On the backporch with Uncleben ..

the slippery slope ..

2011-02-17T09:00:00.000-08:00

Liberalism has been in charge for so long that we can no longer survive in the manner we would expect. In the beginning we were all pretty much conservative to our toes and never bumped into ‘liberalism’ as we know it today. We relied on no one, we took care of our own and never thought otherwise. What was ours was ours to do with what we wished within the boundaries of Christian acceptability.

Liberalism has robbed us of our self-reliance, our independence our ‘can do’ attitudes, attacked our moral values to the point that ‘almost’ anything goes, and turned us into a Nanny State/Country where nothing is sacred with the exception of the most current liberal stance.

Conservatives foolishly think that what is theirs is theirs while the liberal looks at that growth and dreams up ways to ‘redistribute’.. Today the hard working conservative is frustrated by the obstacles put in his way by the ignorant, arrogance of liberalism.. If one considers themselves a liberal I might suggest (maybe with the ratchet of a twelve gauge) that they make it personal with themselves as the target, becoming the donor of their efforts rather than the recipient. A conservative does not mind sweating for his goals and considers it an abomination for someone else to usurp that which his sweat has paid for, sometimes quite dearly..

The GIVING of ‘stuff’ causes much more grief than one would imagine. The answer is SIMPLE.. Kids and public housing are living proof.. The more you give, the less they appreciate, and you’ve fostered an ENTITLEMENT mentality. Multiply that by all of those on the various social programs and you have some 47% percent of households being carried by the rest of us.. Enter tax refund items such as THE UNEARNED TAX CREDIT.. Those that pay little or nothing are ENTITLED to much more than they paid in, IF ANY. No need to remind one where that comes from, since our favorite government has no money other than what they TAKE from working folks..

Uncleben ..

The Obama interview ..

2011-02-09T11:37:00.000-08:00

The truth of the Obama-O’Reilly interview…

We won’t go over the lies Obama was caught in but there were a couple of telling comments uttered by him.

One was the fact that he states that fully half the population favors this boondoggle of a health reform bill. This totally ignores the overwhelming rejection in the House and the 26 states that are going to court against this embarrassing chapter in the history of dereliction of duty by those entrusted with the trust of voters.

The really telling comment was his “what I’m NOT going to do is spend the next two years rehashing what took us two years to get passed..” What this actually means is he, even though he did not/has not read the health bill, is much too arrogant and ego-lead to do what needs to be done to actually give the people of this country a health bill that allows them the freedom to take care of themselves..

How much better for him and the country to have challenged the legislative body to come up with a bill that would be overwhelmingly endorsed by voters, challenge them to ACTUALLY READ the damn thing, forego the self-serving pontification of confusing legalese and allow nothing in the bill that had little relationship to health care.

When they ALL mention cutting entitlements they restrict it to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. Damn. These are the only programs we ALL pay into with the assumption that they will be there when we need them. The rest of the social programs apparently are exempt because why? Are they somebody’s pet project?

What about fraud in all social programs, how about waste in all government agencies, how about the inept wastefulness of grossly large amounts of TAX PAYER money given to countries that do not have the leadership to actually benefit.. Haiti comes to mind.. Just one of a gazillion such bungling governments they prop up with OUR money..

Why do we have a so-called ELECTED government if the their first act once in office VIOLATES The Constitution? When was the last time you really felt REPRESENTED? Do you really think that this poorly qualified, far left politician cares one whit about any but his own agenda?

Have you had enough of this guy yet?

Uncleben ..

800 Pound Gorilla...

2011-01-12T12:29:00.000-08:00

I’ve decided that the term ‘responsibility’ must be in our dictionary by mistake…or maybe we should have another called ‘political responsibilities’.. AND a mandatory participation in a class for all elected officials so that it may become ‘certified’ that they are aware of the meaning of the term.. and most importantly, can be held accountable for failing to be so..

As of now, we appear to have very little responsibility in the political arena. The proof of that is staggering and all over the place.

Is it responsible to: vote on anything neither you nor your staff have read, vote on something that is obviously unconstitutional, vote on something unpopular in your district (after all, those are the folks you swore to represent ARE THEY NOT?), fail to remember that most government monies come from taxes on working Americans who EXPECT you to respect that simple fact? Is it responsible to fail to be fiscally accountable with your staffing and budget expenses, and….. the bleeping list never ends in the ways our politicians are irresponsible and disrespectful of the job they were elected to do.

They tell us the solution is at the ballet box.. Not so.. The ballet box has been corrupted by liberal judges. The solution is for the ballet to be restricted to those that are gainfully employed or retired from gainful employment, to have the vote to be a product of the fruits of ones labor, to have a mandatory drug test prior to receiving ANY KIND of supplement check…and probably a few other revoltingly good ideas.

Before one decides to behead me I have one more argument for the above… It’s real simple. The current state of affairs, due to the successes of the shrill vocals of minority groups and liberalism in our education, HAS QUIT WORKING. We now have a very unconstitutional government that has an 800 pound gorilla in every facet of our lives…and it’s eating all our food..

Uncleben ..

And we let this happen??

2010-12-30T07:52:00.001-08:00

Read some about Sharia law and pay attention. We have judges in this country that are putting Sharia law about our Constitutional laws, basing it on the fact that is untouchable as religious beliefs.

This is as unacceptable as would a religious sect that practices cannibalism. The argument before the courts would be the same, both seriously butt heads with our Christian values. Why is this even be entertained? We are allowing these liberal judges to strip us of our gonads.

‘Politically correct’ has become the virus that will kill us all. We have created social programs to the point that a growing number of people in this country are becoming parasites of the system, living off the fruits of the rest of us. There are parables all through the Bible condemning those that make slaves of others by any means…and that would include our current social crutches that have made far too many of us cripples, unable and/or unwilling to do for ourselves.

Unemployment benefits have an unsavory side effect…They minimize ones desire to seek employment. No one seriously looks for employment when there is little need to do so.. All of which makes unemployment benefits counter-productive at best. Store personal pride in the closet and partake of the fruits of others.. Seems to be distinctly un-American…to me. The pox on you if you disagree…

Our ELECTED representatives of both parties have become little more than pimps for those that can afford lobbyists. Actually, our ELECTED representatives have become parasites with a gold plated future, their values having deserted them to make room for their self-serving agendas.

None of this is conjecture. It’s out there in plain sight but we dare not look…for we might have to hold ourselves accountable…for doing NOTHING. Hard to argue with a true liberal…as they have no ears..and their eyesight is appalling. The one thing that does work is their vocal cords, as they can spout their drivel over ANYBODY.

I’ve been told my gift is Discernment.. I’m beginning to think of it as a curse.

Discrimination..

2010-12-22T10:18:00.000-08:00

We, as a nation, have always been taught that discrimination is a bad thing.. Yet our federal government may be the single biggest perp. At this time of year the tax code is front and center as a prime example of discrimination..

Different tax rates for different levels of personal income is blatant in its discrimination.. Same can be said for the social security payroll deduction when those that make $$$gazillions pay no more than those that make $109,000 (the current cap).

A perfect example of a FAIR tax (fair in that it treats us ALL the same) is the federal gas tax. Tiger Woods pays the same percentage of tax on his fuel as we do.. In my opinion that makes that tax (while tough to swallow) one that is fairly administrated.

While not in the forefront of discriminatory abuses the perks, retirement pay, health benefits etc. of our self-proclaimed royalty are almost vulgar in their discrimination towards the taxpayer, based on our required participation in programs from which they have exempted themselves.

A lack of term limits for none except The President fosters a situation where each additional term in office further removes our representatives from the reality of life as we the represented ones…know it to be. How can they be effective under that sort of isolation? They can not but…the gate’s been left open and they change the rules they operate under to fit their particular agenda.

The watchdog of a news media is naught but a shadow of its former self, a groupie whore to the whims of the liberal biased of this country.

Uncleben ..

Off with their heads!

2010-12-22T09:54:00.000-08:00

From the internet..

jimcraigs
1:46 PM Dec 9, 2010
"It's time for the rich to "pay up". Nearly 10 years of low taxes for the rich have not created jobs. They live in the lap of luxury while the rest of us can't even get a COLA on our Social Security checks. Go Democrats!”

???? I wish someone could explain this vein of thinking without any embellishment from liberal cousins to that way of looking at things.. My first question would be..’how many jobs have you seen a poor man create?’

My next question would be..’what’s mine is mine… By what legitimate line of reasoning makes anything that’s MINE become yours…unless I SELL IT TO YOU..?’

The high tax rate today is 35%.. To those that do not grasp that let me explain… 35% means that for every $100 dollars you make $35.00 of that goes to the government…right off the top. That’s before you pay for ANYTHING else.. Also, the top tax bracket is 350% more than the lowest tax bracket.. That’s 3 ½ times as much tax.. Can we hear it again about the tax break for the top wealthiest money makers?

The ‘loopholes’ that allow the rich to ‘cheat on their taxes’ are naught but business deductions allowed in the tax code.. Time to stop whining about those that have more than we do and thank them for the jobs we have…

As far as the ’jimcraigs’ comment concerning COLA on SS checks…maybe he should look to his favorite Democrats for the culprits, as they have been in control for the vast majority of the last thirty some-odd years..

Maybe we should have a mandatory national class on Personal Responsibility with a secondary class on 20/20 vision when looking in the mirror plus a required study on the process of creating jobs..

Uncleben ..

The ignorance of new taxes ..

2010-04-15T07:13:00.000-07:00

All this political talk about raising taxes to pay our staggering deficits should scare us all. That type of thinking is a poorly constructed, knee-jerk reaction, highlighting a gross case of serious economic nearsightedness. Raising taxes stifles the economy, effectively rendering any chance of a meaningful recovery a second cousin to wishful thinking.

The cure is actually relatively simple and impossible. You hold Obama to the campaign promise of going over the budgets of all government agencies with a scalpel, you turn the focus of the IRS on government funded fraud, you quit printing money, you quit increasing budgets, you quit forming new government agencies, and you forget raising taxes in any form. You also impose a two-term term limits with no perks, forcing our legislators back into the reality of real America. With those things set in concrete your investors once again become willing to invest in all the things that produce jobs, which is where the economic focus should be.

When people have money to spend they spend it. If they don’t they don’t; a lesson lost on our government. Money taken from me and given to China does nothing for America. Money I spend goes back into the economy and is spent many times over. One is a total loss system; the other continues to work endlessly.

Uncleben ..

Choice ..

2010-03-24T11:15:00.001-07:00

The whole platform of the ‘Pro Choice’ movement is skewed to the left of responsible. They have ‘the choice’ from the beginning but that’s not good enough. If the results of their ‘choice’ turn out badly they want to change the ‘choice’..

To participate in unprotected sex is an obvious choice. Once the act is consummated the results are no longer subjected to any ‘choice’ other than what’s best for the child that many have been created.

In my 'biased' opinion your abortion rights are a figment of the imagination. Once one has become pregnant one's 'rights' are superseded by the rights of new life just created. It is repugnant to me to even consider 'abortion rights' as something one has garnered by being irresponsible, especially when the cost is the life of the innocent.

To even try to tie gun rights to something as horrific as abortion is a typical liberal ploy. The Constitution guarantees me the right to own firearms. It's quite a stretch to think The Constitution comes anywhere near giving one the right to take the life of the most innocent of all of us...ESPECIALLY when, in most cases, the abortion is a very selfish act compounded by an effort to 'back up' from one of the most irresponsible acts I can think of.. Just another act in the play of instant gratification with not a smidgen of responsibility.. Too damn bad this is what we've come too.. HE is greatly disappointed

Everything and everybody has a beginning. That point of beginning is not up to interpretation but IS open to self-serving rhetoric coupled with total denial of reality.

Once the egg and the sperm have a successful meeting life begins. It would be impossible to pinpoint another time without ignoring the obvious. Life ends for the embryo when it dies, regardless of the means. When we are talking about death by the hand of man we are talking about murder.

All the dancing around with words of choice, endangerment, defects, control over our bodies etc. is but self-centered justification that is allowed only by the ultimate in liberal thinking disguised as righteous indignation of the audacity of others to thing otherwise...

Basically, in most cases, it is little more than a deadly covering of ones ass (no pun intended) for a gross lack of responsibility and the shirking of basic common sense. Finger pointing, in other words, something that has become a national disgrace.

In the case of incest and rape...life's a crap shoot. You deal with what you're dealt. As horrific as both those crimes are I'd find it hard to justify it with the death of the innocent. If one loses their sight, hearing, becomes paralyzed, etc. we simply have no choice but to deal with it. Death by the hand of another is not an option. In the case of an unwanted or uncontrolled circumstance pregnancy there is always adoption.

The whole idea of abortion is just that.. An abortion. A self-serving pox on the human race.

Uncleben ..

A Different voice

2010-03-08T12:39:00.000-08:00

Different voice, same song... We've reached the age of 'entitlement'.. (if I don't have what you have then I'm 'entitled' to yours...)

This all started with the end of the Civil War.. The federal government had all the power.. FDR did his part with the beginnings of social programs and Johnson's Great Society finished it off. ALL your college professors are ultra liberal (they are professors for the simple reason being that they are unable to function in a conservative environment so they run back to the only liberal safehouse they know....and that is our colleges.. the ones our kids go to...Gag!)

The Democratic Party is by and large all lawyers. Nuff said? No? Okay...The ultimate parasite in this country is a liberal. Lawyers are all (okay, almost all....) liberals. Their sole goal is to circumvent the law. Justice? Little more than a seven letter word. Winning is their god. The Hell with right and wrong.. Their fees prove the blood sucker image... Show me a poor lawyer and you'd be looking at one that cheated his way through law school..

Taxes on the taxpayer is a given.. They make an easy target.. Millions of them....with the corresponding millions of DIFFERENT voices..if they speak up at all... No chance against the law of lawyers.. Case in point... Texas has a Constitution that forbids an income tax... Sooooo, they call it a franchise tax, a margins tax, a gross receipts tax, etc... All of those are (ahem) illegal taxes for they are nothing if they are not income taxes. It's all an end run. Since the corporation is not 'a person' they tax the income of the 'non person'... Uh oh... The gross receipts tax means your 'corporation' can lose your ass and still owe on your total gross receipts...

Personally I think they (our politicians) should serve their term (limits) pro bono.. Now there's no incentive to make it a career. Do their four to eight years and go back to the real world.. Term limits. That's the rule for the President soooooo...make it universal..

Taxes are so outrageous that they make us all outlaws...

Uncleben ..

Read the damn thing..

2009-12-04T11:32:00.001-08:00

Is there any wonder our country is in its current condition? Could it possibly be the unacceptable work ethic of those elected to govern?

We cannot lie to Congress but they can certainly lie to us. They spend millions questioning major league sports. So we can assume that is more important than fixing say, Social Security? Or the unconstitutional acts of government? Or the never ending list of government meddling, such as in health care?

Legislative bills are being passed by our elected representatives with little knowledge of just what their vote is about. This happens for the simplest of reasons; they do not bother to read them, nor to break it down and have staff members read them, relying instead on the spin by the author(s) and supporters. This lack of conscientious representation borders on being as criminal as a con game.

They say ‘get out and vote’. We do, but the choices are bad and worse. Then we have to deal with the government funded organizations like ACORN. We have given the vermin control of the hen house, and there is never an egg that has not been compromised.

Uncleben ..

call inept... inept ..

2009-12-04T11:27:00.000-08:00

We need to quit soft-pedaling around this President. That simply makes it a racial thing. Call it like it is. The man has no experience making decisions, and certainly not the kind that affect every citizen in this country. Obama got elected by arrogance, ignorance, stupidity, and possible illegal sleight of hand voter registration. Now he’s The President.. And making a total mess of it.

He had/has no idea of the magnitude of the responsibilities his position demands, he is overwhelmed with the bling available to him as President, and is making a mockery of the prestige, symbolism, and the world wide impact of the power of The President of The United States of America. He equates his election to that office as a means of opportunity for an extension of his personal view of The United States (he did not grow up here with a history of growing up here so…how does he even have one that’s remotely accurate?).

He shows little restraint in the wasting of taxpayers dollars as he has little concept of the struggle of the average American (he has, after all, never been ‘there’). His gross number of Czars goes a long ways in proving the notion that he is not good at making decisions, that also being bolstered by the fact that he has given Congress total control over making an abortion of the health insurance issue with no guidance from him.

We all need to be more adept at reading body language, as his short comings are readily seen in his daily invasions of your home via the television. The mirror is his guru in how he portrays himself on screen. He equates emphatic facial expressions as proof of the brilliance of his speeches/decisions. I find it ludicrous that he does not give his well qualified generals the credibility to be accurate in their needs, thinking that his election automatically gives him the depth of knowledge needed to override their experience.

Remember this: He has never been in a position of making decisions for which he has to answer to the responsibility, he has never made his own way, he tries to ‘blend in’ so’s not to make waves, he’s been told so many time that he ‘is brilliant’ that he actually believes it, he’s thin skinned, narcissist and vindictive (but always from the shadows, as in the firing of the CEO of GM). His only real claim to fame is that he fooled enough voters to get elected, and the price will be paid over decades and generations.

We need to have the O’Reilly’s of the media to ‘tell it like it is’ rather than this ‘bending over backward’ to be ‘fair to Obama’ that permeates our news media. He is a national disaster that is happening NOW.

Uncleben ..

This is ludicrous ..

2009-11-13T06:20:00.000-08:00

This administration borders on ludicrous and we are all going to pay an exorbitant price, as are our kids and grandkids. Due to the watchdogs being predominately asleep and the self-serving interests of those in places of power we now have a President, the leader of the most powerful country in this world and Commander in Chief of the most powerful military in this world, whom has little credit for ever having made a decision that he could be held accountable for, taking this wonderful country into harms way that may very well be irrevocable.

He surrounds himself with those with radical and self-serving agendas, circumvents Congress with his unprecedented number of Czars (whose authority authorized their pay grade and the funds to pay them?), paints transparency with multiple layers of opaque paint, through guile and ignorance has allowed his arrogance to make the careers and training of our war Generals irrelevant to the safety of our country and turns a deaf ear to the very ones he was elected to serve.

This key word, ‘serve’, is quickly becoming the first obligation to be tossed aside by those elected to represent us and replaced with ‘self-serving greed’.

Most of us want health reform but the reform we want is for government to get out of the health care business. The PUBLIC OPTION we want is for government to OPT OUT.

Uncleben ..

Government without The Constitution invites fraud ..

2009-11-05T12:11:00.000-08:00

The problem with national health care, surprise, is the federal government. With Uncle Sam paying the bills the fraud options would entice an angel. Fraud (obviously) runs up medical bills. Government intervention/social programs promotes fraud. Ergo, get the federal government out of the social program business and let the free enterprise market work. The same argument could be made in most all areas of government involvement in the private sector.

The Constitution was written in such a way as to be very clear to all without the thousands of pages of legalese that serves little other than to befuddle the those that actually try to read said legalese. Add to this the dereliction of duty by those entrusted to represent us in a professional, honorably ethical manner and DON’T READ PROPOSED LEGISLATION and you make a serious argument for term limits.

This Obama health care plan will (for the most part) negatively impact every working taxpayer and small business in this country. Once in place we will be saddled (forever) with the ensuing government manipulation of our personal health care issues and the guaranteed rising costs of our medical coverage due to the inevitable fraud.

A note to our representatives: If you have not read (and understand) any bill placed before you for approval then you must in good conscience vote NO.

The scariest part of this Obama health care plan is the history of the current national health care plans of other states and countries. None has yet to product a success story.

Government bureaucracy ..

2009-11-05T12:07:00.000-08:00

Anyone that has had to deal with bureaucracy at any level has faced the frustration that makes healthcare tied to the government a really poor decision. Medicare patients have to have a supplemental policy to cover what Medicare will not cover and some doctors will not take Medicare. Texas low income families on the state CHIPS childcare program also find that some medical facilities will not take CHIPS patients, their complaint being that the state is not paying them. CASH FOR CLUCKERS has some dealers on the ropes due to the bureaucratic maze that makes it agonizingly slow to get paid by government bureaucracy. Bureaucracy at work.

Government bureaucracy moves very slowly, a very powerful argument against national health care. That’s not the only argument. The track record of waste and fraud in government is irrefutable. Bureaucracy survives on the sweat of the working American, an apparent endangered species due to the antics of current government.

It would seem to be treasonous to vote for legislation one has not bothered to read (and understand) when they are elected to represent us. This is at the very least unethical and might should make one liable in a civil suit. Setting precedents by circumventing The Constitution to the point of Its’ irrelevancy should wake up The Supreme Court. No, we do not need any level of government bureaucracy tied to our health care. Tort reform and malpractice insurance limits makes much more sense, and may even be constitutional.

A recipe for fraud ..

2009-11-05T12:02:00.000-08:00

A mandate?? NOT!!

2009-11-05T11:02:00.000-08:00

A mandate must be something you get when you win an election by a mere 4%, as that is the difference in the popular vote for Obama, yet he calls it a ‘mandate’, justification for all he is doing that has become so unpopular with those that pay taxes.

Note: One could win each state by ONE vote therefore getting ALL electoral college votes, haled as a LANDSLIDE when, in actuality, the win was by a 50 vote margin, a LONG WAY from a landslide mandated victory. Unrealistic but possible. The point is simply that, out of the less that half of the registered voters that voted, he collected a miserly 4% majority. AND….more voters stayed home than voted. Apathy? The price is paid by all..

Playing us for fools ..

2009-11-05T10:56:00.000-08:00

If one were to look at the costs of the various government programs and departments one would find that the illegal alien use of our social programs costs American taxpayers far more than both battle fronts of this War on Terror.

If one were to look at Social Security one would find that our government has allowed these illegal aliens to tap into a fund into which they have never paid a nickel.

They cannot write a health bill that will not take care of the illegal aliens. They are already written into the system. The proof lies in the waiting rooms of The Social Security Administration Building and the emergency rooms of our hospitals.

Maybe they should read The Constitution, a relative simple document that is sheer genius in it's simplicity and was written without the need for 'legalese' by men that were real men, a bit of a rarity today.

Name the names..

2009-11-05T10:52:00.001-08:00

You hear in all the conservative news programs about the irresponsible massive amounts of pork gorged on by our elected representatives. It would be much more productive to report the names, to point out just who has injected just what self-serving expenditures in proposed legislation.

I personally think our members of Congress should all be required to attend a seminar on the meaning of ‘responsibility’, just what it means to be elected to ‘represent the people’, that the government ‘has no money of it’s own’, that it’s taxpayers money and to respect that FACT. We’d be much better off if they would simply leave our money alone and go home. Without their insidious meddling (which is the root cause of this governmental mess) the economy would take care of itself, the market would surface and we would all be the better for it.

Term limits, required Social Security participation, and no retirement plans would solve an incredible amount of the issues we have with our government.

In Proper Perspective

2009-11-04T13:32:00.000-08:00

To put this in proper perspective; saving 250 million out of a trillion dollar budget is like saving twenty-five cents out of a thousand dollar bill. We should be so impressed. For the federal government to tell us that they will save 250 billion out of a trillion dollar budget is a pipe dream. That would be a 25% savings. Do any of us really believe the government can actually save 25% of anything? A trillion is a million million. We simply cannot afford trillion dollar budgets or multiple trillions of dollars of indebtedness. Sadly, we are already there and getting worse daily.

We need to get the federal government out of our lives. Case in point is the relationship of our schools to federal tax monies. Our schools have sold their souls to, and are held hostage by, federal tax dollars. A simple example is the attendance requirement. To qualify, schools must adhere to strict attendance levels to the point that has little connection to common sense.

Parents get threatening letters and seniors are threatened with an ineligibility to graduate, not based on grade average but on attendance levels. No matter that the students have made up the work and passed the required tests. All of that takes a back seat to attendance. One can have a perfect grade average, miss too many days (excused or unexcused, does not matter) and suffer through no diploma.

On the other side of this arrogance is the force used toward teachers by, first the coaches, then the principal, to pass failing athletes. Tied to federal tax monies? Probably.

You had your chance, now it's broke

2009-09-29T11:30:00.001-07:00

The federal government’s track record with social programs is dismal at best. The US Postal Service was established in 1775. After 234 years of trying to get it right, it is now broke. Social Security was established in 1935. After 74 years of trying to get it right, it is now broke. Fannie Mae, established in 1938, after 71 years of trying to get it right, is now broke. The ‘War on Poverty’ started in 1964 and after 45 years has never been successful.

Medicare and Medicaid was established in 1965. 44 years later that program is broke. Freddie Mac, 1970. 39 years later is broke. The TARP, STIMULUS, The Omnibus Appropriations Act of 2009, all for naught. The ‘Cash for Clunker’ was a three billion dollar blunder.

With a 100% failure rate do we want to trust a government run national health care system? Some lessons are hard but this one borders on the ridiculous, not to mention that any sense of constitutionality stretches the English language well beyond intent.

Why indeed...

2009-09-22T11:12:00.000-07:00

I’d like some answers. Why do we have generals if the politicians are going to run the war? Why do we need a government agency to run anything when all government agencies are fraught with fraud and budget abuses? Why would we want our federal government anywhere near our health care when all examples of that have failed dismally?

Why do we refuse to acknowledge racism when it is obvious? Proof is in remembering all the hoopla over the first Black president. Why do we refuse to acknowledge the fact that a white President would never be able to get away with what Obama has gotten away with? Could it be that racism had turned into reverse racism?

Why do we not have term limits? Why do we put up with the blatant lack of respect for the tax monies forced from us? Why do we have legislators taking junkets all over the world on our nickel? Why do we not freeze federal budgets and the number of staff personnel? Why do we allow them the pay increases, the health plan, the retirement plan they so humbly vote themselves? Compared to the benefits allowed our military personnel it is an abomination. How many of our politicians have ever died for our country?

Why indeed.

Eliminate the income tax..

2008-07-11T05:45:00.000-07:00

How do you eliminate property tax, tax the illegal aliens, the underground, the black market? The only tax that gets us all indiscriminately is a consumption tax. The collection agencies are already in place and doing just that. So, what’s the problem?

The problem is simple and complex. We have politicians with runaway budgets, monstrous pork barrel projects, and more greed than backbone. This would take a dogmatic approach and courage, neither of which is very often present among our elected bureaucracy.

Raising the sales tax would then become a personal issue putting control in the hands of the taxpayer/voter, as it affects everyone and we all would do a better job of voting.

There would obviously need to be a realistic list of necessities that would go tax free but that is not an insurmountable problem. The silent majority simply has to become the screaming majority.

This is, however, a mute point. This would take politicians with some serious courage and voters that actually vote, something that is at the present almost nonexistent.

Instant news.. A Pox..

2008-07-11T05:37:00.000-07:00

We lost twice the number of men the first day of the assault on the beaches of Normandy than we have the whole time we’ve been in Iraq. The single day of 9/11 cost us more lives than we’ve lost the whole time in Iraq. The loss of life in just one of our major cities in a month surpasses the military losses per month the whole time in Iraq.

If the power and speed of the news of today were available during WW11 we can only guess at the media outcry at the devastating loss of life. That being the case, we could very easily be speaking German or Japanese.

It’s been said many times but maybe it falls on deaf ears. They do not just want us to leave. They want to kill us, every man woman and child. We listen to the Doves and we could have super centers being blown up, large churches, sports arenas, and the list would never end. This war on terrorism is real and necessary. This war effort needs support, not obstacles.

VP Cheney may have said it best when he said “they cannot beat us militarily. They have to make us quit.” We cannot quit. Quitting is what allows neighborhoods and intercity areas to become uninhabitable by the general public, much to the shame of law enforcement. “Click it or ticket” is much safer and more lucrative, and our kids are the price we pay.

This country was born with courage and loss of life. It remains today due to courage and loss of life. Our enemies are harder to recognize and locate but we can not quit. It will always take courage and loss of life. Without the Hawk the vermin take over.

We are a world of groupies. We give rock stars, movie and TV personalities, decorated war veterans, guitar slingers, pretty people, politicians, etc., more credit than they deserve. None of those attributes guarantees an intelligent brain. All one has to do is (actually) listen to what they (actually) say.

Legal theft..

2008-07-11T05:29:00.000-07:00

We should all be tired of the age-old rhetoric of tax breaks for the rich. We need the rich. This in itself is a true statement. You have to have something before they can take it away. Beyond that it became typical class warfare rhetoric.

This “Death Tax” is possibly the most obscene tax we have in this country. It is a tax collected from you, after you have departed this world, on a lifetime of material properties bought and paid for with AFTER TAX DOLLARS. If there were ever an example of illegal taxation this would serve as a textbook example.

My question would be a simple one. This Death Tax is a tax on properties earned over a lifetime, with taxes paid yearly over that lifetime. So where is the legal justification for taxing it again, with sometimes devastating results? Could it possibly be because government needs the money? No? Then could it possibly be because they show little fiscal responsibility (yes..), want a large portion of the worth of your lifetime, and have the power to take it (yes..)? Or could it simply be that to work, taking fiscal risks, creating jobs, and being successful is somehow wrong, with the Death Tax being the punishment?

When was the last time a poor man created a job, built a factory, created spin-off industry, etc? Need I go on? Somehow we need to get beyond envy of the rich. They are entitled to what they end up with after a lifetime of taxes, just as the rest of us should be.

Governments need is to learn to live within their perspective budgets. What governments need are the respect garnered from doing the right thing, and let us keep what we have earned over our lifetime, rather than the dubious distinction of making us all harbor the disrespect for government (their fault..) that they have fostered concerning this type of policy.

If you feel that any of the various levels of government needs more of your money by all means give it to them. That is your legal right. The only right they have to mine lies in the power to make illegal thievery legal.

We become thieves by...Enabling..

2008-07-11T05:24:00.000-07:00

When we first saw him he was but a momentary movement among the trees.. As he became more familiar with us he made his presence more known.. We all admired his beauty, his grace of movement, his resourcefulness, his utter disregard for the dogs.. A feline Chuck Norris if you will.. And the dogs knew it.. They raised hell with him but at a safe distance.. He totally ignored them..

The kids were quite taken with him, and him with them.. It wasn’t long until they wanted to feed him.. Their Grampa said no, to enjoy him for what he was.. They didn’t understand soooo, being kids, they went behind Grampa’s back.. and fed him..

It didn’t take long to realize that relying on the kids was easier than trying to catch a bleeping bird or ferret out a rodent so, being the smart cat that he was he became lazy and the back porch became his lair of choice.. Hunting was work, yowling was easy, and it usually brought results. One or more of the kid would bring him something.

Grampa said not a word.. It was much too late. The first tidbit from a child made that truth apparent in short order.. It took but a few weeks until they were all fed up with the demands of their ‘pet’.. When the first child complained Grampa said nothing.. When the second child added his voice Grampa still said nothing.. But when the little girl asked her Grampa just what made the cat yowl all the time he called them all together.

“You kids disobeyed me and became thieves…” He held up his hand as they all began to protest… “Think about it. When you first met him he didn’t rely on you for anything, and you never heard him make much of any kind of sound other than the purr you all like. You saw him as he was, and admired him for it.. He saw you as companionship and loved it, expecting nothing else.. But, when you began to feed him you robbed him of his independence, his self reliance… he became lazy and demanding.. He no longer wanted you for companionship but only as a source of something to eat.. You changed him.. In an adult world they would say you became an enabler, allowing him to become dependent upon you where before, he needed no one..

Grampa knew they were having a hard time understanding, and it had little to do with being a child. It had to do with human nature. Many of us have a hard time separating making ourselves feel good and robbing someone of the desire to be self reliant.. Seeing a need and filling it is much different than being generous just because we can. One can be beneficial and the other can be detrimental. Enabling has become a national disgrace..

Postmarked ....

2008-07-11T05:22:00.000-07:00

I respectfully suggest that all mailed payments be accepted by the postmarked date. That puts the responsibility of timely payments on each of us and removes any connection, liability, and suspicion that are an inherent part of the current ‘posting date’ that dictates whether our payments are late or not.

I can see many avenues for the temptation of fraud by the manipulation of posting dates under the current system. The fix is easy, and is one that in endorsed by the IRS. Simply use the postmarked date. This should be applied to all mailed payments, and verification should also be made much cheaper than the present draconian charges.

A Four Hundred Dollar Haircut..

2008-07-11T05:21:00.000-07:00

A four hundred dollar haircut sounds extreme and extravagant. There is, however, an invisible benefit, the ‘trickle down’ side.

That four hundred dollars did not disappear once collected. More than likely it was used in a multitude of ways that touched more people than would the payment for a twelve dollar haircut. The same can be said for almost all ‘extravagant’ lifestyles. Money enters the economy when spent, the more money spent, the better it drives the economy with possibly one exception. That would be if and when it leaves the country.

All the complaints, the talk show comments, the demanding of explanations, the excuses given are all but example of economic ignorance. Without the rich, nothing happens, making us a third world country. We need the wealthy to spend money, no matter how or what they spend it on, be it a four hundred dollar haircut, a two hundred million dollar house, gold bathroom fixtures or diamond studded teeth.

The problem becomes a problem when the money spent becomes a requirement. Required expenditures can put us all in dire straits. So, you want a four hundred dollar haircut, go for it. Just do not borrow the money to do so.

Mandate?

2008-07-11T05:17:00.000-07:00

“The separation of church and state” is not in our Constitution, regardless of how hard one tries to convince themselves. This country was founded on Christian beliefs. The symbols of those are all over our government buildings as symbols of these founding beliefs. As such they are hardly acts of ‘a mandated religion’. They are references to our past history. To let a very vocal minority to demand successfully that they be removed is a snapshot of the lack of courage of our leaders. As symbols of our past history they deserve the same respect, care and support as any other such symbol.

It is bluntly ridiculous to use the argument that the government maintenance of these Christian symbols of the early foundation of this country somehow means ‘state mandated’, therefore qualifying the erroneous ‘separation of church and state’ argument used in attempts to remove all references to GOD from our currency, schools, public displays, etc.

The definition of ‘mandated’ according to Webster’s finest is “authoritatively commanded or required”. Considering that, could the spineless accommodation by our government to those that would have them removed from public view be viewed as ‘a mandate’?

Not a taxpayer problem..

2008-07-11T05:13:00.000-07:00

Life is a four letter word and can be tragic to the limits of ones imagination but we, the taxpayers, do not owe for losses outside our control. The citizens of this country, through their states, cities, and churches, have donated millions toward the Katrina surviving families’ welfare. Now The federal government has taken on the task of reconstruction “for these areas of devastation to be rebuilt better than they were before..” This decision abounds with the lack of any common sense.

The Federal Government owes the millions of taxpayers in this country a sound responsible fiscal policy. For The Federal Government to set a precedent for taking responsibility for natural disasters is to step of into an abyss with no known bottom, all at the expense of taxpayers.

To put this in perspective: the family that loses everything in a tornado in Kansas will not get the same response, nor will the mudslide victim in California, nor the family of a victim of a sniper on an Ohio turnpike. That is blatant discrimination. It didn’t happen with the survivors in Oklahoma City, the USS Cole, the drought induced dustbowl of Oklahoma, the Great Depression, the rupture of Mount St. Helen, etc.

We are already faced with huge expenditures in this War on Terrorism. The gas price increases may be the tsunami of our economic life as we know it. Where is the common sense in this short sided reaction to A NATURAL DISASTER?

Was Katrina tragic? Of course. Were there malfunctions of the system? Of Course, but there will never be anybody, least of all a government body, that will have the ability to predict the necessary responses for any and all tragedies, be they natural or man made.

The surviving families obviously need help and by all reports they are getting it. But what we do not need is for taxpayers to be forced to foot the bill for this pick and chose type of discrimination. The precedent has unfortunately already been set with this same brand of knee jerk reaction with the monies doled out to in the aftermath of 9/11. That in itself is tragic, and reflects poorly as a responsible stance by our government.

The Obscenity of Property Tax..

2008-07-11T05:11:00.000-07:00

This is what is wrong with property tax. You work all your life to build an estate, all the while struggling to pay for it. When you get to retirement age you run head on into the reality of your misconception. You do not own anything, They allow you to think so as long as you keep paying the property taxes.

Your lifelong struggle goes for nought if you retire with enough to live on but not enough for the property taxes, thanks to the ineptness of taxing entities fiscal policies, and the infamous power of the appraisal districts.

Think about it. Your lifelong struggle was a wasted effort. You really do not own anything. What you paid for all those years was the right to use it as long as you stay in favor with the taxing entities. There is something wrong with that.

A consumption tax works like the fuel taxes. You only pay them if you buy the product. In that case you have a choice. With property taxes you have no choice. When destitute, the social programs will not work for you either, unless you have the correct last name.

This needs to be changed. Will it? When was the last time you had a politician act responsibly with tax money?

It's about Freedom..

2008-07-11T05:10:00.000-07:00

Yes, it is about personal freedom. When you allow the government at any level to micro-manage your life to protect you from yourself it quickly becomes about personal freedom.

It is typical of us to become government control advocates when the subject at hand does not affect us. The motorcycle helmet and automobile seat belt laws become reality only because they are easy public sales. When challenged as to their constitutionality they have always failed. The biased, discriminatory arguments in favor of these laws have some validity but if one allows the government to protect you from yourself then the question arises as to just where does it end.

Poor eating habits, lifestyles, drugs, alcohol, tobacco, fast food, etc. are all health issues that cost this country tremendous amounts of money. As targets for government control they would never succeed for they would impact all of us. Helmets and seat belts are the easy target.

NASCAR safety equipment would keep us all safer in vehicle accidents but our hair is more important than our safety. If you ever have a bee or wasp fly up in your helmet at road speed it will take nerves of steel to come to a stop before ripping it off.

Common sense may be an endangered attribute but you want the government making you r choices for you?

Treason..

2008-07-11T05:08:00.000-07:00

Prior to 911 we did not have an ‘under the microscope’ campaign against terrorism. Since 911 we have not had another successful terrorist attack on our homeland. What short memories we have.

Nobody in their right mind enjoys war, be it with your neighbor, school yard bullies, or such mundane groups as our current terrorists. However, unless one can accept current situations or even escalations of current situations, sometimes war of some sort is necessary. Regardless of ones stance on the current war on terrorism, it almost defines treason to advocate the refusal to fund our troops, regardless of where they are or what their mission is.

If we have soldiers dying from lack of funding to keep them in the supplies they need to survive then the blame lies with those that would refuse funding.

I have yet to see any; responsibility in the passing of laws, reality of any common sense, or the feasibility of ending the war on terrorism by any action of our spineless Congress.

The bill to fund our troops was necessary. The dictation of a date to bring the troops home was not. Any such date would warrant a veto to the whole bill, since we have not had the good sense to give any President the required line item veto. The majority Democratic Party knew this, yet guaranteed a veto by the addition of a withdrawal date. The subsequent lack of funds for our troops is now the sole responsibility of the Democratic Party. If it were up to me I would try them all for treason.

If you disagree, just remember the fact that we have had no terrorism on our homeland since 911. Bring an end to the pressure we keep on the terrorist groups and you will, almost of a certainty, have such successful acts again. Keeping in mind that you let the Democrats have their way, when their ‘way’ is nothing but ‘anti Bush’, the question begs an answer, will you still blame President Bush?

Hind sight can be fatally late.

We've lost our gonads..

2008-07-11T05:06:00.000-07:00

The basic reasons and blame for our immigration mess can be directly and correctly placed on our various governing bodies, that have for decades used liberal processes, supported by our judicial system, placating illegal immigrants. For that reason alone makes reform very difficult.

We’ve been told that we cannot refuse to rent to an illegal immigrant, which would appear to reek of the aiding and abetting of criminals by none other than our courts. Illegal immigrants appear to have free access to our health care system and social programs while those of us that were born, lived, and paid taxes here all our lives are apparently discriminated against for being here legally.

They can openly parade their demands, insult our flag, and bankrupt our system with apparent impunity. I look at these parades as missed opportunities for sweeping arrests and deportation.

The idea of fences is ridiculous, and would be successfully ineffective and an economic disaster. It would be much simpler to eliminate all benefits of being here illegally. The confiscation of ‘ill gotten gains’ is used effectively against crime, and in my mind an illegal immigrant is a criminal. The tool is effective. Use it.

Katrina was a mirror..

2008-07-11T05:05:00.000-07:00

Katrina was a mirror of the present and we are blind. We do not see what our society has become. There are lessons to be learned and, sadly, we are not up to it.

Rather than the independent, self-reliant, strong in faith and fiber individuals that founded this country we found ourselves. Instead of personal independence we found dependency. Instead of personal responsibility we found constant complaining, finger pointing, and desertion by law enforcement. Instead of decisive decisions we found confusion, hesitancy, chest-thumping, and more shirking of responsibility.

Rather than be self-reliant we do nothing but complain loudly that somebody else should have taken care of us. Rather than be more responsible for ourselves when given plenty of warning, we do little but point fingers of blame in all directions but at ourselves.

Did we learn that our law enforcement job is still our responsibility even when things go badly? Did we learn that our moral values are most visible when things go bad? Did we learn that we can not eat or drink TV’s and DVD players?

Did we learn to become tenaciously vocal when the knee-jerk reaction is to rebuild a house of cards on a bed of shifting sand? Did we learn that Mother Nature will bite us each time we build something without consulting Her? Did we learn that all the passionate rhetoric to rebuild has little effect on changing sea level and controlling hurricanes? Did we learn anything?

Well, yes we did. We learned that we can not trust our elected leaders to think, to honor their oath of office, to be responsible, to do little but react to every situation with a blank check or the demanding of one. We learned there is little respect for the hard work that results in the tax dollars that are being thrown into the open pit of natural disasters. We learned that the ego of elected office takes precedence over common sense and fiscal responsibility. We learned that, as of 911, the pocketbooks of taxpayers are responsible for everything of any media interest. Not the farm lost in Kansas with scant media attention but the worthless neighborhood property in New Orleans with constant media attention..

We learned that the media controls the country while blaming President Bush for everything 24/7.

Not a 'poll' puppet..

2008-07-11T05:03:00.000-07:00

I would be appalled if I had a President that ran the country based solely on “the polls”. We have had several generations now that regard “responsibility” as a foreign language.

This President is doing a great job with what he has to work with. Contrary to the screaming multitudes he is not responsible for Acts of Nature, the mindset of terrorists, your economic situation, the spineless stance of much of the rest of the world, nor many of the other things the spin doctors lay at his feet.

To his credit he is doing his job while walking the minefield of blame, blame that would not be his if Responsibility were able to walk tall in this country. The true virus responsible for many of the ills of this country has the telltale stench of the personal greed of our long term politicians to whom The Constitution is but an old piece of history, the goal being getting re-elected with the price being pork barrel spending. The “good of the country” is little more than empty rhetoric.

We sit in our snug, safe little office and heap blame on President Bush. I thank God daily that he is The President and immune to the howling of the banshees that hound his every move with heaps of criticism. 9/11 proved that we are vulnerable and hated. Sticking your head in the sand simply means that the last memory you will have is the taste of sand.

What the word 'hero' really means..

2008-07-11T05:00:00.000-07:00

The news media has bandied about the use of the term “hero” about to the point that it has become meaningless. They have made it synonymous with “survivor”. What a shame, for they mean entirely different things. Being a survivor means doing what one has to do with little choice. Being a hero means making the choice of risking loss to oneself for the benefit of another.

Walking five miles in snake infested waters to safety makes you a survivor. Carrying someone on your back for five miles in snake infested waters can make you a hero as does but walking five miles in that same water, picking someone up and then carrying them.

A purple heart means you were injured doing your job. The Congressional Metal of Honor means you risked all you had for the benefit of others, which is far beyond simply doing your job.

All that survive a POW camp certainly are survivors while only a few may actually be heroes. The news media would hail them all as heroes. What a shame. They have taken a very special word and made it meaningless.

Apathy

2008-07-11T04:57:00.000-07:00

If we were to think the biggest problems our country faces today are drugs, terrorism, the war, the economy, health care, social security, illegal immigrants, etc., we would be wrong. All of those and more are certainly important and daunting problems but our single biggest problem in this country today is apathy.

All the afore mentioned problems thrive on our apathy as a super nutrient. And thrive they do, to the point that very few have failed to grow to a size so monstrous as to be uncontrollable. We refuse to learn from pointed lessons. Worse, we do not care. Apathy has become a way of life for the vast majority.

We let a vocal few dictate to the masses. They have stripped us of our right to freedom of religion along with our freedom of speech, and we do not care. We allow our government to spend trillions on a drug war policy that prohibition should have taught us will not work and we do not care. We allow our government to “aid and abet” our enemies and diplomatically chase problems until the “problems” grow larger than the solution...and we do not care.

We allow the news media to force-feed us biased/slanted; half-truth news and we do not care. We allow insurance and health care fraud to push us toward bankruptcy, and we do not care. We allow our politicians to become gluttonous and ineffective and we do not care. We allow our children to be corrupted by prime time programming, the ‘new wave’ cartoons, gross behavior in advertising...and we do not care.

Vulgar, antisocial slogans on our clothing are acceptable, prayer in a public place is not, and we do not care. Those that take a stand may be admired but from afar for we are afraid but, we really...do not care.

Apathy is a viral malignant cancer to our way of life, and we simply do not care. One day we will, but it will be much too late.

What do we need them for?

2008-07-11T04:55:00.000-07:00

This is the realization that we all need to focus on. Most of our economic problems, be it health fraud, social security, illegal immigration, social programs etc, (pick your favorite) are a direct result of the ineptness of 584 people to do their job, a job for which we pay them quite well. I am talking about our Federal Government.

They have had DECADES to fix these ill conceived, ineptly run, discriminatory social programs and yet, just what have they accomplished? Things get worse by the day. They fail to be there at roll call, have made protocol rules with the emphasis on personal power with little regard for the good of the country, and ignored their government responsibilities for any number of personal reasons, one of which is ripping us off as they get PAID for a job they are not there to do so that they may run for re-election.

We have been paying for this ineptness for DECADES. Their total lack of fiscal responsibility with our tax money is, at the very least, the pinnacle of irresponsibility.
The latest favorite crusade of this illustrious group is this ridiculous surge to apologize for slavery.

Some 143 years ago, The Civil War, while more about states rights than slavery, cost us thousands of men, mostly white. What more cost must be paid? If they think they need to apologize for slavery then what about all the OTHER Federal Government debacles that are STILL costing us dearly and no, I am not bashing the war in Iraq. We HAVE to make the terrorists keep their heads down over there rather than dealing with them over here.

I am talking about the absolute mess our government has made with almost everything it touches. They have shred The Constitution, being in violation of that precious document in most of what they do. They want to apologize for slavery? They want more social programs for these descendants? The ones presently in place have done little but make them dependent and may bankrupt us in the process. Might I suggest they apologize for things that matter by simply reverting back to doing their job as outlined by our Constitution? Discrimination is illegal yet every social program for special interest groups is blatantly discriminatory. Payouts to select groups with taxpayer money is little more than discriminatory theft against the taxpayer, and the list never ends.

This would be a meaningless apology, much like it would be to apologize to England for dumping all that tea.

Slavery is REALLY old...

2008-07-11T04:46:00.000-07:00

Slavery is, and was, a crime against humanity. But for one to thunder from a pulpit or offer a personal opinion that it is `a wrong that has never been made right' is to assume a proprietary right to think that slavery was one-sided.

From the first raid of one village by another where captives were taken you had slavery. With that thought in mind, there is not a person alive on this planet that has not had relatives somewhere in their family lineage that was a slave. This is not unique to Black Americans. To try to make it so is to show ignorance of the facts.

Slavery is a part of history that predates an earth bound Christ by many years. I would think that; if a Grandfather of mine, many times removed, had survived a slave ship long enough to plant the seed that allowed me to be a part of this great country, I should be proud of him, and maybe even thank the sorry beggar that sold him into slavery.

In regards to the Black American fixation on the past slavery in this country I would like to ask the question; "If there had never been a single black African native transported from the likes of countries such as Kenya or Uganda to this country as a slave, where would their relatives be today?" The next question might be; "where would they rather be?" A truthful answer puts the question of a `righted wrong' to rest.

As far as racism is concerned many of us would probably prefer a voluntary segregation. The proof of this is the way we tend to migrate toward neighborhoods that offer some familiarity. Racism is a personal thing that is based on a multitude of stimuli and will always be with us. To say "America is ready for a black President" is racial, for to elect someone based on his or her race is blatantly racism. The use of the 'race card' is down to a science, and we have many skilled in its use.

We NEED term limits..

2008-07-11T04:44:00.000-07:00

Our naivety concerning our beloved Government has come full circle and is now staring us in the face. Our representatives are duly elected to represent the people of this country. At this they fail miserably. They are little more than professional politician/lawyers. That they are out of touch with mainstream America is painfully obvious.

What we have is an incumbent government lead by the nose by special interests groups that represent a very small percentage of mainstream America hawked by a very liberal, very biased news media. They allow this to happen through the greed of personal gain.

Your beloved Democratic controlled Congress has a lower performance rating than does President Bush. Every step taken to correct a problem is stopped in mid-stride by this inept, pork bloated, self-centered, micro-managing excuse of a government.

Our very astute forefathers foresaw this and restricted the government with very specific powers while leaving most of the power in the hands of state governments. The Civil War changed a lot of that leaving the Federal Government in firm control. Our Great Society social programs of FDR have finished it off by almost bankrupting us and the lack of any headway with the illegal immigration will make that a certainty.

We have had the same problematic issues for decades and they do little but get worse. We allow this do-nothing, inept government to vote themselves pay raise after pay raise, none of which are merited by job performance and yet we do not demand term limits, which on it’s own would cure a lot of what ails us.

We allow our politicians to run our wars. The rest of the world laughs at us for our Jimmy Carters and Bill Clintons. They will laugh harder with Obama and his plans to sweet talk the terror out of the terrorists. Talk does not work, the proof of that is our decades of talk.

McCain was not the best choice but he is now the only choice. Nader has been messing things up for fifty years. Barr has shown his real colors by starting just late enough to be suspect. Obama is the darling of the groupie crowd that knows very little about him. What a mess.

Vance Cline

2008-07-08T13:37:00.000-07:00

I’ve never been more disappointed in my fellow man. We sue after smoking for some forty plus years with daily reminders of the health factor, we sue because we spill a hot cup of coffee in our laps, we sue because we are fat, we sue to remove any reference to God from the face of the earth, and this absurd list goes on.

We all (this would include judges, juries, and lawyers) need a course in Responsibility 101 and the virtues of free speech. About the only time we see the right of our Freedom of Speech defended is as a defense for pornography in its many forms. The way I understand it, we also have the right to Freedom of Religion and the Freedom of Speech, even when speech is coupled with religion.

Art can be blatantly vulgar and profane and be protected. Let the term God show up and these same protecting aspects of our Constitution and Bill of Rights are twisted to satisfy this stupidly misguided interpretation of the separation of church and state, the meaning of which is simple: NO STATE MANDANTED RELIGION! It’s a pox on our intelligence to allow this to mean anything else.

It takes a MAN to be responsible for our actions, regardless of the consequences. Look around you. The finger points everywhere but at ourselves.