UNBELIEVABLE

It's hard to believe the gullibility of the American voter who would elect an untried, former Muslim, with questionable past associations, to the highest office in the land.

TOYLAND

It appears to me that our noble leader is like a little boy just introduced to the mcdonald playroom. Wide eyed. enthralled by what he sees and can hardly wait to try out all the goodies surrounding him. Obama appears to trust everyone except FOX news, even the dictatorial leaders of Iran, Egypt and Venezuela with special attention given to North Korea's Dear Leader. Domestically he has found all sorts of goodies to play with, namely, so called global warming and other environmental subjects, the automobile industry, banking, doctors, hospitals, immigration and illegals. It probably won't be long before he places our military in similar shape to what it was back in the "Dark Ages" of the 1930's. After all he has to get funds to satisfy his other tinkering. When his new environmental taxes on fuels, electricity and other necessities are enacted into law it would seem that much of his grassroots support will evaporate along with his halo.

MEDIA MATTERS

It's amazing the way the media has moved from their historic position as watch dog to their current position as Barrack Obama's lap dog.

ACORN AND VOTING

The current ongoing registration and voting problem with ACORN is enough to make one want to throw up. Though he denies it, Obama's hand is evident in this blatant attempt to influence the election by nasty subterfuge. It reinforces my feeling that voting should be reserved to those who contribute in some way possibly taxes, property ownership, etc. I realize that this is the way it once was, but the current system of everyone being able to vote is what makes it possible for Obama to get votes by making all sorts of promises to the societal leeches who contribute nothing, but have their hands deep into the till. I believe voting to be a privilege and
if people have to suffer a certain amount of inconveniance to register and travel to the polling places, so be it. The idea of groups like ACORN badgering, promising, and paying -people to register and vote is not beneficial to the nation. In those states that they have operated, all of the registrations and votes should be discarded, and assume it never happened. If this is not done, and the election is close, there is bound to be challenges that could tie up the government
far past mid-January 2009

WHY TAKE THE CHANCE?

Do people really stop to think? Are they ready to turn the Presidency of the United States, perhaps the most important leadership position in the world, over to a man who carries a suspicious amount of negative baggage? Consider the following: His father was a Muslim and Barrack spent a part of his youth in Muslim surroundings and was evidently a Muslim until converting to Christianity under the auspices of the nation hating Jeremiah Wright. His close association with 1960's unrepentant members of the militant weathermen. His friendship with some of the corrupt Chicago wheeler and dealers. It's possible that none of this has affected Obama, but are we really ready to take the chance? Once he occupies the Oval Office, it will be difficult to correct the mistake, so why take the chance?

HEALTH INSURANCE

Over and over I hear various talking heads state that there are 46 milliuon Americans without
health insurance. Where did this figure come from? Is it an actual figure, or is it a figure dreamed up by someone in the past, and constant repetition has given it credibility? If it is an actual, legitimate figure, how was it arrived at? How does one go about determining how many
people are without health insurance? I suppose one way would be to add up all the people with such insurance and subtract them from the total population. Anyway, the 46 million figure has been kicking around long enough that the figure is suspect. How does it manage to remain constant, when everything else changes for one reason or another?

PROPER BUSINESS OF A UNIVERSITY

The philosopher, John Stuart Mill, writing in the 19th Century, provided a statement on university education, that should be required reading, and absorption by all of today's college
professors. It is as follows:
"The proper business of a university," Mill wrote, "is to give us information and training, and help us to form our own belief in a manner worthy of intelligent beings, who seek for truth at all hazards, and demand to know all the difficulties, in order that they may be better qualified to find, or recognize the most satisfactory mode of resolving them."

THE NON BELIEVERS

As I recall it has been said that we could not operate under a parliamentary system because our political parties are not strong enough. The recent problems with the Democratic Party belie
this as people who should know better throw their support to Barack Obama even when it is
obvious that they don't really believe in him. The most glaring example of this are the Clintons,
husband and wife, who when push comes to shove, put their recent glaring criticisms of Obama
aside in the interest of the party, even though I'm sure they do not believe it's in the national
interest.

WHOSE IN WHOSE POCKET?

The Obama camp has accused McCain of being in the pocket of Big Oil, but when it comes to campaign contributions the employees of Exxon have contributed $42, 100 to Obama and to
McCain $35, 166. In addition the 2005 Energy act which among other things, gave Big Oil
large tax breaks, was supported by Senator Barack Obama, while Senator John McCain voted
against it.

ARE WE READY?

I don't think the country is ready for a black president. Until we are able to put racial separation behind us a black president will be the problem rather than a possible solution to what are perceived as the nations ills. White people will believe he is doing too much for those of his own race, and black people will believe he is not doing enough. This introduces a new factor into presidential politics. I watch blacks and whites state, rather despairingly, on talk shows that there must be an honest and open dialogue between blacks and whites, before we can settle down into a color blind nation. Unfortunately, the great bulk of the black population, and the white population, carry racial baggage that will be difficult, if not impossible to set aside.

VOTING

I know a person, a registered Democrat, who has said that he prefers a Democrat, but votes for the best person for the job, regardless of party. This presidential election he has the opportunity to put that statement into play. He has indicated that he will not vote for Obama, and thus will not vote at all. This is wrong. If he does not in fact, want Obama to be President of the United States, he should vote for McCain, otherwise, by not voting at all, he is casting a vote for Obama, because he has denied McCain a vote, which indirectly favors Obama. If a person refrains from voting because he cannot stomach the candidate of his party, he should cross party lines and vote for an alternate, rather than not vote at all. The national good transcends the political parties, and the party affiliation should be set aside in the interests of the nation.

OIL

Gas prices are out of sight with no relief apparent. Though McCain supports 0ff-shore drilling, he leaves it up to the states, mainly Florida and California, to make the decision, and they are far from enthusiatic about the venture. Obama doesn't seem to favor anything except continuing on the current path. So much for the great hearalded change he spouts The Democrats say drilling no good because it would take 10 years to see any relief at the pump. I believe American ingenuity could bring this around in much less than 10 years. Also, if we had done this some years ago, we would feel the benefits now. The best way out of this mess is for Congress to subsidize gasoline and keep the cost down to $100 a barrel, and at the same time go all out to develop new domestic sources of oil, build refineries, and establish atomic power plants. Perhaps if the $600 recently provided to many Americans had been used to subsidize gasoline it would have been a better move and as so much of the economy is tied to oil, it may have pumped up the economy as much or more than the $600 handout did. Of course, we should continue to pursue alternate forms of fuel, but recall that most people own cars that are run by gasolene, so alternate means provide no out for them. We need oil in order to progress until the alternates become a reality and the people have time to adjust to the changes.

WHY ALL THE APOLOGIES?

It seems that hardly a day passes that one or both of the presidential candidates or their followers are apologizing for som ething they said. If they believed what they said, they shouldn't apologize, if they didn't mean it or believe it, they shouldn't have said it in the first place. They should rtemember who they are, where they are and what they represent and keep their mouth shut. Apologies, as that great cavalry commander John Wayne said are a sign of weakness, and one could add, of poor thinking or action and we don't need any of this in the White House.

WHAT'S GOING ON?

When those who benefit most from living in a country, contribute the least to its defense and those who benefit least are asked to pay the ultimate price, something happens to the soul of that country. I don't remember the origin of this quotation, but it hits the nail on the head regarding this nation today. Not only do people refuse to serve, but they also encourage the young to ignore the armed forces. What is worse is that a sizeable number of people, mostly from large urban areas, reflect a personal animus towards those who do serve. Also, in this connection, I do not believe there has ever been a president who had to contend with the continual vile, crude, and downright dirty language that President Bush has endured from the extreme left. It is not necessary to agree with the president, but it should be kept in mind that he or she is the titular head of the nation, that as Head of State the position is in great extent symbolic, and therefore when one reviles the president, he is in effect passing the same vilification onto himself. Other presidents have been unpopular to varying degrees. Andrew Johnson, Abraham Lincoln, Lyndon Johnson and Woodrow Wilson come to mind, but none of these suffered quite the same nastiness as George W. Bush. As you may have guessed, I'm one of the few who believe that President Bush, like President Truman, will be recognized by history, and ranked in the top percentile of presidents. We seem to have forgotten what started all the current rancor towards the president--namely the premeditated attack on the twin towers and the Pentagon, the subsequent invasion of Iraq and the elimination of Hussein. Perhaps we should have left Iraq at that point, as the first President Bush did, that's a point for others to work out, but the undeniable fact is There have been no more terrorist attacks on US soil. This is indisputable. I suggest that soon after Bush leaves office there will be an attack of some sort in the United States,,irrespective of who becomes president. To test the mettle of the new president. Let's all hope he or she is up to the task!

OOPS!

So far, the so-called Secular-Progressives have pretty well taken over the Main Stream Media, the colleges and universities, and the movie industry, but, though they control these vital opinion shaping institutions, they have not been able to shake the innate pride of nation which typifies the middle American, who generally views with suspicion the
Negative predictions of the east and west coaster

HILLARY

As the Democratic primary winds down, I must admit that my feelings for Hillary Clinton have changed. I realize that she's a politician and has studied at the feet of the great charlatan, Bubba Clinton, but nevertheless she has shown a grit, determination and drive that indicate she could probably handle the presidency. Unless she changes it appears that she is no longer tied to the radical left wing of the party as is her democratic copponent. I'm not enthralled by her political stances, but on examination, except for health care, taxes, and Iraq, she is not that far from McCain. She shows more fire than McCain--she really wants the job--and sometimes I wonder whether McCain really, really wants it. In my mind, the biggest problem with Hillary is her honesty and her husband. We know she lies (Bosnia) and is a possible thief (White House furniture), but better the one you know than the one you don't know--Obama. As far as Bill is concerned, I think he will create havoc in the administration, unless Hillary could funnel him into a job that would keep him too remote to interfere, perhaps Ambassador to Fiuland, which is far away and the girls, I undersatnd, are beautiful. If the Democrtas want to win the Presidency they had better nominate Hillary. She has demonstrated a will and determination that will inspire many. The other guy is smooth and appealing to many who do not think beyond the end of their nose. He's all wrapped up in a nice package, but no'one knows what's really inside the package. It would be a disaster to find the contents are rotten after he is elected. Would I vote for Hillary? I can't say. There are still considerations. Can she get the nomination? She ought to get it. Will McCain falter? Who are the running mates? Will Hillary drift too far left? This is possible because she may need their money. This lady shows she has guts and determination and we need that above all. I'm a Republican, but as I've said, I voted for Democrats and can do so again. Can Democrats do the same?

THE SPARROW

While resting in a living room chair my mind drifted to some books on the Roman Army I was reading and I thought my son Pete, in Maine would like them and I should take them with me when we go in August. Then I thought, he will want to know the author, who is a man by the name of Scarrow, this then led me to sparrow, which in turn led to a guy named Cerniglia who was in my OCS company at Fort Benning in 1942. Cerniglia was a loud-mouth who bragged of having been Brigadier General Teddy Roosevelt's (son of the President) driver in the 1st Infantry Division. My mind then drifted to a hot day at Fort Benning (how do I know it was hot--they were all hot!) in probably July, 1942, when at the end of a class, the instructor asked, as he was programmed to do, "Are there any questions?" Now, let it be known, that no GI in his right mind would ask a question at this time as that would eat into the ten minute break following the class, and particularly into the cigarette time (this was back in the days before cigarettes became harmful to your health). Nevertheless, staying in character, good ol" Cerniglia had a question.
The instructor listened politely, then said the following: "This puts me in mind of a story. There was a little sparrow who lived in Boston and back when there were a lot of horses he lived a good life as there was plenty of food on the street. But then the auto came and times were rough. One day he's teetering on the curb almost dead, when a horse came by and dumped a meal right in front of him. The sparrow tottered into the street and gorged himself, then got back up on the curb and began to sing, at which point a cat came by and gobbled him up. The moral of this story
is-'when your full of s--t, don't open your mouth'. From that point on Cerniglia was known as Sparrow, and the name followed him throughout the war, and perhaps after. Why did I write all of this--I don't know, it just seemed like a good idea and it does show how the mind follows a train of thought, and besides it's a good story and a true one.

GAS PAINS

Well, looks like the chickens have come home to roost. Gas prices are skyrocketing and there's really no end in sight. So what causes it? A couple of things. First there's the increased demand, mainly by India and China on a supply which has not increased to meet the demand. Common sense says that if demand exceeds supply, the price will go up. Even if we produce more crude, we do not have the refinery facilities to handle it. Secondly, our government, Congress and the various presidents have given in to the exhortations of the environmentalists and have not allowed additional drilling, nor the building of refineries. There will probably be a change of direction as the outcry grows about the high gas prices, but it will be a number of years before any results can be felt, and don't expect the price of gas to come down in the meantime. I believe we're going to experience the same results when Congress and the President begin to manipulate so-called Global Warming. Food prices are already rising as shortages exist due to diversion of food products into bio-fuels--wait til the additional taxes clock in! All three of the candidates believe in Al Gores doom and gloom.

POLITICAL PARANOIA

What a tempest in a teapot! The President speaking to the Israeli parliament made reference to a 1940's senator who stated that if he had been able to speak with Hitler could have prevented
the invasion of Poland. President Bush did not say that he was casting Barack Obama in that image. However, Barack Obama and his supporters took this as a slap at the senator. All I can get from this is that Obama must have a guilt feeling as to his position, otherwise, why would he feel that the President in making a policy statement, was referring to him? Democrats refer to Nixon talking with the Chinese and Reagan with the Soviets as examples of past presidents conferring with our enemies, but in both cases we operated from strength and let the other party know it. There has been no indication, as far as I know, from Obama that he would use the power of the United States and his office, to influence the other party. As I recall, "There would be no pre-conditions." Also, what a nerve the Democrats have to criticize George Bush, who is the titular leader of the Republican Party, for making what they call a political statement. What do they expect? That Bush and McCain will lie down and play dead? The last great Democrat Harry Truman said it best: "If you can't stand the heat get out of the kitchen."

RAMBLINGS

Its 5:30 AM and what to blog? This is a dialysis day and Carole will be up at aboput 6:00 to get breakfast. Jack ans Lois Graf are here for one night on their way back to Texas after going to Illinois to see Jack's brother who was deathly ill. Bob and Nancy came over for supper and later Kelly, Mark and the little guy showed up, all three riding on a motor scooter--I assume saving gas. Kelly showed me how to post pictures to the blog, but i have no suitable pictures. Rain--so what else is new! Look forward to getting on to doing my own dialysis, and if all goes well we will drive to Maine this summer. Am sure it will be my "last hurrah". We may get in a trip to Branson also, as we already have the tickets which we didn't use last year. Also a shakedown trip to Texas to visit Jack and Lois, not to shakedown them, but to find out how I handle a 400+ mile trip. Bob just back from long truck trip and he spanned the nation hitting both Maine and California, among other locations. Tim has bought us a carpet in Afghanistan and is shipping it to us--should be here in about 3 weeks. Carole wants it for the sun room. From Tim, there is a possible outside chance that Pete may try to get one of the type contract jobs that Tim has. I think it would do ete well to get away fro a while--and the money's good. Bob's going to come over and replace a part of our fascia which blew off during a past windstorm. He is a great help to us and does countless things big and small for us. Kelly and Mark have also been very helpful.