The republican primaries....

"The republicans had a great candidate...BUT unfortunately he had been divorced and then re-married. He had also worked actively with members of the other party on a hot-button issue. It turns out that even members of his immediate family disagree with his politics. His campaign staff quit early on in the primary process. In the face of primary attacks when his opponents had more money and organization, he asked for an end to the negative, intra-party attacks. And, to top it all off, he had crazy and "zany" ideas about American technology in space." These are the current talking points in the media concerning Newt Gingrich. However, I was describing a candidate in the 1980 GOP primaries; Ronald Reagan. Reagan was divorced, and re-married and had children from both marriages. His daughter, Patti, vocally took part in anti-nuclear marches around the nation in 1982. Reagan also worked closely with the opposition party both as president and as governor of California to advance policies that greatly benefited the people he served. On the morning of the New Hampshire primaries in 1980, Reagan's top campaign staff resigned. It was candidate Reagan who re-asserted the "11th Commandment" against speaking ill of a fellow republican. Finally, it was candidate Reagan who had the "zany" idea to think about using space as a frontier to defend our nation. The media derided it as "Star Wars" but the program is now alive, developing and becoming a reality. And the threat of his idea alone helped win the Cold War. Why make this comparison between Gingrich and Reagan? Make no mistake, I am not saying Newt is another Ron Reagan, but there are two reasons. First, perhaps the Tea Party has become SO extreme that even Ronald Reagan wouldn't meet their standards. Second, it demonstrates plainly that we the people should be very skeptical of the media's analysis of presidential candidates and decide for ourselves which candidate to support.

The VT Shooting...unanswered questions.

This needs no intro paragraph; everyone knows the story. But I have many questions about this I would like answered. 1. How many shots were fired at Officer Crouse? 1, 3, 10? How many times was he hit? No official answer. And where was Officer Crouse hit? These are standard details provided in any run-of-the-mill crime story, yet absent here. 2. What was the make and model of the car Officer Crouse had pulled over? I have looked at pics and videos from "breaking news" sources, and I see no car in front of his cruiser. 3. Reports say Officer Crouse was shot "in front of witnesses." But a witness also said later that when backup arrived, Officer Crouse "fell out of the car when they opened the door." Did NO ONE even approach his cruiser to offer aid if they had just seen him get shot? 4. Was the pulled-over driver the person who called 911? And what was the offense for which the driver had been pulled over? 5. Why would Ross Ashley drive his own car less than 2 miles to steal another person's car to drive less than 20 miles? Why not just drive the extra 12 miles to Blacksburg? 6. If Ross Ashley just wanted to kill at random, why was he so subdued and focused in the Radford real estate office, and why did he spare those 2 ladies? Wouldn't that suggest he was "on a mission?", i.e. this was a mean toward his ultimate goal. 7. When Ross Ashley entered the real estate office, armed, he didn't go in with a drawn gun, he specifically, and politely, asked for "her" and drew the gun later. He asked specifically for the keys to "her" vehicle. Why? And she says she had never met him...so how did he know the Mercedes was "hers?" 8. Ross Ashley made no attempt to ditch the stolen Mercedes, instead he left it parked in perfect, returnable condition on the VT campus. Wouldn't that suggest that auto theft wasn't the motive? And wouldn't it also suggest that the VT campus was his specific destination? 9. Ross Ashley had the Mercedes available on the campus to drive away. Why, 30 minutes later, was he still lingering? Why didn't he just drive away? 10. If Ross Ashley had just killed a police officer in cold blood "in front of witnesses" and "with no apparent motive" why was he so terrified at the sight of another officer that he would kill himself in less time than it took that officer to turn his car around? This story is FAR from over. NOTHING is adding up....there is obviously a very specific motive here. This was NOT random. Eric

Mitt is "more electable?"

I wonder, in a high unemployment environment, how this picture is gonna play.

This is Romney as a manager of Bain Capital in the 90's, posing with his inner circle with so much cash they can wear it, eat it, play with it, or throw it away. Around the same time Speaker Gingrich was balancing four budgets, reforming welfare, and passing a balanced budget amendment; ALL OF WHICH he did against the opposition of a democrat president. I found this picture in one minute on google. Does anyone really think this will NOT come out in October 2012 if republicans are silly enough to nominate Romney?

In Orwell's "1984," the Ministries were similarly named...

Am I the only person who sees that we are being taxed into servitude to fund a Department of Energy that produces no energy, a Department of Justice that breaks the law, a Department of Defense that insults our allies, a Department of Labor overseeing 8.6% unemployment, a Department of Education producing ever-declining test scores, a Department of the Treasury that is broke, and a Department of the Interior that refuses to allow us to utilize our natural resources?

Click THIS!!

I see the local police departments are insulting my intelligence again with more "Click it or Ticket" ads. First of all, I offer my favorite response "Kiss it then Lick It!. " Second, I'm 40 years old. What right does anyone have to say that they are going to protect me from myself? Third, I hear the cops on the news say..."If you had to make the notifications about a death, you would understand..." WRONG....If I didn't want to make the notifications, I would get a different job. Finally, it doesn't have a damn thing to do with safety, it's just a backdoor mechanism for taxation.

The opposite of secession...

I wonder how much money and trouble we could save by kicking California out of the union? It has become such an anti-American socialist cesspool that it seems to be almost foreign. It is an interesting Constitutional question....does the Constitution offer any mechanism for expelling states from the union? As I read it, the answer is no. But, what if we use the amendment process? There are two different processes for amending the Constitution. The first originates in Congress. The second is as follows..."Two-thirds of the state legislatures ask Congress to call a national convention to propose amendments." This method has never been used. Now that free-market conservatives control the vast majority of state houses, it might be time to finally give this approach a try. The states that are fiscally responsible could issue an ultimatum to California; "Stop draining our resources, or we are going to propose an amendment removing your state from the union." It is the opposite of secession. And while we're on the idea...the Balanced Budget Amendment failed to get enough votes in the House last week.....why not use this approach to FORCE Congress to call the convention?

Some little things in life that piss me off...

Today was a bad day, and I'm still in bad mood, so here goes. These are things that piss me off... 1) Assclowns who suck at their job, yet think they are maestros, even AFTER I bail them out of their own mess. 2) People who drive 52 mph in the left-hand lane. 3) Being squarely in the middle of Virginia, yet having to deal with people who cannot speak English. 4) Standing in line behind someone writing a damn paper check at the grocery store. (I haven't had a check in over five years.) 5) When option #3 on the phone menu is "pay bill NOW" but it still takes another seven minutes. 6) When I even have to "press 1 now" to get an English menu in the first place. 7) When anyone says "ATM Machine"...I KNOW WHAT THE "M" STANDS FOR YOU DON'T HAVE TO REMIND ME!!!!! 8) When something so simple as a cheeseburger, fries, coke order gets screwed up. 9) When people who don't know what the hell they are talking about offer up advice about something I have been doing for ten years. 10) When I can't think of anything positive to write about. These ALL happened today...I guess the good news is that tomorrow HAS to be better.

More bias...

Obama said yesterday that Hawaii was in Asia. The press let it go. Imagine if Newt Gingrich had said that?....The story would've lasted three weeks. But, at least he was at home in Hawaii, the 57th state.

I think "mouse trap" would have sufficed...

Herman Cain's wife...

I watched Herman Cain's wife, Gloria, in an interview with Greta Van Susteren tonight. I really, really felt sorry for her. She seems like a wonderful, southern lady who never really wanted any part of any of this. And she certainly didn't want to be in the interview...it was obvious just by watching her. But, Mrs. Cain played along and comported herself very well. Greta should've realized how uncomfortable Mrs. Cain was, and limited the interview to a shorter segment. Usually, I think Greta is a great interviewer, but she stretched this one out too long just for the ratings. At this point, I don't believe the allegations against Herman Cain....and I'm going to make this prediction to prove my point. As Newt Gingrich moves into the front-runner position in the next couple of weeks, wait and see, a round of similar unsubstantiated charges will be brought against him as well. And soon, his wife, Callista, will likely be in the same position as Mrs. Cain. It is politics at its worst, and it disgusts me.

Let's all pitch in...

Maybe if we all send in $1, we can buy Ron Paul a jacket that isn't 3 sizes too big for his next debate.

Forget about Occupy Wall Street....

The White House has been occupied by a gang of radical leftists since January 20, 2009.

Waterboarding

I just finished watching most of the latest republican debate, and the issue of "waterboarding" was raised again. Should we "torture" terrorist suspects in order to gain intelligence in the war on terror? I thought this stupid question was dead and buried after the capture of Kalhid Sheik Muhammed, and the killing of Osama bin Laden; both of which were facilitated by using such techniques. But, it seems I thought wrong. So, here is my answer to the question. We have to understand that we are in a conflict with people who want to kill all of us. They have proven that they will kill THEMSELVES to accomplish that goal. That fact alone should lay this silly question to rest, but still it persists. So, it seems to me, we have to define what is and is not torture. Torture, in my mind, is forcing people to decide if they want to jump 105 stories from the north WTC tower or burn to death. Torture is forcing the passengers on flight 93 over Shanksville, PA to decide if they want to almost surely die fighting, or wait and hope inaction doesn't cause another 3,000 deaths. Torture is when these 12th century barbarians cut people's heads off and then proudly display their handiwork on the internet. What is NOT torture is pouring water over their faces to scare the hell out of them to get them to talk. Not ONE person has ever lost their life because of our version of "torture." In less than two hours, on September 11, 2001, over three thousand of our citizen lost their lives because of theirs. How stupid a question is it to ask whether or not we are treating kindly enough the people who want to kill us?

People were actually standing in line......

I stopped at Kroger on the way home from work tonight and saw people standing in line to use a machine called "CoinStar." (Okay, it was only two people, but that's still a "line.") I understand the argument people might make that CoinStar offers a convenience. But, I like to break things down to the brass tacks -- that is, what is the fundemental element of whatever I'm looking at. And it seems to me that "CoinStar" is basically a machine that allows the user to deposit $100, receive $96 in return and SOMEHOW walk away happy and satisfied! This is a phenomenally successful scam. I really wish I had thought of it. Again, logically boil it down, they have convinced people that $96 in paper money is worth more than $100 in metal money. It like the old trick question "Which weighs more, a pound of feathers or a pound of lead?" in reverse. These machines even play a video on the screen showing a woman smiling ear-to-ear, rejoicing that this machine just transformed her $100 into $96...despite the fact that she received NOTHING in return for her $4. People can be sold almost ANYTHING so long as it's packaged and marketed just right.