Money quote:
It is often easier to simply scoff at President Obama as “The One”, “The Massiah”, “TOTUS”, etc. etc. but the reality is that he is the President of the United States. As such, his actions have serious consequences on millions of people and a Constitution that he swore an oath to “preserve, protect and defend” to the best of his ability. What we have been witness to thus far from President Obama is not a man that is enlightened or worldly but a man that is aloof to the world around him and aloof to the consequences of his actions.
Indeed. As much as I disagreed with some of George Bush's policies (esp. around immigration) I never doubted his sincerity in protecting our country.
Additionally, Bush never gave off this "air" of the presidency being "about HIM". Obama rarely DOESN'T convey that message whenever he speaks.
We're not even a full year into an Obama presidency, and I'm imagining things in our country getting worse.. much worse.
"The most passionate speakers at the 9-12 Tea Party were the black speakers and I know why. THEY see the black community being manipulated and used to start a race war, civil war and to push their agenda of slavery.
This is a Pastor from Louisiana...GOD BLESS this man, he was the best speaker of the day...
Reverend CL Bryant of Shreveport, Louisiana"
Kevin Jackson also has a radio show on the blogosphere. Always refreshing to see another young black conservative out there. He has enormous common sense, and truly "gets" it.
Check him out.
Oh, and here's his most recent YouTube video:
I think it's about time I purchased an album of theirs. This one will do nicely.
The economy is so bad that I got a pre-declined credit card in the mail.
It's so bad, I ordered a burger at McDonalds and the kid behind the counter asked, "Can you afford fries with
that?"
The economy is so bad that CEO's are now playing miniature golf.
The economy is so bad if the bank returns your check marked "Insufficient Funds," you call them and ask if they meant you or them.
The economy is so bad Hot Wheels and Matchbox stocks are trading higher than GM.
The economy is so bad McDonalds is selling the 1/4 ouncer.
The economy is so bad parents in Beverly Hills fired their nannies and learned their children's names.
The economy is so bad a truckload of Americans was caught sneaking into Mexico.
The economy is so bad Dick Cheney took his stockbroker hunting.
The economy is so bad Motel Six won't leave the light on anymore.
The economy is so bad the Mafia is laying off judges.
The economy is so bad Exxon-Mobil laid off 25 Congressmen.
Saw it on Facebook.
God bless our servicemen and women.
For the best photos go to the hyperlink above, but here are some I took.
In the parking lot, walking towards the visitors center:
Entering the cavern.
"Dream Lake". It's not immediately obvious it's water reflecting a mirror image of the stalactites.
Here's some video I took of "Dream Lake" and "Giant's Hall".
Fallen stalactite. We were joking "Hmm... will one fall on us?" But that's the thing. Anything that's fallen from the top of the cave would have done so thousands of years ago, and there'd be plenty of advance warning, modern day.
Double Column.
Giant's Hall, with the Totem Pole-like formations.
Saracen's Tent
The folds of some of these stalactites are so intriguing. It really does look like drapes.
More stalactites....
Wishing well.
And of course there were plenty of er... double-entendres along the way
The stalacpipe organ. I remember that it was not being played when I visited as a kid. Pretty cool to hear it, finally.
As wide open as some of the caverns were, there were narrow passages, as would be expected.
The famous "fried eggs".
This was a nice tribute at the end of the trail that recognized veterans from Page County who lost their lives in World War II, Korean, and Vietnam wars.
And this is the view as we left the visitors center, looking at the Blue Ridge mountains. Some nasty clouds were directly behind us. Good thing we left when we did. They followed us over the mountains but stayed east, so we missed getting any precip on the way home. It was obvious it had hit our home area at least briefly, and the storms came back last night.
It's been clear today and cool. Autumn has arrived!
Someone emailed me this. I don't know who penned it, and don't disagree.
If a conservative doesn't like guns, they don't buy one. If a liberal doesn't like guns, then no one should have one.
If a conservative is a vegetarian, they don't eat meat. If a liberal is, they want to ban all meat products for everyone.
If a conservative sees a foreign threat, he thinks about how to defeat his enemy. A liberal wonders how to surrender gracefully and still look good.
If a conservative is homosexual, they quietly enjoy their life. If a liberal is homosexual, they loudly demand legislated respect.
If a black man or Hispanic is conservative, they see themselves as independently successful. Their liberal counterparts see themselves as victims in need of government protection.
If a conservative is down-and-out, he thinks about how to better his situation. A liberal wonders who is going to take care of him.
If a conservative doesn't like a talk show host, he switches channels. Liberals demand that those they don't like be shut down.
If a conservative is a non-believer, he doesn't go to church. A liberal wants any mention of God or religion silenced.
If a conservative decides he needs health care, he goes about shopping for it, or may choose a job that provides it. A liberal demands that his neighbors pay for his.
We purchased tickets and waited for the train which was delayed due to track maintenance. Around 8:30 we found a car that had a few seats available. We were lucky. The train filled to capacity, and we were packed in like sardines.
Everyone was friendly and excited. For the majority of us, this was the first time we've ever done anything like this.
I went to two Sarah Palin rallies last fall, but nothing prior to that.
This is a cause that we all feel so strongly about. Our government is and has been out of control for quite some time, and we've had it. They aren't listening to us, they ignore our letters, emails, and phone calls.
Enough is enough. They need to start representing us.
Many of us had signs, and some were really clever and made us laugh.
I came up with this idea when I recalled a Rita Rudner skit in which she said PMS stands for "pardon my screaming".
BTW, that's a "Proud Conservative" baseball cap. Check out Trent's site. He's got some great T-shirts and other goodies.
When we got off at our stop (Metro Center) and just before rounding the corner, you could hear a roar that wasn't recognizable as human voices at first, and as we walked a couple of blocks to Freedom Plaza, it sunk in that this thing was going to be huge. The crowd was fired up and we were getting goosebumps.
We just kind of milled around, and I think we all realized that this march wasn't going to wait until 11:30 as scheduled. People started walking past us to Pennsylvania Ave., and around 10:40, we joined in.
We were lucky in that we were far enough ahead that we snagged a couple of spots along the west lawn of the Capitol. I took this video with my regular camera (sorry about the horrible audio when the crowd cheers-- it's apparently a cheapo mic built in).
Everyone was well-behaved (countless others have reported the same thing) and we didn't trash the place (unlike those who attended the 2009 Inauguration). The trash bins were overflowing, but at least the trash was confined to that area.
It was the most awesome thing I've ever participated in. People traveled great distances and spent a lot of hard-earned dollars to get there.
I was so proud of these fellow patriots, especially the ones who had disabilities, and the elderly.
God bless them all.
Freedom Plaza:
Notice the Joker depiction under the yellow flag. It had BOTH Obama's and Dubya's likenesses.
We are ticked at ALL of them!
And anyone who believes the leftwing media's estimates of only 75,000 people is being fed a lie. There were easily 100,000s of thousands and much closer to if not a million. They are relying mostly on Metro ridership numbers, and forgetting that there were a ton of buses from all over the country. Additionally, the traffic cam timelapse that most everyone has seen by now was shut off around 1:30, doesn't capture the people who went directly to the Capitol instead of starting from Freedom Plaza, plus there were still more people coming in that weren't captured on traffic cams whom we saw as we walked the several blocks back.
So proud of hubby that he is participating in his second half-marathon. First time was in Fredericksburg in May under rainy and cold conditions. Plus hilly areas.
This time it's flat, and looks like the weather will be pretty good.
Anyway... I'm so proud of Mr Mo. He's in even better shape since May. We'll head out at dawn, pick up our friend Roxy in Culpeper, stay overnight at a hotel, and be ready to rock 'n' roll on Sunday morning.
Heading back Sunday afternoon.
Hope the traffic isn't horrendous!
Update: Traffic awful heading down on I-95, but we took an alternate route which took longer mileage-wise, and didn't have backups until we approached the bridge on Rt.64 leading to the tunnel. It goes from 4 to 2 lanes. On the return trip we had the same tunnel/bridge backup, but after that it was smooth sailing all the way up I-95. Good thing we came back Sunday instead of Monday.
And here is the photo finish. Mr. Mo in tan shirt and gray shorts... Roxy in yellow top and black shorts. They look even more fit than they did for the Marine Corps Half back in May. And they should! They both dropped even more weight and built more muscle since then. AND, shaved 30 mins. off their times! Weather/course was worse/more challenging in Fredericksburg, but losing weight and training in-between made a big difference.
Bill O'Reilly is an obnoxious...
That summed up my feelings well. O'Reilly says more and more things lately that I disagree with. He's lost his nerve, I think. Maybe he's just taking the easy way out and letting Glenn Beck take the hits. Beck, who is the most honest opinion journalist on the air these days, IMO.
Random Thoughts of the Day:
I wish Google Maps had an "Avoid Ghetto" routing option.
More often than not, when someone is telling me a story all I can think about is that
I can’t wait for them to finish so that I can tell my own story that’s not only better,
but also more directly involves me.
I don't understand the purpose of the line, "I don't need to drink to have fun." Great,
no one does. But why start a fire with flint and sticks when they've invented the lighter?
Have you ever been walking down the street and realized that you're going in the
complete opposite direction of where you are supposed to be going? But instead
of just turning a 180 and walking back in the direction from which you came, you
have to first do something like check your watch or phone or make a grand arm
gesture and mutter to yourself to ensure that no one in the surrounding area thinks
you're crazy by randomly switching directions on the sidewalk.
The letters T and G are very close to each other on a keyboard. This recently
became all too apparent to me and consequently I will never be ending a work
email with the phrase "Regards" again.
Do you remember when you were a kid, playing Nintendo and it wouldn't work?
You take the cartridge out, blow in it and that would magically fix the problem.
Every kid in America did that, but how did we all know how to fix the problem?
There was no internet or message boards or FAQ's. We just figured it out.
Today's kids are soft.
Sometimes, I'll watch a movie that I watched when I was younger and suddenly
realize I had no idea what the f*** was going on when I first saw it.
I think everyone has a movie that they love so much; it actually becomes stressful
to watch it with other people. I'll end up wasting 90 minutes shiftily glancing around
to confirm that everyone's laughing at the right parts, then making sure I laugh just
a little bit harder (and a millisecond earlier) to prove that I'm still the only one who
really, really gets it.
How the hell are you supposed to fold a fitted sheet?
I would rather try to carry 10 plastic grocery bags in each hand than take 2 trips
to bring my groceries in.
I think part of a best friend's job should be to immediately clear your computer
history if you die.
The only time I look forward to a red light is when I’m trying to finish a text.
A recent study has shown that playing beer pong contributes to the spread of
mono and the flu.... Yeah, if you suck at it.
Lol has gone from meaning, "laugh out loud" to "I have nothing else to say".
I have a hard time deciphering the fine line between boredom and hunger..
Whenever someone says "I'm not book smart, but I'm street smart", all I hear is;
"I'm not real smart, but I'm imaginary smart".
How many times is it appropriate to say "What?" before you just nod and smile
because you still didn't hear what they said?
I love the sense of camaraderie when an entire line of cars teams up to prevent a
dick from cutting in at the front. Stay strong, brothers!
MapQuest really needs to start their directions on #5. Pretty sure I know how to
get out of my neighborhood.
Obituaries would be a lot more interesting if they told you how the person died.
Shirts get dirty. Underwear gets dirty. Pants? Pants never get dirty, and you can
wear them forever.
Whenever I'm Facebook stalking someone and I find out that their profile is public
I feel like a kid on Christmas morning who just got the Red Ryder BB gun that I
always wanted. 546 pictures? Don't mind if I do!
Is it just me or do high school girls get sluttier & sluttier every year?
Why is it that during an ice-breaker, when the whole room has to go around and
say their name and where they are from, I get so incredibly nervous? Like I know
my name, I know where I'm from; this shouldn't be a problem....
There's no worse feeling than that millisecond you're sure you are going to die
after leaning your chair back a little too far..
I'm always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me if I want to save
any changes to my ten page research paper that I swear I did not make any changes to.
"Do not machine wash or tumble dry" means I will never wash this ever.
I hate being the one with the remote in a room full of people watching TV. There's
so much pressure. 'I love this show, but will they judge me if I keep it on? I bet
everyone is wishing we weren’t watching this. It's only a matter of time before they
all get up and leave the room.. Will we still be friends after this?'
I hate when I just miss a call by the last ring (Hello? Hello? Darnit!), but when I
immediately call back, it rings nine times and goes to voicemail. What'd you do
after I didn't answer? Drop the phone and run away?
I hate leaving my house confident and looking good and then not seeing anyone
of importance the entire day. What a waste.
When I meet a new girl, I'm terrified of mentioning something she hasn't already
told me but that I have learned from some light internet stalking.
I like all of the music in my iTunes, except when it's on shuffle, then I like about
one in every fifteen songs in my iTunes.
Why is a school zone 20 mph? That seems like the optimal cruising speed for pedophiles...
As a driver I hate pedestrians, and as a pedestrian I hate drivers, but no matter
what the mode of transportation, I always hate cyclists.
Sometimes I'll look down at my watch 3 consecutive times and still not know what time it is.
I keep some people's phone numbers in my phone just so I know not to answer when they call.
I think that if, years down the road when I’m trying to have a kid, I find out that
I’m sterile, most of my disappointment will stem from the fact that I was not aware
of my condition in college.
Even if I knew your social security number, I wouldn't know what do to with it.
Even under ideal conditions people have trouble locating their car keys in a pocket,
finding their cell phone, and Pinning the Tail on the Donkey - but I’d bet my a$$
everyone can find and push the Snooze button from 3 feet away, in about 1.7 seconds,
eyes closed, first time every time....
It really pisses me off when I want to read a story on C NN.com and the link takes
me to a video instead of text.
I wonder if cops ever get pissed off at the fact that everyone they drive behind
obeys the speed limit.
I disagree with Kay Jewelers. I would bet on any given Friday or Saturday night
more kisses begin w ith Miller Lites than Kay.
The other night I ordered takeout, and when I looked in the bag, saw they had
included four sets of plastic silverware. In other words, someone at the restaurant
packed my order, took a second to think about it, and then estimated that there
must be at least four people eating to require such a large amount of food.
Too bad I was eating by myself. There’s nothing like being made to feel like a
fat b@st@rd before dinner.
~Mr. Mo K.
Letter from FBI's Robert S. Mueller (via BBC news link)
This is the content of a letter from FBI Director Robert S. Mueller, III, sent to Scottish Minister Kenny MacAskill regarding the release of Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi.
Dear Mr. Secretary:
Over the years I have been a prosecutor, and recently as the Director of the FBI, I have made it a practice not to comment on the actions of other prosecutors, since only the prosecutor handling the case has all the facts and the law before him in reaching the appropriate decision.
Your decision to release Megrahi causes me to abandon that practice in this case. I do so because I am familiar with the facts, and the law, having been the Assistant Attorney General in charge of the investigation and indictment of Megrahi in 1991.
And I do so because I am outraged at your decision, blithely defended on the grounds of "compassion."
Your action in releasing Megrahi is as inexplicable as it is detrimental to the cause of justice. Indeed your action makes a mockery of the rule of law.
Your action gives comfort to terrorists around the world who now believe that regardless of the quality of the investigation, the conviction by jury after the defendant is given all due process, and sentence appropriate to the crime, the terrorist will be freed by one man's exercise of "compassion."
Your action rewards a terrorist even though he never admitted to his role in this act of mass murder and even though neither he nor the government of Libya ever disclosed the names and roles of others who were responsible.
Your action makes a mockery of the emotions, passions and pathos of all those affected by the Lockerbie tragedy: the medical personnel who first faced the horror of 270 bodies strewn in the fields around Lockerbie, and in the town of Lockerbie itself; the hundreds of volunteers who walked the fields of Lockerbie to retrieve any piece of debris related to the breakup of the plane; the hundreds of FBI agents and Scottish police who undertook an unprecedented global investigation to identify those responsible; the prosecutors who worked for years - in some cases a full career - to see justice done.
But most importantly, your action makes a mockery of the grief of the families who lost their own on December 21, 1988.
You could not have spent much time with the families, certainly not as much time as others involved in the investigation and prosecution.
You could not have visited the small wooden warehouse where the personal items of those who perished were gathered for identification - the single sneaker belonging to a teenager; the Syracuse sweatshirt never again to be worn by a college student returning home for the holidays; the toys in a suitcase of a businessman looking forward to spending Christmas with his wife and children.
You apparently made this decision without regard to the views of your partners in the investigation and prosecution of those responsible for the Lockerbie tragedy.
Although the FBI and Scottish police, and prosecutors in both countries, worked exceptionally closely to hold those responsible accountable, you never once sought our opinion, preferring to keep your own counsel and hiding behind opaque references to "the need for compassion."
You have given the family members of those who died continued grief and frustration. You have given those who sought to assure that the persons responsible would be held accountable the back of your hand.
You have given Megrahi a "jubilant welcome" in Tripoli, according to the reporting. Where, I ask, is the justice?
Sincerely yours,
Robert S. Mueller, III
DirectorSaturday, August 08, 2009
PLAY IT AGAIN, SAM
The president without a country
Exclusive: Pat Boone questions Obama's loyalty in light of quotes about faith
Posted: June 06, 2009
1:00 am Eastern
By Pat Boone
"We're no longer a Christian nation." – President Barack Obama, June 2007
"America has been arrogant." – President Barack Obama
"After 9/11, America didn't always live up to her ideals."
– President Barack Obama
"You might say that America is a Muslim nation."
– President Barack Obama, Egypt 2009
Thinking about these and other statements made by the man who wears the title of president … I keep wondering what country he believes he's president of.
In one of my very favorite stories, Edward Everett Hale's "The Man without a Country," a young Army lieutenant named Philip Nolan stands condemned for treason during the Revolutionary War, having come under the influence of Aaron Burr. When the judge asks him if he wishes to say anything before sentence is passed, young Nolan defiantly exclaims, "Damn the United States! I wish I might never hear of the United States again!"
The stunned silence in the courtroom is palpable, pulsing. After a long pause, the judge soberly says to the angry lieutenant: "You have just pronounced your own sentence. You will never hear of the United States again. I sentence you to spend the rest of your life at sea, on one or another of this country's naval vessels – under strict orders that no one will ever speak to you again about the country you have just cursed."
And so it was. Philip Nolan was taken away and spent the next 40 years at sea, never hearing anything but an occasional slip of the tongue about America. The last few pages of the story, recounting Nolan's dying hours in his small stateroom – now turned into a shrine to the country he foreswore – never fail to bring me to tears. And I find my own love for this dream, this miracle called America, refreshed and renewed. I know how blessed and unique we are.
Is Shariah law coming to a court near you? Get "Stealth Jihad" – Robert Spencer's expose about efforts to quietly establish the Muslim system in America
But reading and hearing the audacious, shocking statements of the man who was recently elected our president – a young black man living the impossible dream of millions of young Americans, past and present, black and white – I want to ask him, "Just what country do you think you're president of?"
You surely can't be referring to the United States of America, can you? America is emphatically a Christian nation, and has been from its inception! Seventy percent of her citizens identify themselves as Christian. The Declaration of Independence and our Constitution were framed, written and ratified by Christians. It's because this was, and is, a nation built on and guided by Judeo-Christian biblical principles that you, sir, have had the inestimable privilege of being elected her president.
You studied law at Harvard, didn't you, sir? You taught constitutional law in Chicago? Did you not ever read the statement of John Jay, the first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and an author of the landmark "Federalist Papers": "Providence has given to our people the choice of their rulers – and it is the duty, as well as the privilege and interest of our Christian nation – to select and prefer Christians for their rulers"?
In your studies, you surely must have read the decision of the Supreme Court in 1892: "Our lives and our institutions must necessarily be based upon and embody the teachings of the Redeemer of mankind. It is impossible that it should be otherwise; and in this sense and to this extent our civilization and our institutions are emphatically Christian."
Did your professors have you skip over all the high-court decisions right up till the mid 1900s that echoed and reinforced these views and intentions? Did you pick up the history of American jurisprudence only in 1947, when for the first time a phrase coined by Thomas Jefferson about a "wall of separation between church and state" was used to deny some specific religious expression – contrary to Jefferson's intent with that statement?
Or, wait a minute … were your ideas about America's Christianity formed during the 20 years you were a member of the Trinity United Church of Christ under your pastor, Jeremiah Wright? Is that where you got the idea that "America is no longer a Christian nation"? Is this where you, even as you came to call yourself a Christian, formed the belief that "America has been arrogant"?
Even if that's the understandable explanation of your damning of your country and accusing the whole nation (not just a few military officials trying their best to keep more Americans from being murdered by jihadists) of "not always living up to her ideals," how did you come up with the ridiculous, alarming notion that we might be "considered a Muslim nation"?
Is it because there are some 2 million or more Muslims living here, trying to be good Americans? Out of a current population of over 300 million, 70 percent of whom are Christians? Does that make us, by any rational definition, a "Muslim nation"?
Why are we not, then, a "Chinese nation"? A "Korean nation"? Even a "Vietnamese nation"? There are even more of these distinct groups in America than Muslims. And if the distinction you're trying to make is a religious one, why is America not "a Jewish nation"? There's actually a case to be made for the latter, because our Constitution – and the success of our Revolution and founding – owe a deep debt to our Jewish brothers.
Have you stopped to think what an actual Muslim America would be like? Have you ever really spent much time in Iran? Even in Egypt? You, having been instructed in Islam as a kid at a Muslim school in Indonesia and saying you still love the call to evening prayers, can surely picture our nation founded on the Quran, not the Judeo-Christian Bible, and living under Shariah law. Can't you? You do recall Muhammad's directives [Surah 9:5,73] to "break the cross" and "kill the infidel"?
It seems increasingly and painfully obvious that you are more influenced by your upbringing and questionable education than most suspected. If you consider yourself the president of a people who are "no longer Christian," who have "failed to live up to our ideals," who "have been arrogant," and might even be "considered Muslim" – you are president of a country most Americans don't recognize.
Could it be you are a president without a country?
I get so tired of the smears and exaggeration from the left. They have no shame.
Well, I'm going on an anti-boycott mission. Besides, Whole Foods is the only store around that carries the Shirataki noodles.
I'm not a fan of the fettucini ones so much, but the lo mein noodles are pretty decent. Must prepare them exactly as Hungry Girl instructs: Rinse VERY well and drain thoroughly.
****
UPDATE: Well, maybe nahsofast. This is disturbing news. I'm going to rethink my stance. I still think WF shouldn't be blasted for the healthcare statement, but for supporting a terrorist university?? That's a different story entirely.
Once upon a time, I was invited to the White House for a private dinner with the
President. I am a respected businessman, with a factory that produces memory
chips for computers and portable electronics. There was some talk that my
industry was being scrutinized by the administration, but I paid it no mind. I
live in a free country. There's nothing that the government can do to me if I've
broken no laws. My wealth was earned honestly, and an invitation to dinner with
an American President is an honor.
I checked my coat, was greeted by the Chief of Staff, and joined the President
in a yellow dining room. We sat across from each other at a table draped in
white linen. The Great Seal was embossed on the china. Uniformed staff served
our dinner.
The meal was served, and I was startled when my waiter suddenly reached out,
plucked a dinner roll off my plate, and began nibbling it as he walked back to
the kitchen.
"Sorry about that," said the President. "Andrew is very hungry."
"I don't appreciate..." I began, but as I looked into the calm brown eyes across
from me, I felt immediately guilty and petty. It was just a dinner roll. "Of
course," I concluded, and reached for my glass. Before I could, however, another
waiter reached forward, took the glass away and swallowed the wine in a single
gulp.
"And his brother Eric is very thirsty." said the President.
I didn't say anything. The President is testing my compassion, I thought. I will
play along. I don't want to seem unkind.
My plate was whisked away before I had tasted a bite.
"Eric's children are also quite hungry."
With a lurch, I crashed to the floor. My chair had been pulled out from under
me. I stood, brushing myself off angrily, and watched as it was carried from the
room.
"And their grandmother can't stand for long."
I excused myself, smiling outwardly, but inside feeling like a fool. Obviously I
had been invited to the White House to be sport for some game. I reached for my
coat, to find that it had been taken. I turned back to the President.
"Their grandfather doesn't like the cold."
I wanted to shout- that was my coat! But again, I looked at the placid smiling
face of my host and decided I was being a poor sport. I spread my hands
helplessly and chuckled. Then I felt my hip pocket and realized my wallet was
gone. I excused myself and walked to a phone on an elegant side table. I learned
shortly that my credit cards had been maxed out, my bank accounts emptied, my
retirement and equity portfolios had vanished, and my wife had been thrown out
of our home. Apparently, the waiters and their families were moving in. The
President hadn't moved or spoken as I learned all this, but finally I lowered
the phone into its cradle and turned to face him.
"Andrew's whole family has made bad financial decisions. They haven't planned
for retirement, and they need a house. They recently defaulted on a subprime
mortgage. I told them they could have your home. They need it more than you do."
My hands were shaking. I felt faint. I stumbled back to the table and knelt on
the floor. The President cheerfully cut his meat, ate his steak and drank his
wine. I lowered my eyes and stared at the small grey circles on the tablecloth
that were water drops.
"By the way," He added, "I have just signed an Executive Order nationalizing
your factories. I'm firing you as head of your business. I'll be operating the
firm now for the benefit of all mankind. There's a whole bunch of Erics and
Andrews out there and they can't come to you for jobs groveling like beggars."
I looked up. The President dropped his spoon into the empty ramekin which had
been his creme brulee. He drained the last drops of his wine. As the table was
cleared, he lit a cigarette and leaned back in his chair. He stared at me. I
clung to the edge of the table as if were a ledge and I were a man hanging over
an abyss. I thought of the years behind me, of the life I had lived. The life I
had earned with a lifetime of work, risk and struggle. Why was I punished? How
had I allowed it to be taken? What game had I played and lost? I looked across
the table and noticed with some surprise that there was no game board between
us.
What had I done wrong?
As if answering the unspoken thought, the President suddenly cocked his head,
locked his empty eyes to mine, and bared a million teeth, chuckling wryly as he
folded his hands.
"You should have stopped me at the dinner roll," he said.
Wake up America.
It's so simple it's scary. To leftists, that is!
A Two-Step Plan for Really "Fixing" Health Care
Having been in health care policy for a very long time, I have read literally hundreds of six-point plans, eight-point plans, and 10-point plans—all developed by very sincere and earnest people who think if only the world would do as they say, it would be a better place.
No doubt they are right. If only the world would conform to their vision, and if only they could control people’s behavior, many problems would be solved.
Unfortunately, that is the same chain of thought that led to Napoleon, Mussolini, Hitler, and Stalin. I’m not suggesting that health reformers are all little dictators (though some would like to be), but the whole notion that a single person, or committee of persons, can sit at a table and plan the future of hundreds of millions of people is offensive to the ideas of human dignity, freedom, and sovereignty.
So when a colleague suggested I come up with an alternative, I was reluctant. He told me it isn’t enough to be the “Party of No!” I had to offer an alternative.
So here is my two-point plan to reform health care in America:
1. Give the money back to the people.
2. Get the hell out of the way.
Perhaps this plan needs some explanation, though it seems pretty simple to me.
Point No. 1: Give the money back to the people.
Every penny that is spent four our health care comes from us, the American people. There is no other source. The money is taken from us in the form of taxes, insurance premiums, or lost wages, but it is still our money. And it is supposed to be used for our benefit.
Over the years we have let insurance companies, employers, and government agencies use that money because we thought they would do a better job of spending it than we could. Turns out we were wrong. In fact, they have done a lousy job of buying health services for us. The services they buy are overpriced, inconvenient, and of questionable quality. And they take an administrative cut out of every dollar for doing it. It is simply not a good deal for us, and we could hardly do a worse job than they have.
Obviously some people do not have any money and need assistance to get the health care services they need. They, too, should be allowed to choose the services they prefer. They could be given vouchers to help them do so, rather than being enrolled in a government insurance plan like Medicaid.
Point No. 2: Get out of the way.
This is probably the hardest thing for the elite to do. Everybody’s got an opinion about what everybody else should be doing—for their own good, of course. There was once a time when it was considered rude to express those opinions publicly. No longer. Now perfect strangers feel entitled to tell everyone else what they should be doing.
If the stranger is just a person on the street, we can ignore him, or tell him to mind his own business, or punch him in the nose if he gets too insistent. But when it is the government doing the telling, our options are limited.
However, if we take responsibility for making our own decisions in health care, we have to be free to exercise that judgment according to our own values and priorities.
We have to be free, for instance, to spend our hard-earned money on the insurance coverage that is best for us and our families. That may or may not include coverage for in vitro fertilization or for counseling by psychiatric social workers. It should be our decision, not something mandated by the state.
We have to be free to choose the best level of deductible for our families. High deductibles mean lower premiums, and vice versa. We should make our own decisions on that trade-off.
For that matter, we have to be free to go without insurance coverage if we want to. We may want to take six months to finish our educations or start a business. Or we may need to skip coverage for a few months because the car’s transmission needs to be replaced, and we can’t get to work without that vehicle. Why should we need a bureaucrat to give us permission to make that decision?
In shopping for health care services, we need to be free to spend our money on the service that delivers the most value. If I have back pain, I might seek a chiropractor, but if your back hurts, you might prefer an acupuncturist, and someone else might seek a physical therapist. Who should care except the person feeling the pain? It’s our backs and our money!
If I have heart disease I might want to go to a physician-owned cardiac hospital instead of the giant Medical Center. Why should Congress get in the way of that decision?
And on and on. Once we are spending our own money, health care providers will be eager to get our business. Physicians might offer weekend and evening hours so we don’t have to take time off work. They might start seeing us at the time of our appointments instead of making us wait for an hour. If our kid is running a fever late at night, it might be worth paying $10 to e-mail the doctor to see what we should do, instead of running down to the emergency room. Or $20 for a phone call.
Some people have told me we can’t allow consumers to have money to buy health care until we educate them about health care. But that’s backwards. Once I have the money, I may pay to educate myself about choices and options.
My two-point plan would “reform health care” in ways none of us can imagine. And that is a very good thing. No one could have imagined the Internet and cell phones 20 years ago. Free people to spend their own money and make their own decisions and an entirely new world opens up. Just in time.
H/T: Kerri
Received in email (author unknown).....
12. CEO's are now playing miniature golf.
11. I got a pre-declined credit card in the mail.
10. I went to buy a toaster oven and they gave me a bank.
9. Hotwheels and Matchbox car companies are now trading higher than GM in the stock market.
8. Obama met with small businesses - GE, Pfizer, Chrysler, Citigroup and GM, to discuss the Stimulus Package.
7. McDonalds is selling the 1/4 ouncer.
6 People in Beverly Hills fired their nannies and are learning their children's names.
5. The most highly-paid job is now jury duty.
4. People in Africa are donating money to Americans. Mothers in Ethiopia are telling their kids, "finish your plate; do you know how many kids are starving in America?"
3. Motel Six won't leave the lights on.
2. The Mafia is laying off judges.
And my most favorite indicator of all.
1. If the bank returns your check marked as "insufficient funds," you have to call them and ask if they meant you or them.
Yup. This sums it up well.
The Ten Commandments According to Obama
© 2009 The Patriot Update. Feel free to circulate this article, but please link / give credit to The Patriot Update.
After observing Obama on the campaign trail and during his first six months in office, we have concluded that our President lives and governs according to his own set of “Ten Commandments.” They’re certainly NOT the Ten Commandments you learned in Sunday School. In fact, many are the direct opposite! To prove that our conclusions are correct, you will find a link to source documentation for each commandment on the Patriot Update web site.
I. Thou shalt have no God in America, except for me. For we are no longer a Christian nation and, after all, I am the chosen One. (And like God, I do not have a birth certificate.) SOURCE
II. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, unless it is my face carved on Mt. Rushmore. SOURCE
III. Thou shalt not utter my middle name in vain (or in public). Only I can say Barack Hussein Obama. SOURCE
IV. Remember tax day, April 15th, to keep it holy. SOURCE
V. Honour thy father and thy mother until they are too old and sick to care for. They will cost our public-funded health-care system too much money. SOURCE
VI. Thou shalt not kill, unless you have an unwanted, unborn baby. For it would be an abomination to punish your daughter with a baby. SOURCE
VII. Thou shalt not commit adultery if you are conservative or a Republican. Liberals and Democrats are hereby forgiven for all of their infidelity and immorality, but the careers of conservatives will be forever destroyed. SOURCE
VIII. Thou shalt not steal, until you've been elected to public office. Only then is it acceptable to take money from hard-working, successful citizens and give it to those who do not work, illegal immigrants, or those who do not have the motivation to better their own lives. SOURCE
IX. Thou shalt not discriminate against thy neighbor unless they are conservative, Caucasian, or Christian. SOURCE
X. Thou shalt not covet because it is simply unnecessary. I will place such a heavy tax burden on those that have achieved the American Dream that, by the end of my term as President, nobody will have any wealth or material goods left for you to covet. SOURCE
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