Government Reopens...For Now....

Having reached a deal yesterday to reopen the federal government, sequestered, laid off, furloughed workers today began to report back to their jobs in and around the country. What deal was reached,  however, may not be exactly what you may think it is, at it only funds the government until the middle of January, putting a burden on a committee to make sure that things role smoothly past that point:

The group of Democrats and Republicans from the Senate and House of Representatives is expected to start working in coming days and would have to report recommendations by December 13.
While there are no prescribed consequences if the committee fails to agree on recommendations, government funding runs out again on January 15, and the threat of another federal shutdown will put pressure on lawmakers for a deal.
On the other hand, such committees do not have a great track record. Washington has seen numerous deficit commissions and negotiating "gangs" and "supercommittees" fail, most notably after the budget deal in 2011.

One can only speculate what conditions will have to be met for compromise in order to keep this country rolling under the current governmental representatives. Full details on the compromise package, which include a $174,000 check to the widow of late millionaire Senator Frank R. Lautenberg. With these kinds of "deals," is it any wonder why we can't keep the country running?

Sic vis pacem parabellum

MT

Senate Reaches Deal to Open Government

Senators Reid and McConnell have brought their parties, at least at the senate level, into agreement range in a bid to reopen the federal government. Speaker Boehner will call the House to vote on a resolution for the end of the shutdown as well.

The House is scheduled to consider the deal at 3 p.m.; the Senate, "after dinner," according to CNN.

The Senate deal would:

• Keep the government open until Jan. 15;
• Increase the debt ceiling through Feb. 7;
• Appoint negotiators to hammer out a long-term budget deal;
• Require income verification for those signing up for Obamacare subsidies.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Republican leader Mitch McConnell announced the agreement on the Senate floor, where it was expected to win swift approval after a main Republican critic of the deal, Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, said he would not use procedural moves to delay a vote.

Senator Cruz of Texas has come out against the deal stating that it does not address Obamacare: ""The deal that has been cut provides no relief to millions of Americans who are hurting because of Obamacare. The deal that has been cut provides no relief to the young people coming out of school who cannot find a job because of Obamacare."

Regardless of who is to blame for having kept the government shut down for the past two weeks, the people of the United States are the real losers in all the political wrangling during this beltway showdown. The politicians that have been sent to Washington are not there representing the interests of the people of this country. The bullying, the haranguing, the posturing and posing, have all been for the benefits of the cameras covering the events of the shutdown. Washington keeps itself separated and segregated from the rest of the country by passing laws that they, themselves, do not follow or adhere to.

According to some legends of King Arthur, Camelot fell into sharp decline when there was one set of laws for the kingdom and a different set of laws for the King. Are we, as Camelot, falling into decline as a nation because of the same circumstance? Can a nation exist if there is one set of laws for the governors and another set for the governed? If history is any judge, looking at Rome and the Soviet system, such a system is doomed to failure...

Just a thought

Sic vis pacem parabellum

MT

Updated: Government Denies Death Benefits to Service Members During Shutdown

See update below.

Adding to the list of things not being done by the federal government during the government shutdown, the Pentagon has released a statement that it does not have the "authority" to authorize death benefits for service members killed during this time period.

All of the leaders noted that despite the recall of most civilians, and the resumption of many activities across the Department of Defense, there are critical programs and benefits that remain halted. For example, the department does not currently have the authority to pay death gratuities for the survivors of service members killed in action – typically a cash payment of $100,000 paid within three days of the death of a service member. In addition, emergency funding that supports commanders on the ground and intelligence activities remains unavailable. Service leaders also reported that because of the shutdown, they are curtailing training for later deploying units – an activity that has already been reduced due to sequestration.

Blame who you will for the current governmental shutdown, but for service members to be denied death benefits, for the families of those service members to have stress added upon them unnecessarily, because two groups of people cannot come to terms, compromise with each other, and come to agreements over what amounts to little more than individuals being worried about their legacies over serving the public they were elected to represent, is reprehensible.

It is of little wonder that our founding fathers warned us against political party systems.

To our legislative bodies: fix this mess.

Now.

Sic vis pacem parabellum.

MT

Update: A private charity has stepped up to the plate to do what our government can't/won't do during the shutdown period.

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said on Wednesday families of troops who die during the government shutdown will receive a death benefit payment, despite legal restrictions on the Pentagon, thanks to a deal reached with a private charity.

The Blame Game

I have a very serious question to ask. If you didn't know, thanks to the media telling you over and over how the government was shut down, would you feel any repercussions from it personally? It's a serious question, not one that requires any answer to me, personally, but one that you have to answer for yourself. Once you've answered that question for yourself, then you have to decide whether or not to do something about it.

The media is full of blame, the politicians are full of blame, the American people are all taking their sides on who is to blame for this shutdown. The main streamers seem to want to blame the Republicans, shouldering the burden of blame fully on them for responsibility for this latest (I shudder to use the word that has been so overused the past several years) crisis. According to Media Research Center, the main stream media was blaming the pending shutdown on Republicans for two weeks before it even happened. There seems to be a trend to this, we'll discuss that at another time.

Who do we blame, who do we blame, who do we blame and pile heeps of shame? The real answer to this question is no further away than your bathroom mirror.

I'll let that soak in for a moment while posting a picture of a random Kardashian, Rob, who doesn't care about "keeping up" with the rest of the family, to distract you, main stream media style, from the real problems and events of the day:

I'm not here to play the blame game with anyone, I'm not here to play he said/she said. I will point out that the federal debt limit has been raised under el Presidente Obama. I will also say that we, the citizenry of the United States, do not do our own research on our candidates, but will instead let the media present our politicians to us like a pig at a luau. We the people do not participate in our government, as responsible citizens, such as were our founding fathers. We participate in keeping up...be it with the Kardashians, Miley Cyrus, or who George Clooney is being seen with this week. Distraction is the game of the day, and until the government shuts down, we don't really pay that much attention, and as a result we do not send the best and brightest to Washington, or even to our state or local governments, to represent US. When we do pay attention, such as in the case of the current shutdown, the main streamers do what they can to hype it up into an evangelical frenzy, only instead of preaching about the Grace and Wrath of God, their subject is how you should be afraid, be VERY afraid, that your nanny state isn't able to watch over you...

Just a thought.

Sic vis pacem parabellum.

Mike Tippitt

Bush Lifts Presidential Ban on Off-Shore Drilling, Congressional Ban Still in Place

There is an old saying, "Desperate times call for desperate measures." Given the state of the nation's economy and the exorbitant price of fuel, President Bush has removed the Presidential ban on offshore drilling, and calls for Congress to follow suite.

Recent polling data has shown a shift in the American desire to drill off our coastal shores. Soaring fuel prices over the past two years, despite Democratic promises to work to bring them down, have put a strain on the American economy and the wallet of the average American family. Rising fuel prices have driven up the cost of nearly everything, from food to services, and American's are demanding something be done to truly change the situation.

The introduction of bio-fuels in certain markets has proven unreliable as a current alternative and remedy to the fuel situation; even the blending of grain fuels into petroleum products have left consumers complaining of decreased fuel mileage and performance in their automobiles. The auto industry itself is suffering from a lack of sales, and a look in the vehicle section of the local classified ads in newspapers around the country show a significant increase in the number of SUV's, pick-up trucks, and larger cars being offered for sale at near give-away prices.

Today, President Bush took the first step in doing something from a governmental level to help take the stress off of consumers by signing an executive order rescinding the Presidential ban on off shore drilling along the United States coastal regions, and called for Congress to remove the Congressional ban, as well. (Full text of speech here)

"This is a difficult period for millions of American families," Bush said. "Every extra dollar they have to spend because of high gas prices is one dollar less they can use to put food on the table or send a child to school. And they are rightly angered by Congress' failure to enact common-sense solutions."

Bush said increasing access to offshore exploration of the Outer Continental Shelf is one of the most important steps the country can take. He laid blame on Democrats who he said have rejected "virtually every proposal" to expand domestic oil production.

"... Congress has restricted access to key parts of the OCS since the early 1980s," Bush said. "Experts believe that these restricted areas of the OCS could eventually produce nearly 10 years' worth of America's current annual oil production. And advances in technology have made it possible to conduct oil exploration in the OCS that is out of sight, protects coral reefs and habitats, and protects against oil spills."

Historically significant is the fact that the original Presidential ban on drilling was signed into being by the President's father during his term in office as President in 1990. The Congressional ban came around the same time period.

This is President Bush's second call for Congress to remove their ban, having made the first request in June.

Environmental groups and activists are already denouncing the executive order, with Senator Barbara Boxer (D-California) proclaiming that such a move will destroy the economy of the country's coastal region.

Frankly, I'm not sure how that would be the case, given that there would be a migration of oil workers to towns along the coast for access to transportation to and from work on ocean based oil rigs, a move that would bring commerce into those regions in the form of housing sales, goods and services being sold and rendered, and the addition of jobs in those fields to support the influx of new population into those regions.

It is by no means going to be a quick fix, if and when Congress does lift their ban on off-shore drilling, but such an action would clear the way for oil production domestically, and perhaps the reinvestment of refinery processes on American soil, thereby creating more jobs in that area, as well.

The next move is up to Congress, leaving the American people to wait and see if their Congressmen and Senators are paying attention to what the American public is demanding of them.

Once and Always, an American Fighting Man

.

Call in the roughnecks, the majority of Americans want off-shore drilling

For years, our nation has had a noticeable lack of off shore drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, an area where vast stores of crude are both known and believed to be located. What is the United States to do now, though, if the Gulf is being pumped by others?

If you want to make an environmentalist extremist sweat drops of blood (or maybe crude) mention two topics, ANWR or offshore drilling. For years, the environmentalist movement has kept big oil from drilling in the oil rich region that feeds from the foot of the Mississippi River, arguing that drilling has such a huge negative impact on the environment that it isn't feasible to drill under the floor of the ocean to recover the "black gold" that we all rely upon for heating and energy. And for years, the American public has nodded their collective head, yeah-yeahing the environmentalist lobby, relying on an ample supply of relatively inexpensive fuel supply from the Middle East, so the nation didn't really NEED the Arctic or Gulf Oil.

How quickly a nation forgets the fuel lines from the Carter administration.

The American people have found themselves in a pinch, having allowed governmental agencies to put such heavy restrictions on the oil industry that there have been no new refineries built in the United States in literally decades, existing refineries are operating far below capacity because investment in new equipment to replace old has been lacking, due to funds being allocated for overseas projects, and a heavy reliance on OPEC for a large percentage of our oil.

Through in a little sales process called "speculating," and the American people are facing the highest fuel and oil prices on record. And they're getting very tired of being over a barrel, in a very literal sense.

And they're starting to look at ANWR and at the Gulf of Mexico with the activity going on in international waters by other countries and asking, "Why aren't we getting in on this ourselves?" Polling data from a mid-May Gallup poll shows that 57% American voters are ready to start drilling for oil again on our own soil, both in the Gulf of Mexico and in the frozen northern wastelands of Alaska. This information has put Congress in a bit of a tizzy.

House Democrats are in a bind on the focal point of their energy plan.

Worried that a floor vote on any energy-related measure would trigger a Republican-forced vote on domestic drilling, the leadership has scrubbed the floor schedule of the energy legislation that it vowed to tackle after the Fourth of July recess.

Just before leaving for their districts, a number of House Democrats called a press conference to declare victory on a number of energy bills — including overwhelming passage of a bill to rein in excessive oil market speculation.

Democrats declared victory on a bill they failed to pass on the suspension calendar — their “use it or lose it bill” to force energy companies to either start drilling on their federally leased land or give it back — saying they had put 176 Republicans on record as siding with the oil companies over consumers.

And they vowed that the bill, the centerpiece of their energy message, would be back.

So far, there are no energy related bills slated for discussion in the first week Congress has reconvened following the Independence Day holiday weekend, leading the Republicans to cry "foul," accusing the Democrats of backtracking on their word after realizing that the Republicans could shoot down any marketing changes with legislation of their own calling for new and expanded drilling. Democrats counter that they are simply discussing their options and looking to bring forward the best plan to the table first before making an official presentation out of committee.

At this point, Democratic plans lean toward reforming how oil is sold, putting an end to the practice of speculating, or at the very least putting limitations on how speculating is done in an effort to keep prices from skyrocketing as they have done over the last year. Republican plans call for drilling that would begin immediately, with the intended results of adding more available crude and refined oil products into the market; a larger supply driving prices back down to reasonable figures. The problem here lies in the age of existing drilling and refinery equipment and the urgent need for more and newer equipment in order to significantly increase production of domestic oil, as well as the number of new wells that would need to be drilled to operate along with standing wells that are operating with older pumps, and would include, despite the outcry of the environmentalist left, actually drilling for oil where it can be found such as the Gulf of Mexico and ANWR.

Perhaps, looking objectively outside the box for a moment, some bright soul in Congress (don't hold your collective breath looking for that individual to appear) can come up with a plan that would incorporate both ideas into one piece of legislation that actually does something that benefits the American public for a change, rather than benefiting either one party or the other in the race to make tally marks on who's winning more pieces of useless legislation coming through the government.

Once and Always, an American Fighting Man

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Nancy Pelosi, Ringmistress of the Democratic National Circus

Nancy Pelosi has done it again. There seems to be a certain script that she's following. Could it be that there are instructions tattooed behind her eyelids so that only she can read the writing?

"Nancy, follow these instructions:

1. Procure interview.

2. Open mouth.

3. Lie like hell."

Nancy's latest line is that she's given credit to Iran for stopping violence in Basra. Um, pardon me, but I thought that the Iranians were CAUSING problems of violence in Iraq, not stepping in to stop violence...

From Abe Greenwald at Commentary Magazine:

In an interview yesterday with the San Francisco Chronicle, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi claimed the U.S. troop surge failed to accomplish its goal. She then partially credited the success of the troop surge to “the goodwill of the Iranians,” claiming that they were responsible for ending violence in the southern city of Basra.

Asked if she saw any evidence of the surge’s positive impact on her May 17 trip to Iraq she responded:

Well, the purpose of the surge was to provide a secure space, a time for the political change to occur to accomplish the reconciliation. That didn’t happen. Whatever the military success, and progress that may have been made, the surge didn’t accomplish its goal. And some of the success of the surge is that the goodwill of the Iranians-they decided in Basra when the fighting would end, they negotiated that cessation of hostilities-the Iranians.

This is an inexcusable slander. Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki brought the Sadrists militias to their knees in a month-long battle that enabled Iraq’s largest Sunni bloc to rejoin the government. Furthermore, when Pelosi met with Prime Minister al-Maliki in Mosul she sang quite a different tune. She had “welcomed Iraq’s progress in passing a budget as well as oil legislation, and a bill paving the way for the provincial elections in the fall that are expected to more equitably redistribute power among local officials,” and stated, “We’re assured the elections will happen here, they will be transparent, they will be inclusive and they will take Iraq closer to the reconciliation we all want it to have.”

GREAT JOB, Grammy Nan, you're proving, once again, how true the old adage that is credited to the American Indian in regards to Washington politicians, "White man (in this case, woman) speak with forked tongue."

The Democratic Party has turned into little more than a three ring circus at this point, with Nancy Pelosi staring in the center ring as the ringmistress, bull horn in hand, feast your eyes, ladiessssssssssss and gentlemen, on our next assssssssssstounding performance, and voila, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama come driving out in the clown care to amuse and confuse in the left ring, the Amazing Algore in the other left ring (there are no right rings in this circus) begins setting up for his amazing green magic performance. I've heard, personally, that it's a lot of "hot" air...

Shakespeare once said "all the world's a stage," and the Democrats are doing their dead level best to prove the Bard at his word. For the past two years, the Democrats have been MacBeth's "poor player who struts and frets his hour upon the stage, FULL of SOUND and FURY...a tale told by an idiot, signifying nothing." The American people were duped by democrats into voting them into power two years ago hoping for change and that the Democrats would do something about the rising price of fuel. They did; the economy has continued to tank and fuel prices are nearing double what they were at the time of Nancy Pelosi's grand show of strutting about on the floor of the House with her grandchild in arms. What a magNIFICENT photo op! It would have been more impressive to use trained apes, at least they might have accomplished a bit more than the Democrats have managed since their glorious seizure of power in 06. Flung poo on the House floor would be more interesting than anything Nancy has had to say, and I'm certain that there could be more accomplished in the form of hanging from the chandeliers than is being done by our current "representatives" who have manage to change the names of some postal facilities over the past couple of years. Perhaps the alpha male of the group of apes could bang the gavel and call them to order for a session of legislative session of lice and flea picking and grooming.

That, at least, would be something productive. We could expect the new Speaker of the House to look a bit like this:

We, the American people, are screwing ourselves over by sending the same do-nothing "representatives" up to Washington term after term after term. We are being earmarked and porked to death, and we're not even getting the satisfaction of having a good smoke after being porked without knowing that our legislators want to levy a heavy tax on the tobacco. Perhaps Ringling Brothers would be better, at this point, in handling our government. They have experience in juggling, dealing with dangerous predators, and performing seemingly impossible feats that amaze us in spectacular ways. Perhaps they could appoint someone along the lines of the late Gunther Gebel Williams as Ambassador to the United Nations.

And yet we do it to ourselves. We select the most inept, corrupt, despicable individuals that we can select out of a poor selection pool of contenders to send to Washington as it is. There are currently 535 Senators and Congressmen and Congresswomen in our government, the majority of whom have been there long enough to become entrenched in their positions. Need I name names? Dick Durbin, Ted Kennedy, Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, Robert Byrd...Robert Byrd, by the way, a former Klansman who was born in 1917, has served since 1959.

1959.

THIS was the intention of the founding fathers? Senators who become career politicians instead of serving the country IN ADDITION to their careers as farmers, doctors, lawyers, business owners? I think not. And yet for 49 years Byrd has served as a Senator.

And yet West Virginia continues to put him into office, decade after decade.

Ask yourselves, Americans, is this the way you wish to be represented in government? By a group of people who could be replaced by trained apes who would do a better job? At least, perhaps, the apes would have enough sense not to do something as inane as trying to sue OPEC.

Once and Always, an American Fighting Man

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Nancy Pelosi Prioritizes

With radical Muslim extremists, rising fuel prices, a possible artificial recession looming on the horizon due to too much governmental regulation of the economy, the controversy of national health care initiatives, the global war on terror, and other such critical situations looming in the world, it's GOOD to know that Speaker Pelosi has her priorities straight on what's important.



It COULD be said that she's heading up the Capital Food Police. Speaker Pelosi has determined that the menu offered by the Capital deli's, snack bars, and such needed to be "greened up" for the sake of the environment.

From Politico:

The processed cheese has been replaced with brie. The Jell-O has made way for raspberry kiwi tarts and mini-lemon blueberry trifles. Meatloaf has moved over for mahi mahi and buns have been shunted aside in favor of baguettes.

A revolution is afoot at the deli counters, grills and salad bars of the U.S. House of Representatives.

Newly ascendant Democrats may have hit roadblocks on Iraq and fiscal issues, but they have revamped congressional menus, replacing fatty, pre-made foods with healthier, gourmet alternatives. The once dreary congressional cafeterias now abound with haute cuisine.

The menu transformation is part of Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s “Greening the Capitol” plan to make the House campus more environmentally friendly and socially progressive.

But there can be a downside to delicious. Not everyone is happy with the enhanced offerings. Many congressional employees have complained that as the food quality has increased, so have the prices.

“It’s a big jump from high school cafeteria to fancy-pants gourmet. I just wish my pay improved,” said Caryn Schenewerk, a staffer for Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.).

A fruit and cheese side dish with two small wedges of brie and cheddar, six grapes, two saltines and one strawberry cost $4.95, for example.

Don't touch that pepperoni pizza, Jimmy, you don't know where it's been, and besides, it's not good for the environment.

Ok, I have to say this. I've GOT to say this. Meatloaf I understand (and love), but mahi-mahi? First of all, what the hell IS it? Secondly, what the hell IS it?

Oy vey.

Outstanding job, Nancy, keep up the good work. It's your continued focus on such pressing issues as this that make us so VERY proud of you and, indeed, our House of Representatives as a whole.

Once and Always, an American Fighting Man


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Olympia, Washington Protests

[Spree's comments]

I am way behind on this story, so I will give a quick run down, then send you over to Malkin's site because she has been all over this, has the video, the pictures and the whole story.

43 people have been arrested and more would be except the police are scared of harming the children these cretins are hiding behind....LITERALLY.

As far as the protests in Washington state, which have made many headlines, 43 people were arrested in the Olympia rallies Tuesday night. Organizers of these war protests are planning yet more protests Friday in Seattle, Olympia and Chehalis.

Michelle Malkin calls it sedition and she is right.

Sedition:

1. incitement of discontent or rebellion against a government.
2. any action, esp. in speech or writing, promoting such discontent or rebellion.
3. Archaic. rebellious disorder.

Keep that definition in mind as you read about these protesters from Michelle, first about them blocking Military shipments from the troops and using kids as human shields and this is what I mean about literally:

Bjornstad added that police didn't anticipate protesters blocking trucks Friday afternoon. Police also didn't anticipate that small children would be among them, he said.

Two grade-school-age boys and a toddler were among the people in the path of the trucks Friday, a development that Bjornstad said was "quite disturbing" and "quite appalling, in my opinion." Police want to ensure the safety of the protesters, should they have to be removed, and police were not prepared for safely removing children Friday, he said.

"We're going to have to figure out how to address that issue," Bjornstad said.

That first piece at Malkin's also deals with the protesters vandalizing churches.

The go to her next piece where the protesters decided it would be cute to pour cement on the railroad tracks to stop Military shipments.

Activists protesting military shipments at the Port of Olympia poured cement over railroad tracks to try to block shipments coming out of the Port today, according to Olympia police. Nobody was arrested after protesters unsuccessfully tried to keep trains from leaving the Port, said Olympia police Lt. Jim Costa. The Port cleaned up the cement, Costa said.

I think Malkin's outrage about no one being arrested is quite understandable.

This is far from over. You need to know that these lawless thugs are instigating a nationwide movement to shut down the ports and block military shipments in your town:

Read the rest of that piece also.

Her third piece shows reports of reporters being attacked and she has videos up also.

In the fourth piece she has pictures of one of these mothers dropping their infant right on his head.

I guess the protest means more than the childs safety.

After catching up with her excellent coverage of this, we now start with other reports.

The Olympian:

At the port: What happened and what did not happen

Let me make something perfectly clear: The Olympian's newsroom staff did not get attacked by police when they were at the scene covering the recent port protests.

However, photographer Tony Overman was threatened by protesters and felt endangered to the point of calling 9-1-1 for assistance.

There is much misinformation on this topic in community blogs and conversation.

Journalists covering breaking news often put themselves at risk. Being on the frontlines to report news as it happens is essential. Most of us love that adrenaline rush of the big story happening before our eyes. But in volatile situations such as the protests of the past week, our journalists are exposed to the same risks as everyone else when tension escalates.

And an out-of-control crowd — as the local demonstrators proved to be several times — is a scary thing.

Tony is experienced in shooting dangerous scenes. He spent several weeks in Iraq last year covering our troops.

But last week Tony was cornered against a chain-link fence by protesters angry at being photographed. One grabbed at his lens. Tony said the hostility was alarming, and he felt threatened as they yelled at him with growing intensity. He reached for his cell phone, punched 9-1-1 and explained the situation, officers arrived and the demonstrators pinning him to the fence backed off.

More from AP, Seattle Times, Herald Tribune, Seattle PI.

These people need to be prosecuted for Sedition, no doubt about it.

Then head over and see what Ace and his readers are are up to... kinda amusing.

I will update as I catch up.

Spree.



[HCdL's comments]

Sedition. Vandalism. Disturbing the Peace. Reckless endangerment. Assault. Endangerment of a minor.

Just a few charges that can and should be levied against these people.

It's one thing for a grown adult to protest and form a human blockade against tons of rolling metal. It's another thing entirely to use small children to do so. These people are not responsible parents, which is obvious by their actions.

I blame the Democrats as much as the individuals themselves for this behavior, personally. We elect leaders expecting them to LEAD. You get what you pay for. Our "leaders" in the Democratic party have been leading us down a road of national divisiveness and we are seeing, with this, the fruits of their labor.

I hope they're happy.

Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, this is the product of your efforts. Small children being endangered in protests. Congratulations, I hope you are pleased with the results.

May God have mercy on your souls for the lives of each soldier, the lives of each innocent, that are caused by your own acts of sedition and the example you set that is being followed by others.

Once and Always, an American Fighting Man


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Under pressure...under pressure...

Remember the old Queen/David Bowie song, Under Pressure? Hit song, the backbeat of which was the subject of a lawsuit because of Vanilla Ice using it for HIS song Ice Ice Baby without permission?

Is that the theme song for our current seated Congress?

I've been watching CSPAN for a bit this afternoon, and I have to say, for Congress to be whining about how that they're "Under Pressure" in regards to the FISA bill, which they've had before them to handle since APRIL, they seem to be discussing everything BUT.

And Congress deserves their recent pay raise for this session?

What have they done, actually, that warrants a pay raise? They've managed to rename a few post offices. Is that what the people sent them to Congress to do? This is progressive work? This is the "change" that the Democrats said that the people of this country wanted? I ask you this, you being the American public, are doctored votes, surrender politics, retreat policies, retreat FROM retreat policies, higher taxes, and hypocritical smoke and mirror tactics regarding the Unites States Attorneys what you voted for?

Are you, those of you who claim to be Democrats, so hypocritical that you're willing to have the President and the United States Attorney General taken to task for doing exactly the same thing that President Clinton and Attorney General Reno did? Which, I might add, was completely and totally LEGAL in both instances.

Do you Democrats want political posturing instead of substantial policy?

Do you Democrats really think that there would be that substantial a difference in having our troops here at home rather than having them deployed and fighting our enemies?

Do you Democrats really think that radical Islamic extremists, who were attacking our country BEFORE 9/11, are really going to just stop if we abandon the Middle East tomorrow?

Here's a good one from the past few days; do you Democrats REALLY think that George W. Bush is responsible for the bridge collapse in Minnesota? Do you really NOT understand that the funds WERE THERE for improvements, but that those funds were used for building the Twins a new ball field and stadium and other pet projects INSTEAD of being used for road improvements, having been allocated by LOCAL political figures for those things?

Do you Democrats have ANY CAPACITY at all for accepting ANY responsibility without pointing blaming fingers at everyone else but those who are truly responsible for things?

Or are you so brainwashed by the main stream media and the Democratic National Party and the quasi religion of liberalism that reality is out of your range of vision now?

The rest of us are waiting with baited breath for answers to these questions and more...

It's time to call upon ourselves as individuals to take responsibility for ourselves and for our nation as a whole. In the process of this, we HAVE to make our elected officials accountable for doing something PRODUCTIVE, not for partisan politics not as usual, but far worse than at any other time that I personally remember since the Carter administration.

Our nation has not been this divided since reaching the Compromise of 185o, and look where, ten years later, we wound up anyway. For those of you who slept through your history classes, that would what is popularly called the Civil War.

History does repeat itself, people, because we don't learn the lessons of it.

Once and Always, an American Fighting Man

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A modern parable...

I get a lot of email, some junk, some really great. Amazing for someone who doesn't do that much with OUTGOING email...

Some of my favorite students from when I was teaching were members of my adult education classes where I taught introductory computer courses. Ergo, some of the best of my emails that I get come from some of these students. The more thought provoking of them I put here. This is one of them.

Now folks, before you get all bent out of shape again, let me remind you this is from an email I got, he said, remembering the Cinco de Mayo email incident. Ahem.

This is so well put.
I am sending it to EVERYONE. and hope you will do the same.
ESPECIALLY YOUR SENATORS AND REPRESENTATIVES. They need to be reminded WE VOTED THEM IN and WE PAY THEIR WAY. Way not wages because wages are EARNED.
M

This needs to keep circulating.....we must not forget the burden of these
unwanted tax dependents.


I bought a bird feeder. I hung it on my back porch and filled it with seed.
Within a week we had hundreds of birds taking advantage of the continuous
flow of free and easily accessible food.
But then the birds started building nests in the boards of the patio,
above the table, and next to the barbecue.
Then came the poop.
It was everywhere: on the patio tile, the chairs, the table...everywhere.

Then some of the birds turned mean: They would dive bomb me and try
to peck me even though I had fed them out of my own pocket. And
others birds were boisterous and loud: They sat on the feeder and squawked
and screamed at all hours of the day and night and demanded that I fill
it when it got low on food.

After a while, I couldn't even sit on my own back porch anymore.
I took down the bird feeder and in three days the birds were gone.
I cleaned up their mess and took down the many nests they had built
all over the patio.
Soon, the back yard was like it used to be...quiet,
serene and no one demanding their rights to a free meal.

Now lets see...our government gives out free food, subsidized
housing, free medical care, free education and allows anyone
born here to be a automatic citizen.

Then the illegals came by the tens of thousands.
Suddenly our taxes went up to pay for free services;
small apartments are housing 5 families: you have to wait 6 hours to be
seen by an emergency room doctor:
your child's 2nd grade class is behind other schools because
over half the class doesn't speak English:
Corn Flakes now come in a bilingual box;
I have to press "one" to hear my bank talk to me in English,
and people waving flags other than "Old Glory" are squawking
and screaming in the streets,
demanding more rights and free liberties.

Maybe it's time for the government to take down the bird feeder.

WELL said.

Once and Always, an American Fighting Man