Wednesday, March 30, 2011

On My Mind, On A Wednesday

During my drive home from work today, I heard a report on the radio that caught my attention. The report was about regrets. I decided to look for a link about this story when I got home.

“Lost love tops list of most common regrets study reveals,” says the Toronto Star, which is one of the choices I had when I did a Google search for “regrets survey.” Fox News and MyFoxAtlanta offered links too, but we all know that Fox News lies and has an agenda, so I decided against them.

Funny, those Canadians are rumored to have such a good health care system, if you believe the liberal talking points. But the grammar in this headline, offered by a Canadian newspaper? I’m just ‘sayin…

The report discussed that certain things fall into certain categories of certain types of people. You know, polling data.

This is the same stuff they do to study the political climate, except this was about life, personally. Not that politics isn’t personal, but participating in political polling is just not the same as participating in a poll that says, “I regret thus and such and this and that,” knowing that if you’re female, you’re going to be told that you’re more likely to regret this, and that if you’re male, then you’re more likely to regret that.

So I thought about regret. I thought about the fact that I used to believe that I was regretful about some things in life, and that in my recent days I have learned how to live with less... and perhaps without, regret.

It is difficult to not regret some things, but I believe it is one of life’s great achievements to learn how not to regret, but instead to learn and grow from any experience.

Amyway… I got home and turned the boob-tube on, and flipped to that network where all they do is yell at their guests and make stuff up. That network was discussing some very interesting topics that really matter to good people, but I figured the stories must be lies, because again, this was Fox News Channel I was watching.

For example; Michelle Malkin reported tonight on Hannity about the fact that, according to the information provided by her syndicated columnand her blog, “Buried in Barack Obama's failed trillion-dollar stimulus program was a $10 million bloody border racket that has now cost American lives.”

She was talking about the fact that both parties of our government have known about, and actively participated in, the process of weapons being illegally transported across our border.

“Like so many border programs run amok, Project Gunrunner was the spawn of Beltway bipartisanship,” Malkin offers as she opens her column.

“It was established in 2005 as a pilot project under the Bush administration and run by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. The intended goal of the program's sting operations: stop illicit firearms trafficking along the Southwest border through close surveillance of undercover gun purchases and coordinated intervention with Mexico. The deadly result: federally sanctioned gunwalking of high-powered weapons from U.S. officials right into the hands of drug cartel killers.”

Yes, that’s right. A Fox News guest openly discussing a disaster of political policy, and that disaster started under the Bush administration.

Remember, this is the network that Media Matters (an educational institution that certainly deserves its 501(c)(3) tax status) has openly accused of being “the de facto leader of the GOP.”But wait a minute… Bush was a Republican. Now I am confused…

Another fascinating discussion offered up on the network of choice amongst mean old white people who don’t want to give up their hold on power (at least that’s what I hear in the Huffington Post comments section all the time, and it seems The Village Voice concurs to some degree) was about Planned Parenthood.

It seems Planned Parenthood does not offer mammograms, yet they are receiving taxpayer dollars to be “The nation's leading sexual and reproductive health care provider and advocate.”

Hmm. I don’t think that’s right. Why should tax dollars to an organization that claims to be (at the risk of being redundant) “The nation's leading sexual and reproductive health care provider and advocate” if that organization does not provide one of the most important – (as in critical to womens’ health) reproductive health care services that exists?

America needs to cut spending, and if our tax dollars are going to continue to go to organizations that openly deceive the public as much as Planned Parenthood, we’re screwed.

This to me is not even an abortion issue; I am pro-life, but I don’t believe in making abortion illegal. I believe back-alley abortions will always exist, even if the procedure is outlawed, and that’s a worse option than having abortion remain legal.

The issue at hand is health, and life, and Planned Parenthood is deceitful as it claims to be about either.

And on the subject of health – as in health care and the health of America - Obamacare may just have been the real medicine America needed, but only a few of us saw it for what is really has turned out to be.

Now it is time for America to know the truth. We must fight the mainstream media with all of our might, because they bring horrendous misinformation, or just a complete lack of information, each an every night to your dinner table, or with your morning cup of coffee.

America’s health care system does need an overhaul, but over 2000 pages of legalese and billions of dollars hidden in ways to guarantee funding of a policy that is doing more harm than good?

The Democrats worked the system in shady ways to get the bill passed, and the media played along. Now we have hundreds of organizations, including some of President Obama’s biggest supporters (like SEIU), receiving waivers and not being forced to participate.

Isn’t that special…?

The Donald – Donald Trump says he is considering a run for The Presidency.

Trump is trying to play the “Birther” card, and it’s going to backfire on him. He has been on a few networks now, and on The View, and discussed the Obama birth certificate issue, and he risks it blowing up in his face.

I don’t care where he really stands on the issue, but this is an issue a smart politician does not want to interject into the debate, if he is a considering a serious run at The Presidency. I could run against Trump and win, if he doesn’t shut up quickly about that non-starter.

I must say, however, that if he were to shut up about the birth certificate and talk about policy, that while he might not be elected President he certainly can bring some good ideas to the discussion.

Trump has run a very successful business, lost his way and made some very bad decisions, and recovered. Sound familiar, with need for the recovery to make the story complete?

Earlier I mentioned that survey I heard about on the radio, and I mentioned how personal the survey was, as compared to politics. Well, lately politics has become very personal. The hyper-partisan rhetoric surrounding the Libya “kinetic military action” is astounding.

Many people, including me, believed that America's decision to remove Saddam Hussein from power was the correct decision. The truth is out there – Congress largely supported the decision, including many Democrats who later lied about their own position, and with the help of the media those same Democrats have been able to get away with those lies.

Meanwhile, they have said that George W. Bush lied, which is simply not the case. All the information, provided to all leaders foreign and American, said that Hussein had WMD’s in the lead up to the Iraqi invasion.

Anyway – today we have a man in office who clearly sees himself as special. I mean, what are we to think, when he has acted in exactly the same manner he once deemed unjust, and his now-VP said was worthy of impeachment?

President Bush formed a coalition in the build-up to the invasion of Iraq. This coalition was larger than that of President Obama, regardless of the current media’s lack of ability to report that as fact.

Bush went before Congress and requested funding for his actions; Obama? Not so much.

President Obama did not lead, and has not led, for even one moment of the Libya “kinetic military action.”

Oh, by the way… the same lawyer who helped George W. Bush work-around the legal mess related to water boarding? He supports Obama’s invasion into Libya.

President Obama has stood on his heels and allowed others to make decisions, in the effort to “not offend” the world with America's media-created “bossiness,” or “meanness,” or whatever it is that liberal Americans are so afraid of.

America is a leader when American is led by leaders, and we are lacking a leader. We have a man with a handsome face who gives a good speech, when reading from his script. He has a set of policies that are hell-bent on destroying everything that I know America's founding to be.

So as I am able to, in hindsight, question the decisions I believed were correct, I am being told I am a partisan.

I am partisan, I’m told by those on the left, because as I examine my previous views and opinions and apply my findings to the current situation, I don’t like any of what I see this President doing. Must be the color of his skin, I am told, or the fact that I just hate him because he is a Democrat.

Actually, not so much.

Truth is I find this President’s actions eerily similar to actions taken by the Republican in office eight years ago. There’s a different presentation to the activities, but all in all the situation is looking less like the kind of thing America needs to be doing, and more like the kind of thing America has become caught up in doing, because we are the only nation that will.

Well, perhaps it is time America stop doing it all, for the entire world.

American Exceptionalism is not about using our military clout to spread liberty around the world; American Exceptionalism is about being exceptional in our liberty, and setting an example that all the world should want to follow.

America has lacked leadership for a long time. Some of the men we have elected to office have been good moral men, others not so much. Some have left office and become much more statesman-like than we ever expected, and others have become seen as gentlemen once they left office, much more clearly than they were ever given credit for having been, while they served.

What America needs more than anything right now is someone who will stand up and tell the world that we are going to take care of ourselves and to stay off our lawn. And should anyone mess with us? Strike, we shall, with the fury of the rattlesnake on the Gadsden.

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

To Not Speak Is To Speak

I have been quiet a while, I know.

I don't know how much I will write, but I am writing again, in more ways than one.

For the first time in years my guitars are coming out of their cases, and I am feeling good about my skills quickly this time. I am no Stevie Ray Vaughan, but I can strum a little, and I have a million thoughts going through my head. Life is good, and I am having fun.

I don't know exactly what it is.

Perhaps it is the beautiful springtime weather here in Phoenix, Arizona. Amazingly sunny and energetic days, cool yet not chilly evenings, and fresh air coming through my windows day & night.

Maybe it's a bit of a good vibe I have going at work; my workplace has some positive and forward thinking changes going on in the midst of the "recovery" we're being told we are experiencing.

Or it could possibly be the beautiful soul that has captured my heart... the woman I am eternally to grateful know, and privileged to call my girlfriend. Every moment I am with her is an adventure, and when I am not with her, I tell her "Baby… you where I want to be."

Duh. Winning.

Yes, I went there. Just when you thought you had heard the last about him.


Charlie Sheen.

Let me tell you something, Mr. Sheen.

(parental advisory, I am about to get honest and a little rough now)

Charlie, you are an asshole. Shut your mouth until you get some respect, you self-absorbed, inconsiderate, irresponsible little...

Boy.

I'd use another word that starts with "B" but I'd be insulting female dogs in the process.

Charlie Sheen experienced addiction. Good for him.

I too experienced addiction, and let me tell you - to stand before the entire world and claim that you are proud of "Banging seven-gram rocks" is just about the most irresponsible thing I have ever seen in my life, and trust me, I have seen and done some extremely irresponsible things.

Extremely. Irresponsible. Things.

Speaking of irresponsible...

I have not been writing because I decided I wanted to step back for a bit, get out of the blogging mindset, and reflect on the degree of my "partisan" attitude.

After a couple months or more of not being an active blogger, I will say with some great humility - there are some who "called me out" for being a bit hyper-partisan sometimes. I concur. Such is the nature of allowing ones self to become consumed with so much politics, I believe.

Yet in some cases, no matter the appearance, I am not a partisan. I am speaking straightforwardly as an American with no political axe to grind, only serious issues to address.

And this brings me to my point, as I come back to irresponsible:

Where the Hell is President Obama, as the world is literally on fire?

Mr. President, I'm damned glad you got your NCAA bracket completed. Now could you maybe pay attention to the millions of displaced, dead, and dying people in Japan?

Show some emotion. Say something inspirational, for God’s sake. Have a "Ronald Reagan moment."

You know, Ronald Reagan. The man who, as our leader, inspired America to greatness after one of the most depressing periods in our nation’s history?

The man who helped the world come together toward a peaceful resolution in the face of the Soviet Communist threat. Not the "Ronnie Raygun" your Huffington Post fan club constantly mocks, as if all he did was take a B-Movie acting career and turn it into political prowess.

Truth stands the test of time, and the truth is President Obama is no Ronald Reagan. Not even close.

I wanted to give this man a chance, since he seemed to get it… for about a minute. Granted his people and his swooning fan base swore the shooter was a right-wing militia type within minutes of the tragic shooting in Tucson, even though we have since come to learn that is the furthest thing from the truth, but nonetheless… I wanted to believe he was finally acting as the leader of all Americans.

I mentioned resolution. Sounds a bit like "revolution."

Say... isn't that what they're calling all that madness in the Middle East, the uprisings that your fan base is claiming you "inspired" with your incredibly intelligent and speeches about how the youth should rise up and "Hope" and Change" things?

Revolution, right?

Perhaps, Mr. President, since you were so inspirational to the youth in the Muslim world, you should take hold of that situation and "lead" those same youth by proxy to strive for real freedom - you know, the kind of freedom you claim you love so much every time you talk about the "rights" of public sector union workers...

Freedom. Freedom is what makes America the greatest nation on God's Earth. Freedom is not the ability for government to take taxes from all citizens through the mandatory collection service known as "Union Dues" and then give that money to a specific political party that "has your back."

That's called corruption.

Oh, and redistribution of wealth.

Certainly it is redistribution of income, since you (the government) take it directly out of the income of taxpayers who really do not realize how you and your cronies have worked the system in your favor. From my paycheck, through taxation, goes my income, into the paycheck of the public sector union member employee. From that person’s paycheck, through “union dues,” goes my income to the union. From the coffers of the union, through donations and other transactions, goes my income to the Democrat party. And from the Democrat Party comes higher taxes and more government employees, creating more unions and more union dues, and the ability to give union member public sector workers pay increases. And the beat goes on…

Freedom is about children having a real and honest opportunity for the best education available regardless of what “tenure” a person has, or the fact that some “collective bargaining agreement” says that someone can't be fired because they have "served" long enough they are untouchable, even if they are detrimental to the possible education of America’s youth..

Real teachers would give up collective bargaining in a minute if they were allowed to be truly concerned about the children and our future. Unfortunately they are instead mis-informed by their "union organizers" that they are being "screwed" by Republicans who are trying to "take away their rights." They then forget their primary concern, which in the case of most front-line educators really is the children. And the truth is that once a person has something, they certainly do not want it taken away, which makes the honest viewpoint of governors like Scott Walker in Wisconsin and John Kasich in Ohio all the more difficult to understand to the masses. Emotionally based arguments always play well with the crowd, and that’s what is going on in the polling on this subject. Anyone who could be put in front of the books of any level of government would soon see that we’re in deep, and it is going to take a lot of sacrifice by each and every one of us to work our way out. And that means “change.”

Remember “change?” We hoped for “change” and well… we got it.

We now have leadership that waits for the world to lead them. We have leadership that plays 18 holes of golf as one of our closest allies suffers one of the most horrific natural disasters in modern history. We have leadership that tells us that we all have to have some “skin in the game,” while dining on meals created of food beyond our wildest dreams and throwing parties like they are the owners of a nightclub or a country club or island resort.

Say a prayer for the people of Japan. Those people are so kind that a man apparently walked into a store and picked up ten bottles of water. As he walked toward the counter, he realized that if he took all ten, then others would not be able to have water, so he kept two bottles and returned eight to the shelf.

Another woman was apparently washing clothes – probably the only clothes she owned anymore, so she was in less than full dress. She reportedly apologized to someone for her “inappropriate” appearance. Can you imagine?

Imagine an American protester in Wisconsin acting with such humility. I struggle to see it as even possible after some of the things I saw them do and hearing the recordings of some of their statements. Not to mention the direct threat on the life of Governor Scott Walker and Republicans in the Wisconsin Legislature.

Yet the Tea Party people are violent, racist, and full of hate… so the media say.

God Bless.