Independence Day

"The Second Day of July 1776, will be the most memorable Epocha, in the History of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary Festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance by solemn Acts of Devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more. You will think me transported with Enthusiasm but I am not. I am well aware of the Toil and Blood and Treasure, that it will cost Us to maintain this Declaration, and support and defend these States. Yet through all the Gloom I can see the Rays of ravishing Light and Glory. I can see that the End is more than worth all the Means. And that Posterity will tryumph in that Days Transaction, even altho We should rue it, which I trust in God We shall not."
- John Adams July 3, 1776

The signing of the Declaration of Independence was no easy thing.  We think of ourselves as Americans now, but 237 years ago, to even talk of such a thing as a separate American nation, an independent union of states, was treason.  We may "hold these truths to be self-evident," but King George certainly did not, and while this important document means liberty to us, to England and those people in the colonies still loyal to the King, it meant insurrection.  There were colonies, such as New York and Pennsylvania, that were reluctant to endorse such an act, for just as John Adams correctly predicted victory and celebrations, he and the other delegates realized it would be born of war, of blood, of sacrifices great and personal.  Benjamin Franklin's own son William, the  royal governor of New Jersey, remained loyal to the crown.  He was imprisoned, and eventually exiled.  John Adams sacrificed years of life as a husband and father in exchange for service to a young nation.  Fortunes and reputations were risked, and young men died defending their homeland from other young men whom had presently been fellow countrymen.  To live in peace, there must be war.
As the declaration reads, "governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the governed, that when ever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to abolish it, and to institute new government."  It seems like such a simple idea, and yet it was, indeed, revolutionary.  If the king would continue to abuse his subjects, if the colonies would get no representation in the mother country, then the people would renounce the government and govern themselves.  It's one thing to declare it, but now there was the act of becoming a traitor in order to become a patriot, of standing up to the world's most professional army with militias composed of farmers and children.  There would be seven years of conflict, uneasy alliances, and the struggle to decide what kind of nation we would become.  There were hard-won victories at the crossing of the Delaware River and at Yorktown, but at the end of the war, Great Britain still had some 25,000 or more troops occupying New York, Charleston, and Savannah. Due to a lack of support for the war back in England and a war on several fronts with France, Spain, and the Dutch, the British troops ceased hostilities, and the war ended in 1783, beginning an era of peace and prosperity.  Truly, Independence Day is a day that should be celebrated, and I join the rest of my countrymen in that celebration with hot dogs and fireworks and patriotic pride.  I also reflect on the great sacrifice of our men and women who fought and won that freedom, the men who drafted our great documents, the traitors who would become patriots, and the people today who are willing to defy tyrants and stand for liberty.  Happy Fourth of July America, and may God bless us with peace and prosperity as we strive to uphold the ideals of this nation as put forth by our founders and defended  by our minutemen.
 Also read- http://blogoftheunion.blogspot.com/2011/03/declaration-for-dummies.html

From Russia, No Love

Whether you think of NSA contractor Edward Snowden as a whistle-blower or traitor (or maybe both), you have to agree that Tom Hanks did a much better job with the role in 2004's The Terminal.  Alright, I know, it's not the same thing as a Hollywood comedy, but look, this guy is leaking American intelligence secrets, and even the Russians are telling him to shut his yap.  I mean, even Hollywood could never have come up with this.  Can you imagine a film where a guy goes to the Kremlin, says, "I know James Bond's real name, his address, and I'll tell you for free," and some Russian general exclaiming, "Shhhhh!!!! What ze hell iz wrong, vith you, you vant to start Vorld Var Three?!?!"   Snowden has applied for political asylum in Russia (you know...the former Soviet Union),  and Russian President Vladimir Putin (you know...the former KGB guy) won't let him out of the airport.  Putin has reportedly said, "If he likes to stay here, there is one condition: he should cease his work aimed at damaging our American partners."  Wow, Ed, I hate to say it, but when "Ivan" of all people is telling you to zip it, you've probably reached the end of your tether.  Basically, everyone but Julian Assange is telling you to shut the #@*! up, and it's looking more and more like Leavenworth for you.  Sorry, I don't think they'll let you keep your Guy Fawkes mask or your Teddy Bear in the klink.  Just ask "Machine Gun" Kelly.  Who knows, you might even get his old cell.  Now I know what some of you might be thinking- especially you, Lefty- "What's the matter with you, Mr. Johnson, you Orwellian fascist foot-kissing fungii, the country, (and yes, the world!) needs whistle-blowers like Edward Snowden!  He's not a traitor, he's a soldier for the truth!"  First off, Lefty, you need to work on your insults.  Secondly, how much "truth"do we really want out there?  Enough to, say, let the enemy know exactly where our troops are and let them count them?  Thirdly, the other nations of the world are not really as surprised and outraged as the pretend to be...you know why?  Because they're all doing the same thing, just not as well as we are!  But the biggest whammy?  Seriously, when you go around telling The Guardian and anyone else who will listen all the state secrets you know and even Vladimir Putin tells you to cork it, you have to wonder if maybe...just maybe....you might want to rethink your position.  We're obviously not talking about some spicy e-mails from some foreign mission somewhere...and you're not making a lot of friends. 

You Will Never Get My Vote

"I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. 16So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth."  Rev. 3:15-16

You will never get my vote. You "old bulls" need to hear this, because it's the last time it will be said.  You are a Republican...or Maybe you're a Democrat.  It doesn't matter.  You will never get my vote.  It won't matter what you spend on comercials and print ads.  It won't matter who you've paid to endorse you.  In 2016, I'm voting for Malcolm X.  I'm voting for Archie Bunker.  I'm voting for somebody who stands for something. You party hacks send me letters in the mail that claim you need money so you can send more letters in the mail.  On each little questionnaire, you ask my opinion, and then you completely ignore it.  You congressmen show up on the Sunday morning shows and tell me how badly we need more enforcement of existing immigration laws and border security. Monday evening, you tell me we can't secure the border "it's too big," and  we need to "make a deal" on immigration reform.  You got elected on a platform of repealing or replacing the Affordable Care Act, but you won't even do the one thing that is in your power to do...defund it.  You, Mr. President, said that you believe marriage is between a man and a woman, so you could gobble up the votes, and then licked your finger, stuck it up in the air, and followed the prevailing winds.  Has your opinion changed, or have the latest opinion poll results changed?  You said you were going to close Guantanamo Bay...that was 5 years ago.  You are liars.  You are thieves.  You have made promises you cannot hope to keep, which matters little, because you never intended to.  You candidates, you talk about uniting the country, you scowl at the divisiveness of politics, and then you screw each other to the wall and try to make yourselves seem just a little bit more appealing than the other guy.  You talk of bipartisanship, which means everyone gets screwed but you.  You threw your hand-puppets in the air and railed against the other side while claiming your puppets don't speak for you. You say you want to decrease the deficit, then you tell me the deficit doesn't really matter and make backroom deals with made-up numbers.  You've said you support the Tea Party, then call them "hobbits." You are politicians, and your only interest is self-preservation, but you know what?  There will come a day when "the shiniest of two turds" isn't good enough anymore, and you had better be ready.  Jim Sullivan found it out, and so will you.  Without a spine, an elephant or a donkey is nothing but a jellyfish.   I haven't been to the beach in over ten years, you know why?  It's because I hate jellyfish.  Get hot, get cold, or get out of politics.

Breaking News: Britain Has Spies!

Thank goodness for the intrepid reporters at places like the Guardian and Yahoo News.  Without the likes of them, we might never have learned that The United Kingdom has whole agencies full of spies and secret agents whose missions are secret!  Apparently, these spies are even monitoring communications!  SECRETLY!  I did a little research of my own, and I discovered that this kind of thing has been going on since before the days of Rome.  Even the Aztecs had a spy network.  It's hard to believe, I mean, really, who knew?  Oh, that's right- everybody.  Yes, the NSA, the CIA, the GHCQ, and the SVR are all monitoring all kinds of communications, always have, always will.  Intercepted e-mails?  Yup.  Tapped phone calls?  Uh-huh.  Captured couriers?  Check.  Shot down carrier pigeons? You betcha.  In fact, it looks like the only people who didn't know this has been going on for thousands of years are...journalists.  It's a huge shocker, I guess, that a spy agency led by Great Britain, formerly one of the world's largest empires, is tapping into a global network of fiber-optic cables to mine data from (gasp!) the internet.  I mean, wow, right?  Using the internet as a way to gather and store information?  Dastardly, to say the least.  So, why am I not worried about this?  Isn't privacy a legitimate concern, here?  Maybe...I guess...if, that is, you believe that any government anywhere really cares about your Facebook posts (Go Bears!  What a touchdown!), your Twitter feed (Just had the best tiramisu at this restaurant on Grant Ave! #foodmelikey), or your e-mails from grandma (FWD:FWD:FWD: insert lame political or racial joke).  I, personally, don't believe the Masters of the Universe are monitoring your phone calls to Nana on her birthday...I'm pretty sure there just isn't the manpower to scour through everyone's calls and e-mails everyday, all day.  Also, I tend to not accept calls from known terrorists, drug dealers, or wanted fugitives...but whatever.  I'm sure someone out there is seething about that..."Wait just a minute, Mr. Johnson, are you saying if we have nothing to hide, we have nothing to fear, so we should just give up our civil liberties, you jackbooted Trotskyite?"  No, not at all.  I value my personal privacy as much as the next guy...I just don't think most of us are going to draw the attention of spies from England, or anywhere else.  Moreover, what are you going to do about it?  They're spies.  Keeping their actions covert is kind of what they're all about.  Why so surprised, why so outraged?  It's like government corruption- I can't believe these stories produce more than a yawn.  Yes, the bogeyman exists.  The real question is whose bed is he hiding under, right?  But I'm afraid I'll have to end this little rant...I'm on to something big here...according to an unidentified source, it turns out that the UK is a constitutional monarchy!  I'd better start researching this new development right away. 

Okay, Here's The Deal...

Hello to all four of my readers, and thanks for following along.  Recently, I've noticed a trend taking shape, so I've decided to make some modifications.  Nothing drastic, mind you, there's just a few points I think I should make before we continue our "dialogue."  Here are the new rules, and I hope you four can learn to play nicely together.

 

1)  I write about whatever is on my mind, when and if I feel like it.  I'm not a professor, or a journalist, or an expert.  I do not have a degree in blogology, and I am not a doctor, nor do I claim to have ever played one on T.V.  I don't spend my time looking for sources or tracking down scoops, although I may have done some research.  What you read here are my opinions, and I stand by them...unless I have, over the course of some time, changed my mind.  Since they are my opinions, and it is my blog, I get to do that.

 

2)  Your spam is pissing me off.  I guess you think it's clever to string together a sentence that almost makes sense and then finish it off by tacking your own blog name, URL, or product at the end, but it's annoying to have to go through and pick through the comments and separate the spam from the actual readers who just don't have a good grasp of the English language.  No one who reads this blog is looing for great deals on fake Guicci watches or cares about your fake, hot, streaming, live webcam.  I encourage comments and discussion, but your attempts at self-promotion and spam will be terminated with extreme prejudice.

 

3)People named "Anonymous" who post comments will be taken less seriously than others.  I realize that not everyone wants to make their opinions known to the world, and I realize that not having a gmail account (Seriously?  You really don't have one?) can make it a pain in the ass to share your thoughts...that's why so many people continue the discussion on facebook after reading. For the rest of you, though, have the courage to put your name (even a made-up one) behind your convictions.  Only four people read this blog anyway, it's not like you're in any danger of the world finding out your secrets.

 

4)Yes, please, comment, continue the debate, that's what this blog is here for!  I try to share my opinions in a way that is A) intentionally confrontational   B) humorous  and C) open for debate.  Having said that, I do not need or want your advice on how to write, what topics I should write about (unless I actually ask), or where I should stick my keyboard.  Read the whole damned post before you comment, then take a minute or two to formulate your response.  Insults are fine, as long as they are clever and serve a purpose other than trolling, but don't get butthurt when it comes back at you.  Most importantly, STAY ON TOPIC.   Don't try to "cross-reference" me by pulling stuff up from another post that is not relevant.  All cries of "hypocrite" will be ignored.  So your doctor smokes two packs a day, but thinks you should quit for your health- is his opinion any less valid?  If you answered yes, you are at the wrong blog.  Go get your own.  I can't wait to read a blog post written by the world's first perfect person.

 

5)  Don't like the new rules?  Well, then go hang out at http://www.somethingawful.com/  and throw your two cents in there.  If you think I suck, just read their rules for posting.  You'll be happier there, anyway, Lefty, trust me.  I'm pretty sure all you have to do is type "George Bush Sucks" and they waive the $10 fee.

 

Well, that's all I've got for now.  Hopefully, the five of us can put the past behind us and move on.

Outrage!

The U.S. Ambassador to Libya, along with at least three staff members are dead after an  assault by a Libyan militia.  In Cairo, Egypt, an angry mob breached the U.S. embassy, tore down our flag, and relaced it with a black flag with religious writing on it.  Because they were mad that some guy in America made a movie that mocks Mohammed.  Our response?  From the Website of the U.S. embassy in Cairo- "
The Embassy of the United States in Cairo condemns the continuing efforts by misguided individuals to hurt the religious feelings of Muslims – as we condemn efforts to offend believers of all religions. Today, the 11th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States, Americans are honoring our patriots and those who serve our nation as the fitting response to the enemies of democracy. Respect for religious beliefs is a cornerstone of American democracy. We firmly reject the actions by those who abuse the universal right of free speech to hurt the religious beliefs of others."  Wow, so we have to apologize for some guy who makes a movie that pisses people off?  Why didn't anyone apologize to me for Religious by Bill Maher back in 2008?  From Secretary of State Hillary Clinton:"We condemn this vicious and violent attack that took their lives, which they had committed to helping the Libyan people reach for a better future."  Well...I guess that's a little better...but I liked the way Reagan handled things.  Gaddafi was threatening assassinations, we all knew about his terrorisat training camps, so Ronald Reagan dropped bombs on his house.  Guess what?  That little pipsqueak of a colonel never gave us grief again.  Of course, Gaddafi's dead now...thanks to the "Arab Spring" everyone was so excited about.  Isn't democracy grand?  Look at how things have changed in Egypt, Libya, and Syria!  Doesn't it just fill you with hope for the future? 

There Are Other "Choices" You Can Make

Okay, Leftie, since we're friends, I'm going to try one last time to explain my feelings on abortion to you, because I just don't think you get it. You think I'm some sort of bible-thumper, that I think I'm better than you, and that I want to ram my hypocritical views down your throat.  You believe that I'm using my religion as a justification for dictating to you what you can or can't do with your body.  The truth is, religion shouldn't matter.  What I believe is that you are ignoring a very simple truth.  It's not just your body anymore.  You carry inside your body another person, a growing, developing baby, a life.  What ever happened to you, whether you were raped , or you had sex with someone you don't particularly want to have a child with, it is not the baby's fault.  You do not have a right to hire a doctor to murder him or her just to make yourself feel better about what happened to you or to remove yourself from whatever problems or inconveniences you think the baby will cause.  You don't see it that way, maybe because you don't want to except the emotional burden, or maybe because you have found some sort of moral ambiguity in the nature of when a developing baby can truely be called "alive."  You tell me no one really knows when life begins, but I tell you if something is growing and develpoing, that means there is life.  To put it differently, the question of, "which came first, the chicken or the egg," is irrelevant to me, because when you crack open an egg and fry it, you are preparing to eat chicken.  The fact that it has not grown feathers and a beak yet does not make this any less true.  Just as the chicken has the egg to protect it, the baby needs your womb.  I've never understood why people who are horrified when they see a pregnant woman smoking or dinking a glass of wine have no problem with this presumed "choice."  Listen, if you want to cut off your left arm, be my guest, it's your body.  If you want to have a doctor rip your living baby violently from the womb, well, that is not your body, it's his or hers.  It's not about "women's health," or "freedom to choose," or any of those other phony slogans, it's about you being so selfish that you are willing to murder your own baby because you're affraid, or don't like what might happen to you.  I hate to be the one to tell you, but there is a price for that "freedom."  And there is guilt.  And regret.  And pain. Because I never met a person, be it a woman who chose an abortion, or a man who was involved, who looked back ten years later and said, "I'm so glad I had that thing killed."  We aren't talking about a thing, like a tumor, or a cyst, we're talking about a baby, someone who needs you, someone who loves you before they even knew you. You want this person dead, for whatever reason, and think that you deserve that "right to choose."  Hmmm...what to do, what to do...should I put you up for adoption, try to raise you, or should I just kill you?  You are not "pro choice," you are "pro death." If you can't see that, we have nothing left to discuss. 

It's Never Been About Anything Else

My son walked in as I was watching the news the other day, and he asked me, "So, now that bin Laden is dead, does that mean the War on Terror is over?"  I shook my head, "no," and said, "bin Laden was just one man.    We didn't cut the head off of a snake, we just cut one off of a hydra."  He gave a quick nod of understanding, then said, with an annoyed sort of confusion, "why do they want to kill us, anyway?"  Well, I could have given him the old George Bush line, they're jealous, they hate our freedom, blah blah blah...but that isn't it, not truly.  No, it's because we support Israel. Groups like al Qaeda  launch attacks on Americans because they think if they kill enough Americans, America will change its' policies in the Middle East, that we will forsake the only democratic nation and our only real friend in the region, Israel.  To put it bluntly, they hate Jews.  There will never be any successful peace talks between the Israelis and the Palestinians because the Palestinians do not now, nor will they ever recognize Israel's right to exist.  Up until 1948, the land that is now Israel was under British rule.  When Israel declared itself an independent nation in may of that year, the were attacked the very next day by a total of four different nations- Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, and Iraq.  Yemen would have attacked, but I'm pretty sure they didn't have an army.  That ought to tell you something.  In fact, everywhere from the streets of Hell's Kitchen in New York to the Warsaw ghetto in Poland, everywhere Jews have tried to live in peace, they are persecuted, blamed, threatened, and killed.  They were enslaved by Egypt. They were thrown out of Spain.  They were murdered by the millions in Germany and across Europe. Why?  Because they are Jews.  Palestinians and other Arab Muslims will tell you that America and Great Britain have been interfering in Middle Eastern affairs for far too long.  What that really means is, "throw the Jews under the bus and we'll stop flying planes into your buildings."  It doesn't matter how much land Israel gives up, or what any President of the United States says.  The Arab Muslim world will not tolerate a Jewish state, and any friend of Israel is their enemy.  It's not about oil.  It's not about American Imperialism.  America has been a shield and protector of Israel just like the archangel Michael. They hate us for that. It really is that simple.  "Why should we care," you ask?  Why not just mind our own business?  Well, what kind of friend are you? Do you stand up for your friends?  Do you defend people who are weaker than you when you see them being shoved around by a bully?  If someone threatened to beat your friend to death, would you step in and help them?  Would you watch as your neighbor was dragged from his home and shoved to the ground and kicked, as long as you thought you were safe?  And who moves in when your neighbor is gone?  Someone who beats his wife because she tried to drive the car, or read a book, or because her bare ankles were exposed for a brief moment in public?  None of your business, right?  You're a good German.  Not me.  I stand with Israel.  I've been criticized here because I "oversimplify."  No, I don't.  I break things down to their most basic components.  What is golf?  Hit the ball with a stick until it goes in the hole.   That's how I see things.  I guess I'm simple, but that's the path to truth.  It's all about Israel.  It's never been about anything else.

Bigmouth Strikes Again

This is becoming an epidemic.  It looks like the sickness has now spread to professional athletes.  That's right, Rashard Mendenhall of the Pittsburgh Steelers has DCS...Dixie Chicks Syndrome.  While most Americans were expressing relief and joy that Osama bin Laden had been brought to justice (read: assassinated), Mendenhall posted this on Twitter- “What kind of person celebrates death? It’s amazing how people hate a man they never even heard speak. We’ve only heard one side.”  Actually, Rashard, we have heard him speak.  He put out enough video, didn't he?  I got the message loud and clear.  Mendenhall also tweeted this gem- “We’ll never know what really happened. I just have a hard time believing a plane could take down a skyscraper demolition style.”  Given the live footage of the planes hitting the Twin Towers and the cell phone calls from the planes, I'd say we have a good idea what happened.  And yes, Lefty, fire can melt steel.  That's actually how it's made.  Well, everyone has a right to their opinion and to speak it openly...but everyone else has the right to think you're a jerk.  So, in keeping with that last part, Champion Apparel fired Mendenhall and released a statement of their own- "Champion is a strong supporter of the government's efforts to fight terrorism and is very appreciative of the dedication and commitment of the U.S. Armed Forces."  They then went on to say that Mendenhall is a great athlete, and they liked him well enough before he popped off with that crap, but he's fired.  Wish ya luck, buddy.  Now, I know what you're thinking.  "What's the matter with you, Mr. Johnson, how can you defend free speech and Champion's decision at the same time, you puss-filled boil of a republinazi?"  First, wash your mouth out with soap, Lefty, then clean out your ears.  I am a defender of free speech, but I'm also a defender of market forces.  Just like the Dixie Chicks, Mendenhall has a right to speak his mind, but people have a right to not give them their money, too, whether in the form of concert ticket sales or merchandising endorsement deals. You can go scream at the top of your lungs that you don't believe in the moonlanding, post any crazy crap about Kennedy's assassination that you want on Facebook...but your boss can fire you if he thinks you're making the company look bad.  Now- at it's core, some of what Mendenhall said is fair.  We shouldn't rejoice in death.  But I'll be damned if some pro ball dingus is going to make me feel bad that bin Laden's obituary made me smile.  I'm just not wired that way.  I've also seen this floating around in the comments section of news articles and on Facebook- "I will mourn the loss of thousands of precious lives, but I will not rejoice in the death of one, not even an enemy. Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that."~Martin Luther King Jr.   Guess where that quote really comes from?  Facebook.  So give it a rest.  Even Dr. King would have to agree that getting rid of a murderous beast like bin Laden is cause for joy.  You can find the scoop on that here: http://thedailywh.at/2011/05/03/follow-up-of-the-day-fake-mlk-quote-origin-found-on-facebook/   But getting back to poor Rashard...Yes, you have the right to free speech.  No, that right doesn't guarantee you won't get fired.  Understood?  I wish these celebrities would have taken this advice when it was given to the Dixie Chicks...but what can you say?  I hope he wasn't wearing his cleats when he put his foot in his mouth. 
Read more here: http://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2011/05/03/mendenhalls-tweets-stir-up-controversy/
and here:
http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/blog/shutdown_corner/post/Apparel-company-dumps-Mendenhall-over-bin-Laden-?urn=nfl-wp1880

Also- I just have to share this...some guy actually referred to him as Retard Bendandfall.  I just thought that was funny.  Steelers fans probably hate that, though.  Oh, well. 

Peeping Aaron

And You Were Worried About Big Brother.  The national rental chain Aaron's is being sued for spying on its' customers  by using software installed on their rent-to-own computers without their knowledge.  The software, PC Rental Agent, is installed on the computers as a way to track the store's property and to act as a "kill switch" in case a person doesn't pay, but according to at least one Wyoming couple, it's also been used to secretly activate their laptop's webcam and even log keystrokes.  The couple,  Brian and Crystal Byrd, discovered this when an Aaron's manager came pounding on their door to repossess their Dell Inspiron with a photo of Brian using the computer taken with the built in webcam as "proof" that he'd been using it.  As it turns out, the Byrds had already paid for the laptop, a month early, in fact, but Aaron's goofed when they recorded the transaction.  Even if they had missed a payment, though, can a company just peek in on you whenever they want?   As a computer technician, I've seen this software at work.  It does just what it says- if you miss a scheduled payment, your computer is locked down, and the only way to access it is to call Aaron's and get a special (and very lengthy) code, not once, but twice.  I've also seen a lot of spyware.  That's 99% of my business.  From a privacy standpoint, I'd say "alarming" is a mild word.  Naturally, the Byrds were worried that someone from Aaron's had taken webcam pictures of Crystal or their daughter as they were coming out of the shower, or getting dressed.  It's not the kind of thing a person wants to find on YouTube.  What if Aaron's staff had taken pictures, then saved them to a flash drive and taken them home with them?  First, they called the police, who confirmed the computer has spyware installed on it, then they called a lawyer.  Now I know what you might be saying.  "Really, Mr. Johnson, you're such an alarmist!  This was one case!  And besides, doesn't Aaron's have a right to protect their property until the renter pays in full?"  Sure.  But that doesn't mean that my landlord can install a camera in my shower to make sure we aren't tearing the house apart.  I think people have a right to protect their investment, but I also think people who rent from Aaron's have a right to know that their privacy is being invaded.  And what else could be compromised?  Sony Entertainment can't protect your information, Apple is tracking your whereabouts, and Aaron's is watching you while you sleep...or worse!  People have their identities stolen everyday and their bank accounts drained...a rogue application takes over your computer and holds it for ransom until you pay $49.95 for a bogus antivirus program.  All of this goes on while you post on Facebook that you're not home, not even in town,, or that you just dropped the kids off at soccer practice.  In today's digital world, I'm worrying less and less about big brother...Aaron's and the like are creepy enough.
Read about it here:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1383216/Rental-chain-Aarons-caught-spying-customers-home-taking-webcam-photos.html
I stole the picture from
http://chris.pirillo.com/do-you-spy-on-your-children/

Disgusting Bug Squashed By Team of Seals

I read this weekend that Superman renounced his U.S. citizenship, and I was going to write about that, but who needs him when we've got the U.S. Navy SEALS?  Let the Man of Steel stand in silent protest in Tehran.  Today, I'm celebrating real men of action.  And yes, Lefty, I'm celebrating the death of Osama bin Laden.  I know what you're going to say.  "That's not a very christian attitude, Mr. Johnson!  You shouldn't be celebrating the death of another person, you filth-mongering jackhole!"  Well, that's just it, Lefty, I'm celebrating the death of a cockroach, a disgusting waste of oxygen that spread garbage and hate and death.  Yeah.  I'm not sad he's dead.  And this is really going to knock your socks off, Lefty, I'm going to congratulate the president, Barack Obama, for a job well done...this time.  Now, I know that this is not going to stop al qaeda.  I know they are still plotting to murder as many of us as they can, and I promise you, every time I see a plane in the air, I'm going to wonder.   As mad as they probably are right now that we cratered his face with bullets, then dumped his sad corpse off an aircraft carrier into the ocean, I hope they get the message.  You can run.  You can even hide.  But we will find you, and you will die.  Thanks to the interrogators at Guantanemo Bay, thanks to SEAL Team 6, thanks to some great intelligence gathering, and, yes, thanks to the president, the world is rid of an evil man who revelled in mass-death in the guise of religious devotion.  Now...I have some questions.  First, I've heard it said before that the intelligence community knew he wasn't hiding in a cave in Afghanistan, but in a comfortable compound in Pakistan.  That was two years ago.  What took so long?  Why didn't we act on this intelligence sooner?  Second, Why did we go out of our way to let everyone know we handled his body so carefully and followed the Muslim burial traditions, cleansing his corpse and giving him a service, then dump his body in the ocean?  Some have said we don't want to antagonize moderate Muslims by desecrating his corpse, but since he wasn't killed at sea, his being buried at sea is seen as an insult anyway.  I get that we don't want a martyr's grave for terrorists to visit.  I get that we are not at war with the entire religion of Islam.  I'm just wondering, because I'm betting every sailor on that carrier at least had the urge to pee on the white sheet they wrapped him in and shove some bacon in his boxer shorts before the commander said, "heave-ho."  Anyway, I hope this gives the victim of September 11th, 2001 and their families some feeling that justice has been done.  I, for one, am glad he's dead.  I know we're supposed to live up to our higher ideals, but hey...don't we have Superman for that?
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/05/03/us-binladen-victims-idUSTRE7416LP20110503

UPDATE!  5.MAY.2011

If the information in the link below is accurate, then my congratulations and thanks to the president are officially rescinded.

http://socyberty.com/issues/white-house-insider-obama-hesitated-panetta-issued-order-to-kill-osama-bin-laden/

Made in America: Back to Reality

Finally, after three years of speculation and conspiracy theories, President Obama has released his "long form" birth certificate.  Every website had a "Holy Crap!" banner accross the top of it this morning, and every radio station cut off your favorite song with BREAKING NEWS!  So now, assuming, of course, that you went on line and looked at the PDF that proves Obama is, indeed, eligible to be president, you are satisfied.  You have put your tinfoil hat back in it's place under your bed and are at last coming to terms with the fact that this is not some dastardly plot put together by time-travelling, communist muslim terrorists.  NO?  Of course not!  That's because you suffer from the same mania as Democrats who voted for Algore in the election of 2000!  You suffer from BODS (Barack Obama Derangement Syndrome), and nothing will stop you from your crusade to win an election that happened three and a half years ago.  I know what some of you are saying.  "Well, finally you're starting to sound rational, Mr. Johnson!  There may be hope for you yet!"  Not so fast, Leftie.  I'm still not a fan of the president, and I still have a few questions.  All I'm saying is that Barack Derangement Syndrome is no better than Bush Derangement Syndrome.  After the elections of 2000, there were people all jazzed up because they said Bush stole the election, that dead people voted, that Algore was the legitimate winner.  There are piles of you that still say those things, and Bush has been gone  for three years, now.  Let's let it go, shall we?  Obama is a natural born  American citizen.  Made in America.  2008 is history.  He won.  I still have plenty of reasons to think he's been a lousy president.  I don't need the tinfoil hat.  I could go on about Libya, about his response to the protests in Iran, how he has bowed bofore world leaders, or how Michelle goes around the world like Eva Peron while our economy is in a shambles....I could talk about the budget debate, or his "endless summer" vacations....I could bring up his energy policy, or I could even talk about his never-ending campaign for re-election.  The president said it best at his press conference today, though.  We've had way too many distractions. We have serious challenges ahead of us. Today, the president let us know that we don't have time for foolish distractions...then he jetted off to Chicago for an interview with Oprah.  So, let's just forget all about all of this "birther" nonsense and get back to the people's business, shall we?  Let's not concern ourselves with sideshows and who got "Trumped." Made in America, or not, our business should be about finding a suitable candidate to DEFEAT Obama and getting our country back on track so that, maybe, someday, the things you buy at the store can also proudly claim to be Made in America.

Washington for Dummies

High school and college were a long time ago for some of us, and we don't always have a text book or encyclopedia handy.  That's why it's aggravating when I get into a discussion with someone about history or politics and they demand that I site my references as if I were writing an essay for a grade instead of just running my mouth because I'm angry about the price of gasoline.  "Remember what Washington said about foreign entanglements in his farewell address," they'll say, and I'll admit, I suddenly feel very small as I respond with, "um...he didn't like them?"  Those little nuggets people pull out always make them seem smart and well read, but to be honest, I don't see how anyone could remember even a sentence from that little piece of history.  Seriously, it is, as Washington would say, "arduous in it's admonished vicissitudes."  Maybe not.  I don't actually know if those words even fit together.  But you get the idea.  I always thought Generals were these gruff, monosyllabic types that said what they meant and meant what they said, even 200 years ago. I think the next time some windbag pops off with something like that, I'm going to say, "no, what did Washington say about that?  Care to expand on it?  Please list your sources."  But first, I'm going to try to figure out just what the hell the Father of Our Country was trying to lecture us about. That's right, it's time to "dumb down" Washington's Farewell Address from 1796.
Friends and Citizens:
We're not too far off from another election, so I figured this would be a good time to let you know I don't want the job anymore.  Don't get me wrong, it's not because I don't like you, or the country.  Honestly, I wanted to retire four years ago and go back to being a farmer, but I really didn't trust France, England, or Spain to leave us alone, so I figured I kind of had to take the job.  I've got to be honest, here, this job's pretty hard, and some days I just didn't feel up to it...some of you probably didn't think so, either, but anyway, the longer I do this, the better retirement sounds!  Personally, I don't think that means I'm not a patriot.  Getting to be president was pretty awesome, even when things were rough, and I just want to thank all of you for supporting me.  I love all of you guys, and I'll take your love and support with me to the grave.  One of these days, other countries who haven't figured out yet what a good thing we have here will be cheering the same ideals.  I ought to shut up now, but I can't.  See, I've been thinking a lot about the future, and I have some things I need to get off my chest.  First off, we're not a bunch of separate colonies anymore, we're a united America, and that's a big deal, so don't let anybody, inside or outside the country, try to tear you apart.  Be proud of the union, and protect it like a jealous husband.  North, South, East, West, you all have your strengths, but you need each other.  Remember, no matter what, you are Americans first. Some people think this is just a dumb experiment that's doomed to fail, but so what?  We've got to try, right?  So don't trust anybody who says we ought to break up the union.  We ratified two treaties, one with Spain and one with England, regarding access to the Mississippi, and it's really pretty awesome for you people out west.  Why would you want to go against the country that put that together for you when you know on your own Spain or England would just gobble you up and make the rest of us weaker?  Look, we all got together and put together a constitution.  It's a good one, too, way better than the articles of confederation (which was pretty lousy, by the way).  It's the law now, and I think we should all stand by it.  It makes us all stronger, together.  Now, I know political parties are going to pop up, and they may even serve some good, at least for the people who are in them.  But once you build these political machines, ambitious people are going to start driving them, so be careful.  Some people or groups will want to reinvent the wheel.  They'll tell you they're changing our constitution to improve it.  Just keep in mind that those improvements could undo everything we fought for.  Really, I don't even like political parties...they're usually driven by a thirst for revenge, power, or both, and I think parties are a real threat to liberty.  Amendments to the constitution are okay, but remember this- religion and morality are the strongest pillars of our political strength. Now about money. Don't abuse our Federal credit. We need to have money to support a standing army, and to pay our debts, and stuff like that, so we need to have money to pay them, and that means taxes. But taxes ought to be fair. Also, we ought to at least try to be friends with all the other nations. Yes, even England. We shouldn't be partial to one over another. Our real goal, here, is freedom and peace. Getting too much involved with other countries is going to distract us from that goal, because one way or another, we'll end up in war with people we otherwise wouldn't care very much about. We don't want to get dragged into a war because we sympathize with one nation more than another and make excuses about how we thought it was justified. At the best, it's unfair, and at the worst, it could make us a satellite of a more powerful nation or entity. Basically, Europe has it's own problems, and that's not our problem. We can trade with them, sure, but we shouldn't get tied into a bunch of alliances with any of them...we ought to just try to mind our own business. Unless, of course, in our own defense, we make a temporary alliance. That's okay, I guess. Now, there's still a lot going on in Europe right now, but I think (and I think you agree with me, since your representatives in Congress approved my plan) we ought to remain neutral. Anyway, I've been thinking about my time as president, and I honestly can't think of anything I did wrong on purpose, but I'm not perfect. So, if I screwed up in anyway, I hope God will forgive me, and I hope the rest of you don't remember my screw ups for too long. Now, I'm going to retire, and hopefully I can reap the rewards of freedom that come with this great country we created. -George Washington.


Was that a classy guy, or what? And a lot of what he said is good advice! Some of it...ooops. Too late. Well, anyway, that's our first president's last goodbye and his parting words of advice to a fledgling nation. Now, you know, even though I like to think of myself as a writer, my words can't compare to what Washington actually wrote. In fact, after reading this, the general would probably slap with with a white glove and challenge me to a duel for screwing up a beautiful speech. Call me a coward, but I just couldn't pick up a gun and point it at him, though, especially now that I understand him better. But damn it, now it's going to be hard to argue with that wiseguy that was always bringing this up!

You can read the whole address here:

http://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/washing.asp

Citizen Kermitt

I swear, Kermitt the Frog would stand a better chance of beating Obama in the 2012 election than any of the guys from the last cycle.  Mike Huckabee is a pretty sharp guy, and his book, A Simple Government, makes a lot of good points...but President Huckabee?  Aint' gonna happen, unless it's president of his book club.  Some people are shouting out Mitt Romney's name again, but I'm not voting for a Ken doll, I'm voting for a president...so...no.  Sarah Palin?  Sorry, Saturday Night Live killed that in'08.  Tina Fey pretending to be Sarah Palin would have a better shot at the White House.  Then there's Donald Trump.  The Democrats are salivating over the possibility of him running against Obama.  The liberal media are putting him on all of their shows right now and bringing up the "birther" thing because they want him to be in the race.  Believe me, they're begging for it.  The way things look right now, the Republicans have NO CANDIDATE.  There is absolutely no person that I can think of who has an honest chance of winning against Obama, and the conditions for a Republican victory haven't been this good since Carter got his clock cleaned by Reagan.  Even though, according to Gallup, Obama's approval rating is at 41%, most people still really like the guy, feel sorry for him, even.  Huckabee?  Yawn. Romney?  Snore.  Trump?  Giggle.  Where is our leadership?  Where is our charismatic kickass guy?  Hell, I'll even take a joke candidate like Frosty the Snowman or Kermitt the Frog!  The way things are going, I'm ready to dig up John Wayne's body and nominate him!  And please, please, God, keep McCain in Arizona...I am so afraid that he'll spring out of his coffin and anounce his candidacy like Dracula ready to drain the life out of any chance we may have at a win.  So who's it going to be?  Governor Jindall of Louisiana?  Not running.  Congressman Ryan of Wisconsin?  Not running.  I even had hope that Hillary would run and challenge Obama for the Democratic nomination...nope.  Not running.  I haven't experienced apathy like this since I heard they were taking MAD TV off the air.  I just hope Kermitt is a Republican, because I'd rather vote for a muppet than another party puppet.

Uncle Sam's American Express

And you thought your credit score was low.  As a nation, we can no longer even buy a used car from E-Z Credit Ed on the south side of town.  Standard & Poor's just downgraded the United States' outlook from "stable" to "negative."  What does that mean, you ask?  It means they no longer trust in our government's ability to pay of the debt.  What is Standard & Poor's?  They're a financial research company famous in the world of Wall Street, the "go to" guys for stock market indexes.  What does this mean? Well, I'm no economist, but it sounds like a major financial player just told the rest of the world that Uncle Sam is a deadbeat.  The Obama administration, however, is optimistic.  Austan Goolsbee of the Council of Economic Advisers says, "What the S&P is doing is making a political judgement and it's one we don't agree with, and it appeared to me that Moody's and some others don't agree with that judgement."  True, Moody's has kept the U.S. outlook at "stable."  For now.  But let's look at some other things going on in the world of money, like the budget debate in Washington.  The House of Representatives, which controls the "purse strings" of government, is calling for budget cuts while the Executive Branch claims those cuts will starve grandma and butcher your dog.  In a regular household, when the credit cards are maxed out, mom and dad sit down and talk about what they can do to spend less.  In this case, however, the government is "mom," and she aint' giving up her weekly spa treatment.  Don't be surprised when your car isn't in the driveway tomorrow morning, mom.  Which is why, in part, our credit rating has dropped, just as it did during the budget crisis of 1996 (only then, it was Moody's that did the downgrading).  Another part would be the printing of tons of money.  "Blah, blah, blah," you're probably saying, "I don't understand any of it, and I don't care, anyway!"  Well, understand this, then- there's this group called "The Fed."  That's the Federal Reserve, and they control the money supply.  Since we don't have a gold standard anymore, money is worth whatever it will buy, which means, of course, that when you buy a car, it's worth whatever the sellers say it's worth, or however much you're willing to pay for it.  When stuff is cheap, "The Fed" gets nervous, because they believe if prices fall, so will wages, so they artificially affect the markets to keep prices high.  Yes, "The Fed" likes inflation, which, as I'm sure you know, means stuff costs more, but you're not earning more.  This could only be a problem, "The Fed" reckons, if people start hording or if there's a scarcity of commodities.  Well...more bad news about that...the Saudis are cutting fuel production.  Add that to widespread rebellion in Egypt, Libya, Bahrain, and others, and speculators will go bonkers...which will drive the price of gas even higher, which in turn causes the cost of food to increase.  Of course, the national inflation index doesn't take food or fuel into account, so even though inflation is at it's highest in three years, economists say you aren't feeling it.  Of course not, right?  As long as you don't have to eat or drive to work, you should be in good shape!  Fortunately, we have programs in America like food stamps...which brings me back to the budget.  Something's going to get cut...probably a lot of somethings.  So what's it going to be?  Social Security?  Food Stamps?  Education?  Oh, and taxes will probably be going up, too, even if there are significant cuts.  Taxes go up on business, which means fewer new hires, which means fewer people paying taxes, which means more poor people who need government programs, which means deeper budget deficits and more cuts for programs that are supposed to help the poor, when what the poor really need are good jobs, and there we go back up the scale.  And all of this is happening while we print more money and raise interest rates to create inflation, while congress debates whether or not to give themselves more credit by raising the debt ceiling, while OPEC cuts oil production, while we are not allowed to drill for oil in our own country (hold on, I need to catch my breath), while unemployment is at 8.9%, and our credit standing as a nation as been downgraded to "negative."  Make sense yet?  So while you're feeling bad about your credit score of 590 and wondering if you'll get that loan for a used car, just count your blessings.  At least you're not that deadbeat Uncle Sam.
A few sources:
http://www.cnbc.com/id/42643384
http://www.cnbc.com/id/42595125/
http://www.cnbc.com/id/42637280/

As A Former Foetus...

Liberals always say, " no one is for abortion."  The idea behind that statement is,  "we don't like it either, but sometimes it just has to be done."  Bill Clinton, the new Liberal Golden Boy since Jack Kennedy was murdered, is famously quoted as saying in 1996, "abortion should not only be safe and legal, it should be rare." Well two out of three and bad, right, Bill?  And speaking of bills, let's get back to the policy rider of choice for 2011, the effort to defund Planned Parenthood.  I've been doing some research, and it looks like abortion is becoming less rare and more profitable.  The other thing I've noticed about this debate in my research is how liberals frame the debate.  Take this excerpt from Planned Parenthood's own fact sheet from September 2010: "In 2008, we provided nearly 11 million medical services for three million people, and helped to prevent approximately 595,000 unintended pregnancies."  My focus is on the "prevention" of "unintended pregnancies."  For those of you who haven't passed a third grade reading level, that translates to "we killed 595,000 babies for women who had sex with men they didn't want to have kids with."  Sound harsh?  Sure, Lefty, I know women get raped.  I know bad things happen.  I'm not an idiot.  Here's the deal, though.  Planned Parenthood also provides services for women like adoption and contraception.  For the 2009 year, "medical services" amounts to $683.7 million in expenses in contrast to "sexuality education," $52.8 million.  I didn't grab those figures out of the air, that's from PP's own PDF, which, if you are interested enough, you can find here:
http://www.plannedparenthood.org/files/PPFA/PPFA_Annual_Report_08-09-FINAL-12-10-10.pdf
In 2008, the amount of abortions listed on the fact sheet are 324,008 as opposed to the adoption referrals, which come to 2,405.  Gee, I guess those poor girls had no other choice.  Rare, huh?  And as I look back over the annual reports of the past ten years, it looks like the more abortions Planned Parenthood provides, the more government funding they get!  Wow!  Is it just Coincidence?  Gee, prenatal care and adoption services are about 5% of their pie chart, but for $160,000 abortions, they get $160 million dollars from your government.  What's up with that?  Most of the babies being killed, by the way, in the name of "choice" and "women's health," are minorities.  Yeah, Latin American and Black babies.  Would it suprise you to know, at this point, that Planned Parenthood's founder, Margaret Sanger, was a proponent of eugenics that once spoke before the women's auxiliary of the Ku Klux Klan?  I don't want to hear any more about free mammograms or HIV testing for unfortunate prostitiutes.  Do you really want your government, your tax dollars, and thereby you, to be funding this crap?  Liberals are as slippery as eels and they use clever phrases and words to mask their true intentions.  They say "pro choice" when they mean "pro death."  Who could be against choice, right?  It sounds so democratic.  They say "prevented unintended pregnancies" when they really mean "killed unborn babies."  It just doesn't sound so severe.  I'm a simple man, so I call 'em as I see 'em.  You didn't "prevent a feoutus from coming to term."  You killed a baby, a human soul.  You didn't exercise your "right to choose," you chose to have a doctor murder your baby.  Because you got drunk and screwed the wrong guy? Because you were raped?  Because you were abused?  And you killed what could have been the next Einstien or Beethoven, or even a regular old baby who would love you forever just because you're "mom"  to make yourself feel better about it instead of opting for adoption?  Oh, and as the father, a man has no say in the matter? And you think the government, the American taxpayer should pay for this little hit job? Screw that.  Defund it now.

The $100,000 Band-Aid

Apparently, the NBA has added political correctness to the list of technical fouls that can be called, because Wednesday, Los Angeles Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant was fined $100,000 for using the word "faggot."  Now, Kobe says he was just angry at the referee and tossed out an insult.  "What I said last night should not be taken literally. My actions were out of frustration during the heat of the game, period," he said as part of a statement released by the Lakers. I have no idea if the referee he was upset with is gay or not, or even if that referee was particularly offended, but either way, the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) got an apology out of Kobe, so it doesn't matter.  "Professional sports players need to set a better example for young people who use words like this on the playground and in our schools, creating a climate of intolerance and hostility," said one of the gay lawyers for GLAAD.  Really?  Is that a fact?  Look, I agree that some of our top athletes are less than "good sports," I mean we have professional athletes that walk into nightclubs with firearms, rape female fans, and bet on cock fights, and that's just one guy on one night.  Don't you think people might be overreacting just a little bit on this issue?   Maybe I'm just getting old...when I was in high school, that was just something bullies called people whether they were actually gay or not.  When some long-haired, pot-smoking maggott in a Megadeth t-shirt called me "faggot," it wasn't because he really thought I was gay, it was just an insult, a stab at my basic manhood.  I had a boss just a few years ago that would routinely say things like, "do you girls think you could hurry it up, or is it time for your tea already?"  I've heard guys on the golf course say to eachother, "nice swing, Mary, does your boyfriend play golf, too?"  It's trash talk.  Now, I know what some of you are saying... "It is trash talk, Mr. Johnson, and trash like that has no business in professional sports, or anywhere else in society!  Just the fact that you even chose to include that hateful word in your article shows what a backward weed of humanity you are!" Easy, there, Lefty, you're getting close to hate speech, and we wouldn't want to have to fine you.  But seriously, are we really at a point now where everytime someone gets their feelings hurt we have to slap a $100,000 band-aid on it?  If I tell someone they're crazy, am I going to have to make a public apology to all crazy people and their psychologists?  Every mother out there agrees, it's not nice to call people names, but even a five year old knows "sticks and stones." Oh, and let me stop you before you say, "what if the referee had called Kobe the 'N' word?  Should Kobe have just let it go?"  Of course not, and I'm not saying it was O.K. for Kobe, either, but 1) I don't think you can equate those two words... Sorry, but being called one definately has  a different meaning and history than the other, and 2) if it had gone down that way, the referee would have to be fired, because you can't have an admitted racist calling plays on the court.  See what I mean?  Now if you'll excuse me, I have to call my lawyer to make sure I can post this without getting sued by some crybaby.  Have a great weekend, everyone!  You can read more here:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110414/ap_on_sp_bk_ne/bkn_lakers_bryant_slur

The One Ton President

You know what America needs?  A fat president.  No kidding.  Our next president should have a ZZ Top beard, a beer gut, and he needs to smoke two packs of Marlboro reds a day.  I'm sick and tired of the Jay Leno "how fat are we as a country" jokes and all of the Saturday morning commercials trying to push me and my family outside to "get active."  I'm sick of hearing about all of the okra that grows in Michelle Obama's garden, and I don't want to see any pictures of the President jogging.  The next time I see a container of pepper for sale at the grocery store that advertises "very low sodium!"  I am going to pick it up and fling it at the stockboy who put it there.  The next guy who utters the word "transfats" in my presence is going to have a transfat lip.  It started with light beer.  Look, if your diet allows you to drink beer of any kind, you are not on a diet.  Besides, if you live in a state that does not  allow the sale of beer that contains more than 3.2% alcohol, you're just drinking flavored water, anyway.  But never mind, not a big deal.  Then it was smoking.  Okay, no big whoop.  Everybody knows smoking is unhealthy, and of course we don't want our children taking up that filthy habit, so regulate it.  No more ads on T.V., and kill Joe Camel.  Next on the hit list was school vending machines.  Go ahead, try to rob one.  I bet you get about two bucks.  Hey, Mr. Principal!  No one likes that Coke Zero stuff you keep cramming in there!  Can you say Mountain Dew?  Soda is coffee for kids, get used to the idea!  Now we have the Grease Police breathing down our necks and telling McDonalds they can't sell Happy Meals in San Francisco.  I heard KFC, which used to be Kentucky FRIED Chicken, was selling roasted chicken now.  What planet is this?  What are all of these government agents doing in my freaking kitchen?  Can't you just let me eat in peace?  This is why I want a fat guy to be the President.  Go ahead and say it,  Lefty..."Now you're just being stupid, Mr. Johnson!  Obesity is a disease in this country!  How would having a fat president be good for our national image, you beer guzzling yellow toothed waste of human tissue?"  You really have a way with words, you know that?   But...no.  Obesity is not a disease, or an epidemic, nor is it the responsibility of government to regulate anybody's body mass index.   Is being fat healthy?  No.  Is smoking healthy? No.  Is drinking a barrel of whiskey a day healthy?  Of course not.  You know what else is unhealthy?  Telling a 210 pound adult male he needs to cut back on the snacks.  Mind your own damned business.  When people found out Obama smokes during the last presidential election, they had all kinds of polls and such...would you vote for a smoker?  And when he was asked about it,well, of course he let everyone know he was tryng to quit.  Screw that.  He should have said, "yeah, I smoke Lucky Strikes without a filter.  Don't like it?  Go to Hell.  Vote for bean sprout McCain if it matters so much to you."  Then, even I might have been tempted to vote for him.  Instead, we have his wife interrupting our cartoons to tell us we're too fat while she runs off to Spain and orders everything on the menu with extra gravy.  No more.  I'm now basing my next vote on how much the candidate weighs, because a fat president is less likely to raise taxes on Twinkies or regulate root beer.

Elected Official Says Elections Shouldn't Matter

Former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi had a message for the Republican majority last Friday.  I'm paraphrasing, here, but the message seems to be, don't listen to those boobs who voted for you.  "There's so many things at risk right now ... but the fact is is that elections shouldn't matter as much as they do, (there) should be some place on the spectrum where we respect each other's views and all the rest," she told the crowd at Tufts University.  I've been trying to dissect that for hours now...what the hell does she mean, "elections shouldn't matter as much as they do?"  Near as I can figure, it means, "elections only matter if Democrats win."  I think she believes that the Republican party has been hijacked by the Tea Party Movement, and she's not alone, but the Tea Party Movement will tell you that government in general has been hijacked by career politicians.  If she's saying that the Republican majority doesn't have a mandate from the people, I think she's wrong.  The message  from voters seemed pretty clear- "stop spending."  If Republicans fail to hear that message, then I think the new message will be, "you're fired."  Simple as that.  Then again, she also mentioned embracing our shared values, education, the economy, and defense.  I'm not convinced the former Speaker and I have a lot in common when it comes to those issues, and I doubt the freshman House members have much in common with her, either.  It sounds like she's calling for compromise...but compromise basically means, "you give us what we want and give your constituents the middle finger."  All of this "elections shouldn't matter" stuff is kind of weird coming from Democrats when you consider that when they won, we were told, "Elections have consequences."  I seem to remember very clearly that the Democrats claimed to have a mandate from the people in '06 and '08, and they basically told Republicans, "screw you, we won."  Maybe they've had a change of heart.  Now, it's "let's not get caught up in all of this 'democracy' stuff."  I know what you're going to say- "Compromise is important, Mr. Johnson!  Would you prefer gridlock, you red state red neck puke bag?"  Well, Lefty, there's a difference between coming to an accord and basically backhanding the people who put you in office.  Pelosi also said, "To my Republican friends, take back your party, so that it doesn't matter so much who wins the election..."   Wait- take it back from whom?  The voters?  Yeah, good idea, ignore the will of the people and just do whatever Nancy wants!  That'll get you places! I've got news for you, Lefty...the Tea Party Movement didn't hijack the Republican party.  What actually happened was Democrats ignored the voters and just did what ever the hell they wanted to...so they were voted out.  If the Republicans fail to deliver, then you Dems will probably get another whack at it.  Will elections matter then?
Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/04/13/pelosi-elections-shouldnt-matter/#ixzz1JS0yHwEl

Patriot or Traitor?

Today marks the 150th anniversary of the outbreak of the American Civil War, and many of you are probably quietly thinking to yourselves, "So?"  I find, when it comes to the Civil War, there are three types of people.  The first type is the history buff, but they almost don't count, because they're the kind of people who will watch a two-hour documentary on the history of underwear.  The second is the guy with the Confederate battle flag hanging in the bedroom windows instead of a curtain, and the third is the guy who sees that flag and says, "You lost, can't you people just get over it already?"  Wait...there's actually one more type...the guy that sees that flag and says, "Wow, what a racist."  That's kind of hard to argue, since everyone I ever knew that flew that flag was, in fact, a racist.  Now, I know some of you out there are going to say that's absurd, that the Civil War was fought for state's rights, not slavery.  You're absolutely right- the civil war was fought over each state's rights...to defend and promote slavery.  Don't start writing hate mail to me yet, Johnny Reb, I'm not finished.  You see, the South was right about one thing...they did  have a right to secede, at least in theory.  All you have to do is read the Declaration of Independence to realize that.  I should also point out that most of the young men who fought that war were so poor they couldn't afford to buy a dozen eggs let alone own another human being.  Rich man's war, poor man's fight, it was said.  I've also read that the great American general Robert E. Lee was against slavery, but saw his duty to Virginia as higher than his duty to the union.  I get all of that, so when I say that the Civil War was fought over slavery, please don't overload the comments section or my Facebook page with a lot of "No it wasn't!"  Yeah, it was.  And if you're going to start in with the whole "Lincoln owned slaves" thing, I'm going to have to see some documentation.  About Lincoln.  Not his grandfather, or his great uncle.  Put up, or shut up, as they say.  It is true that Lincoln wanted to save the union whether slavery was abolished or not...the union was more important to him.  But make no mistake-this quote from Lincoln says it all; "Our progress in degeneracy appears to me to be pretty rapid. As a nation we began by declaring that "all men are created equal." We now practically read it "all men are created equal, except negroes." Soon it will read "all men are created equal, except negroes, and foreigners, and catholics." When it comes to this, I should prefer emigrating to some country where they make no pretense of loving liberty--to Russia, for instance, where despotism can be taken pure, and without the base alloy of hypocracy."  Men in the South feared Lincoln, feared abolitionists like John Brown, and left the union based on that fear.  Saying the Civil War wasn't about slavery is like saying that the Crucifiction wasn't about Jesus.  Maybe not, but it wouldn't have happened without Him, would it?  "So- other than pure interest in history, Mr. Type One, why did you even bring it up?"  Good question, Lefty, thanks for hanging in there.  The reason I bring it up is to ask you a question.  Does the union still matter?  Believe it or not, there are people today that are calling for their states to seceed, and I'm not just talking about a few crazies out in west Texas.  I, for one, am a big believer in states' rights, but I am first and foremost an American.  So I found myself asking that question of myself today.  What would it take to make me rebel against the government, and would that make me a patriot, or a traitor?  Where do you draw the line between defending the Constitution and defending your country?

Class Warfare and the Death of True Freedom

Class warfare is for crybabies.  And Marxists.  And, I guess, for politicians and pundits who seek the admiration of crybaby Marxists.  Bill Maher has said America needs class warfare on his HBO program, Real Time, claiming that the evil rich are screwing the poor, but let's examine who the "evil rich" really are, shall we, the "top 1%" he thinks the rest of America should hang from trees covered in tar and feathers.  He claims that the Republican party is the "party of billionaires," and apparently, he's very upset that General Electric doesn't have to pay taxes.  Well, according the The Washington Post, " Last election, GEPAC spent $2.4 million, with a slim majority going to Democrats. So far this year, two-thirds of GEPAC money has gone to Democrats."   You can read more here:   http://washingtonexaminer.com/politics/2009/08/leaked-e-mail-shows-how-ge-puts-government-work-ge#ixzz1J4llvtBL   99.6% of Apple, Inc. CEO Steve Jobs' donations went to the Democratic National Committee.  Warren Buffett donated over $1 million to Hillary Clinton, democrat,  in 2009.  All of those Hollywood types, those sophisticated millionaires Bill Maher pals around with?  Democrats.  They all famously donate money to charity, to the poor of the world, and yet with all of that money, poor people still exist.  Hmmm.  Why is that?  Is it because of the evil Republicans?  Maybe it's because rich people get their wealth by making good decisions.  The world is full of Art Linkletter types who didn't even know what a decent pair of shoes was until they were in their twenties, then ended up with millions.  Is it because they stole it all from the poor?  So maybe you had a rough life.  Maybe you couldn't afford college.  That sucks.  So what are you doing about it?  What are you doing to change things?  Think about the movies you watch- do you like movies about people who blame all of their problems on other people, people who demand other people give them what they earned?  Or do you like watching movies about people who find ways to help themselves and overcome their obstacles?  Watch The Pursuit of Happiness  with Will Smith, then come back and tell me what you learned.  Class warfare is destructive to society.  Instead of people using their own talent and freedom to improve things, they grab pitchforks and torches and attack.  I know you won't believe me, here, Lefty, but only the rich pay taxes.  That's right.  Most of you complainers out there are going to get a tax refund, and some of you are even getting back thousands more than you paid in.  You get all of your taxes back plus extra.  Now do you want to scream about what's fair?  The truth is, there is no "middle-class" or "upper-class," those are things Marx invented.  Here in America, any one can start out rich and become poor just as any one can start out poor and become rich.  You can go as far as talent and creativity will take you.  The sad thing is, there will always be someone who is jealous of you and your success, and like wolves, they will crowd around you, mouths slobbering greedily.  Don't believe me?  Just go walk down the street sometime with a cigarette in your hand in any major city, and I guarantee you someone will want to "bum" one from you.  You've got smokes and they don't, so you should give them yours, right? Even you well-meaning Democrats out there know what I'm talking about here.  Now, I'm not saying we shouldn't help each other.  Everyone needs help at some point in their life.  What I'm saying is, "Look in the mirror."  Who are you?  Are you a hyena waiting for the scraps the lions leave you, a lion feeding her cubs, or are you the prey being eaten?  Ask yourself how people like Bill Maher got rich.  Did he steal it, or did he use his own talent and the freedom to speak his mind?  True freedom is in the Declaration of Independence- the right to pursue happiness.  Exercise your own rights instead of being jealous of those who do.  You are the reason you're not rich, not happy, and you are the only one who can change that.

The Adventures of The Policy Rider!

If you turned on the T.V. or radio today, I'm sure you heard about the Incredible Policy Riders and a possible government shutdown.  If you're like me, you probably had images in your head of masked men on horseback storming the Capitol and racing off with sacks full of treasury notes.  When you finished giggling, you then probably realized you missed what the story was actually about.  The long and the short of it, as far as I can tell, is that the Republicans put together a spending bill demanding that funding for Planned Parenthood be cut, and the Democrats don't like it.  Democrats say it is a policy issue that has no business in the debate over the budget, and Republicans say it has everything to do with it because it is funding that can be cut. Hard to argue that point, actually, but here we are.  Liberals are incensed that the Evil Republicans want to cut funding for "Women's Health," and Republicans are insistent that government funding of abortion be stopped.  Don't you just love that?  If you're a liberal, you are a pro-choice defender of women's health issues.  Words can be funny... like "kumquat."  That's a funny word.  Words mean things, though, and just as a kumquat is a fruit-bearing tree, a pro-choice defender of women's health issues is a person who defends a woman's right too have her baby murdered, before that baby is born, by the doctor of her choice.  I know, I know- mammograms.  Don't start with me, Lefty, I'm on a roll.  See, on the other side, we've been fighting this whole "Roe v. Wade" thing for as long as I can remember, so if we can't nix it this time, then move on and get a budget together that works so we don't have to turn off all of the lights.  Everybody cool with that?  The big issue, the whole reason Republicans took the House last November, is the fact that we are broke.  As a nation, we have no cash.  We can't just go to the ATM, Lefty, you got it?  The money aint there.  Now we have to decide how we're going to pay for everything for the next fiscal year, and if we have to cut a few things like shoe shines in the lobby for congressmen, or tours of the White House,  or...I don't know...abortion?  Well, that's what we have to do.  But we CAN'T stop paying our Marines, our soldiers, our sailors, or our airmen.  That pisses me off with a capital  P .  Bold and italicized, buddy.  Fix it. I can still mail a letter?  Awesome.  The national parks will be protected?  Cool.  I can't ride the D.C. Metro 24-7?  I'll get over it.  But our frikkin' troops?  C'mon, man, that's low.  What will happen next?  Stay tuned.