Leon Konieczny’s Blog

California governor Arnolds Schwarzenegger got it right when he suggested that hispanics turn off the spanish language TV stations. If you come to this country, you should learn English. This is the United States of America, and our common language is English and has been since the founding of our country. My Polish speaking ancestors came hear and learned English–You need to do the same! Get over it!

Over the weekend, ex-president Jimmy Carter had the audacity to criticize President Bush and call him the worst president this century, or something like that. How do Americans feel? Let’s look at the Facts

Hmm… What does the above tell you? Carter is the president who couldn’t bring our hostages back from Iran, the president who ushered in (started the march to) the high mortgage interest rates of the 80s.

I hate to admit it, but I voted for Carter. I regret that fact to this day. Carter should keep his big mouth shut and fade into oblivion where he belongs. The facts speak for themselves.

Today’s news is that Orlando had it’s 24th and 25th murders of the year. That’s a record pace. And last year, Orlando trounced the old record for murders by a wide margin. The tourist industry is wringing its hands over this, because it seems Orlando is not that safe of a city. Congressman Keller is touting the billions of dollars the feds are giving to local police agencies to hire more officers.

So how does Orlando spend it’s valuable police time? Well, the other big story is that after a 5 year investigation, they’ve “smashed” a call girl ring. Seems some couple had 7 or 9 high paid call girls that services some local officials and sports figures. Now let me get this straight…. The cops are spending their time setting up appointments with call girls (and you know they do more than just “talk”) to bust some girls and folks that are making big bucks because a bunch of people with money want to pay for sex?  Meanwhile, the murder rate is astronomically climbing?

I’m glad I don’t live in Orlando or Orange County, as it seems we have some misplaced priorities there. Instead of making the streets safe for citizens, they’re keeping some high-roller politicos from getting expensive blow jobs?  Sheesh!

I am disillusioned with Republicans and the Right. Of course, that should come as no surprise. About 10 years ago, I experienced my first great disillusionment with the Democrats: Clinton’s lying, the high taxes I pay, big government, and a host of other things contributed to that. In 2000, for the first time ever, I did not vote for a democrat for president, and in 2004, I voted for a republican. But all have let me down. The self-righteous republicans are as bad as the self-righteous democrats. Where can I turn? They all suck. Politicians in general suck, it seems. Give them a bit of leeway and they just do whatever serves their own interests.

Take the case of Mike McLean, a Seminole County commissioner, newly elected this last election. He campaigned on promises of lean government and change. Yeah, right. The first thing he changed was to spend $8000 of our tax money on new office furniture. Guess he couldn’t govern with the old stuff, huh? Typical politician.
So I remain disillusioned with the left and the right and I’m stuck, I guess. Basically, I am a libertarian. Maybe I just need to hold to those tenets a little more tightly and not prostitute myself with either of the two “mainstream” parties. What do you think?

Illegal aliens, illegal aliens, illegal aliens, illegal aliens, illegal aliens, illegal aliens, illegal aliens,

There! I said it. Florida and the rest of the country is full of illegal aliens. What does that mean? Illegal = not legal, against the law. Alien = belonging to or owing allegiance to another country. We are full of non US citizens who have entered this country illegally. They are illegal aliens.

Now some bleeding heart nut case of a state legislator here in Florida, Sen. Frederica Wilson, wants to make the term “illegal alien” illegal itself. She doesn’t like the word “alien” and would prefer “immigrant.” What, is she totally nuts? What is an immigrant? A person who takes up residence in another country, yes. But they are not here legally. What the hell is with these people we elect. What the hell is the matter with us for electing them, for that matter. Sheesh! There must be better things for an elected lawmaker to do, than to worry that we might “hurt the feelings” of some one who’s breaking the law. Too damn bad.

Count me as another one in the category of “unfavorable” if I was asked to voice my level of approval for the job George Bush is doing as president. And what do I base most of my unsatisfactory rating on? Well, Iraq is a part of it, but more than that, it’s the disloyalty of Bush and his administration to the conservative values of lowering taxes. Sure, there was a big show in his first term of limiting taxes, and reducing some. I felt it, and it was good. But overall, Bush and the Republicans have grown the government and increased federal spending. Where does that money come from? Me. And you. From us. In the form of taxes.

The latest fiasco is his supposed proposal on health care. I’m glad that he’s proposing that certain workers with little or no health insurance will get a tax break. But at what cost? Well, he’s proposing that those who have a good, comprehensive program now pay taxes on some of it. It looks like Bush is talking about surreptitiously raising taxes. Boo. Boo…. Bad idea.

Bush is being a traitor to his supposed conservative values. I’m afraid if he keeps this up, history will judge him harshly, and rightly so. He needs to lower taxes for all, and keep lowering them. Shrink the government. Reduce federal spending. Give me more of my hard earned income.

Shame on you, George W. Bush. Shame on you!

I agree that things are not going well in Iraq. I think that we really are “barking up the wrong tree” when we try to force democracy on a bunch of semi-barbarians that want to rule by brute force and use religious fervor as their war cry. I don’t think democracy will work for them. But hey, we tried. Now it’s time to work on extricating ourselves from their mess. We gave it our best shot, what more can we do.

Do I want to see us send more troops into Iraq? Definitely not. But then again, I’m no general. So while I’m opposed to it, we elected George Bush to lead, and so let him lead. If he thinks it’ll help, who the heck am I to second guess him. It’s a good thing we live in a republic and not a democracy. We elected him to lead, let him lead, for better or worse.

But overall, I hope and pray that we extricate ourselves from the mess we call Iraq as soon as we can. Hopefully they (the Iraqis) can make a go of it. If not, we’ve given it our best shot. If so, great!

I can almost smell the fresh air today. I am talking, of course, about politics and the elections. Though in some cases I do not agree with the results, the people have spoken and overall, I think (or at least hope) that we’re in for a fresh start. There are several reasons to believe this will happen:

• Don Rumsfeld resigned yesterday. I can’t fault him for the job he did. He was tough and unyielding. Yet, when things were not going quite right in Iraq, he “stayed the course” even when it wasn’t working. It is time for a breath of fresh air, a new look at the problems in Iraq. Rumsfeld had to go so that someone else could take a fresh look and get a fresh start on the Iraq problem.
• Both houses of Congress are now controlled by the Democrats. After 12 years of Republican rule, it was time for a change. Though the Republicans are supposedly for smaller government and less taxes, overall, the reverse has been true of their tenure in control of Congress. Government has doubled in size and our tax burden is much larger than it was 12 years ago. I don’t have much faith in the Democrats to shrink government or lower taxes, but they can’t do much worse than the Republicans did.
• In Florida, we have a new governor. Charlie Crist will be our next governor. He promises control of taxes and spending. I think he will be a fine successor to Jeb Bush, who did a very good job. And, in Florida, we don’t need you stinkin’ FEMA to manage our hurricane crises–we are prepared, thanks in large part to Jeb’s plolicies.

I could go on, but in the end, I am hopeful that we’ll see a breath of fresh air in the country. There were some downers in the elections, both locally and at the state level: a number of states passes a “marriage ammendment,” designed to keep gay people from enjoying the benefits that striaght people have. Thankfully, Arizona did not follow suit. Seminole county turned down a chance to increase taxes slightly but use the money for land preservation and recreation areas. Bummer.
But, overall, we have a fresh breeze blowing in the country at the moment. Of course, with this opportunity comes great responsibility for the Democrats. They still have to work with the other party. The religious right–unfortunately–still has too much influence. But overall, we can work together for the common good. Let’s see what happens. The Democrats have two years to make a difference. I hope they hit the ground running….