From the Washingon Times
Democrats wary about lack of party funds
By Donald LambroTHE WASHINGTON TIMESJanuary 31, 2006
A skimpy bank balance at the Democratic National Committee has some party members nervously questioning Chairman Howard Dean's fundraising and management skills as they prepare for midterm elections this year.
The DNC raised $51 million in 2005 but finished the year with just $5.5 million in the bank. The Republican National Committee raised twice as much during the same period, $102 million, and had $34 million on hand this month.
The sharp disparity in campaign funds between the parties' two national campaign committees has triggered private complaints among House and Senate Democratic leaders about Mr. Dean's expenditures, the Capitol Hill newspaper Roll Call reports.
Where did all the money go?
Looks like Howard Dean has a lot of 'splaining to do...
But wait! From what I can tell, there wasn't enough money to accomplish very much in the first place.
Didn't that say that the DNC had collected about half the amount of money collected by the RNC to begin with?
How does it feel to be the Minority, Dems?
This illustrates another point which is relevant within the idealogical struggle between the Left and the Right, though...
When all of your campaign money comes from George Soros, and a couple of other like minded Billionaires, and your opponent's money comes from millions of individual contributors, who has the most money at the end of the day?
Within this context, can we not see how Tax Cuts generate windfalls to the public treasury?
Can we not see the uselesness of punishing the wealthy for being successful with unfair tax burdens for the good of the less fortunate?
Can we not see the inability of the Left to manage large amounts of money wisely?
On to another subject.
Will Harry Reid (Democrat, Nevada) be the first victim of the "All Republican" Jack Abramoff Scandal?
Looks like he may be. He has accepted in excess of $60,000 from Abramoff clients, refuses to divest himself of these funds, and the Democrtats are considering asking him to step down from his position of leadership within the Democrat Party because of it.
He insists that he has never accepted any money from Abramoff "directly", as have other prominent Democrats.
The truth is, if he and the other Democrats haven't accepted money directly from Abramoff, it is only because they weren't important enough to warrant a direct meeting with Abramoff, and were forced to deal with his flunkies. They still took the money, just not directly from Abramoff.
That line of defense will not play with the American public. Just ain't gonna work.
A crook is a crook. An influence peddler is an influence peddler. No matter which side of the aisle he happens to peddle from.
So in today's climate, politics is still all about the money.
How many Senate and Congressional seats do you think that the Democrats can buy with 5 Million Dollars?
As Many as the Republicans can hold onto with 34 Million?
So, Pony up, Dems. Give 'till it hurts.
We would at least like for this next mid-term election cycle to be a LITTLE bit of a challenge...
Your side needs a lot of help, and fast...
It's up to you...
Tuesday, January 31, 2006
Sunday, January 29, 2006
Put Your Heart Into It, Or Get Your Butt Out Of It...
I woke up from my Sunday afternoon nap with a brilliant idea for a new post.
It would have possibly been the best post I have ever written. I have no doubt that everyone who read it would have been enlightened by it, would have told all of their friends about it and they too would would have been enlightened, and thousands of lives would have been changed.
That one post would have solved several problems of society all at once, and stress and strife would have in large part disappeared from our world because of my blog, and my idea for this new post.
But I can't remember what it was.
Oh well...
I slept about four hours this afternoon because there was no football. We even tried to MAKE some football by watching a couple of football movies like "The longest Yard", and "The Replacements", but it just wasn't the same. I don't know what we are going to do when the Pro Bowl is over and done in a couple of weeks...I guess I could revert back to my roots and watch NASCAR...
One thing that watching all these movies has done is to cause me to realize why certain things happen. Movies tend to condense philosophical concepts which may be hard to grasp in the broader context of real life, into more easily recognizable and understandable packages.
Like this. Why didn't Atlanta make it to the Super Bo...um..."The Big Game" this year, when Seattle made it? Why did Indianapolis almost go undefeated but then fall on their face (with home feild advantage) against Pittsburg in the first playoff game they played?
(WARNING!! CHEESE ALERT!!)
They didn't have heart. They didn't want it badly enough. Seattle and Pittsburg did, Atlanta and Indianapolis did not.
And everybody knows that if your heart isn't in it, your butt will soon be out of it.
Whatever it is.
I hope that we can all remember this lesson as we engage our own personal and public battles over the next few months.
If your opponent wants the victory more than you do, and if you are not willing to do whatever it takes to win it, he will probably beat you.
It doesn't matter if you are the best Football team to ever play the game. It doesn't matter if you are the smartest person in the room...
It won't matter that your ideas would save America and your opponent's ideas would destroy it.
You have to put all you've got into it, or you will lose.
Go Seattle!!
It would have possibly been the best post I have ever written. I have no doubt that everyone who read it would have been enlightened by it, would have told all of their friends about it and they too would would have been enlightened, and thousands of lives would have been changed.
That one post would have solved several problems of society all at once, and stress and strife would have in large part disappeared from our world because of my blog, and my idea for this new post.
But I can't remember what it was.
Oh well...
I slept about four hours this afternoon because there was no football. We even tried to MAKE some football by watching a couple of football movies like "The longest Yard", and "The Replacements", but it just wasn't the same. I don't know what we are going to do when the Pro Bowl is over and done in a couple of weeks...I guess I could revert back to my roots and watch NASCAR...
One thing that watching all these movies has done is to cause me to realize why certain things happen. Movies tend to condense philosophical concepts which may be hard to grasp in the broader context of real life, into more easily recognizable and understandable packages.
Like this. Why didn't Atlanta make it to the Super Bo...um..."The Big Game" this year, when Seattle made it? Why did Indianapolis almost go undefeated but then fall on their face (with home feild advantage) against Pittsburg in the first playoff game they played?
(WARNING!! CHEESE ALERT!!)
They didn't have heart. They didn't want it badly enough. Seattle and Pittsburg did, Atlanta and Indianapolis did not.
And everybody knows that if your heart isn't in it, your butt will soon be out of it.
Whatever it is.
I hope that we can all remember this lesson as we engage our own personal and public battles over the next few months.
If your opponent wants the victory more than you do, and if you are not willing to do whatever it takes to win it, he will probably beat you.
It doesn't matter if you are the best Football team to ever play the game. It doesn't matter if you are the smartest person in the room...
It won't matter that your ideas would save America and your opponent's ideas would destroy it.
You have to put all you've got into it, or you will lose.
Go Seattle!!
Monday, January 23, 2006
Fame and Notoriety...
Once again I am the subject of discussion over at KEvron's place.
Apparently, his commentors would really "like to know what the opinions of a "Conservative, Christian, Poor, White, Married, Middle Aged, Guitar playing Truck Driver" are on subjects. "I'm sure they'd be terribly enlightening," they say.
He and his commentors believe that "of course, cap'n knows. he's just not sharing."
They say things like "Wow. The cap'n sure is full of himself. He sees all, knows all, and what he doesn't know he'll just pull out of his a** and proclaim it a fact rather than the obvious sh** it is." (Edited for vulgar content.)
I know that I probably will be the next Blogger to be accused of "animal husbandry" because of this post (that's his idea of reasoned political debate...), but with each new attack by KEvron and his ilk, my points are proven more conclusively. The very fact that people like KEvron cannot seem to leave me alone just makes me believe more surely that I am right, and that they know that they are wrong, and that the only method that they have to refute my points is to belittle me, and to tell each other how insignificant my opinions are.
Well, I agree. I have never claimed to be a visionary. I am only a Truck Driver. If you don't agree with my opinions, then don't read them.
I use this blog to vent. I am under no delusions that I can change the World with my little blog, and I have said so on many occasions.
For some reason, I cannot seem to ban KEvron from my blog. He is one of those people who believe that "freedom of expression" means that he has the right to take a crap in my living room. He has his own blog, and he is free to say whatever he wants over there.
That's not good enough for him though.
He wants to say whatever he wants on MY blog. He believes that "freedom of expression" means that he has the right to co-opt MY blog in order to spout his nonsense.
Well, I apreciate the compliment. It means a lot to me that my opinions drive him and his like-minded buddies so crazy that they cannot ignore me, and those who agree with me.
After all, there is no such thing as bad publicity, Right?
Apparently, his commentors would really "like to know what the opinions of a "Conservative, Christian, Poor, White, Married, Middle Aged, Guitar playing Truck Driver" are on subjects. "I'm sure they'd be terribly enlightening," they say.
He and his commentors believe that "of course, cap'n knows. he's just not sharing."
They say things like "Wow. The cap'n sure is full of himself. He sees all, knows all, and what he doesn't know he'll just pull out of his a** and proclaim it a fact rather than the obvious sh** it is." (Edited for vulgar content.)
I know that I probably will be the next Blogger to be accused of "animal husbandry" because of this post (that's his idea of reasoned political debate...), but with each new attack by KEvron and his ilk, my points are proven more conclusively. The very fact that people like KEvron cannot seem to leave me alone just makes me believe more surely that I am right, and that they know that they are wrong, and that the only method that they have to refute my points is to belittle me, and to tell each other how insignificant my opinions are.
Well, I agree. I have never claimed to be a visionary. I am only a Truck Driver. If you don't agree with my opinions, then don't read them.
I use this blog to vent. I am under no delusions that I can change the World with my little blog, and I have said so on many occasions.
For some reason, I cannot seem to ban KEvron from my blog. He is one of those people who believe that "freedom of expression" means that he has the right to take a crap in my living room. He has his own blog, and he is free to say whatever he wants over there.
That's not good enough for him though.
He wants to say whatever he wants on MY blog. He believes that "freedom of expression" means that he has the right to co-opt MY blog in order to spout his nonsense.
Well, I apreciate the compliment. It means a lot to me that my opinions drive him and his like-minded buddies so crazy that they cannot ignore me, and those who agree with me.
After all, there is no such thing as bad publicity, Right?
No More Injustice...
From Fox News...
Fla. Man Cleared by DNA Released After 24 Years in Prison
Monday, January 23, 2006
TAMPA, Fla. — Alan Crotzer stepped into the warm sunlight outside the courthouse Monday and raised his arms to the sky, celebrating his freedom after more than 24 years behind bars for crimes he didn't commit.
A judge freed the 45-year-old Crotzer after DNA testing and other evidence convinced prosecutors he was not involved in the 1981 armed robbery and rapes that led to his 130-year prison sentence.
An innocent man who was wrongly imprisoned for 24 years for a crime that he didn't commit was released today because DNA evidence proved that he was not the purpetrator of the crime for which he was accused.
Crotzer said he was looking forward to a barbecue with his family, who promised him his favorites — pork chops and banana pudding. Then, he said, he wanted to "take a bath in a real bathtub."
While I am extremely happy that this man has been released after being wrongly imprisoned for a crime that he did not commit, I cannot help but be appalled that this happened to this poor innocent man in the first place.
There is absolutely no way that society can repay this man for what has happened to him. We cannot give him back the 24 years that he has lost because of a mistake made by our Justice System.
No amount of money will ever make him whole again.
I believe that because of this case, we should propose a moratorium on all prison sentences for every convicted criminal everywhere in America, until such time as we can be assured that our Justice system is perfect, and we can be sure that we never inflict this type of injustice upon anyone else, ever again.
No innocent man should be unjustly punished, no matter what the cost. Right?
Even if it means releasing every convicted criminal in America until we can make sure that no innocent man is ever punished for a crime that he did not commit, Right?
That sounds kinda stupid, doesn't it?
It's the same argument that the Anti-Death Penalty crowd uses...
Fla. Man Cleared by DNA Released After 24 Years in Prison
Monday, January 23, 2006
TAMPA, Fla. — Alan Crotzer stepped into the warm sunlight outside the courthouse Monday and raised his arms to the sky, celebrating his freedom after more than 24 years behind bars for crimes he didn't commit.
A judge freed the 45-year-old Crotzer after DNA testing and other evidence convinced prosecutors he was not involved in the 1981 armed robbery and rapes that led to his 130-year prison sentence.
An innocent man who was wrongly imprisoned for 24 years for a crime that he didn't commit was released today because DNA evidence proved that he was not the purpetrator of the crime for which he was accused.
Crotzer said he was looking forward to a barbecue with his family, who promised him his favorites — pork chops and banana pudding. Then, he said, he wanted to "take a bath in a real bathtub."
While I am extremely happy that this man has been released after being wrongly imprisoned for a crime that he did not commit, I cannot help but be appalled that this happened to this poor innocent man in the first place.
There is absolutely no way that society can repay this man for what has happened to him. We cannot give him back the 24 years that he has lost because of a mistake made by our Justice System.
No amount of money will ever make him whole again.
I believe that because of this case, we should propose a moratorium on all prison sentences for every convicted criminal everywhere in America, until such time as we can be assured that our Justice system is perfect, and we can be sure that we never inflict this type of injustice upon anyone else, ever again.
No innocent man should be unjustly punished, no matter what the cost. Right?
Even if it means releasing every convicted criminal in America until we can make sure that no innocent man is ever punished for a crime that he did not commit, Right?
That sounds kinda stupid, doesn't it?
It's the same argument that the Anti-Death Penalty crowd uses...
If Only...
From the Sierra Club website (edited by Tugboatcapn...)
Clean, Sensible Government Campaign...
The biggest single step the United States can take to reduce consumption of oxygen and the threat of global warming is to stop Senator Ted Kennedy and Senator Joe Biden from talking.
Senators Kennedy and Biden account for 40% of the U.S.'s consumption of alcohol and oxygen and emit 20% of the nation's carbon dioxide (hot air) pollution, the heat-trapping gas that causes global warming. The U.S. is the world's largest global warming polluter — we must take the lead in reducing this pollution.
The Sierra Club's Clean Politician Campaign works in a variety of ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from our Congressmen and Senators. We promote policies on the national and federal level that will make Government cleaner, while defending the victories we have already achieved.
We also promote and build markets for sensible legislators, like President Bush, Bill Frist, and George Allen. Finally, we pressure The American People to elect smarter, more rational politicians.
Clean, Sensible Government Campaign...
The biggest single step the United States can take to reduce consumption of oxygen and the threat of global warming is to stop Senator Ted Kennedy and Senator Joe Biden from talking.
Senators Kennedy and Biden account for 40% of the U.S.'s consumption of alcohol and oxygen and emit 20% of the nation's carbon dioxide (hot air) pollution, the heat-trapping gas that causes global warming. The U.S. is the world's largest global warming polluter — we must take the lead in reducing this pollution.
The Sierra Club's Clean Politician Campaign works in a variety of ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from our Congressmen and Senators. We promote policies on the national and federal level that will make Government cleaner, while defending the victories we have already achieved.
We also promote and build markets for sensible legislators, like President Bush, Bill Frist, and George Allen. Finally, we pressure The American People to elect smarter, more rational politicians.
Sunday, January 22, 2006
Just Listening...
I took a little break from the Blogosphere this week. Other than posting a tribute to Ronald Reagan in order to fulfill a promise that I made to Mike from Mike's America, I didn't post anything, or leave comments on anyone's posts.
I didn't break from the Blogosphere completely though. I still surfed around and read everyone's posts and comments, I just chose not to participate.
I just listened.
And I heard (read) some amazing things.
I watched as two Bloggers, both of whom I consider to be good friends of mine, and both of whom I know to be Christians, argued about how much of the Bible is actually true, and how much Satanism you can have in your Christianity, and it still be alright. (Calm down guys. I scored 4% Satanism when I took the quiz. The Quiz is flawed. It was written by someone exactly like us, who got bored with television one night, and surfed around until he found the "Create Your Own Quiz" website, then sat there in his pajamas, and made the whole thing up.)
I watched as one Blogger accused another of, shall we say, animal husbandry, and set up a special Blog just for the purpose of advertising that assertion. This led to a lengthy discussion on the accuser's blog about what "Libel" is, exactly, and from what I could tell, nobody involved knew very much about what they were talking about.
I read a post in which a fellow Blogger compared the Bush Administration's efforts to eavesdrop on conversations between confirmed Islamic Terrorists and their agents on our soil to the restrictions of personal privacy in Nazi Germany, and read along as he praised the ACLU's efforts to criminalize efforts to keep Terrorists from being able to plan attacks against me and my family.
This same Blogger praised the idiocy uttered by Hillary Clinton on Monday (MLK day...), when she announced that the Republicans are running a "Plantation", obviously hoping to play upon the supposed ignorance of her audience, and the inflammatory nature of the word. She forgot to mention that Republicans, and more specifically the current Bush Administration, have placed far more Minorities in positions of real, relevant power than Democrats EVER have, and that includes her husband's administration which claimed to have constructed a Cabinet which "looked like America."
I then was treated to a post listing all of the ways that Ronald Reagan was a lousy scum, in response to the celebratory posts on other blogs commemorating the 25th Anniversary of the Reagan Presidency. (And one post commemorating the 250th anniversary of Yoda being made a lifetime member of the Jedi Council.) (That one was pretty funny, actually.)
While I wasn't blogging, I discovered that I have time to do all sorts of other things when I don't spend 6 hours a day blogging.
I cleaned the living room. I listed a stack of old textbooks on Ebay, and I bid one penny on a way-cool modification for my work car, and got it. (And installed it.)
I took out the trash, hauled off the Christmas tree from the front porch, and went out to eat with my brother-in-law and sister-in law.
I talked to my wife.
I played with the dog.
I went to bed early every night, and was on time to work every morning.
All of this could almost make me re-think my decision about whether or not to stop blogging. I wonder if my time might be spent more wisely elsewhere.
But I can't stop. I'm totally addicted, and if I were to stop, I would miss all of the friends that I have made in the Blogosphere, whether I agree with them or not.
So I will post more often this week than last, and I will set you all straight when you get out of line.
Besides, from what I have seen over this past week, the Blogosphere descends into total chaos when I'm not here...
I didn't break from the Blogosphere completely though. I still surfed around and read everyone's posts and comments, I just chose not to participate.
I just listened.
And I heard (read) some amazing things.
I watched as two Bloggers, both of whom I consider to be good friends of mine, and both of whom I know to be Christians, argued about how much of the Bible is actually true, and how much Satanism you can have in your Christianity, and it still be alright. (Calm down guys. I scored 4% Satanism when I took the quiz. The Quiz is flawed. It was written by someone exactly like us, who got bored with television one night, and surfed around until he found the "Create Your Own Quiz" website, then sat there in his pajamas, and made the whole thing up.)
I watched as one Blogger accused another of, shall we say, animal husbandry, and set up a special Blog just for the purpose of advertising that assertion. This led to a lengthy discussion on the accuser's blog about what "Libel" is, exactly, and from what I could tell, nobody involved knew very much about what they were talking about.
I read a post in which a fellow Blogger compared the Bush Administration's efforts to eavesdrop on conversations between confirmed Islamic Terrorists and their agents on our soil to the restrictions of personal privacy in Nazi Germany, and read along as he praised the ACLU's efforts to criminalize efforts to keep Terrorists from being able to plan attacks against me and my family.
This same Blogger praised the idiocy uttered by Hillary Clinton on Monday (MLK day...), when she announced that the Republicans are running a "Plantation", obviously hoping to play upon the supposed ignorance of her audience, and the inflammatory nature of the word. She forgot to mention that Republicans, and more specifically the current Bush Administration, have placed far more Minorities in positions of real, relevant power than Democrats EVER have, and that includes her husband's administration which claimed to have constructed a Cabinet which "looked like America."
I then was treated to a post listing all of the ways that Ronald Reagan was a lousy scum, in response to the celebratory posts on other blogs commemorating the 25th Anniversary of the Reagan Presidency. (And one post commemorating the 250th anniversary of Yoda being made a lifetime member of the Jedi Council.) (That one was pretty funny, actually.)
While I wasn't blogging, I discovered that I have time to do all sorts of other things when I don't spend 6 hours a day blogging.
I cleaned the living room. I listed a stack of old textbooks on Ebay, and I bid one penny on a way-cool modification for my work car, and got it. (And installed it.)
I took out the trash, hauled off the Christmas tree from the front porch, and went out to eat with my brother-in-law and sister-in law.
I talked to my wife.
I played with the dog.
I went to bed early every night, and was on time to work every morning.
All of this could almost make me re-think my decision about whether or not to stop blogging. I wonder if my time might be spent more wisely elsewhere.
But I can't stop. I'm totally addicted, and if I were to stop, I would miss all of the friends that I have made in the Blogosphere, whether I agree with them or not.
So I will post more often this week than last, and I will set you all straight when you get out of line.
Besides, from what I have seen over this past week, the Blogosphere descends into total chaos when I'm not here...
Thursday, January 19, 2006
The Greatest President...
Mike from Mike's America has invited me to participate in a celebration of Ronald Reagan's Presidency, and I have thought long and hard about how to do this.
I have decided to explain the effect that President Reagan had upon me in my formative years.
I first became politically aware during the Carter Presidency.
I remember the Gas lines, the Hostage Crisis, and the word "Inflation" being discussed in every single conversation that I overheard between the adults in my life.
I turned 10 in 1976, and there was a lot going on in my little world. I had a brand new baby sister, (Hi, Daffy!!) My Dad took a new church that year, and we moved to a new town, so I had no friends (yet...) and we had absolutely no money. Life seemed very hard during that period of time.
When you are the "New kid in town" at 10, you get picked on. A LOT. How you handle yourself under this assault has everything to do with how long the abuse continues, how severe it is, and how popular you will eventually be. I had to learn to stand up for myself, and fast, and I had a brother who was 16 months younger than me, who was going through the same things that I was going through, only he was a lot more timid and shy than I was.
I did okay. I learned to fight when I had to, both for myself, and for him, and I also learned how to diplomatically diffuse a situation when such a solution was possible.
I learned that when diplomacy will not work, then you have to fight. And if you have to fight, then get busy fighting. And use whatever you can get your hands on to defeat whoever you are fighting against. Fight as dirty as you know how. Stick your fingers in your adversary's eyes, or in his nose. Scratch him. Bite him. Pick up the heaviest thing that you can heft, and hit him in the mouth with it. Twice.
WIN THE FIGHT.
When it's over, you will be respected.
If you lose the fight, then forever you will be picked on and abused, you will be regarded as a loser, and the torture will never ever stop, until you stop it.
I knew this at the age of 10.
It was on the tail end of the process of my learning this important lesson that the Iran Hostage Crisis occured.
And America, the most powerful Nation on Earth, led by the Democrat President Carter, tucked our collective tails between our legs, and begged for the mercy of a ragtag bunch of Islamic thugs, in the tiny, powerless, jerkwater Country of Iran.
I was about twelve at that time, and even then, I believed that the lives of 66 people were not worth the amount of ridicule and disrespect that our Country suffered because of President Carter's unwillingness to deal forcefully with the situation.
For 444 days this atrocity continued, and the Democrat President Carter would not commit to solving the problem. He did try one half-hearted attempt at rescuing the hostages, which ended in disaster.
Carter begged the Iranian Terrorists to let the hostages go. He begged the U.N. to intervene. He begged everyone for everything, and all of his begging just made America seem weaker to the whole World.
Then the 1980 elections came around, and a former actor and Governor of California was in the News an awful lot. His name was Ronald Reagan.
He was a Republican, a straight talker, and a forceful man. He seemed to understand the lessons that I had learned over the last few years, and the whole World knew that he was not going to take any crap. From ANYONE.
He was elected President, and it snowed on his inauguration day. I was home from school, and watched him being sworn in, and on that day, the hostages were released.
This was a very powerful message to me. The Left would like to give the credit for the release of the hostages to Jesse Jackson because he took it upon himself to go over there and try to appease the Terrorists on the behalf of America. But real, thinking Americans know that the reason that the hostages were released was because Ronald Reagan was now the President, and he would not put up with that type of nonsense.
This one incident made it okay to be proud to be an American again. America was through taking crap from the likes of little podunk Countries like Iran, and the whole World knew it.
Over the next 8 years I watched as the Left in America demonized him, disparaged President Reagan, called him stupid, unrefined, and incompetent. And all the while, he moved America to the right, both economically and geo-politically.
And the further to the right America went because of President Reagan, the better off my family became.
He cut taxes drastically, and not even his Vice-President, George H. W. Bush understood what he was doing. (G.B. 41 called the "Trickle Down Economics" theory "Voo-Doo Economics". But President Reagan created an economic boom for America that it took G.B.41 and Bill Clinton twelve years to dismantle.)
Ronald Reagan was a rare genius in the world of Presidential Politics, and one of the reasons that the Left hated him so much was because they could not, and still cannot, produce anyone who even approximates his combination of wisdom and effectiveness.
I tried ever since Mike invited me to participate in this celebration of the Reagan Presidency to think of Ronald Reagan quotes to include in my post.
The best one I can think of is this one.
"Aw, shut up!!"
This one phrase may have been what won him the Presidency in the first place, and it is still timely today. I find that it comes in handy when confronted with the nonsense presented by the Left in the guise of Political discourse. Sometimes it is absolutely the most appropriate response.
When Ronald Reagan came along, the American People were desperate for a real leader.
A MAN. One who would unapologetically say what should be said.
Ronald Reagan was that man.
He was the Greatest President that America has had since George Washington.
We need another Republican exactly like him in 2008.
I know that there is one out there...
I have decided to explain the effect that President Reagan had upon me in my formative years.
I first became politically aware during the Carter Presidency.
I remember the Gas lines, the Hostage Crisis, and the word "Inflation" being discussed in every single conversation that I overheard between the adults in my life.
I turned 10 in 1976, and there was a lot going on in my little world. I had a brand new baby sister, (Hi, Daffy!!) My Dad took a new church that year, and we moved to a new town, so I had no friends (yet...) and we had absolutely no money. Life seemed very hard during that period of time.
When you are the "New kid in town" at 10, you get picked on. A LOT. How you handle yourself under this assault has everything to do with how long the abuse continues, how severe it is, and how popular you will eventually be. I had to learn to stand up for myself, and fast, and I had a brother who was 16 months younger than me, who was going through the same things that I was going through, only he was a lot more timid and shy than I was.
I did okay. I learned to fight when I had to, both for myself, and for him, and I also learned how to diplomatically diffuse a situation when such a solution was possible.
I learned that when diplomacy will not work, then you have to fight. And if you have to fight, then get busy fighting. And use whatever you can get your hands on to defeat whoever you are fighting against. Fight as dirty as you know how. Stick your fingers in your adversary's eyes, or in his nose. Scratch him. Bite him. Pick up the heaviest thing that you can heft, and hit him in the mouth with it. Twice.
WIN THE FIGHT.
When it's over, you will be respected.
If you lose the fight, then forever you will be picked on and abused, you will be regarded as a loser, and the torture will never ever stop, until you stop it.
I knew this at the age of 10.
It was on the tail end of the process of my learning this important lesson that the Iran Hostage Crisis occured.
And America, the most powerful Nation on Earth, led by the Democrat President Carter, tucked our collective tails between our legs, and begged for the mercy of a ragtag bunch of Islamic thugs, in the tiny, powerless, jerkwater Country of Iran.
I was about twelve at that time, and even then, I believed that the lives of 66 people were not worth the amount of ridicule and disrespect that our Country suffered because of President Carter's unwillingness to deal forcefully with the situation.
For 444 days this atrocity continued, and the Democrat President Carter would not commit to solving the problem. He did try one half-hearted attempt at rescuing the hostages, which ended in disaster.
Carter begged the Iranian Terrorists to let the hostages go. He begged the U.N. to intervene. He begged everyone for everything, and all of his begging just made America seem weaker to the whole World.
Then the 1980 elections came around, and a former actor and Governor of California was in the News an awful lot. His name was Ronald Reagan.
He was a Republican, a straight talker, and a forceful man. He seemed to understand the lessons that I had learned over the last few years, and the whole World knew that he was not going to take any crap. From ANYONE.
He was elected President, and it snowed on his inauguration day. I was home from school, and watched him being sworn in, and on that day, the hostages were released.
This was a very powerful message to me. The Left would like to give the credit for the release of the hostages to Jesse Jackson because he took it upon himself to go over there and try to appease the Terrorists on the behalf of America. But real, thinking Americans know that the reason that the hostages were released was because Ronald Reagan was now the President, and he would not put up with that type of nonsense.
This one incident made it okay to be proud to be an American again. America was through taking crap from the likes of little podunk Countries like Iran, and the whole World knew it.
Over the next 8 years I watched as the Left in America demonized him, disparaged President Reagan, called him stupid, unrefined, and incompetent. And all the while, he moved America to the right, both economically and geo-politically.
And the further to the right America went because of President Reagan, the better off my family became.
He cut taxes drastically, and not even his Vice-President, George H. W. Bush understood what he was doing. (G.B. 41 called the "Trickle Down Economics" theory "Voo-Doo Economics". But President Reagan created an economic boom for America that it took G.B.41 and Bill Clinton twelve years to dismantle.)
Ronald Reagan was a rare genius in the world of Presidential Politics, and one of the reasons that the Left hated him so much was because they could not, and still cannot, produce anyone who even approximates his combination of wisdom and effectiveness.
I tried ever since Mike invited me to participate in this celebration of the Reagan Presidency to think of Ronald Reagan quotes to include in my post.
The best one I can think of is this one.
"Aw, shut up!!"
This one phrase may have been what won him the Presidency in the first place, and it is still timely today. I find that it comes in handy when confronted with the nonsense presented by the Left in the guise of Political discourse. Sometimes it is absolutely the most appropriate response.
When Ronald Reagan came along, the American People were desperate for a real leader.
A MAN. One who would unapologetically say what should be said.
Ronald Reagan was that man.
He was the Greatest President that America has had since George Washington.
We need another Republican exactly like him in 2008.
I know that there is one out there...
Friday, January 13, 2006
Wal-Mart's Nuclear Option...
Every American should be outraged by this...
From the Washington Post...
Md. Passes Rules on Wal-Mart Insurance
Bill Obligates Firms On Health Spending
By John Wagner and Michael BarbaroWashington Post Staff WritersWednesday, April 6, 2005; Page A01
"Maryland lawmakers yesterday approved legislation that would effectively require Wal-Mart to boost spending on health care, a direct legislative thrust against a corporate giant that is already on the defensive on many fronts nationwide.
"We're looking for responsible businesses to ante up . . . and provide adequate health care," said Sen. Thomas M. Middleton (D-Charles), the Finance Committee chairman, as the Senate approved the measure with a majority wide enough to survive an anticipated veto. A similar bill has cleared the House of Delegates, and legislators expect to reconcile their differences easily."
So they did it.
The Democrat controlled State Legislature in Maryland has decided that they know more about how to run Wal-Mart than Wal-Mart does. They have mandated what benefits a privately owned business must provide their employees.
"Lawmakers said they did not set out to single out Wal-Mart when they drafted a bill requiring organizations with more than 10,000 employees to spend at least 8 percent of their payroll on health benefits -- or put the money directly into the state's health program for the poor."
Healthcare is the tool that the Democrat Party will use to dismantle our Economy. They are just now starting to learn how to use it.
Wal-Mart MUST fight this. And I don't mean through the Courts, and I don't mean through the Legislature, and I don't mean through the Media.
Wal-Mart, if they will do it, has the ability to stop this kind of attack cold.
They have to shut down every Wal-Mart store in the State of Maryland.
Tomorrow.
They need to lock the doors, bring in crews from out of state to pack up the merchandise, and ship the whole shooting match to other places.
When they are done, they need to retain ownership of all of the buildings, and put up signs on the doors saying:
"Anti-Free-Market forces in the Democrat controlled State Legislature have made it impossible for the Wal-Mart Corporation to continue to do business in the state of Maryland.
We are sorry for the inconvenience.
Write your Congressman and/or Senator.
In the meantime, have fun shopping at the Mom-n-Pop Shop."
If they did this, 17,000 people would lose their jobs. The buying power of every single citizen of the State of Maryland would decrease. State Tax revenues would decrease, and all of the people currently employed in every Wal-Mart store in Maryland would draw Unemployment, directly from the State Treasury.
Then they need to start an advertizing campaign, spareing no expense, and lay the blame for every problem that Wal-Mart's withdrawal creates squarely at the feet of the Democrats who caused it.
Wal-Mart needs to send a message to the Democrats in Maryland, and to every State Legislature in America.
They need to remind the American People what Wal-Mart does for them. (And they do plenty.)
Wal-Mart needs to fight this, and they need to win.
For the good of America.
From the Washington Post...
Md. Passes Rules on Wal-Mart Insurance
Bill Obligates Firms On Health Spending
By John Wagner and Michael BarbaroWashington Post Staff WritersWednesday, April 6, 2005; Page A01
"Maryland lawmakers yesterday approved legislation that would effectively require Wal-Mart to boost spending on health care, a direct legislative thrust against a corporate giant that is already on the defensive on many fronts nationwide.
"We're looking for responsible businesses to ante up . . . and provide adequate health care," said Sen. Thomas M. Middleton (D-Charles), the Finance Committee chairman, as the Senate approved the measure with a majority wide enough to survive an anticipated veto. A similar bill has cleared the House of Delegates, and legislators expect to reconcile their differences easily."
So they did it.
The Democrat controlled State Legislature in Maryland has decided that they know more about how to run Wal-Mart than Wal-Mart does. They have mandated what benefits a privately owned business must provide their employees.
"Lawmakers said they did not set out to single out Wal-Mart when they drafted a bill requiring organizations with more than 10,000 employees to spend at least 8 percent of their payroll on health benefits -- or put the money directly into the state's health program for the poor."
Healthcare is the tool that the Democrat Party will use to dismantle our Economy. They are just now starting to learn how to use it.
Wal-Mart MUST fight this. And I don't mean through the Courts, and I don't mean through the Legislature, and I don't mean through the Media.
Wal-Mart, if they will do it, has the ability to stop this kind of attack cold.
They have to shut down every Wal-Mart store in the State of Maryland.
Tomorrow.
They need to lock the doors, bring in crews from out of state to pack up the merchandise, and ship the whole shooting match to other places.
When they are done, they need to retain ownership of all of the buildings, and put up signs on the doors saying:
"Anti-Free-Market forces in the Democrat controlled State Legislature have made it impossible for the Wal-Mart Corporation to continue to do business in the state of Maryland.
We are sorry for the inconvenience.
Write your Congressman and/or Senator.
In the meantime, have fun shopping at the Mom-n-Pop Shop."
If they did this, 17,000 people would lose their jobs. The buying power of every single citizen of the State of Maryland would decrease. State Tax revenues would decrease, and all of the people currently employed in every Wal-Mart store in Maryland would draw Unemployment, directly from the State Treasury.
Then they need to start an advertizing campaign, spareing no expense, and lay the blame for every problem that Wal-Mart's withdrawal creates squarely at the feet of the Democrats who caused it.
Wal-Mart needs to send a message to the Democrats in Maryland, and to every State Legislature in America.
They need to remind the American People what Wal-Mart does for them. (And they do plenty.)
Wal-Mart needs to fight this, and they need to win.
For the good of America.
Thursday, January 12, 2006
Justice...
Is it over yet?
The Alito (or as the esteemed Senator Kennedy says it, "Alioto") Confirmation Hearings, I mean?
No, they are not. The part that comes now is when Senator Kennedy and Senator Biden, and Boxer get to demonize Judge Alito till the cows come home and he doesn't get to answer them.
So far he has been able to answer them point for point, (not that that does any good when confronting Liberals,) and he just keeps looking smarter and smarter, while they make themselves look dumber and dumber.
But now they have the floor.
And now, we get to see what a horrible Monster Judge "Alioto" really is, and he will not be allowed to twist the facts the way he has done for the last couple of days.
He will be confirmed. The next time you see his picture, realize that you are looking at the 110th Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States.
Just what has been accomplished over the last couple of days? Has any of the harsh rhetoric, wild accusations against Judge Alito, or attacks against his character stopped him from being confirmed?
No. Not even close.
Have they hurt him at all?
Yes, they have. One only has to look at the pictures of his wife as she burst into tears and left the hearing room to realize that he and his family are indeed human beings. They have feelings.
The only thing he has EVER done to deserve the treatment he has endured over the past two days was to agree to serve his country (us,) if he is confirmed, and making the mistake of being nominated by a duly elected Republican President. He is not a racist. He is not a sexist. He is not a right-wing zealot bent upon revoking the Constitutional freedoms of Americans. He is not a lunatic.
What he is, from the actual evidence that has so far been presented, is a fair and impartial Judge, who has devoted his life to the Law, and has shown no propensity whatsoever to institute any particular agenda, other than the one set forth in our Constitution by our Founding Fathers.
There are some of you who believe that the purpose of these hearings, in part, is to allow the particular political parties to "shore up" their bases.
Funny, I thought the purpose of these hearings was to determine if the candidate was QUALIFIED to sit on the Supreme Court. (Silly Me...)
Which Judge Alito is.
If I were President Bush, do you know what I would do?
The next opening that came up that required Senate Hearings, I would nominate Senator Kennedy.
Then I would call every Republican Senator, and tell them that the gloves are off. Whatever you or your staff can dig up on Kennedy, throw it at him, on National Television.
The Hearings, if they exposed every shady thing Kennedy has done, or could possibly be accused of, would take three years.
I would see if Senator Kennedy could stand up to the type of scrutiny that he has subjected Judge "Alioto" to.
I think it would be interesting to watch as Senator Kennedy attempted to defend himself against the type of onslaught that he has directed against Judge Alito and Justice Roberts.
I would see how HE would like this treatment.
It would be nothing but fair, and just.
The Alito (or as the esteemed Senator Kennedy says it, "Alioto") Confirmation Hearings, I mean?
No, they are not. The part that comes now is when Senator Kennedy and Senator Biden, and Boxer get to demonize Judge Alito till the cows come home and he doesn't get to answer them.
So far he has been able to answer them point for point, (not that that does any good when confronting Liberals,) and he just keeps looking smarter and smarter, while they make themselves look dumber and dumber.
But now they have the floor.
And now, we get to see what a horrible Monster Judge "Alioto" really is, and he will not be allowed to twist the facts the way he has done for the last couple of days.
He will be confirmed. The next time you see his picture, realize that you are looking at the 110th Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States.
Just what has been accomplished over the last couple of days? Has any of the harsh rhetoric, wild accusations against Judge Alito, or attacks against his character stopped him from being confirmed?
No. Not even close.
Have they hurt him at all?
Yes, they have. One only has to look at the pictures of his wife as she burst into tears and left the hearing room to realize that he and his family are indeed human beings. They have feelings.
The only thing he has EVER done to deserve the treatment he has endured over the past two days was to agree to serve his country (us,) if he is confirmed, and making the mistake of being nominated by a duly elected Republican President. He is not a racist. He is not a sexist. He is not a right-wing zealot bent upon revoking the Constitutional freedoms of Americans. He is not a lunatic.
What he is, from the actual evidence that has so far been presented, is a fair and impartial Judge, who has devoted his life to the Law, and has shown no propensity whatsoever to institute any particular agenda, other than the one set forth in our Constitution by our Founding Fathers.
There are some of you who believe that the purpose of these hearings, in part, is to allow the particular political parties to "shore up" their bases.
Funny, I thought the purpose of these hearings was to determine if the candidate was QUALIFIED to sit on the Supreme Court. (Silly Me...)
Which Judge Alito is.
If I were President Bush, do you know what I would do?
The next opening that came up that required Senate Hearings, I would nominate Senator Kennedy.
Then I would call every Republican Senator, and tell them that the gloves are off. Whatever you or your staff can dig up on Kennedy, throw it at him, on National Television.
The Hearings, if they exposed every shady thing Kennedy has done, or could possibly be accused of, would take three years.
I would see if Senator Kennedy could stand up to the type of scrutiny that he has subjected Judge "Alioto" to.
I think it would be interesting to watch as Senator Kennedy attempted to defend himself against the type of onslaught that he has directed against Judge Alito and Justice Roberts.
I would see how HE would like this treatment.
It would be nothing but fair, and just.
Tuesday, January 10, 2006
Double Standard...
From Rasmussenreports.com...
Supreme Court Nomination: 58% Say Senate Dems Should Confirm Qualified Conservative
July 11, 2005--If President Bush nominates a qualified conservative to serve on the Supreme Court, 58% of Likely Voters say that Senate Democrats should vote to confirm that nominee.
A Rasmussen Reports survey found that just 24% believe that Harry Reid's party should oppose such a nominee.
Republicans and unaffiliated voters strongly support confirmation. Democrats are evenly divided--43% say their Senators should vote to confirm while 38% take the opposite view.
The divide among Democrats is strictly along ideological lines--58% of liberal Democrats want their party to oppose confirmation of a qualified conservative. 56% of moderate and conservative Democrats take the opposite view.
There it is, Dems, in black and white. (You guys are the ones who love to govern by opinion polls...)
The American People have spoken. They want the Democrats to vote to confirm Judge Sam Alito.
This puts Ted Kennedy and Joe Biden solidly outside the mainstream of American opinion.
And this is not a new poll. They had to have seen it before the Roberts confirmation hearings.
What this says to me is that opposing President Bush and anything that he tries to do is more important to Senate Democrats than absolutely anything else.
Even the will of the American People.
But then again, they have never expressed much faith in the American People anyway. They do not believe that we have sense enough to manage our own money (opposition to privatization of Socialist Security accounts, "Tax Cuts for the Rich", the push for Nationalized Healthcare even though Health insurance is readily available to anyone who is willing to make it a priority or willing to demand it as a condition of employment,) they do not believe that we have sense enough to read our own Constitution or to elect our own leaders.
They do not believe that we have sense enough to manage our own lives.
Well, we do.
I voted for President Bush PRECISELY because I wanted a Conservative Republican to nominate the next few Supreme Court Justices.
And the Democrats supported Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and if she is not too far to the left, then President Bush should be able to nominate William F. Buckley if he wants to, and he should be confirmed.
Without a fuss.
That is, if the Democrats were consistent.
But with each blustering speech, with each unreasonable protest of the President's Nominees, with every word that issues from Ted Kennedy's mouth, the double standard becomes ever more evident.
Supreme Court Nomination: 58% Say Senate Dems Should Confirm Qualified Conservative
July 11, 2005--If President Bush nominates a qualified conservative to serve on the Supreme Court, 58% of Likely Voters say that Senate Democrats should vote to confirm that nominee.
A Rasmussen Reports survey found that just 24% believe that Harry Reid's party should oppose such a nominee.
Republicans and unaffiliated voters strongly support confirmation. Democrats are evenly divided--43% say their Senators should vote to confirm while 38% take the opposite view.
The divide among Democrats is strictly along ideological lines--58% of liberal Democrats want their party to oppose confirmation of a qualified conservative. 56% of moderate and conservative Democrats take the opposite view.
There it is, Dems, in black and white. (You guys are the ones who love to govern by opinion polls...)
The American People have spoken. They want the Democrats to vote to confirm Judge Sam Alito.
This puts Ted Kennedy and Joe Biden solidly outside the mainstream of American opinion.
And this is not a new poll. They had to have seen it before the Roberts confirmation hearings.
What this says to me is that opposing President Bush and anything that he tries to do is more important to Senate Democrats than absolutely anything else.
Even the will of the American People.
But then again, they have never expressed much faith in the American People anyway. They do not believe that we have sense enough to manage our own money (opposition to privatization of Socialist Security accounts, "Tax Cuts for the Rich", the push for Nationalized Healthcare even though Health insurance is readily available to anyone who is willing to make it a priority or willing to demand it as a condition of employment,) they do not believe that we have sense enough to read our own Constitution or to elect our own leaders.
They do not believe that we have sense enough to manage our own lives.
Well, we do.
I voted for President Bush PRECISELY because I wanted a Conservative Republican to nominate the next few Supreme Court Justices.
And the Democrats supported Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and if she is not too far to the left, then President Bush should be able to nominate William F. Buckley if he wants to, and he should be confirmed.
Without a fuss.
That is, if the Democrats were consistent.
But with each blustering speech, with each unreasonable protest of the President's Nominees, with every word that issues from Ted Kennedy's mouth, the double standard becomes ever more evident.
Sunday, January 08, 2006
Tug's Proclamation To Humanity.
I Tugboatcapn, as a citizen of The United States Of America, a circumstance in which I, myself had no part, but rather consider it to be a blessing from Almighty God, and as a citizen of The World, as all human beings are, do hereby offer this proclaimation to Humanity.
I will acknowledge the existence and Divine leadership of Almighty God, and do hereby pledge to follow His leadership, as laid out for His people in His Word, The Holy Bible, and His personal instruction, as I recieve it through prayer, and the respectful study of His Holy Word. I believe, because of personal experience regarding the improvement of my own life and level of general happiness through adherance to the dictates set forth in The Holy Bible, that this is the first and most important thing that I can do for my fellow man, and for humanity in general.
I will never, through my own actions or inactions, become a burden in any way to any other human being or to society in general, and will depend only upon myself for my basic survival, happiness, and general well-being, to the absolute best of my ability. I will provide for myself and my family MYSELF, by whatever means necessary (within the law), and will strive at all times toward complete self-sufficiency, to the level that it is possible in our society.
I will promise to, however I am able, help the disadvantaged to become equally self-sufficient, to the level that they are capable, and to assist them in all ways practical to overcome the disadvantages to which they are subject, be it through education, motivation, or example.
I will protect and preserve our natural environment inasmuch as I am able without encroaching upon the Freedoms of others, and will protect all living things (holding life to be a creation of Almighty God, and therefore sacred), will give the benefit of doubt to life where doubt may exist, and will strive to be a good steward of one of the most precious gifts bestowed upon us by our Creator, our planet. I will not recklessly pollute, abuse, or disrespect this gift, and will use it wisely.
I will, by any and all means at my disposal, defend the defensless, help the helpless, and attempt to spread hope to the hopeless, wherever they may be, as is my duty as a citizen of The United States Of America, having been blessed as such by Almighty God with opportunities and advantages currently unavailable to people who were born into adversity through no fault of their own.
I will, through my vote and through my financial contributions, uphold and preserve the Freedoms enumerated in our Constitution by our Founding Fathers, and will oppose, by all means at my disposal, all those who would undermine, subvert, and repeal those Freedoms, as is my duty as a citizen of The United States Of America.
I will, through my vote and my financial contributions, support the spread of Freedom, Independence and Justice to any and all areas of the world where it is lacking, as is my duty as a citizen of The World, and a believer in the Human Spirit.
I will uphold and obey the laws set forth by my community and by Society in general, and will do my best to see that the guilty are punished and the unjustly accused are fully exhonorated and restored, as is my duty as a citizen, and if I disagree with these laws, I will work to change them through the mechanisms set forth by our Constitution, and by no other method, lest our society descend into anarchy.
I will respect myself, my fellow man, my surroundings, and my society, and will expect the same level of respect to be extended to me and my family, as is my duty and my right as a citizen of The United States Of America, and of The World.
I hereby offer this proclaimation, knowing that these principals require no significant change in my current lifestyle, so that any who may be unsure may know what principals drive my opinions and attitudes, and so that they can understand the driving forces which govern my words and actions, both past and present, and will continue to do so in the future, and I believe that if all citizens of the United States and of The World would pledge to adhere to these same principals, whether to the exact words set forth here, or to the spirit thereof, the circumstances of all of Humanity would improve.
- TBC
I will acknowledge the existence and Divine leadership of Almighty God, and do hereby pledge to follow His leadership, as laid out for His people in His Word, The Holy Bible, and His personal instruction, as I recieve it through prayer, and the respectful study of His Holy Word. I believe, because of personal experience regarding the improvement of my own life and level of general happiness through adherance to the dictates set forth in The Holy Bible, that this is the first and most important thing that I can do for my fellow man, and for humanity in general.
I will never, through my own actions or inactions, become a burden in any way to any other human being or to society in general, and will depend only upon myself for my basic survival, happiness, and general well-being, to the absolute best of my ability. I will provide for myself and my family MYSELF, by whatever means necessary (within the law), and will strive at all times toward complete self-sufficiency, to the level that it is possible in our society.
I will promise to, however I am able, help the disadvantaged to become equally self-sufficient, to the level that they are capable, and to assist them in all ways practical to overcome the disadvantages to which they are subject, be it through education, motivation, or example.
I will protect and preserve our natural environment inasmuch as I am able without encroaching upon the Freedoms of others, and will protect all living things (holding life to be a creation of Almighty God, and therefore sacred), will give the benefit of doubt to life where doubt may exist, and will strive to be a good steward of one of the most precious gifts bestowed upon us by our Creator, our planet. I will not recklessly pollute, abuse, or disrespect this gift, and will use it wisely.
I will, by any and all means at my disposal, defend the defensless, help the helpless, and attempt to spread hope to the hopeless, wherever they may be, as is my duty as a citizen of The United States Of America, having been blessed as such by Almighty God with opportunities and advantages currently unavailable to people who were born into adversity through no fault of their own.
I will, through my vote and through my financial contributions, uphold and preserve the Freedoms enumerated in our Constitution by our Founding Fathers, and will oppose, by all means at my disposal, all those who would undermine, subvert, and repeal those Freedoms, as is my duty as a citizen of The United States Of America.
I will, through my vote and my financial contributions, support the spread of Freedom, Independence and Justice to any and all areas of the world where it is lacking, as is my duty as a citizen of The World, and a believer in the Human Spirit.
I will uphold and obey the laws set forth by my community and by Society in general, and will do my best to see that the guilty are punished and the unjustly accused are fully exhonorated and restored, as is my duty as a citizen, and if I disagree with these laws, I will work to change them through the mechanisms set forth by our Constitution, and by no other method, lest our society descend into anarchy.
I will respect myself, my fellow man, my surroundings, and my society, and will expect the same level of respect to be extended to me and my family, as is my duty and my right as a citizen of The United States Of America, and of The World.
I hereby offer this proclaimation, knowing that these principals require no significant change in my current lifestyle, so that any who may be unsure may know what principals drive my opinions and attitudes, and so that they can understand the driving forces which govern my words and actions, both past and present, and will continue to do so in the future, and I believe that if all citizens of the United States and of The World would pledge to adhere to these same principals, whether to the exact words set forth here, or to the spirit thereof, the circumstances of all of Humanity would improve.
- TBC
Friday, January 06, 2006
Foxes In The Henhouse...
I listened to the radio all day today, my usual menu of Talk Radio and popular music, and the interspersed News breaks.
I did not hear Jack Abramoff's name once.
It's already starting to disappear, just like I said it would. We will hear sporadic News updates occasionally, on significant days such as Abramoff's sentencing hearing, and we will eventually be given a list of the most prominent Republicans who were tainted by their association with Abramoff and his cronies, but this scandal is being allowed to fade.
A couple of people that I talked to today mentioned him, and he is still a topic of discussion on the blogs, but by this time next week, this affair will have gone the way of Able Danger.
The scandal will be mentioned once in a while by people trying to illustrate a point about Republican Corruption, or some such, but the Major Media coverage is about over.
One of the reasons that this is happening is that it will taint far too many politicians from both sides of the aisle if it is pursued agressively. Sure, it might further undermine the reputation of Tom Delay, and a few other Republican Lawmakers, but I don't believe that the Democrats and their lapdog reporters and Media outlets are really willing to trade Nancy Pelosi, Hillary Clinton, and Harry Reid for whichever Republicans they might take down. They (the Republicans included...) would much rather that the whole thing just go away.
This is a much bigger mouthfull than anyone anticipated.
But that is not the main reason that this will be relegated to page 17A. (And soon...)
The REAL reason is that if this is pursued to it's logical conclusion, it will cause the American People to demand a complete overhaul of the Lobbying System.
If that were to happen, then no longer would a Congressional Seat that pays $162,100 per year be worth spending $50,000,000 to win. (Doesn't that seem a little fishy to you? It does to me, and always has...)
What this might do is cause our Representatives to re-inforce the open-handed slap at our (your and my) Freedom of Political Speech rights known as the McCain-Feingold Encumbent Protection Act, which, in a way, created Lobbyists like Abramoff in the first place, and Partisan Attack Organizations like Moveon.org. Abramoff was not the only Lobbyist in Washington, and it would be naive to think that he is the only crooked one. Rest assured that if it were to be investigated closely enough, connections could be found from shady lobbyists to every single member of the House and Senate.
Any action taken in response to this scandal by the politicians who are tainted by it will only make matters worse for the American People. We lose more of our Freedom, more of our voice, and more of our influence over our own elected representatives each and every time they begin to monkey with our ability to support the candidate of our choice, and each and every time that we do not hold our elected representatives to account when they are caught with their hands in the cookie jar.
Here is another interesting bit of fallout stemming partially from this scandal.
Guess who is beginning to gain political traction lately, and has taken the lead on this issue...
Newt Gingrich.
On his website, he has outlined a plan to fix this problem, and I have heard something from him every day on different Talk Shows for the past week, and he is clearly positioning himself for a 2008 Presidential run. (And I can't tell you that I would not be willing to vote for him. I would rather have him as President than Hillary or McCain...)
I don't know, but I would be willing to bet that there aren't many Democrats who wanted HIM back...
I don't know how far he will get, but it will be interesting to watch.
Back to the scandal. I don't want it to go away. I want every single politician who has done anything wrong to be exposed, tried, and punished, regardless of which party they are from, and let the chips fall where they may.
I would rather have an honest Democrat in the Senate than a crooked Republican. I would rather know that the representatives that I send to Washington with my vote actually represent me, and not the highest bidder.
I did not hear Jack Abramoff's name once.
It's already starting to disappear, just like I said it would. We will hear sporadic News updates occasionally, on significant days such as Abramoff's sentencing hearing, and we will eventually be given a list of the most prominent Republicans who were tainted by their association with Abramoff and his cronies, but this scandal is being allowed to fade.
A couple of people that I talked to today mentioned him, and he is still a topic of discussion on the blogs, but by this time next week, this affair will have gone the way of Able Danger.
The scandal will be mentioned once in a while by people trying to illustrate a point about Republican Corruption, or some such, but the Major Media coverage is about over.
One of the reasons that this is happening is that it will taint far too many politicians from both sides of the aisle if it is pursued agressively. Sure, it might further undermine the reputation of Tom Delay, and a few other Republican Lawmakers, but I don't believe that the Democrats and their lapdog reporters and Media outlets are really willing to trade Nancy Pelosi, Hillary Clinton, and Harry Reid for whichever Republicans they might take down. They (the Republicans included...) would much rather that the whole thing just go away.
This is a much bigger mouthfull than anyone anticipated.
But that is not the main reason that this will be relegated to page 17A. (And soon...)
The REAL reason is that if this is pursued to it's logical conclusion, it will cause the American People to demand a complete overhaul of the Lobbying System.
If that were to happen, then no longer would a Congressional Seat that pays $162,100 per year be worth spending $50,000,000 to win. (Doesn't that seem a little fishy to you? It does to me, and always has...)
What this might do is cause our Representatives to re-inforce the open-handed slap at our (your and my) Freedom of Political Speech rights known as the McCain-Feingold Encumbent Protection Act, which, in a way, created Lobbyists like Abramoff in the first place, and Partisan Attack Organizations like Moveon.org. Abramoff was not the only Lobbyist in Washington, and it would be naive to think that he is the only crooked one. Rest assured that if it were to be investigated closely enough, connections could be found from shady lobbyists to every single member of the House and Senate.
Any action taken in response to this scandal by the politicians who are tainted by it will only make matters worse for the American People. We lose more of our Freedom, more of our voice, and more of our influence over our own elected representatives each and every time they begin to monkey with our ability to support the candidate of our choice, and each and every time that we do not hold our elected representatives to account when they are caught with their hands in the cookie jar.
Here is another interesting bit of fallout stemming partially from this scandal.
Guess who is beginning to gain political traction lately, and has taken the lead on this issue...
Newt Gingrich.
On his website, he has outlined a plan to fix this problem, and I have heard something from him every day on different Talk Shows for the past week, and he is clearly positioning himself for a 2008 Presidential run. (And I can't tell you that I would not be willing to vote for him. I would rather have him as President than Hillary or McCain...)
I don't know, but I would be willing to bet that there aren't many Democrats who wanted HIM back...
I don't know how far he will get, but it will be interesting to watch.
Back to the scandal. I don't want it to go away. I want every single politician who has done anything wrong to be exposed, tried, and punished, regardless of which party they are from, and let the chips fall where they may.
I would rather have an honest Democrat in the Senate than a crooked Republican. I would rather know that the representatives that I send to Washington with my vote actually represent me, and not the highest bidder.
Wednesday, January 04, 2006
The Biggest Scandal Since...
Travel-gate? White-water-gate??
Lewinski-gate???
Well, maybe...But only because the MSM believes that they can turn it into a primarily Republican scandal.
From ABC snooze .com...
"Political Effects of Abramoff Deal Emerge...
By LIZ MARLANTES
" WASHINGTON, Jan. 4, 2006 — The legal fallout from former lobbyist Jack Abramoff's decision to cooperate with a federal corruption probe — and provide evidence against an unknown number of high-level Washington officials — remains to be seen.
"But the political effects, in the nation's capital and in many lawmakers' home states, have already begun to emerge.
Abramoff today pleaded guilty to two fraud charges stemming from his purchase of a Florida gambling boat fleet, a day after pleading guilty to three felony counts of mail fraud, conspiracy and tax evasion.
" Not surprisingly, Abramoff's former associates have scrambled to distance themselves from him — and his money. Politicians from both sides of the aisle are returning campaign contributions from the disgraced lobbyist. While those contributions may have been perfectly legal, it's the political taint that may hold the bigger danger, analysts said.
Read that last paragraph again...
BOTH sides of the aisle?
The contributions may have been PERFECTLY LEGAL?
How is this a Republican scandal?
The New York Times says that it may ensnare as many as a dozen members of the House and Senate. The Wall Street Journal says as many as sixty.
It could admittedly affect Republicans like Byron Dorgan, Harry Reid, Carl Levin, John Breaux, or Mary Landrieu...
No, wait...Those are Democrats, aren't they?
Is it possible that when you leave all the Democrats out that the number of people who this thing affects drops from sixty down to twelve?
(Just a question...)
Now, let me explain how this WILL NOT be a Republican scandal, if people will just take a little time and figure it out.
It doesn't matter how many Republicans are tangled up in this, how many are charged, convicted, expelled from the Government, voted out, imprisoned or executed.
This is the BUSH administration. The BUSH Justice Department. BUSH prosecutors.
Either the affected Republican Politicians will be exhonorated, and their names cleared (everywhere except the News Media...), or they will be found guilty and punished BY A REPUBLICAN ADMINISTRATION.
Either this is a baseless accusation, or a very public example of the Bush Administration dealing with corruption, and punishing those who are guilty, no matter who they are, or how badly the President needs them politically.
Win, Win.
Either way, a Republican Administration comes through this particular scandal with it's integrity intact.
But it is a Republican Scandal because the New York Times, Chicken-Noodle-News, ABC/CBS/NBC etc are going to make it one. (Rest assured that they will report it with every bit of accuracy and integrity with which they reported the Collapsed Coal Mine story, and the Hurricane Katrina story, and the GWB National Guard Memo story, and on, and on, and on...)
And if you don't pay close attention, you will fall for the trick.
So pay attention.
Lewinski-gate???
Well, maybe...But only because the MSM believes that they can turn it into a primarily Republican scandal.
From ABC snooze .com...
"Political Effects of Abramoff Deal Emerge...
By LIZ MARLANTES
" WASHINGTON, Jan. 4, 2006 — The legal fallout from former lobbyist Jack Abramoff's decision to cooperate with a federal corruption probe — and provide evidence against an unknown number of high-level Washington officials — remains to be seen.
"But the political effects, in the nation's capital and in many lawmakers' home states, have already begun to emerge.
Abramoff today pleaded guilty to two fraud charges stemming from his purchase of a Florida gambling boat fleet, a day after pleading guilty to three felony counts of mail fraud, conspiracy and tax evasion.
" Not surprisingly, Abramoff's former associates have scrambled to distance themselves from him — and his money. Politicians from both sides of the aisle are returning campaign contributions from the disgraced lobbyist. While those contributions may have been perfectly legal, it's the political taint that may hold the bigger danger, analysts said.
Read that last paragraph again...
BOTH sides of the aisle?
The contributions may have been PERFECTLY LEGAL?
How is this a Republican scandal?
The New York Times says that it may ensnare as many as a dozen members of the House and Senate. The Wall Street Journal says as many as sixty.
It could admittedly affect Republicans like Byron Dorgan, Harry Reid, Carl Levin, John Breaux, or Mary Landrieu...
No, wait...Those are Democrats, aren't they?
Is it possible that when you leave all the Democrats out that the number of people who this thing affects drops from sixty down to twelve?
(Just a question...)
Now, let me explain how this WILL NOT be a Republican scandal, if people will just take a little time and figure it out.
It doesn't matter how many Republicans are tangled up in this, how many are charged, convicted, expelled from the Government, voted out, imprisoned or executed.
This is the BUSH administration. The BUSH Justice Department. BUSH prosecutors.
Either the affected Republican Politicians will be exhonorated, and their names cleared (everywhere except the News Media...), or they will be found guilty and punished BY A REPUBLICAN ADMINISTRATION.
Either this is a baseless accusation, or a very public example of the Bush Administration dealing with corruption, and punishing those who are guilty, no matter who they are, or how badly the President needs them politically.
Win, Win.
Either way, a Republican Administration comes through this particular scandal with it's integrity intact.
But it is a Republican Scandal because the New York Times, Chicken-Noodle-News, ABC/CBS/NBC etc are going to make it one. (Rest assured that they will report it with every bit of accuracy and integrity with which they reported the Collapsed Coal Mine story, and the Hurricane Katrina story, and the GWB National Guard Memo story, and on, and on, and on...)
And if you don't pay close attention, you will fall for the trick.
So pay attention.
Tuesday, January 03, 2006
It's Going To Be A Great Year!!
...To be a Republican!
This year we will see a lot of amazing things happen. The troops will start to come home from Iraq this year, and not because the Democrats demanded it, but because they have finished the job, and can return as heroes.
This year will see the first functioning Democracy in the Middle East Region in the history of the World. Think about that for a minute. For the first time in history, the Iraqi people will be allowed to govern themselves, under a constitution that they wrote and voted for (or against...they at least had a choice...) and with leaders whom they elect, and who are accountable to the Iraqi voters.
They have Freedom. Real Freedom. For the first time ever.
And it will happen this year over the screaming objections of the entire American Democrat Party (except for Joe Leiberman). It will happen this year because the American Voters elected and re-elected a President who had the vision to make it happen. We elected a President who had the strength of will to perservere in the face of viscious personal attacks, constant discouragement, and catastrophic doom and gloom predictions from those in our Country who would rather lose a War than give him any credit for winning one.
This is an election year for numerous Senators and Congressmen (Congresspersons?), one of which is Hillary Rodham-Clinton-Rodham, who is also the presumptive front-runner for the Democrat nomination in the 2008 presidential race.
This will be the absolute funniest thing you have ever seen (if you pay close attention.) She is going to have to figure out a way to run for her own Senate seat, staying far enough to the left to win New York City, while staying far enough to the right to carry the rest of the state, and then as soon as she wins, she will immediately turn into a Reagan Republican, in order to try to win the presidential election. She is going to make John F. Kerry look like Abraham Lincoln and George Washington all rolled up into one.
And the American people are not going to buy it. Not for a minute. She will win her Senate seat back, but she will lose a presidential election in a landslide. (I know that the presidential election is two years from now, but Hillary's about-face will happen this year, and I and my fellow right wing bloggers will be here to point it all out to you.) (This is going to be FUN!!)
This year will hold more and more evidence that the President and his supporters have been right all along about more and more things, from Tax Cuts to Socialist Security to the Supreme Court to the War, and his critics will be proven to have been wrong over and over again. And not just wrong. Malicious and obnoxious and mean and loud and wrong. But mostly wrong.
Hopefully this will be the year that the Democrats learn that hatred and opposition do not win elections. If it is, then maybe the Democrats who actually have ideas which may be good for America can begin to make themselves heard, and rejoin the debate with something constructive to add. I know that there are some, they are just currently lost in the cacophony of obstructionism and venom directed toward President Bush by the majority of their party. I eagerly await their return to the forefront of the political process, and I also yearn for the relegation of the Radical Moonbat Looney Left to the fringes where they belong.
Maybe this will be the year.
I know that there will be setbacks. This is a battle that will never go away. There will always be those among us who believe that a gradual creep towards Socialism and Globalism is the best thing for America, and that our National Sovreignty is not important, and that America is the focus of Evil in the Modern World.
But right now, We on the Right side of the aisle are winning.
This is going to be our year.
This year we will see a lot of amazing things happen. The troops will start to come home from Iraq this year, and not because the Democrats demanded it, but because they have finished the job, and can return as heroes.
This year will see the first functioning Democracy in the Middle East Region in the history of the World. Think about that for a minute. For the first time in history, the Iraqi people will be allowed to govern themselves, under a constitution that they wrote and voted for (or against...they at least had a choice...) and with leaders whom they elect, and who are accountable to the Iraqi voters.
They have Freedom. Real Freedom. For the first time ever.
And it will happen this year over the screaming objections of the entire American Democrat Party (except for Joe Leiberman). It will happen this year because the American Voters elected and re-elected a President who had the vision to make it happen. We elected a President who had the strength of will to perservere in the face of viscious personal attacks, constant discouragement, and catastrophic doom and gloom predictions from those in our Country who would rather lose a War than give him any credit for winning one.
This is an election year for numerous Senators and Congressmen (Congresspersons?), one of which is Hillary Rodham-Clinton-Rodham, who is also the presumptive front-runner for the Democrat nomination in the 2008 presidential race.
This will be the absolute funniest thing you have ever seen (if you pay close attention.) She is going to have to figure out a way to run for her own Senate seat, staying far enough to the left to win New York City, while staying far enough to the right to carry the rest of the state, and then as soon as she wins, she will immediately turn into a Reagan Republican, in order to try to win the presidential election. She is going to make John F. Kerry look like Abraham Lincoln and George Washington all rolled up into one.
And the American people are not going to buy it. Not for a minute. She will win her Senate seat back, but she will lose a presidential election in a landslide. (I know that the presidential election is two years from now, but Hillary's about-face will happen this year, and I and my fellow right wing bloggers will be here to point it all out to you.) (This is going to be FUN!!)
This year will hold more and more evidence that the President and his supporters have been right all along about more and more things, from Tax Cuts to Socialist Security to the Supreme Court to the War, and his critics will be proven to have been wrong over and over again. And not just wrong. Malicious and obnoxious and mean and loud and wrong. But mostly wrong.
Hopefully this will be the year that the Democrats learn that hatred and opposition do not win elections. If it is, then maybe the Democrats who actually have ideas which may be good for America can begin to make themselves heard, and rejoin the debate with something constructive to add. I know that there are some, they are just currently lost in the cacophony of obstructionism and venom directed toward President Bush by the majority of their party. I eagerly await their return to the forefront of the political process, and I also yearn for the relegation of the Radical Moonbat Looney Left to the fringes where they belong.
Maybe this will be the year.
I know that there will be setbacks. This is a battle that will never go away. There will always be those among us who believe that a gradual creep towards Socialism and Globalism is the best thing for America, and that our National Sovreignty is not important, and that America is the focus of Evil in the Modern World.
But right now, We on the Right side of the aisle are winning.
This is going to be our year.
Sunday, January 01, 2006
Tug's New Years Resolutions
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!
New Year's Day is the time when traditionally we take stock of our lives, and resolve to change the things that we don't like, and do the things that we already knew we should have been doing all along.
So for my first post of the New Year, I have decided to share with everyone my own New Year's Resolutions.
1. Tithe my income.
You never go wrong giving money to God. I used to tithe a lot more regularly when I went to church more regularly, but I have gotten out of the habit of doing both. I feel that I am closer to God right now than I have ever been in my life, but then I believe that if you were raised in church, you have to step back away from Religion to really know God, and I am currently in the tail end of that process, which brings us to number...
2. Find a church that I like, and start attending regularly.
God does not reside within the walls of a church. You can find Him anywhere. He will come to you. But you cannot give back to God everything that you need to give to Him (He does not need you. He is God. But we need to give to God, and to work for Him, for our own emotional and spiritual well being) if you are not active in a good, growing church.
I have not been gloriously happy and content living in Florida, and I blame this situation, in part, on the fact that I have not attended church since I have lived here. Churches are a good place to build a network of like minded, compatible individuals who are united for their own mutual good. Friends, if you want to call them that. I don't have any here. I want some.
I have friends in the blogosphere, and I appreciate each and every one of them, but they can't keep the dog for us when we need to be out of town for a couple of days.
3.) Have sex with my wife every night. (tee hee)
(Xena added this one while I was out of the room. Not a bad resolution, though, so I am going to leave it. Yee-hah!!)
That brings us to number...
4. Spend less time blogging, and more time paying attention to my wife and doggy.
I seriously thought about giving up Blogging completely, but I decided against that. There are a lot of you out there who are seriously misguided, and I must do my part to straighten you out, for your own good. (Just kidding.) I feel that everyone is entitled to their own opinion, and to mine as well. Any time any of you want the correct and logical take on the events of the day, just come here, and I will provide it for you, to the best of my ability.
But I will no longer neglect my wife in order to do it.
5. Get more sleep.
I am 39 years old. For the last couple of years, I have been living on about 3 or 4 hours of sleep per night, and it is killing me. There is no reason for me to do this to myself anymore, so I am going to quit it.
6. Buy another house.
My wife and I live in a 30 year old (31 ?) double wide mobile home. It is a pretty nice place, considering what we have to work with, but I owe her more than this. She is a good wife, and she should not have to apologize to anyone for the house that I have provided for her. I can and will do better, this year.
7. Move back to North Carolina.
I do not belong in Florida. I have tried to make the best of it, but this trip to N.C. over the past few days reminded me in no uncertain terms that I belong there, not here. Fortunately, I am portable, and so is the wife and doggy. We can relocate, and I am planning to be back where God intended me to be by this time next year, in a house that the wife can be proud of. Maybe even one that she can look down her nose at the less fortunate about.
8. Play my guitars.
They have been sadly neglected lately. I used to be a pretty good musician, and I have made a pretty fair amount of money playing music over the course of my life, but right now I am as rusty as a railroad spike. There is no excuse for this.
I will remedy this situation this year.
9. Bathe every day.
(It's a joke, Son. Humor! Arr Arr Arr! Nanoo Nanoo...)
10. Start a business and become filthy rich.
It ain't ever going to happen as long as I am working for someone else. Other people do it, and I have the same amount of fingers and toes as they do. If anyone else can, then I can.
Ever since my wreck, I have thought about what it would be like to make a living without an Eighteen Wheeler up under me, and now I believe that I may have stumbled on to a plan that might work. More on this later. If it works, I will share the details here, and we can all get rich.
Pray for me, and keep your fingers crossed.
11. Call my Mama.
She loves me, and I love her. I don't call her nearly enough. I will do better this year.
12. Write my Congressman and my Senator more often, and not just bitch about stuff on my blog.
This is how we make a difference in our Country. If my representatives do things that I do not like, then I will tell them so. If they do things that I like, I will tell them that as well. If they are about to do something that I do not like, I will ask them not to.
I will make my voice heard, at the highest levels of our government.
If you do not agree with me, then I suggest that you do the same.
These are a few of my goals for the New Year. I have others, but they shall remain private.
What are your Resolutions for the New Year?
New Year's Day is the time when traditionally we take stock of our lives, and resolve to change the things that we don't like, and do the things that we already knew we should have been doing all along.
So for my first post of the New Year, I have decided to share with everyone my own New Year's Resolutions.
1. Tithe my income.
You never go wrong giving money to God. I used to tithe a lot more regularly when I went to church more regularly, but I have gotten out of the habit of doing both. I feel that I am closer to God right now than I have ever been in my life, but then I believe that if you were raised in church, you have to step back away from Religion to really know God, and I am currently in the tail end of that process, which brings us to number...
2. Find a church that I like, and start attending regularly.
God does not reside within the walls of a church. You can find Him anywhere. He will come to you. But you cannot give back to God everything that you need to give to Him (He does not need you. He is God. But we need to give to God, and to work for Him, for our own emotional and spiritual well being) if you are not active in a good, growing church.
I have not been gloriously happy and content living in Florida, and I blame this situation, in part, on the fact that I have not attended church since I have lived here. Churches are a good place to build a network of like minded, compatible individuals who are united for their own mutual good. Friends, if you want to call them that. I don't have any here. I want some.
I have friends in the blogosphere, and I appreciate each and every one of them, but they can't keep the dog for us when we need to be out of town for a couple of days.
3.) Have sex with my wife every night. (tee hee)
(Xena added this one while I was out of the room. Not a bad resolution, though, so I am going to leave it. Yee-hah!!)
That brings us to number...
4. Spend less time blogging, and more time paying attention to my wife and doggy.
I seriously thought about giving up Blogging completely, but I decided against that. There are a lot of you out there who are seriously misguided, and I must do my part to straighten you out, for your own good. (Just kidding.) I feel that everyone is entitled to their own opinion, and to mine as well. Any time any of you want the correct and logical take on the events of the day, just come here, and I will provide it for you, to the best of my ability.
But I will no longer neglect my wife in order to do it.
5. Get more sleep.
I am 39 years old. For the last couple of years, I have been living on about 3 or 4 hours of sleep per night, and it is killing me. There is no reason for me to do this to myself anymore, so I am going to quit it.
6. Buy another house.
My wife and I live in a 30 year old (31 ?) double wide mobile home. It is a pretty nice place, considering what we have to work with, but I owe her more than this. She is a good wife, and she should not have to apologize to anyone for the house that I have provided for her. I can and will do better, this year.
7. Move back to North Carolina.
I do not belong in Florida. I have tried to make the best of it, but this trip to N.C. over the past few days reminded me in no uncertain terms that I belong there, not here. Fortunately, I am portable, and so is the wife and doggy. We can relocate, and I am planning to be back where God intended me to be by this time next year, in a house that the wife can be proud of. Maybe even one that she can look down her nose at the less fortunate about.
8. Play my guitars.
They have been sadly neglected lately. I used to be a pretty good musician, and I have made a pretty fair amount of money playing music over the course of my life, but right now I am as rusty as a railroad spike. There is no excuse for this.
I will remedy this situation this year.
9. Bathe every day.
(It's a joke, Son. Humor! Arr Arr Arr! Nanoo Nanoo...)
10. Start a business and become filthy rich.
It ain't ever going to happen as long as I am working for someone else. Other people do it, and I have the same amount of fingers and toes as they do. If anyone else can, then I can.
Ever since my wreck, I have thought about what it would be like to make a living without an Eighteen Wheeler up under me, and now I believe that I may have stumbled on to a plan that might work. More on this later. If it works, I will share the details here, and we can all get rich.
Pray for me, and keep your fingers crossed.
11. Call my Mama.
She loves me, and I love her. I don't call her nearly enough. I will do better this year.
12. Write my Congressman and my Senator more often, and not just bitch about stuff on my blog.
This is how we make a difference in our Country. If my representatives do things that I do not like, then I will tell them so. If they do things that I like, I will tell them that as well. If they are about to do something that I do not like, I will ask them not to.
I will make my voice heard, at the highest levels of our government.
If you do not agree with me, then I suggest that you do the same.
These are a few of my goals for the New Year. I have others, but they shall remain private.
What are your Resolutions for the New Year?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
