Cup of Compromise Tea, Senator Reid?

This week the House has passed TWO bills and sent to the senate for the debt ceiling adjustment. All the while Obama, Reid and Pelosi have hammered the GOP for not being able to "compromise" to get a deal done. BOTH of those bills were not even debated on in the Senate. Voted down without debate.

To me, this stinks of hypocrisy... if they truly believed in the poser of compromise they would take those bills, open them up for debate, modify one and send it back to the house. Instead they vote to not even bring them to the floor.  Now this morning we hear they are working on their own bill in the Senate that includes triggers for TAX increases because they may not have the votes in the Senate without tax increases. Do they seriously think that will pass in the House? Not in my lifetime. Now I guess now it's the House's turn to shoot one down.

This whole August 2nd deadline is a farce anyway. How many times has it been moved already? I say call the President bluff. Without the tea party, we would have MORE massive spending, more government control, more taxes, more DEBT and less and less liberty and freedom. WWFD ? What Would the Founders Do? They would surely not be in the position to begin with. There beliefs on debt would have not permitted this kind of madness.

America, STAND UP. We do not have to put up with this game. Both sides are showing us how incapable they are of truly leading this nation. The President lost that role a LONG time ago.

Mr. Reid, would you like a cup of compromise tea?

Surrounded by Patriotism

Recently my wife and I were fortunate to visit Mt. Rushmore in South Dakota. The first day was a sunny and hot July day and the place was full of people. People of all nationalities and all races, and all political and religious beliefs. What a glorious memorial to the these great Presidents. On this trip we saw nature and America at its best. Every corner you turn you see wonderful landscapes and open praries with roaming buffalo, prarie dogs and antelope mixed with mountain peaks, flowing crystal clear creeks with dragonflies and wildflowers. The silence at the top of some of these peaks is stunning.



"The purpose of the memorial is to communicate the founding, expansion, preservation, and unification of the
United States with colossal statues of Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt." Gutzon Borglum

We went back the next evening to see the nightly lighting ceremony at the memorial. Thousands of people filled the park and the large ampitheatre. The program with the singing of the National Anthem, and singing it there felt very different than singing it before the first pitch of a baseball game. Then the speaker began with some facts about the monument and the individual presidents. He also spoke about the Lewis and Clark expedition that discovered the west and the trials and their journey to the west coast and the pacific ocean. They then showed a film about America and about the things that make this country great, primarily FREEDOM !!



My photograph of Mt. Rushmore after fully illuminated during the ceremony.

It was very nice to be in a setting to feel and express our patriotism without fear of how someone might interpret that or might be "offended" by America and it's greatness. This IS the best country on earth. Those of you that may not share that opinion, please visit Mt. Rushmore, because you have freedom to live and work where you want, travel where you want, worship how you want and believe what you want. If you need a reminder, please visit the Berlin Wall Exhibit in Rapid City. Below is my photograph of two pieces of the actual Berlin Wall on display. Stirring reminder of the kind of evil that soldiers and citizens of this country fight against. Not to take over new land but to keep people of the world free.

Two segments of the Berlin Wall and two tank traps. I hope we never forget what can happen when freedom is discounted.

Medal Dis-Honor

Yesterday, the President made a huge flub that the main stream media will not tell you about. President Obama in his remarks to troops at Fort Drum Thursday told the US Army’s 10th Mountain Division about the time he awarded the first Medal of Honor to someone not receiving it posthumously. The medal, he said, went to an alive Jared Monti. The only issue is that Jared Monti died in service in Afghanistan, and did in fact receive the medal posthumously.

I searched abcnew.com, and msnbc.com and found no mention of this. Imagine if someone like Bush had made this mistake, do you think you would have known about it? Remember when they made a big deal about Bush leaving a press conference through the wrong door? This man forgot his very FIRST Congressional Medal of Honor presentation he gave to the soldiers surviving parents. How do you think they felt after seeing that? In my mind this shows that the award presentation meant little to him and how little that soldiers sacrifice moved him. Just words prepared for him by a staff writer, not words he truly did not feel with his heart. You would think that this should have been an occasion that would have left a strong impression about being the Commander In Chief and the vital role he is responsible for.

The least we can do for our honored dead is to remember them. (correctly)

Add this to the list of things that move me to assist in removing him from office in 2012. See the videos below, first the mistake yesterday, and then the actual presentation.

June 2011



March 2010

Faith in decline...?

This past Sunday I was at a United Methodist Church service in Columbia, MO. Beautiful service it was. Glorious old ornate church building, great people, wonderful music (especially the organ). The service stirred emotion like I have not felt is a while. Hard to put in to words the emotion I felt. But let me try.

Have you ever been singing and you feel something, and you just can't sing any more? Lump in your throat or what ever it is. I love it when the organ gets progressively more powerful as it goes through each verse on the simple hymn. The first verse or two it basically plays the vocal parts and then as the last verse it's like all stops are out and the music just flows with beauty and majesty. Music is best when you feel it, with your ears and your heart. My whole body felt that, and it was amazing. THAT is the way hymns should be played and felt.

Lovely service, from the baby being baptised with the water being poured as the words are spoken to the parents and congregation, to the robed processional carrying banners, candles and the Bible held high over head. The message was a thought provoking one as well. Part of it was about the decline of the Methodist church and gave statistics of the projected decline and eventual end of the church.

I left, thinking to my self and discussing with my wife and mother that it is not hard to understand why the church is in decline. The message was specific to this church but it's across the board. It also talked of the average age going up and how that could affect the future. How can we expect people of younger ages to embrace the church ( any church ) when the country has for decades been working to eliminate faith and church from government, courts, schools and others influences of life in the United States of America. We send the message that we cannot teach faith values in schools, the 10 commandments need to be removed from court rooms and the city squares.

I wish I had an answer, but I am just one person... one heart. We need to change millions of them. How do we do that? One at a time.

This country will be great again, getting there might be painful but it will be as glorious as that Sunday in church with great family, great music and great faith. It will take all of us, republicans and democrats and all faiths. Yes we can, one day at a time. One heart at a time and one verse at a time.


* Thank you Katie and Stephanie for inviting us, we loved it !!

What is wrong with us?

What is wrong with this country...? See these 2 stories and reply with your thoughts please. Now these are young people, behaving so badly that I am ashamed of this. The first one is criminal. The second one is a case of youth being taught with the "Rules for Radicals" strategy which is part on the NEA National Education Association recommended reading. An other example is recent union behavior in Wisconsin. If you don't know what Rules For Radicals is, I would google it, right away.

Criminal Mob Terrorism ?



News report below... Is this the way a democratic society works for change? See here about the program these youth were protesting to KEEP.

Students Protest Ethnic Studies Curriculum Change: MyFoxPHOENIX.com

Inflation

Get ready kiddos, it's about to kick in big time. With the price of oil/gas and commodities on the rise for a few months it has been slow to show up in your grocery cart. But it is now... here is one example.

They get you with portion sizes too, pay attention !

A recent caller to a radio show runs a food pantry for his community.. one year ago he bought a 14.5 oz can of Hormel Chili for $1.25. Today the can is 10.5 oz's and cost him $1.50.

That's .057 more PER OUNCE... or a 66% price increase. But hey you think it's only .25 cents.. but pay attention. Everything from clothing to food is going to keep going up. As long as the government keeps printing money ( making the dollar actually worth less ) the value of the dollar will go down. Oil is traded around the world in US dollars... so they raise the price of oil ( or chili ) to make up the difference.

Don't be afraid to start your own food storage. I'm just sayin.....

What is important ?

I have spent most of the last few months working on my Royals blog Ballparkthinking. Then lately I feel like I am drawn to pick this up again because if we can't get Americas economic and political feet back on solid ground then we are in serious trouble.

A lot of you may think I am totally a right wing hack but that's okay. I just write about what I feel is important, and make cases that I strongly believe in. If you think I am crazy then I guess that is just how it will have to be. But please don't stop reading. I have heard over and over lately that failure to stand for your beliefs is not an option. I've heard speak your mind without fear and that is what I intend to do. I am making my stance and I am doing so without fear because yes I believe that strongly.

The next 1-2 years could be some of the most critical years in my lifetime. Not just for the 2012 election but for the direction of this country which could play a big part in the election. If things don't get better ( and I am confident that they will not ) then what regular  citizens do and say will play a momentous part of the future America we leave for our children and grand-children. The country is broke. At  the time I write this, the United States National Debt stands at 14.3 TRILLION dollars. Check it here to see what it is when you read this. In 2004 it was 7.1 trillion... doubled in 7 years under Presidents Bush and Obama. Neither one of them have done you or I any favors at this point.

I don't want this to turn into a bash Obama site, there are plenty of those with plenty of reasons. What I would like this to turn into is a place for anyone to see what I am thinking, and a site to house a historical record from my point of view. Right or wrong, I may turn out to be either one but better to be wrong than to have been right and not spoken up.

There may be some personal stuff here, some local things and lots of national thoughts.  Sure baseball is a lot more fun, but a LOT less important. I feel I am being called to act in some way, called to stand in some way. I think this may mean stepping out of my comfort zone at times, but I think it's time. Perhaps writing this and expressing my thoughts here, will help me think it through and point me in the direction I need to point towards.

Please stay tuned... not asking you to agree with me. Please add your comments either to agree or to pick my arguments apart. Discussion is good, freedom of speech is good and the ability to agree to disagree is one of the founding principals of this country.