Not Allowing Comments on This One

***WARNINGS***

There will be some foul language. There will be politics. I’m not writing this to provide any sort of back and forth discourse. If you want a discussion or if you want to argue with me, go somewhere else. I really don’t care if you disagree with me. This post is for me.

I am a Christian. I grew up in a Southern Baptist town in a non-Southern Baptist church. That means that I was raised as a non-fundamentalist Christian. Go look it up. I am mostly conservative. My official political party affiliation is Republican, however, I identify more with our Libertarian friends than anyone else.

What this means is that I want the government to mostly stay the fuck out of my business. And your business. I don’t need the government to fix my problems or make decisions for me, for my own good. As a control-freak, I think I do a pretty damn fine job of taking care of myself and my family on my own. My decisions are my own. My choices are my own. And I own the consequences of my choices, both good and bad. I read a lot. I approach new things with an open mind. I utilize multiple resources on every side to educate myself.

Most of the government entities are bullshit. The Department of Education is a joke. Uncontrolled “czars” in Washington are a disgrace. Congress (both houses) needs to be fired and we need to start over from scratch.

I do not trust the same government who bloats and bankrupts every social program it gets its hands on to have any say in my health.

There’s a big brou-ha-ha going on because our current commander in chief is going to be speaking to our nation’s school children in a matter of minutes. I’ll be watching. Because it has been determined that this cannot be seen during non-work and non-school hours, I cannot watch it with my child. I have a problem with that. I think that if this speech is so important to our children, it needs to be important to me, and I have an issue with it being shown at a time where I have to take time away from my job, which as a responsible citizen, I have to help TAKE CARE OF my family. As an involved parent, I have a problem with being completely taken out of the equation.

I have an even bigger problem, though, with the Department of Education getting involved and providing “lesson plans” around his speech. This isn’t curriculum! And this won’t help a child score better on the SAT. The only good thing they did was revise their earlier plans of suggesting all school children write letters on how they would help President Obama. That was just plain wrong. And the fact that they thought it might be okay at all speaks volumes on what kind of government we now have.

Today’s speech is harmless, if it is exactly how it was posted on the White House’s website. All the people (like me) who have protested this will be pointed out as many things, but I can hear “right wing extremist nut-job” and “unreasonable” already. The thing is, based on experience, based on history, and based on who is doing the talking, I cannot trust what happens next. What is going to happen during the next speech to our children, after we’ve all been lulled into complacency?

This weekend, I allowed myself to be pulled into an argument about this very thing. I commented on a friend’s link on Facebook. I was respectful, clear, and reasonable in my objections. And I was attacked by her friends. It was insinuated that I was a bad parent. That I was afraid of having conversations with my child. That I was unreasonable. I was called out as being disrespectful to our president. And two things stood out during that ordeal… 1) The people who were attacking me and my views did so viciously and were so angered by the fact that I did not agree with them and their point of view, that they did not see the hypocrisy in their statements to me (if the roles were reversed, if GWB or John McCain were the ones doing the speaking, they would cry foul louder than I ever could… AND! For 8 years, the liberals in our nation did nothing but scream and pound their fists and disrespect GWB in the most vile of ways). And 2) I forgot that in order to be a “reasonable” individual to a liberal, you have to agree 100% with what they say and with their point of view. There is no discussion. There is no “agreeing to disagree.” And disagreeing with one means you are a horrible person.

One other thing stood out to me this past Sunday, too… I’m way too trusting and too gullible of an individual. I like to believe that people are generally good and have good motives. Therefore, if I think you are a good person and we have a good rapport, I will have your back no matter what. I will defend your right to speak your mind with all I have. I don’t have to agree with your point of view, and I might think you are over-doing it, but if you get attacked on your blog for speaking your mind, I will be there in the comments, defending your right to say it. Today, though, I’m a little less likely to do so.

It’s called balanced reciprocity and disillusionment.

Maybe It's The Cedar

We get really bad cedar allergies around this time each year. The reactions vary from somewhat mild all the way to flu-like in severity, and they last for about as long as the pollen remains in the air, spiking in January.

I've been feeling the cedar for a while, but have only had one day in the past three weeks where I really didn't feel up to coming to work (I did anyway). FF to this morning. My throat is swollen almost shut. My sinuses are draining like faucets. I'm slightly nauseated. Ugh.

I didn't watch a single minute of the festivities yesterday or last night. I don't care who wore what. I don't care about the parties (Didn't care in 1992, 1996, 2000, or 2004, either. So there!). What I do happen to care about are some itty, bitty, teeny, tiny details that haven't gotten much airtime...

1. The Dow had its worst inauguration day loss in history.
2. In an economy such as this, isn't it a little extravagant to have the most expensive inauguration in history? Does that send the right message?
3. There doesn't seem to be much concern that our new president wants to take over our banks and run them.

I promised my husband and myself that I will give this guy a chance. I will not be like all those psycho idiots over the past 8 years who said, "Bush isn't *my* president!" or "Bush stole the election!" or "I want *my* country back!"

News flash. Bitter much? Let the last 8 years go. Your guy won this one. Same as your guy was the president from 92 to 2000. It's called a democratic society and we all go to the polls and vote for our guy and go through the process and the guy who wins the most states, wins. My guy won twice. So fucking what?

This country has always been your country and like it or not, Bush was your president, too. This is our country and the president, whoever he may be, is OUR president.

Ahem! So... Didn't mean to rant.

Back to the point. I'm going to give this guy a chance. It is time for change, which is why we have presidential term limits.

Time will tell.

In other news, I was really on edge and cranky yesterday. I think I'll blame the cedar.

Obagi, Exercise, and Other Randomness

I've started week three of working out on a regular basis. I talked about weeks one and two on my workout blog: http://needtoworkout.blogspot.com. I feel pretty good. Sore, but good. And I'm back to healthy eating, as hard as that is… I've cooked dinner an average of 5 or 6 nights a week since the new year began. I’m very proud of myself on that one, too!

When the new year began, I also re-started Obagi (Retin-A/Glycolic Acid/Skin regeneration regimen). I find that the winter is the best time to go through the program as I am not outdoors all the time. I can already see a major change in the finer lines around my eyes, mouth, and forehead. It'll take some time, but I think I can take a few more years off my face. I will have to pause the program for a couple of weeks in late February/early March due to a tropical vacation/wedding/birthday/anniversary celebration, but I can't discount the results I see each and every time I use the products faithfully.

I also would like to take a moment to say thank you to George W. Bush on this, the day he handed over his title to a new man. Thank you. You are my definition of a great person. You have strength of conviction and of character. You did what you thought was the right thing to do over the past eight years, based on the information you had available, despite public opinion. And then you stood by your choices and decisions. Doing the "right" thing is rarely the easy or popular path. You withstood the brunt of the public's and the media's ire and stood fast in your beliefs in what was good and right and best for us. Were you ultimately wrong in some of those decisions? Time will tell. But you, sir, are a great man and I thank you for your service to our country.

In other news, it looks like everyone I do business with took the day off today. Therefore, I am very bored!

Letting Go

Pitter Patterson has begged me for a post. I've had one swirling around since late last night… Mostly, it was a rant unsuitable to fit. I'm giving myself 24 hours to be stunned, shocked, angry, and incredulous, then I can go back to being rational.

Fuck that. Even if Ms. Pitter is the only one interested, I have to get this off my chest.

I want our President-elect to PROVE ME WRONG in the next four years. He has two ways to go… He can be another Jimmy Carter or he can be an agent for positive change to our country. Either way, I win. We all win. Only if he turns out to be Carter-esque, it'll take four years to get a true conservative in office. One that cares about states rights. One that cares about empowering the people (ALL the people) into accepting personal responsibility and into achieving their own true potential. This cannot be done by giving more money to them or by taking away from those who earn more.

It's not "luck" that puts us where we are. It is determination and hard work. And until the majority of American people understand this, we will continue to bailout the bad decisions of others. This is not right. You wanna talk about "fairness"? It is not fair that my tax dollars (most assuredly to increase despite promises otherwise) will pay for mortgages for deadbeats or for the lax lending practices of financial institutions, which were MANDATED by a Clinton-run government. It is not fair that corporations that spend time and money to create the very cures to illnesses are sure to be handicapped and under further financial control of the government. Since when did capitalism fail us? It is the race to be the first and the best that has inspired so many to go above and beyond to invent some of our greatest achievements in technology and medicine, not to mention just about every single convenience we all use and appreciate today.

Don't talk to me about fairness and luck. I'm about hard work and striving for excellence. Only now, it is all thrown under the rug, diminished, and I should consider myself one of the lucky ones with a job.

Again. Fuck that.

Robin Hood is a fairy tale. A Medieval one at that.

Look, Obama ran a flawless campaign. For the past two years, with the help of our fine media outlets, every single negative story, every single question regarding record, character, associations, hell, even his citizenship were quietly squashed. The only ones writing about it or talking about it were conservative bloggers and radio talk show hosts. Republicans and conservatives were fighting an uphill battle all the way based on the public perception of GWB. Personally, I think you people give Bush too much credit for where we are today, but we'll have to agree to disagree. They certainly weren't helped by the current times. And McCain did not do nearly enough in his campaign to attack the right points. He lost that one. Obama won. And all ACORN controversy and fraud aside, he apparently won fair and square.

I was told by the news medial that I need to give our new president a chance. Okay. Fine. I will. We all will. It would be wrong not to do so. But I'll be watching. We'll ALL be watching. And when the dust settles, the smoke clears, and the new regime acts true to form, I'll be the one saying, "I told you so."

Please prove me wrong, Mr. President-elect. Not for me. For my son. And for all of our children.

Because, quite frankly, everything *I* do in this world and in my life is to make the world of my son and my family just a little bit better. I don't need anyone to do it for me, either. But if you make my world worse? Look out.

And now, I'll let go of it all and say a prayer for our country and our president-elect. I'll say a prayer for George W. Bush, John McCain, and Sarah Palin as well. And then I'll sit back and watch. It's time to stop writing about politics for a while. I'm exhausted by it all.

Are You Sufficiently Annoyed Yet?

I know, I know... Politics on a "mommy" blog are so very wrong. Sorry. Wait. No I'm not... I'm just some crazy right-wing nutjob who cannot see the forest for the trees. I need someone in New York or California to tell me what to think. I live in a "Red" state and therefore have no edumacation or proper world view.

[SNORT!]

This post is in honor of everyone who thinks we should make our Presidential selection based upon America's reputation in the rest of the world.

I call bullshit. They may not like the US, but they sure like our money. They may disapprove of war, but they sure liked the freedom we've given them.

Don't like us? Don't take our money and fight your own battles.

Good luck with that!

Because It Is No Secret

Hell, you all know how I feel...

Here's another good read... By a Democrat...

http://www.ldsmag.com/ideas/081017light.html

Just sayin'...

I Care

I care about this election and how people are voting... Forget the campaign rhetoric for a minute... There have been some, well, inappropriate things happening ON BOTH SIDES OF THE FENCE. I'm not 100% positive that McCain chose well. On the other hand, the Democrats made a horrific choice. Not for any reason other than electing this man that everyone seems so smitten with, is taking the United States of America one step closer to a socialist republic instead of a capitalistic society.

I read. I read just about everything I can get my hands on. On both sides of the fence. I'm a well-educated (in a Liberal-leaning, top university no less) and open minded woman. And I have been spending most of my time trying to come to terms with Obama as president. It will be a reality, I'm afraid. So I've been doing all I can do to find something positive. Something that is comforting in him. AND I STILL CAN NOT FIND IT.

I should mention here that I am not enamored of McCain. I am choosing the lesser of two evils this year. And I am choosing the man who will allow me to keep more of my hard-earned money and not punish small business owners, like my mother, who are the backbone of this great nation.

I read this with an open mind and a heavy dose of skepticism as I do all opinion pieces.

But if THIS DOESN'T HELP YOU MAKE UP YOUR MIND, I think you must have blinders on.

God help us all! I cannot and will not vote for a man who wants to punish my hard work and reward lazy, good-for-nothing, baby factory, welfare riding, couch potatoes who believe that the reason I have a decent income is because I'm "lucky" instead of hard working. I simply can't. It's not right. And any hard working person who thinks that this man is BETTER for our nation and that the "Change" will benefit them? I wish you the best of luck. Be careful what you wish for... You just might get it.

Oh, and to you assholes who truly believe that it is luck and not hard work to get ahead and do the right thing? Fine. It's "luck." Oh, did I forget to mention that we make our own luck by HARD FUCKING WORK!

Rant over.

Interesting... And... Insulting?

“When it comes specifically to HIV/AIDS, the most important prevention is education, which should include…which should include abstinence education and teaching children…teaching children, you know, that sex is not something casual. But it should also include - it should also include other, you know, information about contraception, because, look, I’ve got two daughters, 9 years old and 6 years old. I am going to teach them first of all about values and morals. But if they make a mistake, I don’t want them punished with a baby.” (Obama Speech - March, 2008)

Wow.

Bipartisanship...

That word looks funny when it is spelled out... LOL.

Both candidates want us to know that they "reach across the aisles" to get good things done for "the people."

And they do, yes.

One candidate worked with both sides of the senate to pass a couple of bills that had universal and unilateral support already.

One candidate reached across the aisle to the other party to write energy legislation that had little support from his own party, but it was good for the country.

I like people who can put their money where their mouth is...

And I like that Mrs. Palin brought up the point I did about all these feel good programs... The fine print. Who pays for college and health insurance for everybody?

A Monopoly on Hypocrisy

Whoa Nelly! It's getting heated like I knew it would...

Oh, Sarah Palin, I feel your pain as a mother. I feel your pain as a woman. You try your best to teach and instill your values in your children and then they go and make a monumental mistake that is life-altering to them. And that mistake is being played out on a national stage, causing pain and humiliation to someone you brought into this world.

I put my own parents through hell as a teenager. I partied. I got into trouble. I never got pregnant, though, thank goodness! My parents did their level best to instill in me a good, sound moral compass and I believe it has withstood the test of time.

As an adult, I've made choices that made my parents cringe and wonder where they went wrong. But always, I've maintained the lessons they taught me. And I hope my son will have the same values.

I feel for you right now. You are being attacked, almost brutally, because of your daughter's bad choice. As parents, our children's choices are a reflection on us and she is reflecting badly, no matter what you and your husband tried to teach her.

BUT... You two are not bad parents, from what I can see. Nor are you bad people.

What I cannot fathom is how deeply you are being villified in the press. For something you did not do. And what I cannot fathom is why we never really heard a big hubub about onetime presidential hopeful and big player in the Democratic party, Mr. John Edwards. You see, he DID do something horrible. He cheated on his wife, WHILE SHE WAS BATTLING CANCER, and possibly made a baby with the other woman. And that was swept away.

Republicans are being called hypocrites right now, all because one teenage daughter went against everything her parents taught and stood for and is now going to be a teenage wife and mother. It is just plain sad.

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Now, let's talk for a minute about executive leadership, shall we? I love when governors run for president. I think being a governor and having the executive leadership of a state's legislature and National Guard is a great training ground for running a country.

Contrary to what Campbell Brown at CNN imagines to be true, in times of state crisis, it is the Governor who deploys the National Guard. I watched part of her interview with Tucker Bounds of the McCain campaign where she was so snotty and rude to him that McCain pulled out of his scheduled Larry King interview. She really needs to get her facts straight.

The commander of the armed forces deploys National Guard troops in times of war to the war zones (i.e. Iraq and Afghanistan). He/She also can deploy guard troops nationally. But the governor does have that power as well, in his/her own state. Take the recent hurricanes, for example. It was Rick Perry who called the National Guard troops in Texas to the Gulf Coast region for potential disaster relief. Not General Petraeus.

Get your facts straight, lady. You're making women look stupid.

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I'm ready for Palin's speech tonight. I'm ready to hear her plans and details therein on the reformation of our government. I'm ready to hear her take on the economy and what we can do to repair it.

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Yesterday, I was flipping through my XM stations and landed on the POTUS08 station. They were playing Reagan's 1980 convention speech. It gave me chills.

I miss Reagan. I miss the party the Republicans once were. But I don't in my heart believe that McCain and Palin are the ones to bring us back. But they are definitely a good start.

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I'm really tired. Tired of the word hypocrite and all its variations being thrown around. No one has a monopoly on it, I'm sorry to tell you.

Both parties have their extremist factions, too. On the Republican side, it is the nutjob extreme "Religious Right." On the Democrat side, it is the extreme, left side, share the wealth, the government knows better than the people what is best for the people so let's take all the money then spread it back around. So. Um. Yeah, there's no set name for that particular nutjob extreme, I guess. I'm more middle of the road with conservative leanings myself, so I'd prefer an Executive Leader who falls closer to that middle line.

Obama/Biden
McCain/Palin

Which pair falls closer to the middle? Not sure? That's the cool thing about the internet. We get to do our own research and check out voting records and implementation. :-)

One More Political Thing...

So. I did not watch Obama's speech last night as the Cowboys were playing... The Dallas Cowboys trump political speeches every day of the week in our house. As it should be...

I read the transcript today. On CNN.

Very good speech. Lots of definitions of the change he wants. I'm glad he did it...

But it raises some really interesting questions for me. Namely, when did the 180 degree change happen? His voting record in the Senate goes against just about every point he made. Define "middle class" income. The last time he defined it, it meant people earning less than $42,000 per year. Has that changed?

Also, if we all have responsibility for ourselves and our actions, then we don't need our neighbors to be responsible for us. And by the way, what does "responsible" mean in his context? Responsible how?

He's selling something that smells extremely sweet. I'll give him that. And if he is telling the truth, then I could be inclined to lean in his direction. I can see how people can get sucked into the frenzy.

I hope it isn't perfumed manure, though. Only time will tell.

And according to reports, McCain is choosing a woman as his running mate... Sort of blows the argument that McCain doesn't support women right out of the water, eh?

Question it all... I'm going to be just as harsh on McCain next week... If I still feel like writing.

A Teeny, Tiny, Itty, Bitty, Small Bit About Politics

Dr Pop and I have been tuning in to some of the Democratic National Convention. It has prompted some good discussions regarding the upcoming presidential election. I don't think that it is any secret that I am pretty conservative.

For example, when it comes to "a woman's right to choose," I believe that women have a plethora of choices available to them before she opts to suck a baby into a sink. Like, I don't know, birth control, abstinence, choosing a good man, adoption, etc. Lots of choices. I don't make abortion one of my personal hot buttons, though, and personally, I don't particularly care where a candidate stands on that issue. It is just sad to me that so many women and men think that it is the ONLY option out there and is the ONLY right option out there if there is an unplanned or unwanted pregnancy. So my issue with that topic is more personal than political.

I care about TWO main issues during this election (and the first one is a far and away winner).

1) Which candidate proposes to take LESS money out of my pocket to distribute to lazy assholes who know how to work the system?

2) Which candidate is least likely to be a pussy when dealing with the Middle East, Russia, China, and our enemies?

I don't want more of my money being taken from me to spread around in a socialist manner "for the common good" since this is not a socialist society and our country was not founded on those principles.

I do not want another world war.

I want Iraq to pay us back.

I want respect for the brave young men and women who volunteer to put themselves in harms way so that we can have these open debates.

I've heard a lot being said that Obama's change is "A Change We Can Believe In." Fine. Will you once and for all define that change? Give me numbers. Give me strategy. Give me something besides sound bites that say absolutely nothing! Saying that your proposed tax cuts will benefit 95% of Americans sounds wonderful! Back it up. What is the income level you are speaking of? Be specific. Saying that you will "heal our relations with the rest of the world" is nice, too. How, exactly? What will you do that is so very different?

We do need change in this country. Let's just make sure that it is the right change.

One Step Away from Socialism

Save it. I really don't get it if you disagree with me on this and I don't want to hear your disagreement. Read the definition of Socialism. Then go read this. Thanks Jessica...

Raise taxes on everyone.
Raise taxes even more on the "rich" because their income has nothing to do with skill, hard work, or education and only to do with "luck."
Tax the hell outta a company because it makes "too much" profit.
Spread it around...

It's a slippery slope. That someone can determine how much is "too much" for me, is absolutely scary.

I don't normally get political on here, but this is one instance that I cannot and WILL NOT let it go. Again, if you cannot read those two things and draw a correlation, I cannot help you.

There are many more points to be made from that speech yesterday, but I'm just pointing out the big, fat, glaring one.