Balance of Rights and Freedom:  Today the Supreme Court of the United States of America ruled that states have the right to require a photo ID to vote. The reason for such a common sense law is due to incredible voter fraud. I suspect that in Chicago alone we will see voting drop by 50%. The liberal side of our great country claim that this is unfair because it somehow discriminates against those who do not have a photo ID.  This is true to a degree, and that is the point.  If a person cannot prove their existence with the correct documentation then they should be prohibited from voting.  I am all in favor of the right to vote for all. I am glad that we no longer have polling stations for a specific race. I am glad that women can vote. I am glad that not just land owners can vote – but so can the most impoverished.  There is not test for intelligence (as is evident by the large amount of people who still vote Democrat).  Our polls are open to all citizens who are over 18 who want to vote (except those who have forfeited that right through the commission of a felony).

 

Citizenship is easy. If a person feels so strongly the need to exercise their right to vote, get an ID! If you whine about your rights, but won’t do the basics of proving who you are then your vote is obviously not that important.  While I have a lot of people who disagree with me, I am also glad, very glad, that there is a requirement to have a photo ID to fly in the US. Some have couched this in the argument that we have to have ID to travel, this is patently false. In fact, you can travel across the country without any ID. You can walk, take the bus, take a train, etc. But because of the incredible events in our RECENT past, we now need to assure that the person who is climbing onto that 200 passenger ICBM is not a potential threat to those who are flying, and thousands on the ground.  If you feel that your rights to privacy are more important then take the Greyhound.

 

Who I am:   According to McCain I am out of touch with reality because I question the credentials and the friends of one of the candidates running for President. According to Clinton I am part of a vast right wing conspiracy because I believe in the truth. According to Obama I am bitter because I cling to my Bible and a gun.  I will not be placed in a box by their weak rhetoric.  Mr. McCain, you sir are out of touch if you feel that you can tell the leadership of North Carolina what kind of ads they can run for their local candidates. Ms. Clinton, you are a liar and I am tired of everyone dancing around that word. You knew what your husband was doing, you were in the White House when it was happening, and you knew that it happened with dozens of other women prior.  You lied about Chelsea being around the WTC during 9/11 and you knew it. You lied about being under sniper fire in Bosnia. You are a liar.  It is who you are. And Mr. Obama, you have sat at the feet of a racist, you embrace racism. You throw your mother and grandmother under a bus the first chance you get, but embrace your father’s heritage when he was the one who abandoned you.  None of you are qualified to run this country as is evident by the way that you are running your candidacy.  This isn’t a race towards excellence, it is a battle to see who will make the least amount of mistakes.  Had  John Edwards stayed in it he would be the candidate.  Had ANYONE on the Republican side stayed in they would be the candidate.

 

Man, I miss Ronald Reagan.

I was reading about Jimmy Carter's latest antics today and then the next article featured a story of B.J. Clinton cussing after an interview regarding his wife. It made me think about some of the things that I have seen with our past Republican candidates. George Bush (41) did work with Clinton shortly to help restore New Orleans, and of course he was seen parachuting on his 80^th birthday. That's it. Nothing else. No campaigning for his sons, no traveling the globe to seek out hugs from terrorists. Nothing . Then I thought of Regan and Ford. Pretty much the same. Regan went to almost immediate seclusion because of his Alzheimer's Disease and Ford just decided to stay out of the light. But Jimmy and BJ just can't stay out of the spot light. They had more than their 15 minutes of fame and they crave more and more.

What causes this insatiable desire to keep in the public eye. Is it because of their joyful disposition and the desire to make mankind better? Not the case with Carter, he is going without being asked to greet people declared an enemy of the state (and will someone please revoke his passport!). For Clinton I am sure that it is just part of the penance that he has to pay for past "indiscretions". I am sure that he would love nothing more than to be back home in Harlem cruising the strip.

While not the president, I have a good idea of how I will spend my retirement, and it won't be following the leadership of these guys. I might write my memoirs and hope to sell 2-3 copies. I will learn to fish better, I will spend time with my grandkids. And if I ever see a picture of myself like either of these two guys I think that I will move to Teirra Del Fuego.

CNN Totally Misses the Point:

CNN ran an article today that I think totally missed the point. They had their shot, and they blew it. The link on the front page said "Hybrids are the New Hybrids". The link takes disappointed readers to More People Buying Hybrid Cars. What would have been appropriate would have been to compare the guy tinkering with his car 40 years ago to make it faster to the guy who now works on his car to help it get the best mileage possible. That is the new "backyard mechanic". Efficiency is the speed. Who cares if you can go zero to 250 in 6 seconds. It is now more important to be able to make that 50 mile commute with a gallon of gas, or a half a gallon. There are hundreds of web pages out there for people tweaking their hybrids to get better mileage – that is the story. When gas is nearing $4 a gallon in California it is hardly newsworthy that more people are interested in buying a hybrid.

Fickle Issues:

ABC News does this weekly poll (page 8) where they ask people the most important issues that they consider when looking at candidates. Fortunately for Democrats the issue of integrity has always ranked low. This means that the American people will gladly elect a politician who lies, makes up stuff, is a racist, corrupt, etc. Al Gore was right (and the only time that I can find) when he said "It's the economy stupid". He was just about 4 years late. The issue of the war has taken an 18 point dip in the last 8 months but the economy has surged 30 points. And no wonder. So the question is do we want an administration that will reduce our taxes to stimulate the economy or do we want a party whose slogan is "You make it, we take it"? It bothers me that our country is so numb to the issue of taxes that it bothers less than 1% of the populace. This was the issue that caused us to make that big break from King George. Abortion also is a 1% blip on the screen. A country that would willingly kill hundreds of its own citizens for the sake of convenience cannot be assumed to survive very long. Health Care (Hillary's big issue) is now only a concern for 7%.

Of course the all of these issues are important to some degree, it is really a matter of ranking. When we are seeing rising gas prices, unemployment rising, housing stalled, and the steady march towards a depressed economy it is no wonder that the economy is so important. Hopefully we can get someone to turn this around and at the same time reverse this course of total immorality that has become America.

Patriotism in America:

I listened to a couple of talk radio shows today, and read a great article in Time that really clearly defined the difference between one party and the other. One party has as its presidential candidate a person who refuses to wear an American flag pin on his lapel and who's wife says that she has never been proud to be an American. He sees America through the lens of all the things that are wrong with it. He seeks hope because he sees it as a desolate wasteland. The other candidate has served his country since his youth and is proud to be an American and sees all that is good.

This defines the difference in the world as I see it. I tend to look at the world as "Hey, this is a great place. We need to fix a few things, but it is good, and for the vast majority." But I keep hearing from the major media about how bad things are. Regan hit it on the head when he said "Republicans believe that every day is the Fourth of July, but Democrats believe that every day is April 15^th." Where is that kind of leader today? One that inspires us to be better than ourselves without telling us what victims we are.

The Tax Man Cometh: "[April 15] is the last day for filing income tax returns—a day that reminds us that taxpayers pay too much of their earnings to the Federal Government. And Americans will continue to pay too much money to the Federal Government until the Congress acts on our proposals to reduce tax rates across the board... While April 15 serves as a reminder, the people of the United States truly do not need to be reminded. They are victims of inflation, which pushes them into higher tax brackets. They are robbed daily of a better standard of living. They are discouraged from work and investment... Taxes are much too high to deal in half measures... The choice before us is clear. I strongly feel that the great majority of Americans believe that nothing would better encourage economic growth than leaving more money in the hands of the people who earn it. It’s time to stop stripping bare the productive citizens of America and funneling their hard-earned income into the Federal bureaucracy. Today is a day when the people reaffirm their commitment to our system by contributing a portion of their income to the Government. Americans have always been prepared to pay their fair share, but today they should make it clear to all elected officials that government has gone beyond its bounds and that the people will not tolerate the ever-increasing tax burden they have experienced in recent years.” —Ronald Reagan

Continuation of the Midwest Democratic Hypocrisy Tour: This week Barrack H Obama continued his attempts to alienated everyone in America when he described people in small towns in Pennsylvania as bitter people holding on to their guns and religion. Wow, guns and religion! Too bad the Constitution doesn't protect American's with the right to bear arms or the freedom of religion. Oops, it does. And it is obvious again that the Senator from Illinois hasn't read the Constitution. Hillary was quick to jump on him for his insensitive remarks until someone asked her when was the last time that she went to church or fired a gun. They were told that it wasn't relevant. Its only relevant when you are talking about someone else I suppose.

Today's Hillary Gaffe: I just read a fascinating story about this really emotional story that Hillary tells of a woman who has no health care, is making minimum wage, and has a baby die because she is denied care because of the lack of insurance. Then the girl herself later dies. A heart wrenching story so typical of America today. Well, at least typical of Hillary because nothing in the story is true. The hospital denied that the girl was denied treatment, in fact was treated. And the girl had insurance. But, the liberal crowds will swallow this because the truth doesn't matter, only the reason for the yarn.

Meanwhile Al Gore will fly on a private jet somewhere to tell the world to use less oil.
John Edwards will sit in his multi-million dollar mansion drafting a speech on poverty.
Barrack Obama will listen to a message on the hatred of white people and think about unity.

Church and State: There has always been a delicate tightrope of when the government gets involved in issues.  Because of a strong faith and an understanding that our country was founded on the principles of religious freedom I tend to favor the religion in just about any situation where the government interferes.  There are times when I adamantly disagree with the doctrine or practices of religious group, however I think that they need the protection from the state. My own faith has at its roots animal sacrifices, something that I find disgusting. But if the members of Santeria want to kill a chicken in the practices then they should have that freedom.

Where the conflict comes is when the religious practices fly in the face of the law and general common sense. I lived in The Bay when the Jonestown Massacre occurred. The government was correct what was believed to be a dangerous cult. They were right and 913 people died.  The government was right to look into this, although they didn’t have the capability to stop the mass suicides. Then 16 years later I watched as the government raided the Branch Davidian compound at Mt. Carmel, TX. This was a situation where the government was responding to an accusation of abuse by a former member and used the guise of “Child Protective Services” to raid the compound. While there was no evidence that abuse ever actually occurred they went in. The Davidians, feeling that the apocalypse was happening open fired to defend their compound and the results were tanks rolling through their compound 51 days killing 76.  Had the Davidians allowed the government to interview all the members maybe this wouldn’t have happened. But, the government has a responsibility to investigate claims of abuse.

This weekend the government staged a raid that is much larger in scope than Waco was. Again Texas is the site of a massive raid, this time on the 1,900 acre campus of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, the well known polygamist cult who’s leader, Warren Jeffs, was arrested a couple of years on various charges stemming from his arranging of marriages. Arranged marriages have happened throughout the ages and still occur in many countries.  This cult believes in polygamy as do many cultures across the globe. This church believes in child brides, as do many cultures around the world. The difference here is that our culture does not allow for these three practices (polygamy, child brides, and arranged marriages) and there is no culture of which I am aware that allows for all three of these practices.  So in that, they have rather pushed the edge of tolerance. This cult should probably have found a culture that has tolerance for these beliefs and moved there. But instead they build a massive temple in the middle of Texas to shove it in the face of those who object. 

When the Texas Rangers showed up with warrants to search, seize, and arrest those involved in alleged abuse the members of the cult did the right thing. They laid down their weapons (with really cool night vision scopes by the way) and opened the gates. They removed 52 children without incident.

The focus on the raid was a 16 year old girl who was married to a guy who is over 50 (creepy!) and fathered a child with her. It is apparent at this time that the girl didn’t want to be married and thus the child is a product of rape.  This is probably a proper intervention from the government and a correct response by the cult. If this girl was forced into the marriage then now she can be free of this sex-slave relationship.  I hope that the father of the girl is also arrested for allowing this. If I believe in arranged marriage (and I am not even getting into that right now) and I put a marriage together for one of my daughters and she objected, then I am just as much to blame as the husband, maybe more.

The government needs to respect the beliefs of a group, but there is a time for the government to investigate and prosecute those who break our laws.

 

Obamination:  This week the liberal heir-apparent for the Democrat part nod made another startling statement which reveals both his political views and his inexperience as a politician. He said “Look, I got two daughters — 9 years old and 6 years old . . I am going to teach them first about values and morals, but if they make a mistake, I don’t want them punished with a baby. I don’t want them punished with an STD at age 16, so it doesn’t make sense to not give them information.”  I have “punishments” in my family. Some members have made decisions in the heat of passion that resulted in some of the most beautiful children in the world.  I don’t know one single person who didn’t think “I wish that I would have waited”, but I also don’t know one of them who feel that the product of that passion was anything other than a blessing later. Out of love for these beautiful children I will not give specifics, but leave it that they are great people who have added wonderfully to our lives. At times I have wanted to embrace them, at times I have wanted to just smack them – but the same can be said for my own children.

 

The flaw in Senator Obama’s comment is that it is based on a plan for failure. He said that he is going to first teach them about values and morals, but “if they make a mistake”…  This is the assumption that his leadership in the home will not prevail. Rudy struggled with this issue when he had a child who was supporting a liberal (don’t remember, doesn’t matter). As a parent it is my primary responsibility in life to raise those children in the best way possible. We shape their thinking to help them make good choices. Failure is not an option.  But for the freshman Senator (and absolutely the worst qualified candidate ever to run for President) he plans to lead his family through failure.

When the Sheep are Flying its Time to Run! When I was a young boy I remember my dad (at work) talking with my mom (at home). He said that he was looking out the window and could see sheep flying by his windows. Quick, what do you do? A lot of people might run to the car to grab a camera, most would probably go outside to look. A lot of people upon hearing this would dismiss it as a hoax. But, the few wise people would quickly run to an inner room and brace for the tornado that is about to destroy your building.

It is interesting to me the reaction that I have gotten from some people since I have become more open about my views of our declining economy. There will be many who want to pretend that nothing is going to happen, and if I am wrong then their life will remain unchanged. But there are some who would openly mock this view. I would welcome this kind of disagreement if there was any evidence to point that I am wrong. I would love that kind of hope! But I just don't see it. What I do see is more and more people talking about the potential of the future, and some are saying that the crash that I think is going to happen next year might be coming sooner.

• Glenn Beck, the incredible CNN anchor and commentator compares it to a $53 trillion dollar astroid about to crash into the earth. The link will show you his math.
• The Independent, a UK newspaper, is calling this the Great Depression of 2008. They report on our own governments projections of the highest number of people on food stamps since the program was started in the 1960's.

The Telegraph from India questions whether this is a short term depression or whether it is "deep and protracted". In their eyes it isn't even a question as to if it will happen (same with Beck and The Independent) but how had it will be. Regardless of when it happens or how bad it will happen, there is hope out there for those who feel that the government will fix it. There are already proposals from the presidential candidates offering their solutions. However all of them give the same solution - raise taxes and give it to those who have the least amount. That works when we only have 28,000,000 people on welfare, but what happens when it is 100,000,000 or 150,000,000?

To those who think that the government can fix anything, I would remind you that nearly 2-1/2 years after Katrina that New Orleans still has not been rebuilt.

The sheep are flying...what are you going to do?