Despare And Hope

I caught this video on the tube this afternoon and it sent a shiver down my spine.



While cruising by the Rott this evening, I caught this and I got some stiffness back.



Vote! They haven't destroyed us yet.

The Right Is Out Of Control

Just look at the news today.

Judge Faces Death Threats After BP Gulf Oil Drilling Moratorium Ruling

‘Green’ Energy Company Threatens Economics Professor … with Package of Dismantled Bomb Parts


Toronto G20 summit: car with extra gas and weapons found; arrest made


G20 lockdown cuts into downtown business
Hotels are full but restaurant tables are empty

T.O. man charged with possessing explosives in G20 probe

What? WHAT?

Oh! These are lefties?

Well it's a damn good thing they aren't Tea Partiers, or we could have had some real damage done here.


Asshats

Back to the 50's?

I just turned 56 yesterday. I don't want to go back to the 50's. I don't really remember much about it except having fun playing those now forbidden games of dodge ball, tag, musical chairs at school, and entertaining ourselves with playing war, and throwing dirt clod at each other.

I don't what to go back to the '60's either. Fun times. The Beatles showed up along with all those entertaining hippies, but by the end of the decade I was seeing the cracks between what the "Free Love" generation idealized and what happens in the real world.

The '70's, still mostly a fun time for me. I really, really fell in love for the first time...I actually got engaged, but we grew apart (bummer), but I started working regular jobs (in hospitals), making money and being able to support myself. Made a lot of dumb decisions that taught me about how life works. All the years of my Dad telling me that applying myself would reap benefits started to sink in, although America had hit a low. The Carter years of "don't hope for better because we're past our prime".

The '80's, I hit my prime I had a job that I liked, met a good woman and got married, bought a house, had what turned out to be a great kid, and the country rebounded under Reagan.

'90's...My life was stable, but things stared to change. Job that I liked, but my good woman started to phase herself out of the picture. The owner of my company, and best friend, died and the company was bought by a bunch of yahoo's that didn't understand the oil industry.

'00's, new job at a underfunded company, my wife and I separated, my boy grew up and joined the Army and left the nest.

'10's, we'll see, but it's looking ugly.

The reason for this?

I keep being told that Conservatives want to go back to a period they idealize. I don't! I've lived through five decades and some were good and some sucked, but I don't want to live them again or live them over and over. I love the advancements that have been made in my lifetime, however, I see the pitfall we are leaving to the future generations.

I want my grandchildren to enjoy these advancements, plus more, but with the debt we have already foisted on our children and with the shift to government directing where spending will go, My dreams that my grandchildren will have a better life than me is now just that, a dream.

As of today, I, my wife, and my son each owe $41,500 just to pay off the incurred debt. Ever run up a credit card debt and work to pay it off? It took me a long time to pay off an amount a hell of a lot less than $40K! And that was after I stopped spending. The government just keeps piling additional debt on us and telling us as soon as they can, they promise to stop spending and will pay off the debt....really!!! Any year now.

I am angry! I live on the front lines of what this country is turning to. ( A long read, but worth it) We are turning this country into a system where there are more bureaucrats and government workers than there are people actually producing something besides rules and regulations that they will tax or fine me with.

The More Things Change.....

Bathroom Books - My library of magazines and books that sit in the bathroom to occupy 10 minutes that would be wasted. One of them is "Let's Be Heard" by Bob Grant. The lead page to the third section has this:

WHOSE GOVERNMENT IS THIS, ANYWAY?

The career politicians and bureaucrats, along with the pundits of the left, are currently wailing and keening over what the depict as dangerous "antigovernment" sentiment at loose in the land, but they're way off base. Most people believe strongly in our form of government. We just don't like how it has been perverted and contorted out of shape over the past few decades.

Our dissatisfaction has two main, related causes.

First, government does too many things we don't want it to do. In fact, the general drift of government activism has been to do things that help small minorities and special interests at the expense of the majority.

Second, every time the government does anything, it ends up costing us too much money. The costs nearly always outweigh the benefits.

In other words, the people who pay for government are the people whom government seems least interested in serving. You could even say that we pay government to do things that damage us. But we're not angry at government--just at some of the bozos who run it.

This was written in 1996, but sounds like it could have been penned yesterday.

9/11/09...A Day After

I was just too melancholy yesterday to post anything. I really didn't get enough sleep the day before and I watched the ceremonies at the Twin Towers and Pentagon in the morning waiting for my shift to end.

Eight years later and I still get that sick feeling in my gut reliving Sept 11, 2001. It's not pleasant, but I refuse to take the PC recommended solution and just let it pass, or like Obambi and his ilk would like to do, turn it into another "Earth Day"..."A day of Service......and remembrance".

NEVER FORGIVE, NEVER FORGET!

They want me to atone for something I feel no guilt about. I AM PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN!, I can acknowledge minor flaws of my country, however, they refuse to recognize the major flaws of their "religion".

I AM PROUD OF MY COUNTRY! No other has contributed so much to try to better the world as we have, and we do it willingly and not asking for thanks, and the world has certainly kept that part of the bargain.

I'm not going to embed this video, you go watch it if you think you can. A man, Kevin Cosgrove who went to work and found and found himself stuck on the 105th floor.

Kevin Cosgrove - 9/11


On another side of my life...Before going into work, I was checking my Email and looking to see what my friends had posted during the day, when there was a huge double boom that rattled the windows of my house. The animals quickly showed up for reassurance, while my heart was trying to slow down.

It was the Space Shuttle landing at Edwards AFB. Typically, I had forgotten they were still up there and had forgotten they were suppose to land a few days ago, except the weather in that hurricane prone area sucked (again), so they HAD to land here.

It was a great reminder of what achievements this country is capable of when it wants to. It was a beautiful picture perfect landing, perhaps the prettiest I've ever watched, but then again, I felt a downward feeling when they started talking about it being close to the end of our meager shuttle program.

We have been to the Moon, but once again, we are on the edge abandoning exploration to expand our horizons so that we can "be fiscally responsible" by supporting people that don't like, if not hate, the advantages our country provides to anyone and everyone that is willing to get behind the ideals set down back in 1787 in our Constitution.

Right now I'm watching the Tea Party gathering in Washington D.C., Hundreds of thousands of people that are just fed up with the politicians. Please notice that this event takes place on a Saturday as these are people with jobs, and unlike working for a Union or being a "grass root" unemployed lefty that got $20 to hold up a pre-printed sign and shout back what the "community organizer" is spewing through the bullhorn...these people are unpaid, and most likely laid out a bit of their own cash to attend...and they'll most likely be back to work on Monday.

I can't say it often enough:

GOD BLESS AMERICA, LAND THAT I LOVE

We're All Flakes In California

A lady who owns a bakery in California has two minutes to address her congresscritter:



And the Congresswoman ignored her and moved on to the next question.

THE RECLAMATION OF INDEPENDENCE

This is borrowed from BlackisWhite's blog Taxes, Stupidity, and Death

THE RECLAMATION OF INDEPENDENCE

WHEN IN THE GENERATIONS SUCCEEDING the one that pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor to usher in the birth of the world’s only truly free nation, Liberty’s Progeny incrementally ceded their birthright to the government conceived and designed to serve a free people, and not be its servant, this generation is awakening to the terrible mistake that we, and our ancestors allowed to happen. Charged with the terrible knowledge that comes with opened eyes, we now take up the long abdicated duty to rouse our fellow citizens and actively wrest the power and the liberties that have been progressively talked, cajoled, threatened, wheedled, and extorted from us, not only by those who ostensibly served us, but by their supporters and enablers who, by accident or design, saw fit to usurp and disdain such freedoms, that they might be withheld, and where impossible to withhold, might be condemned, until a corrosive contempt for these liberties, wrapped in velvet gloves, might so suffocate the circulation of them that this nation, conceived in liberty and the providence of a wise and benevolent creator, might indeed perish from the earth, plunging the rightful heirs of a proud and noble heritage in the the darkened waters of chaos, despair, and evil that surround them, a dank deluge that even today, other human beings actively seek to escape from in the inspiring embrace of this blessed and free country.

We, the awakened and aware, freely accept the charge that the architects of this republic passed on to us over two centuries before, in the hope that all who partook in the blessings made possible by nation they created would somberly undertake the duties of citizens, and so appropriately train themselves in virtue, and educate themselves in the workings of the precepts and ideals set forth in their foundational documents that they would possess enough wisdom to recognize that not all threats to our freedom would come from without our ranks, the knowledge to recognize that not every chain and shackle menacing us will immediately appear to be what it actually is, and the humilitynot to assume that the ingenuity and innovation that has been the hallmark of American success has been the product of man alone.

To this end, we hereby identify and reclaim our independence from the tools used to slowly enslave a free people and usurp the freedoms that we could not be persuaded to freely give up, or voluntarily suppress the free exercise of on our own:

1. We reclaim our independence from the tyranny of ‘Political Correctness’.

The Constitution does not now, nor has it ever guaranteed a right to be free from being offended. Early successes in causing the disruption of free speech by insisting on the use of words or terms stripped of their meaning or altered by redefinition and deliberate use of ephemism, in order to avoid offending more delicate sensibilities lead to its use to deliberately avoid, delay, or prevent the free exchange and communication of ideas because we allowed ourselves to be more afraid of offending someone or being branded with a label chosen to imply that there was a problem with the offending speaker, rather than the intended recipient.

No more.

Words have meaning and names have power. But truth overcomes, when it is given the opportunity to exist unfettered by the artificial restraints that those who fear it would place upon it. The Founding Fathers knew this, which is why they favored the “marketplace of ideas” approach. And we now ratify and affirm this concept, having borne witness to the damage and impaired decision making that results when we remain silent and let others avoid any real discussion of topics, events, and ideas out of the fear that we might offend someone.

2. We reclaim our independence from your victimhood.

For too long, we have stood by silently, and allowed some to increasingly balkanize this country with sob stories of how one thing or another makes them a victim, and therefore they deserve some special deference, special preference, and recognition that they are special. We watched for too long, with growing alarm, as the hyphenated-Americans increasingly failed to take it upon themselves to overcome their victim status, yet continually expect to be rewarded for it as they brandished their victimhood like a cudgel, ready to bludgeon any who dared to question their entitlements and almost rapacious appetites to expand them.

No more.

One of the many unique blessings that this country has to offer is the presence of second and third and fourth chances. Others know this, and rather than think that the good things available to those who work for them were something that they were simply entitled to by virtue of their sob story, real or imagined, they decided to man up, and overcome. That doesn’t happen through accepting help and deciding to continually demand more. We are a generous people, but there are limits. Decide of your own accord to know the satisfaction of making your own destiny, rather than subsistence on the labor of others. You might be surprised at what you accomplish, or how that might come to benefit your fellow citizen in ways that you cannot even imagine.

3. We reclaim our independence from the myth of a compelling interest in diversity at the cost of excellence.

The latest affront to the ‘American Exceptionalism’ that our current President feels the need to apologize for in foreign capitols is the recent notion of a “compelling interest in diversity in our government, our institutions, and our culture”. This is the bastard child of Political Correctness and victimhood, which would not have been possible without the misapprehension of the concept of equality as enshrined in our law, the correct interpretation being that citizens of this country have equality of opportunity and equality in stature in the eyes of the laws that govern us. Once the “right” of offense took hold and started keeping company with victimhood, those benefiting from the employment of both decided that equality really meant that everyone had a right to be to be surrounded in all walks of life by people who looked just like them, whether those people were qualified to fulfill those roles or not.

No more.

Americans rose to prominence in the world in no small part due to the idea of merit and the pursuit of excellence. This was embodied in our government and institutions as much as in the private sector. Civil Service exams for public sector jobs ensured not only that people could do the work required of them, but that the best qualified were hired to do the job. Now, the standard in many fire departments, police departments, government agencies, and university staffs is not excellence, but the color of skin, gender, or sexual preference. The identity has eclipsed ability and we are all the poorer for it. Prepare for a change.

4. We reclaim our independence from the contempt of our citizenship.

For too long, we have silently permitted others to use the appeal of emotion to exact our acquiescence in their actively allowing people who have violated our laws to come here to live and work among us without asking permission to do so, or obeying our laws in doing so. We have allowed others to cajole us into allowing these persons to use our resources, and take benefits intended for citizens, without them being required to become citizens or apply for residence. We have been too long silent as others continually advocate for the application of the protections that are conferred upon us as our birthright to those who are not citizens and have tried to kill citizens, or have expressed a deep-seated desire to do so.

No more.

No sane person so despises something of value that is theirs by virtue of “the accident of birth” that they simply would give it away to others who want it and yet show contempt for those who have it by stealing it from them. Likewise, no sane person so dishonors a gift purchased with the blood of others that they will give it to those who only desire to kill or enslave them. No longer will we be silent as others confer all the benefits and protections of citizenship upon those who disrespect it, or would steal such benefits and protections without assuming the responsibility to pay for them, or worse yet, murder us because we have them.

5. We reclaim our independence from the “Freedom from religion” that has erroneously been read into the Constitution.

From the institution of Thanksgiving, to the architecture of our public buildings and monuments, the opening of government proceedings, down to the acknowledgement on our currency, this country has very deep and undeniable judeo-christian roots, and has been governed by leaders who unashamedly proclaimed their according personal beliefs while in office. It has influenced our laws and been the bedrock of every ideal that has allowed this nation to grow and prosper. This heritage has been the target of a decades long campaign to shove God out of the public square and exile him from congress with our elected officials by people who have refused the notion of a higher authority, because their own beliefs and desires are in contravention to those expressed by that higher authority.

No more.

Assaulting our national heritage with such dubious legal notions such as a separation of church and state that forbids any mention of God or expression of religion on or in state-owned property, and dismantling existing law with the fallacious statement “You can’t legislate morality” does violence to our history and demonstrates weak logic and understanding of what law is. The Founding Fathers’ intent with the Establishment Clause was the prevention of any one church gaining the favor and sanction of the Federal Government. A ban on ANY expression of religion or belief in God was never their intention, and the evidence of that is still surrounding us to this day. The current state of the law is based on a false premise that can be easily dismissed by a simple walk around the monuments and buildings in the District of Columbia, and taking out you wallet to pay for an ice cream cone. As for the “You can’t legislate morality” canard, this is also false. The law is, in its most simple essence, an expression of morality, codified. The question that then arises is whose morality should be expressed in the law? Those of people who can point to no particular belief system that has certain valuable virtues at its core, or those that can?

6. We reclaim independence from the cynical attempts to use shame to stop us from speaking out.

We have all felt this. The accusations that we are poor Christians because we refuse to give the government power not granted to it in the Constitution and go along with the currently contemplated healthcare reform bill. The charges that we hate the Earth and our children, because we oppose the highest single tax increase ever, combined with the deleterious effect on American jobs that would result in the passage of the Cap and Tax bill, which owes its existence to the myth of man-made global warming and the fact that it feeds the Federal Government its two favorite entrees: money and power. The charges that we are bad, greedy, selfish people for not supporting the idea that government and welfare entitlements are the way to improve the lives of Americans who are struggling, whatever the reason. The charges of “Racism” whenever we raise a provocative question or level a criticism at a person, policy, or idea that might happen to involve a person or persons who are not Caucasian.

No more.

Charges like “racist” and “racism” made without objective, quantitative support, and only the subjective justification of emotion will be ignored. The race card is maxed out, and the bank is no longer willing to extend the credit line. As for attacking our faith, or our practice thereof, we will no longer be held to account by people who do not understand the faith they would use as a weapon against believers, when the wielder subscribes to no belief system at all. Those who rely only on themselves for the regulation of their conduct and ethics no longer get to condemn those who answer to a higher authority. Not any more. We reclaim control of the shame that you have opted out of, and we will no longer allow you to use it to make us answer to you.

7. We reclaim independence from the notion that the Federal Government is the solution to every problem and the answer to every question.

For too long, we stood by and allowed debate and action on all matters, predicated upon on a destructive and dangerous idea: That the Federal Government is the only way to meet a need, fix a problem, or prevent a problem. In time it became a security blanket, and we became a nation of thumbsuckers, eager to give the federal Government more power and more money, if only it would keep us safe from life and the living of it as free people, until we no longer looked to it for protection from others who would have our liberties or destroy them; we looked to it for protection from the consequences of our own actions.

No more.

We were so fixated in seeking the federal government’s assistance with every aspect of our daily lives, no one within or without the Federal Government ever exercised restraint and said “No. The Consitution does not give the Federal Government the authority to do that.” And now that people are alert to the fact that the Federal Government is poised on the cusp of the largest power grab it has ever made with the healh care bill, some of us are finally saying “No. You do not have the authority.” The stakes have never been more obvious. Met with the anger of constituents who are actually paying attention, elected officials are employing various means to intimidate these citizens who are expressing their disgust and anger that a government that serves them would ever feel so entitled to our money and our data in the passage of something so clearly opposed by those who wold have to live under it, these servants have resorted to insulting their constituents, calling them shills in the pay of their political opponents, calling them stupid and saying that they simply did not understand the printed words on the pages of the bill, brazenly lying to them outright about what they have proposed and are considering, and filling audiences at public meetings with rent-a-mobs from the SEIU, ACORN, and others, so that they will face a friendly audience that is also hostile to the voters opposed to this latest demonstration of government off its leash. The days of promising good governance but delivering graft, corruption, and self serving sinecures are over. We do not care about your party; both have proven themselves reckless and dishonest. We demand that you act responsibly, that you do the people’s business, not your own, and we demand that you act within the confines of the Constitution. No more will we simply accept legislation that exceeds the authority strictly enumerated in the Constitution. No more will we accept interpretations of the Commerce Clause and the Necessary and Proper Clause that are so tortured and stretched beyond reason or recognition as to be unrecognizable to anyone who has read the Constitution. No longer will we accept legislation from the bench that relies not on interpretation of the Constitution, but mystical divination of mysterious penumbras that only a few ‘right-minded’ jurists can see. Those days are over, and you can return usurped powers to the states and the individual citizens in whom the Constitution rightfully places them, or you can have them stripped from you.

We, those who have come together in virtual congress to reclaim our independence from those who have by various means obtained it from us, realize that this probably wasn’t the HOPE! and CHANGE! that those persons had in mind, but nevertheless, the time has come.


Blackiswhite, Imperial Consigliere

Free Citizen of the United States of America,

August 29, 2009

Tea Party Ad

(From the info on You Tube)

This resulted from a Mom in Alabama asking her high school son to help with a commercial for the Tea Party she was involved in organizing. Boy, does it slam the message home. Very impressive.
Here is her note:
"I asked Justin if he could help me make a commercial for my group's Tea Party. He sat down at the laptop for about an hour, and then brought this to me and asked, 'is this okay, Mom?' After I finished watching it, my stomach was in my throat.
Everyone that I have sent it to has really enjoyed it, so I wanted my friends to see it. I am so proud!"
A very powerful video...turn up the sound & sit back...!!!

HT: Nice Deb