WEEK ONE

After the 08' election results, we on the "right" were "encouraged" to to take the high road and give our new President a chance before making rash judgements about him and his agenda. Ever the "bridge builder", I had every intention of putting myself on "simmer" until President Obama had time to settle into his new digs. This was my plan, even after his cryptic, racist, pro-socialist, cult gathering, otherwise known as the inauguration.
As with many good intentions, my plan was not meant to be. In fact, you could say that our new President didn't even give me a chance to give him a chance.

Before Obama's followers could fully digest the Kool-Aid that that they had so obediently engorged themselves on last Tuesday, the Hope-Meister-in-Chief set out to destroy America. Maybe or maybe not on purpose, but either way, through hateful intentions or simple ignorance, the results are the same.
During his first week in office, Obama used his new executive power in much the same way a toothless hill-billy might use his new fortune (won via lottery ticket). He's making all the wrong decisions and will ultimately be worse off than before his win fall. And his friends will continue to love him so long as they continue to believe that he will be able to "spread the wealth around".

So let's take a look at some of the President's brilliant decisions so far, in no particular order.

1. Closing Gitmo
This is a new level of stupid not yet found on any chart. Closing it is bad enough, but closing it without having a "plan B" is borderline retarded. First, it sends the message to our enemies that we were wrong after all for having the audacity to defend ourselves from terrorists, or to stop Saddam Hussein's reign of terror. Second, giving constitutional rights to foreigners picked up on a foreign battlefield is ironically...unconstitutional. Third, you send the message to our troops that they will be needing a law degree to fight a war. Fourth, you are telling the terrorists that the easiest way to gain access to America is to get picked up on the battlefield. And who better to recruit for your jihadist cause than American prison inmates?

2. Re-instituting abortion funding for people in other countries
Well, if you're into infanticide, I guess this is something you can really get behind. Even better if you're into forcing other people to pay for it.

3. Interview on Arab television
Nothing shows that you understand the Middle East better than going on an Arab TV network and telling them that you are going to continue to support Israel. He probably swatted bees nests for fun when he was a boy too. Nothing shows the strength and resolve of America better than trying to reason with terrorist countries IN PUBLIC in the middle of a war you're allegedly trying to win.

4. Stimulus package
Does this really need an explanation? More money for infrastructure projects that won't see the light of day for years to come, food stamps, unemployment benefits, and hypothetical jobs rooted in technologies that do not yet exist and have yet to gain a market. On top of putting more environmental restrictions on an already ailing auto industry.

At the rate he's going, I'm going to need to hire a staff to keep up with him.

BRONSON: BETTER THAN THE NRA

Just a short blog tonight. Obama's first week in office is proving to be real test of my writing skills. There's just too much dangerous liberal idiocy being instituted at the hands of Barak Obama for me to cover in the little free time I happen to have tonight. I would rather take my time and sort it all out properly in the coming days. Stay tuned.

Instead, I would like to tell you about my evening at home alone with my four month old son. One of the benefits of having a totally dependant infant to take care of is the TV time I get to catch up on while feeding him. Tonight was no exception. My view of choice turned out to be an oldie but a goody. "Death Wish" with Charles Bronson is a movie that I have probably seen at least a few dozen times in my lifetime. I haven't seen it in a long time though, and that's probably why I saw it in a different light when I watched it tonight. In fact, the last time I watched it, I'm pretty sure I was in my early twenties, and liberal as the day is long. Now, I have a family.
In my book, I tried my best to write a chapter that explained in easy to understand terms exactly why a person has the right to defend themselves against the criminal element. I used analogies, parables, along with good old fashion common sense and reasoning to make the case for our Second Amendment rights.
As it turns out, I would have been better served to just tell my readers to watch Death Wish. I was only four years old at the time, so I can only guess that this movie raised alot of eyebrows at it's original opening. But I have seen no other movie that better explains the positive effect that a firearm can have on the populous when they are free to carry one.
If you're still a little fuzzy on your right to protect your family, I urge you to watch this movie.

DID YOU HEAR THAT?

When I woke up this morning, I wasn't really sure how I was going to react to President Obama's inauguration speech. I had every intent on taking the high road by not letting my fears of his upcoming term cloud my impression of this historic event. If for no other reason than respect for the office. I wanted nothing more than for this day to go by without an "incident" and to maybe even see or hear something that might assuage my fears a little. As it turns out, that was not meant to be. If anything, I'm more scared for the future of this country than ever before.

Keep in mind that I experienced the inauguration via radio, inside the cab of an eighteen wheeler, as opposed to on the TV, but I don't think it would have helped if I were standing at the podium myself.

After purposely tuning out the "pre-game" shenanigans, I started listening just as Aretha Franklin started to sing "My Country Tis of The". I've been an fan of Aretha's singing since I was old enough to understand music at all. By far, this was not her best performance. I did my best to not take that as a bad omen, but to no avail.

Then President-elect Barak Hussein Obama took the stage, and it was all down hill from there. Really, is it too much to ask of a party that has spent eight years pillorying a man for his improper pronunciation of words to nominate someone who won't verbally rape the Oath of Office of the President of the United States? Would that really be asking too much? Don't get me wrong, I'm sure the MSM will be questioning Obama's intellect just as they did Bush for his less than stellar mastery of the English language. I can't wait to see the parade of stand-up comedy routines and impersonations centered around Obama's gaffes. No double standard there.

After the oath came..."the speech". There were many carefully veiled themes in "the speech" that I picked up on immediately. The first part of "the speech" seemed to be an effort to remind us all how awful it is to be living in America, and how the only ones we should blame is the Bush administration. Because as we all know, the liberal Democrat Congress and past liberal policies couldn't possibly have anything to do with our current predicament.

Following that cheery and uplifting note, he went on to tell us how WE are going to have to sacrifice and hard choices to fix this country. Oh really? I thought that's why the people elected you Barak. According to what I read on my paycheck stub every two weeks and property tax assessments, I seem to be "sacrificing" quite a bit already thank you very much. And to pay for Democrat legislated taxation and liberal government spending across the board, I've had to make plenty of "hard choices" as well.

Another theme I spotted was the "we can't fix it without the government's intervention" concept. Oh really? The last time I checked, It government intervention that got us into this mess to begin with by telling banks who they could and couldn't lend to and telling auto manufacturers what kind of cars to build. Then by throwing endless stacks of the people's cash at problems that have nothing to do with lack of funds to begin with. Topping that off with the government perpetrating the man-made global warming scam on us.

In reality, the last thing we need is for the government to have yet more tentacles reach into places where they can be of no logical use.

One of my personal favorite themes was the "I'm the Messiah, so if you don't agree with me, I'm not going to listen to you" theme. In flowery Presidential language, Obama more less told us that there's no point in resisting his power, if you are going try to explain to him why his plans will not work, he will consider you a partisan obstacle to his agenda and ignore you.

I knew long ago that when this day came I could expect a platitude-a-palooza and few if any details or specifics about how to fix the problems we allegedly face. What I did not expect was to be the victim of a racial slur on behalf of my President...during his inauguration ceremony.

After what I can only describe as incoherent rambling mistakenly referred to as "a poem" by some woman whom I've never heard of...came the closing "prayer". I want my readers to think back to everything I've ever written about Pastor Jeremiah Wright. Remember back to when when I tried to tell you that when you sit in that church for that long, something is probably going to rub off.

LOWERY: "Lord, in the memory of all the saints who from their neighbors rest, and in the joy of a new beginning, we ask You to help us work for that day when black will not be asked to get back, when brown can stick around; when yellow will be mellow; when the red man can get ahead, man; and when white would embrace what is right. Let all those who do justice and love mercy, say amen."

Just what "right" are whites as a whole not embracing? How is this not "judging by the color of one's skin". You know...what Dr. King fought and died to end? This is "change"? Does this statement even make sense as a black man is walking unchallenged into the highest office in the entire world?

What should we think about this "prayer"? Did Obama learn anything from the Wright/Fleager scandal? Does he have anyone checking out what is going to be said on his behalf at the most publicized event in the history of the world? Does he have any friends or associates that aren't involved in some sort of controversy?

The inauguration as a whole was an embarrassment. The wretched excess and expense of the event in such troubled financial times, the blatant media bias, the gawdy commercialism of a Presidential inauguration as if it were a Super Bowl game, the total over-exposure of Obama himself as if he were some sort of messianic figure, the dis-respect shown to the Bush administration by the masses as they graciously departed the White House, all gave me an urge to find a bottle of Southern Comfort and hide in the basement.

ROADHOUSE DON'T FLY

WARNING!!! Before you read this, if you are a frequent flyer, I urge you to just skip this post all together.

Much like Mr. T's character "B.A. Barakas" from the iconic 80's TV show "The A-Team", I would have to be unwillingly and unknowingly knocked out if I were ever expected to set foot on an air plane...or any other aircraft for that matter.

Aside from my "Achilles Heal" of severe acrophobia, I have also been cursed with a tendency to notice things that others don't. Though that's great for understanding the world of politics, it tends to be a big fat anchor around my neck when it comes to all things risky or fun. Case in point; air travel.

I will not fly for many reasons. First, they won't let me take my .45 on the plane. Trust me, when matched against a nut-job with a box cutter, my .45 and I will be victorious. Unarmed, it's a crap shoot. Second, I hate lines and crowds.

The biggest reason I will not fly is my complete lack of trust in humanity today. Me getting on a plane would go something like this. I walk toward the plane and the little mouse wheel in my brain starts to spin off it's axle. I imagine the hung-over airplane mechanic who recently had a fight with his wife about using the wrong bath towel. I picture him angrily pounding on some random engine part that isn't fitting properly. He then forgets to install the right washers that are supposed to hold the fuel injection ports in place.

My mind then drifts to the pilots. Are they in that particular cockpit because they have decades of experience and are considered "indispensable" by the airline? Or are they there because some liberal, affirmative action/quota policy that requires the hiring of pilots of a certain ethnicity, as opposed to a certain competency?

I think of the factory worker who forged the engine mounts of my airplane. Is he a worker who actually takes some pride in his job? Or is he a union worker who does nothing more than what his contract calls for, regardless of how it effects the bottom line of his boss's company? Worse yet, is that worker an illegal alien who holds a fraudulent Social Security card that hides a record of arrests for drug smuggling and child porn?

I know, I know...you are more likely to get hit by lightning than be in a plane crash. But I don't stand outside in lightning storms either. And I know that more people get into car crashes than ever do plane crashes. Yeah, but how many people ever survive a plane crash? I've been in several car and motorcycle crashes in my lifetime and walked away from every one...so far (knock on wood). How many people do you know that have ever survived a plane crash?

If you still don't understand why I won't get on a plane, I suggest you ask the following people their opinion on the subject: Buddy Holley, Ritchie Valens, The Big Bopper, The better half of Lynnyrd Skynyrd, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Patsy Cline, Randy Rhodes, John Denver, Davey Allison, or Amelia Earhart.

WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

Traditionally, newly elected Presidents wait until after their inauguration to get entangled in scandals or demonstrate total incompetence. But today we are living in the age of "change", and that's exactly what we're getting.
President-Elect Obama has already demonstrated a complete lack of ability in delegating his authority by virtue of his appointments to various positions in his administration. From his first pick of Rahm Emmanuel of Fannie May and Freddy Mac fame, to the pro-war in Iraq one day and anti the next - Hillary Clinton for Secretary of State. Not one to rest on his laurels, Obama decided to then fix the intelligence community that he has spent so much time criticizing by appointing a man who has absolutely no experience or back ground in anything resembling the intelligence community. Leon Pannetta - who better to put in charge of gathering intelligence in a time of war with a ruthless enemy than a guy who equates getting a terrorist wet (water boarding) with torturing one?
His appointment of Bill Richardson lasted about the same amount of time that it takes for me to warm a Hot Pocket. And the list keep on growing.
But my personal favorite is his recent appointment of Timothy Geithner as Treasury Secretary. Who better to head the IRS than someone who can't pay his own taxes? When his name was first mentioned as Obama's pick, I had never heard of him, but people on both sides of the isle had nothing by great things to say about him. My "Spidey sense" went into overdrive when I realized that he was liked by both ends of the spectrum.
This brings me to my next question. Where are all those bloggers and pundits who saw fit to criticize "Joe the plumber" for being behind on his taxes? Joe's only claim to fame at that point had been to ask "His Hopeness" a simple question (how dare he). His profession involved pipe fittings and ball valves, not the nation's financial future. Geithner is supposed to be the guy who's going to set the standard and lead this country out of financial Armageddon, yet he can't even manage his own taxes?
The worst part is watching the media and "Sir Hopesalot" himself try to downplay the relevance of Geithner's shenanigans. Yet Joe the plumber was unfit to mearly ask a question because of his tax situation.
No double standard there, huh? Keep in mind that I haven't even mentioned "Blago-gate" or Obama's economic speach last week where he basically told the world that he has no clue how the nation's economy works. It's going to be a fun four years.

GUEST AUTHOR

The other day, I was making my usual rounds across the blogosphere when I was introduced to the concept of a "guest author" courtesy of one of my regular haunts - GO ZACK blog http://gozack.blogspot.com/. Being a rookie in the blog world, I had not heard of this before, but was impressed with the idea. In a world where our egos tend to do the driving, it seems to me that some humility, magnanimity, and basic generosity are traits we should all explore now and then. Having someone else take the wheel of something you put personal effort into seems to be a great way to that.
Though technically the following is not a an article by a guest author, it is actually a short essay I lifted from the comment box of my last blog. Written by "JMK" at Working Class Conservative blog http://workingclassconservative.blogspot.com/, it seemed to be too well written and too relevant to the subject to be relegated to the comment box of my blog. I offer JMK's comments as the perfect followup to my previous article.

JMK Wrote the following in response to my article "Break Over":
This is part of an incrementally increasing problem in my view.It's generational and it's generational because we are seeing the generational impact of the loss of our national "rugged individualism" and our respect for self reliance and Liberty with each passing decade. I can see the trajectory very clearly in my own family, my grandparents were incredibly self reliant. They not only "never asked for anything, " they never expected much" from their fellow citizens, whom they knew were as busy as they were, nor their government.
My Dad's generation was reared in the Great Depression, he fought in WW II and Korea and then came out and worked 38 years in the FDNY during the "riot years" in some of the busiest firehouses in NYC.That guy never had an easy day in his life and never expected less. While he wasn't quite as self-sufficient as my grandfather, who built his own house with a single friend, he was self reliant enough. It was that generation that made the first mis-step and they made it out of the best of intentions.
After WW II America's was the only economy left standing and times were good....real good. The GI Bill allowed millions of men who'd never been able to get into to College in the past, get in and go. In turn, they sought to make their kid's lives as easy as possible. Yes, there was discipline and chores and expectations, but they were the first generation to give more and expect less from their kids. After that, the flood gates opened. The generation that grew up in the sick 1960s saw "discipline as punishment" and saw "tolerance" and "not judging" as the highest moral dictates....and THEY raised a generation of, while not entirely, overwhelmingly spoiled, self-centered brats...and now some of those lost souls are breeding yet another generation that seems the least connected, the least self-motivated and most dependent and entitled YET!
The question is, where do we go from here? Will the coming economic tsunami intensify beyond our wildest imaginings - there are some DOPES who think the current economy is "the worst since the Great Depression", when it actually pales in comparison to the Carter years - taking into account how limited those imaginings are? And if it does, will it refocus us on the things that made America great - that self reliance, private property rights, individualism....OR will it result in a weakened generation simply surrendering and giving in to total dependency?
If it's the former, we may reclaim our greatness.
If it's the latter, we may well wind up serfs to a growing and avaricious Chinese empire...and deservedly so.

BREAK OVER!

OK, the holidays are officially over. After my brief hiatus from the blogosphere, I think it's about time I get back into the mix. The problem is, I just don't know where to start. Sure, I could join the Frey and post something about "Blago/Burres/Obama-gate", but really...who cares? And who's really surprised anyway. I could post something about Israel going into Gaza. But once you've said "It's about friggn' time", what more is there to say? Instead of writing yet another op-ed about the world of politics, today I'm opting to touch on something a little more...cultural.

The week prior to Christmas I was in the middle of my traditional last minute approach to ruining the true meaning of the season by giving-in to the shameless commercialism that the Savior's birthday has now become, when I had an epiphany. There are too many idiots in this world. I'm not talking about the "common" brand of idiot; people who drive a Prius, fat people that drink 72 oz. diet sodas, or Obama voters. No, I'm talking about the new level of idiot known as the "self mutilator".

As I was searching the shelves of a well-known book store chain trying to find a children's version of "A Christmas Carol" I was approached by one of the employees who asked if he could help me find something. One look at this individual nearly caused me to reply "Yes, you can help me find my faith in humanity's ability to survive your generation's presence". But tis' the season, so I politely said "No" and went my merry way.

I would best describe this "person" as a parent's nightmare, adorned with all manner of tattoo, piercing and surgical modification. Beyond his "Flock of Seagulls" hair and his "flock of demented retards" clothes, his face was the most distracting...and depressing. His speech was afflicted by a tongue piercing, and his ears were weighted down with giant bolt-like hardware that protruded through holes the size of silver dollars in his earlobes. This was accented by a nose and eyebrow piercing. Despite his polite and helpfull manner, I couldn't help but wonder if it would be safe to give this individual access to my credit card. After all, according to his self inflicted "look at me" kit, judgement did not seem to be one of his priorities.

Before some of you label me "narrow minded" or "out of touch", consider this. Other than deep seated emotional issues or questionable psychological status, what drives a person to go to such lengths to draw attention to themselves? As a blogger and author, I want attention as much as the next guy, that is unless that "next guy" happens to have a bone in his nose and some sort of demon tattooed on his neck.

Judgement is a lost art. Fewer people practice it now more than ever, and our society is suffering the effects. When people act out like this, there is a message that they are sending to us. They are telling us that their parents dropped the ball somewhere along the line. That forces you to ask what else about this person did those parents drop the ball on? What other judgement issues are beyond this person's ability to comprehend? Can these people really be trusted to serve me and my family in a professional manner? If they are willing to disfigure themselves for the sake expression or attention, what else are they capable of when no one is looking?
This also says something about the people who are willing to hire these weirdos. Do they have no pride in their own business? If not, what else do they not give a crap about? Are they more concerned with looking "tolerant" than keeping a valuable customer base? Are they trying to make some sort of statement by hiring people with mental issues?

Is there anything "wrong" with this type of behavior. Probably not. But it does speak volumes about you when you are so uncomfortable in your own skin that you think it's a good idea to puncture it for no good reason.

I never did find the book I was looking for. But I did find my way to a bookstore where I didn't have to worry about losing my appetite...or my credit rating.