I've been thinking for a long time about the best way to get the message of dissatisfaction to the "Untouchables" (very appropriate for Chicago politicians, don't you think?) in our government. Apparently they look at angry and vocally concerned citizens as the crazy, right-wing, loony fringe. When they or their socialist policies are met with any kind of disagreement, there is usually a kind of condescending, passive-aggressive response. In public, on television usually, there seems to be this verbal effort to be bi-partisan and diplomatic. Then, particularly with Barack Obama, they go to their venues of comfort, filled with their supporters (such as the AFL-CIO Labor Day rally or whatever it was), and vehemently insist that "they" will not win. In the particular case mentioned, I believe it was in regards to the struggle to pass Obama's ideal health care plan and "they" referred to those who haven't swallowed it whole.
I think the thing that frustrates and disorients people the most, generally speaking, is when their ideas that they hold so dear are ridiculed, especially when they expect them to be embraced. So when you have a very liberal, statist politician who is trying to foist very untenable policy on a people, I think the best remedy is satire, and lots of it. We need lampooning the likes of which have never been seen before. There are funny people out there and they can do this.
Satire is a great mode of criticism because it is not vitriolic and therefore usually not able to be simply dismissed out of hand. People love to laugh and messages seem to be received better when accompanied by laughter and light-heartedness. I am not suggesting that people themselves are made fun of. I don't think that is the right thing to do at all. I am talking about their ridiculous actions, attitudes, ideologies, and speech. There is plenty of material here.
Take a look at one I discovered today that I really like. Not all of it is "laugh-out-loud" funny, but it is humorous and I think we need more of it.
http://optoons.blogspot.com/
If we can laugh at the absurd that constantly spews forth from Washington D.C. and our respective state and local government seats, while embracing and vocally supporting the common sense ideas if, when, or where they occur, we might be able to have more pull with our fellow citizens.
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Letter to Salt Lake Tribune
As amazed as I am, I am told this letter will be published in the liberally slanted Salt Lake Tribune in the coming days (probably on Saturday).
There sure seems to be a lot of those who simultaneously support every agenda and initiative of Big Government yet believe that their own lives will somehow go untouched. It is as though they believe that they will be rewarded for their unconditional loyalty. Here’s the question we must ask ourselves: Am I willing to be the first to allow my freedoms to be limited, assuming that becomes necessary? If I am going to ask my fellow Americans via the government to pay for the welfare of all, I must stand ready to make the sacrifices that are asked of me. If I am not willing to be first in line for that duty, I cannot ask my neighbor to fund these programs. We all must understand that our country, in spite of its reckless fetish for spending, does not have unlimited means. There is always a day of reckoning and we will pay for our loose purse with our wealth, blood, or freedom. Make no mistake: freedom is not free.
There sure seems to be a lot of those who simultaneously support every agenda and initiative of Big Government yet believe that their own lives will somehow go untouched. It is as though they believe that they will be rewarded for their unconditional loyalty. Here’s the question we must ask ourselves: Am I willing to be the first to allow my freedoms to be limited, assuming that becomes necessary? If I am going to ask my fellow Americans via the government to pay for the welfare of all, I must stand ready to make the sacrifices that are asked of me. If I am not willing to be first in line for that duty, I cannot ask my neighbor to fund these programs. We all must understand that our country, in spite of its reckless fetish for spending, does not have unlimited means. There is always a day of reckoning and we will pay for our loose purse with our wealth, blood, or freedom. Make no mistake: freedom is not free.
Friday, August 21, 2009
Obama's Religious Fervor for Health Care
PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: "There's been a lot of misinformation in this debate and there are some folks out there who are frankly bearing false witness. These are all fabrications that have been put out there in order to discourage people from meeting what I consider to be a core ethical and moral obligation, and that is that we look out for one another."
Is President Obama right? Sort of.
Yes, we do have a moral obligation to take care of each other. We are our brothers' (and sisters') keepers.
At the same time, I cannot take money from you to pay for my brother's medical care. That is immoral. The morality of not stealing from my neighbor for any reason at all trumps the morality of providing medical care for by brother. Sorry, that is just the way it is.
I don't think President Obama agrees with that.
To him, though, I don't think this is about providing medical care to the poor in the first place. It is a great cause to campaign upon. It has been that way for a long time. Please understand I am not a proponent of the poverty or suffering of my fellowman. Yet I believe that those poor and unfortunate uninsured or underinsured souls continue to be used as a pawn in a political game whose goal is to amass power and wealth for the rich rulers.
If Obama really believed in the moral obligation to provide life, health, and comfort to others, why wouldn't he be giving his millions to that very cause rather than standing at his pulpit and preaching to us of our moral obligation to do it. (Oh, and by the way, you should trust us, the government, to handle the transaction because we handle your money so responsibly).
President Obama, do not stand there and tell me what my moral obligation is. You don't like me telling your people of their moral obligation to protect life against frivolous abortions. Yes, let's make a deal. You stick to your constitutionally defined role of protecting my life, liberty, and property and I will stick to my divinely mandated role of taking care of my brother (which I do very well on my own, thanks). If he starves or freezes to death or dies of a curable disease because of my neglect, my consequence for that is surely an unpleasant one. But neither I nor God will hold you, President Obama, responsible for being derelict in my duty.
You can be absolutely sure, Mr. President, that God will hold you accountable for abusing your power in making what is not your duty the tool for enriching yourself and those who put you there. That, my friend, is called corruption. We Americans don't look kindly on that sort of thing, so tread carefully.
Is President Obama right? Sort of.
Yes, we do have a moral obligation to take care of each other. We are our brothers' (and sisters') keepers.
At the same time, I cannot take money from you to pay for my brother's medical care. That is immoral. The morality of not stealing from my neighbor for any reason at all trumps the morality of providing medical care for by brother. Sorry, that is just the way it is.
I don't think President Obama agrees with that.
To him, though, I don't think this is about providing medical care to the poor in the first place. It is a great cause to campaign upon. It has been that way for a long time. Please understand I am not a proponent of the poverty or suffering of my fellowman. Yet I believe that those poor and unfortunate uninsured or underinsured souls continue to be used as a pawn in a political game whose goal is to amass power and wealth for the rich rulers.
If Obama really believed in the moral obligation to provide life, health, and comfort to others, why wouldn't he be giving his millions to that very cause rather than standing at his pulpit and preaching to us of our moral obligation to do it. (Oh, and by the way, you should trust us, the government, to handle the transaction because we handle your money so responsibly).
President Obama, do not stand there and tell me what my moral obligation is. You don't like me telling your people of their moral obligation to protect life against frivolous abortions. Yes, let's make a deal. You stick to your constitutionally defined role of protecting my life, liberty, and property and I will stick to my divinely mandated role of taking care of my brother (which I do very well on my own, thanks). If he starves or freezes to death or dies of a curable disease because of my neglect, my consequence for that is surely an unpleasant one. But neither I nor God will hold you, President Obama, responsible for being derelict in my duty.
You can be absolutely sure, Mr. President, that God will hold you accountable for abusing your power in making what is not your duty the tool for enriching yourself and those who put you there. That, my friend, is called corruption. We Americans don't look kindly on that sort of thing, so tread carefully.
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Good Article from the WSJ
I thought this article by Dorothy Rabinowitz was a good one. It speaks for itself, but I wanted to emphasize the end point. It is the quiet listeners outside the action who government should really fear. I hope that those quiet listeners will not tune out, but will step in when it counts.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204251404574342653428074782.html
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204251404574342653428074782.html
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Open Letter to the Politicians
This letter was read on the air by Glenn. I pretty much agree with everything here, so I am posting it. You can replace her personal information with mine and the message would otherwise remain unchanged. (Except I was never a Democrat and was a Republican in name only.)
I am Janet Contreras, a concerned, home-grown American citizen. I am 53, and I have been a registered Democrat all of my adult life. Before the last Presidential election, I registered Republican because I no longer feel the Democratic Party represents my views or works to pursue issues important to me. I now no longer feel the Republican Party represents my views or works to pursue issues important to me. The fact is I no longer feel any political party or representative in Washington represents my views or works to pursue issues important to me.
There must be someone, please tell me who you are. Please stand up and tell me you are there and are willing to fight for our Constitution as it was written. Please do it now.
You might ask yourselves what my views and issues are that I would feel so horribly disenfranchised by both major political parties. What kind of nut job am I? Will you please tell me? These are briefly my views and issues for which I seek representation:
* Illegal Immigration—I want you to stop coddling illegal immigrants and secure our borders. Close the underground tunnels. Stop the violence and trafficking in drugs and people. No amnesty, not again. Been there, done that, no resolution. P.S. I am not a racist. This not to be confused with legal immigration.
* TARP Bill—I want it repealed and no further funding supplied to it. We told you “NO!” but you did it anyway. I want the remaining unfunded 95% repealed. Freeze! Repeal!
* Czars—I want the circumvention of our checks and balances stopped immediately. Fire the Czars. No more Czars. Government officials answer to the process not the President. Stop trampling on our Constitution and honor it.
* Cap & Trade—the debate on global warming is NOT over, there IS more to say.
* Universal Health Care—I will not be rushed into another expensive decision. Don’t you dare pass this in the middle of the night and then go on break. Slow down!
* Growing Government Control—I want states rights and sovereignty fully restored. I want less government in my life, not more. Shrink it down. Please mind your own business; you have enough to do with your REAL obligations. Let’s start there.
* ACORN—I do not want ACORN or its affiliates in charge of our 2010 census. I want them investigated. I also do not want mandatory escrow fees contributed to them on every real estate deal that closes. Stop all funding to ACORN and its affiliates pending impartial audit and investigation. I do not trust them with the taking of the census or with taxpayer money. Face up to the allegations against them and get it resolved before the taxpayers get any further involved with them. It walks like a duck and talks like a duck—hello… stop protecting political buddies. You work for the people. Investigate.
* Redistribution of Wealth—No. If I work for it, it is mine. I have always worked for people with more money than I have because they gave me jobs. That is the only redistribution of wealth I support. I never got a job from a poor person. Why do want me to hate my employers? What do your have against shareholders making a profit?
* Charitable Contributions—although I never got a job from a poor person, I have helped many in need. Charity belongs in our local communities where we know our needs best and can use local talent and resources. Butt out, please. We want to do this ourselves.
* Corporate Bail Outs—knock it off! Sink or swim like the rest of us. If there are hard times ahead, we will be better off just getting to it and letting the strong survive. Quick and painful, like ripping off a band aid. We will pull together. Great things happen in America under great hardship. Give us a chance to innovate. We cannot disappoint you more than you have disappointed us.
* Transparency and Accountability—how about it? No really, let’s have it. Let’s say we give the “buzz” words a rest and have some straight, honest talk. Please stop trying to manipulate and appease me with cleaver wording. I am not the idiot you obviously take me for. Stop sneaking around meeting in back rooms making deals with your friends. It will only be a prelude to your criminal investigation. Stop hiding things from me.
* Unprecedented Quick Spending—stop it, now. Take a breath. Listen to “The People.”
Let’s just slow down and get some more input from some “non-politicians” on the subject. Stop making everything an emergency. Stop speed reading our bills into law.
I am not an activist. I am not a community organizer. Nor am I a terrorist, a militant nor a violent person. I am a mother and grandmother. I am a working woman. I am busy, busy, busy and tired, tired, tired. I thought we elected competent people to take care of the business of government so that we could work, raise our families, pay our bills, have a little recreation, complain about taxes, endure our hardships, pursue our personal goals, cut our lawns and wash our cars on weekends, and be responsible, contributing members of society and teach our children to be the same, all the while living in the home of the free and land of the brave.
I entrusted you with upholding our Constitution and believed in the checks and balances to keep you from getting too far off course. What happened? You are very far off course. Do you really think that I find humor in hiring a speed reader to unintelligibly ramble through a bill you signed into law without knowing what it contained? I do not! It is a mockery of the responsibility I have entrusted to you. It is a slap in the face! I am not laughing—the arrogance!
Why is it that I feel as if you would not trust me to make a single decision about my own life and how I would live it, but you expect that I should trust you with the debt that you have laid on all of us and our children? We did not want that TARP bill. We said “NO!” We would repeal it if we could. I am not sure that we still cannot. There is such urgency and recklessness in all the recent spending. From my perspective, it seems that you have all gone insane.
I also know that I am far from alone in these feelings. Do you honestly feel that your current pursuits have merit to patriotic Americans? We want it to stop. We want to put the brakes on everything that is being rushed by us and forced upon us. We want our voice back!
You have forced us to put our lives on hold to straighten out the mess you are making. We will have to give up our vacations, our time spent with our children, any relaxation time we may have had and money we cannot afford to spend on you to bring our concerns to Washington.
I am Janet Contreras, a concerned, home-grown American citizen. I am 53, and I have been a registered Democrat all of my adult life. Before the last Presidential election, I registered Republican because I no longer feel the Democratic Party represents my views or works to pursue issues important to me. I now no longer feel the Republican Party represents my views or works to pursue issues important to me. The fact is I no longer feel any political party or representative in Washington represents my views or works to pursue issues important to me.
There must be someone, please tell me who you are. Please stand up and tell me you are there and are willing to fight for our Constitution as it was written. Please do it now.
You might ask yourselves what my views and issues are that I would feel so horribly disenfranchised by both major political parties. What kind of nut job am I? Will you please tell me? These are briefly my views and issues for which I seek representation:
* Illegal Immigration—I want you to stop coddling illegal immigrants and secure our borders. Close the underground tunnels. Stop the violence and trafficking in drugs and people. No amnesty, not again. Been there, done that, no resolution. P.S. I am not a racist. This not to be confused with legal immigration.
* TARP Bill—I want it repealed and no further funding supplied to it. We told you “NO!” but you did it anyway. I want the remaining unfunded 95% repealed. Freeze! Repeal!
* Czars—I want the circumvention of our checks and balances stopped immediately. Fire the Czars. No more Czars. Government officials answer to the process not the President. Stop trampling on our Constitution and honor it.
* Cap & Trade—the debate on global warming is NOT over, there IS more to say.
* Universal Health Care—I will not be rushed into another expensive decision. Don’t you dare pass this in the middle of the night and then go on break. Slow down!
* Growing Government Control—I want states rights and sovereignty fully restored. I want less government in my life, not more. Shrink it down. Please mind your own business; you have enough to do with your REAL obligations. Let’s start there.
* ACORN—I do not want ACORN or its affiliates in charge of our 2010 census. I want them investigated. I also do not want mandatory escrow fees contributed to them on every real estate deal that closes. Stop all funding to ACORN and its affiliates pending impartial audit and investigation. I do not trust them with the taking of the census or with taxpayer money. Face up to the allegations against them and get it resolved before the taxpayers get any further involved with them. It walks like a duck and talks like a duck—hello… stop protecting political buddies. You work for the people. Investigate.
* Redistribution of Wealth—No. If I work for it, it is mine. I have always worked for people with more money than I have because they gave me jobs. That is the only redistribution of wealth I support. I never got a job from a poor person. Why do want me to hate my employers? What do your have against shareholders making a profit?
* Charitable Contributions—although I never got a job from a poor person, I have helped many in need. Charity belongs in our local communities where we know our needs best and can use local talent and resources. Butt out, please. We want to do this ourselves.
* Corporate Bail Outs—knock it off! Sink or swim like the rest of us. If there are hard times ahead, we will be better off just getting to it and letting the strong survive. Quick and painful, like ripping off a band aid. We will pull together. Great things happen in America under great hardship. Give us a chance to innovate. We cannot disappoint you more than you have disappointed us.
* Transparency and Accountability—how about it? No really, let’s have it. Let’s say we give the “buzz” words a rest and have some straight, honest talk. Please stop trying to manipulate and appease me with cleaver wording. I am not the idiot you obviously take me for. Stop sneaking around meeting in back rooms making deals with your friends. It will only be a prelude to your criminal investigation. Stop hiding things from me.
* Unprecedented Quick Spending—stop it, now. Take a breath. Listen to “The People.”
Let’s just slow down and get some more input from some “non-politicians” on the subject. Stop making everything an emergency. Stop speed reading our bills into law.
I am not an activist. I am not a community organizer. Nor am I a terrorist, a militant nor a violent person. I am a mother and grandmother. I am a working woman. I am busy, busy, busy and tired, tired, tired. I thought we elected competent people to take care of the business of government so that we could work, raise our families, pay our bills, have a little recreation, complain about taxes, endure our hardships, pursue our personal goals, cut our lawns and wash our cars on weekends, and be responsible, contributing members of society and teach our children to be the same, all the while living in the home of the free and land of the brave.
I entrusted you with upholding our Constitution and believed in the checks and balances to keep you from getting too far off course. What happened? You are very far off course. Do you really think that I find humor in hiring a speed reader to unintelligibly ramble through a bill you signed into law without knowing what it contained? I do not! It is a mockery of the responsibility I have entrusted to you. It is a slap in the face! I am not laughing—the arrogance!
Why is it that I feel as if you would not trust me to make a single decision about my own life and how I would live it, but you expect that I should trust you with the debt that you have laid on all of us and our children? We did not want that TARP bill. We said “NO!” We would repeal it if we could. I am not sure that we still cannot. There is such urgency and recklessness in all the recent spending. From my perspective, it seems that you have all gone insane.
I also know that I am far from alone in these feelings. Do you honestly feel that your current pursuits have merit to patriotic Americans? We want it to stop. We want to put the brakes on everything that is being rushed by us and forced upon us. We want our voice back!
You have forced us to put our lives on hold to straighten out the mess you are making. We will have to give up our vacations, our time spent with our children, any relaxation time we may have had and money we cannot afford to spend on you to bring our concerns to Washington.
Thursday, June 11, 2009
I might be getting caught up in the drama
As I look at my attempts to get people together for our own little neighborhood 9/12 project, listen daily to Glenn Beck's radio program and just about any other conservative radio show in our area, watch my blood pressure goes up, and feel like my head might actually explode, I have to wonder if maybe I'm getting sucked into the vortex of a drama or if this is just my version of caring about the future.
This might explain my reluctance to call myself a "leader" in a movement meant to rein in the recklessness of a government that seems to be drunk on its own power. In both our meetings to date, I was careful to emphasize that this wasn't about me. I wanted to make sure that everyone knew that if they had something to say, I wasn't going to let that voice get stifled. I'm just now wondering if maybe I should be stifling my own a little more.
I wonder these things because I know my propensity to get caught up in drama. When I started the Carterville 9/12 Project, I committed to myself to be level-headed, to look at the facts, to be bound by principles in how I act and by nothing else. So I'm stepping back now and taking a look at myself, at my actions, my words, my direction.
So I ask: Is it just me, or is this government really being reckless with their power? Am I buying into a crazy right-wing conspiracy to start some kind of new revolutionary war which just isn't at that point yet?
When I was a new parent, stark warnings seemed to come from every angle to not shake the baby, no matter how frustrated I got. With our first child, I couldn't really understand how anybody could ever shake their own child and inflict life-threatening injuries. Then we had our second, bless her heart. She cried loud, long, and often as an infant. I finally got to that point where I understood how a father or mother could lose their cool and shake their precious child. I was close. I put our daughter down quickly and walked away. I understood how it could happen, and it scared me. (I love her with all my heart even though, to this day six years later, I find myself getting comparably upset and have to give myself a time-out.)
A father who will not put some distance between himself and his wailing child, and allows himself to get caught up in the "drama," could very well act rashly and do irreversible damage to his precious child. I may not be able to imagine myself taking up my arms and going out against our government now, but who is to say that someone who is normally calm and level-headed and unlikely to rise up in rebellion would never do that under certain circumstances?
Thus, we must all be very deliberate, careful, and measured in our attitudes and actions. Temperance and moderation must prevail in all conditions. Heaven knows, it isn't prevailing in the halls of Congress or in the White House.
This might explain my reluctance to call myself a "leader" in a movement meant to rein in the recklessness of a government that seems to be drunk on its own power. In both our meetings to date, I was careful to emphasize that this wasn't about me. I wanted to make sure that everyone knew that if they had something to say, I wasn't going to let that voice get stifled. I'm just now wondering if maybe I should be stifling my own a little more.
I wonder these things because I know my propensity to get caught up in drama. When I started the Carterville 9/12 Project, I committed to myself to be level-headed, to look at the facts, to be bound by principles in how I act and by nothing else. So I'm stepping back now and taking a look at myself, at my actions, my words, my direction.
So I ask: Is it just me, or is this government really being reckless with their power? Am I buying into a crazy right-wing conspiracy to start some kind of new revolutionary war which just isn't at that point yet?
When I was a new parent, stark warnings seemed to come from every angle to not shake the baby, no matter how frustrated I got. With our first child, I couldn't really understand how anybody could ever shake their own child and inflict life-threatening injuries. Then we had our second, bless her heart. She cried loud, long, and often as an infant. I finally got to that point where I understood how a father or mother could lose their cool and shake their precious child. I was close. I put our daughter down quickly and walked away. I understood how it could happen, and it scared me. (I love her with all my heart even though, to this day six years later, I find myself getting comparably upset and have to give myself a time-out.)
A father who will not put some distance between himself and his wailing child, and allows himself to get caught up in the "drama," could very well act rashly and do irreversible damage to his precious child. I may not be able to imagine myself taking up my arms and going out against our government now, but who is to say that someone who is normally calm and level-headed and unlikely to rise up in rebellion would never do that under certain circumstances?
Thus, we must all be very deliberate, careful, and measured in our attitudes and actions. Temperance and moderation must prevail in all conditions. Heaven knows, it isn't prevailing in the halls of Congress or in the White House.
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Check out the Carterville 9/12ers Blog
To the right is a link to our group's blog. I hope you'll take a look at it and even become a part of it if you want. We have members in Utah, New York City, and Pensacola, Florida (Skype works really well).
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