It’s Time To Move Forward

Never in my life did I ever think I would hear of my fellow citizens considering secession. I honestly feel like people are overreacting to the election. Part of the founding of the United States was so that we elect our officials. Not liking election results is one thing, but to go to the extreme of saying you want to secede? I am ashamed of some of my fellow Americans. I am appalled. I haven’t liked a lot of election results, but I have never considered renouncing my citizenship. It is part of who I am. I think those people need to consider if you give it up, there’s no coming back. Leave and you’re gone. You do not have the same rights as us anymore and you are freaking on your own! You no longer have our protection or any other luxuries. You think it is so great to be off on your own? I bet you thought being an adult was easy, too. Was it so simple once you reached adulthood? I kinda doubt it.

I am so proud to be an American. I hope other Americans will remember what it is about and how lucky they really are. Many would gladly trade places with you. Don’t forget that.

Related articles

• Obama’s Re-Election Inspires Southern Secessionists (swampland.time.com)
• Secession Petitions: What They Mean In The Context Of History (whnt.com)
• White House Petition Calls For Anyone In Favor Of Secession To Be Deported (americanlivewire.com)
• Secession petitions now filed for all 50 states (news.yahoo.com)
• Good News Everybody! Letting Red States Secede Would Help Balance Budget (addictinginfo.org)

 

Love Jon Stewart

 

This is a comedic view of what I have been talking about lately.

Jon Stewart on Romney

 

How Easy It Is To Judge

It’s so easy to judge other people’s actions or reactions to situations. Whether it is the person you work with, your relatives, or political leaders, we judge. And we do it all the time and usually quite vocally. I’m not ashamed to say I do it. I probably shouldn’t do it but I do. I am human. That’s what we do oh so well. Judge. Criticize.

When we do judge other people, though, we need to realize that other people are doing the same thing to us. How do you like that? Not so comfortable is it? People in glass houses shouldn’t throw rocks or run around naked. You can break your house or be totally exposed.

Why am I writing this? I have read opinions about what the President should have said or done about the situation in Libya. I have to say my heart is breaking. It reminds me of September 11, 2001. I remember when people raised hell about when President Bush was told in that classroom of kindergarteners about the attack and how he sat there. I remember thinking that even though I didn’t agree with a lot of his politics that he handled that moment so gracefully. He had gotten the word that something so horrific had happened and yet he maintained his composure to keep those kids calm. That was presidential to me. He didn’t fly off the handle in that moment and just act on a whim.

I believe when we act on whims that we are asking for trouble. Clear thinking is always the best course of action. Shooting off your mouth in anger is not. You may be madder than hell and hurt, but in a situation where you have other people’s’ lives at risk you don’t just spout off whatever words you feel at the moment. You have to be diplomatic and behave in such a way. It may not be a popular stance, but it is what has to be done at the moment. You have to think before you act. Otherwise you risk the lives of many more.

I wish other people would think about that and quit just having a knee-jerk response. It’s easy to play Monday-morning quarterback after the Sunday football games. It’s a lot harder to be the quarterback during the Sunday games. I know I joke about being president, but honestly I wouldn’t want to be when it comes to this type of situation or have the decisions he is facing now. He is in a damned-if-you-do-damned-if-you-don’t situation.

My thoughts and prayers go out to the families who lost family members. I have lost loved ones and can’t imagine losing anyone in that way. Devastation can’t even cover it. I am praying for the President and his advisors. I know this is not an easy time and that the upcoming decisions are not easy. I just pray they make the best ones for our country. I pray for the citizens of my country and for Libya.

Political Opinions

I read about Hank Williams, Jr. spouting off again about saying hateful things about the President of the United States. While I am not surprised, I was offended. The last time Hank ran his mouth about the President, he lost his Monday night football gig. I guess he figures he doesn’t have much to lose now so he just let the hateful, venomous words spew. He said that the President was a Muslim who hated farmers and America and that “we” hated him. Well, this part of “we” does not hate the President. I have never hated any of our Presidents even when I didn’t agree with them. And there have been a few in my lifetime that I haven’t always agreed with. Actually, there was one in the last decade who made me question his thinking a lot. But I never hated him. I simply hated some of the choices he made for our country.

But what gets me is why do celebrities think their opinions really matter to me? And why do they bring up such things as religion? Are they being fed this crap by the political parties in hopes that it will influence other Americans? I certainly hope not. And I also hope that other Americans aren’t dumb enough to listen to these opinions. Hopefully they have minds of their own and can think for themselves.

Listen to what the POLITICIANS are saying and not what the celebrities are saying. They’re the ones that are going to be making the decisions that affect your life. In some cases, I suppose their religion could play a role in their decisions. Some of them just have some warped thinking. For instance I read that one politician recently stated that rape victims couldn’t get pregnant if it was really rape. Hmmmm…And I’d like to know where the hell he got this “scientific” knowledge. Of course once this got leaked to the press he apologized and said he misspoke. The funny thing is, once it is said it is a little too late. It’s already out there. Another politician who is running said he wasn’t concerned about the very poor. Sorry, poor people, you’re screwed! You have been for years and you will continue to be. Guess you’re used to it, huh?

Please don’t just listen to political parties. Listen to the politicians. While they may be affiliated with a specific party, they are individuals.  The party may have some influence. But the bottom line is that the individual will be making choices. Listen to them so you can decide who you want to make choices for you.

(For the record, it grieves me that Hank Williams, Jr. has said something like this. I have always loved his music. I considered myself a fan. It just really saddened and angered me to hear about this.)

Related articles

• Hank Williams Jr. at Iowa State Fair: We’ve got a Muslim President who hates farming, hates the military, hates the U.S. and we hate him! (ktrh.com)
• Hank Williams Jr.: Obama a ‘Muslim president who hates farming, hates the military, hates the US and we hate him!’ (thegrio.com)
• Hank Williams Jr. on Obama: ‘We’ve got a Muslim president…and we hate him’ (popwatch.ew.com)
• Hank Williams Jr. bashes Obama at the fair (nashvillegab.com)
• Hank Williams Jr: Obama a Muslim, ‘We Hate Him’ – Country scion again rips into president (tribuneofthepeople.com)

Some Reasons I DO NOT Like Newt

My dislike of Newt Gingrich is not a recent thing. No. I disliked him a long time ago in the days of the Clinton Administration. Why? He was constantly screaming or crying about something. He was always pointing out flaws in the Clinton White House but didn’t want to accept any blame for his own. He wanted accolades for the first balanced budget in 30 years. Yes, he and Bill Clinton and many others worked on creating that balanced budget. It was truly a historical moment.

Newt and Kenneth Starr also kept looking for everything they could to say ugly about the Clintons. I’m not saying that Bill Clinton’s presidency was perfect. Not at all. But I have never seen such a public scrutiny by the Speaker of the House and his minions. I think that if Newt thinks he is going to be the poster boy for family values that he should have thought about that before divorcing twice and marrying successively younger women. And by the way, didn’t he cheat, too? Hmmm…didn’t he talk about how terrible Bill Clinton was for doing that same thing? Pot, this is kettle and I’m calling you black!

I think we should also remember that, yes, Newt Gingrich brought both sides of the political aisle together years ago. How? When ethics charges were brought up against him. Republicans and Democrats voted to reprimand him. This was the first time in the history of this nation that the Speaker of the House was reprimanded for ethics violations.

Don’t forget that he also shut the government down December 16, 1995 to January 6, 1996, for a total of 28 days. I bring this up because so many Republicans were raising hell when there was the possibility of the SAME thing happening during the Obama administration. If shutting down the government is such a terrible thing, it should have been then as well. People had families to take care of then, too. Why is Newt trying to act like he was such a bad-ass and yet he and others were so condemning to President Obama? Again, pot, this is kettle…

Now for some current things. His issues and his mudslinging. Did you know that he wants to reward girls for graduating high school a virgin? There are a few things that bother me about this. First, how are we going to determine if she is a virgin? Are we going to take her word for it? If so, that is stupid. What teenage girl is going to tell the truth on that one?! Second, what kind of reward are we talking about? Third, isn’t this a little sexist? Are we just offering this incentive to girls? What about boys? Again, how are we going to decide if he is a virgin? That whole trust issue is naïve and stupid. Fourth, what if the girl had been raped? Are we going to actually punish a girl for that? So all in all I hope others can see the stupidity of this issue.

I understand that in politics there will be mud-slinging. There always is. But I would like to see a politician actually have the courage to say what their beliefs are and how they plan to do it. Yeah, yeah, Newt and a former president worked together to balance the budget years ago. How do you plan to do it again? Do you see the problem with health care? Do you see that there are Americans that have no health care coverage that are in dire need of it? Do you see that Americans do not want to hear your mud-slinging? What are your thoughts on education? Are you going to do something about the current state of our educational system instead of just try to pawn kids off on different schools? There should be some educational reform instead of just shifting kids from here to there! The majority of parents do not have time or money to transport kids to different schools! Think about that and keep kids in the schools they are districted for and make the teachers teach at an acceptable level! Dumbing down the system or moving kids is not an option.

Newt Gingrich likes to bring up old catch phrases such as flip-flopping and family values. I think he fits those phrases very well. He pulls them out when they suit his needs. I’m sorry but that doesn’t work for me. I am not anti-Republican but I am not a Newt Gingrich fan and will not vote for him. I hope people will not forget his past record.

Related articles

• Newt not (steveprestegard.com)
• Newt Gingrich attacks Mitt Romney on immigration, fights off infidelity question and laughs at idea of Romney as running mate (miamiherald.typepad.com)