Sorry Kids. Grandpa didn't know.

The good news is that I have a new grandson. The bad news is that I haven’t a clue what kind of America he is going to grow up in. This latest grandson gives me a total of three. Selfishly I would love for them to have the same opportunities that I’ve had and that their dads have had. While there are no guarantees in life it is right for me to have these concerns. As of this moment my grandsons each owe $38,704.00 to the national debt. The three of them owe collectively nearly $120,000.00 and that is assuming they all have ordinary futures. God forbid one of them is financially successful for then their debt grows exponentially. It just isn't within me to hope my grandsons will be less than the most they can be.

It just seems that there ought to be something I could do as “Grandpa” that would help their future. I put away a little they might wind up with if I am not forced into spending it. I call, write, email, and fax every Senator and Representative for our state and even to some other states. I encourage, exhort, reassure and praise whenever possible. Of late I find I urge, push, plead, and all but threaten. Neither seems to make much difference. What I get back are dispassionate generic letters of why they voted the way they did and how my thinking should be if I were “right minded” like they are.

I have blogged and tea bagged, donated and whined, called talk radio and even talk in my sleep. Still I am right back where I started: I need help. If I am to preserve the Great America that I’ve so loved for my grandkids I need your help. And, if you are anything like me you know that you need my help to. Now dammit, how do we get 50 million Americans to jump up all at once and say “I have had it with Washington, Obama and the lot of them and I am not going to take it anymore”?

November of 2010 seems as far off to me as when I was 15 wanting to be 16 so I could drive a car. It is always that way when you are passionate about something: it just can’t come fast enough. I was that way when each of my sons told me that they were getting married and again when they said I’d be grandpa again. With my last breath I suspect I will be passionate about them still. To them I pledge my allegiance as I do to the Flag of these United States called America, and to the Republic for which it stands, One Nation, Under GOD, Indivisible, with Liberty and Justice for all, even the unborn.

Well grandkids of America. While I was writing this letter asking for help, America’s bureaucrats spent another $273,000,000.00 (273 million dollars) from your piggy banks. For every minute that passes we are spending 26 million dollars (1 minute = $26,000,000.00) of your future. I am sorry kids but grandpa just doesn’t know how to solve problems like this.

A Man Without A President

When I was a student a short story that was required reading was “A man without a Country”. In that work of fiction the protagonist of the story, Philip Nolan, curses America and declares that he hoped he would never see or hear of America again. This work from 1863 by Edward Everett Hale is a great read and can really induce reflection upon what America means to each of us. For me it solidified the foundation of my patriotism which had been laid by my family and community. I never look at Old Glory but what my chest swells with pride at the thought of my United States of America.

In a similar way I have always honored and even revered the office of the President of these United States. I have lived and served under nearly a dozen though I was too young to vote for the first few. Their appearance on TV was of keen interest to me and I beamed to have them represent us to the rest of the World. I was raised to believe that anyone could be president and I am sure that hope lingered in the breasts of many a Patriot.

Of late there has been a sadness creep into me and not just me but in many Americans I suppose. It was hard to put my finger on that sadness but finally I succeeded: I don’t have a President. I am a "American Without a President." Sure there is one at the White House but he doesn’t represent nor care the least about me.

I have always had disagreement with presidents whether I voted for them or not and, regardless of those disagreements they were still “my President”. Something is different with this one we have now in that he doesn’t even desire to be my President. Something has changed.

Mr. Obama does not value the things of America that I do, he also doesn’t respect my right to believe them. Some of the signs at the tea parties are examples of things I believe in: Lower Taxes, No More Taxes, No to Cap and Trade, God is Pro-Life, etc. Not only did Mr. Obama not address the concerns of the Tea Parties but he actually made fun of them and treated the participants as a fringe group not worthy of his time. I am sorry Mr. Obama but those people are Americans and far from the fringe. You are president of all of America and not just those who hang on your every word. You took an oath to uphold the constitution and it includes me. Yet you do not consider me or those like me.

You said that you welcomed “Spirited Debate” yet you stifle every effort at that. Of late you have advocated the tactic of de-legitimizing the Fox News channel. In this you have denied an audience to the millions who tune into Fox News. We do not want to be spoon fed by those stations that cater to your will. I have lived long enough to remember the government controlled media of Russia and I am here to tell you that your efforts to stifle Free Speech border on tyranny.

You promised “Transparency” and a “Post Partisan” government. Yet, the congress is more divided than ever and we Americans are waiting for that first example of transparency. It has not come in your Administration and certainly not in your so-called Town Halls. I say so called because everyone knows that you control everything. You control who comes and who can ask questions and then you drone on until the time runs out and nothing of any substance is ever asked nor answered. This is the America you want to build?

And, you promised to eliminate waste and pork and abuses of government. Yet the very first thing that you signed had over 800 pork barrel projects but you declined to take them on calling it “Old Business”. That just wasn’t the response America was expecting from a candidate who ran on Hope and Change. Nothing has changed that needs changing but everything that America stands for is in danger of being irrevocably changed by your lack of interest in governing all Americans. Lead us and stop with the preaching to us. We have heard your speeches and are waiting for you to do something useful for economy and jobs. You continue to campaign for everything and everyone who can help you. How about helping those of us who have nothing to give you?

Lastly, all I see these days is division. Surely this is not your plan. Is it?

Slow News days…

One can hardly fail to notice that fresh breaking news tends to dry up about Thursday of each week and doesn’t pick up until Tuesday of the following week. Truly there is nothing newsworthy going on inside the beltway. Congress has been packing it in earlier each week and of course they have only been talking one subject for months: healthcare reform. They did get a Gay and Lesbian Hate Crimes piece of legislation through by stuffing it into a Defense Spending bill. Seems like an odd way to get that through. Oh well, they had to beat the rush hour traffic to the airport.

Nancy of course hangs around longer as she has no life and doesn’t plan to quit pushing until we don’t have one either. That and the fact that we are footing the bill for her to have her own private jet makes travel less inconvenient for her. I don’t even think Harry goes home anymore. His popularity is so low he just hangs around Washington picking out drapes for his new Whitehouse office. You know; the office he will get when he loses his bid for reelection in Nevada. Surely Barry has something for him.

If you channel surf and weave your way through the web you might find some fun blogs and editorials but nothing new from the MSM or Administration. BO did declare H1N1 a national emergency Friday night. I guess the spat with Fox News and the US Chamber of Commerce weren’t giving him the kind of diversion he needs. It appears that we don’t have enough vaccine because there is a shortage of “eggs” to produce the vaccine. Excuse me. These are the people who want to run my healthcare. They can’t even get my eggs right.

You can’t escape the continual bad news out of the Mideast. It seems that unlike our politicians, terror never takes a day off. Even Iran has had a terror attack. What up wit dat. They fund and support terrorists. They give them weapons and ammo. They aren’t supposed to be the subject of terror. It must have made them feel so much better to see the attacks renewed in Iraq and Israel. By the way, Iran decided they may need more time to agree to the agreement that they already agreed upon with us. So again. No real news out of Iran.

So if there is no real news why do I have this constant nagging feeling of waiting for the other shoe to drop. Oh yeah. It’s that hope and change guy!

The Death of the First Amendment

Earlier this week the president held a 2 ½ hour meeting with the so called Mainstream Media. Of course Fox News wasn’t there as they are currently serving a “time-out” for bad behavior. Yep. The President and his goons have gone after Fox. In addition they are bullying the DEMs and the MSM to ignore Fox News. Apparently, Obama, the Constitutional scholar doesn’t quite agree with the 1st Amendment rights of free speech. Come to think of it there is a lot in the Constitution that Obama doesn’t get.

I have always wondered why Obama supposedly studied and taught the Constitution. Normally you would assume that a person who does that loves the Constitution. In his case it may be that he has a different interest. It would appear that Obama studied the Constitution for ways that he could circumvent it and bring about his CHANGE.

Don’t you just know that there are millions of people who voted for that Change who now feel their posteriors puckering as they see him destroying the free market system. The polls clearly show that Independents, Democrats, and Libertarians are deserting him like sand crabs at high tide. Still there are those who continue to hope for that Change, most of whom scare the hell out of me.

Seriously, how much longer is America going to give Obama a pass on the people he surrounds himself with? There are so many Marxists, Maoists, and Socialists that he is surely guilty by his associations. All through the election he dismissed his associations with Ayers, Blagovich, Rev. Wright, Louis Farrakhan, Tony Rezko, George Soros, Rashid Kahlidi and on and on and on. Yet now he continues to surround himself with people equally suspicious and dangerous.

But I digress back to the 2 ½ hour meeting with the MSM. Obama met for 20 minutes with McKrystal regarding the war in Afghanistan but he spends 2 ½ hours in an undisclosed meeting with the MSM. If it had not been leaked no one would have even known that there was such a meeting. As for me, I have long been leery of the way the MSM gave Obama top spin on everything. Now as he attacks Fox News, the US Chamber of Commerce, and anyone who dares speak out against him I think it is time to call rein him in. Fat chance.

Nya, Nya Nya, Nya Nya!

If I understand the government’s latest allegations, Fox News is not really news; the tea party patriots don’t matter; Anita Dunn’s infatuation with Chairman Mao is comical to the administration, and people who say Healthcare Reform will put us further in debt are liars. One thing that remains consistent is this administration’s attacks on those who disagree with them.

According to Anita Dunn, the administration’s Communist mouthpiece,

"What I think is fair to say about Fox -- and certainly it's the way we view it -- is that it really is more a wing of the Republican Party. They take their talking points, put them on the air; take their opposition research, put them on the air. And that's fine. But let's not pretend they're a news network the way CNN is."

This will be disappointing news to all those democrats and independents who also watch Fox News. And since Fox News has twice the number of primetime viewers as all other cable news outlets. I repeat, Fox News has twice the viewership in primetime of CNN, MSNBC, CNBC, and HLN combined.

Those of you that follow the thinking of community organizers will recognize this strategy right away: attack and deny attack and deny. They continually attack their perceived opponents and deny any credibility for those same opponents. These are the strategies some have used to bully banks in giving money and loans to organizations like ACORN and have now become the preferred political style of Obama and his bunch. They never address the facts presented on Fox News but merely make fun of them.

As an aside I would like to mention all those 2010 candidates whose jobs are in jeopardy for blindly following Obama’s “Fundamental Changes to America”. Actually it is more of a question. What did you sell out for Mr. Reid, Specter, Carnahan, etc.? Was it for czardom or perhaps a cabinet job? Could it be just plain ole cash? Look at how well he has kept the promises to those who put him there. How well do you think he will keep the promise he made to you? Oops!

What the hell is going on?

Listening to the radio today gave me a real sense of just how badly this country is divided. There are economic and ethnic divisions and racial and cultural divides. There are those who favor government and those who favor even more government and some who want no government at all. Some want to take from those who have and give to the have-nots. Some don’t care who they take it from as long as they get theirs. Tom Brokaw once wrote that the Greatest Generation was those who got us through World War II. I am thinking if we don’t rise to a greater height in these days that we will go down as the “loser” generation.

In Saint Louis there are those fighting to stop the sale of the Rams football team if Rush Limbaugh is a part of the ownership. They contend that he would be too divisive and some players wouldn’t play for him. Some contend that he is a racist as they hurl racist accusations against him that they cannot prove nor will they ever. The Rams have bled this city since coming here and anyone who wants to shoulder some of their debt can have it as far as I am concerned.

Next I find that the actions that congress took to defund ACORN were on a stopgap measure. ACORN will again be funded by the Federal Government “we the taxpayers” on November 1st of this year. So, all the hoopla that went on in congress was a ruse. As of today there has been no action by the Congress to investigate this firm and there is actually some indications that ACORN is continuing to gain support through back channels even now.

President Obama stated that illegal immigrants will not get healthcare. Joe Wilson called him a liar. As it turns out, the Supreme Court has already faced this issue with education in the past and has ruled that “all persons” will be entitled to a public education. Joe it appears that you are right and that no matter what congress puts out it will by law be available to illegal immigrants. In the meantime the government is trying to hamstring the efforts of Arizona’s Maricopa county Sherriff Joe Arpaio. They de-authorized him from arresting illegals. Joe as other plans. In these cases the “Joes have it”!

Nobel Obama NOT Noble Obama

Obama getting the Nobel Peace Prize is nothing more than an affirmation to those of us who believe Obama’s goal is to weaken America and turn it Socialist. If Yassar Arafat can win a Peace Prize, then Obama’s socialist ideology would qualify him. He has worked tirelessly to deny Israel and coddle the militant Muslims. On Tuesday of this week Obama Administration has defunded the Iran Human Rights Documentation Center, an organization that investigates human rights abuses by the killer regime. Apparently human rights no longer matter. Yep. I think “O” qualifies for the Peace Prize.

That being said I should think that if any Americans were teetering on the fence as to where Obama’s Ideology is centered, this should have tipped the balance. Truly it is hard to believe some of the things that are happening today. Americans are good people and they want to believe the “good thing”. Yet at some point even the most pure-hearted person has to recognize that Obama is not PRO-America; not the America we love.

Could it be that Obama’s affections lie with other things such as the Muslim world? We know that Obama was raised and taught the Muslim teachings as a citizen of Indonesia. There is no question of this. He was born into a Muslim family and both his father and step-father were Muslims.

Obama makes this statement regarding his religious beliefs:

"I was not raised in a particularly religious household, as undoubtedly many in the audience were. My father, who returned to Kenya when I was just two, was born Muslim but as an adult became an atheist. My mother, whose parents were non-practicing Baptists and Methodists, was probably one of the most spiritual and kindest people I've ever known, but grew up with a healthy skepticism of organized religion herself. As a consequence, so did I."

Now it is true that he joined the Trinity United Church of Christ on 95th Street in the Southside of Chicago. This was the church of the Rev. Jeremiah Wright that stirred so much controversy. Understand that this church subscribes to the “Black Liberation Theology” doctrine and as such is not your average church. A Muslim would not feel awkward in such a church and this one gave a “Lifetime Achievement Award” to Louis Farrakhan. Louis as you know is the leader of the NATION OF ISLAM.

The Nation of Islam teaches that Black people were the original humans.

Louis Farrakhan has stated that "White people are potential humans…they haven’t evolved yet."

The founder of Black Liberation Theology, James Cone, said

“The black intellectual's goal is to "aid in the destruction of America as he knows it." According to him such destruction requires both black anger and white guilt.

As you can see there is very little difference on this one point of the “Black Experience” and that is to fundamentally change America. Mr. Obama said those very same words 5 days before becoming President. Here he is speaking to ACORN.



To this day the Obama’s have not joined a “Church” but have selected to attend the non-denominational chapel at Camp David. His faith is his business “EXCEPT” if and when it becomes so bizarre as to threaten the very fiber of American society. Obama has chosen to keep his past hidden. He has chosen the path of not disclosing anything about himself. He chose not to celebrate the National Day of Prayer. I wonder. And so I look at what I can know by seeing where he has been and where he is going.

The Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) said: “Lying is not permitted except in three cases: a man speaking to his wife to make her happy; lying in times of war; and lying in order to reconcile between people.” (Tirmidhi)

With such a rule it would be difficult to decide when a Muslim is telling the truth. With Mr. Obama I have found that he seldom tells the truth: not during the campaign and certainly not now. This is not an opinion but verifiable fact. He bows to Muslim princes and fondly remembers the call to Muslim prayer as one of the most beautiful sounds he has ever heard.



It was never my intention to get into a question of religion as right or wrong. I use these examples purely to demonstrate what I believe are the driving motivations to Obama’s actions. Is he a Muslim? Does that make it easier for him to lie to us? Could that explain his divisive actions? Would that clarify his attitude toward Iran? Israel?

SUPPORT OUR TROOPS "OBAMA"

If Obama wants to hold to some lofty ideology for himself let him do so. He doesn’t have to impose his ideologies on us and on our military. He has our troops in harm’s way in Afghanistan and ensures their failure by giving the Taliban and Al Qaeda the upper hand. They know his rules of engagement and use them against us to kill our troops. You have to wonder what Obama’s motives and goals really are.
Kindly read this story for a better explanation than I could ever provide.

Socialism: A Good Thing...Right???

As a young person in school some 40+ years ago I remember my first thoughts about socialism. I can remember thinking, “That doesn’t sound bad at all. Actually that might be kinda good. That way there are no poor people, nor rich people, there are just people. Today as I listen as young people voice the same kinds of thoughts. They really don’t have the fear of socialism that older people have. Some of that may come from the way that they have been raised.

If you look at the school curriculum it would be easy to argue that the educational system is left leaning. By leaning I mean they are an obtuse angle. Depending upon the school system they may lean from left to extremely left in varying degrees. Even the families that our young people have been raised in have had a left leaning effect on our young people, though unintended. It is the norm in many American families to give and give to their children and to struggle to find ways to meet our children’s every desire. What parent hasn’t worked overtime to provide the “right” tennis shoes or clothes for their children. It is my thought that these things create a sense of entitlement within our children and a natural acceptance of socialistic thought. It becomes normal for them to think "they should have the same things as others". Socialism doesn't seem all that offensive. We parents unknowingly helped create that mindset.

I doubt that many families dine together these days and if they do it seems unlikely that parents would use the time to discuss current events. How many children know that in Communist China during Mao Zedong’s between 40,000,000 and 80,000,000 (40- 80 million) lives were lost to communist rule; mostly due to starvation or slaughter. Millions more died in Russia due to persecution, perhaps as many as 30,000,000. Each day thousands die in North Korea, mostly of starvation, and in every communist country there are similar abuses with totals upwards of 30million. Cuba’s numbers are no doubt lower but surely significant. Who can say what the totals might be.

Now, none of these countries call themselves “Communist”. They call themselves some version of “Socialist Republics”. Regardless they embrace the concept of socialism and that everyone should be and receive equally (“Share the Wealth”). For more than 60 years these countries have struggled with their Socialism and still the people suffer. Notice I said the people suffer and not the governement. Yet someone must GOVERN that sharing and this is where the problem always comes in. If you could just find that right person to govern. Who is that special someone who can GOVERN with fairness, honesty, purity, and justice. They would have to be like god: Some ONE very special. No one has found "The One" yet.

Arguably, no reasonable people would ever surrender to this form of government except for one thing: It is never presented in its final version. It is always presented as a “Foot in the Door” better idea. Usually it is some fine sounding Change that strikes a chord with the masses. Occasionally it is thrust upon the peoplw without their consent. More often it is a combination of the above. The adoption of the CHANGE takes place and all is well. Until, human nature takes its course, greed and corruption enter (usually waiting close by) and voila you have a government telling you what you can have, and when, and how much.

The only way to stop this is to keep the "Foot out of the Door". At first sign of this evil, kick the door closed. I am firmly convinced that the toe is being wedged in the door at this very moment and I am kicking with all I have. I am no longer a naïve schoolboy. I suggest you not be either.

The WHYS have it!

After months of Sausage Making in both houses of Congress there is still nothing resembling a Healthcare Bill that would benefit but a few special interest groups. Persistent forces have kept out amendments that would disallow illegal immigrants and government funded abortions. These legislators say it would be too difficult to require a photo ID for Healthcare services and to require women to purchase an insurance rider to cover abortions is offensive and demeaning. I truly wonder what makes these people think this way.

Recently, the now infamous, ACORN was cut off by both houses from receiving government funds. This due to the organization’s continued involvements in all manner of corruption. Most of this was known in congress for sometime but the efforts of 2 young journalism students was what it took to garner enough media attention to get congressional action. The mainstream media was noticeably absent from reporting on the ACORN videos and but for FOXNEWS and Breitbart.com we would never have known of it.

What truly amazes me is that the senate voted to strip ACORN of funds with an 83 to 7 vote. The 7 who voted to keep ACORN on the dole are surely themselves worthy of note:

Burris (D) from Illinois;

Casey (D) from Pennsylvania;

Durbin (D) from Illinois;

Gillibrand (D) from New York;

Leahy (D) from Vermont;

Sanders (I) from Vermont;

Whitehouse (D) from Rhode Island

What kept these legislators from standing with overwhelming majority in the senate? Next the House took up the Issue and voted to defund ACORN. The result was 345 ayes, 75 noes, 2 present, and 11 not voting. Again the results were overwhelming and you can follow the link to see the results. One thing that was this vote reveals is that 80% of the Congressional Black Caucus voted against, present, or not voting on this matter. You might say they were nearly ½ of all the nays.

Why do both of Illinois’ and Vermont’s senators want ACORN to continue to receive federal money?

Why can both houses recognize corruption and deal with it in a bi-partisan fashion for ACORN but not Healthcare?

Why can’t a simple photo ID be required to qualify for Healthcare?

Why should all of America fund abortions when the majority is against it? Why must those in favor of abortion make everyone pay?

Does it appear to anyone that the August and September teaparties had any affect on your legislators?

It is of little wonder that only 14% of Americans approve of the Job Congress is doing. How are we citizen’s supposed to have confidence in our system of government? There is little doubt that 2010 will seriously change the balance of power in congress. Everyone I speak to is committed to that. The comment they most often make is along the lines of desiring to throw out the lot of them and start over. An interesting idea but how to effect it?

I think The Winner is: The "O's" (UPDATED)

I just can’t resist weighing in on the “Get the Olympics” effort by the “Os”: the Obama’s, Oprah, former Olympic athletes, and the Others. Okay I couldn’t figure out a way to turn Mayor Daly into an O. In any case it is my opinion that the fix is in on this deal. Me thinketh that this trip is all about appearances and that the “O’s” have it. But just for fun let’s wait a few hours and see. What do you think?

UPDATED: Chicago was eliminated for Olympic Consideration. I was wrong and so happy to be wrong. Whether or not Chicago needed or wanted the Olympics is a separate matter. This must be a major blow to the Obamas. They are unused to losing.