allowed freedoms that are inherent to being alive and being human. When the people who are paid to work for the People are allowed to act like criminals, it is only a mere heartbeat away from the tyranny that we ran from in 1692.

Bye, Bye Blago

2009-01-30T00:09:00.000-06:00

Goodbye Rod Blagojevich, goodbye to his hair, goodbye to his foul-mouthed wife. The newly impeached former governor of Illinois was telling the truth about at least one thing when he said, and I'm paraphrasing here, that the business of impeachment is very serious business indeed, and that it should only be employed in the case where an elected official has done something terribly wrong. This man has been publicly emasculated by both the Illinois Senate and President Obama, who issued a press release decrying the shady ethics of the Illinois state leadership, and wishing the new governor, Pat Quinn, the former Lt. Governor under Blagojevich, much luck, and promising any help he might need.

Here's the opinion from a Conservative woman from Alabama, who has no ties to Illinois whatsoever: Thank the Lord that every once in a while, common sense and common decency take precedence over "politics as usual", and justice is served. Yes, he was nailed to the wall by some political enemy, and yes there are plenty of other unethical, criminal politicians all over this country. But it is refreshing to witness the very rare event of our political system operating as it should.

From the start of this mess, the pasty-faced choirboy with the million-dollar hair-do and a quick answer for everything has continuously denied that he did anything wrong. So many hard-working decent people in this country are being laid off from their jobs because of crooks like him, and he has the audacity to tenaciously cling to his position in a shameless display of vulgar disregard for protocol or common decency. The man ruined himself. Oh, and by "crooks like him" I mean all these selfish people who are suddenly jumping from planes after taking millions of dollars from people who trusted them. While I realize "Blago" may not have been directly involved with all the craziness happening on Wall Street (although I would not be surprised in the least to find out he was involved in a scheme such as the ones we've been hearing about, one after another, day by day, recently), it is still a group of people who have, in their own minds, been put on such a pedestal that their own personal happiness and comfort is more important than that of the people that they have made fortunes while supposedly taking care of them, in some degree or fashion.

Pretty much everything that is happening on a governmental or economic front is purely disgusting, and is sickening to watch the news these days, what with all these selfish men who have caused the DEATHS of pitiful people who lost all hope after losing their jobs, or their savings, and committed suicide, oftentimes taking their families and others with them. Please note, I am not taking up for what I consider the ultimate cowardice of those people, but I am laying plenty of blame at the feet of powerful, greedy people who have become rich and powerful by stepping on others, and shamelessly ruining peoples' lives just to benefit themselves. If this was eighteenth century Paris, these people would be hanging from light poles in the streets. Thank goodness for them that Madame Defarge and her fatalistic list of names isn't alive and well and walking the streets of our crumbling country.

I like the way Mike Huckabee put it tonight: just the fact that 59 senators can come from all parts of the country, men and women, of varying races and ethnicities, certainly different religions, could all come together and make a unanimous decision that delivered such justice is almost a miracle, again paraphrased. Huckabee also pointed out that the senators who were part of the impeachment process obviously did not take their obligation lightly, as many of them paused before giving their vote, in acknowledgement of just how serious the proceedings were. It was shameful and embarrassing for everyone there, and for anyone watching who had any shred of decency in them. It was, however, I'm somewhat sheepish to say, quite satisfying to see that vote counted.

Maybe, just maybe (I'm counting on some super faith, here) this will spell the beginning of some kind of show of unity and force of purpose in the Republican party (one of the lesser of the many evils about politics) that we have not seen in many years. Personally, I still find it a shame that they could not be more supportive of President Bush, but I digress, although nowhere near as badly as "Blago", in his nearly ninety-minute, oft-times rambling diatribe about the evils of the Illinois state government officials who are just out to get him for doing things like improving the rate of children with insurance in the state of Illinois. Those children would have been sad to hear, I'm sure, that their hero "Blago", was trying to sell lobbying votes to people for a senate seat. Boy oh boy.

Ah, well. As I said, maybe this will spell an era of peace, for five minutes or so, while we collect ourselves from this latest world-wide fallout of political greed at its finest, and prepare for the next onslaught from those who wish to have us bow down to them (the kings of industry and power). Yeek, that sounds so conspiratorial, but it's hard these days not to wonder where you find the good guys anymore. Where are they hiding, probably in fear they will be hunted down by the rabid mobs in Washington who search relentlessly for any dissenters who might show any signs of leaning to the conservative point of view.

Well, this southern gal thinks the economy is in the tank, the bartering system is probably about to become really popular again, and I'm going to be planting a garden this spring. One we can eat. Seriously. If I wasn't afraid my neighbors would get mad, I think I could convince my husband to get us some chickens. I'm sure he could be convinced to handle that and let me take the garden duty. Sure. So, while Bernie languishes in his Park Avenue "prison", and Nancy tries to prevent everybody from catching STDs, and our new Secretary of the Treasury gets together some change from the couch to pay his waaaayyyy overdue taxes, we regular Americans can sit around and wonder if we will go to work to find it closed tomorrow, or if there will be any money to pay anyone to run the power company one more day.

Cultural Bankruptcy

2009-01-17T19:00:00.001-06:00

Those silly terrorists. They just thought that bringing down two of our World Trade Centers towers would cripple, or even destroy, our economy. What careful, deliberate planning by men with apparent limitless stores of money, arms, and misery could not do, the American people have done to themselves. The average American scratches his head in bewilderment everyday, thinking, "How did this happen? What am I going to do?". It seems that no one stops to realize that the flagrant spending habits of us "crude Yanks" have driven us into cultural bankruptcy.

This whole economy thing isn't just about money. It is about people, from every walk of life, constantly wanting more, more, more, and never being satisfied, never getting their fill. How did we, who came to this country in the imaginations and dreams of our Puritan forefathers, turn such a noble and blessed undertaking as the binding together of the states once so united, into something to be scoffed at, something to be mocked and criticized, reviled and vilified? We are steadily becoming the laughing-stock of the world. It is because we disregard the traditional principles and values of the past, calling them "ignorant" and "prejudiced", only to turn the world on its ear and say everything that used to be "bad" was now "good", and vice versa. The meltdown of our culture and society, which is gaining speed right before our very eyes, was brought upon us by our own doing, by our own selfish, wasteful greedy habits. We became a dog-eat-dog society.

This is a sad state to find ourselves in, as we were once the most impressive culture in history to date! Did it end when our leaders began to behave shamefully, in full view, and then lie and say they didn't, then re-invent meanings of words, and long-standing statutes, and then admit they did it, but then not get in trouble? Or did it begin when the majority populace began to use the power of numbers to accomplish evil, such as in the case of riots? Where are the people who will take the lead and put a stop to the rising level of "idiocracy"? By the way, if you haven't seen the movie by the same name, you should...if you don't mind a little adult thematics...it's a truly disturbing glimpse of the future with some vulgar humor, that is actually befitting the time and situation. Back to my point. People can continue to fool themselves into thinking that they can just keep shoveling all the money in their own pockets, but what happens when one player winds up with all of it? The game is over...the money no longer has any value.

So, what if it is over? What if, to prevent the inevitable wide-spread panic, nothing is being said, just putting it off as long as possible? What is there to back up all the dollars in the three trillion dollar deficit? What is there to back up that eight-hundred-fifty billion dollar bailout plan, which seems to have gotten lost and taken the directions with it? If there is nothing to back it up, what makes it worth anything? Is it just a points' system now, points that can just be handed out, on a whim, like gold stars to first-graders?

Ach, well....what can you do, right? Sit back and watch the fall-out, one would suppose. What happens to the rest of us? The little guy down here? What happens to all those 401(k)s that people nearing retirement have contributed to for their entire working lives, and have now lost everything thanks to the aforementioned greedy, selfish people, who call themselves "men", and who have sold the homes they built with their own hands to be able to eat? It is shameful, it is widespread and it is being done over and over again in the greatest nation on earth. Apparently, it's only getting bigger. The big guys sit back in their chairs with their legs crossed over their knees and their hands over their bellies, looking as if freshly fed at a state dinner, and congratulate themselves on getting through this last few days. But, what is working? Where are the results?

Plenty of Fuel for the Fire

2009-01-16T15:04:00.000-06:00

Having been on hiatus since November (due to the fact that the economy hits hard everywhere, I had to go do more stuff that actually made money), I've had plenty of time to accrue plenty of fodder for the political opinion mill. Frankly though I don't know where to start. The current state of our country and our culture leaves me with visions of a child's messy bedroom: you just see crap lying everywhere, and you don't even know where to begin to try to fix the mess. Clearly, telling the person who made the mess to clean it up is fruitless, and it's more frustrating pointing out each and every item, so you just want to do it yourself. So, thus begins my series on things that are going on in our world and in our country that drive me nuts.

The economy comes to mind first, I guess. Being the uneducated person that I am, the specifics of how it all happened, and how to clean it up, boggle my mind. The grand scheme (every pun intended) seems so simple to me, though. Basically, our economy is in the shape that it's in due to the return to the age of the "Robber Baron", and people who have lots of money wanting more and never getting their fill. Make no mistake, I'm no tree-hugging liberal, by any means. I believe that the "DNA lottery" (thanks for that one, Mr. Buffett) is just the way it is. Socialism won't work. There are always going to be poor people, and rich people, people who won't work, and people who will. I do not begrudge anyone the money they own from their own labor. I do not believe in "spreading the wealth". I have lived in the lower-middle class social strata all my life, and I realize if I want to go higher I will have to work for it. I don't mind that. I don't blame anyone for my station in life. It's just the way it is.

So when I hear that there are people who have taken the hard-earn money of people less fortunate, in some cases, than they, and literally just stuffed that money in their pockets, and that these men are being terminated from their positions (sometimes!), albeit with huge, fat severance payments (again, money belonging to someone else!) and allowed to roam free, I feel a bit miffed. Ok, shall I repeat everything I just wrote? Read it again, then. Ok, are you seeing it now? That's right, my thoughts exactly. Where is the logic in any the latter? Let's reward thieves who manage to pull it off on such a large scale? I literally still sit and shake my head at the attitude of the American people towards the constant onslaught of more ludicrous promises from the government to "bail out" these very people. When did we become such complacent couch potatoes that we will accept any conditions, as long as our basic needs are met?

Throughout our country's short history, Americans have been notorious the world over for their tenacity through hardship, war, devastating weather, and violent changing social climates. Each of these categories of events are so vastly different from each other, yet in some respects they are the same. They are all events that, whether for the good or bad, affected our country and our culture tremendously. When did it become taboo to cling to that American spirt that literally made the country? Could we beat the British today, and establish a new homeland? Well, we have the military, thank God for them doing most of the heavy work. Where oh where, is Rosie the Riveter, and Rosa Parks, and Franklin Roosevelt? Where are the people who stood for a cause, and it was a cause worth standing for, requiring no screaming and waving of arms and calling of names? So you either don't care, or you care about your own agenda, right? And everybody is out to get everybody, and suddenly we have a dog-eat-dog society. The couch potatoes are going to be eaten first, I suppose.

It seems like the traditional version of "the right thing" is now the "new bad". If you stand for traditional values, you are labeled outdated and prejudiced. What on earth, I ask is wrong with the "antiquated" notion that people should work for a living? Who came up with the idea that everyone should just quit getting married and save themselves the trouble 'cause it probably won't last anyway? It is downturn of concern for the state of humanity as a whole that leads to economic meltdown on such a wide scale. It is the apathy for which our culture is quickly becoming notorious that we lie down and allow those who would destroy us take control without a fight.

These seem, to my humble mind, to be very simple, basic truths. Yet these giants of power and privilege, that hold the bulk of our economic welfare in their bonds and mutual funds and mega-skyscrapers, these men who graduated with high honors from the finest, most prestigious institutions of learning on earth, seem to be nary able to grasp such a concept. Greed does not work. It is only for the short-term, even for the greedy person who would benefit so short a time as to make such efforts on behalf of just behaving badly (for what other reason would one person need billions of dollars, at hand?) seem not worthy of one's time. Yet time and again, and as of late, to the largest degree ever, these men are being caught, one after another, for having their hand in the cookie jar. Except they are like, the greediest, chubbiest kids ever, and they are taking all the cookies and leaving the jar teetering on the edge of the counter, without a thought or care as to what happens if it falls.

How are these scions of industry, trade, and wealth so short-sighted? What happened to men with the ilk of Jefferson and Adams, exchanging letters that, by their own telling, showed visionaries who literally spent the bulk of their time planning for some far off future that no direct descendant might ever see? Have we become such a disposable society that large numbers of people abandon the very notion of logical thought, and plan only near into the future as to satisfy each and every whim as it comes to mind? By the way, just as I'm writing this I'm flipping through the channels and find this fabulous show about how popular theory would have us believe that the founding fathers of our young country were mostly atheists and other non-Christians. The fact is, according to the host, is that 95% of the signers of the Declaration of Independence were orthodox Christians. For whatever reason, the populace has come to believe that the four or five few men whose names instantly ring a bell with anyone over six years old are the main people who help found our nation. Many of the early presidents enacted programs to spread Christianity, using federal dollars. The program is very interesting as it sheds light on another, less popular, less known point of view regarding our nation.

What I'm taking the very long way to say is, people have left behind traditional values and morals and thus we have the economic and cultural meltdown we are facing today. Things are getting worse, not better. Theft on such a large scale was literally unheard of. So, here we have this economy that is growing worse by the minute, and these men who just keep raking in the money, hand over fist. What happens when they have it all? Then what's it worth?

Our economic futures are surely in dire straits, and headed for worse, unless someone wakes up and realizes the only way to save money is not to spend it. And frankly, those selfish people who languished in the Caymans while their former investors, some in retirement years, were selling their houses just to be able to eat. Selfish does not begin to describe. Frugality, I would assume, is a completely obsolete notion at this point. People who must have new cars every year, and who must buy each of their three children the newest, most expensive games system ever to celebrate the birthday of Jesus Christ, these people are the sheep who listen to what every corporate executive deems is appropriate to attempt to entice someone to buy this one and not that one. There's where your economy went...through the Wii, out the electrical box, and into some fat cat's already bulging wallet. So, here's my opinion on the economy: It's over. The government just won't tell us because it would cause widespread panic.

BAILed-OUT EXECS STILL RECEIVING BONUSES BY THE BILLIONS

2008-11-12T15:08:00.000-06:00

The link below takes you to a story on FoxNews.com about a $40,000 ad campaign in Washington, DC (isn't that telling?) that is encouraging Americans that it is not necessary to believe in God in order to celebrate Christmas, further, to be a "good person". I realize some of you may not care about any of this, but I am flabbergasted. Secular humanism aside, I am flat-out calling this an evil thing. This is crazy. I wish that Christians would get enough gumption to do things to counteract stuff like this. If you will notice in the story, 92% of Americans consider themselves "Christian". How many of those "Christians" are TOTALLY offended by this? Further, how many would be willing to speak up? I don't suppose there really is anything that anyone can do about something like this, but I just had to send this to the people I know. Nevermind being offended, this is stupid. What the heck are "agnostics" and "atheists" doing celebrating a holiday that is about the birth of Christ? What is the point? Why bother to go to so much trouble to change the minds of people who do believe in Christmas, as it was actually intended?

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,450445,00.html

They Should Have Their Hands Chopped Off!

2008-11-12T14:33:00.000-06:00

In third-world countries, the punishment for theft is, at best, to lose a hand. Here in the land of opportunity and freedom you get fired, at best, prosecuted, worst case. That is, unless you are a CEO of a major corporation that bilks its own shareholders out of millions of dollars, and then pleads for more money from the government to fix their oopsey. The punishment in America for a crime of this nature is to be forced to "resign" from your job, at which point you receive hundreds of thousands, even millions of dollars in severence pay, and "bonuses". Ok, once again, WHY ARE THE PEOPLE WHO COMMITTED THESE CRIMES NOT ON THEIR WAY TO PRISON? So here's the deal people. I am SICK AND TIRED of paying tax dollars for "poor" people to be able to sit on their arse at home and collect a check. I thought that nothing would be able to surpass the idiocy of that particular pet peeve. I was wrong. It really, really, really galls the s-word out of me that executives of all those big corporations that OUR TAX DOLLARS are being used to "bail out" are asking for MORE (tax) money, and THEY ARE GETTING IT, and then they are turning around and GIVING THEMSELVES BONUSES! Where is the buck gonna stop? What will it take? Does anyone else have a problem with this? Why are Americans not speaking up? Why is no one else writing letters to congressmen and whoever-the-heck-else they need to in order to stop this insanity? These people should be showering with their back to a wall and a strong grip on their bar of soap instead of taking MORE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! LAVISH VACATIONS on BAILOUT MONEY! I'M PISSED!

This is crap. I want to know why no one else is willing to stand up and holler about this. I feel like personally standing on a courthouse square somewhere with a bullhorn and a homemade poster saying THE LAST THING WE WILL BUY FOR WHITE COLLAR CRIMINALS IS SOAP-ON-A-ROPE! Hello? Am I the only one who watches the news, reads the paper? For far too long the American worker has put up with watching their hard-earned money go to feeding grown people who have less ambition than hookers. Hookers work. They actually do physical labor to earn their money. Sure they don't pay taxes (except in Nevada???). I'm starting to think that hookers have the right idea. Talk about being your own boss, right? Not that I'm literally advocating people selling their bodies and dignity to make money. But, where, I have to ask, is the dignity in working and laboring only to turn around and have more and more money forcibly removed from your pocket in order to support others?

At least "poor" people have some excuse: ignorance, sickness, just being cast a bad lot in life, right? What excuse do college-educated executives of the wealthiest and most powerful companies on earth have for taking the same privilages as welfare recipients? I sincerely wish I could meet face-to-face with some of the "white collar criminals" and explain to them that they have now placed themselves in the same caliber as those who commit welfare fraud. I am so mad about this. I cannot believe this is still happening. HELLO? Does anyone out there realize our new president is going to RAISE our taxes in order to "bailout" these thieves? I'm not even going to go off on that tangent, but the point is that IT'S GOING TO GET WORSE IF NO ONE DOES ANYTHING ABOUT IT! I don't mind doing my American duty and paying taxes, but I believe we should pay taxes for the original purpose they were intended, not to make it possible for even more people to sit at home and live on my dime. My dimes don't amount to much, but they would amount to a lot more, in my opinion, if they weren't being thrown this way and that, none of it used to help ME, AND MY COUNTRYMEN WHO DESERVE IT!

I sincerely wish with all my heart I knew what to do. I wish I had a voice. I wish there were some platform to be heard. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I can get on my little internet Myspace soapbox and complain all day, but who's going to listen? It's simple logic: enough people get together and tell the government, "Nope, you're not doing anymore. You work for ME. I pay your salary. Now we're gonna do it our way, or your fired." I definitely think there should be a meeting of the American shareholder, meaning the American taxpayer. I wish people would really get mad, and say, "Enough is enough." There is outright crime being shoved in our faces, and we are financing it, and this nation of couch potatoes is content with that as long as their life isn't affected overly much. Just think what kind of change enough people getting together could effect. I'm thinking "MILLION-MAN MARCH" style. I'm thinking descend on Washington in droves and let them know we're not taking it anymore. You want to be re-elected? Do your job. You want support from the community? Take care of your community. You want to run off with honest people's money and not get in trouble for it? Move to a Middle Eastern country and call yourself a sheik and do whatever the heck you want to do.

WHY DOES NO ONE ELSE CARE? DOES IT MAKE ME WEIRD THAT I FIND IT APPALING WHAT IS GOING ON HERE? DOES ANYONE ELSE EVEN KNOW WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT?

Barack Obama's Extensive Leadership Experience

2008-11-05T12:59:00.000-06:00

This is LITERALLY the extent of our new president's experience...I just copied and pasted it from his website...

Barack Obama's Record

Housing: In the U.S. Senate, Obama introduced the STOP FRAUD Act to increase penalties for mortgage fraud and provide more protections for low-income homebuyers, well before the current subprime crisis began.

Predatory Lending: In the Illinois State Senate, Obama called attention to predatory lending issues. Obama sponsored legislation to combat predatory payday loans, and he also was credited with lobbying the state to more closely regulate some of the most egregious predatory lending practices.

American Jobs: Barack Obama introduced the Patriot Employer Act of 2007 to provide a tax credit to companies that maintain or increase the number of full-time workers in America relative to those outside the US; maintain their corporate headquarters in America; pay decent wages; prepare workers for retirement; provide health insurance; and support employees who serve in the military.

What's He Gonna Do, Already?

2008-11-05T11:19:00.000-06:00

"What's he gonna do, and where's the money gonna come from to do it?" That is the question that is being asked all over the country. We have heard the talk. We have heard the promises. Clearly, enough people believed the rhetoric to give Barack Obama an opportunity to make good on those promises. Now we want specifics. Ok, so he's going to change the environment, and bring world peace, and save the planet. Great. How? And, again, where will he get the money to do it? If he is going to lower taxes for 95% of the working people in America, and we are already in a deficit of more than, what is it now, a trillion dollars, where is the money going to come from? Hello? Is anyone out there? Can anyone hear me?

'American the Employee' wants a cut-and-dried, 1-2-3 list of things that tell us, "This is exactly what I am going to do to fix this specific problem." We still have yet to hear a single specific point on any plan for anything that the new president elect plans to do when he gets into office. What are ya gonna do, man? The Obama camp has made an art of saying the same thing four times, without ever answering the proposed question at all, as evidenced by Obama's senior strategist, when questioned post-election by FoxNews correspondent Major Garrison , as to specifics of his plan to save the economy.

Barack Obama has before him, an unquestionably difficult task. He has to completely revamp the American economy, an action that, according to some of his followers, will prevent them from having to purchase gas for their cars or pay their mortgages. Barack Obama has some big shoes to fill, those that he has fashioned for himself. He has promised "middle America" that he is going to make the days sunny again, and wants to go forward by "making change", yet wants to take things back to when the government was run "by the people". Take your pick, one or the other. You can't have both: you can either take us back to the time of Clinton, which Obama has talked about in reference his vague plans for saving the economy, or you can talk about making changes, which we will hopefully hear about, at some point. Maybe before the inauguration.

Social Propaganda

2008-11-03T15:41:00.000-06:00

Not to insinuate that the election coverage in the media is somewhat cloying, to say the least, I would like to take a moment to go to a totally different subject, but one that will undoubtedly be an issue for our next president. Apparently around October 23rd, a Kindergarten teacher in Hayward, CA., decided to take it upon herself to induce children as young as five and six years old to sign "pledges" avowing themselves to tolerance of, and in some instances, actual defense of , "alternative lifestyles". During "National Ally Week", which is apparently held to promote tolerance of gay, straight and transgender lifestyles, Kindergarten teacher Tara Miller handed out little pledge cards and little sticker badges.

When I read this article, it goes without saying, I presume, that I was outraged. Then I read further and discovered a new emotion, confusion. No one in the entire school system is up in arms about the fact that she tried to force her beliefs on impressionable children. There was not a counter-measure taken to ensure that the children signed pledges not to abuse straight people. Everyone in the school system is hunkering down waving the "Politically Correct" white flag of surrender. We have surrendered our morals and our values, and we are surrendering our rights as parents and as American citizens.

The school system keeps harping on the theory that the material was not "age appropriate". How about "time, place, and recipients appropriate"? To push any kind of "tolerance" of any other culture, ethnicity, or any other people grouped together for any other reason is not the jobs of educators, it is the job of parents. When educators and public servants begin to inflict their personal views upon our most impressionable minds, then they are proving themselves to be operating under an agenda. Yes, there, I said it. I didn't want to say it but I couldn't come up with anything else. To surreptitiously invoke certain culture postures on children, without at least first gaining their parents' permission, is against the law. If this woman had come into class with little "pledges" of abstinence" would it have been any different. At the heart of the matter it is about whom a person chooses to have sex with, now let's just be frank. And whether she was preaching how to or when to, she had no right to do either. This blogger is of the opinion she should lose her job, and if there's anything to charge her with, then charge her with a crime. I certainly think that the school board should grow a backbone and call it what it is: social propaganda. They wouldn't be scared to say it about something I passed out at school, let me assure you.

White, Late-Twenties, Christian, Conservative

2008-11-03T12:08:00.000-06:00

I am 29 years old, I am white, and I am a woman. I am a Christian, a proud American, and a conservative. With all my heart, I pray that Barack Obama will not be my president. I do not pray that a black democratic man will not be my president. I pray that Barack Obama, who associates with convicted, unrepentant terrorists, and then denies it, who changes the income bracket for higher taxes 3 times in 2 weeks, and then denies it, who does not believe that a baby is a live human until is lying outside the womb, who will willfully undo all the work and sacrifice of so many many and women in these wars that he believes so unnecessary, I pray that this man will not be my president.

This election is not a situation of "one side against the other". This is a question of whether or not people are going to allow someone to lead them into the complete decline of our very society. The pattern being established is chilling. Already this potential leader is making wild promises that illogical to the most seasoned politicians. He makes promises and then builds on them. Nothing in his record shows that there is any reason to believe that he will do any of the things he has said he will do. The most recent stealth-talk from the Obama camp tells us two weeks ago that the income cap for the new tax laws, the ceiling that establishes you as "middle class" or not, was $250,000. In the days since, it has gone down to $200,000, then again to $150,000 and now, finally (??) to $120,000. Here we already have proof that Barack Obama has no compulsions about "tweaking" the outcomes of his grand promises. And as per usual, the American people, lulled into a dangerous apathic lethargy, follow blindly along. Keep the bourgeoisie moderately happy and you won't have revolt, right?

How long will the American people sit tight in their comfy recliners and warm homes, knowing that we might be in a little bit of a crunch, be we'll snap back? Do you realize that all those big guys up there in Washington know that the economy will not, necessarily directly affect those in the lower middle-to-lower class, and so it will seem like "not such a big deal"? It's kind of like how my grandparents told me that here in southern rural Alabama, former home of King Cotton, and current home of King Peanut, poor people didn't realize anything was going on up North with the rich folks during the Depression because they had been that poor already. Do the guys we send to Washington to supposedly work for us know this already and use it to their advantage?

The only way to know what's going on with your world is to be proactive and find out. What will be the catalyst that forces people into action? When will we have finally had enough? Is this the eleventh hour? Is it too late? Have we already reached such a point of apathy that it is impossible to turn back?

Sarah Palin Newsweek Cover

2008-10-08T09:47:00.000-05:00

While I agree that it may have been, at the least, in poor taste to show Gov. Palin on the cover of Newsweek in a less favorable light (no pun intended, really) than Barack Obama, I don't think that Mrs. Palin considers this a big issue. Nor, do I think the American people will. I certainly don't. American mothers don't care if the people deciding the path of theirs and their children's futures look like centerfolds. We don't care. We want to send our kids to school with a healthy lunch without having to worry about putting off paying the light bill. I personally liked the magazine cover because, as was pointed out in the Newsroom today, Mrs. Palin is a gorgeous woman, and a beautiful human being. Whatever crow's feet or blemishes she may have just makes me feel that much more that she is like me, concerned about her family, and her country.

Mrs. Palin is not on the edge of her seat waiting for Hugh Hefner to call and offer her a centerfold. She wants to help John McCain bring our country to a place where the average American, such as myself, can feed and clothe their children without fear of going bankrupt. I think Mrs. Palin is a classy, intelligent woman who is far too busy to be concerned with any petty slights by Newsweek or any other magazine. If anything, these magazines that present themselves as being true journalistic venues while playing to the whims and opinions of the liberal populace, should be embarrassed to sink to such lows. Thank God for citizen journalism, where the "new" style of reporting the truth, not the popular rhetoric, is quickly gaining a foothold over the liberal mainstream media.

AIG Execs Vacationing on Bailout Funds

2008-10-07T16:33:00.001-05:00

Bilking hard-working Americans out of their savings and retirement funds is back-breaking work, no doubt, and the corporate executives from AIG took a much-deserved break from all this international crisis they have helped cause at the St. Regis Monarch Beach Resort in LA. Apparently feeling entitled to even more money that they did not earn, the people who are responsible for the current global economic meltdown spent a staggering $440,000 of the $85 billion emergency loan they were given by the federal government. Already we have proof that this "bailout" was a great idea.

From the start of all this mess, I have been very vocal about the fact that I feel that the perpetrators of this catastrophic, historical crime should be on their way to prison. Knowing that while our government officials were being paid by our tax dollars to fix a mess that all these corporate "big-wigs" have gotten our country, and even the world, into, while they sat around at a resort, spending TAX DOLLARS loaned to them to bailout the company that they had sent into ruin by stealing other people's money is a repulsive thought.

This is astounding. Where is this news when the media buzzards are hovering above waiting for the kill? Why have we not heard about this from the mainstream media? This is a complete outrage. These men should be in jail, not drinking cocktails on the beach and congratulating themselves at banquets thrown with tax dollars on how ingenious they are.

This is something that I feel very strongly about. This cannot be ignored. The American people have sat back far too long and allowed others to run their lives. I personally do not have any money tied up in this fiasco (for the first time in my life I can see the silver lining to not being rich!), but I would encourage every person I see or talk to to write to their congressmen and senators and DEMAND to know why, if the bailout was approved, are these criminals being allowed to get away scott-free, and then being rewarded even further! Don't think I won't be going around giving away my two cents on this matter. I didn't even try to sound intelligent, here folks. Maybe I'll come back later and write a more eloquent article, exposing the sordid details. For now I'm just too angry. Outrageous. Absolutely outrageous.

The Bailout

2008-09-25T21:31:00.000-05:00

On the heels of the declaration by one financial analyst as (para.) the worst point in America's financial history, this politically-minded Southern woman takes a break from working on her career to say something about it. I do not have as much education as many of my freelance writing counterparts, suffice it to say I have online friends who have been to major universities, while I attended junior college. However, education I may have little, but opinions I have plenty. For instance, my opinion of the whole "bailout" business that is currently going on is that it is complete rubbish. For far too long the American business giant has siphoned off the hard work of the American laborer, the working person. Now we are seeing what happens when very rich, greedy men do what they do best, which is line their pockets. So, the big boys were filching out of the till, their own till, and the little man is going to wind up paying for it. What a farce!

The irony of it is simply nauseating: those people who worked and sweated and spent time away from their families and gave up vacations to make the company run, to be the company man, while the big boss man was playing golf and drinking gin back at the clubhouse. Now the jig is up, there is no money to pay the help, the bills are due, and the fat cats go hide at their summer homes in the Hamptons, letting the little guy sweat all those thousands of dollars he spent over all those years, investing and saving and making a nice little nest egg. His nest egg is in the pocket of the chauffeur who is in town buying more gin. It's going to be a long weekend.

I realize that we, the taxpayers, are going to have to swallow the bitter pill that the government will shove down our throats. The thought that I, who have no idea whom I will bailing out, will be paying tax dollars to make sure that the fatcats don't have to come out of the weekend house until the gin has run completely dry, the wife is ready to go back to town to go shopping, and the cameras have found an overly-done young bimbette to oggle at because her rich husband, who just happened to be sixty years her senior, has just kicked the bucket, leaving Sweetie Pie in the lap of luxury and the kids steaming over the injustice of it all.

Alas, maybe this, too shall pass, and maybe, oh dear, maybe it shall not. I really don't dig the idea of cooking on a campstove on the side of the road. The only thing that is really silver about the cloud over my family's financial future is that, well, we are the type people who probably wouldn't have realized it was a recession (or The Depression, for that matter), because that's just the way it's always been.

And so, I guess we will all continue to let the super-smart people who tell us "this is how it's gonna be", leaving us nodding in submission and asking ourselves what we could possibly do about it, continue to tell us how it's gonna be. Well, there's this thing now called "citizen journalism", and since the dawn of the weblog (now more popularly referred to as simply a "blog") the common man has a voice. Clearly this is true, as anyone who has read this far cares enough about the subject upon which I preach enough to have heard of Michael Moore, he along with the other loud cacophany of zany people who just don't really seem to make any sense. Ah, but I digress. It's not the Michael Moore's of this world that are the problem, but the people whom we put in charge who look to them as touters of their creed and barers of the banner.

September 11, 2001 Remembered

2008-09-11T11:28:00.000-05:00

Every generation has "that day", "that event", that marks their time. Usually tragedies, these events rank in importance on a Biblical scale, at least to us, here, in this lifetime. For me and everyone else under 40 or so, that day will be 9/11, at least until the next horrible catastophe happens, as, inevitably, it will. For now though, we have this day, September 11, to cast our melancholy hindsights to.

For those who may read this a long time from now, and not know to what tragedy I am referring, I mean the day in 2001 when our world, our culture, our society was changed forever. The day that terrorists brought down two of the World Trade Centers, and part of the Pentagon, in the process killing over 3,000 Americans. As I watch FoxNews right now, they are reporting about the memorial they have recently built at the Pentagon, to honor those who died there. Of course, the memorials at ground zero have been finished by now. They are loving, government, corporate, and privately (the Pentagon memorial is privately funded) funded testimonials to our determination not to forget our fellow citizens who died at the hands of the true "infidels".

"9/11". That's all you really have to say, you know, and every knows what you are talking about. I can't think of a single other tragic event in our country's history that is summed up simply by saying the date itself. Such was the magnitude of the loss to our great country. A common day became a fiery, tragic loss, a day that would bind our country together in a way that the 4th of July hasn't had the power to do, sadly, in many years.

As I sit here now, I can still see, like a movie reel playing in my head, myself standing in front of the television holding a freshly awakend one year-old Sara. I was shaking, I couldn't breathe. I was watching the world blow up. My (now ex-) husband told me on the phone to stay in the house, and keep watching tv, but to pack a bag in case I had to leave the house quickly. No one knew what was going to happen. Surely this had to mean World War III had started? No one does this to us! We are the United States of America! The strongest nation on earth!

And yet, they had. Some evil group of people made the mistake in thinking that anything they could dream up would crush us. While nothing about that day or the ensuing wars has ever been funny, it is still laughable to me to think that those nameless, faceless, cowardly desert rats thought for one second they could crush this great nation. Well, it backfired. Their heinous, cowardly deeds on served to bring the people in this country together as they had not been since the second World War. As expected, there were different schools of thought as to how we should handle the situation. But, whether you agreed with the methodology or not, you must admit that we have come back, stronger even. The attacks on 9/11 catalyzed the American people to wake up not become lethargic, and let our guard down.

There are countless shows on TV right now, different memorial services and such. Google announced today that they will remove any Jihadists and terrorist videos from YouTube. Senator Joe Lieberman said it very succinctly, "The first amendment was not meant to be a suicide pact for people to come murder Americans...(sic)". It is nice to see some of these multi-billion dollar companies taking their civic responsibility seriously and denouncing this evil crap for exactly what it is.

So, what message do we send to those who wish to do us harm, because we give our people the free will to choose their god, and their religion, and their way of life?

THE AMERICAN PEOPLE ARE THE LOUDEST, PROUDEST, MOST CIVIC-MINDED, PATRIOTIC PEOPLE ON THE FACE OF THE EARTH. WHAT SOME CALL CRUDENESS WE CALL BALLSY. WHAT YOU CALL CRASS WE CALL STANDING UP FOR OURSELVES. WHAT YOU CALL TASTELESS WE CALL BEING DOWN TO EARTH. WE ARE A PROUD PEOPLE WHO STAND FOR WHAT WE BELIEVE. WE WILL NOT BACK DOWN. WE WILL NOT BE WIPED FROM THE MAP. WE ARE not JUST ANOTHER GREAT SOCIETY. WE HAVE NOT FALLEN LIKE ROME OR GREECE.

AMERICANS ONLY GET BETTER. WE THINK OF IT, THEN WE MAKE IT, THEN WE MAKE IT BETTER. WE ARE STRONGER, TOUGHER, SMARTER, AND MORE DELIBERATE THAN YOU ARE. WHEN YOU ARE COWARDLY AND HIDE YOUR FACES TO DO YOUR DIRTY DEEDS, WE PROUDLY WEAR OUR UNIFORM, AND FLY OUR FLAG, AND SHOW OUR FACES, SMILING IN THE MIDDLE OF YOUR HOT, DRY, DESOLATE DESERT.

WHILE OUR BRAVE MEN AND WOMEN POLICE ANOTHER PART OF THE WORLD, AND SAVE LIVES OF THOSE WHO TRY TO KILL THEM, WE KNEEL IN OUR RESPECTIVE CHURCHES BACK HERE AT HOME, AND BOW OUR HEADS AND PRAY FOR THOSE WHO KEEP US AND THE WORLD WE LIVE IN SAFE. YOU CANNOT SCARE us INTO HIDING IN CAVES BECAUSE WE WILL STAND UP AND FIGHT YOU EACH AND EVERY TIME. AND WE WILL PROVE, EACH AND EVERY TIME, THAT WE WILL NOT RUN FROM CONFRONTATION, WE FACE IT BRAVELY, AND WE WILL WIN.

BRING IT. BRING US THE BEST YOU HAVE AND THEN BE PREPARED TO BE CRUSHED LIKE THE COWARDLY ANTS YOU ARE. WE HAVE THE STRONGEST MILITARY FORCES ON THE FACE OF THE PLANET BEING DRIVEN BY THE STRONGEST HEARTS IN THE HISTORY OF MEN, AND BACKED UP BY OUR GOD, THE ONLY GOD.

And that's how I feel about that.

Sarah Palin Steals the Democratic Thunder

2008-09-10T23:27:00.000-05:00

Sarah Palin. She makes half the country ecstatic, and the other half very, very nervous. She seems to have Barack Obama developing a stutter. She has energized the Republican party, brought a fresh face to the old boys' club. She has jumped into the political fray with a staunch, unapologetic attitude.

Sarah Palin, the newcomer to the election scene, seems to be as surprised by the announcement from John McCain that she was his choice for running mate as the rest of the country is. She is facing all the challenges being only the second woman ever nominated for such a high office, all the while managing a household of five children, one of whom is less than six months old and has Down's Syndrome, and dealing with the issue of teen pregnancy right in her own home, but in front of the whole world. Sarah Palin has held her head high while her family is insulted, never mind the vulgar insults about herself. She has had to face sexism on a level Hillary Clinton would not have tolerated. She does all this with class and grace.

Mrs. Palin went from an almost unknown governor of one of the least populated states to having a chance at being the next Vice President. However, she has been completely open about her past and her personal life. She has no subcultural lifestyles in her past, and she has not been largely influenced by people who have been associated with organizations with ties to terrorist groups and fringe anti-political groups.

Sarah Palin brings to the table a more lengthy political history than Barack Obama, and she can claim a better record for cutting government spending than Joe Biden. She has cut the position of the governor's personal chef, as well as selling the governor's private jet, and when she was mayor she took a voluntary salary cut. She is more than ready to give the go-ahead for drilling in the Anwar Province, which will bring oil profits home to America.

She is ready to tackle the tough subjects, the hard issues, and has a history of doing so with integrity and loyalty to her electorate. She has quickly become a crowd favorite, and people are clamoring to find about more about her, a surprising turn this late in the election. Her lack of experience, so often earmarked by Democrats, is offset by her confidence, eagerness to learn and record of responsible governing.

Sarah Palin is a boost to the Republican party that might very well have given the faltering McCain campaign the shot it needed. Only time will tell if her shine will wear off, or if she will prove to be the welcome change our political system is in dire need of.