The circus around Herman Cain and his bevy of "beautes" continues. The media sees fit to cover every sordid detail as if this is news. How low have we sunk as a society? None of the allegations have been proven in a court of law, or even brought to a court for that matter. None of these cases have a shred of physical evidence, no photos, video tape, stained blue dresses, not even viable witnesses to these ancient events yet our media is willing to give the accusers free air time to hold news conferences that announce news conferences! Talking heads employ utter nonsense while they cavalierly denounce Cain for his mishandling of his own defense. It is official. The asylum is being run by the inmates.
Just a couple questions. What woman who endured the sort of assault Gloria Nocred's client claims, would not have filed charges? Her excuse was that she was embarrassed. Give me a break. That woman never met a set of eyes or camera lens she didn't want to mug for. Embarrassed is not in her arsenal. There are women who may well be scared and intimidated by such an incident but that broad is not of that tribe. My favorite part of her story was when she proclaimed, "you know I have a boyfriend." as if this is why pulling her head toward his crotch is "wrong". Oh, you have a boyfriend. Then I won't force you into fallacio. This is classic crap.
Let's join the fantasy and believe she was really shy back then but since has matured and "grown a pair". Why would she wait until Cain posed a threat in the presidential race to join forces with Gloria Nocred? Why wouldn't she make these statements the minute Cain announced his intentions to run if the truth were what she sincerely sought? She is donning the cloak of courageous victim. Methinks she's nothing more than a foolish tool willing to sell her soul to the highest bidder. That's the impression I got from her act.
As for the latest dame to go public from the NRA, that one defies logic. And is hilarious if it weren't so sad. She claims Herman sexually harassed her multiple times. There are wild imaginations and then there's just insanity. What man with two eyes would look at that pinch faced shrew and even subconsciously have a sexual thought? That poor creature is dreaming if she believes she has that sort of arousal power over the opposite sex. I know, that's mean but could we for once deal in facts that we can all see rather than the fantasy of agenda driven, axe grinding, bitter little people?
In a fair world I'd like to examine in minute detail, the lives of every newscaster, every political pundit, every lawyer and especially each of these accusers and see what interesting tidbits those investigations reveal. Actually, I could care less what these twits have done in their lives but I just wish the adults would step up in the media and pull the plug on this madness. If Cain did do this, let facts be brought. If not, stop wasting the public's time with this concocted soap opera.
Will Cain be slain by these poisonous feckless, fact-less harpies? All I have to say for our country is this...More Feign, More Pain, No Cain, No Gain.
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Friday, October 21, 2011
Joe Biden is Anti-Rape and Murder but Pro-Dependency
How brave and courageous is Joe Biden? I think most breathing people will agree, Joe Biden flirts with the line between fool and buffoon on a daily basis but this latest riff connecting the lack of Republican support for Obama's new spending spree to a rise in rape and murder is simply assinine.
This is the tired lie of the left, to say government agencies will solve the ills of society. The left floats the fairytale that the bigger the government, the better, safer, happier your life will be. The truth is, just the opposite is the result of big government but the Joe Bidens of the world would never let on to this. Big government does one main thing, it removes the responsibility for self and shifts it to a faceless, mindless entity. This entity has no personal connection or concern for the individual other than needing the votes of these multitude of dependents to retain big government's power and to continue to grow in it's inefficency and moral void. Spoiler alert, this strategy does not end well for "the individual" or "the people".
The welfare rolls and entitlement programs have grown exponentially under Obama/Biden which is a more valid connection to rising crime rates than lack of police presence yet Biden blames Republicans for the rise in crime. When a person is stripped of personal responsibility, handed the necessities of life and told the government can do for them what they are not equipped and never will be equipped to do for themselves, that in itself is a death sentence to a soul. When "stuff" is handed to anyone with no expectation of repayment, there is something vital that dies within. As handouts become the norm, the end result is a person robbed of dignity poised to rob others in return.
In contrast, when a person, not government, helps out another person, somewhere down the line, the person initially helped feels obligated to return the favor. When the favor is repaid, the person retains their dignity and feels empowered. This basic human exchange is lost whenever government steps in as the broker.
Let's pretend for a moment that more money for more police would solve the crime problem. I would have no problem with government funding this however, the reality is our government takes our money and uses it for unwarranted, unrealistic, unworthy things. Time and time again we hear of millions if not billions of American tax dollars squandered, wasted and yes, stolen by our government. This is why I do not trust government to use my tax money to improve society. The track record cannot be denied. One word, Solyndra.
However, back to Joe's argument for Obama's "Job Bill", it's this spending mentaily which enables the broken system of dependency to continue. This is the cause of rising crime rates, not the lack of police funding. Through the deceitfulness of a Socialist-style regime, more people are being enslaved into the "Hope and Change" of the Hopelessnes of one's abilities and Chains of permanent dependency.
If Joe Biden was genuinely serious about bringing the crime rate down he would be honest with the people he claims to want to protect. He would tell them the truth, that government does not make them better, safer or happier. He would clue them into the secret that their own God-given talents and sheer determination will serve them and lift them up more readily than government ever could. He would tell them that their neighbor is more dependable than the government and if your neighbor helps you, you are to return in kind. He would tell them that no system is perfect and unfortunate things do happen in every human-run society. Government is not all powerful, never will be and never should be depended on to make all things fair. Every Socialist experiment proves this out.
The left is interested in one thing, controlling the masses and keeping the most amount of people under a blanket of dependency of sub-par neccessities. No where in the world has the left been successful in lifting vast numbers of people out of poverty but the left does a marvelous job of keeping everyone equally poor and miserable. Though the message of the left feigns fairness, since when is lack of self-determination and self-responsibility fair?
Fact, the largest percentage of people live above poverty levels in a Capitalist society than in any other societal structure the world has ever experienced. Fact, cronism exists in Capitalism which is unfair but it is light lunch compared to the cronism existing in the Communist and even Socialist systems of the world.
At the end of the day, Joe's outrage at the Republicans is farcical. The rapists and the murders are not swayed by a couple of dollars thrown at a police department. They are swayed by bringing them up in a society that holds them responsible for their own livelihood, that retains their dignity of self, that expects greater things of them than a Socialist/Communist government expects of them. Socialism/Communism has no faith in the human being's ability to do for self and reminds said human being of this on a daily basis. Joe may rail against rape and murder but pushing the dependency on the drug of big government upon the masses, for him, is no crime.
Careful Joe, whom you condemn. At this point your ticket needs every vote it can get. With rants like your latest, the future rapists and murderers may stay home instead of voting this next go 'round.
This is the tired lie of the left, to say government agencies will solve the ills of society. The left floats the fairytale that the bigger the government, the better, safer, happier your life will be. The truth is, just the opposite is the result of big government but the Joe Bidens of the world would never let on to this. Big government does one main thing, it removes the responsibility for self and shifts it to a faceless, mindless entity. This entity has no personal connection or concern for the individual other than needing the votes of these multitude of dependents to retain big government's power and to continue to grow in it's inefficency and moral void. Spoiler alert, this strategy does not end well for "the individual" or "the people".
The welfare rolls and entitlement programs have grown exponentially under Obama/Biden which is a more valid connection to rising crime rates than lack of police presence yet Biden blames Republicans for the rise in crime. When a person is stripped of personal responsibility, handed the necessities of life and told the government can do for them what they are not equipped and never will be equipped to do for themselves, that in itself is a death sentence to a soul. When "stuff" is handed to anyone with no expectation of repayment, there is something vital that dies within. As handouts become the norm, the end result is a person robbed of dignity poised to rob others in return.
In contrast, when a person, not government, helps out another person, somewhere down the line, the person initially helped feels obligated to return the favor. When the favor is repaid, the person retains their dignity and feels empowered. This basic human exchange is lost whenever government steps in as the broker.
Let's pretend for a moment that more money for more police would solve the crime problem. I would have no problem with government funding this however, the reality is our government takes our money and uses it for unwarranted, unrealistic, unworthy things. Time and time again we hear of millions if not billions of American tax dollars squandered, wasted and yes, stolen by our government. This is why I do not trust government to use my tax money to improve society. The track record cannot be denied. One word, Solyndra.
However, back to Joe's argument for Obama's "Job Bill", it's this spending mentaily which enables the broken system of dependency to continue. This is the cause of rising crime rates, not the lack of police funding. Through the deceitfulness of a Socialist-style regime, more people are being enslaved into the "Hope and Change" of the Hopelessnes of one's abilities and Chains of permanent dependency.
If Joe Biden was genuinely serious about bringing the crime rate down he would be honest with the people he claims to want to protect. He would tell them the truth, that government does not make them better, safer or happier. He would clue them into the secret that their own God-given talents and sheer determination will serve them and lift them up more readily than government ever could. He would tell them that their neighbor is more dependable than the government and if your neighbor helps you, you are to return in kind. He would tell them that no system is perfect and unfortunate things do happen in every human-run society. Government is not all powerful, never will be and never should be depended on to make all things fair. Every Socialist experiment proves this out.
The left is interested in one thing, controlling the masses and keeping the most amount of people under a blanket of dependency of sub-par neccessities. No where in the world has the left been successful in lifting vast numbers of people out of poverty but the left does a marvelous job of keeping everyone equally poor and miserable. Though the message of the left feigns fairness, since when is lack of self-determination and self-responsibility fair?
Fact, the largest percentage of people live above poverty levels in a Capitalist society than in any other societal structure the world has ever experienced. Fact, cronism exists in Capitalism which is unfair but it is light lunch compared to the cronism existing in the Communist and even Socialist systems of the world.
At the end of the day, Joe's outrage at the Republicans is farcical. The rapists and the murders are not swayed by a couple of dollars thrown at a police department. They are swayed by bringing them up in a society that holds them responsible for their own livelihood, that retains their dignity of self, that expects greater things of them than a Socialist/Communist government expects of them. Socialism/Communism has no faith in the human being's ability to do for self and reminds said human being of this on a daily basis. Joe may rail against rape and murder but pushing the dependency on the drug of big government upon the masses, for him, is no crime.
Careful Joe, whom you condemn. At this point your ticket needs every vote it can get. With rants like your latest, the future rapists and murderers may stay home instead of voting this next go 'round.
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Weiner's Weiner Is Not The Problem
Anthony Weiner has issues with his weiner but his real problem is not sex, his problem is with power. The level of arrogance and hubris with which he first denied then, via pressure, admitted the acts he performed, is not simply a personal sexual matter between consensual adults as some MSM outlets are spinning. These acts absolutely reach into his political decision making.
First, Weiner had no regard for the actual age of the "women" he was engaging. Weiner is a cosmopolitan person, not some guy in his mother's basement blogging in Lower Slobovia. He knows full well people can be ANY age on the Internet yet the risk of sexting to a minor was not Weiner's concern. In fact, at least two of the known women were young enough to be his daughter. Not a crime, true, but underscores his lack of concern for decency.
As a Congressman of the United States, Weiner's fleeting satisfaction was all that mattered as he sexted away. He did not even care that he put his political office in jeopardy of blackmail. How can Congress not find this recklessness a danger to our country? Weiner is a man drunk with power. This is a man who can not control himself on the most basic of levels.
Weiner is a United States Congressman willing to falsely accuse a citizen of the crime of hacking instead of owning up to his own filth. If this is how Anthony Weiner handles his "personal junk" how in the world can he be trusted to handle the business of the country?
What is most disappointing is Weiner's utter lack of dignity. He hides behind his delusion of being irreplaceable to the people of his district rather than taking responsibility for his vast character flaw. To truly address his addiction, lack of self-control, lack of self-respect, obsession with body parts and power, he needs to remove himself from public life and get professional help. That would be the action of a person sincere about changing. Weiner is not sincere about changing.
Anthony Weiner remaining in office is the worst thing for the country, his district, his wife and himself. Anthony Weiner is a power junkie. Until he is separated from his demon, power, he will never be true to himself or his constituents. Short of that, Weiner remains whacked.
First, Weiner had no regard for the actual age of the "women" he was engaging. Weiner is a cosmopolitan person, not some guy in his mother's basement blogging in Lower Slobovia. He knows full well people can be ANY age on the Internet yet the risk of sexting to a minor was not Weiner's concern. In fact, at least two of the known women were young enough to be his daughter. Not a crime, true, but underscores his lack of concern for decency.
As a Congressman of the United States, Weiner's fleeting satisfaction was all that mattered as he sexted away. He did not even care that he put his political office in jeopardy of blackmail. How can Congress not find this recklessness a danger to our country? Weiner is a man drunk with power. This is a man who can not control himself on the most basic of levels.
Weiner is a United States Congressman willing to falsely accuse a citizen of the crime of hacking instead of owning up to his own filth. If this is how Anthony Weiner handles his "personal junk" how in the world can he be trusted to handle the business of the country?
What is most disappointing is Weiner's utter lack of dignity. He hides behind his delusion of being irreplaceable to the people of his district rather than taking responsibility for his vast character flaw. To truly address his addiction, lack of self-control, lack of self-respect, obsession with body parts and power, he needs to remove himself from public life and get professional help. That would be the action of a person sincere about changing. Weiner is not sincere about changing.
Anthony Weiner remaining in office is the worst thing for the country, his district, his wife and himself. Anthony Weiner is a power junkie. Until he is separated from his demon, power, he will never be true to himself or his constituents. Short of that, Weiner remains whacked.
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Morals According To Lefty Liberals
Just a few weeks ago I watched a video on YouTube of a large gathering of White Feminists cheering, applauding, screeching with pride the fact that they had ended unwanted pregnancies by ripping a fetus from their womb. The American Left not only condones these rallies and celebrations, they want taxpayers to fund such practices. Make no mention of the fact that the unwanted pregnancies of these "educated, progressive, intellectual" females resulted from UNPROTECTED SEX which they so "smartly" engaged in and intend to do so again and again. Ah, the dignity in that. How far the liberated woman has come! As a white educated woman myself, I watched this video and wanted to puke. These idiots have twisted the act of sex into some false expression of power, not love, power and take the perverted logic further by saying the destruction of their own progeny is a wonderful thing. This is beyond pathetic, it is the reality of women's identity hitting rock bottom.
Fast forward to today, May, 2011. Our liberal president made a good call and ordered the elimination of a thoroughly evil human, Osama bin Laden. True, at one time, Osama was an innocent in his mother's womb but he, unlike the babies aborted, got the chance to enact his free will. Sadly, his free will resulted in the deaths of thousands across the globe. This little fact rendered his innocence invalid long ago. Yet when Americans gather together and cheer this monster's demise, the American Left is outraged.
Allow me to get this straight...an organized gathering of educated white women, bellowing with a bullhorn, their pride over the accomplishment of the dissection of their fetus is the type of public display championed by the Left. However, a mixed-race, mix-gendered, spontaneous crowd in Times Square, emoting joy over the death of a mass murdering coward is deemed disgusting, barbaric, VERBOTEN to the evolved sensibilities of the Left.
Oh, I get it now. It's all about tenure! Osama had it, babies, not. Gotta love those unions.
P.S.
Happy Mother's Day to all you backward sorts who actually allowed your body to be used in such a manner!
Fast forward to today, May, 2011. Our liberal president made a good call and ordered the elimination of a thoroughly evil human, Osama bin Laden. True, at one time, Osama was an innocent in his mother's womb but he, unlike the babies aborted, got the chance to enact his free will. Sadly, his free will resulted in the deaths of thousands across the globe. This little fact rendered his innocence invalid long ago. Yet when Americans gather together and cheer this monster's demise, the American Left is outraged.
Allow me to get this straight...an organized gathering of educated white women, bellowing with a bullhorn, their pride over the accomplishment of the dissection of their fetus is the type of public display championed by the Left. However, a mixed-race, mix-gendered, spontaneous crowd in Times Square, emoting joy over the death of a mass murdering coward is deemed disgusting, barbaric, VERBOTEN to the evolved sensibilities of the Left.
Oh, I get it now. It's all about tenure! Osama had it, babies, not. Gotta love those unions.
P.S.
Happy Mother's Day to all you backward sorts who actually allowed your body to be used in such a manner!
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Chris Christie Is Not Ready To Be President
Chris Christie is absolutely right. He is not ready to be President of the United States nor will he be ready come 2012. The fact of the matter is, there is not a human being walking the face of the earth who is READY to be the President of the United States, including Barack Obama. The world we find ourselves in is perhaps the most dangerous, threatening, fragile circumstance human beings have ever faced. This is uncharted territory. The skill set needed to navigate it successfully is not clear.
Currently our country is teetering on the edge of a deadly abyss. Judging from the direction our current administration is headed, we will have stepped off the edge and be in full free fall by the year 2012. Christie knows this. Of course he is not ready to lead a country in mid plummet. No human being is or will be.
I liken the role of President of the United States in this era of history to be the same of that as a person with a deadly illness. Who among us is ready to hear the sentence, "you have cancer"? Humans are never ready for trials of this magnitude but some humans have the grit to take on the trials. Some do not. Some actually feed the diseases they are tasked to defeat.
I see Chris Christie as a man with a multitude of grit. I believe if there is anyone who is able to grow wings from that grit and fly US back up to safety, able to restore America's emotional, fiscal and social stability, it is Chris Christie.
True, he, like any human, is not ready for such unknowns. He is, however, able. The only real question that must be answered and the one that so often is the key to the survival of a cancer patient...is he willing? Is Chris Christie willing to battle the cancer? Is Chris Christie willing to be President of the United States of America?
God willing.
Currently our country is teetering on the edge of a deadly abyss. Judging from the direction our current administration is headed, we will have stepped off the edge and be in full free fall by the year 2012. Christie knows this. Of course he is not ready to lead a country in mid plummet. No human being is or will be.
I liken the role of President of the United States in this era of history to be the same of that as a person with a deadly illness. Who among us is ready to hear the sentence, "you have cancer"? Humans are never ready for trials of this magnitude but some humans have the grit to take on the trials. Some do not. Some actually feed the diseases they are tasked to defeat.
I see Chris Christie as a man with a multitude of grit. I believe if there is anyone who is able to grow wings from that grit and fly US back up to safety, able to restore America's emotional, fiscal and social stability, it is Chris Christie.
True, he, like any human, is not ready for such unknowns. He is, however, able. The only real question that must be answered and the one that so often is the key to the survival of a cancer patient...is he willing? Is Chris Christie willing to battle the cancer? Is Chris Christie willing to be President of the United States of America?
God willing.
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
A Letter to an Archbishop in Wisconsin
This Sunday, February 27th, my Catholic parish in Virginia added an insert into our Mass Bulletin. It was a copy of a statement put out by a Catholic Archbishop in Wisconsin addressing the Wisconsin Catholic Conference. I do not know if the Archbishop asked to have this statement put into the Mass Bulletins in a parish in Virginia but regardless, we got the memo. It can be read in full here...
http://www.archmil.org/News/StatementRegardingtheRightsofW.htm
After reading the statement twice, probably three times I was motivated to write the following email to the Archbishop.
Dear Archbishop Listecki,
I am contacting you in regards to a letter you wrote which our parish included in this Sunday's bulletin. The letter was referenced as a Statement Regarding the Rights of Workers and the Value of Unions. I read the letter and found myself upset. My first reaction was to disagree that this politically charged topic should be foisted upon parishioners in relation to attending Mass. I was taught that one is to attend Mass for the sole purpose of giving full attention to God, to leave the scenarios of this world which are fleeting, to fully focus on what is eternal. To be greeted with a letter from an Archbishop calling Catholics to defend workers and unions, a topic we are all bombarded with at all hours of the day on television and in print, was an intrusion on God's time, in my opinion. I do not know if you asked for the letter to be put in the bulletin or not, but that is what happened. I found it inappropriate.
I took another breath and read the letter again. Though I completely agree with your final sentiment, "to move beyond divisive words and actions and work together", the insinuation that Wisconsin teachers are in danger of being marginalized or dismissed is misleading. From all that I have read, the terms being promoted by Governor Walker and eventually voted on in the Wisconsin legislature are terms more than 20 states now have in place for their unions. There is nothing being asked of Wisconsin teachers that others haven't been already doing for some time. I will admit, I am not a Wisconsin teacher, I have no connection to that union or any teachers union but I do come from a Catholic family of union roots. My grandfather was an electrician in the Washington, DC area. He came up as a union man and rose through the ranks. He eventually owned the largest Electrical Contracting business in the D.C. area. His union shop did all of the wiring for the White House, the Pentagon, the Capitol, and most Federal Buildings in DC. However, living in Virginia, a right to work state, he, in addition to his union shop, opened a non-union shop as well.
Though he'd always been a union man coming up, the vast difference in how a union vs non-union business operated facilitated a change in his perspective. He realized non-union employees fared better in the long run for the individual employee. The union shops had a monopoly on government work which was lucrative however, the rules and wages (after dues) made the union jobs much less attractive. He related stories of the immense pressure unions would bring upon the members, employing strong arm tactics and asking actions from workers that were less than moral. For a Catholic or any Christian to be asked to do some of these things for the good of the union can really take a toll on a person. He made it clear to all of us in the family that the unions were out for the union bosses not necessarily for the actual individual workers, though that is the unions stated reason to exist. The message I heard growing up was to avoid being a union worker, be an employee in a private business. Employees have their individual dignity and play a much bigger role in their own fate, union workers follow union rules and are at the mercy of the union bosses.
Please understand, I do not see the role of unions as inherently bad. I agree with Pope Benedict's statement which you included in your letter, regarding the importance of solidarity and protection of workers rights that unions provide. In a country like China, North Korea or even India where workers are abused, the role of unions is something we should all work to promote and bring about. What I do not agree with are tactics being employed by American union members such as disseminating the names of Governor Walker's children and their schools with a plan to protest at those schools, using children as the props. I have a hard time supporting the practice of teachers caught on video lying about being sick in order to collect a days wages while they "defend their rights". What about the parents who had to stay home from work to watch their child who could not go to school due to the teachers mass sickness? Did that parent have to lie as well in order not to lose a days wages or did they stay home, choosing not to lie about being sick and instead losing pay for that day? What lessons are we teaching the young through these tactics?
I've seen union members physically assaulting news reporters on live television, threatening a reporter with severe bodily harm simply because the reporter is there from a network the unions are not controlling the message of. I've seen Communist Workers Party banners at the Wisconsin protests standing in solidarity with Wisconsin teachers. Archbishop, I've been to Russia, I've seen what the Communist Party did to that culture, not to mention what Communism did to Catholicism. If the Wisconsin Teachers are finding themselves aligned with Communist Workers, there's a problem there.
All these tactics and alliances are straight from the playbook my grandfather talked about regarding the D.C. Electricians Union. The similarities of what Electrician Union workers were asked to do in bargaining situations were very similar to what I see happening in Wisconsin. This is beyond troubling. We as Christians support the right of these unions to associate, organize and bargain their wages (all of which would continue under Governor Walker's plan) but to use the moral concept of unions to then employ tactics that are amoral does not fly. Hiding behind a moral right while committing moral wrongs is not a cause I will ever support. As for the stance against, collective bargaining, that falls into the same logic for Anti-Trust laws. Collective bargaining, especially for civil servant jobs, is wrong on a multitude of levels. Collective bargaining enables unions to hold an entire segment of society hostage unless demands are met. This is not fair nor just tactics for the common good, in my opinion.
I appreciate the fact that you are there in the midst. You know the Wisconsin union members probably by name and hear their side clearest of all. I am glad workers have an advocate such as you. However, since your letter asks us all to evaluate the lawmakers proposal in terms of its impact on the common good, I too would first want to have the facts and figures regarding the amount of money the Wisconsin Teachers Union has given to lawmakers, specifically which lawmakers. I would like to know the terms of Wisconsin teachers current pension plans and be able to compare them to union pension plans in states that have gotten their fiscal house in better order. I would like to see the test scores of Wisconsin students and be able to compare them to states that may not provide as lucrative pension packages to their teachers. I would hope better pension packages equates to higher test scores. If this is not the case, then pension packages need to be reduced to sane levels. I would like to know if the Wisconsin Teachers Union has a rule stating tenure trumps performance where layoffs are concerned. I would hope that a teacher who is new but has performed well for the students is kept over an older teacher whose performance is lacking. If the children are the priority, seniority/tenure should not be the deciding factor when layoffs occur. I need to know this point and more. Do public sector union members make more than private sector? Civil union members have more job security, more benefits but if they get higher wages than private sector, this is an enormous problem. This is where the political money really comes into play. The tax paying public should not be in a position of making lower wages than the public sector. This is a relationship doomed to fail.
Franklin Roosevelt warned that civil servant jobs should never be unionized but apparently we have not heeded this wise warning. Do people understand why Franklin Roosevelt said this? Do the teachers in our schools bother to educate our youth about this in our History and Civics courses? It certainly wasn't because Roosevelt was anti-union. The big picture has been lost. Reality is catching up. What was fundable before, like all ponzi schemes, is not fundable now. All of the facts must be laid out if I, or anyone else is to truly, honestly, effectively evaluate the situation as you ask.
Thank you for taking the time to read my perspective and concerns. I hold on to the final words of your letter, that we will be able "to move beyond divisive words and actions and work together..."
Respectfully,
Parishioner in Virginia
I AM EAGERLY AWAITING THE ARCHBISHOP'S RESPONSE
http://www.archmil.org/News/StatementRegardingtheRightsofW.htm
After reading the statement twice, probably three times I was motivated to write the following email to the Archbishop.
Dear Archbishop Listecki,
I am contacting you in regards to a letter you wrote which our parish included in this Sunday's bulletin. The letter was referenced as a Statement Regarding the Rights of Workers and the Value of Unions. I read the letter and found myself upset. My first reaction was to disagree that this politically charged topic should be foisted upon parishioners in relation to attending Mass. I was taught that one is to attend Mass for the sole purpose of giving full attention to God, to leave the scenarios of this world which are fleeting, to fully focus on what is eternal. To be greeted with a letter from an Archbishop calling Catholics to defend workers and unions, a topic we are all bombarded with at all hours of the day on television and in print, was an intrusion on God's time, in my opinion. I do not know if you asked for the letter to be put in the bulletin or not, but that is what happened. I found it inappropriate.
I took another breath and read the letter again. Though I completely agree with your final sentiment, "to move beyond divisive words and actions and work together", the insinuation that Wisconsin teachers are in danger of being marginalized or dismissed is misleading. From all that I have read, the terms being promoted by Governor Walker and eventually voted on in the Wisconsin legislature are terms more than 20 states now have in place for their unions. There is nothing being asked of Wisconsin teachers that others haven't been already doing for some time. I will admit, I am not a Wisconsin teacher, I have no connection to that union or any teachers union but I do come from a Catholic family of union roots. My grandfather was an electrician in the Washington, DC area. He came up as a union man and rose through the ranks. He eventually owned the largest Electrical Contracting business in the D.C. area. His union shop did all of the wiring for the White House, the Pentagon, the Capitol, and most Federal Buildings in DC. However, living in Virginia, a right to work state, he, in addition to his union shop, opened a non-union shop as well.
Though he'd always been a union man coming up, the vast difference in how a union vs non-union business operated facilitated a change in his perspective. He realized non-union employees fared better in the long run for the individual employee. The union shops had a monopoly on government work which was lucrative however, the rules and wages (after dues) made the union jobs much less attractive. He related stories of the immense pressure unions would bring upon the members, employing strong arm tactics and asking actions from workers that were less than moral. For a Catholic or any Christian to be asked to do some of these things for the good of the union can really take a toll on a person. He made it clear to all of us in the family that the unions were out for the union bosses not necessarily for the actual individual workers, though that is the unions stated reason to exist. The message I heard growing up was to avoid being a union worker, be an employee in a private business. Employees have their individual dignity and play a much bigger role in their own fate, union workers follow union rules and are at the mercy of the union bosses.
Please understand, I do not see the role of unions as inherently bad. I agree with Pope Benedict's statement which you included in your letter, regarding the importance of solidarity and protection of workers rights that unions provide. In a country like China, North Korea or even India where workers are abused, the role of unions is something we should all work to promote and bring about. What I do not agree with are tactics being employed by American union members such as disseminating the names of Governor Walker's children and their schools with a plan to protest at those schools, using children as the props. I have a hard time supporting the practice of teachers caught on video lying about being sick in order to collect a days wages while they "defend their rights". What about the parents who had to stay home from work to watch their child who could not go to school due to the teachers mass sickness? Did that parent have to lie as well in order not to lose a days wages or did they stay home, choosing not to lie about being sick and instead losing pay for that day? What lessons are we teaching the young through these tactics?
I've seen union members physically assaulting news reporters on live television, threatening a reporter with severe bodily harm simply because the reporter is there from a network the unions are not controlling the message of. I've seen Communist Workers Party banners at the Wisconsin protests standing in solidarity with Wisconsin teachers. Archbishop, I've been to Russia, I've seen what the Communist Party did to that culture, not to mention what Communism did to Catholicism. If the Wisconsin Teachers are finding themselves aligned with Communist Workers, there's a problem there.
All these tactics and alliances are straight from the playbook my grandfather talked about regarding the D.C. Electricians Union. The similarities of what Electrician Union workers were asked to do in bargaining situations were very similar to what I see happening in Wisconsin. This is beyond troubling. We as Christians support the right of these unions to associate, organize and bargain their wages (all of which would continue under Governor Walker's plan) but to use the moral concept of unions to then employ tactics that are amoral does not fly. Hiding behind a moral right while committing moral wrongs is not a cause I will ever support. As for the stance against, collective bargaining, that falls into the same logic for Anti-Trust laws. Collective bargaining, especially for civil servant jobs, is wrong on a multitude of levels. Collective bargaining enables unions to hold an entire segment of society hostage unless demands are met. This is not fair nor just tactics for the common good, in my opinion.
I appreciate the fact that you are there in the midst. You know the Wisconsin union members probably by name and hear their side clearest of all. I am glad workers have an advocate such as you. However, since your letter asks us all to evaluate the lawmakers proposal in terms of its impact on the common good, I too would first want to have the facts and figures regarding the amount of money the Wisconsin Teachers Union has given to lawmakers, specifically which lawmakers. I would like to know the terms of Wisconsin teachers current pension plans and be able to compare them to union pension plans in states that have gotten their fiscal house in better order. I would like to see the test scores of Wisconsin students and be able to compare them to states that may not provide as lucrative pension packages to their teachers. I would hope better pension packages equates to higher test scores. If this is not the case, then pension packages need to be reduced to sane levels. I would like to know if the Wisconsin Teachers Union has a rule stating tenure trumps performance where layoffs are concerned. I would hope that a teacher who is new but has performed well for the students is kept over an older teacher whose performance is lacking. If the children are the priority, seniority/tenure should not be the deciding factor when layoffs occur. I need to know this point and more. Do public sector union members make more than private sector? Civil union members have more job security, more benefits but if they get higher wages than private sector, this is an enormous problem. This is where the political money really comes into play. The tax paying public should not be in a position of making lower wages than the public sector. This is a relationship doomed to fail.
Franklin Roosevelt warned that civil servant jobs should never be unionized but apparently we have not heeded this wise warning. Do people understand why Franklin Roosevelt said this? Do the teachers in our schools bother to educate our youth about this in our History and Civics courses? It certainly wasn't because Roosevelt was anti-union. The big picture has been lost. Reality is catching up. What was fundable before, like all ponzi schemes, is not fundable now. All of the facts must be laid out if I, or anyone else is to truly, honestly, effectively evaluate the situation as you ask.
Thank you for taking the time to read my perspective and concerns. I hold on to the final words of your letter, that we will be able "to move beyond divisive words and actions and work together..."
Respectfully,
Parishioner in Virginia
I AM EAGERLY AWAITING THE ARCHBISHOP'S RESPONSE
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Getting All Christie Eyed, I Always Cry At Weddings And Funerals
Will Chris Christie step up and do the right thing? Dear Lord, I hope so!
I know Christie keeps saying he is not going to run in 2012, that it's not the time for him, that he's working to fix New Jersey first, blah, blah, blah. These rationales in times of stability for an up and coming political leader would be valid but time is not on Christie's side. More importantly, time is not on America's side much less New Jersey's.
Christie said himself that "leadership is not about waiting." So why would he wait to lead his country back from the brink of disaster when he knows he has a needed plan to implement now? He continues to fall back on, "you have to feel it in your heart and mind that you're ready."
Governor Christie, may I have a word in private with you?... Chris, dude, you're sounding like a groom getting cold feet. You are ready! If you want a New Jersey to exist that you would even recognize in the next 10 years, you better snap out of it and be the man. Remember, leadership is not about waiting.
Comb your hair, straighten your bow tie and get the hell out there to the alter where you belong. America is standing at the end of the aisle waiting to walk toward you (and she ain't getting any younger).
Chris, we all heard you. There is no other way to interpret it. Your latest speech was an out and out sincere proposal to America. A long engagement is no longer an option for the old gal and you know it.
I'm a crier, I admit it. But it could well be up to Chris Christie whether my tears are those of joy for a wedding or tears of sorrow at our country's funeral. Do the right thing, Christie. America has picked out the dress she wants to wear for you and I assure you, it's not a black one.
I know Christie keeps saying he is not going to run in 2012, that it's not the time for him, that he's working to fix New Jersey first, blah, blah, blah. These rationales in times of stability for an up and coming political leader would be valid but time is not on Christie's side. More importantly, time is not on America's side much less New Jersey's.
Christie said himself that "leadership is not about waiting." So why would he wait to lead his country back from the brink of disaster when he knows he has a needed plan to implement now? He continues to fall back on, "you have to feel it in your heart and mind that you're ready."
Governor Christie, may I have a word in private with you?... Chris, dude, you're sounding like a groom getting cold feet. You are ready! If you want a New Jersey to exist that you would even recognize in the next 10 years, you better snap out of it and be the man. Remember, leadership is not about waiting.
Comb your hair, straighten your bow tie and get the hell out there to the alter where you belong. America is standing at the end of the aisle waiting to walk toward you (and she ain't getting any younger).
Chris, we all heard you. There is no other way to interpret it. Your latest speech was an out and out sincere proposal to America. A long engagement is no longer an option for the old gal and you know it.
I'm a crier, I admit it. But it could well be up to Chris Christie whether my tears are those of joy for a wedding or tears of sorrow at our country's funeral. Do the right thing, Christie. America has picked out the dress she wants to wear for you and I assure you, it's not a black one.
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Public Education Schools Me On The Art Of The Shakedown
All of my children are in Catholic schools which is my choice. I am not happy that the government uses my local and state tax dollars to fund public government-engineered education but that is the current law and so, my husband and I elect to pay extra to send our children to a school with discipline, structure, and the open discussion of God.
Recently I went to see my daughter play basketball against a local public high school team. This was on a week night, not a particularly special game, but one thing was different than any of the games I'd attended this season. For the first time I was charged ADMISSION to see a JV Girls high school game with the proceeds going to support this PUBLIC SCHOOL.
Not only did I have to pay admission but so did my other daughter who came to cheer on her sister. There was no student rate for her since she didn't attend public school (though I certainly pay taxes for her to). So now I'm in deep for two admission fees to a JV Girls basketball game. My daughter is a good player, but are you kidding me? Though $10 is not going to keep me from feeding my children this week, it's the principle behind all of this.
To add another objection to this issue, for a public school parent who may well be financially strapped, this admission fee is conceivably hindering their ability to support their child. And the public schools wonder why they have parental participation issues? This is liberal hypocrisy at work, my friends.
To give you an idea of how obscene and shiftless this scam is, one of the mothers from my daughter's team showed up to the public school game with less than TWO MINUTES left to play. She was coming from work and knew she wasn't going to see much, if any of the game but wanted to be there to pick her daughter up so her daughter wouldn't have to return to our school on the team bus. Would you believe the public school wanted to still charge this mother full admission price with less than two minutes to go in the game?
The Catholic high school that my children attend have games going on in their gym all nights of the week and weekends but never, not once, not even during Catholic schools week has admission been charged. Our school is certainly far from being flush with cash yet gouging a parent who wants to see their child play just does not seem right.
What exactly are we getting for our tax dollars? In a time when public schools are getting more funding than they ever have, they resort to parasitic tactics rather than doing what the rest of us do, live within our means. What exactly are these public schools doing with the gobs of money they receive? The gym that I paid $10 to sit in was filthy, and the restrooms could only be described as the Black Hole of Calcutta.
When are we all going to wake up and realize our government is committing grand larceny on We The People? The test score standings in our public schools are horrendous but we pay more. The ideology that is spoon fed to our youth in these institutions borders on intellectual perversion and we pay more. Not all but in far too many of the public schools, students are in physical danger on a daily basis with metal detectors and guards walking the halls, yet we pay more to enable these sorts of environments to continue?
Government has NO BUSINESS in the education of our youth. They've had their chance for several decades. The product they provide simply sucks. We pay more and get less. What is the government's solution? For selfish citizens to give more money to the very people who have mucked this up in the first place? Come on!
Americans, we must take back our schools. When a public school with steady streams of public funds sees fit to charge parents admission to an ordinary sporting event while a privately funded financially lean school doesn't, something stinks in Denmark and it's not the gym socks.
Recently I went to see my daughter play basketball against a local public high school team. This was on a week night, not a particularly special game, but one thing was different than any of the games I'd attended this season. For the first time I was charged ADMISSION to see a JV Girls high school game with the proceeds going to support this PUBLIC SCHOOL.
Not only did I have to pay admission but so did my other daughter who came to cheer on her sister. There was no student rate for her since she didn't attend public school (though I certainly pay taxes for her to). So now I'm in deep for two admission fees to a JV Girls basketball game. My daughter is a good player, but are you kidding me? Though $10 is not going to keep me from feeding my children this week, it's the principle behind all of this.
To add another objection to this issue, for a public school parent who may well be financially strapped, this admission fee is conceivably hindering their ability to support their child. And the public schools wonder why they have parental participation issues? This is liberal hypocrisy at work, my friends.
To give you an idea of how obscene and shiftless this scam is, one of the mothers from my daughter's team showed up to the public school game with less than TWO MINUTES left to play. She was coming from work and knew she wasn't going to see much, if any of the game but wanted to be there to pick her daughter up so her daughter wouldn't have to return to our school on the team bus. Would you believe the public school wanted to still charge this mother full admission price with less than two minutes to go in the game?
The Catholic high school that my children attend have games going on in their gym all nights of the week and weekends but never, not once, not even during Catholic schools week has admission been charged. Our school is certainly far from being flush with cash yet gouging a parent who wants to see their child play just does not seem right.
What exactly are we getting for our tax dollars? In a time when public schools are getting more funding than they ever have, they resort to parasitic tactics rather than doing what the rest of us do, live within our means. What exactly are these public schools doing with the gobs of money they receive? The gym that I paid $10 to sit in was filthy, and the restrooms could only be described as the Black Hole of Calcutta.
When are we all going to wake up and realize our government is committing grand larceny on We The People? The test score standings in our public schools are horrendous but we pay more. The ideology that is spoon fed to our youth in these institutions borders on intellectual perversion and we pay more. Not all but in far too many of the public schools, students are in physical danger on a daily basis with metal detectors and guards walking the halls, yet we pay more to enable these sorts of environments to continue?
Government has NO BUSINESS in the education of our youth. They've had their chance for several decades. The product they provide simply sucks. We pay more and get less. What is the government's solution? For selfish citizens to give more money to the very people who have mucked this up in the first place? Come on!
Americans, we must take back our schools. When a public school with steady streams of public funds sees fit to charge parents admission to an ordinary sporting event while a privately funded financially lean school doesn't, something stinks in Denmark and it's not the gym socks.
Sunday, February 13, 2011
What's In A Name?
Following my recent posting entertaining the idea of Donald Trump as America's next president, I had an interesting conversation with my mother. I had not gotten her take on "The Donald" before my post but was pleased that her sense of him was the same as mine.
For anyone who knows my mother, she has been, is, and will always be a person who shoots from the hip. 99.999% of the time I've found her instincts about people to be dead on (at times, to my dismay).
She had thought through the Donald Trump notion to the point of already picking his perfect running mate, that being Col. Allen West, Florida's new Republican Congressman from the 22nd district. My mom made the case why West would be the ultimate compliment to Trump with West's stellar military service and calm, easy confidence that only a first rate military man is graced with. The gravitas of this combination would be overwhelming.
The more I thought of this ticket, the more I too believed in it's brilliance. A Donald Trump/Allen West ticket would reduce an Obama/Biden ticket to little more than Tweedles Dee&Dumber. The final selling point for me came when I looked up the meaning of both men's names. Having a brother named "Donald" I was aware of it meaning "great chief". The word "trump" in the dictionary had several variances of meanings all denoting a win with a trump along with one definition stating trump being a dependable and exemplary person. So far, so good.
Upon looking up the name "Allen", it too was promising with the simple but poetic meaning of "ROCK". "West" seemed obvious with it's directional relation to America being the epitome of all things "west" however a certain definition amongst the directional citings jumped out at me. The definition stated "west" as meaning the noncommunist countries of Europe and America. I suppose I always assumed that when the term "west" is used but the fact "noncommunist" is specifically used has greater weight in this "progressive" climate of "change" more than ever. Further down, "west" also relates to the liturgies of or relating to the Roman Catholic or Protestant segment of Christianity. Coincidence? That's for Republicans to pick and America to decide.
If there's truth in a name, and Republicans choose two men to run in 2012, one who is a GREAT dependable CHIEF capable of winning over any card played matched with a ROCK that exemplifies all things noncommunist, the Republicans will take the White House and America will take a huge sigh of relief as she is released from the shackles of progressive bondage and restored to being the country where men live the bold ideals of self-responsibility and self-determination once again.
For anyone who knows my mother, she has been, is, and will always be a person who shoots from the hip. 99.999% of the time I've found her instincts about people to be dead on (at times, to my dismay).
She had thought through the Donald Trump notion to the point of already picking his perfect running mate, that being Col. Allen West, Florida's new Republican Congressman from the 22nd district. My mom made the case why West would be the ultimate compliment to Trump with West's stellar military service and calm, easy confidence that only a first rate military man is graced with. The gravitas of this combination would be overwhelming.
The more I thought of this ticket, the more I too believed in it's brilliance. A Donald Trump/Allen West ticket would reduce an Obama/Biden ticket to little more than Tweedles Dee&Dumber. The final selling point for me came when I looked up the meaning of both men's names. Having a brother named "Donald" I was aware of it meaning "great chief". The word "trump" in the dictionary had several variances of meanings all denoting a win with a trump along with one definition stating trump being a dependable and exemplary person. So far, so good.
Upon looking up the name "Allen", it too was promising with the simple but poetic meaning of "ROCK". "West" seemed obvious with it's directional relation to America being the epitome of all things "west" however a certain definition amongst the directional citings jumped out at me. The definition stated "west" as meaning the noncommunist countries of Europe and America. I suppose I always assumed that when the term "west" is used but the fact "noncommunist" is specifically used has greater weight in this "progressive" climate of "change" more than ever. Further down, "west" also relates to the liturgies of or relating to the Roman Catholic or Protestant segment of Christianity. Coincidence? That's for Republicans to pick and America to decide.
If there's truth in a name, and Republicans choose two men to run in 2012, one who is a GREAT dependable CHIEF capable of winning over any card played matched with a ROCK that exemplifies all things noncommunist, the Republicans will take the White House and America will take a huge sigh of relief as she is released from the shackles of progressive bondage and restored to being the country where men live the bold ideals of self-responsibility and self-determination once again.
Friday, February 11, 2011
Why America Should Consider Playing the TRUMP Card
Donald Trump spoke at CPAC this week and made a splash. That's not a surprise. Trump wouldn't do anything unless it was going to make headlines. Three years ago, I would have scoffed at the thought of Donald Trump being considered elected to any office, much less President. But in the last two years so many unthinkables have happened in America, the notion of a President Trump seems almost mundane.
Never did I think America would be laughed at. Hated, sure but never laughed at. The world is playing us for fools and all we seem to be doing is begging for more abuse. Our current leadership is taking us down a path that could permanently eradicate the American ideals of individual's rights and liberties.
We "free people" enjoy a mandate for health insurance whether we need it, want it, can afford it. TSA employees now legally grope honest citizens at will. Black panthers harass people at polling stations with no consequences and border guards are jailed for roughing up a drug smuggling illegal thug. A prohibition on one type of light bulb goes into effect while a toxic, dangerous, mercury laden green variety gets forced into American homes. Of course, technically you still have a choice...candles. It's good to be free.
To undo all of the damage Obama and the socialist agenda of the last 50 years has done to our country, we need a person of vast experience and zero reason to be a politician. Enter stage right, Donald Trump.
Though I don't think Trump is a staunch conservative across the board, he is fiscally. This is key since there is one aspect that needs to be addressed now or better, yesterday. As Clinton said, "It's the economy, stupid!" As opposed to Obama's more modern liberal, social justice cry of, "It's the stupid economy!"
Trump knows what to do to resuscitate this gasping free market. He would put us back in control of the China trade relationship by taxing Chinese goods until they fairly regulated their currency. He'd open up our country's natural oil and gas reserves causing an instant job boom as well as putting OPEC on notice. He would keep taxes low and ease corporate regulations allowing profits to rise and jobs created.
But not all is perfect regarding the Donald.
There are a few things that bug me about Trump:
His cotton candy comb-over
His brash egotistical manner
His insistence that he is always right
Here's what I like about Trump:
His cotton candy comb-over... because he doesn't give a damn, he likes it, so what
His brash egotistical manner... because he backs it up with real accomplishments
His insistence that he is always right...and because of it he will not bend to China, Iran, Korea or any other dictator scum
Several things about Donald Trump are an absolute given. Donald Trump will not let anything he's associated with financially fail. He is shrewd, worldly, and determined. If he is elected President he would never bow to another leader or apologize for America's ways. He would bring glory back to these United States. Trump will tell us the hard truths of what has to be done without concern about being re-elected.
Donald Trump does not have my vote yet but he's made me consider it, cotton candy comb-over and all. Besides, he's really the only possible candidate who could legitimately turn to Barack Obama and say, "You're fired."
By the way, Trump is right. Ron Paul could never get elected.
Never did I think America would be laughed at. Hated, sure but never laughed at. The world is playing us for fools and all we seem to be doing is begging for more abuse. Our current leadership is taking us down a path that could permanently eradicate the American ideals of individual's rights and liberties.
We "free people" enjoy a mandate for health insurance whether we need it, want it, can afford it. TSA employees now legally grope honest citizens at will. Black panthers harass people at polling stations with no consequences and border guards are jailed for roughing up a drug smuggling illegal thug. A prohibition on one type of light bulb goes into effect while a toxic, dangerous, mercury laden green variety gets forced into American homes. Of course, technically you still have a choice...candles. It's good to be free.
To undo all of the damage Obama and the socialist agenda of the last 50 years has done to our country, we need a person of vast experience and zero reason to be a politician. Enter stage right, Donald Trump.
Though I don't think Trump is a staunch conservative across the board, he is fiscally. This is key since there is one aspect that needs to be addressed now or better, yesterday. As Clinton said, "It's the economy, stupid!" As opposed to Obama's more modern liberal, social justice cry of, "It's the stupid economy!"
Trump knows what to do to resuscitate this gasping free market. He would put us back in control of the China trade relationship by taxing Chinese goods until they fairly regulated their currency. He'd open up our country's natural oil and gas reserves causing an instant job boom as well as putting OPEC on notice. He would keep taxes low and ease corporate regulations allowing profits to rise and jobs created.
But not all is perfect regarding the Donald.
There are a few things that bug me about Trump:
His cotton candy comb-over
His brash egotistical manner
His insistence that he is always right
Here's what I like about Trump:
His cotton candy comb-over... because he doesn't give a damn, he likes it, so what
His brash egotistical manner... because he backs it up with real accomplishments
His insistence that he is always right...and because of it he will not bend to China, Iran, Korea or any other dictator scum
Several things about Donald Trump are an absolute given. Donald Trump will not let anything he's associated with financially fail. He is shrewd, worldly, and determined. If he is elected President he would never bow to another leader or apologize for America's ways. He would bring glory back to these United States. Trump will tell us the hard truths of what has to be done without concern about being re-elected.
Donald Trump does not have my vote yet but he's made me consider it, cotton candy comb-over and all. Besides, he's really the only possible candidate who could legitimately turn to Barack Obama and say, "You're fired."
By the way, Trump is right. Ron Paul could never get elected.
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Chick-Fil-A...Anti-Gay? Or "Cheep" Leftist Play?
There is an effort in the leftist circles to make trouble for the successful fast food outfit, Chick-Fil-A. Apparently this company, a private enterprise in the United States of America, is brash enough to promote, of all things, CHRISTIAN VALUES! And it gets worse. One franchise went so far to DONATE some chicken sandwiches to a PRO-FAMILY organization! This must be STOPPED...according to the socialist, atheist, sniveling cowards on the left.
On a daily, perhaps hourly basis, Americans are bombarded with media messages that glorify the gay lifestyle, presenting it as pervasive and as common place as a straight existence. The gay lifestyle is by far the minority practice of sexual orientation but that fact is buried by what is seen and read in the American media.
Ironically, if a person or business has a Christian, Pro-Traditional values bent, THEY are marginalized. They are played as the oddball, out-of-step, backward thinking tool. The American media spin presents Christian values as a small fringe group who are the minority that SHOULD be condemned.
If a private organization like Disney can have "Gay Days" in their parks (which is their right) then a private company like Chick-Fil-A should be just as welcome to promote Christian values and give free sandwiches, corporate sponsorship or scholarships to whomever they chose. When Disney promotes a day for gay people, that does not equate them to being anti-heterosexual, does it?
Chick-Fil-A can promote Christian values and has the freedom to support traditional groups who champion a mother/father family unit WITHOUT being Anti-Gay. Why does the left want to conflate support of tradition as proof of discrimination against gays? Methinks the left can not win if they have to face honest examples of lifestyle choices. The left feigns open-mindedness while in fact being the most suppressive, one-mind, movement there is.
Chick-Fil-A is not a Government agency and has the legal right to be selective where their profits go. Their corporate tax dollars are SURELY going to fund things the company would probably never support like Planned Parenthood but that's the law regarding tax dollars. From what I know, Chick-Fil-A pays their taxes.
The left is against all Government funding of organizations that hold Christian beliefs but if the worship is the religion of secularism, in the world of the hypocritical left, that's okay to take peoples tax money to fund. For pimps and under aged prostitutes, the left offers helpful advice to continue operation. Protection of minors at the hands of pedophiles? Not so much.
The left can squawk all they want against Chick-Fil-A and companies like them but it would be nice if reality were used in their complaints. My first request would be for the left to make up their minds! Are they pro-gay or pro-Islamist extremists? The same left wing activist can be read or heard within the same day backing both causes.
Hello! The two can not be supported by the same person with any amount of intellectual honesty or mental stability. What's next, a ban on all B-B-Q joints since they discriminate against Muslims by daring to serve PORK? This is why I question what is REALLY at the heart of the Left's duplicitous "support" for gays, Islamist extremists, stealth abortion outfits (where minority girls and babies are the number one clients). But remember, the left is always working for the benefit of minorities and women. NOT!
The only thing that is clear is the fact the left is deathly afraid of the Christian message. The left knows as long as a Christian mindset exists to the level it does now, they will never control the masses like the cattle they imagine the masses to be. The left knows that no matter how cool and slick they package their agenda, the juxtaposition of a leftist role model such as Hugo Chavez, Barney Frank, Cindy Sheehan or any of the Hollywood train wrecks du jour, against the lives led by people such as the golfer, David Feherty, actor, Gary Sinise, Florida Congressman, Allen West or South Dakota Congresswoman, Kristi Noem, is a no-win for the left.
Many more people, not all, but a considerable majority of Americans would chose to be like the later than the former. Of course, there are plenty of "Christians" in the public eye who are not so admirable but they are either phonies using the cache of Christian to make money or honest Christians who are struggling with their personal demons (who isn't?) as a celebrity for all to see.
At the end of the day, the left is free to be WRONG when they paint Chick-Fil-A as Anti-Gay. Being wrong is not a crime. Most Americans know that being for Christian values does not equal discrimination against Gays just as pro-Gay action should not be viewed as Anti-Traditional Family. Let the cases for all stances be honestly presented. Free-thinking people will make their own determinations from the facts.
As for me, all this has made me hungry. Chicken sandwich here I come! Of course, if I discover any of the chickens used to make the sandwiches were actually lesbian chickens, I may have to re-evaluate this whole argument. Cluck off!
On a daily, perhaps hourly basis, Americans are bombarded with media messages that glorify the gay lifestyle, presenting it as pervasive and as common place as a straight existence. The gay lifestyle is by far the minority practice of sexual orientation but that fact is buried by what is seen and read in the American media.
Ironically, if a person or business has a Christian, Pro-Traditional values bent, THEY are marginalized. They are played as the oddball, out-of-step, backward thinking tool. The American media spin presents Christian values as a small fringe group who are the minority that SHOULD be condemned.
If a private organization like Disney can have "Gay Days" in their parks (which is their right) then a private company like Chick-Fil-A should be just as welcome to promote Christian values and give free sandwiches, corporate sponsorship or scholarships to whomever they chose. When Disney promotes a day for gay people, that does not equate them to being anti-heterosexual, does it?
Chick-Fil-A can promote Christian values and has the freedom to support traditional groups who champion a mother/father family unit WITHOUT being Anti-Gay. Why does the left want to conflate support of tradition as proof of discrimination against gays? Methinks the left can not win if they have to face honest examples of lifestyle choices. The left feigns open-mindedness while in fact being the most suppressive, one-mind, movement there is.
Chick-Fil-A is not a Government agency and has the legal right to be selective where their profits go. Their corporate tax dollars are SURELY going to fund things the company would probably never support like Planned Parenthood but that's the law regarding tax dollars. From what I know, Chick-Fil-A pays their taxes.
The left is against all Government funding of organizations that hold Christian beliefs but if the worship is the religion of secularism, in the world of the hypocritical left, that's okay to take peoples tax money to fund. For pimps and under aged prostitutes, the left offers helpful advice to continue operation. Protection of minors at the hands of pedophiles? Not so much.
The left can squawk all they want against Chick-Fil-A and companies like them but it would be nice if reality were used in their complaints. My first request would be for the left to make up their minds! Are they pro-gay or pro-Islamist extremists? The same left wing activist can be read or heard within the same day backing both causes.
Hello! The two can not be supported by the same person with any amount of intellectual honesty or mental stability. What's next, a ban on all B-B-Q joints since they discriminate against Muslims by daring to serve PORK? This is why I question what is REALLY at the heart of the Left's duplicitous "support" for gays, Islamist extremists, stealth abortion outfits (where minority girls and babies are the number one clients). But remember, the left is always working for the benefit of minorities and women. NOT!
The only thing that is clear is the fact the left is deathly afraid of the Christian message. The left knows as long as a Christian mindset exists to the level it does now, they will never control the masses like the cattle they imagine the masses to be. The left knows that no matter how cool and slick they package their agenda, the juxtaposition of a leftist role model such as Hugo Chavez, Barney Frank, Cindy Sheehan or any of the Hollywood train wrecks du jour, against the lives led by people such as the golfer, David Feherty, actor, Gary Sinise, Florida Congressman, Allen West or South Dakota Congresswoman, Kristi Noem, is a no-win for the left.
Many more people, not all, but a considerable majority of Americans would chose to be like the later than the former. Of course, there are plenty of "Christians" in the public eye who are not so admirable but they are either phonies using the cache of Christian to make money or honest Christians who are struggling with their personal demons (who isn't?) as a celebrity for all to see.
At the end of the day, the left is free to be WRONG when they paint Chick-Fil-A as Anti-Gay. Being wrong is not a crime. Most Americans know that being for Christian values does not equal discrimination against Gays just as pro-Gay action should not be viewed as Anti-Traditional Family. Let the cases for all stances be honestly presented. Free-thinking people will make their own determinations from the facts.
As for me, all this has made me hungry. Chicken sandwich here I come! Of course, if I discover any of the chickens used to make the sandwiches were actually lesbian chickens, I may have to re-evaluate this whole argument. Cluck off!
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
The Bait (and Switch) of the Union
Allow me to begin on a positive note: the intermingling of D's and R's in the audience was a very good idea. It cut way down on the annoying clapping, both in the number of interruptions as well as length of clamor. No matter what party is in office, that clapping stuff sucks. So, on that point, last night's SOTU address got a thumbs up from me.
Now to the speech itself. I found Obama's address to be one of two things, delusional or deceptive. Logic and intellectual honesty were given the night off while he spoke. Obama framed his vision with the rhetoric of American ingenuity, productivity, invention, the concept of achievement of any individuals dream being possible here in America, unlike any other country on earth. What American doesn't support these ideals?
Obama, however, employed these inspiring words (in Reaganesque fashion) to conversely make the argument for BIGGER Government, MORE tax dollar spending, LESS personal choice (ala Jimmy Carter). With not much stealth, he uses code words to describe these actions, ie, protection of the public equals BIGGER Government, investment equals tax dollar spending or worse borrowed Chinese money, alternative energy sources equals less personal choice and forced higher prices to heat homes, drive cars, buy groceries, turn the lights on. What American DOES support these ideals?
With all of Obama's clever wording, he still came off like an alcoholic justifying that next round of mixed drinks for himself and EVERYONE in the house. He pretends that substituting a yummier cocktail of peach schnapps and vodka for the much harder to swallow scotch, neat, as addressing the addiction problem. Mr. President, a pay freeze at the obscene levels you've already raised them to is NOT a solution to the addiction problem of Government spending. Obama's ploy is clear. If the addict can get us all hooked then he no longer has to deal with roadblocks to his and now our shared poison.
Obama is not to blame for our addictions to entitlements, pensions and the fairytale of a Government who takes care of us in the most excellent manner. Bush, Clinton, even Reagan had a hand, to differing degrees, in creating this crippling addictive scenario as well as presidents going back as far as Woodrow Wilson. Obama has only taken the role of Pusher to an exponentially outrageous level at possibly the most dangerous time in history to do such.
Our president tells us all to go for the American dream, be entrepreneurs, innovate yet turns around and suggests millionaires should cough up the funds to "save our schools". With logic like that, who wants to EVER achieve millionaire status if it means you are to be painted as the evil success story, responsible for the poor staying poor?
No, it's GOVERNMENT that has robbed us all blind, kept the poor, poor, that enabled Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to pull off fraud so insipid, even the U.N. would blush. Did you know we TAX PAYERS are paying the legal fees to DEFEND the Fannie and Freddie Executives who defrauded...we, the tax payers? How dumb do they think we are? Maybe they're banking on the fact we were educated by the U.S. Government public school system that now needs evil millionaires to save it.
The Government has mis-managed our schools, not millionaires. It is the GOVERNMENT who has taken power away from parents and communities, turning our educational institutions into high priced day care centers where socialist theory is the only point of view presented. We don't need any regulations to protect the people from big business, it's our GOVERNMENT and their mind-numbing "free education" we need protection from. Even Obama wouldn't dare subject his daughters to the Government controlled education he pushes on the rest of us. The Government needs the reigning in, not free enterprise, not capitalism or successful individuals.
Obama spoke of creating jobs, cutting pork, transparency in Government as if he just came up with these ideas last night. Excuse me Mr. President but you promised all these things over two years ago but did just the opposite. The stimulus was a fiasco. Billions still sit, not funding anything, creating zero jobs yet our debt rises.
Cutting pork was not accomplished when Obama signed the Health care legislation, laden with very expensive, unnecessary, untraceable streams of waste, setting up state budgets to fail in the funding of these programs and our debt rises.
Transparency occurs in this administration only after the fact. Perhaps on this item Obama is being honest because he said on the new website we will be able to see where all the tax dollars are going, not where they are proposed to go. Providing transparency ahead of time is never good in socialist societies. That might give the people the ability to disagree and stop wasteful spending before it happens. And our debt rises.
I had to hold back laughter when he went into the whole SPUTNIK riff. He wants us to "do big things" like mind blowing advancements such as solar roof tiles, toxic mercury light bulbs, high speed trains (that can't ever be go over 70 mph due to the other train traffic on the rails but why bother with that little factoid) all the while he guts NASA, the very agency capable of "big things"... instead turning them into an agency assigned to promote Muslim self-esteem. Big things? Did Obama's literature teacher EVER explain the term irony to him? Just asking.
Obama used all the right words to mean all the wrong things. If he had started out saying, "Hello, I am Barack Obama, and I am a spendaholic, Fabian socialist, narcissistic front man", then, then I might have believed the rest of his long-winded pontification. Delusion or deceit. Which is it?
But again, that seating idea was really good.
Now to the speech itself. I found Obama's address to be one of two things, delusional or deceptive. Logic and intellectual honesty were given the night off while he spoke. Obama framed his vision with the rhetoric of American ingenuity, productivity, invention, the concept of achievement of any individuals dream being possible here in America, unlike any other country on earth. What American doesn't support these ideals?
Obama, however, employed these inspiring words (in Reaganesque fashion) to conversely make the argument for BIGGER Government, MORE tax dollar spending, LESS personal choice (ala Jimmy Carter). With not much stealth, he uses code words to describe these actions, ie, protection of the public equals BIGGER Government, investment equals tax dollar spending or worse borrowed Chinese money, alternative energy sources equals less personal choice and forced higher prices to heat homes, drive cars, buy groceries, turn the lights on. What American DOES support these ideals?
With all of Obama's clever wording, he still came off like an alcoholic justifying that next round of mixed drinks for himself and EVERYONE in the house. He pretends that substituting a yummier cocktail of peach schnapps and vodka for the much harder to swallow scotch, neat, as addressing the addiction problem. Mr. President, a pay freeze at the obscene levels you've already raised them to is NOT a solution to the addiction problem of Government spending. Obama's ploy is clear. If the addict can get us all hooked then he no longer has to deal with roadblocks to his and now our shared poison.
Obama is not to blame for our addictions to entitlements, pensions and the fairytale of a Government who takes care of us in the most excellent manner. Bush, Clinton, even Reagan had a hand, to differing degrees, in creating this crippling addictive scenario as well as presidents going back as far as Woodrow Wilson. Obama has only taken the role of Pusher to an exponentially outrageous level at possibly the most dangerous time in history to do such.
Our president tells us all to go for the American dream, be entrepreneurs, innovate yet turns around and suggests millionaires should cough up the funds to "save our schools". With logic like that, who wants to EVER achieve millionaire status if it means you are to be painted as the evil success story, responsible for the poor staying poor?
No, it's GOVERNMENT that has robbed us all blind, kept the poor, poor, that enabled Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to pull off fraud so insipid, even the U.N. would blush. Did you know we TAX PAYERS are paying the legal fees to DEFEND the Fannie and Freddie Executives who defrauded...we, the tax payers? How dumb do they think we are? Maybe they're banking on the fact we were educated by the U.S. Government public school system that now needs evil millionaires to save it.
The Government has mis-managed our schools, not millionaires. It is the GOVERNMENT who has taken power away from parents and communities, turning our educational institutions into high priced day care centers where socialist theory is the only point of view presented. We don't need any regulations to protect the people from big business, it's our GOVERNMENT and their mind-numbing "free education" we need protection from. Even Obama wouldn't dare subject his daughters to the Government controlled education he pushes on the rest of us. The Government needs the reigning in, not free enterprise, not capitalism or successful individuals.
Obama spoke of creating jobs, cutting pork, transparency in Government as if he just came up with these ideas last night. Excuse me Mr. President but you promised all these things over two years ago but did just the opposite. The stimulus was a fiasco. Billions still sit, not funding anything, creating zero jobs yet our debt rises.
Cutting pork was not accomplished when Obama signed the Health care legislation, laden with very expensive, unnecessary, untraceable streams of waste, setting up state budgets to fail in the funding of these programs and our debt rises.
Transparency occurs in this administration only after the fact. Perhaps on this item Obama is being honest because he said on the new website we will be able to see where all the tax dollars are going, not where they are proposed to go. Providing transparency ahead of time is never good in socialist societies. That might give the people the ability to disagree and stop wasteful spending before it happens. And our debt rises.
I had to hold back laughter when he went into the whole SPUTNIK riff. He wants us to "do big things" like mind blowing advancements such as solar roof tiles, toxic mercury light bulbs, high speed trains (that can't ever be go over 70 mph due to the other train traffic on the rails but why bother with that little factoid) all the while he guts NASA, the very agency capable of "big things"... instead turning them into an agency assigned to promote Muslim self-esteem. Big things? Did Obama's literature teacher EVER explain the term irony to him? Just asking.
Obama used all the right words to mean all the wrong things. If he had started out saying, "Hello, I am Barack Obama, and I am a spendaholic, Fabian socialist, narcissistic front man", then, then I might have believed the rest of his long-winded pontification. Delusion or deceit. Which is it?
But again, that seating idea was really good.
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Diamonds Are Forever
I had a very interesting conversation with my teenagers recently. We were talking about how so many people who call themselves conservative or liberal or Christian, Muslim, etc. will profess the high ideals of their group yet turn around and live their own lives with disregard, even contempt for the ideals they publicly profess. This being so often the case, why should we believe, support, live by any doctrine whatsoever? Why not live each moment of life in a way that benefits a person the most personally rather than ever making a choice of morals over what results in immediate satisfaction or individual success? Why shouldn't we all be hedonists? At least we'd cease being hypocrites, right?
As a person who approaches life similar to a Libertarian philosophy, live and let live, I don't have a problem with any person choosing to be a hedonist. However, of the hedonists I've known, all resulted in self-destructive behaviors that did not end well for the hedonist nor those who surrounded them. So the question goes back to why do so many high-profile people profess the moral attributes of their group yet don't live their own lives as such? Does this mean the morals, beliefs and philosophies are false, pretend, worthless?
These are the questions we must all answer for ourselves. Most people attempt to find out the answers but make their first mistake when they begin their investigation by looking at those claiming to be the personification of the mindset. Many people investigating a particular mindset will judge the mindset, philosophy, belief, strictly by the actions of an individual rather than the substance of the thought.
Here's the metaphor I used with my children...If there exists a truly brilliant, flawless diamond and it is worn by a good person, does the good person make that diamond more precious? If the good person dies and the diamond is then worm by an evil person, does that evil person make the diamond less precious? The wearer of the diamond is not the point. The diamond was precious and brilliant before anyone wore it, good or bad and it remains the same diamond after the wearing is long over.
Further, does the diamond hold powers for the person who wears it? Ironically, the wearer or possessor of the diamond is the one least likely to benefit from its true worth. People often have the misconception that possessing something, like the flawless diamond, translates into their own superiority, their right or justification to control the lives of others. If that is the motive behind wearing the diamond, it will never truly serve the person who wears it. The power of the diamond is in the pure inspiration and appreciation of its beauty which the diamond alone possesses, not the wearer. Those who can witness the diamond, regardless of who is wearing it, and be awed by its brilliance, be inspired by its clarity but have the SELF control to NOT need to possess it or fawn over the person who currently wears it, these are the people who actually receive the precious gift the diamond offers.
Every now and then, there is a person who can wear the diamond with the true knowledge of why they are wearing it... not to enhance their own power but to provide more access to more people to witness the beauty and inspiration of the diamond. These wearers are called LEADERS.
Sadly, we have many, many more people today wearing the diamond as a means to dupe the ignorant innocent. Conflation of possession with authority over all those not in possession is the lie peddled now as it has been in times infinitum. These sort of wearers are called TYRANTS, DICTATORS, and an array of other titles that sound nicer but result in the same thing. These are the people who have never received the gift of SELF CONTROL. They are so lacking in SELF CONTROL that they become ravenous for the much easier false substitute, that being the perceived control over another human. Ironically, the more people they "control" the less satisfied the controllers become. Why? Because the control they have is imaginary and deep down, they know this. Talk about a vicious circle!
Crazy as it sounds, throngs of people believe in the lie that whomever wears the diamond IS superior. These people willingly submit themselves to the servitude of these egotistical scam artists with the hopes of falling into favor with the wearer, FALLING being the operative word. Unfortunately, there are also souls who unwillingly fall under the false control of diamond wearing scum. These victims become servants to the control freaks due to a host of reasons, i.e., lack of maturity, lack of access to the truth, lack of intelligence, to name a few. They do not know that there is only ONE type of actual control, that being self-control. All other forms of control are artificial. As long as a person retains their mind, they retain the prize their false masters truly want. A person's mind can only be controlled with the consent of the individual. Never forget that.
At the end of the day, each of us must use our own mind to look past the wearer of the diamond and examine the DIAMOND for its cut, clarity, carat, brilliance and authenticity.
NOTE: There's loads of cubic zirconium out there so take your time examining!
We must each decide for ourselves if we are inspired by a diamond's natural beauty, a beauty that existed before it was ever worn and will exist well after the last wearer takes their final breath. We are all free to look for the diamond, not to possess it necessarily but to behold it and accept its true gift...or reject it. Regardless of your individual choice, diamonds are forever, leaders and tyrants are not.
As a person who approaches life similar to a Libertarian philosophy, live and let live, I don't have a problem with any person choosing to be a hedonist. However, of the hedonists I've known, all resulted in self-destructive behaviors that did not end well for the hedonist nor those who surrounded them. So the question goes back to why do so many high-profile people profess the moral attributes of their group yet don't live their own lives as such? Does this mean the morals, beliefs and philosophies are false, pretend, worthless?
These are the questions we must all answer for ourselves. Most people attempt to find out the answers but make their first mistake when they begin their investigation by looking at those claiming to be the personification of the mindset. Many people investigating a particular mindset will judge the mindset, philosophy, belief, strictly by the actions of an individual rather than the substance of the thought.
Here's the metaphor I used with my children...If there exists a truly brilliant, flawless diamond and it is worn by a good person, does the good person make that diamond more precious? If the good person dies and the diamond is then worm by an evil person, does that evil person make the diamond less precious? The wearer of the diamond is not the point. The diamond was precious and brilliant before anyone wore it, good or bad and it remains the same diamond after the wearing is long over.
Further, does the diamond hold powers for the person who wears it? Ironically, the wearer or possessor of the diamond is the one least likely to benefit from its true worth. People often have the misconception that possessing something, like the flawless diamond, translates into their own superiority, their right or justification to control the lives of others. If that is the motive behind wearing the diamond, it will never truly serve the person who wears it. The power of the diamond is in the pure inspiration and appreciation of its beauty which the diamond alone possesses, not the wearer. Those who can witness the diamond, regardless of who is wearing it, and be awed by its brilliance, be inspired by its clarity but have the SELF control to NOT need to possess it or fawn over the person who currently wears it, these are the people who actually receive the precious gift the diamond offers.
Every now and then, there is a person who can wear the diamond with the true knowledge of why they are wearing it... not to enhance their own power but to provide more access to more people to witness the beauty and inspiration of the diamond. These wearers are called LEADERS.
Sadly, we have many, many more people today wearing the diamond as a means to dupe the ignorant innocent. Conflation of possession with authority over all those not in possession is the lie peddled now as it has been in times infinitum. These sort of wearers are called TYRANTS, DICTATORS, and an array of other titles that sound nicer but result in the same thing. These are the people who have never received the gift of SELF CONTROL. They are so lacking in SELF CONTROL that they become ravenous for the much easier false substitute, that being the perceived control over another human. Ironically, the more people they "control" the less satisfied the controllers become. Why? Because the control they have is imaginary and deep down, they know this. Talk about a vicious circle!
Crazy as it sounds, throngs of people believe in the lie that whomever wears the diamond IS superior. These people willingly submit themselves to the servitude of these egotistical scam artists with the hopes of falling into favor with the wearer, FALLING being the operative word. Unfortunately, there are also souls who unwillingly fall under the false control of diamond wearing scum. These victims become servants to the control freaks due to a host of reasons, i.e., lack of maturity, lack of access to the truth, lack of intelligence, to name a few. They do not know that there is only ONE type of actual control, that being self-control. All other forms of control are artificial. As long as a person retains their mind, they retain the prize their false masters truly want. A person's mind can only be controlled with the consent of the individual. Never forget that.
At the end of the day, each of us must use our own mind to look past the wearer of the diamond and examine the DIAMOND for its cut, clarity, carat, brilliance and authenticity.
NOTE: There's loads of cubic zirconium out there so take your time examining!
We must each decide for ourselves if we are inspired by a diamond's natural beauty, a beauty that existed before it was ever worn and will exist well after the last wearer takes their final breath. We are all free to look for the diamond, not to possess it necessarily but to behold it and accept its true gift...or reject it. Regardless of your individual choice, diamonds are forever, leaders and tyrants are not.
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