Almost American?

Today's topic: May Day Celebration!

I look with wonder at our country when all protesters are allowed to protest without molestation even if they have broken laws to get here. I think it is no wonder that people from all over the world look to the United States as a refuge from poverty, as a refuge from political and religious oppression. It is a day like today that I see that the doom-sayers are wrong. The United States of America is a great country!

Regardless of what the world thinks of the United States politically, they still would rather be here than anywhere else in the world. That is absolutely a cause for people to be in the streets today!

Many of us would like to be able to be a safe harbor for every person in the world: the hungry in Africa, the oppressed in Asia, and the poor in South America. But there are challenges that meet humanity all over the world. Some we can stop, others we can help, and still others that we cannot.

If you would like to help a good cause, visit http://www.one.org/. This organization partners with charities all over the world and gives your money to help where it can be most effective. This charity, headed by Bono, is bringing international attention to humanitarian issues all over the world. Please also remember those causes here in the United States that are well worth your support as well.

---------------------------

I hate to change gears on you, but I can't let it go at that....

While all of us should be proud of what the United States stands for, there is a reason that thousands of illegal immigrants are walking around the streets of our cities today. They aren't legal citizens of the United States of America--but they think they are entitled to it.

While I feel their pain, there are millions all over the world that want to be American Citizens. Why should those that gain entry into this country by breaking our laws and cutting in line be rewarded with such an honor? First of all, we are a large country, but we aren't big enough to physically hold all of the people that want to come to the United States. Our infrastructures (including water, sewer, highways, housing, and others), our economy, health system, education system, government, and law enforcement would be completely overrun. The country we know today would become a third world country in very short order. The wealth of this country would disappear. Then who would be there to help those in Africa, South America, Asia, and other continents all over the world? Other developed nations could continue to help, but by how much without the help and leadership of the United States and its Citizens? Developing nations would fall, wars would rage, and our world today would be a distant memory.

The above scenario is perhaps an extreme, but I don't see any real reason why that couldn't happen (great reasoning for an argument, don't ya think).

My point is this. We are a nation of laws. You don't get to pick the ones you want to follow, otherwise, I would follow drivers that cut me off in traffic and put bumper stickers that read "Bushie at heart" over those "Kerry/Edwards 04" bumper stickers and one that reads "Flip-flopper--Doesn't sound so bad now, does it?" on the cars with the "W" sticker on their rear window.

There are people standing in line to get into this country. Proud, honest, hard working people waiting years to get their citizenship. They are ready to start their "Great American Story." Why should law breakers, drug runners, and worse get access before those that come here legally?

Yeah, some things need to change. Maybe the amount of immigrants allowed citizenship each year needs to increase. Or maybe we need to consider a guest worker program (which includes background checks) in areas where workers are needed. An open border policy is not what Americans signed up for. In this political climate there are too many extremes and not near enough coming together.

---------

In this bloggers personal opinion: I think a good trade off between the Democrats and Republicans would be to concede a point on both sides. Republicans should consider a non-amnesty immigrant worker program. But shouldn't Democrats start allowing legislation to limit the power and formation of organized labor unions?

To me, that's a "meet in the middle type-o-deal". Both have a positive effect on the job market. Unions are all but obsolete, and commerce and the consumers are the big losers. Companies won't be afraid to start up new operations in Union territory and will be able to afford increasing wages for entry level jobs enticing legal American workers to accept them.

Just a thought? What do you think? A place to start?

---------------------

Borders need to be controlled. The argument against this, I do not understand.

I have always thought that the only way to keep a problem from continuing to happen was to fix the root of the problem. Being that Mexico and Canada are sovereign nations, we can only affect where the problem begins in the United States--at the border.

One more problem: why are there sanctuary cities? I thought that federal law trumps local law. I think I read that somewhere. Why is it that the same people who are crying for the rights afforded in the Constitution to U.S. Citizens also be given to war criminals held on foreign soil, but when it's convenient they want to ignore the Constitution when it comes to enforcing federal laws.

Circumventing the law of the land is the same problem whether it be at the border or in sanctuary cities. The proper way (and the only way I know) to get around a law is to change it legally, not break it. Now you can say you read it somewhere.

A Letter to Our Civil Servants and Elected Officials

The legacy of our beloved former Secretary of Defense is back again. I sometimes wonder if our public servants get elected or appointed simply because they are incapable of doing anything else.

Case-in-point: Most media organizations reported recently on the inacuracies of the Pat Tillman and Jessican Lynch stories that were fed to the media during the early stages of the Iraq War. The ultimate authority in this case was ole Rummy. Why in the world did he allow the release of a story to the media that was completely flawed and untrue? Let me rephrase: Why did he allow the release of a story to the media which was almost certain to be disproved? Didn't he learn the lessons of the past decades? After all, he was in the Nixon Administration and I'm sure he read the papers during the Clinton Presidency. Public servants are hired or elected to do what is right. If they don't like it, they need to follow another line of work.

The refusal of people to change with the times just mesmerizes me. Rummy felt until the end that he was running a war from the 1970's. He still believed that if he didn't want the information to get out, he could stop it. He believed that people in general are stupid and will believe what their government tells them. How long will it take before our top civilian commanders realize that eventually most of the dirt and truth comes out? I don't get it.

For that reason (and others) I have started writing a letter to all of those who have been elected, appointed, or are planning such. This letter is written to all political persuasions. For we are pretty much sick of all of them. If you would like input, please post a comment. Here is what I have so far...

Dear Civil Servants and Elected Officials:

Gosh, how times have changed. They really haven't changed all that much, but we're giving you the benefit of the doubt. There are a few things that your loyal subjects want to remind you. First of all, we are not subjects, we are citizens. And unlike many of you, we have standards. Our standards are simple and are based on a few key underlying principles. Regardless of anything else, we want you to tell us the truth. We want you to uphold a common sense of humanity. We want to be able to trust you to make the decisions that need to be made, regardless of difficulty, for the betterment of society and our environment, both national and international. Below are a couple of suggestions that we make to help you do your job.

1. There is a media. The media is more driven, more savvy, more obnixious, and more corrupt that it has ever been before. The story is now more important than its readers and sometimes more important than the facts. If you know this, then you will know that anything you do is subject to the scrutiny of a competitor that is just as scrupulous as you are. You are held to a higher moral standard than anyone else. If you don't like this, then you might want to rethink your career path.

2. Tell the truth. Everything that you say will be twisted and turned around regardless of what it was that was originally said. But you will always be able to explain the truth--you will never be able to explain a lie.

3. Any lie that you tell, will be read back to you by a member of the oposition party, Chris Matthews, or worst case, Bill O'Reilly. If the truth is on your side, then you will survive.

4. Get a back-bone. Stand up for what you believe in. If you made a mistake, admit it and move on. The art of the cover-up is no longer available to you. Even non-coverups will be shown to look like cover-ups by media types who are opposed to you. (Questions about non-coverups? Ask Alberto Gonzalez and Scooter Libby.)

5. Don't do anything in your private life that you don't want the world to hold against you. If you don't want pictures of you with your intern splattered all over CNN, DON'T SLEEP WITH YOUR INTERN! If you get caught, take credit for it. Have a back-bone and don't lie about it. (See #1, 2, 3, & 4.) For questions on this one, I think you know who to contact. Hint: there isn't just one.

6. Appoint only people qualified for a job to that specific job. Don't appoint your boyfriend, girlfriend, lover, or best friend to a position unless they are the best qualified person for the job. Do not appoint a horse association president to the head of FEMA unless they have coordinated rescue and rebuilding efforts for 2 million horses and their homes in a hurricane. One last note: THEY HAVE TO HAVE DONE IT SUCCESSFULLY.

7. Only accept a job if you are qualified for it. If you don't know anything about Emergency Management, don't accept a political appointment as head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. And if you weren't successful in a previous war, don't try to regain your reputation by screwing up another one.

8. Don't argue for the sake of arguing. Do what is right, even if you don't believe everything you hear about it. For example: If helping the environment is good for the environment, then it doesn't matter whether or not you believe in global warming. If you believe that social security needs to be improved--improve it! No one cares if it will go bankrupt in 15 or 50 years.

9. Don't stop legislation that is good for the nation simply because your name will not be on it or the competitive party will get credit for it. The heirarchy of your allegiance should be as follows: Nation, State, Party, Self. Those of you doing it any other way are traitors to your nation. Do what is best for all of us, not what will give you or your party the most credit. At what point did leaking information that is vital or even just merely important to our nation's success become an innocent bi-product of leaking information to discredit a political opponent or the opposition party. Leaking information is leaking information. When the outcome of the information is more important the the potential consequences, then it is O.K. And you will hear our praise from your jail cell. Here is another example - don't screw your soldiers in battle just to win the next election!

10. Be the bigger person. During a time when it seems like a race to the bottom, it's important to remember what is important. The glee in the voice or the light in the eye of those taking delight in our nations' defeat for the sake of political victory or "I told you so" is sickening. You may think that you are hiding it, but you are not. (Mr Schumer - we can see the sparkle in your eye even when you are giving us one of your heart felt scowls.)

I am sure that you already know this, but I just wanted to spell it out. You are not respected by the world. You are seen as little kids fighting back and forth. Our political landscape is starting to look like the silly battles in the British Parlaiment that we used to see on Sunday night television. Once a respected institution, the international view of congress has moved from respectful disagreement to a complete loss of respect for our political process. You should all be ashamed.

Worse than this, you have lost respect from your nation. It is truly a sad day when this happens. You are now no better than other nations that once looked up to us. We are no longer a bright beacon, but an embarassment to the world community. Not because of the stands we take, or our mistakes in a war, but because of the serious and juvenile division that you have created--not just in congress, but in the media, in your news conferences, and in the rediculous diatribes that you use to further your party's agenda.

Now that we have come to the end of my rediculous diatribe, I have one more thought. At present, many Americans are not dissatisfied with their particular representative, just with every other member of congress. Well, the time is coming when a majority of voting Americans will be willing to sacrifice their sitting member of congress for the betterment of the whole. I'm ready now. Let's throw them all out and start over.

mr

Update - Friday April 20, 2007

Part 2 of the Democrats: "The War is Lost" will be forthcoming in a later post. For now, something from today...

Harry Reid's gaffe on Thursday was a big one. Why is no one covering this? John McCain's "Bomb" (which is of almost no consequence) is still in the news 2 days after it first broke. CNN doesn't even reference the Reid admission directly or on it's front page, you actually have to look for it. It's fallen off the Reuters page. But note that one of the top stories on CNN.com is "Will Bush still stand by Gonzalez?" On the New York Times website you won't find it on the Politics pages, only multiple stories of the AG's brush with Senate lawmakers, Republican problems with 2006 elections, and information about Edwards $400 haircuts. You'll have to go all the way to the Washington page at the bottom below the story about Wolfowitz's questionable activities with his girlfriend.

But don't get me started on the Gonzalez fiasco. What started as a political hatchet job has turned into a viable story--not because of any evidence of a wrong doing, but of the complete inability of our nation's top law enforcement officer to run his department with any semblance of order, organization, or procedure. This is why I am sure that this administration's own worst enemy is itself. I'm sure there is more to come on this. This is just another White House appointment blunder along the lines of Dick Cheney, Hariet Myers, Paul Wolfowitz and Donald Rumsfeld. I want to know who is making the appointment suggestions to the president. They needed to be thrown over the side of this sinking ship a long time ago. The best things to come out of this White House is Colin Powell, John Roberts, and Samuel Alito. Please, oh please, don't prove me wrong.

Democrats: "The War Is Lost"

It is indeed a sad day when a leader of the US government conceeds defeat to an enemy of our country. According to Reuters and Fox News, Harry Reid (NV), the top Democrat in the United States Senate informed the media Thursday that he had told the president that "this war is lost" referring to the Iraq conflict. Only just into the beginning of the ramp-up of U.S. forces into the country, he is ready to give up. Is that anything new? Of course not. The majority of the democratic party joined the extremist left and the media's white flag years ago.

I still don't know if I agree or not with Senator Reid. While I have a firm belief that it is imperative that we win this war, I don't know if we can win in Iraq but i'm hardly ready to concede.

There are too many things against us. And shame on the president that he didn't fix this years ago. This is a Almost Average American's take on why this war may never be won.

1. No one did their homework before this conflict began. Incompetent, god-complexed Rumsfeld put together the war plan. Don't be confused--our top generals didn't come up with that rediculous plan. Rumsfeld did, and rammed it down everyones' throat. The president trusted him and was too weak to fire him when things started moving from bad to worse. He may have waited to long to turn this around.

The president didn't know any better and followed Rumsfeld blindly into the desert. He sold a war to the public under points that turned out not to be true. Don't be fooled, the democrats believed those points too. They were just able to back off of them, deserting the president when our nation needed all of them to stand together. But no, they saw a way to win the next election.

There were 10 good reasons to take action in Iraq. It just so happens that the 3 the president used in his State of the Union and on his "Iraq War Bus Tour" were wrong. Our democratic friends seem to have forgotten this too. They want us to go it alone in Darfur, but when 1.5 million people were slaughtered in Iraq, we should have used diplomatic efforts and followed the good judgment of the UN. Yeah, good strategy.

I will try to address some of the reasons why the Iraq incurrsion was a good thing to do in an upcoming post. Things like putting an American base right in the middle of Syria and Iran. There's no Korea, Japan, or Germany in the Middle East. Things like ending the tyranical reign of a murderous dictator. Things like showing the Middle East up close that we are a benevolent society and aren't as bad as we are made out to be. Things like keeping a religious fanatical government from controlling the entire balance of power in a very dangerous part of the world.

2. Never admit your mistakes. The poor decision making at the beginning of the war continued to the middle of the war because our commander in chief was too afraid to admit that his administration might have been wrong. At what point are we so afraid to admit mistakes that our country and our armed forces must suffer for it? At the point where the looney nutso's of the fringe of any ideology are the people who hold the power.

3. Minority Rule. Just to complete a thought... We are at a point in our history where it's no longer "We the People." It's "We the Extremists." At what point did we allow Michael Moore and George Soros (not originally from the U.S.) on the left and Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell on the right to hijack our political process? Apparently at this point. When lawyers from Pat Robertson's school of law are working in powerful positions in the Justice Department. When eccentric billionaires born in other countries can effect U.S. elections, then is all hope lost? I hope not, but I wouldn't bet my measley net worth against it.

To Be Continued....

The Media is Excited!

I couldn't help but notice something that started this last weekend. The all great and powerful Hillary Clinton announced that she would be putting some thought into deciding whether or not she was running for highest office in the land.

CNN lead with the story and devoted much (if not most) of the next several hours to it. I thought T.J. Holmes was going to wet his pants. Not since Walter Cronkite reported on a fateful day in 1963, have I ever seen a news anchor so emotionally involved in the story. He was almost giddy.

Fox News wasn't quite as giddy (almost to the point of downplaying the story) but Sean Hannity started in with his barrage of tiring "gotcha" questions to Clinton supporters. I enjoy Sean, but this line of questions got tiring after the 50th installment of similar questions to Kerry supporters in the '04 election.

Regardless of whether you support Hillary or not, the media coverage will be very interesting to watch. I will tell you, I will probably not be voting for Hillary. There is just too much calculation and positioning. I don't think that the American public will ever really know what she stands for. The Clinton smoke machine is hard at work and Hillary will stand for whatever the polls tell her to stand for.

-Middlerob