Vote, Dammit!

November 7th, 2006

Today is election day. It’s a shame when you think of how many people will not vote. I can’t understand it. Since I turned 18 many (many, many) years ago, I have not missed a single election. I always vote. How can I complain if I don’t do anything to make a difference?  People who do not vote have no right to complain about politics. In a sense, then abdicate their responsibility, opinion, and influence to me and all the other voters, as our votes then count for more.  So, if you don’t want me in control, you better vote.

I am somewhat cynical by nature, though I’ve heard it said that “the power of accurate observation is frequently called cynicism by those who don’t have it.”  Now, if that’s not a cynical statement, I don’t know what is. But I do believe that no matter who wins today, nothing great will happen. Politics is a series of gentle changes and “nudges” of our direction–where we are going as a society. No political party has the ability to suddenly make big changes, but the little changes they can effect can and will have consequences far down the road.

So, if you care about the future, get out there and vote today. Your lone, solitary vote can and will make a difference. Send a message to all your politicians, local, state, and national: You care. You are interested. You can make a difference. Then, hold their feet to the fire and extract from them actions on their promises. You can do it. You can make a difference. Vote!

Shame on you, John Kerry

November 2nd, 2006

A few days ago, current Senator (and the 2004 Democrat candidate for president) John Kerry said, “you study hard, you do your homework and you make an effort to be smart, you can do well. And if you don’t, you get stuck in Iraq.”

And immediate firestorm of criticism erupted. Kerry, speaking in public, refused to apologize. Spinsters eventually said he was trying to make a joke about president Bush. But, if you read his words, he didn’t. Still he publicly refused to apologize for this insult to the troops.

Finally, almost two days later, with his tail between his legs, he posted an apology on his web site, a half-hearted apologetic for what he called a failed joke. If it had truly been such a failed joke, why didn’t he apologize immediately? I’ll tell you why, because he’s a liar and a coward, and arrogant son of a bitch!

You know, I am not a huge fan of the job that Bush has done. His “stay the course” gets to be old. But, when I think that John Kerry could have been president with a few hundreds of thousands of more votes, I am so glad that Bush won. The thought of that man, John Kerry, being the president gives me the chills. He is dishonest and disingenuous. With him as our president, we’d have been mired in confusion and retreat, and a lot less safe than we are today.

What are the people of Massachusetts thinking, to have two such senators as Kennedy and Kerry? Surely they must all have their heads up their asses!

But, back to Kerry. What a loser. He’s a disgrace, and his comments only serve to show the low regard in which he hold those who fight the front of protecting our freedom and our country.

Their is a silver lining, however. He can forget about any future chance of running again for president. And we can count our blessings, every day, when we wake up an know that he is not the president of the United States. God Bless America. John Kerry, shame on you!

The buck should start here

October 28th, 2006

Or maybe, the buck stops here? You’ve heard this expression. I think it’s been given some new meaning by the Orlando police chief. Orlando is having a record year. A record number of murders, that is. Already at 50 when the old record was in the 30s, we still have 2 months to go in the year. That is a horrible record, a sobering statistic.

So what is Orlando doing about it? The police chief flew to Washington to beg for money to “fix” the problem. What is wrong with this picture? Sure, it is nice to get federal money, but hey, that’s our money already. Our senators and congressmen should already be making sure that we’re getting our fair share. We do not need the police chief “grandstanding” in Washington.

What we need is pressure on local government to cough up the bucks to help deal with the problem. This idea that someone else has responsibility to fix our problems is ridiculous. There is nothing stopping local government with raising the money necessary to help deal with the situation. Who best to know what needs to be done, than those who live here. Why expect politicians a thousand miles away to care? Or to be involved? Why just ask for money to be thrown at a problem.

The Orlando police chief and other local officials and politicians need to “shit or get off the pot.” Why wait for someone else to fix our local problems. We need to take the bull by the horns and get the ball rolling here and now, whatever it takes. That is, if it’s important to us. Think about it!

Excuses, excuses

October 19th, 2006

I see where former Congressman Mark Foley is out and about making excuses. Now he says he was “abused” by a priest as a young boy. Well, that’s too bad. It should not have happened.

But, is that an excuse for his behavior? No! He needs to ‘fess up and admit that what he did was wrong. A 50-something year old man knows that he should not be “hitting” up on boys that are not old enough to make a rational decision. Shame on him.

Celebrating My Heritage

October 11th, 2006

I bought a Polish Flag on eBay the other day. I plan on displaying it proudly on selected holidays. I think the first will be Brother Martin day. I have no problem with ethnic groups celebrating their heritage, but it seems to me that if we institutionalize some one heritage, then we are playing favorites. Where’s the federal holiday for Pulaski Day? Huh? Where?

Latinos are welcome to celebrate Cinco De Mayo, but it does not need to be a federal holiday. Blacks are welcome to celebrate the contributions of Martin Luther King Jr., but it does not need to be a federal holiday. If it weren’t for the contributions of Pulaski and Kosciuszko, perhaps the revolutionary war would have failed. But we don’t celebrate them with a federal holiday. Why?

So, I will proudly fly my Polish Flag on holidays or any other day I see fit, to celebrate my heritage. And I will still fly the American Flag on federal holidays such as Veteran’s Day, Independence Day, and the like. I hope you celebrate your heritage, too, but also celebrate with me our common heritage.

Bad things happening to good people

October 5th, 2006

Let’s face it. It’s a bit of a commentary on the “god” that I was taught when I was in Catholic grade school. Bad things happen to good people. And, good things happen to bad people.

Had bad news in the family today. For one of my “in laws,” their sister’s husband, a young guy in his 40s, died suddenly of a heart attack today. His wife is currently battling cancer, too. They have a high school senior daughter.  Bad things happening, and these are, belive me, good people!

I can’t explain it. It breaks my heart to see such things happening to great people. It’s not “god’s fault,” by any means. Is just happens. “Shit happens,” as they say. This does not make it any easier to accept. But, it’s an opportunity for the rest of us in the world.

Another person I know related a story today of a time many, many years ago, when she had 7 (yes, seven!) small kids at home and her husband had surgery for a brain tumor. They lived in a small town. To this day, she has no idea who  paid their electic bill for a number of months. She received $20s and even $50s in the mail, anonymously. People paid other bills without saying who they were. This is what “community” is all about.

Bad things happen to good people. But this is “our” chance. It’s a time for the rest of us to step up to the plate and help out. We can’t change the bad things that happen. But we can show love, compassion, and humanity and do what we can do.

Not only CAN we show love, compassion and humanity, we MUST. If we don’t, we’re really sunk as human beings.
Yes, bad things happen to good people. And other good people step forward, showing and proving their goodness. We have to,  to be good….

Sad times

October 3rd, 2006

No, I’m not talking about war or politics or even the state of the Democratic party. I’m talking about the recent violence at some schools. A man with a grudge, yesterday, went into an Amish school in Pennsylvania and executed several young girls, before doing us all a favor and blowing his head off. He just had the order of things wrong. What could cause a person to do such a thing? Or, last week in Colorado (I think), another man went into a school, took some girls hostage, molested a few, and killed one or two before killiing himslef.

What has gotten into some people? I imagine we’ll eventually read about some “traumatic” childhood, or “deep seated” resentments or “unresolved rage” or other psycho-babble. The bottom line is, each of these people had some sort of problem and society–we–did nothing about it. Maybe we ignored the warning signs. Maybe we didn’t listen to them. Maybe we didn’t take them seriously. But I think, to some extent, that society shoulders some responsibility for not “heading them off,” though certainly not the blame for their actions.

It’s scary. To think that the guy next to you could suddenly come unglued some day, and come to work or school or the store you’re in or the place you’re visiting–to come in with a gun and just start blasting away. How can you prepare for that? You cannot. You can just live your life the best you can, each and every moment, and be thankful for what you have and what you can accomplish today. Tomorrow will take care of itself. You must take care of yourself today.

Shame, shame, shame!

October 1st, 2006

Yes, shame on the (now former) Florida Congressman who resigned on Friday for sending highly inappropriate email and text message to underage teenage boys who were pages in Congress. This from  “holier than thou” republican who in public bragged about his protection of children from the perils of the Internet, and from sexual predators. Here, he’s one of them.

This points out one of the big perils of a lot of republicans. They stand up with the religious right, known for their self-righteous attitudes. But in reality, they’re no better than anyone else. And, in the case of Rep. Foley, actually worse!

I am sickened and disgusted by this type of reprehensible behavior. It makes me wanna puke. Why is that so many Republicans give lip service to high ideals, but don’t live then in their lives.

Of course, the same can be said for many Democrats, no doubt. But then again, the Democratic party does not pretend to be full of a bunch of conservative Christians. No, the Democratic party is often the party of many left-wing minorities. And I’m sure there are many scum democrats too. But this Foley guy should be punished severely for his inappropriate behavior, and anyone who knew about it and did nothing is equally guilty.

See how the mighty fall when they claim to be holier than thou….

Clinton points his finger … again!

September 28th, 2006

I saw it again the other day. Former President Clinton we being interviewed by Chris Wallace. Clinton was asked why he didn’t do more to stop Osama Bin Laden while he was president. Clinton got visibly upset, pointing his finger, railing at all kinds of bogey men. Boy, was he mad!

It reminds me of the time when he was president, and someone asked him about his “relationship’ with Monica Lewinski. Clinton got visibly upset and pointed his finger and said, “I did not have sexual relations with that woman…. Miss Lewinsky.”

Well, we know that Clinton lied about his relationship with Monica Lewinsky. My take on it is that he is lying about his attempts to get Bin Laden as well. Why else would one of his former advisors steal classified documents regarding that issue.

Clinton is guilty of selective memory. Listen up Bill: “just admit it. you screwed up.” Twice, as it turns out. Well, maybe you can’t call the first time screwing, but he sure had that in his mind at the time. Maybe he didnt’ quite screw Monica, and he didn’t screw Bin Laden, but America, we sure got screwed….especially the 3000+ who were killed on Nine Eleven. Bill, admit your mistakes. Repent, while there’s still time!

The peaceful religion of Islam

September 23rd, 2006

The peaceful religion of Islam? I cannot find enough sarcasm in the world to add to that word, peaceful, in my first sentence. Islam has shown itself for what it is, a religion of hatred, invective, self-centeredness, and godlessness.

Recently the Pope made some remarks and quoted some very old remarks that were less than complimentary towards Islam. Though he was only speaking the truth, there was an outcry–by Islamic fascists.  The Pope issued an apology. The Islamic fascists apparently don’t understand that. There is still an outcry, a charge to kill christians and to wreak havoc among Christendom.

I have never, ever, not even once, seen a demonstration by Islamists which was a demonstration calling for peace. Not once. Rarely, I do read about isolated incidents where one or another Muslim calls for peace, but where does that go? Nowhere. It seems to be mostly lip service to me.

I cannot find any evidence that today’s radical, Islamic fascists are peace-loving or peaceful. They are filled with hatred and violence, and as such, must be dealt with in kind. Let those Muslims who are peaceful stand up and stand aside, so they don’t get caught up in the hijack of their formerly great religion. Islam is no longer a great religion, it’s a cover for murderers and thugs. Too bad, so sad. Live by the sword, die by the sword–we can only hope!