I Don't Need My Government to Tell Me How to Mourn!

We'll be Praying That Day.

Wtitten by SleeplessByTheSea

I not only don't need my government to tell me how to mourn, but I am surely not going to allow them to tell me not to pray for the families, and the souls of all of the victims of September 11th. That day affected all of us. It affected me to my very core. And now that I have been to New York City, and walked that sacred ground, nobody can tell me it does not deserve all of our prayers. Those terrorists may have knocked down those building, but they did not kill our spirit. (or did they?) And we must not allow them to destroy our freedom of our own faith.

Today, when the White House came out with talking points about how we should speak about 9/11 -- and that it is not all about us -- that was the last straw. The next to the last straw was last week, when New York's Mayor Bloomberg announced there would be no prayer at the 10th anniversary memorial at ground zero.

What is the matter with these people? If they don't want to pray, they don't have to. But, they have no right whatsoever, in this country, founded on faith principals, to try to take it away from the rest of us.

If ever there was an event in this country that caused much of this nation to pray, it was the horrible acts that occurred that day. Anyone with a heart prayed...prayed for the lost souls...prayed for their families, and prayed for the responders. And we prayed for our country that was clearly under attack.

More and more everyday I am shocked at how many people are still in denial about our freedoms that are being stomped on. Yes we have an enemy that clearly wants to kill Americans, but we also now clearly have an enemy within that is hellbent on trying to destroy our faith, our freedom, and our way of life.

A Judeo-Christian Nation

Contrary to what our current president has stated around the world, we still are a Christian nation, at least for the moment. You have to look no further than our own founding documents, and our monuments in Washington, D.C., to see that this country was indeed created for us to have those freedoms, and especially our freedom of religion, if we so choose.

How many more violations of our rights are we going to allow them to take before we the people stand up, and shout out, "No More"?  Our forefathers built protections into our constitution so this would not happen. Yet, we stand by and allow them to whittle away at that very constitution, article by article, amendment by amendment.

Each and every one of us that values our freedom to practice our religion must act now. We must make ourselves heard. We must not just sit idly at home and complain about it, or it will all be gone, and the terrorists will have won after all.

I will be praying, on 9/11. I hope you will too! No government will ever stop me. But I need you that rarely write letters, or rarely write your congressmen to stand up with me and get vocal. They take our silence as submission. It is past time to get pro-active. They need to understand that we will no longer tolerate them tearing apart the God given gift, of this free nation. Together, we can save it. We must save it, for our children and grandchildren.

Sphere: Related Content

Arrogance and Opulence

"Let Them Eat Cake"

In the past year, Michelle Obama has spent nearly one million dollars per month of our tax money. Let that soak in for a second; while the people of this country suffer massive unemployment -- and while the lucky ones, who have jobs, continue to see their wages confiscated by the IRS -- Mrs. Obama has been living a life of obscene luxury, and we're paying for it!

The National Enquirer is reporting that the First Lady has squandered over $10 million in the past year, all on vacations fit for a queen. That is not hard to believe considering her extravagant tastes. She stays at the most expensive hotels around, has expensive massages, drinks only top-shelf alcohol, and lives it up like money is no object. It's always easy when someone else is footing the bill.

This latest trip to Martha's Vineyard is a prime example. Not content to wait a few hours for her husband to make the trip, our version of Marie Antoinette insisted on flying four hours prior to Barack, a separate flight and subsequent motorcade for each spouse, and all the expenses those trips incurred. Renting the Blue Heron Farm property alone cost us $50,000 for one week. All told, this woman has racked up 42 days of vacation time in the past year. Do you get 6 weeks of vacation?

President Bush was excoriated by the left for his vacation time, yet even I don't begrudge the current president some needed rest. What I do object to, however, -- and I'm disappointed in the media for their lack of engagement here -- is the unseemly appearance of it all in the face of our economic malaise. Defenders of this president will invariably ask, "Well, where would you have him go on vacation if you have a problem with this?"

My response, of course, given the state of the nation at this point, is anywhere that doesn't give the American people the wrong message. That message, obviously, is that the president and his wife care not a whit about our suffering, nor do they care about spending our hard earned money on their personal pleasure. There is a place they could have that would have been more palatable to the electorate, though, a beautiful place with accommodations for all the staff that accompanies the first couple, and more security than could ever be provided on the road.



A First Couple in Tune with America


That place is Camp David, the official American Presidential retreat. It has served past presidents well, but seems to not be on the Obamas' preferred destination list. Perhaps that's because it's nestled in the middle of "flyover country". In June of 2010, the media was reporting that no president has spent less time there than Obama.

Officially known as the Naval Support Facility Thurmont, Camp David is located in the Catoctin Mountains approximately 60 miles north-northwest of Washington, D.C. It is primarily staffed by U.S. Navy and U.S. Marines. It doesn't get much more secure than that.

The Obamas could have gone there on this particular vacation -- when most Americans are pinching pennies -- with a considerably smaller entourage of staffers and saved us a bundle. The trip also could have been made in less than an hour aboard Marine One.

Instead, the Obama's saw fit to double down on the cost of this trip in an in-your-face kind of way, completely disregarding the appearance of royalty. And while there, as people beg for jobs, Obama tells the people that he has a plan, and we'll have to wait for his vacation to be over before he'll tell us what that plan is. If that isn't the epitome of arrogance, I don't know what is, and the behavior is exhibited equally by both Obama's.

They have exacerbated a faltering economy through devastating incompetence and still they live a life of bliss, oblivious to the world around them. From lavish vacations to posh soirees in the White House, life to the first family is one big party, all while people see their fortunes disintegrate. It is time that the media and a large portion of the electorate wake up and realize what is happening to this country.

Is it 2012 yet?

Sphere: Related Content

Why it Works in Texas

Written by SleeplessByTheSea

Longest serving governor in
Texas' history

Over the past month, I have received several requests from friends in other places for my opinion of our governor. Here's my answer. Rick Perry is a decent man, despite the fact that he is a career politician. He didn't start out that way. 

He started out as a hard working young lad, on his Dad's ranch. Then he joined the USAF, served, and worked his way to the rank of Captain.  He attended Texas A & M University, and later entered the world of politics. He is a family man, married with two grown children, and he is a professed and practicing Christian.   

Has he done everything right in Texas? No!  Of course not. Nobody is right all of the time.  But, he has the leadership skills to guide our state in the right direction, and that is what is paramount in a leader. Most of us here in Texas don't pay a whole lot of attention to the everyday workings of our state for the simple fact that we rely on those we've elected to do what we hired them to do. And, when they don't do it, we replace them. 

The fact that Perry is now the longest serving governor in our state, now serving in his 3rd, 4 year term, ought to tell you that he is a successful and reliable leader. Our state is solvent, and our state is growing. It's been growing since I moved here back in the early 70's. It's a trend simply because our state affords people to live their lives, to do what they want, without being over-taxed or over-burdened by government. 

Texas is big, and we have a lot of everything here, from the windswept plains of west Texas, to the large, sprawling skyscraper buildings that define our big cities. Many of us here are implants. We came, we saw, we stayed. We have many, many millionaires here, but not nearly as many as we do lower income families, many of which have relocated here from not only our southern border, but abroad.  ( I am referring to the legal ones, mind you!). 

We get along in an amicable fashion, and go about our own business of living and raising our families. The millionaires provide most of the jobs and the citizens reap their rewards, and are able to provide for their families, and plan for their future. Perry wisely knows that bringing new businesses into our state only enhances the the employment climate for the entire state.  

When we personally met Gov. Perry at a luncheon gathering last fall, he told us how they were continuing to work hard to bring in businesses that were looking to relocate, such as Caterpillar.  And just last year, the new Toyota assembly plant opened just south of San Antonio. You don't see our governor outsourcing any jobs, and you never will!

Perry is a reliable, proven leader, not afraid to tackle hard tasks. Some of the skills that I feel make him a good leader are his convictions. (He believes what he says, and he's not afraid to say it.) And his religion; he is a man of faith and not timid about sharing it and relying on it.  He does not force his faith on others, but is willing to encourage it. 

I mention above that he's not afraid to admit mistakes. He made one a few years ago about trying to insist our young girls were required to have a vaccine against a deadly disease which caused uterine cancer.  Our citizens set him straight. That was crossing a line, and he admitted his error. That is not easy for a politician to do.  But, it is admirable when they do. 

Perry believes in relying on your own resources. He would not be allowing other countries to have leases to them, rather than us reap their benefits.  He also believes in less government in our lives and as few taxes as possible to keep what government we have running smoothly. We have no income tax in Texas, and Perry doesn't plan on changing that.

If this all sounds like an endorsement for Perry, I guess it is.   I see him as the best candidate that has been willing to tackle the mess in DC to date.  And I believe he'd do everything in his power to stick to his word.  What you see with Perry is what you get.

Sphere: Related Content

The Redcoats Are...Leaving

A Strategy of Failure

America is once again a territory in the middle of a battle for control, just as it was nearly 300 years ago, only this time the battles are fought in the press and not in the fields. The reason that we find ourselves at this juncture in our history, however, is that the true patriots who secured this land for us have been cavalierly discarded by a segment of our population and our representatives as doddering old men.

Any contemporary politician who declares that our Constitution is a "living, breathing document" should be viewed as a heretic and laughed off the stage, but we are way beyond the likelihood of that happening. In fact, we'd be fortunate just to witness a casting off by our team of the one-sided rules of engagement  that have been foisted upon us in a broken agreement from the left.

We have adhered to the rule of civility for decades (reference the failed "high-road" campaign of John McCain in 2008) while the Democrats have played the role of Lucy holding the football -- yet again -- for Charlie Brown. We approach a new campaign season with the hopes that our faith in fairness will finally be rewarded. But Lucy always yanks the ball away at the last minute.

In a strange and ironic way, the Republican party has operated in the same fashion as the Redcoats of the Revolutionary War, strictly clinging to their rule of formation in a misguided belief that virtue could defeat ferocity combined with treachery. As we line up in beautiful and righteous rows of formation, our enemies pop up from behind rocks and trees and shoot us dead. (All apologies for the "over the top" rhetoric, but some analogies really do need to be made).

Texas Governor Rick Perry -- after weeks of speculation -- has finally announced his intention to run for the office of president, and he has come out of the gate like Secretariat, sprinting and snorting from the outset. He has spoken plainly and boldly, even drawing a rebuke from the man I believe he will ultimately supplant as our president. The media has been rendered all but slack-jawed, and our liberal counterparts in the electorate, outraged.

The bullies are suddenly whining that we are not "fighting fairly". They cry over the fact that we have not only learned their tactics, but we are about to perfect them.

To that, I can only beam and say loudly, "Good! It's about darned time!"

As we fight to regain that which we bravely won from the British so many years ago, I can't help but marvel at the irony of our circumstances as we go. Patriots fought an enemy that adhered to a rigid doctrine of honorable battle, and it cost that enemy dearly. Today, we are the Redcoats, but we are finally learning that our tactics have been flawed, and we are adapting. As Rick Perry recently declared, the left won't like us no matter how we behave, so we might as well fight like they do now.

We have allowed them to force us to fight a gentleman's fight while they back us into a corner and hit below the belt and head butt. It's almost like a professional wrestling "match", where the referee -- the media -- is always distracted while the bad guy breaks the rules, but happens to look just as the good guy retaliates out of frustration.

The Rolling Stones had a hit song in the 1970's called Street Fighting Man. Two lines stand out, at least figuratively:

Hey! think the time is right for a palace revolutionBut where I live the game to play is compromise solution

The TEA Party  seems to have the right idea, and the power to back it up. No longer can Lucy be trusted to hold the football. Oh, she can hold it for as long as she wants, but Charlie Brown -- the Republicans -- must refuse to even fake an attempt to kick it. Ignore it, which is what the TEA party advocates. The media be damned...the Redcoats are leaving, and we're gearing up for an epic battle for the 2012 election.

Rick Perry was chastised by this administration recently for saying that Fed-head Ben Bernanke's printing more money would be treasonous. Obama admonished him to watch his mouth, and even some more timid Republican participants shuddered at the "tone" of the comment, saying that it might have been over the top. But consider the notion that massive counterfeiting would collapse an economy if left unchecked, and printing genuine -- albeit worthless -- paper money is tantamount to sabotaging an economy.

Couple that with former vice president Al Gore's shrieking that George W. Bush "betrayed this country! He played on our fears!!", and the hypocrisy is crystal clear. Perry is merely an early candidate for the office...Gore was one term removed from office when he bellowed those words, and yet the media and Democrats -- redundant, I realize -- were silent.

Fighting fairly has gotten our heads broken, folks. It' time to abandon the bright red uniforms, break formation, and take to the trees. The fight is on. As General Washington might have told his troops, "Don't waver in the face of apparent defeat, men. Have faith, forge on, and we will persevere".

Charge. The fate of America depends upon it.

Sphere: Related Content

Ron Paul: The New Leftist Media Sacrificial Lamb

The Right Wing version
of Dennis Kucinich

They're at it once again, this allegedly objective media, in doing their very best to select the Republican nominee to face Barack Hussein Obama for us, the conservative Republicans sworn to see a one term deal for the aforementioned. Just as they foisted John McCain upon the electorate in 2008, the media is already positioning Ron Paul to be our next contestant.

With all due apologies to his son, Rand Paul (R-KY), father Ron is already being groomed for failure by a media dedicated to a continued Obama administration. In other words, we run the risk of being "McCain'ed" again.

I nearly joined the parade a few weeks ago, privately wondering if the time might be right for someone of Paul the senior's pedigree, for while it is undeniable that I tend to agree with most of his fiscal doctrine, once he veers off onto the anti-military exit, my trip is done. That much became ever clearer to me as I watched the debate last week. Ron Paul -- at least in my mind -- understands the dangers to this nation via the Federal Reserve and it's treacherous tentacles, but with two sons currently serving in the military, I find his rhetoric reprehensible where our fighting kids are concerned.

The point is, I was able to regain my senses rather quickly based on nothing more than Ron Paul's carriage in the debate. I then must wonder how many never even saw that debate, much less any other public video pronouncements by the congressman from Texas. Sarah Palin's biggest problem has been her speech pattern, and that has provided much fodder for her critics, both serious and comedic. However, her prose has been thus far unassailable, while that of the congressman only removes the sound of his voice while leaving the tone unscathed.



The Next Strawman?

 For the 2008 election, the media handed us John McCain, perhaps due in large part to his reticence to rumble. While Ron Paul was actually the media's runner-up for the job in late 2007, he was still much too unpalatable to a majority of the Republican electorate, and so McCain became the mule the liberals would ride to the polls -- or have us ride, as the case turned out.  Yet the whole time the media was herding McCain to the convention, they were preparing a case to knock him down once the nominee.

Now, however, with the emergence of the TEA Party and its deep roots in conservatism, the media is once again dusting off Ron Paul in the hopes of handing him the Republican nomination for 2012. In an AP article on Sunday, August 14th titled Once a fringe candidate, Paul shaping 2012 race, Philip Elliott makes the case for Paul by attempting to make him an easier sell to an electorate desperate to make Obama a one-termer. They believe that we're ready for a Ron Paul. Or at least they're counting on it.

It's quite telling, meanwhile, that more acceptable candidates to the right are excoriated by the same media suddenly so enamored of Ron Paul. Rick Perry was set upon by both pundits and politicians the moment his head appeared in view, and Michele Bachmann is a favorite target of a decidedly misogynistic press corps, much in the same fashion as was Sarah Palin.

At times, the left exhibits the traits of tactical genius, but their downfall is always the continued reliance on a successful strategy long after its effectiveness has expired, and an oft-times underestimation of the opposition. Combine that with the relatively new existence of the TEA Party -- really little more than an affirmation of conservative unity -- and it's clear that Republican voters will not readily fall for another presidential piñata party come 2012.

Sphere: Related Content

The Crossroads of 2012

2012: Perhaps the most important
election in American history.

The chaos in Europe should serve as a stark warning for America as, there, they reap the harvest of socialism, however mild a form .  

In a wistful phantasm, John Lennon once sang, "Imagine all the people living life in peace." His was a vision of a socialist Utopia that many proponents delusively insist will ultimately create a world free of want and, as a result, devoid of conflict. But as the turmoil in Europe demonstrates, unrest is the eventual byproduct of a nanny state, for the human creature is inherently insatiable. When left to pursue his own destiny the condition is a virtue. When conditioned to expect it from the government, it becomes a dangerous vice.

For those who romanticize about a world where everyone shares equally, socialism has proven time and again that the system requires a person or people at the top, running things and providing for the masses. One only need look to a pasture of grazing cattle to see the comparison; while the cattle appear to be content, they do not know happiness or joy, and they are nonetheless dependent on the farmer. And when the field is depleted of sustenance, they will stampede.

They are stampeding now in London, they have stampeded in Greece, and they behave anywhere in the world just as deprived cattle will, only worse.

Cattle do not loot, nor do they viciously attack other cattle.

We have seen similar behavior here in the United States, in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, for example. We've had massive riots in California and New York in the past. Those would seem mild in comparison to what we may witness if we remain on our current trajectory. Our people are being conditioned to accept such a fate, relying more and more on the alleged benefactor that is government. Our steps toward socialism have historically been incremental, until now. With most of the framework patiently laid out, Barack Obama and the leftists now in control of the Senate have accelerated the pace to a fever pitch.

When the free well runs dry.

The health care travesty was a part of it, but so much more has been done, including the increasingly seeming intentional destruction of wealth and our economy. According to the USDA, the rolls of people receiving food stamps in America will next year reach 43.4 million. That is a tremendous number of dependent people, and it is due to the sustained high level of unemployment here. It is impossible to determine with certitude whether President Obama is failing through ineptitude in a genuine attempt to help or if he is intentionally doing all he can to raise dependency in order to create an army of angry cows.

Whatever the reason, that army is growing at an alarming pace, and they will react violently when the pasture goes barren.

What is clear is that our people are being recruited into slavery to the State and eventually the system will either collapse, or someone will have to step up and right the ship. In either instance, the free stuff will have to cease, or at least slow to a trickle for the most severely needy.

A candidate who can demonstrate a concrete understanding of the ills we face -- and a track record for having solved similar problems -- would make great inroads into the stretch run for 2012. It is imperative that our course change and change before we pass the point of no return. We've already come too far, and such a course change will most likely cause significant strife here, but as we come to the junction of this president's term, whether we choose straight at the intersection or "right turn, Clyde" could determine the survival of this republic.

Dead ahead lies disaster.

Sphere: Related Content

Irony Abounds in the Halls of Congress

Vice President Joe Biden
in a rare moment without his
foot in his mouth.

Insults and accusations fly unabated in the Capitol building. Angry responses empty the quivers of the accused, and the media still doesn't report the truth, content instead to keep the tempest stoked, basically seeding the news cycle for future harvest.

Shortly after the debt debate was settled, Vice President Joe Biden referred to the Tea Party caucus in the Republican-controlled House as terrorists. Rep. Michele Bachmann and one-time vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin fired back immediately, letting Biden know that his words were "vile" and "quite appalling". Both demanded an apology. No one in the media has shared that sentiment, however. One can only imagine the reaction of the press had a Republican said such a thing.

Hypocrisy is rich in irony, however, and the Democrats have the former in abundance. As Biden uttered those despicable words, standing nearby was Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, the Arizona congresswoman who was shot in the head last January by Jared Loughner. It was the first time since the shooting that Giffords returned to the Capitol building.

In the immediate aftermath of that horrific event -- in which 6 people were killed and 13 wounded -- the Democrats took to the microphones and the cameras to decry "the tone of the rhetoric", which they blamed for the shooting. They railed against ads using cross hairs, they whined about what they consider vitriol from talk radio, and they demanded that it all be ratcheted down. Of course, this was all because of the mistaken belief and hasty assessment that Fox News and talk radio were somehow responsible for the actions of Loughner.

Miraculously, Giffords not only survived the shot in the head at close range, her condition improved rapidly and dramatically. So as the woman-become-victim -- who had been the rallying point for the Democrats for us to "tone it down" -- makes a triumphant return to Congress to vote on the debt ceiling debate, and then Biden calls his opponents terrorists.

In a doubling-down of irony is the use of that particular descriptive term. In March of this year, the Obama administration replaced the words "terrorist" and "terrorism". In fact, in the Obama administration, what was once called an act of terror shall now be referred to as a "man-caused disaster".

Let's see if we can get this straight now...Obama and Biden can't call an actual terrorist a terrorist, but it's quite alright to call a Tea Party member a terrorist. Am I the only one who sees something wrong here? Considering that a young Barack Hussein Obama was chummy with Bill Ayers -- a bonafide terrorist -- and the media not only ignored that factoid, but sought to suppress it, irony bursts forth like the crude on Jed Clampett's property after a misplaced bullet.

The left still may have a firm grip on control right now in America, but they are terrified of the Tea Party. Certainly there were a few strays in that caucus in Congress this time around, in this particular battle, but for the most part part, they held strong to the principles that we, the people, demanded of them with our votes. And because they entered their freshman terms in great numbers -- and therefore had a strong caucus going in -- they were not to be bought, bribed or coerced.

In the past, we have sent the most principled of people to represent us, but standing alone in the well or facing an entrenched leader always proved too daunting a task, and those principled people were quickly consumed by the machine into which they were cast. Deals were offered and accepted, and in short time the person we elected was no longer recognizable.

When that same machine met an 87-member-sized chunk of "new meat", as in the Tea Party members who gained freshman seats thanks to you, the machine suddenly found the teeth of its gears insufficient for the job, and the wild party ground to a halt. That's when the new power -- the formerly fringe left -- realized that their own soiree was in jeopardy, and the attacks began. Congressmen and senators who believed in the principle of fiscal responsibility, and really anything traditionally American, became targets (pardon the "tone") of the proponents of socialism.

Further, the cries of the president, the vice president and the Democrat Senate Majority leader, Harry Reid, that the Tea Party is a "disconcerting" movement is an indictment on all of us who elected them. All of the unwashed masses that were opposed to the health care debacle forced upon us must also be viewed as terrorists by the Democrats and this administration.

That is the ultimate irony in our current state of affairs, and one I simply cannot abide. For most of my life, the left has been the bane of American society. Today, after all of their painstakingly incremental victories, spanning decades, they have supplanted sanity and seized the reins of the carriage.

Irony exemplified  is the inmates running the asylum. We, America, are there now.

Sphere: Related Content