Heroes

Today is the anniversary of the day that I consider to be the worst day for our country in my lifetime. It is the day heroes were born. September 11, 2001, the day 3000+ people were killed in a cowardly attack on our country. This is my day that will live in infamy.

I got out of bed about 1PM that day after working a graveyard shift the night before. I called a co-worker to tell her that I would be late to training at the office. She asked if I heard that the towers were gone and the pentagon had been attacked. I didn't believe her at the moment. She told me to turn on the TV. Any channel would do. I turned it on just as a replay of the second plane crashing into one of the towers was being shown. I felt my blood run cold. Literally, I felt my blood run cold.

Then it started to boil.

By the time I got to work the SWAT team was there just in case some nut tried something here. I asked the Sergeant why the Air Force hadn't sent the flying wings over Afghanistan to drop just about every nuclear bomb we had to make sure we killed every single terrorist SOB there. Like me, he didn't know either.

What I did know was that for no reason other than these lowlifes don't like our way of life, they felt is necessary to kill innocent people. Sounds cowardly to me. But then again these are the types that strap bombs to themselves and walk into a crowded market and blow themselves up hoping to take out as many noncombatants as possible. Just to get a ticket to there vision of heaven. That has got to be the most perverted thing I have ever heard.

People in the towers started to help one another out of the building. Police and Fire personnel rush in. Then the buildings collapsed one at a time. Over 2,700 people were still inside. Including over 400 members of the NYPD, NYFD and Port Authority PD.

Heroes all.

Shortly thereafter the Pentagon came under attack by flight 77. Also hijacked and killing 184 people in the plane and in the building.

I don't include the terrorist because I don't consider them people.

Flight 93 was also taken and headed back towards Washington DC. 40 passengers and crew fought back. They knew by now what was happening. They knew they would probably die. They decided that if they were to die, they would die fighting. And they did. The plane crashed in a field in Pennsylvania. Everyone one that flight is an American hero.

We were at war.

The next day was the birthday of my second oldest granddaughter. She turned four years old. She didn't understand what was happening. She wasn't the only one. I still don't know how to explain it to her.

Now it was our turn. These bastards were going to pay a dear price for what they had done. The American people galvanized. To quote President Bush, "they cannot dent the steel of the American resolve." The terrorists were about to find out what is what like to have the full weight of the American military fall directly onto them.

We started by telling the Pakistani government that we were flying over their country to get to Afghanistan. If they sent up any planes they would immediately be shot down. Then it would be their turn. They wisely decided not to get in the way.

Ground troops began to arrive. The Taliban lived a short life in Kabul after that. We drove them into the hills, into their caves to hide like the rats they are. We're still there today.

People volunteered for the military knowing they would probably be sent to fight. It certainly didn't seem to be a deterrent. Most of them have gone, some have not come back. Iraq is a free country now, as well as Afghanistan. Only thanks to the American military.

People I work with have served a tour or two in one country or both. My nephew is currently in training now preparing for his second tour. This one in Afghanistan.

Eight years later we are still fighting, still trying to defeat radical Islam. I wont quit supporting our troops. I will never forget those that died on September 11th. Nor will I forget those that have died fighting for us in the days since. I will always be grateful for all of them. As I will be grateful to President Bush and those who worked to keep our country safe over these last eight years.

For it is people like these that give us the freedoms we have.

Heroes all.

Last Gasp

I just finished watching Uncle Barak's last attempt at getting support for his health care reform plan. I don't think that he made up enough ground to get the American people to go for it. The idea sounds great, but there just doesn't seem to be the means to get it done.

The two things that did irreparable harm are the public option and the total cost. A public option is no option. Period. He said that it would only insure less than %5 of Americans. Maybe to start. How many folks do you think will dump their existing insurance to get on the Obama-plan? I bet it will be.................................................alot. He mentioned a "marketplace" where folks could shop for an affordable plan. Who runs that? I bet it will be the Feds.

How about the cost? It was no longer the $1,000,000,000,000, (that's one trillion dollars) bit only $900,000,000,000 (900 Billion) over the next ten years. Tell me he's kidding. How in the hell does he expect to come up with the money? Oh yeah, he said that he find the money in cutting out the inefficiencies in the Medicare and Medicaid programs. And that would pay for most of it. I hope he can do it. It was something I suggested to him in an e-mail. But still, this is his final speech and he can't figure out how to get the cost down any farther than that.

But there was also the issue of requiring everyone to get insurance just like most states require auto insurance. What I think that Uncle Barak fails to realise is that fact that driving a car is a state created liberty interest, not a right granted by the Constitution. By driving a car you are not only taking a chance yourself, but also for others. In my opinion car insurance is a requirement. But health insurance is my business only. If I want to take a chance, that's on me. I don't need some pencil pusher in Washington telling me that I have to buy insurance or face a hefty fine.

I'm told that it's the people that don't have insurance that go to an emergency room that drive up the cost. That's only partially true. Sure people get help that don't have insurance or can't pay for it. But the biggest thing to me is personal responsibility when we go see our doctors. When your doctor offers a treatment plan, make sure that there is not a cheaper route.

Of course he took his obligatory shots at George Bush. Time to let it go Uncle Barak and start taking some responsibility for your actions, dreams and agenda. What's that, personal responsibility? Novel idea for a liberal.

I don't think we need the government involved in any more of our businesses. We need to make them sell our interests in Fannie and Freddie and Government Motors. Because after all they are doing so well with these companies, aren't they?

I wonder what plan Van Jones would have come up with.

Slinking Away

In the dead of the night on a holiday weekend a government "official" resigns his post and sneaks out of town. Hooray! That communist, racist, environmentalist, ex-convict Van Jones is no longer a Czar in my government. I know the tree huggers love him as well as the black nationalists, but certainly no one else did. I got offended almost every time he opened his mouth. This is one conservative ***hole that is happy he is gone.

I had thought that we had spent 50 years or so fighting communism. Then this country elects a socialist for a president and seems surprised when he appoints radicals to positions in our government. But notice that Jones was in a position that needed no approval other than that of Uncle Barack.

Jones mentioned in his resignation that the media had been engaged in a smear campaign against him. Really? The liberal mainstream media? Against Uncle Barack or anyone in his administration? I find that hard to believe. It was conservative talk radio that was speaking out against Van Jones. Since when does he consider those voices to be those of the media?

The mainstream media, and by that I mean ABC, CBS, NBC, and certainly the liberal New York Times, hardly said a negative word about Jones. It was only in the last few days did CBS even mention the things that had folks concerned. Even if they had provided more coverage to him, I don't think that reporting the facts can be considered a smear campaign.

The fact that he is a 9/11 truther, or that he said that republicans are ***holes, or that he said that white polluters were poisoning neighborhoods of color, that he is an admitted communist are not slanderous. He is on tape saying these things and there is a letter with his signature on it concerning the 9/11 attacks. He later said that he misunderstood what was in the letter and that it did not really reflect his views, then or now. My response to that, BS.

As I'm sure you have gathered, I am not a fan of Van Jones. I do not agree with one word I have heard the man say. But I will defend to the death his right to say it. After all this is America. If Mr. Jones hates this country so much he should move to another. I'm sure Hugo Chavez or Fidel Castro would welcome him with open arms.

Then there is the matter of how he left his position. To me this says all I ever needed to know about the man. He is a coward along with everything else. He couldn't take the heat of a little media scrutiny and he runs away in the middle of the night on a holiday weekend. Hoping no one would notice, I'm sure.

I am surprised that Van Jones didn't have had the guts to stand before the press and announce his resignation like a man. He didn't have to take questions afterwards. He says that he didn't want to be a distraction for Uncle Barack. What the hell does he thinks he's just become? The mainstream media wont say much about it, but the guys that put the pressure on him to begin with, Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity are going to make him look even worse in the coming weeks and give the president nothing but grief over it. As they should.

Smooth Van, real smooth.

Pledges

I thought pledges worked for congressmen or judges or something like that. I didn't think that we needed to pledge ourselves to a sitting president. It seems that Courtney Cox thinks we need to. That's what she says at the end of the video shown to school children in Farmington, Utah this week.

Why should we be surprised? Hollywood types are typically left of center. What the hell is that? Hollywood types are flaming liberal hippies. That's better. That's more in line with the way I think.

Ok, back to the video. I heard snipets on the radio today and could not believe the things I heard. People pledging to love more, to laugh more, to further stem cell research, to make sure seniors had access to health care and something along the lines of being proud to be an American.

Didn't we laugh and love and didn't seniors have access to health care? I know I was proud as hell to be an American. And I still am. I have been charitable. Our family gives Christmas to a needy family instead of us adults exchanging gifts. My wife and I give to a place called the Road House. It's a homeless shelter for families. It's the kind of place that helps people get back on their feet. Oh yeah, once a week we do "Meals on Wheels." That means we deliver meals to elderly folks. Voluntarily.

Then there's the stem cell research. There's a bunch of folks that don't fancy this idea too much. I don't need to explain what this is, do I? Good, let's move on. Now don't get me wrong. The idea of using blank cells to help generate new cells in an afflicted area to maybe help cure some sorts of diseases is great. It's how these blank cells are collected that gets to folks. The folks that consider themselves conservative or are members of most religious groups are generally against the collection method. I would bet that these folks don't want their children exposed to this idea either.

If you ask me, and I'm sure you didn't, this is all a bunch of crap. This is pure indoctrination. Leftist indoctrination. And I'm against it. You should be too. If this was a video about doing the right things, being a good person and following the rules, then I would have no problem with it. But to tell our kids to embrace things that their parents may not feel is appropriate, is absolutely wrong.

Especially when most of the people in the video are wearing Obama t-shirts. Imagine if they were wearing Palin shirts. What an uproar that would create. As you might imagine she would be spouting horrific things like believing in God and the right to bear arms. Not the right to bare arms as Mrs. Obama would have us believe. She might also say things things that would not promote larger government, but for the need for fiscal responsibility. Blasphemy.

She certainly would not be asking for you to pledge yourself to her. She would pledge herself to you. As she should. As Uncle Barack should be doing. He is the one that is serving. He is supposed to serving in such a way as to leave it better then when he found it. I realize this is a difficult task, but at least he could try.

If I pledge to serve the president, am I to don my best chefs coat, sharpen my best knives and cater a party at the White House? I doubt it. I think he means that we should be promoting his socialist agenda.

Something I refuse to do.

A Communist in Our Government

Believe it? I didn't at first, but we have one as our green jobs czar. Van Jones has this job and he only reports to the president. He was not approved by congress. All he had to do to get the job was move to DC. Scary, isn't it?

Van Jones became a communist in prison while serving his sentence for actions during the Rodney King riots. He has since reinvented himself as an environmentalist. But a racist environmentalist.

He thinks that "white polluters" are directing the poison to neighborhoods of color. Excuse me, what the hell is that? Is he saying that white people are only driving their cars in black neighborhoods? Is that where all the garbage is being dumped? No, no, no, It's gotta be where all the spent nuclear fuel is being stored. Or maybe all the chemical weapons. It can't be that one because that's being stored right here in Utah. No neighborhoods of color in the west desert. No neighborhoods at all.

Then there's the matter of Jones being a 9/11 Truther. Meaning that he thinks that the terror attacks were the work of the US government. He signed a letter to that effect. What? He really thinks that our government killed 3,000 of our own citizens just so we could start a war? What a nut. That's a fact, because after all Jeanene Garafolo signed the same letter. Need I say more?

I want to know where Uncle Barak gets off appointing this lunatic to any post in our government. But he did win the election and gets to do whatever he wants, right? No he doesn't. BHO should remember that when he was growing up in Hawaii that we were fighting a cold war against the communist. Why would he remember that? He's never worn a uniform has he? And by that I mean one that belongs to a group that defends our country. And besides, his dad was a Marxist so this is right in line with his radical thinking.

The fact that we have a commie at such a high level in our federal government is overly offensive to me. It should be to you too. It's not like the American people wanted him there by voting him into office. It's the guy who campaigned as a moderate and now governing like a radical, just put him there.

I for one think this system of czars is ridiculous anyway. I believe this system was started by President Reagan when he appointed a drug czar back in the '80's. That was one guy. Now we have over 30 czars. That's more than the Russians had from being to end of the Romanov Dynasty. That covered almost 300 years.

The czars are appointed by the president with no oversight at all. They report to him and him alone. There is no congressional approval of these folks. And the pres can appoint as many as he wants, or so it seems. Something needs to be done.

Here's an idea. Maybe all these nuts should move to Europe. If they need directions, go to DC and drive east.

I think that Mr. Jones sat next to Uncle Barak in the Reverend Wright's church listening to all that anti-American racist drivel. He seems to think that all white folk are evil and trying to commit genocide on people of color. BS.

It's people like Jones that continue to drive a wedge between the races and keep tensions high. He should be ashamed of himself. It's too bad he doesn't have a mind of his own and has been indoctrinated by the radical left.

After all, green is the new red.

Gay Marriage

Now why would I be typing about this? I have an opinion, that's why. And believe it or not, it might not be in line with the title of this blog or with my other postings. I really don't see what all the commotion is about. But since as of yesterday, with Vermont becoming the fifth state in the Union to legalize same sex marriage, I thought, why not. After all I don't really care about the issue.

Here's why. If you know me very well, you know that I'm a secular person. So the argument that this is against a certain religion doesn't effect me. I realize that for most folks this is the main point. That's okay. No one should hold your religious beliefs against you. I certainly don't. So here is the my opinion on the whole mess and why I think that same sex couples ought to have some sort of options.

First of all there are gay folks in the world. I don't know if it's a wiring problem or a personal choice and frankly I don't care because they are here to stay no matter what. They are living together as we speak, or type. Nothing we can do about that. They purchase property together. Again, there's nothing to stop them.

Then there's the part that gets to most folks. They say that the feelings they have for each other are the same as I have for my wife. I don't claim to understand it either, but there it is. These folks just want to live together as a couple.

Then there's the issues of insurance coverage for same sex partners and the ability to chose who gets to make decisions for you if you become incapacitated. Now I think that it should be up to an individual company to decide if they want to cover same sex partners. A person would know that going into a job and that would be part of the decision making process for that person. But what can be more important is the decisions made for each other.

If I were unable to make a choice for myself concerning some health issue, then due to my being married, it would defer to my wife. I knew that when we married and I trust her judgement. That is possible only due to the marriage certificate. Now for a same sex couple, that choice is not available to them. In a country of free will such as ours, it should be. By virtue of my marriage I have chosen my wife to make that decision. If I wasn't married I should still be able to decide who has that power.

Although I don't support gay marriage, I think that some sort of civil union should be available to same sex couples. As much as some would argue, in reality a marriage certificate is really a business agreement. Don't believe me, just try getting divorced. If you have ever been in business with another person, then you also know what it's like with the business relationship ends. I think that if folks looked at it that way instead of as a "marriage" it might not seem so bad.

Here in Utah gay marriage isn't much of an issue since it was on the ballot during the last election and an amendment was added to the state constitution banning the possibility. That's the will of the people and I'm good with that.

But let folks decide for themselves on how to live their lives.

Persecution

I felt that I should start the new month on a happy note. After all it can't be doom and gloom all the time, can it? Unfortunately it can be a good bit of the time and today is no exception. It has become evident to me that President Obama, Attorney General Holder and several members of Congress don't read my blog. I am disappointed. Doesn't my opinion count? On the off chance that it does, here I go again.

Today I hear that a call has been made for the prosecution, or persecution if you will, of former VP Dick Cheney stemming from the interrogations of terrorists. Even National Security Advisor Jim Jones thinks this would be okay. Another kool-aid drinker, what a shame. Sorry about the pun. If you don't get it, so what.

It's nice to see that people that now have some responsibility are going to try to punish the folks that they perceive as having wronged them for so long. So a guy that thinks white folk are cowards and a guy whose wife is finally proud of her country are thinking that this might be a good idea. No surprises there.

This is what I think. If these two guys think they can do a better job in the field interviewing suspects, then put on a uniform, go through the training and get your collectives asses over there and show us how it's done. What's that? You're too good for that? Too important? So you're telling me that you can make the decisions on how it's done, but don't want to get your hands dirty. Is that right? Pretty poor leadership skills if you ask me. That's right, you wont ask me, because I believe in strong defense and not giving quarter to the enemy.

This idea of giving Miranda warnings to terrorist on foreign soil and persecuting CIA personnel as well as former Bush administration officials is ridiculous. We get it already, you won the election. But that doesn't mean that you get to destroy our country just to make a political statement.

Being the commander in chief of the armed forces and the chief law enforcement officer in the country mean that you two are responsible for the safety of our country and the prosecution of criminals. That means when we are at war with either a country or an entity, it means that you use the necessary means to win that war. It doesn't mean that you appease the uber-liberals and play patty-cake with the bad guys.

That's right, they're the bad guys. They hate us because of our lifestyle, our support of Israel, at least our former support of Israel and for our economic prowess. If memory serves me right, weren't the towers bombed in 1993, our embassies bombed shortly thereafter killing 200 people or so, and what about the Marine barracks in Beirut, the USS Cole in Yemen and of course September 11, 2001. And this is just the short list.

So after this, the enemies of our country need to be dealt with. And dealt with severely. Our reaction should be such that no one ever considers taking up arms against us again. No one would ever consider a cowardly attack on innocent civilians by flying planes into buildings. The world should know that attacking the United States will bring the most horrific response imaginable.

That being said, the folks that bring about that response should not be vilified just because you are a pacifist. Am I a fan of armed conflict? Of course not. But, I am not afraid to fight the battle. I am willing to stand up for everyone in this country no matter their opinion. I don't know if Dick Cheney was a soldier, but the man was willing to make tough decisions to make sure that our country suffered no more attacks on our cities. The men and women of the CIA were on the front lines of the fight getting the information to ensure our safety. They should be revered, not excoriated by a bunch of liberal sissies.

I dare Eric Holder to call Dick Cheney a coward to his face. I bet Cheney would kick Holders arse all the way to Islamabad. I know I would buy a ticket to watch. I realize that Holder called all us white folk cowards on the issue of race, but isn't everyone that disagrees with anything this administration does a racist?

Then there's the issue of if this will go anywhere. I doubt it will. I really think this is nothing more than trying to get the attention off the president's failing health care reform. See, I was nice calling it reform instead of a takeover. But still I think this is the real reason behind all of this.

At least it better be. If we get attacked again because of the new policies adopted by this administration, there will be hell to pay at the polls in 2010 and 2012.

But there may be anyway with the reckless spending and the name calling.

At least I hope.