Tea Partiers, Eric Cantor, Hurricane Irene and Others

    Saturdays are usually my running off at the keyboard day and today is no exception. Earlier in the summer severe tornadoes destroyed towns in the Midwest and Republican Eric Cantor from Virginia stated that the funds just were not there to assist. I can't help but wonder if Mr. Cantor will feel the same way about Virginia after Irene passes. The Tea Party people think they are so focused on the Constitution and "Grass Roots" issues. The reality is they have been corrupted by big money just like the other political parties. While I am on the Tea Party movement, did you ever notice they want the government out of every one's business except their own. Cut spending, unless it is for them. Yeah, that is the way we care about our neighbors. Irene has brought the nations capital to a standstill, problem was nobody noticed, they thought it was business as usual. Speaking of D.C., did you see the cracks in the Washington Monument. They were almost as big as the one in Pat Robertson's head. He claimed, again, the earth quake and the hurricane is God's way of letting us know that the time is approaching for his return. I don't know about you, but when God is ready to return, he does not need to make any formal announcements, he will just be here. Sad news that Steve Jobs is stepping down at Apple. He has definitely been a game changer in the business world. My hope and prayers go out to Mr. Jobs and his family. I will be glad to get the politicians back to Washington as they end their vacations. I seriously need a good laugh.

Politics As Usual. That Is The Problem.

George Bush flies in onto an aircraft carrier and states, "Mission Accomplished." Mr. Bush starts two wars over faulty Intel and with no end game. Mr. Bush never was able to capture Bin Laden. Moammar Gadhafi thumbed his nose at several U.S. presidents. Mubarak had a long dictatorial reign in Egypt. Richard Nixon illegally entered Cambodia and extended the Vietnam war. During George Bush's watch, 9-11 occurred. Lyndon Johnson expanded our involvement in Vietnam until it became one of the biggest debacles in American history. John Kennedy had the Bay of Pigs. Bill Clinton was accused of violating the war powers act. Jimmy Carter had the Iranian hostage disaster. What do each of these unrelated issues have to do with today. Under our current President, Bin Laden was captured and killed with a daring raid. The Somalian Pirates were executed and the hostages freed. The draw down of troops are under way, should have been sooner, in Iraq and Afghanistan. Libya has lifted the yoke of tyranny and is trying to start a new time of freedom. Egypt is working on it's democracy. My point with all of this, is where are all the supporters of the President. The critics (Republicans) have crawled out from the woodwork to complain about the failures of the U.S. armed forces in Libya. John McCain and Lindsay Graham, used the word failure when discussing the U.S. actions in the NATO bombings. Anyone who dared to question Mr. Bush after 9-11 were automatically labeled, traitors and Un American. Mr. Obama has done more for the security of America, then most of his predecessors and yet nobody seems to notice. The Republicans have long tried to say they were the party of national defense and yet history belies that as, false. The Democrats have done a much better job of protecting us. It is time, once again to place party politics to the side and thank the president for working hard to keep us safe and to end the American intervention in other countries. For once stand up and tell the truth.  

"I Have A Dream"

Those words will forever be linked to Dr. Martin Luther King. Today a new monument was unveiled in our nations capital and Dr. King now over looks the Potomac River. He is the first black honored on the National Mall with a memorial and I believe the time is well overdue. Dr. King talked, not only about the necessity of progress for black Americans, he spoke about the progress of all Americans. Too often people only saw black when he spoke and thus the message would be lost on many people. If you go back and listen to many of his talks, he stressed the need to help people of all backgrounds. He spoke of the need for all of God's children to come together and create the America, that our forefathers had indeed envisioned. When I speak of the necessity of leadership and someone who has a vision and direction for America, I only wish Dr. King was here today to lead. Just like Dr. King, I have a dream for America, and the only thing our leaders are giving us is a nightmare.

Why Don't We Form Lynch Mobs and Go After the Poor?

    I had a debate the other day we some people on face book, concerning the drug testing of welfare recipients. I argue that we are spending money to identify a problem that we know exists, and is actually small. The few people we would catch, and then what, throw off welfare and food stamps, is not worth the cost and will not solve the problem of drug abuse. I even had, some enlightened individual tell me that drug addiction is not a disease.
    Here is my proposal. First let's all stop pointing our collective fingers at, poor people, immigrants, unemployed people, middle class people, (including teachers, union workers of any type, nurses, fire fighters, police officers and any others that the elite wants us fighting against) and the down trodden members of American society. Instead let us start looking where the elite do not want us looking. The corporations, CEO's, politicians and the wealthy elite. These are the people responsible for the current situation in our country. So I propose we start with drug testing this group. I happen to believe that unless you are an idiot or on drugs, as a leader, you would not allow the situation in America to be at this point. Let's see how many of our leaders can stand up to the scrutiny that we place upon average citizens. These are the people that have the means to get any drug they want and yet we have to go after the poorest among us. I feel like I am watching a David Copperfield show. You know how he uses misdirection to draw attention away from the stunt. This is what America's leaders are doing. They keep us looking at each other and meanwhile they are robbing us blind. The poorest Americans are faced each and every day with no hope of moving forward in our society. They face the bleak prospect that their children will face an economic future dimmer then theirs. They become despondent and will turn to alcohol and drugs. They need hope. They need good paying jobs. They need education for themselves and for their children. That is how we change the welfare society into productive members. We stop the cycle of poverty.
    Some facts for everyone to think about. Personal welfare in the form of , school lunch and breakfast programs, WIC, food stamps, nutrition education and other food health care programs costs the federal government approximately $55 billion a year. The other side is corporate funding either directly or indirectly, grants to fortune 500 companies and big agriculture corporations costs us about $127 billion a year. All of this and we want to test mothers, who receive help in raising their babies. I understand that there are abuses in the welfare system, but should we not be as vocal about corporate welfare as we are for babies?
    My last point for today is this. The last two years I was convinced that people wanted President Obama out of office for racial reasons. I know that there is some of that, however I am now sure that they want him out because he offered hope. Hope for a better life now. Hope for a better life for our children. Hope that America would once again become a country, "For the people". They want to destroy hope and change. They want their power and for the system to continue to work for the rich. The sad part is that each time we turn are negative attention on one of us, they win. We can not let the bastards win!

Should We Elect A Former Texas Governor As President?

For those of you too young to remember I will let you off the hook, for all others you should have your head examined if you think Rick Perry would make a good President. We are still recovering from George Bush's presidency and should keep this in mind. Not only does he walk and talk like the former President, he shoots his mouth from the hip, just like a certain ex-president. His philosophy is the same Republican mantra for the last fifty years. Cut spending and cut taxes for the "job creators". I will address this concept of "job creators" in a later post. What Mr. Perry does not mention is that Texas, yes there were more jobs started there then any state, used the federal stimulus money to pay 97% of its budget shortfall. The same money he railed against. Next year the Texas budget, has a deficit of $12 billion. Texas has a terrible record on health care. Thirty percent of children in Texas are uninsured, along with twenty two percent of the entire population is uninsured. They rank 48th out of fifty states in health care. The rank number four in child poverty. These are not the areas that they want to be ranked so low in. Rick Perry fails to mention that he does want to eliminate Social Security. This is money we have paid into for forty to fifty years and he does not support it. He will push social and far right social agendas. He will try to push the clock back to a time when our seniors could not live comfortably because companies did not have a real pension plan. Rick Perry has stated that our President is the greatest problem we face in America today. I say that going down the same pothole laden road we just came over, with a Texas Governor as President is the greatest problem we face. Texas can keep Perry.

Women Should Be Submissive!

Michelle Bachman on' "Meet The Press" tried to explain that when she said she should be submissive to her husband their meaning was "respect" to each other. I have news for you if I told my wonderful wife, Pat, she had to be submissive to me, not only would she tell me to go to hell, she would give me directions and help start me on my way. I happen to feel that she would be right. I looked up the word submissive and the synonyms were, docile, obedient and compliant. No where was the word respect used. The idea that in today's world, after the hard work by many women, that a person who is in Congress and wants to be President, would utter something so ridiculous is beyond believe to me. Pat and I show each other respect. We do not have to be subservient to each other. Slavery, in any form is terrible and people with any intelligence should view it as it is, wrong. I understand that some people want to hold on to their Biblical believes and I will not deny them their rights to warship in their way, but do not attempt to lay those ideals on to the rest of the country. Keep them within your religious community only. Electing Bachman, who would we get? Marcus, running the country and pulling the strings behind the scenes. If he wants to run let him come forward and place his ideas in front of the electorate. I have many other issues with Bachman and if she continues to be out front during the primary season I will talk more about those. I do happen to agree with a commentator, who stated, "Michele Bachman has as much chance of landing on Jupiter, as she does getting the Republican nomination or being elected President. For all of our sakes let's hope he is correct. Women deserve our love, respect and admiration, not our commands.

New Blog.

I have started my latest writing experiment. My new blog is Father, thinks he, Knows Best. At the bottom of this blog is a link. My new venture is a way to have fun and get some relief from the frustrating world of politics. Join me as I relate how easy it is for a "baby boomer" to think he has the world figured out and how I arrived at this point in life. I am sure there will be times that people disagree with how I tell my story, but it is after all my blog and I can tell it the way I remember the facts. If you disagree, and I am sure my wife and daughters will at times, then you are welcome to share your side and slant on the story. I also invite anyone to join with their stories about life, parenting, grand parenting and being a spouse. Like I said it is meant to be comfortable and relaxing. You know, it almost sounds like and old shirt or pair of shoes. Join me.