New Revelation by Legislative Leader

Senator Bill "Fillibusterer" Frist, this week blamed the ineffectiveness of the current session of congress on the Democrats, who he says are guilty of, " all kinds of underhanded, obstructionist tactics". Somebody should tell him that the Democrats chair no commitees and the Republicans need no democratic votes to pass legislation.

Next, he'll be telling us he's on the same Al- Quieda "Hit List" that Bill O'Rielly claims the FBI told him he is on.

What are these guys smoking?

Another Bush Diatribe

For six years, Bush has gotten everything he wanted. He has been the decider. He has control of both houses of Congress and has been able to pack the Supreme Court. That's the way it should be, because he's a uniter, not a divider. I'm not whining, boss. More power to him, I say. The only thing I ask is that you don't go blaming the evil moonbats when everything turns to shit.

He has started a war he can't finish. He could have raised taxes to pay for it. He could have instituted a draft to fight it. He doesn't because his base won't stand for it. They don't want to pay. They don't want their children to fight. What do I think? I didn't like this war from the first. That being said, once we're in it, it behooves us to kick the shit out of the enemy. First rule of the playground, every boy learns it by the first grade. Nobody respects a loser.

He has lost us every ally we had and damaged our position in the international community. There is no organized left wing establishment, undermining his position here at home. Cindy Sheehan is so far out there on the fringe that during her "March on Washington" last year, not one mainstream political figure stood up with her. The most damning criticism of Bush has come from the Right. William F. Buckley, David Broder, George Will, Pat Buchanan, Lindsey Graham, John Warner, John McCain, Colin Powell, The list keeps getting longer. The Democrats have no organized resistance to the Bush trail of tears and no one listens to them anyway. Bill Clinton and Laura Bush are sharing top billing at a conference for African relief. Hmmm, I wonder if that's all they're sharing?

George Bush has been a failure all his life, at school, at work, at play. There are no old friends telling anecdotes about Georges younger days, he has no old friends. There are no old girlfriends coming out of the woodwork, there are no old girlfriends. No past business associates talk of his savvy or acumen, he has neither. The truth is, his parents have smoothed the way for him and pulled his chestnuts out of the fire all his life. They can't help him now. He's way out of his depth and all I feel for him is sorry. All I ask is, when it all comes apart, don't point your finger at me and call me less than a patriot for not adequately supporting him. It's true I dispise George Bush but I'm just one old man. I mind my own business. I pay my taxes, all of them. I go to work. I give my time to causes I believe in, none of them political. I served my country in my time and will again when they start to take 55 year olds. I vote in every election, just not for George Bush.

I don't know what's coming up for the USA in the next cycle and to tell you the truth I'm fast coming to the conclusion that we deserve whatever we get. I don't think it's too much to ask of our leaders to act like responsible adults. I don't think it's too much to ask of the American people to treat each other with civility and respect but apparently I'm wrong. The warm fuzzy feeling that we get from blaming our problems on the other guy is just too good to pass up. Gee, I'm getting a warm , fuzzy feeling from all this Bush Bashing. Please disregard this post and resume bashing away at those nasty moonbats.

I Guess These Things Are Relative

Bill Frist, the Senate Majority Leader, is threatening to filibuster, in order to block the passage of an anti-torture bill that will be pushed through next week by Senators Graham, McCain and Warner. Does anyone but me think this is more than a little ironic?

If they do filibuster, does this mean we can go back and kick that bed wetting mamma's boy, Samuel Alito, off the Supreme Court?

All Saints Episcopal Church in Pasadena, CA

This may be kind of a local story, so I don't know if all of you have heard about it. There is a church about 40 miles from where I live. It is a church attended primarily by people who tend to be politically liberal and has been for most of the last century. Shortly before the last presidential election, the minister gave a sermon in which he contrasted the views expressed by Bush and Kerry at a recent televised debate.

One of the points he brought up was that the US going to war against Iraq, a country that had not attacked us or posed a threat to us, was not a war that Jesus would have signed off on. He didn't go so far as to suggest that the congregation vote against Bush but I don't imagine that GW was presented in a very flattering light.

The interesting part is that now the IRS is seeking to remove the churches tax exempt status. I am not aware of the IRS seeking to remove the tax exempt status of any other religious institution on these grounds. If this is successful, the church will have to report all contributions for the last 2 years and in the future and pay taxes on them. They would also have to pay property taxes to the state and this would be a substantial amount. This will almost certainly drive the church out of business.

It seems to me that it isn't that unusual for churches to get pretty political. Jesus apparently told Pat Robertson that GW would win the last election and Pat passed the news along to the faithful. I heard some guy named Hagee on TV saying that the War in Iraq was ordained by God and we should do everything we could to support Israel and thwart Islam. There are Islamic mosques in this country where seditious activities are planned in the name of religion, nobody is lifting their tax exempt status.

I think the IRS may have tainted motives here. What do you think?

Time for a Warchief

We are into the 5th year of the Global War on Terror. By this time I would expect to see some changes in America. I would expect that by this time we would have identified the enemy and developed a strategy to fight them. I would expect that our borders would be secured. I would expect that through conservation, rationing and alternative technologies, we would be at or near energy independence. I would expect a whole new generation of weapons and strategies for their use, with which to fight this new type of war. I would expect to see a universal draft in place and the majority of the nations military age citizens under arms. I would expect that entire campaigns would have been fought and won, that the capabilities of the enemy would have been gauged, and our efforts adjusted accordingly. I would have expected that the world would have polarized into functional alliances.

I would have expected that the Islamic Jihadist population of the world would be much diminished.

I would have expected that the war would be over.

Why we have illegal immigration.

The problem with Americans today is that they want to live like, well, Americans. To do that costs money. Money that you can't make doing the jobs Americans won't do. Let's see how much it costs to live in my area.

Housing. A room with kitchen privileges and a shared bath. $800. That's the cheapest you can get. A car, insurance, and the gas to drive it around, $500 a month. We're talking 10 year old Ford escort. Food $200 a month. That's peanut butter, processed cheese food, beans and rice in bulk. No Micky Ds. Let's just stop right there.

To support this princely lifestyle you've got to have a full time job that nets you $9 an hour. With the standard payroll deduction package, your job needs to gross you $12 an hour. If you want the clothes, cell phone, the computer with the DSL connection, Friday night out on the town, whatever, then you're looking at another 20-40 hours a week of work, and most people do just that. The bottom line though is $12 dollars an hour. The problem is, of course, that 30-40% of the jobs in the economy pay less than $12 an hour. This is why we have illegal aliens.

The big fence won't stop them. Legislation won't make them go away. Anger will not make them afraid.

Crazy Moonbats are at it again

AHA! Just as I've always thought.

Lindsey Graham is a dangerous liberal.

John McCain is a loose cannon.

John Warner doesn't understand the need for a strong national defense.

We must listen to the voices of sanity in our government who support President Bush in the war on terror, like Hillary Clinton and Joe Lieberman.

Babylon is Dying

Vera Cruz-Warren Zevon-1978

I heard Woodrow Wilson's guns
I heard Maria crying
Late last night I heard the news
That Vera Cruz was dying
Vera Cruz is dying

Someone called Maria's name
I swear it was my father's voice
Saying "If you stay you'll all be slain
You must leave now, you have no choice
Take the servants and ride west
Keep the child close to your chest
When the American troops withdraw
Let Zapata take the rest"

I heard Woodrow Wilson's guns
I heard Maria calling
Saying "Vera Cruz is dying
And Cuernavaca's fallen"

Aquel dia yo jure - On that day I swore
Hacia el puerto volvere - To the port I will return
Aunque el destino cambio mi vida - Even though destiny changed my life
En Vera Cruz morire - In Vera Cruz I shall die
Aquel dia yo jure - On that day I swore

I heard Woodrow Wilson's guns
I heard Maria calling
Saying "Vera Cruz is dying
and Cuernavaca's fallen"

Some things never change, do they?

Donald Rumsfeld- A Great American

It is very popular right now for political pundits on the right and left to call for the ouster of Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. This points out the failure of the American public to understand the workings of our government. No one should allow frustration with American policy to mask the fact that Donald Rumsfeld is doing an outstanding job. He is an appointee of the President of the United States. His job is to support the Administration policy and to implement that policy with the Armed Forces. He has done exactly that and better than anybody else could have done. The invasion of Iraq went like clockwork. The occupation of Iraq, while not going well, is being carried out with skill and finesse. American casualties have been suprisingly and blessedly small. Morale in the Armed Forces remains high. These are things that he can influence in his position and he has done so. Everything else is political.

Donald Rumsfeld supports the Bush whitewash. Of course he does. That's part of his job. He's a political appointee. Solidarity with the administration is an absolute requirement. Anything less would require his resignation. His resignation would damage the military and military morale. This is something he would never do. He does the best he can every day, with what he's got. He doesn't quit. He doesn't try and make himself look good. He doesn't worry about what his historical legacy will be.

If you are looking for a hero in America today, you can look to the right or left, depending on your point of view. Screw the right and the left. I'll just go with Donald Rumsfeld.

Do we need more latch key kids?

America has changed. I don't think anyone will argue that point. The questions we need to ask are how and why? Can we or should we do anything about it? There are so many variables that have changed in the life of the American people over the last couple of generations. Let's just look at one.

For an old guy, I get out and about in my community. The streets, parks, stores, beaches, riverbeds of my community are places I traverse regularly. People are out recreating and going about their business. It's a pretty nice place, clean, orderly, well maintained. The weather is usually perfect. One thing you notice after a while though. There aren't any children.

There are children and you can see them if you look. You can see them in cars and vans, the younger ones ensconced in their safety seats and the older ones securely strapped in with seat belts. You see them in the school yards. On weekends you see them on the athletic fields engaging in organized activities. There are children in my little subdivision. They don't play in the streets or prowl the neighborhood. Their moms herd them out of the house and drive them away, eventually bring them back and herd them back into the house. You almost never see kids out and about on their own or in small groups, anywhere. They don't walk to school, someone drives them. The parents are just doing what they think they need to do to protect and nurture their offspring. This is not new, it has been going on for the last couple of generations. It is becoming more extreme. During the last fifteen or so years, more and more parents don't even trust the public school systems with the education, socialization and supervision of their children. They network with likeminded others and homeschool their children. These kids are not like Huck, Tom or Becky, living in a children's world but interfacing in a real and independent way with the environment and society. This has got to influence the kind of adults these children will become and the kind of nation America will become. The question is how?

Will children raised in this manner be likely to join the military, become mining engineers, seek opportunities in the developing world? It's something to think about.