The SoapBoxers

Wow would be my minimalist reaction. I remember growing up watching movies with John Cusack in them. He usually played the role of an outsider but was always kind of a hero. I certainly admired him as an actor. Has he stopped taking his Prozac though?

Please see this story regarding John’s recent Twitter posting:

John Cusack is openly a Liberal in every sense and probably has no appreciation for Fox News. However, I’m starting to wonder if he can even stomach the ultra liberal rants of MSNBC. Based on this latest Twitter posting, I’m more inclined to say that he has seriously fallen off his rocker and he can’t get up.

It’s no secret that I’m a Conservative with several Libertarian views. I have many friends with Liberal views although the majority if my friends share viewpoints that are closer to mine. None of my friends would ever go so far as to write something like this though. Additionally, I would never write this about MSNBC either.

So the questions that comes to mind: Where does free speech come to an end? Where does liability kick in? In other words, at what point does the right of free speech cease or at least become intertwined with liability for the actions of one’s self and others? We all know that free speech is no longer protected if those words incite a riot or are considered “fighting words”. In my opinion this is balancing very close to that exception. Cusack goes so far as to be almost specific in the actions. He hasn’t drawn out a plan, but it’s getting close. Naming specific people (targets) likely would convince many on a jury to find against him.

Consider if I were to post this: “I can no longer stand the liberal rants and view points of the Angry Squirrel. I can no longer stomach his naive and unfounded positions based solely on bleeding heart rhetoric and not fact. We need to have a satanic slaying at his home in Kansas City, KS on 9/11/2010.” OK, this is obviously not true and I would never wish any harm to come to anyone, especially the Squirrel. Now, imagine if anyone actually cared what I said…say I’m Tom Cruise (the head nut job), Will Smith or John Cusack. I would have rock star status, not IT Guy status. The point is, who is going to read a post and act? Probably only someone that was already nuts, but could this be what prompts someone? Should this be protected?

Eminem has dealt with similar issues with his music. There are questions being raised about Eminem’s latest work again (Love the Way You Lie) because of the domestic violence lyrics. I’m a rap/hip hop fan so I personally enjoy the music and don’t think too much about the lyrics. However, there are a number of people that do and some may be swayed by statements such as this. Where do we draw the line?

How about desecrating the flag which is a huge hot button of mine? Should we allow people to urinate on the American flag? How about burning the flag?

Yesterday we saw James Lee take over the Discovery Channel building and hold three people hostages over his extreme beliefs. What if this person was “encouraged” by someone like Eminem or John Cusack? Does that make him any less guilty? Does that reduce the guilt of the actor and impute some of that guilt on the person generating or spawning the idea? Accessories?

If I were the judge hearing these cases, here is how I would rule.

1. John Cusack would be found not guilty but my ruling would include that this is very close to inciting violence. If his post were any more specific (like mine was about the Squirrel) I think it clearly violates the free speech exceptions and he’s liable for the actions of others if they choose to follow his direction.
2. Eminem would be found not guilty as well. He doesn’t spell out specific plans or specific people. Will someone tie their girlfriend/wife to the bed and burn the house down because of his song? That is very possible.
3. The flag. The US Flag should be a protected symbol. It IS a symbol of our Country, our freedom and what our veterans have fought hard to protect. In my opinion this should clearly be an exception to the right to free speech because this WILL incite riots and the words/actions would be deemed fighting words.
4. James Lee (Had Lee survived) – Sorry, you will be locked up until such time that we can generate enough electricity to kill you…slowly; or until your fellow inmates take their own wrath upon you and your idea to sterilize the people of the world. You’re a disgrace to your family, people sharing your view and you will give people like me less reason to embrace your environmental ideology. Guilt of the accessory or the instigator would depend on what actions/discussions had taken place but there would be a good chance I would see them as guilty too.

I’m interested in other people’s reactions to this. Let me know!

Squeaky…

Editor’s note – I’d like to welcome the visitors from The Centsible Life.  If you want to get a good feel for what The Soap Boxers is all about, check out the archives.  We have more than 600 articles to choose from, on a wide range of topics.  Thanks for visiting.  Now, I’ll turn over the show to Squeaky, one of our political writers.  ~Kosmo

Barack Obama was elected as US President on November 4, 2008.  He was inaugurated on January 20, 2009.  For many people, that is a day that few will forget.  For many it’s as significant as the day that Reagan was shot, the day that the space shuttle Challenger exploded, the day we invaded Iraq and the day Saddam Hussein was captured.

For me, I keep thinking of the dates November 6, 2012 and January 20, 2013.  I hope that those dates will be equally as significant for me.  Why do I think of those dates?  November 6^th is the date of the next presidential election and January 20^th is the date that the next president will be inaugurated.  As a Libertarian/Conservative, I’m in political exile right now.  I don’t even know who will be running in the next election, but I hope for nearly anyone other than BO.  Would I like Hillary in the seat of President?  No, but she couldn’t do as much damage as BO. 

On January 25, 2010 Diane Sawyer’s interview with BO aired.  Here is a quote from BO:

“You know, I — I would say that when I — the one thing I’m clear about is that I’d rather be a really good one-term president than a mediocre two-term president. And I — and I believe that.”

I would tend to agree with BO.  I’d rather see him be a good one-term president too.  Hell, I’d just be happy if he were a good president.  Here are some of the items he has done that have rubbed me wrong:

1.  Healthcare reform.  It seems more like dismantling what is existing and putting the rest of it under his own thumb….more power, more pork, more government.
2. Cap and Trade.  Push the oil jobs out of the US; raise the price of electricity by forcing them off of coal burning.  We are experiencing a large electricity price increase already in Colorado because of this.  Two of my neighbors working in the oil/gas industry have moved to Canada to keep their jobs.
3. Employee Free Choice Act – Union garbage (IMO of course).  This takes away the anonymous vote on whether to unionize or not.  No pressure from the unions.
4. Auto maker bailout.  I should say government buy out of the auto makers.  After the last year I will buy a Ford as my next vehicle just because they were sustainable on their own.
5. FSA changes.  January 2011 over the counter (OTC) meds will no longer be able to be claimed on your FSA/HSA if you have one.  This will now be for prescription drugs only.
6. Tax increases.  No one making under $200,000/year will not pay a dime more in Federal Taxes. According to the Joint Committee on Taxation (part of Congress), that is a lie.
   • Breath Tax –  If you breath you MUST have medical insurance
   • Tax on Medical Devices – Medical devices will become a tax windfall for Obama’s money vats creating an additional $20 Billion in tax revenue.
   • Brand name drugs – prices will go up on these due to a new tax on non-generic drugs.  You thought those ADHD meds were expensive before, just wait.
   • Tax bases – The tax base for EVERY income range will increase at least 3%. (10% goes to 15%, 25% to 28%, 28% to 31%, 33% to 36% and 35% to 39.6%).
   • The marriage penalty tax is coming back.  A married couple making $75,000 will pay more in taxes than a single person making $75,000.
   • Capital Gains taxes increase from 15% to 20% and Dividends will increase from 15% to 39.6%.
   • Education – The deduction for tuition and fees is being eliminated.  Student loan interest is also not going to be deductible.
7. Love for the Unions.  On August 4, 2010 Obama thanked “all my brothers and sisters in the AFL-CIO” who have worked so hard to help get America’s economy back on track. (http://bit.ly/9PKmv1)  I understand American Pride and Made In the USA.  I don’t understand the need for unions though.  They have truly outlasted their usefulness and only do two things:  1. Increase the cost of producing items by inflating wages to the point of being ridiculous and 2. Encouraging mediocrity. That is what happens when every single worker gets the same pay raise regardless of performance. I prefer to stand on my own feet and let my work product determine what kind of pay increase I will receive.
8. Amnesty for illegal immigrants.  Maybe it’s the cold-hearted police officer in me, but how can we simply let 11-18 MILLION people that are here ILLEGALLY stay?  I was raised to obey the laws and not intentionally break them.  If I broke the laws or the rules I would pay the price.  There was not a simple, “That’s ok Squeaky, let’s reward you for hitting your sister by giving you ice cream”.  That is exactly what we’re preparing to do with the talk of amnesty.  The difference is that the ice cream will become free health care, college tuition, unemployment, etc.  I work with several people that moved here from India.  They have invested a great deal of time and money to become LEGAL citizens.  L-E-G-A-L.  I’m very proud of them for that and I’m happy to call them my friends.  Those that are illegal have no sympathy from me.

I could go on forever, but my soap box isn’t that comfortable.  For now, I keep hoping and praying that Obama will make some non-liberal decisions; but I’m not holding my breath.  I don’t know Obama so I can’t say that he is a good man or a bad man.  The only thing I have to judge him on are his political ideals.  He and I are polar opposites in that regard and for that reason I will probably never appreciate his work.  Like some of you, I’ll keep waiting for “change” on January 20, 2013.  For others, you will be hoping for a successful reelection bid for Obama.  Regardless, on November 6, 2012 I’ll be clinging to my religion, my family and my guns.  On that day I will vote my conservative, Christian, family values and that will NOT include a vote for Obama.

Squeaky…

Image source: http://iusbvision.wordpress.com/2010/05/25/voted-obama-embarrassed-yet-street-signs/

$862,000,000,000.  That is what $862 billion looks like.  That happens to be the amount of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.  We’ve all been concerned as we heard stories about where the money was going.  I did a little poking around and I found these items below:

• $233 million to UC at San Diego to study why Africans vote.
• $2 million to build fire station in Nevada but the county couldn’t afford the wages.
• $550,000 to replace windows in a Washington (state) visitor’s center that had closed in 2007.
• $1.9 million the California Academy of Sciences to study ants.
• $800,000 for a Georgia Tech assistant professor to study improved music by “jamming” with world renowned musicians.
• North Carolina schools received $4.4 million to hire math & literacy coaches FOR THE TEACHERS.
• $24 million to a contractor currently on trial for bribery
• $15 million to Boeing which was fined for polluting a creek—they were asked to monitor water quality.
• $650 million for digital TV coupons
• $600 million to convert the federal auto fleet to hybrids
• $400 million to local governments to purchase hybrid vehicles
• $9 million to Harvard University to research and assemble robotic bee
• $428,000 to design better video games for senior citizens

There are so many more reckless and foolish expenditures that I had to quite typing.  I stated to feel carpel tunnel and I was starting scream like the Angry Squirrel.

Pork, pork, pork.

Have you seen those highway signs on your way to work?  You know, the ones that read: “Funded by the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act” and “Putting America Back to Work”?  I have seen a few of them.  I drive past one on I-25 every morning and every night.  I had no idea that they cost so much though.  ABC News recently reported that Pennsylvania spent $157,000 for 70 of those signs.  That averages $2,242.86 per sign.  I heard an earlier news report that was even higher but I was unable to locate it now.  I also heard a news report that documented a large amount of money was spent to study the mating habits of bees.  However, I was not able to find the particulars.

I’m glad that we have a president that will not sign any bill into law that contains pork.  This is truly the kind of hope and change that people were voting for.

Squeaky…

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all.

Those 31 words are filled with both patriotism and controversy.  I’m sure that when the Pledge of Allegiance was originally written by Francis Bellamy (a preacher) he would never have thought so much controversy would surround his passage.  Interestingly enough, the “controversial” words (under God) were not added until 1954.  (The original writing was completed in 1892)

The argument stems from the concept of separation of church and state.  The Constitution in the 1^st Amendment reads:

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

The religion portion of the 1^st Amendment has become known to us as the separation of church and state.  When I closely read the Amendment, I have a different opinion than what I did ten minutes ago.  It doesn’t say anything about not being able to mention God which was a big portion of what our founding fathers based our ideals on.  It doesn’t say that we shouldn’t display any historical items that relate back to our patriotic history.  It certainly doesn’t say that Christians (or Jews, or whatever religion) are barred from expressing their religion publicly.  In fact, I tend to believe that it means just the opposite.

The last couple of weeks I’ve read a lot about a Massachusetts school banning the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance.  The principal indicated that it was because they have a diverse group of students and he wanted to be respectful of that.  Rather than allowing the majority of the students to uphold an American tradition, Mr. Skidmore is catering to a small minority of his students by taking away the rights of the majority.  Why not just tell the few that may choose not to participate to NOT PARTICIPATE?  There were over 700 students that signed a petition asking that the Pledge of Allegiance be allowed in this school.  The school also received letters of support for the Pledge of Allegiance from Senator John Kerry and Senator Joe Liebermann.  (Neither of these Senators has a Republican R behind their name FYI).

On March 11, 2010 the 9^th Circuit Court of Appeals made a ruling about the phrase “In God We Trust” as printed on our currency. (http://www.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2010/03/11/06-16344.pdf)

 This court has two locations, one in San Francisco, CA and the other in Pasadena, CA.  This court is located in the heart of the land of fruits and nuts—“Liberal Land, USA”.  However, this court can even see the common sense and returned an opinion that said two things:

1. The plaintiff (a US citizen that happens to be an atheist) has no standing to sue the government over the phrase.
2. The phrase “In God We Trust” is not a violation of the Constitution because it is a “National Motto”.  The ruling had previously been made in Aronow vs. United States (Aronow v. United States,” 432 F.2d 242 (1970)) that read: “It is quite obvious that the national motto and the slogan on coinage and currency (In God We Trust) has nothing whatsoever to do with the establishment of a religion.  Its use is of patriotic or ceremonial character and bears no true resemblance to a governmental sponsorship of a religious exercise.”

http://www.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2010/03/11/06-16344.pdf

My opinion is much simpler.  If you don’t like what is printed on US money, don’t use it.  If you don’t want to say the Pledge, don’t say it.  However, we’ve become a country of wimps more concerned with the feelings of the minority.  Rather than offend the few we take away rights of the many.  Why?  All in the name of being PC. 

However, we can’t forget our heritage or where we came from.  Why would we give up the values that our country was built on?  We may not have the perfect country, but we’re by far the best one that exists.  Why do liberals keep trying to give up our traditions and values for those from other countries?  Our ancestors came here to get away from other country’s values.  We can keep our values and traditions while allowing others to live here.  I don’t think that if we moved to France, Australia or Afghanistan they would stop flying their flag, stop singing their national anthem or make any religious changes to accommodate our believes and traditions.  Be proud and be an American—a patriotic flag loving American. 

We are still:

•  “one nation under God” and
• “in God we trust”

Squeaky…

This is not going to discuss energy savings, shutting down oil refineries or offshore drilling.  In this case, Going Green is referring to Cannabis Sativa, Mary Jane, Blunts, Roaches, Joints, Spliffs, Bongs, THC, Bob Marley, yes….marijuana.

California has captivated headlines by saying that they’re going to place an initiative on their ballot to legalize marijuana.  This is happening even as numerous states are running into numerous problems with their Medical Marijuana laws.

Some of you know that I live in Colorado.  Colorado has a Medical Marijuana law and it has exploded in use over the last couple of years.  There are currently more marijuana dispensaries in Denver than there are Starbucks and they continue to pop up.  Each night on the news I hear stories about another robbery or burglary happening at another marijuana dispensary.  Cities across the state are now scrambling for ways to better regulate these facilities.

A very basic question that I have is this.  THC, the ingredient in marijuana that people are smoking it for, is available in pill form already.  Why then do we need to have smoked marijuana available with all the problems that it brings?  Marinol is a prescription medicine that can be prescribed by a doctor and dispensed from a controlled pharmacy.  http://www.rxlist.com/marinol-drug.htm

I live in a suburban neighborhood in Fort Collins, CO that is filled with middle to upper middle income families.  Crime is essentially non-existent and the homes are all single family dwellings filled with families that have roughly 2.54 kids each.  The only crime other than an occasional vehicle break-in was an armed Home Invasion Robbery.  What prompted this to happen?  The two residents of the home are medical marijuana patients.  When the masked gunmen forced their way into the home they asked for one thing:  marijuana.  They didn’t want money or electronics…just the drugs.

1. More stringent guidelines to obtain a medical marijuana card.
   • Conditions like ear aches should not be included
   • If they aren’t going to be more specific, then legalize marijuana so we can hopefully get past the crime that has come with the law
2. Better zoning regulations so we don’t have dispensaries set up next to each other, located in residential areas or near schools.
3. Mandatory security in these dispensaries to reduce violent robberies and burglaries.
4. Better definitions of a caregiver and restrictions on growing quantities.  This too is turning residential neighborhoods into marijuana farms.
5. Dispensing marijuana should be done through a controlled environment like a pharmacy, not the corner house where Guido is set up.
6. Better education of patients
   • This does not give them the right to smoke and drive
   • This does not give them the right to smoke then go to work and operate a forklift
7. The granting of a medical marijuana card should require the prescribing doctor to visit with the patient’s Primary Care Physician and thoroughly review the patient’s medical history.  Is there a history of drug abuse?  Is this appropriate therapy for the combination of their conditions?

Following the passing of the new healthcare system, it will be interesting to see if we will now begin covering the cost of medical marijuana.  Will Little Johnny down the street be able to walk into the local dispensary, choose from Raspberry flavored marijuana and have us pick up the tab?

Squeaky…

Rather than focusing on the many subjects I could have this month.  I felt that I had to share this information because I enjoyed learning about myself.  I hope that you’ll take this survey and really enjoy learning more about yourself too.

I hear the terms liberal, progressive, conservative and libertarian a lot in the news today.  Last week, while watching Glenn Beck, I took a survey that helped to (generally) place you in a category based on your political ideals.  If you’re interested in where you fit based on answering 10 questions, I suggest taking this survey:

http://www.nolanchart.com/survey.php

This will help confirm your beliefs, but could also leave you with several questions.  Allow me to explain.

I’ve always considered myself a hardcore conservative.  My brother-in-law once sent me the following pic to use for my web postings which I believed fit perfectly.

 [Editor’s note: image is from http://www.thoseshirts.com/hcr.html]

After taking this survey, it confirmed my conservative ideals, but it also indicated that I tent to lean somewhat libertarian as well.  At the end of the survey, it informed me that my selections indicate that I’m a Conservative Libertarian.  That was news to me.  That immediately concerned me though.

We all have our generalizations about groups and I’m no different.  I started wondering if that meant I needed to grow a beard, buy a cabin in the mountains and start stock piling fertilizer.  A libertarian?  When I think of Libertarians, I always thought of Ted Kaczynski, aka the Unabomber.

It helped reading information on several sites explaining what that meant for me.  Here are some general definitions as I understand them.

Libertarian – The word I would use to describe Libertarians is freedom.  I see their main stance is that they want to be left to do what they want as long as they are not harming anyone else.  They believe everyone else has the same rights that they do.  They are based on tolerance and acting responsibly.  One site used the phrase live and let live to describe Libertarians.  They believe in very limited government and don’t like government meddling.  Like Conservatives, traditions do play a big part in their ideals.  Think of the Gadsden flags, I think they fit closely with this group.

Conservatives – I believe the word of focus here should be tradition.  Conservatives believe in maintaining the values and beliefs that we have traditionally held.  In God We Trust should be on our currency, 2^nd Amendment Rights, use of force (military) to maintain peace, marriage is defined as a union between a man and a woman, etc.  Conservatives much like Libertarians believe in smaller government, lower taxes (trickle-down economics), strong (traditional) family values, etc.  Government is there out of necessity and it serves a purpose but it should not tell us how to live or restrict our freedoms.

Liberal – I would describe liberals as focusing on inclusion.  Liberal ideals believe in providing a good life for everyone.  They aren’t fans of the traditional values that Conservatives value and they look to make the world more inclusive for everyone in spite of what their values are.  Many of the traditions that Conservatives value tend to feel extreme to Liberals.  Our currency should not include God on it, whose God are we referring to?  Will that make others feel left out?  Think of the Ten Commandments monument that was removed from the courthouse in Montana.  Think of the colored Christmas lights on public land at Christmas time, Manger scenes at Christmas, etc.  I see liberals giving up their own rights so that they don’t feel like they’re stepping on anyone else’s rights.

Progressive – This term is mis-used today.  Progressive to me indicates someone who leans liberal, but they exercise it more strongly (liberal on steroids).  Some people use the term Progressive to describe socialist beliefs which isn’t accurate.  I see how that confusion would take place, but I think socialism is more extreme than progressiveness.  Progressives believe many of the same things that liberals do, but they’re willing to give up more to make it happen.  I think we see many more progressives in today’s world than liberals, although many people calling themselves progressives believe in socialism.  Progressives believe in big government, but they don’t want to give everything to the government as to Socialists.  I see progressives as throwing traditions out the door and starting fresh.  They definitely want to provide for others and can’t stand to see anyone not on the equal.  They believe that government has the obligation to provide for people.

Socialism – Give everything to the government and let the government work everything out.  They will provide food, medicine, housing and any other essentials that they determine necessary.  The government knows best and it is not your job to question that. You have the obligation to serve the community with the skills you have and you won’t necessarily be rewarded based on what that job is.  For example, my boss and I both work in Systems.  We would likely be given the same size home and allowed the same “stuff”, it doesn’t matter that he is a manager and in our current market would make $50,000 more than I do.  In a socialist system, we would receive the same thing.  (Sounds a lot like Unions where your compensation is based on time in grade and not performance)  The Nolan chart uses the term Statist, which I correlate to socialist. 

Of course, you can be blended versions of these categories.  Conservative Libertarian, Progressive Socialist, etc.  I fall into the category of Conservative Libertarian and I completely understand why.  I believe in many of the traditional beliefs that the country was founded on.  I am deeply religious and my religion is important to me.  The life of the unborn, the fact that our laws are founded on the bible and ten commandments, etc.  I also relate to the Libertarian party which floored me.  However, I now understand that they do have values which are important to me.  Small government, laws that don’t restrict my freedoms, live and let live as long as you’re not hurting others and low taxes.  Sometimes these values don’t mesh well with my conservative values and it’s interesting to see which one wins. 

Barack Obama is probably a Progressive Socialist.  That helps explain why he relates to the liberals and progressives, but the socialist part of him is like nails on the chalk board to people like me.  Taxes drive me absolutely crazy.  “Spreading the wealth around” goes against every principle I have.  I lived in Illinois for a while and it nearly killed me each month paying our property taxes.  Now, we’re back in Colorado where the property taxes are more reasonable, but our tax structure is changing under the current government.  Colorado just implemented new taxes on food, candy, soda and internet sales.  Internet sales!!!  That is a big irritant for me because I shop online for everything.  This really upsets me, but fits with the liberal, progressive and/or socialist ideals.  High taxes lead to bigger government and the ability to provide for others that choose not to (and the few that can’t).

Squeaky…

Division. What comes to mind when you think of that? Brown vs. Board of Education? Well that is more segregation than division but I believe the two are closely related. In today’s world I think of politics when I hear the word division. Why? Because we are so divided today that I have trouble believing it. On a positive note it isn’t just Democrats vs. Republicans. However, closely aligned to that is still primarily Liberals/Progressives vs. Conservatives.

There is no denying that our Country became more divided as President Clinton’s problems grew. For those old enough to have been interested in politics there was the investigation into his land deals (Whitewater) and of course the Monica Lewinsky scandal. My favorite quote occurred during his grand jury testimony over the Lewinsky scandal (aka Zippergate). Clinton answers a question, “It depends on what the meaning of the words ‘is’ is.”

Then George W Bush came into office. Two jets crashed into the towers changed our country forever on 9/11/2001. We seemed to unify on 9/12/2001 but we quickly divided again. On 9/12 it seemed that traditional U.S. values and security of our country came to the forefront for most people. However, that didn’t last and the mudslinging we saw during the Clinton era surfaced again. That lasted through the entire eight years of his presidency.

A small fraction of the population really went over the edge and began to speculate that 9/12 was an inside job; meaning that the September 11th terrorist attack was planned and executed by the government. They call themselves “9/11 truthers” and I can’t think of many subjects that will incite fury in more common people than that. I’m just a layperson when it comes to using drugs, but in my opinion these individuals are certified crack users. (More division!)

In 2010, we see an even greater division than we have seen in the last 15 years. The hope and change being proposed today in Washington is certainly controversial. Most of it is supported by Liberals and opposed by Conservatives. Moderates (true moderates, not liberals masquerading as moderates like my wife’s step-dad) seem to swing either way depending on the topic. However, as the Obama Administration moves forward with more change, we’re seeing and hearing from moderates that they are leaning more conservative. Think of the issues: healthcare, tax increases, bailouts, closing of Guantanamo Bay, etc. Definite division.

For eight years we listened to liberals criticize George W Bush. Today if I criticize Barack Obama, it doesn’t matter if it’s related to his stance on a political matter. It doesn’t matter if I oppose the healthcare changes, rising taxes, TARP and the handling of the TARP repayments. Suddenly if I disagree with Obama, I’m a racist, I’m a bigot and I’m the bad guy. Liberals imposing this sort of double standard creates more division.

I heard yesterday on the radio a story about Rahm Emanuel and his statement regarding a liberal group’s ad campaign regarding Obama’s healthcare overhaul. Emanuel’s comment was simply, “Fu**ing Retarded”. When I think of division, this is a big one. He alienated the democratic group that was sponsoring the ad, he alienated individuals with developmental disabilities and their families/friends, and he alienated people that just don’t take kindly to the degradation of a class of citizens like that.

How about March 2009 when President Obama appeared on the Jay Leno show. BO told Jay that he had bowled a 129. After Jay complimenting him on his bowling score, the president laughingly says, “It’s like the Special Olympics or something.” More alienation, more degradation and yet more division.

I’m probably dreaming, but I envision a day when we can be a more united country. A country that lives like it is 9/12 again. I would be a fool to think that we would ever agree on everything. I would still like to see at least one (significant) area where we could agree—as a country.

Right now, we’re seeing more division than I can ever remember. I was a young boy when Jimmy Carter served in office. However, I still remember the talk about him around our house and those of our friends/family. That was a divisive time period, but I still can’t believe it was near what we see today. I hope and pray that in the next few years we unite as a country and move forward with truly positive change to get us back on the right track.

Squeaky…

Ignorant. Stupid. Naive. Reckless.

These are just a few words I think of when I consider Barack Obama’s decision to continue with the closing of the prison at Guantanamo Bay. It’s been said by many Homeland Security and terrorism officials that Yemen is the new Afghanistan. This means that the new terrorism training location and the safe haven that terrorists (Al-Qaeda) are currently residing in is Yemen. The attempted airline attack on Christmas Day by Abdul Mudallad has ties to both Al-Qaeda and Yemen.

Let’s consider Guantanamo Bay for a moment. There were roughly 100 Yemini detainees at Gitmo. I remind you that Gitmo has been reserved for prisoners that are the “most dangerous of the dangerous”. We have already released roughly 20 of these prisoners to YEMEN. There are around 10-15 that are expected to go to trial (in the US) which leaves about 70 prisoners that could very well be released back to Yemen.

I’m a layman regarding this subject. However, this layman would like to apply some common sense to this subject. How stupid is it to release potentially 100 prisoners back to the hot spot for terrorist training? Why would we ever dream of strengthening the enemy by sending reinforcements to them? Meanwhile, the other countries of the world are pointing and laughing at us because we act weak. We focus on getting H1N1 shots to the Gitmo detainees while our own citizens do without. In countries like Switzerland they are making stand against Islam by banning any new Minarets in their country. Why are we (in the United States) so focused on being politically correct that we help Islam grow while other countries try to stifle that same epidemic growth?

What about keeping us safe while we are flying? How many of the terrorists in Gitmo and in the terrorist attacks fit a certain profile? [Pause for reflection] When are we going to wake up and use the intelligence and knowledge that we have? If we know that people traveling from specific countries or that have lived in specific countries have a higher potential to be terrorists why not use that information? If we know that Muslim males between the ages of 15-40 are more likely to carry out Jihad on us, why not use that information? Yes, I’m talking about profiling. No holds barred profiling.

Is it so bad to profile that liberals would rather see hundreds of lives lost instead of inconveniencing a few Muslims to extra searches? Have we become a country that is so politically correct that we’re willing to put aside all common sense so that we don’t offend someone?

Conservatives speak up. Liberals wake up. The time has come for all of us to get back to the way we thought on 9/12. Remember the Towers falling and people jumping. We need to do all we can to keep our citizens safe. The failed Christmas Day bombing by Abdul Mudallad was one of luck—–luck that Abdul either cracked under pressure unable to make his bomb work or luck that the bomb maker did a poor job to start with. Either way, I believe that we have been spared massive loss of life purely by the Grace of God.

I hope that 12/25 was a wakeup call for the USA.
I hope that the closing of Gitmo will be stopped or at least paused so that terrorists are not brought onto US soil or released to receive more training. Our leaders need to evaluate this threat more before simply trying to appease their constituents by fulfilling a campaign promise that was founded on lack of information

I hope that the US Agencies will work together better and share information.

I hope that we will all finally wake up and be willing to call a spade a spade and a terrorist a terrorist. If that means profiling, so be it. My family, friends, neighbors and coworkers are worth it to me.

Squeaky…

Guns kill people. What an ignorant statement. Search the blogs and left news sites and you’ll find an endless number of morons spouting off that statement. Have we become a county of senseless sissies? I think not. There is just a small number of morons out there, but they are unfortunately a loud, obnoxious and never ending stream of gibberish.

I am a former police officer that served in Lincoln, NE a University city of roughly 250,000. I have spent the majority of my life handling and shooting weapons (handguns, rifles and shotguns). I am an NRA member, a concealed weapon carrier and fully support our rights under the 2nd Amendment.

I have spent a lot of time this week thinking about the four police officers in Lakewood, WA that lost their lives. They were taking a break when Maurice Clemmons walked into the coffee shop they were at and ambushed them. I have wondered how differently things would have played out if there had been a citizen in the coffee shop that was in possession of a weapon. Maurice’s ambush was concentrated on the officers which would have easily allowed someone in another part of the business to end the situation immediately. Had the person acted quickly enough, at least one of those police officers may have survived.

I spent a short time living in Illinois where the left wing crowd in Chicago has been able to block any legislation that would allow their citizens to carry concealed weapons. Wisconsin is the only other state in our Union that has not passed any CCW laws. I continue to ask myself why. Why would anyone want to prevent their citizens from legally carrying a weapon when statistics show that it reduces violent crime and saves lives? Do people really think that guns kill people? Do we only want the Maurice Clemmons out there carrying concealed? Remember, it isn’t the felons and criminals taking the time and spending the money to jump through the legal hoops needed to gain a CCW permit. It’s the law abiding citizens that have families to protect, the former law enforcement officers that can make a difference, military personnel and people that have grown up with guns. Why not have a trained and willing pocket of citizens that can help end violent encounters quickly?

Remember, when seconds count the police are just minutes away. I can lend a lot of credibility to that statement. When we filed reports on any incidents, we documented the time that calls came to dispatch, the time the call was given to us (the officer) and when we arrived on location. Folks, don’t be naive; it literally takes minutes to get police officers to your home or business. Here is the process: The call comes in to someone answering the 991 line. That person has to type in the details of the call, document the issue, the location, the caller’s name and prioritize the call. They then send that to a dispatcher that looks to see which officers are available. The dispatcher then calls the officers and they need time to respond. Do you really believe that the officer is just a minute away from your home or place of business? Think of congested traffic, people not noticing those flashing lights or hearing the siren. Think of poor weather conditions slowing traffic. What about when the officers are all on other calls and dispatch is urgently trying to get someone to clear their call? Worse yet, what if the dispatcher has to pull an officer from the other side of the city? These situations are reality.

It’s well documented that states passing CCW laws have reduced murder rates by 8.5%, rapes by 5%, aggravated assaults by 7% and robbery by 3%. Doesn’t that sound like an incentive to you? Don’t you want a safer place to live and work? It only takes a moment to think about the V-Tech shooting, Maurice Clemmons shooting, Fort Hood, etc. There are so many examples where an individual carrying could have ended a bad situation and saved lives. So ask yourself, why do the liberal politicians in our country hate guns so much? Why do they continually say that guns kill people? It isn’t guns that kill people, it’s bad people using guns (or knives, vehicles, etc) that kill people. Do they now want to ban butcher knives, vehicles, ice picks, axes, mallets and ropes for “killing people”?

All states should have CCW laws and reciprocity with other states. Gun Free Zones are just death traps and safe havens for criminals. Don’t you want a chance to survive? Remember that phrase, “When seconds count, the police are just minutes away.” The criminals are going to carry concealed regardless of the law.

Have a Merry Christmas!

Squeaky …

What do you call H1N1 in your house? H1N1? Pig Flu? Swine Flu? Hini Flu (Doesn’t H1N1 look like HINI?) After the last couple of months, we’re referring to it as Hell.

Those of you that read my last article know that I have a family of four. I’m blessed to have Kimberly (my wife), two beautiful daughters and me. My daughters are six (Kiley) and four (Kayla). Kiley is a first grader and Kayla is in her 2nd year of preschool at our church.

Kiley was the first person in our home to experience the early signs of H1N1. She came home from school with the trademark H1N1 cough and then diarrhea. A day later, Kayla shared in the misery. After the first day, H1N1 really turns on its charm. The high fever started with numbers reaching up to 103.7 and body aches unrivaled by any flu before. I remember hearing Kiley crying so I went to see what was wrong with her only to find that she was crying in her sleep. This continued for nearly a week. Both girls suffered extreme exhaustion, headache, body aches, coughing, fever, diarrhea and extreme irritability. My wife picked up a very low grade fever (around 100-101) and a resilient cough.

The girls slowly improved and at around the 10 day mark they were good enough to go back to school. At this point we learned that Kiley’s class of 23 kids had only 8 children in class during part of her absence. I wondered why no classes were cancelled and the school continued as planned.

During this fiasco I remained symptom free and was starting to feel invincible to this “Pig Flu”. Could I possibly avoid this? I had watched my entire live in family suffer through it and I was feeling a little guilty. I wasn’t taking any chances though. I doubled my multivitamin intake and started taking Emergen-C three times each day. I was also very nervous because I had tickets for the Nebraska vs. Texas Tech football game which was in Lincoln. I had non-refundable hotel reservations and plans with some of my college buddies that (I thought) I couldn’t miss. My plans were to leave on Friday morning about 6:00 am.

Wednesday night I began to feel extremely fatigued, soon I had a headache and body aches started. I went to bed hoping I would continue to fight it. I woke up Thursday morning about 3:00 am freezing and burning up at the same time, my back felt like my wife had been punching me in the back all night and I couldn’t get comfortable in bed no matter how I laid. I spent all day Thursday sleeping and wrapped in blankets. My fever was above 103, I had chills, horrible body aches and I noticed that I felt short of breath just going up one flight of stairs.

I was taking Ibuprofen every four hours and Acetaminophen two hours after the Ibuprofen. Friday morning I woke up and my fever had broke. This is where I got stupid … very stupid. I called my buddy to see if he still wanted to drive to Lincoln. I told him my fever broke but that I had H1N1. We talked about the “24 hour fever free” rule, but being a sports fanatic, he was in anyway.

We drove to Lincoln, drank, ate and had as much fun as possible. Saturday my buddy came began to get symptoms of H1N1 and we both struggled through the football game. Sunday we drove home to our families as sick as ever. My fever came back and continued until Tuesday. I started feeling better then but stayed out of work that week so I didn’t give it to anyone else. The shortness of breath continued and 6 weeks later is still haunting me.

After being H1N1 free except for the shortness of breath for a few weeks, I came down with a terrible sinus infection and possibly bronchitis. I worked from home so I didn’t make anyone else sick. Then I went to see my doc a few days later. He didn’t think it was bronchitis but plenty of sinus infection to go around. My cough was horrible and shortness of breath was worse. I learned that after H1N1 hits you with the flu, it leaves your upper respiratory system in a weakened state. You’re very susceptible to colds, infections and pneumonia.

I’m now 5 days through a 10 day course of antibiotics and can’t wait to feel better. My cough is much better but I have a lot of improving to do. Kiley, my six year old went back to the pediatrician with a horrible cough and stuffy nose. She was diagnosed with Pneumonitis; I’ve been told that is essentially the beginning stages of pneumonia. 

I asked Kosmo if I could share my experience so that people would realize how rough this illness is. It isn’t a 24 hour flu and it isn’t necessarily over when the flu leaves. This is a horrible flu, especially for the kids. The body aches scare them to death and they are severe. The high fever wreaks havoc on their little bodies. For the parents, if you’re lucky enough to avoid it you’ll be saying, “I’m so sick of sick people.” (Quote taken from my wife Kimberly)

Please follow the CDC guidelines on prevention, be courteous and cough into a tissue or your elbow. Stay home if you’re sick or keep your kids home if they’re sick. This pandemic has forced me to change the way I think about illness. I don’t wish this on anyone and I feel bad that I didn’t adhere to the 24 hour fever free rule. This has changed my view on flu forever.

I don’t ask much, but if you haven’t already been sickened by H1N1 and you haven’t been vaccinated, just do it. You’ll thank yourself later.

Squeaky…

http://www.cdc.gov/H1N1FLU/