Simply by pulling on both ends, Chuck Norris can stretch diamonds back into coal.
First and foremost, WELCOME! Welcome to the new home of the Daily Okie. I want everyone to see that this is a big step for me and my blog. I'm going to devote more time to making sure I post a lot more regularly, regardless of what else might be going in my life.
I'm taking a lot of big steps lately. Yesterday I officially applied to the University of Denver, where I hope to be accepted into their Masters program in Information Security Management. I'm also committing to teaching again (enabled by enrolling in the above Masters program). I'm committing to a new round of fatherhood, as most of you know. I'm looking for a new day job, and that will be a new commitment. I'm committing to trying to spend more time with my kids. I'll be honest, I'm going to be burning the candle at both ends for a while. But I know what I'm getting into, I'm going in with my eyes open, and I'm going to work as hard as I can to stay positive, do what I have to do, and keep my eyes on my goals. Pray for me, please, because it's going to be a long road, but I have goals in sight again, and that's a wonderful feeling.
I've been listening to a lot of conservative talk radio lately (Sirius Patriot, stream 144 on your Sirius satellite radio), and there are several recurring themes. Given the Democrats' gains in the last election, I shouldn't be surprised. Here are a few of my own thoughts on the key themes that seem to keep coming up. I don't want to go into dissertations the way I used to, so I'll try to keep these as brief as possible, but it's time I started articulating some key stands in anticipation of my presidential run in 2008. (I'm kidding, of course, but everyone else is throwing in their hat, so why can't I?)
Global warming:
I'm REALLY getting tired of hearing about this one. Let's face facts. Not conjecture, not theories, FACTS. We have absolutely NO IDEA if mankind has any effect on global warming. Yes, global warming is real. Global cooling is also just as real (ice age, anyone??). What we don't know with any amount of real, scientifically scrutinized certainty is if mankind is causing global warming. The Earth is billions of years old. We've only been able to measure meaningfully for less than 500 years; that's a nanosecond compared to the Earth's age. That fact alone, that we have at best one one-hundred-millionth's worth of time data in comparison to the age of Earth's climate, should give us serious pause about making any sort of serious claim regarding mankind and our adverse effect. Mankind's effect on global warming is a theory that has much less evidence to support it than the theory of evolution, which is just as controversial but at least has garnered a measure of general support. Until we can seriously review a lot of indisputable, meaningful scientific data, in comparison to some sort of control data (i.e., proof of global warming, or lack thereof, in the absence of human industrial activity), how can we possibly, seriously, as scientists, claim that human activity is indisputably contributing to global warming in a way that demands action to scale back said activity? Don't get me wrong, I'm all for protecting the planet, but it should be done sensibly, based on standard scientific data and skepticism, the way we used to do it.
Getting out of Iraq:
This one probably makes me angriest. Let's examine the situation: the Democrats have control of the House of Representatives, and they have half the Senate. They seek to win the presidency in 2008. THEY CAN NO LONGER CONTINUE TO CLAIM THAT THE WAR IN IRAQ IS JUST THE PRESIDENT'S PROBLEM OR JUST A REPUBLICAN PROBLEM. When you have power, the problems of the entity you have power over are also your problems, and you must come up with solutions. If you can't come up with solutions to the problems you have at your feet, whether you inherited them or not, shut up and let someone else do it.
Now, that being said, they are offering a solution, but only one: retreat. Call it "redeployment", call it "pulling out", call it whatever you like. It is retreat and ultimately defeat. I fully believe that Democrats and liberals do not want the U.S. to win the war in Iraq. I fully believe that the Democrats and liberals never wanted the U.S. to win in Iraq, simply because "we should never have gone in the first place." So let's go to school for a moment: we're there now, and unfortunately for Democrats and liberals, time only moves in one direction. That means, we need to all accept that we're there, and work to win at any cost. It appears, however, that Democrats are unwilling to do this. I find today's Democratic Party a sad shell of its former self; compare Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama to Franklin Delano Roosevelt or John F. Kennedy or Andrew Jackson. The latter three had intestinal fortitude, and they knew how to rally the country in a difficult time. I don't believe Clinton or Obama could come even close.
We're at war. We've been at war since 9/11. You can argue if that you think we can't win in Iraq, or that Iraq is not related to the War On Terror, or that we went in based on lies, or whatever. But we are there, and we better do everything we can to win, to find a positive solution, whether we think we can or not. When I played sports, I played in lots of games where I knew my team was going to lose. Did I phone it in? Did I take it easy that game, knowing that my efforts would be for nothing? Did my team just leave halfway through the game, knowing we wouldn't win, and so just forfeit? Of course not. "Forfeiting the game" in Iraq is not an option, liberals...come up with something better.
Illegal Immigration:
Let's look historically at American immigration. I often think of the scene in Casablanca, and I think I've mentioned it before, where the German couple is at Rick's having a drink before the fly out to America. They were able to obtain exit visas and were looking forward to their new life. They even remarked that they were devoted to speaking only English, so that they would do better in their new home. Would that today's immigrants felt the same way. Today's immigrants want to come here merely to find a job, and they want to bring their old home with them. And this does not hold true merely with Mexicans; Asians are equally guilty, in many cases.
I love that people want to come to America, that my country is still seen as a land of opportunity, of new life. Such is the way America has been since the beginning. I would be happy to accept the immigrants, if those immigrants didn't want to bring their old home with them and turn my home into their old home. If I wanted to live in Mexico, I would move to Mexico. This is America, and if you come here to live, it's because you want to be an American. That means you need to try to integrate. If you are unwilling to do that, don't come here. Stay in your home and work to make your old home better. This really applies to Mexicans; the fact that you all want to move here just tells me that Mexico must really be bad. So your options are a) go to America, or b) work to make Mexico better. If you can't handle integrating into American culture and society, learning English, living within our system, stay in Mexico, because we don't want you here. Forget the Reconquista.
Unions:
Unions are the most un-American organizations that still exist in this country. I admit that they once filled a very important need for American workers. It was once important that workers were protected from the vagaries of corporations. That is no longer the case. Unions today merely exist to allow steady jobs to those people who are unwilling to learn and grow and compete in the workplace the way I and so many other Americans have to. Unions merely allow workers to do the same job their grandfather did 70 years ago, with no change, no innovation, no efficiency. It's almost like welfare. I wonder what these people would do if they didn't have a union to protect their jobs, and they HAD to compete for work.
A few years back here in Denver, Qwest was faced with a strike by the union. What was one of the key issues that the union complained about? "Merit-based pay raises." Yes, you heard me right...the union was complaining because they did not want workers' raises to be based on how well an employee performs. Qwest (formerly USWest, formerly Mountain Bell) is a joke of a company just like any other large, established phone company. Service is terrible, the executives are crooks, and the workers are lazy (and arrogant about it). How can this possible be?? (I need a "sarcasm" HTML tag for that last sentence.)
Gun Control:
I've talked about gun control before. All I'll say is this: we tried prohibition once...what makes us think it would work with guns any better than it worked with alcohol? I tell you what, you leave guns and gun owners alone, and I'll support legalization of drugs for the same reason I just mentioned. Enough said.
OK, I'm all done now.
If the Democrats win the White House, and especially if we pull out of Iraq, I fully expect another major terrorist attack on U.S. soil within 12 months after. That's a frightening prospect, but unfortunately, the Democrats just don't have the spine to take a real stand, the way the great Democrats of the past did (like the ones I mentioned earlier).
If this comes to pass, the U.S. will get serious again. And if the Democrats continue to wuss out of doing what needs to be done, I predict secession of states. Think about it: the divide in the country right now is as bad, as polarized, as it was during the period leading up to the War Between The States over slavery and Southern autonomy. I think the only thing that has prevented secession this time around is a lack of the idea that the states ARE more autonomous, just like the 10th Amendment states.
We'll see...we'll see.
Of the radio hosts I enjoy most on Sirius Patriot, I really enjoy Andrew Wilkow. Here's a quote:
The environmentalist forecast: It’s going to be partly smarmy with a good chance of elitism plus we’re going to feel a bit of pressure from coastal hypocrisy.Thanks for reading along.
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