WHAT AMERICAN IDOL TAUGHT ME

Let's not dwell on the fact that a seemingly manly truck driver such as myself was watching American Idol tonight. Let's just say that my wife is a fan, and I was killing time until "South Park" came on. Admittedly, I do like the premise of a national talent show that showcases one's vocal talent, adaptability and showmanship skills. It almost seems like something that you might have seen on TV back when our nation had a shred of cultural integrity. I actually started to look at "Idol" as a welcome distraction from the world of politics. Just when I was ready to join the club and become a fan, "American Idol Gives Back" aired.
Leave it to TV executives to take a simple, subjective concept such as a talent show, and turn it into a primer on liberal philosophy.

Here's what I learned. Apparently, in Africa the mosquitoes that cause malaria only bite people when they are in a bed. I watched Forest Whitaker talk about the importance of donating $10.00 to cover the cost of a bed net to fight malaria. Had I not seen his commentary, I would have gone on with my life thinking of him a talented actor. Now, I see him as just another gullible Hollywood pawn.
If Forest had given this issue some thought, he would have been asking people to donate money for the purchase of DDT spraying equipment. He would have also asked for money to fund the draining of swamps and areas of stagnate water where mosquitoes live and breed. As if this weren't enough, the Priminster of England proudly announced his donation of nets on the show as well.
Environmentalists around the globe have successfully banned the use of DDT and similar products that kill the mosquitoes that spread disease. This was done because these pesticides are supposedly "linked" to health problems in humans and animals. The last time I checked, malaria was considered a "health problem". Can you spot the irony?

I then learned that the cure for AIDS is cash. Here all this time, I thought the cure for AIDS was to not get it in the first place. Considering the amount of tax-payer cash that has been streaming into Africa and other third world countries to stop AIDS, I figure just about everyone down there should be cured by now.

One of my favorite liberalisms is the policy of throwing money (other people's money) at a problem. Let's not do something about the dictators and drug lords that are actually causing the poverty and death. Instead, let's write a bunch of checks that will in all likelihood end up in the hands of these same dictators and drug lords. Let's not actually kill the cause of the disease, let's spend a lot of money on something that has no effect at all on it.

Hey Africa! Here's your net. And oh yeah, stay in bed.

MR. HESTON - The last statesman

I'm a gun nut. Let's just put that on the table right now. For some reason, I believe in the wacky notion that I have the right to protect my family from the criminal element. So when I heard of the passing of Charlton Heston, I naturally had planned to blog about his great work as a second amendment defender. Then I remembered a story that I heard some time ago. I don't know that this is a true story, but I like to think it is.

Allegedly, Mr. Heston was on an airplane when the man in the next seat recognised him and started to make small talk. Heston politely asked the man what he was doing on his trip. The man told him that he was going to meet his birth father for the first time after spending many years trying to find him. Mr. Heston replied "You know, one of my children are adopted...I just don't remember which one".

They just don't make people like that anymore.

AL GORE'S KRYPTONITE

Questions to ask your favorite environmentalists:

1. What caused the first and second ice ages to start?
2. What caused the ice ages to end?
3. Was man driving SUV's during those periods?
4. Why does the average temperature of other planets change at the same rate as Earth's?
5. Are there SUV's on Mars?
6. If Co2 is a pollutant, why does plant life require it to live?
7. Why does plant life thrive along the busiest highways where emissions are the most dense?
8. Why are animals incapable of walking around drilling rigs?
9. How can we predict the climate twenty years from now, but not next week?
10. Why are the following not factored into climate calculations? The sun, solar flares, sun spots, the Jet Stream, the Gulf Stream, the Earth's molten core, volcanoes, desert sand storms, and common sense.
11. How could we possibly know the global temperature, or rainfall averages prior to modern technology, when we can't accurately measure them today?
12. Who decided what the Earth's temperature is supposed to be?
13. How did they arrive at that particular number?

When Al Gore can answer these questions, I'll listen to him.

BLACK AND WHITE

Today is April fourth. This day will always be marked by the death of a man named Dr. Martin Luther King. Sadly, I believe that this day also marks the death of an idea and a dream. As I am only 37 years old, I was not alive in the days of forced segregation and separate water fountains. Luckily, I do have access to television, books, Internet, and a whole list of other options that allow me to look at historical events. One such event is the "I have a dream" speech given by Dr. King. Arguably, one of the most famous speeches ever given.
One part of that speech has always stood high above the the rest. The part where Dr. King dreamed of a day when a man would be judged by the content of his character, not the color of his skin. It was this idea that resonated with me and still does today.
So, just how far have we come as a nation since Dr. King first spoke those words? Apparently, not too far.
As I watch the media struggle with Senator Obamma's spiritual past, it becomes obvious to me that we are still hung up on race as a nation. So I have decided that it is time to walk out on a limb and set a few things straight regarding race relations in 2008.

1. There are no more slaves.
2. There are no more slave owners.
3. There are no more "whites only" signs at lunch counters, water fountains, or buses.
4. Americans of all colors have the right to vote and own land.
5. If you are living in a poor neighborhood, it was your decision.
6. If people look at you funny when you go shopping, it's probably what you're wearing or how you're acting, not your skin color.
7. If you feel that whites in general should feel guilty, or blacks should feel victimized in the year 2008, you are part of the problem.


You see, you have a choice. You can either pay lip-service to Dr. King's message, or you can live it. To truly live it, you have to have the inner strength to not see a person as a color. Better yet, ignore color all together. It really doesn't matter. If you think it does, you're part of the problem.
As one who actually lives the words of Dr. King, I can tell you in all honesty that I am not a racist. That means that I do not judge people on the basis of skin color, hence my hatred of "affirmative action" policies. That also means that I refuse to be made to feel guilty about things that other people did decades or centuries before I was born. Conversely, I have little respect for those who think I should. I also have little respect for anyone who looks at someone as a victim just because they have a particular skin color.
So at the end of the day, you need to ask yourself if you are part of the problem or the solution. Are you living the dream of Dr. King or just talking about it?

THE CASE FOR LIBERALISM

As I wrote in my book, I was much happier before I became aware of the world around me. I referenced the movie "The Matrix" as an analogy for my evolution from liberal to conservative. When Neo was given the option of red or blue pill, he could not have foreseen the world that would be revealed to him via the red pill. The blue pill would allow him to continue on with what he believed to be his safe and comfortable life. He chose the red.
When the real world was revealed to him, Neo had much to fear, much to learn and he surely had regrets about his choice. Like Neo, after September eleventh 2001...I chose the red pill.

I remember my comfortable life as a liberal. I had all the answers. I was more "enlightened" and better educated than those right wing tards I worked with. After all, I watched "Murphy Brown", so I had to be smart. Truth be told...I was a blooming idiot.
As I look back at my former liberal self, I finally realize what the attraction to liberalism is. Liberalism is just easy! It's no more complicated than that. It's just easy.
What other philosophy grants you total immunity from responsibility and purpose? What other ideology entitles you to have others pull your weight? What other moral code gives you the green light to pass the buck when you are at fault for something?

You see, in the world of liberalism, it is up to someone else to meet your needs. What could be better than that? Dependency as a virtue is the underlying theme of liberalism. This is all well and good, until the ones we depend on are destroyed by machines that are programmed to kill us all. Or when our "benefactors" are compromised by a rogue program bent on complete domination.
Who saves us then? The morally bankrupt? The couch potato? The pot-head? The defenseless dependant who looks to the government to wipe his rear end?
Will the homo-sexuals rise up and defend us with the same fury that they defend their "right" to destroy marriage? Will the feminized metro-sexual male risk his quaff to defend his government issued meal ticket? No. Why, you ask? Because it would not be easy.

I know my analogy is not perfect, as I am not "the one" as was Neo in the movie. I do like to think of myself as one of the people of Zion doing everything in my power to stop the machines. I do this knowing full well that it will not be "easy".

The Green Green Gas of Home

Being a truck driver gives me a front row seat in the train wreck that is our nation's energy policy. It also exposes me to hundreds of varying opinions about it. Between talk radio and the C.B. radio, I have no shortage of theories to consider. And since truckers are arguably the biggest casualties of our energy policy, I feel obliged to clear the air (no pun intended) about our so-called "fuel crises".
First of all, there is no "fuel crises". A crises is when you suffer from something for which there are little or no options, usually something that you could not have predicted or controlled. Cancer is a crises. Your house burning down is a crises. Your plane developing engine problems mid-flight is a crises. The cost of fuel and it's ripple effect throughout the economy is NOT a crises. It is a result. Worse yet, it is a result that anyone with the most basic education in economics probably saw coming. That alone explains why liberals can't figure it out.
Contrary to media-spun belief, we are not paying more at the pump because of greedy oil companies. Do they make an un-Godly amount of money? Maybe. But you have to consider the sheer size of the typical oil company. Think about it. Exxon-Mobil alone employs thousands, if-not millions of people around the entire globe. From the gas station attendant to a corporate V.P. Then consider how many gas stations they have in every country. How many oil wells? How many oil tankers? How many oil trucks? How many pipe lines? How many refineries? Don't forget, we're not just talking gasoline. They also produce specialty fuels and lubricants for trucks, planes, ships, homes, industries, etc. etc. Then you have to consider how many gallons of these fuels are being pumped every day all over the world. The point is, there is no way to escape the massive profits being made at the upper tier of the petroleum world, for no other reason than the massive size of the industry.
So if it's not greed, then what is it that's driving the price of fuel?

The short answer is: gullibility. For some reason, we bought into the idea that animals come before people. So, we supported environmentalist legislators that put the needs of animals ahead of the needs of the nation. The result was that we have not built a new oil refinery in America for over thirty years. Yet the demand for refined oil (fuel) grows every hour.
Then, we bought into the idea that man is creating global warming via his consumption of oil. Even though man had not invented the SUV until well after the melting of two ice ages. So, we supported environmentalist legislators that put the needs of, well...pretty much no one ahead of the needs of the nation. The result was that we are turning our food into fuel, and wondering why the price of food is going up.
You see, ethanol comes from corn. Corn is a crop that used to be grown for food, but is now grown for gasoline. Roughly the same amount of corn is grown, but now is in twice as much demand. Original demand=food, new demand=gasoline and food. Since everyone eats, and most food is related in some way to corn, we are talking a big-honkin' demand being put on corn producers...hence the shortage of corn...hence the price of corn (our food) going up.

As if this weren't enough, we supported all of this, knowing full well that the Middle East and other America-hating and/or third world countries were going to be the ones who sell us our oil. The result was that if they decide to bring the price of crude oil up to 100 dollars a barrel, we get to bend over and take it.

So to watch our country fall apart for sake of the "green movement" is sad to say the least. Especially when the answer to our problems is right under our noses...LITERALLY! It's called O-I-L, and we can pull it out of our own ground whenever we want to. It's like watching someone starve to death in the middle of a grocery store, and blaming it on the grocery store owner. Then, when you ask him why he don't just buy some groceries, he says, "Al Gore told me not to".

Free Tibet! How?

For years, we have seen the "Free Tibet" bumper sticker slapped across the bumpers of Volvo wagons and VW Beetles that rattle down the interstate. No one ever questions how the driver assumes Tibet should be freed. Diplomacy? Political pressure? Sanctions? I often wonder if the drivers of these fender-flapping rattle-traps have ever heard of a little country called China? Do they know what a communist country is all about? Well, let's just say that diplomacy is not their strong suit.
Of coarse, there's always a muti-lateral coalition of nations that oppose the oppression of Tibet. I'm pretty sure that Europe just can't wait to swat that hornet's nest that is China with their big stick. Like France would even have a big stick.
Last but not least, we have the dreaded "W" word. Oh, that's right. The same vehicles that proudy display the "Free Tibet" bumper sticker, usually have a "War is NOT the Answer" sticker right next to it. Back to the drawing board.
Sorry Tibet, you're on your own.