Anonymous but Brilliant

This was in my inbox this morning from the United States Concealed Carry Association and it sums up why some of us carry a gun.

Why I Carry a Gun

I don't carry a gun to kill people. I carry a gun to keep from being killed.

I don't carry a gun to scare people. I carry a gun because sometimes this world can be a scary place.

I don't carry a gun because I'm paranoid. I carry a gun because there are real threats in the world.

I don't carry a gun because I'm evil. I carry a gun because I have lived long enough to see the evil in the world.

I don't carry a gun because I hate the government. I carry a gun because I understand the limitations of government.

I don't carry a gun because I'm angry. I carry a gun so that I don't have to spend the rest of my life hating myself for failing to be prepared.

I don't carry a gun because I want to shoot someone. I carry a gun because I want to die at a ripe old age in my bed, and not on a sidewalk somewhere tomorrow afternoon.

I don't carry a gun because I'm a cowboy. I carry a gun because, when I die and go to Heaven, I want to be a cowboy.

I don't carry a gun to make me feel like a man. I carry a gun because men know how to take care of themselves and the ones they love.

I don't carry a gun because I feel inadequate. I carry a gun because unarmed and facing three armed thugs, I am inadequate.

I don't carry a gun because I love it. I carry a gun because I love life and the people who make it meaningful to me.

Anonymous but Brilliant

I'm Just Saying - that's why I carry a gun!

The 12 Days Of Global Warming

A masterful job that will generate more hate from the ever so tolerant left.



I'm Just Saying - it brings tears to my eyes, as I laugh!

The Stethoscope

A friend sent me a link to this cool video hosted on YouTube;



I'm Just Saying - He is the reason for the season!

Stop "Helping"

If only we could get the government to stop "helping" us maybe we could eliminate deficit spending. According to Senator Tom Coburn's, (R-OK), latest report highlighting the worst waste of 2008. You can find his press release and a link to the full report here. If you get nauseous easily you probably don't won't to read the whole thing but here are a few gems;

Examples of waste in 2008 include:

• $188,000 for Lobster Institute in Maine, home of the “LobsterCam”
• $1 million for bike paths on Louisiana levees while levees await basic repairs
• $2.4 million for a retractable shade canopy at a park in West Virginia
• $24.6 million for the National Park Service’s 100th year birthday in 2016 - 8 years early
• $3.2 million on a blimp the Pentagon does not want
• $367,000 wasted by a Texas school board on items like an inflatable alligator and under-the-sea waterslide, among other things
• $5 million for a bridge to a zoo parking lot in St. Louis
• $9,000 for a non-functioning airplane-shaped gas station in Tennessee
• $300,000 for specialty potatoes for high-end restaurants

I'm Just Saying - how much more of this "help" do we have to pay for?

Talk about busy work

Can you imagine the paper work and man power involved in complying with these UAW rules & regulations? You can see how the auto makers got in trouble, no one wanted to read all this crap!

Picture and following quote from LaborPains.org

Ever wondered what a UAW contract looks like? Here is all 22 pounds of it (in this case, Ford’s 2,215 page 2007 master contract; Coke can is for scale and because I was thirsty).

I’ll tell you this much, those 2,215 pages don’t include much regarding efficiency and competitiveness. What you’ll find are hundreds of rules, regulations, and letters of understanding that have hamstrung the auto companies for years.

I'm Just Saying - they're sinking under the weight of these contracts!

Brilliant

To my surprise, CBS had an economist on this morning that was not parroting the usual Democrat party line. I think they were expecting him to bash the Republicans for killing the auto bail out but he told them the real problem. The auto makers have given in to the unions so much that they are no longer competitive.

He gave the example of making lemonade. You can't continue to pay $1.25 for the ingredients to make it if you can only sell it for $1.00.

I'm Just Saying - maybe they need to leave out a little sugar!

Happy Thanksgiving

This morning in the Upper Room devotional I read that Thanksgiving Day is not considered a religious holiday. Maybe it is because most religions don't have special services to commemorate the day but what else could it be? Who else should you give thanks to other than the one that is responsible for our good fortune? I believe the saddest part of Thanksgiving is that it serves as a reminder of how little we remember to give thanks for everything that we have been blessed with. In a time when we tend to dwell on what we don't have I pray that I will stop to remember my many blessings more often.

And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. Colossians 3:17 (NIV)

I'm Just Saying - Thank GOD!

More on the Elephant

Excellent point on the Democrats and UAW by Mark Alexander in EDITORIAL EXEGESIS over at the Patriot Post.

....there's a system in place for dealing with crises such as this, even at the scale of massive corporations. It's called bankruptcy, and it should not be written off as unthinkable. Filing for Chapter 11 protection under bankruptcy law is the normal way a company stays in business when facing an unmanageable financial situation. It keeps creditors at bay while the company reorganizes under court supervision and settles its debts. In recent years it has served as a refuge for major airlines (Delta and United) which, you may notice, continued to fly while in Chapter 11 and, post-bankruptcy, fly today. Bankruptcy protection also frees companies from union contracts. Could this be why it seems to have been taken off the table as an option, at least among Democrats? We can only surmise, but it's clear that a bankruptcy process would be rough going for the United Auto Workers." --

I'm Just Saying - these elephants aren't talking peanuts!

The Elephant in the Room

No, not me. I'm talking about the union complicity in the bankruptcy of the big three automobile makers. Not satisfied with the $25,000,000,000 of OUR money to "retool their factories so they can make more fuel-efficient vehicles" they are now demanding that we throw ANOTHER $25,000,000,000 into their coffers.

Schemes such as the UAW program, called the Jobs Bank at GM have contribitued to their downward spiral. This program provided nearly full pay for laid-off workers while they waited for new jobs. Great work if you can not get it.

High labour costs are part of the reason for the problems. "UAW members' generous pay and benefits have gained them a reputation as the aristocracy of the US labour movement. Much of GM's debt was taken on in the early part of the decade to finance its blue-collar pension plan."

They have also refused to allow the auto industry any flexibility to change and have been with the manufactures in a fight against moves to increase mileage on newer models.

Union production workers are paid around $27 an hour (skilled tradespeople make evenmore), but non union workers do the same job for $14 an hour.

I will admit the auto executives are not totally blameless in this mess as George Will points out this morning.

Nothing," said a General Motors spokesman last week, "has changed relative to the GM board's support for the GM management team during this historically difficult economic period for the U.S. auto industry.

Boy that pretty much sums up the reasons for not helping them out.

Now the Democrats insist that we help them out!!!!

I'm Just Saying - they made their own bed.

Never Mind

Surprise, surprise, another debunking of the global warming hysteria is getting very little press. Last week it was reported "On Monday, Nasa's Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS), which is run by Al Gore's chief scientific ally, Dr James Hansen, and is one of four bodies responsible for monitoring global temperatures, announced that last month was the hottest October on record."

During this same time period Tibet suffered its worst snowstorm ever and a previously reported "hot spot" in the Arctic actually shows sea-ice recovering 30% faster that last year. Oops!

Well it turns out the "alarming" statics were not from October but were just a duplicate of September's numbers.

from The world has never seen such freezing heat

I'm Just Saying - people still believe this crap?

Not Gun Control?

He may have duped the masses into believing his rhetoric about being against gun control while campaigning but the chosen one states it quite clearly on his web site. Scroll down to CRIME AND LAW ENFORCEMENT

Address Gun Violence in Cities: As president, Barack Obama would repeal the Tiahrt Amendment, which restricts the ability of local law enforcement to access important gun trace information, and give police officers across the nation the tools they need to solve gun crimes and fight the illegal arms trade. Obama and Biden also favor commonsense measures that respect the Second Amendment rights of gun owners, while keeping guns away from children and from criminals who shouldn't have them. They support closing the gun show loophole and making guns in this country childproof. They also support making the expired federal Assault Weapons Ban permanent, as such weapons belong on foreign battlefields and not on our streets.

Remember that loophole they are talking about will prevent you from selling a gun in your collection to another individual. This type of buying and selling is quite common at gun shows and used by many as a hobby to enable trying different types of guns at a reasonable cost.

I'm Just Saying - and you wonder why I bought an AR-15?

VETERANS DAY

From todays Wall Street online journal

Soldiers of the Great War

The guns fell silent 90 years ago today. Between the time that the terms of the Armistice were signed in the predawn hours of November 11, 1918 and the moment it came into effect at 11 o'clock that morning, the Western Front registered as many as 11,000 casualties, including a conservatively estimated 320 Americans killed and 3,200 wounded.

I'm Just Saying - thank a veteran today!

Diversity

Today President elect "The Chosen One" has announced that his new cabinet will be diverse and include both Sunnis and Shiites.

I'm Just Saying - get your keffiyeh ready!

Time to come together

A phrase you always hear from the Democrats which means it is time for the Republicans to do what they are told. Funny how they never wanted to "get along" with the Republicans but it's somehow divisive when the Democrats are in charge. I can feel the love already coming from Harry Reid from this article;

Reid was leaning toward removing Lieberman as chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. .... "While I understand that Sen. Lieberman has voted with Democrats a majority of the time, his comments and actions have raised serious concerns among many in our caucus," Reid said.

Come together?

I'm Just Saying - Yeah, right!

update - or as Ann Coulter would say;
"For now, we have a new president-elect. In the spirit of reaching across the aisle, we owe it to the Democrats to show their president the exact same kind of respect and loyalty that they have shown our recent Republican president."

Treatment of Bush

Here's an excerpt from a column that points out how the pundits have trashed not only George Bush but more importantly the office of the President.
"The Treatment of Bush Has Been a Disgrace".
What must our enemies be thinking?
By JEFFREY SCOTT SHAPIRO

The treatment President Bush has received from this country is nothing less than a disgrace. The attacks launched against him have been cruel and slanderous, proving to the world what little character and resolve we have. The president is not to blame for all these problems. He never lost faith in America or her people, and has tried his hardest to continue leading our nation during a very difficult time.

Our failure to stand by the one person who continued to stand by us has not gone unnoticed by our enemies. It has shown to the world how disloyal we can be when our president needed loyalty -- a shameful display of arrogance and weakness that will haunt this nation long after Mr. Bush has left the White House.

Mr. Shapiro is an investigative reporter and lawyer who previously interned with John F. Kerry's legal team during the presidential election in 2004.

I'm Just Saying - it certainly is a disgrace.

Election Postmortem

Taking a look at the wide spread defeat of Republicans in last night's election I see two major reasons - the Republicans and the culpability of the media.

First off the Republicans have strayed far from the conservative principles embodied by the 1994 Republican Revolution that put them in power. What started as a "change" (there's that word again) to doing business as usual has ended in them trying to outdo the unfettered spending spree of the Democrats. Pork barrel spending used to be a trait associated with the Democrats repaying their campaign supporters but has evolved into meaning any politician. So the rhetorical question begging to be asked here is "What happened to the Reagan Republicans?" Well, short of saying they went over to the dark side (no pun intended) they became part of the "where's mine?" crowd and added to the problem instead of trying to solve it.

On top of that the Northeast chose what most conservatives would call a moderate to be the Republican candidate. McCain was not my first choice to be the Republican nominee, in fact not even in the top 3, but due to the skewed primary election process we didn't have a real choice in the matter.

Then we've got the media. OK, before you liberals get your panties in a wad, I'm speaking of the unprecedented advertising money as well as the brown nosed (again, no pun intended) "reporting" of the campaign events and other media denigrating.

Some say that this election was bought with money from dubious sources and while that remains unproven I do believe the election was bought. Although initially agreeing with McCain to the limits of public funding after finding out how popular their candidate was the Democrats shunned public funding. While McCain was limited to $84M in September the chosen one raised $150M that same month. When you outspend your opponent by 3 to 1 in the closing months of the election what else could you call it. As of the last reporting the O campaign has spent nearly $650M.

The second aspect of media complicity helps explain how we got to this point. Never before in history has there been such visceral reaction by the media to a President as there has been toward Bush. This toward a man that inherited an America weakened by the lax policies of his predecessor. They did there best to help the chosen one tie McCain to Bush ever chance they got. It was reported by an independent source that only 14% of stories in which McCain was a significant factor were positive, while 57% were negative and 36% of stories about Obama were positive, and only 29% have been negative. What bias?

Last but not least of the media blame goes to the Hollywood crowd together with late night talk shows, since the mindless throng look to them for guidance. They have moved from making fun of the accent or physical traits of the President to showing contempt and hatred for the man and his policies. It is one thing to make fun of a man because of the way he pronounces nuclear but entirely another matter to dismiss his administration and policies as idiotic. And isn't it odd that those doing the criticizing and calling Bush stupid could not have even been admitted to Yale or Harvard Business School.

Election Update
In Fort Bend County the unexpired term for State Senator in District 17 was filled by a Democrat but there were 2 Democrats and 4 Republicans running. Also Democrat Dora "the explorer" Olivo held onto her District 27 seat. On the brighter side, Texas did manage to reelect Republican Senator John Cornyn and help keep the Democrats from obtaining the 60 votes needed for a filibuster proof majority. In my district Democrat Congressman Nick Lampson was ousted in favor of Republican Pete Olson (who I was less than thrilled with).

I'm Just Saying - It could have been worse!

Great Quote

Check back later for the election postmortem, but meanwhile this is the best quote I've seen in a while coming from Neal Boortz.

Rhetorical ability is so very important in politics. Obama has it, McCain does not. Smooth talkers win at single's bars and in politics .. often with similar outcomes for the listener.

I'm Just Saying - I agree, we're screwed!

Change

I'm Just Saying - NObama!

Epiphany

Yeah, that's an awfully big word for such a small mind but it does seem appropriate. While driving home from work yesterday I heard something on the radio that made the light bulb glow brightly.

A caller was saying that he was voting for the chosen one because he couldn't afford health insurance and had to take his daughter into a walk up clinic. Said he was working two jobs and barely making ends meet. After further talking it comes out he's an ex con working two part time jobs. So I'm thinking poor guy we can't let his daughter suffer, after all he's trying. Well not exactly. Turns out he's driving a brand new tricked out Chevy to deliver pizzas. That's when it happened!

EPIPHANY

They aren't the idiots, WE are.

Why do we continue to pay for the bad decisions of others? When is enough finally enough? Have we finally reached the point that Benjamin Franklin was talking about when he said “When the people find they can vote themselves money, that will herald the end of the republic.”

I'm Just Saying - perhaps we have.

It's not who you know, or is it?

Here's a great column from Melanie Philips, The Spectator ( UK ) from 10/14/08 titled Pinch Yourself. In it she points out the significance of the chosen one's association with radicals.

You have to pinch yourself – a Marxisant radical who all his life has been mentored by, sat at the feet of, worshipped with, befriended, endorsed the philosophy of, funded and been in turn funded, politically promoted and supported by a nexus comprising black power anti-white racists, Jew-haters, revolutionary Marxists, unrepentant former terrorists and Chicago mobsters, is on the verge of becoming President of the United States. And apparently it’s considered impolite to say so.

I'm Just Saying - is Ms Philips part of the right-wing conspiracy too?

Idiots

Yesterday my son and I were discussing politics and both came to the conclusion that Obama will win because his supporters are fricking idiots. But don't take my word for it here's the proof.

A couple of weeks ago I heard clips from a Howard Stern (yeah, I'm not a fan either) radio show where they interviewed voters (listen here) in Harlem. Considering the chosen one has the support of 99.9% (not Thomas Sowell) of the blacks I really wasn't too surprised that they didn't have a clue about the position of their candidate.

But John Stossel interviewed a variety of young people and came to the conclusion that some people have A Duty Not To Vote?

I'm not saying that the government should impose a litmus test. God forbid. I just want clueless people to find something else to do on Nov. 4.

Watch the video here

When asked questions about Roe vs Wade, the number of senators, or even the number of states in the US many could not answer. He showed others pictures of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg that they didn't know, yet almost everyone recognized television's Judge Judy.

I'm Just Saying - these are the people electing our president!

Gun Control

A great column from John Stossel;

England's ban didn't magically cause all British handguns to disappear. Officials estimate that more than 250,000 illegal weapons are still in circulation in the country. Without the fear of retaliation from victims who might be packing heat, criminals in possession of these weapons now have a much easier job, and the incidence of gun-related crime has risen. (nearly doubled)

Read the rest of it here Gun Control Isn't Crime Control

I'm Just Saying - Gun Control means double tap center mass.

Reading Assignment

Today you need to read two guys who get paid to do this. They've each done a great job trying to enlighten the masses. I'm afraid the people that need this won't read it though.

First Neal Boortz has some great comments on some Democrats plan to take over your 401k in HOLD ON TO YOUR PENSIONS WHILE YOU'RE AT IT (PART 2);

....lawmakers like George Miller are in an "increasingly privileged category" because they are guaranteed retirement benefits thanks to you, the tax payers.......George Miller, for example, if he were to retire tomorrow would take away an annual pension of about $122,000. In other words, "lawmakers' retirement benefits are out of step with most ordinary Americans." And at a time when Joe Biden wants to take away the pensions of CEOs, Congress has made no effort to revisit its own retirement plan.

Then from Thomas Sowell Obama and "The Left" He tells us the importance of Obama's associations.

Some people who see the fraud in what Obama is saying are amazed that others do not. But Obama knows what con men have long known, that their job is not to convince skeptics but to enable the gullible to continue to believe what they want to believe. He does that very well.

I'm Just Saying -

Up Your Poll

Which poll do I believe? None!

It was announced yesterday that;
(A) either the presidential race was a dead heat
OR
(B) Obama leads by 12%.

So I looked up the main pollsters and found the following;
Obama 44, McCain 43 (AP)
McCain 50, Obama 48 (Rasmussen)
Obama 51, McCain 44 (Gallup)
Obama 48, McCain 34 (Riley)
Obama 51, McCain 39 (CBS)

Then with further searching I found the following list of various polls showing Obama winning by 2-13% or McCain winning by 1-12%;
Obama McCain
49%..........40%
45%..........46%
50%..........46%
51%..........47%
48%..........46%
54%..........44%
47%..........45%
42%..........54%
51%..........38%
52%..........41%
44%..........52%
51%..........46%
53%..........44%
51%..........39%
42%..........53%

Who's going to win?

I'm Just Saying - you sure can't tell by the polls.

It Can't Happen Here?

I read a piece online that pointed out that Argentine president, Cristina Kirchner, has just announced that she is going to nationalize all private pensions in Argentina. According to a story in the Wall Street Journal -

"Since then (2001) it has imposed price controls, defaulted on its debt, seized dollar bank accounts, devalued the currency, nationalized businesses and tried to set confiscatory tax rates with the aim of making society more 'fair."

So I'm thinking - well that's South America, that can't happen here. Then today I read this headline - House Democrats Contemplate Abolishing 401(k) Tax Breaks. It states that there is a plan where -

"all workers would receive a $600 annual inflation-adjusted subsidy from the U.S. government but would be required to invest 5 percent of their pay into a guaranteed retirement account administered by the Social Security Administration. The money in turn would be invested in special government bonds that would pay 3 percent a year, adjusted for inflation.
The current system of providing tax breaks on 401(k) contributions and earnings would be eliminated."

It would amount to a tax increase on workers making more than $75,000--considerably less than the $250,000 Barack Obama has said would be his tax-hike cutoff. Also you would only be able to pass along to your heirs half of your 401(k), with the other half going to the government one would assume.

And you thought your 401(k) was doing bad now.

I'm Just Saying - Wait until the government takes it over!

Universal Lawn Care

This would be really funny if it didn't point out the absurdity of today's politics.
Here's a new column for Mike Adams - National Lawn Care: An Immigration Solution.

Excerpt;

In the 2008 presidential campaign and Congressional campaigns all across the country, affordable, universal lawn care for every single American must not be a question of whether. It must be a question of how. Lawn care is not a privilege. It is a right. And the existence of global warning does nothing more than to highlight this serious moral issue.

I'm Just Saying - where does it end?

The First Rule ....

Here's some of my favorite quotes;

“Remember the first rule of gunfighting... "have a gun." Jeff Cooper

"An unarmed man can only flee from evil, and evil is not overcome by fleeing from it." Jeff Cooper

“You can get much farther with a kind word and a gun than you can with a kind word alone.” Al Capone

“Is that a gun in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?” Mae West

"Life is Precious. Ammunition is cheap. Be generous. Shoot 'em to the ground." Gabe Suarez

"A fear of weapons is a sign of retarded sexual and emotional maturity." Sigmund Freud

"The most foolish mistake we could possibly make would be to allow the subject races to possess arms." Adolf Hitler

"A woman who demands further gun control legislation is like a chicken who roots for Colonel Sanders." Larry Elder

“A Canadian is sort of like an American, but without the gun” Anonymous

"To disarm the people is the most effectual way to enslave them." George Mason

"A free people ought to be armed." George Washington

"Americans have the right and advantage of being armed, unlike the people of other countries, whose leaders are afraid to trust them with arms." James Madison

"Arms in the hands of citizens may be used at individual discretion in private self defense." John Adams

"...arms...discourage and keep the invader and plunderer in awe, and preserve order in the world as well as property. ...Horrid mischief would ensue were (the law-abiding) deprived the use of them." Thomas Paine

I'm Just Saying - I believe these guys knew what they were talking about!

...and the answer is...

In the spirit of Carnac the Magnificent, the answer to Thomas Sowell's excellent column Do Facts Matter? is a resounding NO.

I believe that even if you had indisputable video of the shooting, the murder weapon, and gun shot residue on his hands, the chosen one would get a free pass by his supporters. (was going to say AND the media but that would be redundant). It would of course be George Bush's fault because he didn't ban hand guns. That is one thing we have all learned from the Democrats - you are not responsible for your actions.

Just as they are now avoiding any responsibility for the current financial mess they got us into. I did not watch the entire debate last night because it just didn't make any difference to me. It was not going to change the way I vote and would only serve to further aggravate as the few minutes I did watch. The piece I saw showed the Democrat messiah actually blaming George Bush for the lack of regulation that led to the Wall Street meltdown.

Perhaps the chosen one was too busy getting the community organized to listen to the leaders of his own party tell us that Fanny Mae and Freddie Mac were just fine and did not need any oversight. After all, those poor people without jobs or any other means of support should be approved for loans because the need a place to live.

They are so far out of touch with reality that they think taxing the "rich" guy will have no effect on the average worker. Who in the hell do they think employs the average worker? Certainly not their faithful band of morons standing in line for handouts! The majority of small businesses that employ anyone makes over his magic $250,000 a year rich guy classification. After they pay 100% of their own social security and 50% of their employees plus any insurance or other benefits, he wants them to pay additional tax on top of the state and federal income and other taxes they already pay.

The REALLY troubling part of all this is the next election will determine the president for the next eight years barring some catastrophic event. The economy will be getting back on track in four years and you know how they're going to spin it! But you know the Republicans don't have anyone to blame but themselves. They fell into the same tax and spend, let us get our pork politics of the Democrats.

As for McCain
I'm Just Saying - stick a fork in him!

Have You Forgotten?

This was flagrantly and proudly plagiarized from my daughter's blog site.




I'm Just Saying - have you?

Utopia

Democrats would have us believe that if we elect their messiah the whole world will unite in harmony and love as all the stars align while we drink a Coke. There will be no unemployment, no hunger, no pain, no hurricanes, no hot weather. We'll all hold hands, sing Kumbah Yah, and stand around the world communal camp fire. On second thought quench that fire it would be polluting the planet, depleting the rain forest and removing the sacred owls breeding grounds etc. etc. These people need to wake up and smell the coffee - or would you actually need coffee in their Utopian village, but I digress.

I can't even begin to do justice punching holes in their biosphere of goodness but can point out some potential panacea problems. (Hey, I couldn't resist the alliteration.) But I can think of a couple of things that would at least slow down the progress towards that beautiful sunset.

They may find this difficult to believe but there are actually some people in this world that don't like us. In fact you might even say some groups hate us so much they would be willing to fly airplanes into tall buildings and strap on suicide vests to show us how much they care. Do the Democrats really think these people will all of a sudden want to play nice and not run with scissors?

However the main difficulty with Utopia involves money and all you have to do is follow the money trail to see the problem. Of course the trail ends with productive people that don't think the government should be the answer. These people believe if you need or want something you should have to work for it instead of sitting around waiting for the government to give it to you. I realize this presents a dilemma for the Democrats but they assure us that only the "rich" will have to pay.

Somehow they fail to see the simple economic relationship between the "rich" and those working for the "rich." If you continue to rob Peter to pay Paul it becomes problematic at some point in time. If there is no incentive to achieve eventually Peter will refuse to produce and join Paul in waiting for the hand outs.

I'm Just Saying - now you know why socialism doesn't work.

Numbers Don't Lie

Talk about hypocrites. While the Democrat Party is busy espousing that they are THE party of change their voting record does not back them up. They are not fighting the established Washington in crowd they ARE the Washington in crowd.

The Democrats in the Senate have consistently voted with their majority party more than the Republicans. You have to go down the list 33 members (32 Democrats and 1 Independent) before you find a Republican that voted with his party as much as those above him. In fact of those on the top list 20 voting against their own party there are 17 Republicans and only 3 Democrats.

Comparing Presidential candidates their is even a larger disparity. The Democrats chosen one has voted with his party 96% (#12) of the time. An astonishing number from someone that is purporting change. His running mate has done an even better job voting with his party coming in at 96.6% and number 8 on the list, considerable higher than their opponent.

George Bush's supposed lap dog has voted with the Republican Party 88.3% of time making him number 64th on the list. It is quite evident that there is a lot more "reaching across the aisle" coming from the right than the left.

You don't have to believe me, you can check for yourself at The Washington Post.

I'm Just Saying - are the Democrats going to CHANGE they way they vote?

Irony

Why aren't all the feminist praising the Republican choice for VP? You would think they would be proud to have a woman in position to be one heart beat away. Instead they have adopted the arrogance of their chosen one and say 'leave this to the professionals - don't try this at home' little lady.

They want to know how she could possibly raise kids and have a job (like they do). These wild eyed hairy legged feminist claim that you can only do this if WE say you can. And of course they will never say that to a conservative woman because she doesn't fit their mold.

Is it the fact they she didn't have to except infidelity from her husband as Hillary did in order to remain in politics? Also I find it odd their support never wavered for Bill Clinton when he was cheating on Hillary - their idol. The only reason Bill would ever put any woman on a pedestal would be to look up her dress. On the one hand they are saying "We are women hear us roar" but on the other, by accepting Bill's behaviour, they acknowledge that Hillary would have been a nobody ambulance chaser had she not rode into Washington on Bill's coattails of political success.

I'm Just Saying - add the feminist to the list of hypocrites.

You've gotta dance...

I've been reading the political pundits that are saying McCain's "maverick pick" was Joe Lieberman not Sarah Palin. The choice was made just to placate the conservative base. I can live with that, especially since at least one of them should be a conservative. I like Lieberman and think he would have been a great choice for vice president - for the Democrat Party. In fact an Obamah-Lieberman ticket would have been harder to defeat that the current pairing. But can you imagine the cacophony of silence from the Republican base come election day had McCain picked Lieberman?

I'm Just Saying - maybe like Darrell Royal he thought "I'm going to dance with the one who brung me."

The Speech

Well if you missed Palin's speech last night and was wondering how she did, she was fantastic. Not only is she "clean" and "articulate" (traits Biden found attractive in Obamah) she owned the stage. She showed that the chosen one is not the only one that can deliver a speech. But there was more than rhetoric and empty feel good statements of "hope and change" in the talk. Finally we have a Republican that is talking about doing something about the problems we are facing instead of on collecting more money and power for Washington D.C. to dole out. In fact she did such a good job that this morning on CBS (yes, I'm not supposed to watch MSM) they felt it necessary to get a rebuttal from "Average" Joe Biden.

Even though it's long you should read the entire speech which can be found at the NPR website. Here are some excerpts that will make you want to read more;

“It’s easy to forget that this is a man who has authored two memoirs but not a single major law or reform, not even in the state Senate”

“Since our opponents in this presidential election seem to look down on that experience, let me explain to them what the job involves, I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a ‘community organizer,’ except that you have actual responsibilities.”

“What exactly is our opponent’s plan? What does he actually seek to accomplish after he’s done turning back the waters and healing the planet? The answer is to make the government bigger and take more of your money.”

I'm Just Saying - this lady has them on the run!

Distraction?

Again the MSM just doesn't get it. Another "journalist" this morning was questioning the Palin distraction but failed to acknowledge the root cause of the distraction - the MSM. He claimed so much time is spent on Palin's problems the Republicans have not had a chance to talk about the real problems such as the economy. Perhaps he missed Fred's speech;

“Now our opponents tell you not to worry about their tax increases. They tell you they are not going to tax your family. No, they’re just going to tax ‘businesses.’ So unless you buy something from a ‘business,’ like groceries or clothes or gasoline... or unless you get a paycheck from a big or a small ‘business,’ don’t worry... it’s not going to affect you. They say they are not going to take any water out of your side of the bucket, just the ‘other’ side of the bucket! That’s their idea of tax reform.” —Fred Thompson

Although this was my favorite from Fred;

"Democrats present a history-making nominee for president. History-making in that he is the most liberal, most inexperienced nominee ever to run for president"

I'm Just Saying - it's hard to separate the Democrats from the MSM!

The Right Word

Assholes! Yes, that's the right word. I know you're thinking the old red neck shouldn't watch the main stream media but sometimes I can't help it. Unlike many rednecks I did make it further than third grade and have a vocabulary of at least a fifth grader so I could come up with another word but none that so aptly describes these people. These are the same people that would genuflect as they passed before the chosen one last week. The same press core that gave Joe Bidden a pass a pass for being a 3 time loser and questioning the readiness of Obamah now question McCain's pick as running mate. How could they possibly question Palin's qualifications and overlook the elephant in the room? They ask how could he make this choice with all the "controversy" surrounding her daughters pregnancy. Someone should point out that the press are the ones creating this "controversy!" A "journalist" last night criticized the Republican party for politicizing the hurricane by cutting back on the schedule and not having a 'widely unpopular President and Vice President' attend the convention while McCain is feigning interest in the storm. Then this morning ABC did an expose on some of the lobbyist parties that went on Monday night after McCain requested it be toned down. They pointed out how outrageously expensive these affairs were and just proved that it was 'business as usual' for the Republicans. Maybe I missed their expose of the lobbyist parties in Denver last week, you think?

I'm Just Saying - they're a bunch of assholes!

First Book of Democrat

(going around the internet)

Obama Is My Shepherd, I Shall Not Want.
He Leadeth Me Beside Still Factories,
He Restoreth My Faith In The Republican Party,
He Guideth Me In The Paths Of Unemployment.

Yea, Though I Walk Through The Valley Of The Bread Line, I Shall Not Go Hungry.

Obama Has Anointed My Income With Taxes,
My Expenses Runneth Over My Income,
Surely, Poverty And Hard Living Will Follow Me All The Days Of My Life.

The Democrats And I Will Live Forever In a Rented Room.

But I Am Glad I Am an American,
I Am Glad That I Am Free.
But I Wish I Was A Dog
And Obama Was A Tree.

I'm Just Saying - he's not the choosen one for me!

The Little Red Hen 2008

Found on the Internet without author credit;

Once upon a time, on a farm in Virginia , there was a little red hen who scratched about the barnyard until she uncovered quite a few grains of wheat.

She called all of her Democrat neighbors together and said, ‘If we plant this wheat, we shall have bread to eat. Who will help me plant it?’

‘Not I,’ said the cow.

‘Not I,’ said the duck.

‘Not I,’ said the pig.

‘Not I,’ said the goose.

‘Then I will do it by myself,’ said the little red hen, and so she did. The wheat grew very tall and ripened into golden grain.

‘Who will help me reap my wheat?’ asked the little red hen.

‘Not I,’ said the duck.

‘Out of my classification,’ said the pig.

I ‘d lose my seniority,’ said the cow.

‘I’d lose my unemployment compensation,’ said the goose.

‘Then I will do it by myself,’ said the little red hen, and so she did.

At last it came time to bake the bread.

‘Who will help me bake the bread?’ asked the little red hen.

‘That would be overtime for me,’ said the cow.

‘I’d lose my welfare benefits,’ said the duck.

‘I’m a dropout and never learned how,’ said the pig.

‘If I’m to be the only helper, that’s discrimination,’ said the goose.

‘Then I will do it by myself,’ said the little red hen. She baked five loaves and held them up for all of her neighbors to see. They wanted some and, in fact, demanded a share. But the little red hen said, ‘No, I shall eat all five loaves.’

‘Excess profits!’ cried the cow. (Nancy Pelosi)

‘Capitalist leech!’ screamed the duck. (Barbara Boxer)

‘I demand equal rights!’ yelled the goose. (Jesse Jackson) the pig just grunted in disdain. (Ted Kennedy)

And they all painted ‘Unfair!’ picket signs and marched around and around the little red hen, shouting obscenities.

Then the Farmer Obama came. He said to the little red hen, ‘You must not be so greedy.’ ‘But I earned the bread,’ said the little red hen.

‘Exactly,’ said Barack the farmer. That is what makes our free enterprise system so wonderful. Anyone in the barnyard can earn as much as he wants. But under our modern government regulations, the productive workers must divide the fruits of their labor with those who are lazy and idle.’

And they all lived happily ever after, including the little red hen, who smiled and clucked, ‘I am grateful, for now I truly understand.’

But her neighbors became quite disappointed in her. She never again baked bread because she joined the ‘party’ and got her bread free. And all the Democrats smiled. ‘Fairness’ had been established. They made fence around the barnyard stronger.

Individual initiative had died, but nobody noticed; perhaps no one cared…so long as there was free bread that ‘the rich’ were paying for.

I'm Just Saying - you better remember to vote!

Emperor Obama?

In an epic that would have made Cecil B. DeMille envious the Democrats will present their boy, (oops can't use that word) anointed one to the world tonight. I'm not sure whether the Greek columns are supposed to represent a return to the Byzantine empire or commemorating the Deep South slave owners mansions. Either way it seems to highlight the Democrats ineptitude in presenting their messiah as a man of the people. It is hard to contain my excitement while waiting to see the coronation of their king with throngs of people at his feet straining to touch the hem of his garment.

Cost for this Democrat debauchery are already projected at $52 million, $16 million of that coming from the federal government (that's us). That does not include the additional $50 million grant also promised by the federal government (again, that's us) for Denver to ensure the Democrats are safe and sound.

I'm Just Saying - is $100,000,000 something the average voter can relate to?

After writing this I found an online post expanding on the subject by Uppity Woman that is well worth reading Emperor Obama’s Stage To Resemble a Greek Temple–In Honor Of Enron Executives.

Obama's Friends

From this friend and supporter Al-Monsour;

“The Christianity that white people got and the Christianity that black people got was not the same”

Then there's Bill Ayers, another one of Obama's "respectable" and "mainstream" friends shown in this ad called Know Enough? “I don't regret setting bombs; I feel we didn't do enough,” Ayers told the New York Times in 2001.

And of course Ayers wife and fellow Weather Underground leader Bernadine Dohrn. Asked about bombings Dohrn said, "We only did a couple, and they were carefully done."

Floyd Mayweather, a boxer with a history of violence against women who has been convicted of both battery and domestic abuse, was one of the main hosts of a "African Americans for Obama" event...

His buddy Tony Rezko now in style with an orange jump suit courtsey of the federal government was refered to as a "sum landlord" by Hillary Clinton. He hosted a fundraiser at his Wilmette mansion for Obama when he was campaigning for the U.S. Senate.

Father Michael Pfleger's endorsement was removed from the Obama campaign site after his "entitlement" ranting aimed at Hillary.

And of course the party would not be complete without the raving mad lunatic the good Reverand Jeremiah Wright


I'm Just Saying - with friends like these....

Where is Edwards?

It's like looking for Waldo. John Edwards is pretty hard to find this week. Someone said they thought he had something contagious and had to stay away from the convention. As one fond of alliteration I might even say he is the pariah of the party!

I feel quite certain if could have nothing to do with his extramarital affair. I too was surprised to learn of his infidelity - not because it had occurred but that it happened with a woman, but I digress. Surely that would not disqualify him from speaking at the Democrat National Convention. You would think they would have given him a place of honor next to their party idol and moral kingpin - Teddy Kennedy (D(runk)-MA). I guess since his tryst did not end in death like his mentor's he is just another sleazy politician having an affair.

I'm Just Saying - that's some pretty lofty standards to adhere to!

Out of the Mouths of Babes

So, I was talking to this little girl, Catherine, the daughter of some friends, and she said she wanted to be President some day.

Both of her parents, liberal Democrats, were standing there with us - and I asked Catherine - 'If you were President what would be the first thing you would do?'

Catherine replied - 'I would give houses to all the homeless people.'

'Wow - what a worthy goal you have there, Catherine.' I told her, 'You don't have to wait until you're President to do that, you can come over to my house and clean up all the dog poop in my back yard and I will pay you $5 dollars. Then we can go over to the grocery store where the homeless guy hangs out, and you can give him the $5 dollars to use for a new house.'

Catherine (who was about 4) thought that over for a second, while her mom looked at me seething, and Catherine replied, 'why doesn't the homeless guy come over and clean up the dog poop and you can just pay him the $5 dollars?'

And I said, Welcome to the Republican Party.

I'm Just Saying - if only adults could grasp this concept.

Good Shot!

The man yelled for the robber to stop. When the robber turned around and pointed his gun, the man fired at him, hitting him in the head, Lantz said.

Don't believe I would have gone for the head shot but it certainly was effective in this case!

Bank customer shoots gunman after robbery

I'm Just Saying - That's what I call gun control.

Yes Ma'am

I guess it's generational thing but I miss hearing "yes sir" or "yes ma'am" when out in public. I caught myself saying yes ma'am to the lady at the library this morning without even thinking and it set me off wondering whatever happened to this small courtesy. Although such customs were usually for those that were our senior as I age that line is becoming a little fuzzy and it just comes out when talking to almost anyone. For the most part it seems that kids today have to be on the same level as adults and even call them by their first name. Of course this was unheard of when I was growing up and was totally unacceptable behaviour which would be meet with at least a good "talking to." My children were also raised to show respect for their elders and I'm sure they will pass along those traits to their children. If fact my daughter already is by teaching her boys to say sir and ma'am as will my son when his daughter gets old enough as well. If not, I feel confident that her grandmother will personally intervene to assure it. :)

I'm Just Saying - Thank You Ma'am

Chicken in Every Pot - Part II

Obama proposes $1,000 energy rebates for consumers

..."Obama had earlier said the rebates should be part of a larger tax relief package. But now he says the slumping economy demands they be put in place immediately."...

No need to bother with that silly voting thing, after all the chosen one has spoken and we must obey his decree! Hey, but that's OK because he is taking money away from the big evil oil companies.

Someone said this guy used to be a senator so you'd think that if he really believes this crap he would write a new law. But then again he apparently is not familiar with the process since he has never done it before. Of course the real reason that it won't be proposed as law is because he would be too embarrassed when it went down in flames.

I'm Just Saying - his utopian rhetoric has no end.

Demonomic deja vu

As you know my post have been nonexistent for the past few days and will remain so for a while but after reading this I wanted to let everyone know about it. As usual Alexander has done an excellent job. Here's an excerpt then you can click on the link below to read the entire column.

.......

While one may correctly argue that the majority of elected Republicans do not justly honor the conservative principles set forth in the Republican Party Platform, the majority of Democrats certainly march in lockstep behind their Leftist despots, and their electoral lemmings are close behind. (As George Bernard Shaw once noted, “A government that robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend upon the support of Paul.”)

......
Demonomic deja vu
By Mark Alexander

I'm Just Saying - The Republicans are far from perfect but look at your options!

The World is Flat Update

Just spotted this article today from our friends down under. It was this scientist's job to prove that carbon emissions have caused global warming. Well guess what? After six years he came to the conclusion that it doesn't.

So we know for sure that carbon emissions are not a significant cause of the global warming.
..there are no observations by anyone that implicate carbon emissions as a significant cause of the recent global warming.
The satellites that measure the world's temperature all say that the warming trend ended in 2001.
..the past six global warmings over the past half a million years, the temperature rises occurred on average 800 years before the accompanying rise in atmospheric carbon.
The world has spent $50 billion on global warming since 1990, and we have not found any actual evidence that carbon emissions cause global warming. Evidence consists of observations made by someone at some time that supports the idea that carbon emissions cause global warming. Computer models and theoretical calculations are not evidence, they are just theory.

Read the entire article No smoking hot spot

I'm Just Saying - do you believe me yet?

Magical Mystery Tour

Did you know that another two senators are accompanying the great one on his campaign fund raising, uh, I mean "fact finding" trip around the world? I guess he needed someone to carry his luggage. Anyone who thinks that this tax paid boondoggle is anything other than him advancing his political agenda has already drank the Kool-Aid. Exactly what part of giving campaign speeches qualifies this as fact finding mission? I suppose we are also obliged to pay for all his talking heads that are telling him what to say as well.

Even the AP gets it right with a telling headline Today on the presidential campaign trail as they highlight his ostensibly fact finding tour.

Today was his much anticipated "Ich bein ein beginner" speech in Berlin. He is quoted as saying

"If we could win a battle of ideas against the communists, we can stand with the vast majority of Muslims who reject the extremism that leads to hate instead of hope."

To which I say, wouldn't it be nice if that majority wasn't so SILENT? You would think that if they shared that opinion at least ONE of them would speak up!

I'm afraid the barf bag had to come out on this one

"Let us resolve that we will not leave our children a world where the oceans rise and famine spreads and terrible storms devastate our lands . Let us resolve that all nations -- including my own -- will act with the same seriousness of purpose as has your nation, and reduce the carbon we send into our atmosphere."

gag, gag, gag...........

It was reported that his 27 minute speech was interrupted at least 30 times with applause so I'm anxious to watch the coverage tonight to see how many times they responded with a unified "Seig Heil" after one of his profound statements.

About the only thing the Germans know about B. Hussein Obama is that he is not George W. Bush.

I'm Just Saying - Someone forgot to tell them George is not running.

The World is Flat

OK, now that it is settled less move on to the next topic "global warming."

If the flat world theory had not been questioned where would we be today? In a real crowded Europe I guess. For some reason we are supposed to take the "experts" opinion from only one side of this debate. As far as the MSM is concerned there isn't even a debate because Mr. "green jeans" has told them what to think. In spite of AlGore's factoid movie the issue has not been scientifically proven. Facts are about the only inconvenient truth left out of this discussion.

British schools have started showing the fictional escapades of Gore's adventures to 11-14 year-old children to indoctrinate them with his leftist mantra. Although they acknowledge several errors in the film it is their belief that the premise is fact and should be taught as such.

There was a time when if something was fact it could be proven and any attempt to prove otherwise would be welcomed. But now any attempt to question the "global warming" hoax and you are automatically labeled a right wing loony and ostracized from society.

I'm Just Saying - just because Chicken Little warns us of impending doom doesn't make it true.

Source of US Oil Imports

According to the US Department of Energy the U.S. uses about 21 million barrels of oil per day. We import about 58% of it. Contrary to the "blood for oil" crowd the majority of it does not come from the Middle East. Here’s where we get the oil.

Canada 11%
Mexico 11%
Saudi Arabia 9%
Venezuela 8%
Nigeria 7%
Iraq 4%
25 other countries 8%

Most people don't realize that we get more oil from Canada or Mexico than we do from Saudi Arabia. Not that we don't have a vested interest in oil from the Middle East but ....

I'm Just Saying - if we wanted to start a war over oil it would have been a lot cheaper to invade Canada!

I'm Gonna Puke....

..if I have to watch one more "news" report of the democrat messiah's trip to the Middle East. The reporteretts (including the male ones) are fawning over every word from their saviours lips. Even when his words are identical to what GW has previously stated they take on biblical significance when the great one speaks. Have you ever noticed the camera shots never show his feet? That's because the press are washing his feet and kissing the hem of his garment!

I'm Just Saying - quick, bring me a barf bag.

Illegal?

Can you spot what's illegal on my H&K 45C?

Yeah, I didn't think so but according to the bleeding hearts in Washington DC my 45C would be violating at least 3 of their newly "revised" D.C. gun laws. The emergency legislation approved this week by the D.C. Council and Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D) shows a total disregard of the recent Heller vs DC Supreme Court ruling.

1.) My gun is a semi-automatic - the new rules would still ban any "bottom-loading" semi-automatic handgun. Supreme Court ruled that D.C. could not ban handguns.

2.) My gun is loaded - D.C. residents must keep their weapons unloaded and either disassembled or equipped with trigger locks until they are in imminent danger from an attacker in the home. Justice Antonin Scalia wrote that the "prohibition against rendering any lawful firearm in the home operable for the purpose of immediate self-defense" violates the Second Amendment. Can't you just imagine this scenario as the burglar breaks in "Mr. attacker could you wait just a minute while I reassemble and load my gun?"

3.) My gun has not been tested by local police - every gun submitted for licensing must be test-fired by police ballistics experts. This violates a congressional ban on federal agencies creating any kind of gun owner registry.

Liberals are all to anxious to make up constitutional protection for their favorite cause of the day but eager to trample on real constitutional rights even after affirmed by the Supreme Court.

I'm Just Saying -

White Hole?

People in the Dallas area are very familiar with the legendary ignorance of Dallas County Commissioner John Wiley Price, but thanks to his recent tirade his stupidity is now known across the nation. In a story worthy of the Onion Price seems to have outdone his previous efforts of idiocy with his recent comments.

Commissioner Kenneth Mayfield, who is white, said it seemed that central collections "has become a black hole" because paperwork reportedly has become lost in the office.
Commissioner John Wiley Price, who is black, interrupted him with a loud "Excuse me!" He then corrected his colleague, saying the office has become a "white hole."

Price should have remembered George Eliot's words, "It is better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to open your mouth and remove all doubt."

His previous escapades have included;
assaulting a police office,
advocating restitution for slavery,
"parking" his DeLorean by just randomly stopping in a traffic lane downtown and then complain about police harassment when he got a ticket
whitewashing billboards to protest cigarette and alcohol advertising
threatened that blacks would take to the streets with M16s if the city hired a bigoted police chief
indicted on a rape charge but victim asked that the charge be dismissed because she said she feared death threats

I'm Just Saying - looks like the black hole of this story is Price.

PS: For a funny look at where this could lead read Black is Beautiful

...telling niggers...

These are not my words but those of a prominent black leader.

"Barack...he's talking down to black people...telling niggers how to behave." Jesse "Pimp Daddy" Jackson

Can you imagine the public flogging and hours of "sensitivity" training a white man would be subjected to if he used this word? Well actually you don't have to imagine it since comedian Michael Richards directed the word at a heckler during one of his routines.

We all know how that turned out. Not that I'm taking up for the idiot, his actions were despicable, but if you don't like him don't watch him. In fact I'm still wondering how he can make a living in comedy. Of course it was immediately labeled as HATE SPEECH by Jackson. The good reverend then called for a boycott of the DVD box set of the seventh season of the TV show “Seinfeld”. When told it would hurt Seinfeld more that Richards he said “Yeah, but he is a Jew.”

After Richards apologized for his actions Mr. Jackson was quoted as saying;

"A simple apology does not deal with the depth of the trauma. The first step is to acknowledge you're wrong. The second step is to be contrite about it, not arrogant. The third is, it takes time to regain or earn trust, and that's where the healing process begins."

Jesse also recently called for the firing of Imus for his "nappy head hoes" comment. It didn't make any difference that the same phrase can be found it in the lyrics of a number of hip-hop songs. And of course the race pimps managed to have Imus fired since a white man is not allowed to use the same words.

Now Jackson wants everyone else to “find room in their hearts to forgive him and move on.”

I'm Just Saying - Do you think he's ever heard the word hypocrite?

civilian national security force?

"We cannot continue to rely on our military in order to achieve the national security objectives we've set. We've got to have a civilian national security force that's just as powerful, just as strong, just as well-funded."
Barack Hussein Obama from speech in Colorado Springs July 2

Isn't that what the "brown shirts" of Hitler were called?

Just as Powerful - Since we have the most powerful military in the world that would be quite an accomplishment.

Just as Strong - Can't wait to see those tanks coming down my street.

Just as well-funded - This one is going to be a stretch since the military budget for 2007 was just shy of $440,000,000,000. (lots of zeros there)

I try to keep up with the news but must have missed the network coverage of this back to the future speech predictions of Obama. Not only that but the MSM seems to have given him a free pass as they clicked their heels together and shouted "Sieg Heil." In fact they were afraid his words would be misunderstood and helpfully removed them from the published transcript of his speech.

I'm Just Saying - sign me up for one of the M1A2 Abrams Main Battle Tanks

Chicken in Every Pot

I wonder if everyone believed Hoover when he said "A chicken in every pot and a car in every garage." While he doesn't actually say it, Obama eludes to as much with his nebulous change mantra. If recent polls are any indication of things to come he is quenching the thirst of the Kool-Aid drinkers.

They show Obama garnering 48% of the vote (to McCain's 45%) so his sheep are buying into this fairy tale (read BS). I believe the American public has been spending so much time watching the likes of 'American Idol' and 'Big Brother' they think this election thing is just a game. Perhaps when their matinee idol president lets the radical islamofascists set up a permanent base here in America and begin the slaughter they'll begin to realize that probably wasn't the CHANGE they were looking for.

Our political leaders have gotten us into the mess over the past 15 to 20 years by worrying more about their re-election than America. The hard decisions that should have been made to bring this country under fiscal control were avoided for fear of alienating the voter. We have now instituted a system that rewards complacency and re-elects self serving politicians that tell us what we want to hear instead of what needs to be said. We are not even allowed to vote on term limits since the ones in power control what you vote on.

I'm Just Saying - if this keeps up we won't even have a pot to put the chicken in!

Ball's in your court

After years of energy policy neglect by multiple administrations one of GW's last dying gasps is "Now the ball is squarely in Congress' court." It does make you wonder what the situation would be now if this much needed action had been taken eight years ago. The US Department of Interior estimates that there are 115 billion (yes, that's a B) barrels of potential oil reserves in these areas.


Now I know that may not seem like much to the Democrats but it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that at the current US consumption rate of 20.7 million barrels a day, those reserves would power the US for 5,560 days. As Rush says "for those of you in Rio Linda" that's around 15 years.

I'm not saying we wouldn't have a problem now...

I'm Just Saying - there's a possibility that it would not be as bad.

Confederate Battle Flag

I see the N2ACP has their panties all in a wad because the Confederate Battle Flag is still being flown in South Carolina. Not happy with having it removed from the Capitol dome there, they are now after the one on Statehouse grounds near the Confederate Soldier Monument.

They probably don't know or care what the 13 stars sewn onto a blue cross even stood for. There is one for each of the 11 states that seceded plus one for both Kentucky and Missouri. Or that the blue background is known as a St. Andrew's cross named after Andrew (one of the first disciples of Christ) who was crucified by the Romans on an x-shaped cross.

Southern heritage and pride are only acceptable if your ancestors were black. Anything else is labeled as divisive and racist. It seems odd that we are asked not to judge the actions of all blacks because the criminal actions of some that were "less fortunate" than their white counter parts but we are judged just for being proud of our Southern roots.

For a group that totals less that %14 of the population they represent some alarming statistics. Black women have nearly 30% of all abortions, black men make up the majority prison population in most states (%77 in Maryland), they have an illegitimacy rate of %70, race pimps like Jesse Jackson keep pushing them into victimization, black hip hop artists spew hate and gang related activities as a badge of honor.

I'm Just Saying - you would think their focus would be on solving current problems instead of worrying about a 147 year old flag.

Oil as T. Boone sees it

In an editorial interview today in the Chicago Tribune with T. Boone Pickens he points out again how small the US oil companies are in relationship to the international oil market.

To blame Exxon Mobil for the price of gasoline being $4 a gallon is silly. The total amount of oil available every day in the world is 85 million barrels. That's it—that's blood, guts and feathers. That's the whole thing. And Exxon has 2.5 percent of that. That's all they have. Exxon is a peanut as far as owning oil in the global sense of things. Seventy percent of all the oil owned in the world today is owned by state-owned oil companies. The [U.S.] oil companies do not own the oil.

Of course his motives may be less than altruistic in nature since as pointed out in an article (also in the Tribune)

(he) could benefit from a sizable public investment in a nationwide transmission network he proposes for wind power. His Mesa Power has invested $2 billion in a wind farm in the Texas panhandle northeast of Amarillo.

Who says oil companies are not looking at alternate sources of energy? The son of a landman Pickens has been in the oil business since he formed Mesa Petroleum in 1956. It was once known as the largest independent oil company in the world so that should more than qualify him as an oil man. So if he is involved with wind power it just might have something to do with money!

I'm Just Saying - T. Boone sees the future 'Blowing in the Wind'

Learn Spanish?

Just to shore up his base of leftist American haters messiah Obama had to castigate everyone else for being so stupid. But some one must have turned off his teleprompter here since he seems to be having trouble spiting out a coherent sentence.

Understand this: Instead of worrying about whether … uh … immigrants can learn English […] you need to make sure your child can speak Spanish. […] You know, it's embarrassing […] it's embarrassing when, when uh … you … when Europeans come over here. They all speak English, they speak French, they speak German. And then we go over to Europe … and uh and all we's can say is, "Merci beaucoup." Right?

Boy, that sure makes me proud NOT to be a Democrat!

I recently read that the presumably ignorant President Bush speaks better Spanish than the new anointed one. So in addition to his apparent failure to master the English language he can not even keep up with GW.

The biggest embarrassment here should be for the Democrats running this fraud for president.

I'm Just Saying - Maybe he ought to learn English first!

Always By My Side

I just finished reading Always By My Side by Jim Nantz. I've always admired Nantz for his calm professional manner but never knew why until this book. He has the kind of integrity that my dad always believed in and it shows in his work.

He always enjoyed a great relationship with his dad and would often seek his advice and counseling. Of course being the great dad that he was his advice would always involve making Jim analyze the situation to be able to make his own decision.

The official book description is "an unprecedented sixty-three-day stretch from February to April of 2007 when Jim Nantz became the first broadcaster to call the Super Bowl, the Final Four, and the Masters." It is much more than that as it tells you how he got there from childhood through college. His interaction with other people from Freddy Couples to George H.W. Bush show how his life was shaped. You'll read stories that will make you laugh out loud and stories that will make you tear up. You'll recognize all the legends of golf, basketball, and football that he was able to meet, interview, and befriend over the years.

Some would say everything has gone right for him and his rise to the top of his profession was easy but when you read his story you see the struggles of dealing with his father's Alzheimer's. Unfortunately his dad was unable to be with him for this trifecta of broadcasting history so his accomplishment was somewhat bittersweet. It is a grim reminder for some of us but should serve as notice to others how quickly time passes.

As for any negatives about the book, it jumps around a lot while telling the story. I recognize that in a biographical tale of more recent events historical facts will put things in proper context but some of the "flash backs" lacked this connection. In my opinion it would be easier to read if events were more chronological.

Even so this book is a great read that I would recommend to anyone even if they are not a big sports fan since it is really more about father/son relationships than sports.

I'm Just Saying - Lots of fun but keep the hanky handy.

Coals to Newcastle

Just as Newcastle on Tyne in England was well known for coal mining and the UK's first coal exporting port, my Mother is world renown (in my mind) for her biscuits.

A very good friend gave us some homemade peach and strawberry jam Saturday night and yesterday morning I was required by law to make biscuits to go with the jams for breakfast. Although it was my first attempt ever to make them from "scratch" they turned out better that expected. Not as good as Mother's of course, but better that the hockey pucks my wife had envisioned. In fact wanting to share my new found talent as gourmet cook I humbly "carried coals to Newcastle" by taking Mother some along with a taste of the new jams.

Her call late yesterday informed me that she had them for supper and praised my culinary attempt bragging about how good they were. Since she has not done a lot of cooking recently there was nothing to compare them to though. Actually I know she would have been gracious and complimentary even if they had turned out like hockey pucks because that's what good Mothers do.

I'm Just Saying - You don't have to make world class biscuits for your Mother to love you!

Discriminate

discriminate - (from Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary )

transitive verb
1 a: to mark or perceive the distinguishing or peculiar features of
b: distinguish, differentiate
intransitive verb
1 a: to make a distinction
b: to use good judgment

I discriminate. So do you and everyone you know. I start each morning by discriminating which coffee, cereal, milk, toothpaste, clothes, etc, etc, - you get the idea. So when did discriminate become an exclusively racial idiom?

We are told that if you criticize Obama you are racist and discriminating against him because he is black (half actually, but who’s counting.) As you can see in 1b of the intransitive verb (look it up, I did) form of the definition it states “to use good judgment.” Well my good judgment tells me that I should be discriminating against him for his political views even if they are a moving target.

Certainly racial discrimination exist today although not to the degree it did in the past. More prevalent today is what some refer to as "reverse discrimination" better known as affirmative action. Call it what you want but it is still racial discrimination and not in better just because the colors are reversed.

Make your choices based on the distinguishing features, distinctions, or your good judgement - not skin color, I do.

I'm Just Saying - maybe we all should be a little more discriminating.

Flip Flops

Some of the Kool-Aid drinkers are beginning to choke on campaign promises of their messiah Obama as they are slowly being regurgitated. From the innocuous flag pin to the realization that our troops cannot just leave in the middle of a war his constituents are watching the Democrat party's presumptive nominee “shifting” (i.e. flip-flopping) his positions to more centrist views.

Here are his latest;

On Iraq, Obama said Thursday that his upcoming trip there might lead him to refine his promise to quickly remove U.S. troops from the war.

He now supports broader authority for the government's eavesdropping program and legal immunity for telecommunications companies that participated in it, after opposing a similar bill last year.

After the Supreme Court overturned the District of Columbia's gun ban, the handgun control proponent said he favors both an individual's right to own a gun as well as government's right to regulate ownership.

Obama became the first major-party candidate to reject public financing for the general election after earlier promises to accept it.

He not only embraced but promised to expand Bush's program to give more anti-poverty grants to religious groups, a split with Democratic orthodoxy.

He objected to the Supreme Court's decision outlawing the death penalty for child rapists, even though he's been anti-capital punishment.

Obama also said "mental distress" should not count as a health exception that would permit a late-term abortion, saying "it has to be a serious physical issue," addressing a matter considered crucial to abortion rights activists.

As Alex Conant, a spokesman for the national Republican Party said, "There appears to be no issue that Barack Obama is not willing to reverse himself on for the sake of political expedience".

I’m Just Saying – How long will it be until he also comes moves right of McCain?

Mowing Grass

Just got this in an email and had to post it for the 4th.

Here is a soldier in Iraq, stationed in a big sand box. He asked his wife to send him dirt (U.S. soil), fertilizer, and some grass seed so that he can have the sweet aroma and feel the grass grow beneath his feet. When the men of the outfit have a mission that they are going on, they take turns walking through the grass and the American soil -- to bring them good luck.

If you notice, he is even cutting the grass with a pair of a scissors. Sometimes we are in such a hurry that we don't stop and think about the little things that we take for granted.(Note his rifle nearby)

By the way, as I post this it's just after midnight in Baghdad and still 95 degrees.

I'm Just Saying - maybe we ought to be a little more thankful for the freedom that we have.

Disappointment

I sent the following to my county Republican chairman in reply to his latest update;

Thanks for the update. I'm very concerned about the fate of the Republican party and their abandonment of the conservative movement. I realize that the Northeast press had a lot to do with anointing McCain before the more conservative states had a chance to vote but the rest of our elected representatives are directly responsible for the run-a-way spending spree. To say I’m disappointed with our current Republican leadership would be an extreme understatement.

After being in charge for 10 years they not only failed to rein in spending they expanded government to unbelievable largess. Not only the pork Democrats had approved in the past began to pale by comparison they also expanded government health to include a prescription benefit that is unsustainable and seems to help the pharmaceutical companies more than the intended. I thought ethics violations, big government, moral failures, and cronyism where a platform to the Democrat party, not ours. Pete Olson’s association with Delay and Graham are certainly not going to help in this year’s election especially since on top of everything else we have the Blue Dog Democrat coalition to be concerned with as they appear to be moving right of their Republican opponents.

For example, here in District 22 as you know, we have Nick Lampson that seems to be moving farther right with each newsletter he issues. I assume you subscribe but his latest newsletter can be read here and notice he does not even mention the fact that he is a Democrat. Here are a few excerpts;

(See I've Seen The Enemy)

Our finest Republican representatives couldn’t have said it any better. Between these Blue Dog Democrats and the overwhelming apathy felt by conservative Republicans I’m not looking forward to the next four years.

I'm Just Saying - Is it already too late?

I've Seen The Enemy

To keep an eye on the “enemy” I signed up for my Congressman’s newsletter. Nick Lampson (D) is part of the conservative Blue Dog Democrat movement started in 1994 to give more conservative members of the party a unified voice. He was a congressman in Texas’s 9th congressional district from 1997 to 2005. He lost his seat after the big controversial redistricting and returned in 2007 after the Tom Delay (1985-2006) debacle. I’ve watched as he increasingly moves to the right on each of the major issues and I believe that he exemplifies the reason that Democrats will probably remain in power after the next election. It seems that more of them are moving to the right of Republicans (including McCain) although that certainly would not be difficult to do.

The entire newsletter can be read here and doesn’t even mention the fact that he is a Democrat. Here are a few excerpts;

I urged them (Democrat leadership) to allow debate and votes on legislation to increase domestic energy production…

I have consistently voted against proposals to raise taxes on domestic energy producers…

I have called on Speaker Pelosi to allow genuine debate and a vote on this issue…

I believe that we will not be able to accomplish anything, let alone lead our nation to energy independence, if we are unable to have a civil debate and are unwilling to allow all options on the table.

I’m Just Saying – do they really mean it or is it just a ploy to get/stay elected?

Perfect Storm

Looks like it’s shaping up as the “perfect storm” for oil.

Due to the red tape involved it’s been over 30 years since a new refinery has been built in the US. For example, Arizona Clean Fuels, has been trying to build a small refinery outside Yuma for almost 10 years. It took five years just to get air-quality permits. Now they hope to be operational in 2010, 15 years after they started the project.

The more expensive sweet crude is in short supply while currently we have a good supply of sour crude but the sulfur content makes it considerably more expensive to refine.

More taxes are paid to the federal government than oil companies make in profit.

Officials at OPEC and the IEA say oil production is decreasing in 54 of the world’s top 60 oil producing nations.

The US is competing with the nationalized foreign oil companies that control 75% of the world’s oil and we rank 14th in petroleum reserves.

Worldwide increased demand, China has 1.6 billion people and its growing economy is putting more of those people in a position to afford an automobile.

Democrats and a handful of RINO’s (including John McCain) have been blocking any attempt to drill the known reserves in ANRW for years.

And yes the oil speculators do have a part in driving up the price, albeit less than what our legislators imply.

Then on top of that something I never really thought about was the value (devaluing actually) of the dollar as pointed out in this excerpt from an online article;

……….

David T. King, a former chief of the New York Federal Reserve’s Industrial Economies Division, noted on the editorial page of the Wall Street Journal earlier this year, when oil prices were at around $120, that last August the dollar price of oil was $70. King points out that the current spike in oil and other commodity prices coincides almost exactly with the Fed’s decision to turn on the monetary spigots to save Wall Street.
The day that the barrel price of oil in dollars was exactly the same as in Euros was in 2002, when both were about 25, King notes. Since then oil has risen by 50 Euros in the past five and a half years. It now stands at 75 Euros, triple what it was then.
But check this out: in the US, the price is over $120, about five times what it was then, King says. He says that the collapse of the dollar exchange rate explains at least half of the increase in the pump price of gas over the past five years.

……………..

I’m Just Saying – When you add it all up I don’t see it getting better anytime soon.

Thank You George

Ok, GW has not lived up to most conservatives’ expectations including mine, but today he certainly made a difference. Thank You President Bush for Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Alito. Today the Supreme Court voted 5-4 to strike down the District of Columbia's 32-year-old ban on handguns because of the individual gun rights guaranteed under the Second Amendment. This should have been a slam dunk since the Constitutional Amendment is quite clear to most of us but with Justice Kennedy’s recent rulings it became somewhat questionable (what was Reagan thinking?).

With Kennedy’s affinity for European law and his anointing foreigners with America citizen rights in the recent Boumediene vs. Bush case and then the decision favoring the brutal rapist in Kennedy vs. Louisiana , he seems to be losing touch with the Constitution. In addition to Kennedy, unfortunately Republicans gave us 2 of the 4 most liberal justices on the bench. Ford appointed Stevens and G.H.W. Bush gave us Souter but at least 41 made up for it the next year by appointing Clarence Thomas.

As a side note on bias, the CNN gallery of current justices points out that Scalia “worked actively to strike down Roe v. Wade” while Stevens “has championed the individual's right to have an abortion”. They also devote two paragraphs to the sexual harassment charges against Justice Thomas while not bringing up any negative comments on other justices.

What do think the outcome would have been today had Gore or Kerry been elected? Since Justice Stevens turned 88 this year and Ginsburg 75 and is in poor health, it would seem once again to be an extremely important presidential election. While I have doubts about McCain I have no doubt that Obama would appoint someone to the left of Ginsburg (if that is possible).

I’m Just Saying, it could certainly be worse.

Are the Inmates Running the Asylum?

It’s really difficult to understand the sheer stupidity of our elected officials. Their complete lack of understanding the oil industry is my rant today. This time it’s not just the democrats, some of the republicans are as equally inept.

They have banned offshore drilling except along part of the Gulf Coast and on most of the onshore areas controlled by the government. Instead of opening up these areas to exploration our illustrious lawmakers say that it won’t bring immediate relieve and would take 5 years or more so why bother. I believe this is the same response they gave 10 years ago. Now I don’t work for NASA but seems like some of those areas could be producing oil by now if they had listened then.

Another popular response is to claim it will destroy the beaches and therefore their tourism industry. Well duh, if the tourists can’t afford to get there it’s likely the tourism business is going to be nonexistent. Besides you don’t have to pollute the air and water to drill for oil and gas as can be seen in Norway They utilize CO2 for increased oil production, oil spill detection systems, cleaning of formation water from oil production and the recovery of crude oil vapors to maintain pristine waters and a clean shoreline.

Last but not least is their complaint that there are 68 million areas of undeveloped leases that should be drilled before opening up additional leases. Perhaps this is where their ignorance shines the brightest. If all you had to do was get a lease then setup a drilling rig to pump out the oil you might find them more difficult to come by. Maybe that’s why it’s called exploration. It only starts at the lease sale and last year the US government received $3.7 billion dollars from ONE sale. Do they not have any idea how much time and money it then takes to conduct exploration surveys, obtain permits, obtain a drilling rig, then setup production and transportation systems if they’re lucky enough to be successful?

Oh yeah, and their only solution to the problem is to tax the productive oil companies because of their “obscene wind fall profits”. ExxonMobil, the nation’s largest oil company, profited 10 cents for every dollar it brought in revenue in 2007. That puts its profit margin in the middle of other Fortune 500 companies, including Bank of America (18-percent profit margin) (NYSE: BAC), AT&T (11.8 percent) (NYSE: T) and Proctor & Gamble (13.1 percent). Exactly how is making your product less profitable going to be an incentive for the oil companies to continue with the expense of exploration dollars? Of course this scheme won’t lower your gasoline cost but will only redistribute wealth to those too lazy to work for a living. The only ones making an obscene profit here is the US government. (see chart below) In 2006 their share of 27 oil companies profit was $90 billion plus an addition $10.9 billion in non-income tax AND another $48 billion in excise taxes. The last time we had a wind fall profits tax was when Jimmy (the peanut) Carter was in power and we all know how well that worked out.



And now these idiots want to take over all domestic oil refineries? Well considering how efficient the government run bureaucracies can be, I can hardly wait.

I'm Just Saying, you think gasoline prices are high now?