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Palin Shines Through the Rain
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- Natalie and daughter Etta with Sarah Palin at the Machine Shed Restaurant – Photo by Chet Nichols
Sarah Palin arrived to a packed house in the farm-themed “Machine Shed Restaurant” in Urbandale, IA Friday night. The ever-amassing crowd began arriving at about 6:30 p.m. to congregate and socialize with fellow “Palinistas” from across the country. Supporters stood around talking and catching up, many long time online-friends were meeting for the first time in person. The atmosphere was more like a family reunion than a political gathering. There were children playing, doting parents, young professionals, and the elderly maneuvering through the crowd with the assistance of canes. I encountered people like myself and my family, who had driven in from Dallas, TX, those who had flown in from Virginia, some who hailed from Florida, Georgia natives, Iowa hometown fans, and Miki Booth, a woman from the president’s neck of the woods, Hawaii.
The meet and greet went on for an hour and a half when the front entry way suddenly began to buzz. When the camera crews darted for the doors, all eyes turned to see that those “Guess who’s coming to dinner” rumors were true…Sarah was in the building. She had a twinkle in her eye as she greeted those whose lucky positioning had placed them in the Read More→
I spent some time with the Governor, but it was my 4 year old daughter who got Sarah’s attention that day.
When I introduced her to my daughter, Sarah had genuine adoration on her face. She asked my daughter her name. She was shy, so I answered, “Etta.” She said, “Ooh, that’s a pretty name, Etta! How old are you?” Etta spoke up then and told her that she was 4. I told Sarah that Etta had been asking if she could play with “Hyper.” And with that Sarah laughed, looked at Etta and said, “We call her ‘Hyper Piper’ too!” We chatted for a moment or two more, before she was beckoned away.
Palin continued to make her way through the crowd to the dining room which was already full. She worked the room and visited with those who had come out to join together to support her in her endeavors. Unlike the typical “politician,” Palin held real conversations with those present.
Take Lynda Armstrong, for example, who made the trip from Roswell, New Mexico. Lynda will be giving a couple of presentations in the coming weeks, one to the Toastmasters and the other to a Women’s Republican Club in Roswell. She met with Governor Palin who took the time to look at her outline and was impressed with her accuracy. “She actually took the time to look over what I put together, and seemed very interested in the parts of my outline that referenced her record as governor, and why she left.” Lynda said, “That’s one of the highlights of my presentation because many of the people I meet are still unaware of her outstanding accomplishments as Governor.”
Perhaps the most outwardly and permanently supportive Sarah Palin fan of the evening was 64 year old Eric Pierce, of Burleson, TX. Pierce rode in with us on the Texas 4 Palin bus from Dallas, coordinated by Del Parker. Pierce asked Governor Palin to autograph his forearm when he chatted with her in the restaurant. He says she asked why and he explained to her that he planned to have her autograph tattooed on his arm that night. According to Pierce, Palin said that she’d be honored. She will forever have the honor of holding a special place on Pierce’s arm because he held true to his word. Accompanied by a few other Organize 4 Palin members for support, he found a late-night tattoo parlor in what he says was “not a real smooth part of town” and had Palin’s John Hancock “inked in” his forearm. Ouch!
Saturday morning saw the arrival of even more Palinistas to Indianola for the Restoring America Event, featuring Governor Sarah Palin as the keynote speaker. They began arriving around 6:30 a.m. At that point the weather was great. As the morning wore on, they felt a sprinkle or two. And around 11 AM it started raining, and raining, and raining. One might have assumed that there would have been a mass exodus. But to the contrary, those who came prepared with a poncho donned the vinyl suits. Those with umbrellas held them high. Those who could fit, huddled under one of several open tents for shelter. And those who did none of the above just put on their best patriotic smiles, awaiting the arrival of the keynote speaker, Sarah Palin. The crowd was so dedicated that many of the people stood in the torrential downpour. All of those I asked quickly forgot about how soaked they were when Sarah Palin took to the stage. They repeatedly interrupted her with chants of “Run, Sarah, Run!” and “Sa-rah, Sa-rah!”
- Sarah Palin speaking at the Restore America TEA Party in Iowa. Palin laid out her plan to restore America. – Photo by Chet Nichols
“We’re not celebrating red America or blue America! We’re celebrating red, white and blue America!” said Palin of a conversation she and husband Todd Palin had after leaving supporters at The Machine Shed in Urbandale, Iowa the previous night. She spoke about some of her own experiences, referring to the “sudden and relentless reform” she brought about during her tenure as Governor of Alaska early on in the speech. Those who don’t follow Palin closely may not realize that one of the sections of the documentary, The Undefeated, was called ‘Sudden and Relentless Reform’.
As the speech went on, a very notable correlation was drawn between the person Sarah Palin thinks is needed to restore America and the one she just described as having fought crony capitalism in Alaska since entering public service 20 years ago. Palin began to describe what she believes is needed in this way, “It’s not enough to change uniforms. If we don’t change the team and the game plan, we won’t save our country…we need sudden and relentless reform…and that requires deeds not just words.”
Palin has been criticized in the past as being simply a political celebrity, not qualified to run the country, and someone lacking a real plan. On the 3rd anniversary of her famous RNC speech accepting the Republican Vice Presidential nomination, Sarah Palin sought to put those criticisms to rest. She gave a hard hitting speech which hit on some of what she calls “real reform” and was able to accomplish during her tenure as Governor. She spoke about her years as a public servant and highlighted her specialized experience in the energy sector, while at the same time contrasting that with what she says are failed policies of the current administration. And finally she laid out a five point plan of “real solutions” and “the way forward.”
Palin explained, “We’re going to speak truth today. It may be hard hitting, but we’re gonna speak truth today. Because we need to start talking about what hasn’t worked and we’re gonna start talking about what will work for America…So let’s talk about real solutions.” She went on to say “I wanna tell you what my plan is!”
With those eight words, Palin announced what many believe is the beacon of hope for America; the staple of a potential Presidential campaign, her plan.
1st Let’s enforce the 10th Amendment! Devolve powers back locally where the founders intended them to be.
2nd We must repeal Obamacare and reign in burdensome regulations that are a boot on our neck. Let the private sector breathe and grow.
3rd We must prioritize and cut. Cancel unused stimulus funds and have that come to Jesus moment where we own up to the debt challenge that is entitlement reform. The status quo is no longer an option. Entitlement reform is our duty now and it must be done I n a way that honors our commitment to our esteemed elders today while keeping faith with future generations.
4th It is time for America to become the energy super power. The real stimulus that we’ve been waiting for is robust and responsible domestic energy production. We have the resources. Affordable secure energy is the key to any thriving economy and it must be our foundation. Drill here, drill now, let the refineries and the pipelines be built stop kowtowing to foreign countries and dictators… We need to move on tapping our own God given resources that are part of our reserve. I promise you this will bring real job growth. There are enough…projects just waiting in the wings, waiting for government approval that could create more than a million high paying jobs all across the US and this is true stimulus. America’s economic revival starts with America’s energy revival.
5th To make America the most attractive and competitive place to do business, to set up shop here, and hire people here, to attract capital from all over the globe that will lead to an explosion of growth instead of chasing industry offshore. I propose to eliminate all corporate income tax, and hear me out on this…this is how we create millions of high paying jobs, this is how we increase opportunity and prosperity for all. But here’s the best part to balance out any loss from this tax cut we eliminate corporate welfare and all the loopholes and we eliminate bailouts. This is how we break the back of crony capitalism because it feeds off corporate welfare which is just socialism for the very rich. We can change all of that. The message then to job creating corporations is that ‘yeah we’ll unshackle you from the world’s highest taxes, but you stand or fall on your own just like all the rest of us out on Main Street.
Let us seek that hand once more…We will fight for freedom, we will fight for America. We are at the tipping point. United we must stand and we shall nobly save, not meanly lose this last best hope on Earth!
In the end, Jelayne Sessler, of Texas Organize 4 Palin, walked away with what she described as an “amazing speech” by the Governor. “In my opinion, it was the platform for her upcoming campaign, as I believe an announcement is imminent.” When compared to those already in the Republican field, Sessler thinks a Palin administration would be “a completely different approach,” adding that Palin is known for “exposing corruption in her own party,” something she believes the other candidates “would not do.”
As she exited stage right, Tea Party of America’s Judd Saul took us back stage for the final moments with the Governor. She made sure to spend some time with a few men in uniform before she and Todd got into their black SUV and rode away. But I had one final question that I just had to ask. I had to know if all the critics and haters in the media were having their desired effect on her, or, as I suspected, was it actually having an opposite effect and making her want to fight back even harder? She put her pen down, her eyes brightened up, a smile spread across her face and in her usual feisty manner that so many have come to love, she said “Heck ya! That’s that independent Alaskan, pioneering, fighting spirit pushing back!”
She didn’t say the words, but in what she did say and the excitement with which she said it, I swear I could almost hear her recite a line from one of her famous speeches:
“Mr. President, Game On!”
All Signs Point to a Palin Announcement Sept. 3rd
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Sarah Palin in Iowa
If the Republican Presidential race were a poker game, you could say that Palin, the underdog has remained in late position long enough to see the full ring, to expose the live ones. She’s learned their tells, and she’s seen some bust, but now it’s time for her to go all in with what looks to be a royal flush.
If you’re not a poker player, you may need a poker dictionary to decipher my analogy. And “they” think she doesn’t know how the game of politics is played. The good old boys just never realized that she wasn’t playing by their rules.
If, or rather when, Sarah Palin announces her candidacy for President; Republican polls will likely shift in her favor. There are droves of Republicans and Independents who like Sarah Palin and what she stands for. But if there is one common thread you will hear as a negative, it is “but I don’t think she can win.” Yet she continues to pack in larger crowds than declared presidential candidates. The media loves to hate her, and to her credit, she’s probably Read More→
It’s looking more and more these days as if Sarah Palin will announce her run for the White House in short order. If you keep up with Palin’s history, you may come to the conclusion that there is no accident in her decision to go to Iowa September 3rd for what many believe will be her big announcement. September 3, 2011 is three years, to the day, from the day that Sarah Palin accepted the nomination for Vice President and gave her famously rousing speech during the Republican National Convention. In the last few days, even those in the media have noted that it appears that Sarah Palin will announce in the early weeks of September.
Palin herself has even alluded to as much August 18th when she said,
“…still looking for that candidate whom I can put my heart and soul behind to support. If I don’t see that person here in short order, I would be willing to put my name forward in the name of service.”
The pundits and commentators are even weighing in:
“She’s out with a new video that looks an awful lot like a campaign commercial,” said Carl Cameron on August 19, 2011.
Dick Morris tweeted August 19, 2011, “It looks like Sarah Palin will announce on Sept. 3 in Iowa.”
“[Palin] has a schedule next week that looks like that of a candidate, not a celebrity…This is her last chance, she either gets in or gets out. I think she gets in,” Karl Rove said August 20, 2011.
I tend to agree with Dick in this instance. To see why, just take a look at her newest video which many are calling her first campaign commercial.
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For those who like to look at numbers, then look no further than a Rasmussen Report released August 16, 2011.
“The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey of Likely Republican Primary voters, taken Monday night [August 15, 2011], finds Perry with 29% support. Romney, the former Massachusetts governor who ran unsuccessfully for the GOP presidential nomination in 2008, earns 18% of the vote, while Bachmann, the Minnesota congresswoman who won the high-profile Ames Straw Poll in Iowa on Saturday, picks up 13%.”
Palin was not an option in the poll, but Perry and Bachmann were and both share a base support of the TEA Party which heavily support Sarah Palin. Without Palin as a choice, the majority either went with Perry or Bachmann, unless you consider the 16 percent undecided voters. But with a Sarah Palin announcement, things change dramatically. Although Perry will capture a little more of the establishment crowd than Bachmann, you can count on a fairly equitable split of both candidates’ supporters when Palin enters the ring. It’s reasonable to assume that, given the prospect of a Palin candidacy, Palin will capture about 40 percent of Perry’s supporters and roughly half of Bachmann’s.
If you do the math, not counting support Candidate Palin might take from Cain, Paul, Santorum and the others, the result of a Palin announcement, fresh out of the gate, looks like this:
Romney 18%
Palin 17%
Perry 17%
Bachman 8%
Throw in the undecided voter who will likely swing toward Palin, given the fact that they already had the opportunity to choose one of the other candidates, and didn’t; it looks even more promising for Palin. If this particular scenario plays out, then the pendulum swings toward Palin in the lead when given the Mama Grizzly option. And if you consider who Sarah Palin’s strongest base is, the TEA Party, a newly released Rasmussen poll indicates that they will play a very large role in selecting the GOP nominee, in that 58% of primary voters think the TEA Party will help the republicans in 2012.
As icing on the cake, here is another little gem for you. The poll also gives a little more insight into the heart and soul of today’s voter. That said; let’s get back to that earlier mention of the one negative common thread I’ve heard uttered regarding a potential Sarah Palin run: “I like her but I don’t think she can win.” Here is what the poll reveals:
“72% of likely Republican voters say when casting their primary vote, they favor a candidate who shares their views over one who has a better chance of winning.”
That turns the notion of people agreeing with Sarah Palin, but “don’t think she can win” from a negative, into a potential strength. They are going to vote for her regardless, thus, breaking the mold of the typical voter. With that in mind, you can throw the idea that people will be voting for the perceived winning candidate right out the window. And, if you think about it, doing so also changes who the perceived ultimate winner is.
When you add it all up, and the dust settles to the ground, the poll numbers support a Palin decision to run. And don’t lose sight in the fact that the September 3rd date is highly significant in Palin’s life and to her supporters.
Like thousands of other Palin supporters from around the country, I’m joining in for the ultimate road trip from Dallas, TX., thanks to Jelayne Sessler and Del Parker of Organize4Palin. We had originally planned to ride in charter busses, wrapped with “Texas is Palin Country,” of course, to the Restoring America TEA party in Waukee, IA. Since that time, reports have circulated that event organizers have had to move the event to a larger venue due to parking logistics. The TEA party, and hopefully Sarah Palin’s candidacy announcement, will now be held at National Balloon Classic Field in Indianola, IA.
I like poker, and my money is on Palin going all in. If she announces September 3rd in Indianola, IA, I’ll be there.
Oh, and you can bet my blog, Facebook and twitter accounts will be lit up and churning along the way bringing you the play-by-play.
Mr. Geithner, your Crystal Ball is broken!
Posted by: | CommentsMr. Geithner, please check your crystal ball because it appears to have a major malfunction! Either something’s wrong with the ball or you’ve got a classic case of “operator error” going on. You might look into borrowing your good buddy Barack Obama’s. His crystal ball seems to be shooting fairly straight these days. “Electricity rates will necessarily skyrocket,” anyone remember this gem? He could start a 1-800-psychic line with that one! Hey it might not be pretty, but at least it was truthful.
In an interview with Fox News on April 19, 2011, a little over three months ago, when U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner was asked if the U.S. was at risk of losing its AAA rating, he replied:
“No risk of that, no risk…you see the leadership of the United States of America, the President…the Republican leadership…the Democrats…recognizing now that this is the right thing to do for the economy.”
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For some time now, the United States debt has been creeping up to the 100 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) mark. That’s a disaster just waiting in the wind. It’s reminiscent of 2001 when the Bush Administration warned of potential problems and warned that financial giants, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, could “cause strong repercussions in financial markets.” In 2003, the White House upgraded the concerns to a “systemic risk” that could spread beyond the housing sector. But U.S. Representative Barney Frank (D) told the House Financial Services Committee that the housing market was fine, stating, “Fannie Mae and Freddie Mack are not in a crisis.”
In 2008, the housing market crashed, sending the economy in a downward spiral, from which we have not recovered. You would think that our “leaders” would have learned their lessons from the past, especially from such a debacle just a few short years ago. But with the passing of the recent budget hijacking, debt ceiling busting deal that our lawmakers recently compromised on, ignoring the warnings of the TEA Party, it is apparent that the lessons of history were short-lived. Shortly after the deal was done, the unthinkable happened. The US debt hit the 100 percent mark of GDP, the market tanked, and the US credit rating was downgraded from its AAA rating, with the real possibility of being downgraded again.
It was an historic day for America, all on President Obama’s watch. From MSN:
“US debt shot up $238 billion to reach 100 percent of gross domestic product after the government’s debt ceiling was lifted, Treasury figures showed Wednesday. Treasury borrowing jumped Tuesday, the data showed, immediately after President Barack Obama signed into law an increase in the debt ceiling as the country’s spending commitments reached a breaking point and it threatened to default on its debt. The new borrowing took total public debt to $14.58 trillion, over end-2010 GDP of $14.53 trillion, and putting it in a league with highly indebted countries like Italy and Belgium…Ratings agencies have warned the country to reduce its debt-to-GDP ratio quickly or facing losing its coveted AAA debt rating.”
How could they not see this coming?
Look, let’s put it in kitchen table terms, the way most Americans these days understand it. When your income matches your debts, there is no room for error. None. Let’s say my family makes $60,000 a year. That’s $5,000 per month. And when I add up all my debts and expenses (mortgage/rent, car payment, insurance, utilities, food, gas, etc.) and I find out that, it too, equals $5,000.00 per month, I’m worried. Heck, scratch that, I’m PETRIFIED!
You see, in the real world, things come up. There is always a “crisis” just around the corner. A trip to the doctor, a flat tire, a heat wave that spikes my electric bill, etc. And, dare I say, if gas goes up then you can pretty much say that I’m screwed. Because, unlike the government, I don’t have a “blank check” that I can go cash that comes out of the wallets of “other people,” and I don’t have a printing press in my backyard. Credit? Please, I have already used all that, and a bank will just laugh at me walking through their door. Hypothetically speaking, that is.
The reality is, when your outflow exceeds your income, then the outcome will be your downfall!
Well nobody is laughing now, and Standard and Poor (S&P) is now holding the proverbial crystal ball, but they know how to use it.
In a report released by S&P, the worldwide leader in financial market intelligence gives a bleak overview:
“The downgrade reflects our opinion that the fiscal consolidation plan that Congress and the Administration recently agreed to falls short of what, in our view, would be necessary to stabilize the government’s medium-term debt dynamics.
More broadly, the downgrade reflects our view that the effectiveness, stability, and predictability of American policymaking and political institutions have weakened at a time of ongoing fiscal and economic challenges to a degree more than we envisioned when we assigned a negative outlook to the rating on April 18, 2011.”
Tapping further into the Crystal Ball, S&P gives a warning shot that we should all pay attention to:
“The outlook on the long-term rating is negative. As our downside alternate fiscal scenario illustrates, a higher public debt trajectory than we currently assume could lead us to lower the long-term rating again [emphasis added]. On the other hand, as our upside scenario highlights, if the recommendations of the Congressional Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction–independently or coupled with other initiatives, such as the lapsing of the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts for high earners–lead to fiscal consolidation measures beyond the minimum mandated, and we believe they are likely to slow the deterioration of the government’s debt dynamics, the long-term rating could stabilize at ‘AA+’.”
The problem with Washington is simple. It’s not their money. There is no emotion attached or sense of urgency for a reduction in spending. It’s just a green sheet of paper to them, but a lifeline to us. It’s easy for all the politicians and bureaucrats to compromise and make deals with “other people’s” money.
Then, perhaps, maybe “other people” should be in charge!
NATO investigates deadly Afghan helicopter crash
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Photo by AP: Tom Hall (left) and Mark Janik (center) watch Saturday as news about the Navy SEAL Team 6 helicopter accident.
It’s Sunday, and typically this is our day of rest. But with laundry piling up, the dog dragging in who knows what, and the kids continuing to leave the doors open in 105 degree weather (God bless Texas) rest somehow doesn’t seem to come very easily. However, with a quick look at the news, reality came crashing down again.
By now, most of us have heard about the horrible crash that took the lives of 30 of America’s finest. According to this Reuters report, this is the single largest loss of life incident in ten years of war. It is also a reminder that, as we continue on with our daily lives, sleeping in cozy beds, drinking coca-cola and watching old episodes CSI, there is still a war raging on. Read More→
Thirty U.S. soldiers — some from the Navy’s special forces SEAL Team 6, the unit that killed al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden — seven Afghans and an interpreter died in Friday night’s crash, just two weeks after foreign troops began a security handover to Afghan forces.
The Taliban quickly claimed responsibility for bringing down the helicopter with a rocket-propelled grenade. Although it often exaggerates incidents involving foreign troops, a U.S. official in Washington said the helicopter was believed to have been shot down.
Please remember, it is because of the thousands of these brave men and women, putting their lives on the line in the name of Freedom, that we are afforded the luxuries we have today. Even though they don’t get the luxury of sharing them while we do.
The truth about why some women hate Palin
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Obviously there are many reasons for various women to dislike Sarah Palin. She is a proud Conservative, she is a working mother, she is religious, and she is a Republican. Those are all valid reasons for those with differing views not to like Palin. But one look at the news on any given day, and it is clear to see that her outward appearance is of equal importance to many who hate her. Many women never gave Sarah Palin a chance because, in essence, they think she doesn’t “look the part of a leader.” What exactly does a leader look like? A man?
We’ve all heard the phrase glass ceiling, but I’m here to tell you that it doesn’t exist. The proverbial glass ceiling is nothing but a myth. It is an excuse for the behaviors that women exhibit that set our entire sex up for failure. We, and we alone, are responsible for this notion that a beautiful woman cannot be politically successful and effective. We think that a woman can be beautiful or she can be powerful, but rarely both.
It is not men who insist that a woman cannot be both beautiful and respected at the same time. Certainly men take part in this ideology, but it is only because women Read More→
Take Katie Couric for example. Katie was a beautiful woman, adored by many while she was co-anchor of The Today Show. Mrs. Couric was loved for her quick wit and even her stylish appeal. She was offered the opportunity to anchor CBS’s Evening News, and for some reason, she changed her “look.” Whether it was of her own doing, or on the advice of others, Katie went from looking fresh and vibrant, to a matronly, school marm version of her old self. She changed both her makeup and wardrobe. Eventually, with the drastic change, she cut off her hair. Oddly enough, 
other women commented that this new look appeared “more professional” than the “old Katie.” This is something I will never understand. Was Katie Couric given the spot because of something she might become, or because of who she already was? Why did she not feel comfortable enough in her skin to stay true to herself? The answer is simple. Because it is ingrained into women that they cannot be feminine and be respected simultaneously.
Women are told from the time that we are young that men will never allow us to achieve this or that. The truth is that women, as a sex, are akin to crabs. You can catch one crab, place it in a bucket, and soon it will claw its way out to freedom. But if you catch two crabs and place them in the bucket together, you are golden. Crabs, like women, do not allow one another to advance in life. All of the crabs may wish to escape the bucket, but at the same time, if they see one smart enough to be close to escape, they will reach up and pull the almost successful crab back down. They would rather wallow in sorrow together, than to watch one of their own succeed.
Women have been doing this to each other for years. We use language that masks the true intention, like empowerment. But we are not empowering women by our current actions. Instead of giving other women a boost and being proud of their successes on their way up the ladder, we hover around in an angry mob, ready to grab them by their heels. The only way we can allow women any bit of success is if we strip them of their femininity. Are we naive enough to think that a woman is only a woman if she is cloaked in femininity? Are we so shallow that we only wish the best for and respect women who attempt to masculinize their appearance?
Agree with her or not, Janet Reno was taken seriously as an authority figure because she did not appear feminine. Madeline Albright was accepted because of her appearance. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that these women were ONLY accepted because of their appearances, but we as a gender, gave them the benefit of the doubt because of their appearance. MSN’s Encarta lists the 10 Most Powerful American women. Nancy Pelosi is there as Speaker of the House.
Hillary Clinton, Sandra Day O’Connor, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Anne Sweeney all have something in common besides making Encarta’s list. They share similar tastes in hairstyles.
Hillary Clinton was allowed to champion the feminist cause because she wore pantsuits and had short hair. If a woman feels beautiful with short hair, I applaud her. But I get a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach when a woman styles her hair or her clothing a certain way simply to be accepted in what they perceive as “a man’s world.”
I am guilty of falling prey to this mentality myself. Before Sarah Palin entered the picture, I secretly hoped that Hillary would succeed in her quest simply because I wanted to see another woman achieve something great. I thought to myself…Self…”They” will let this woman achieve greatness because she is not seen as a feminine woman. How ignorant was I? When I saw Sarah Palin come out on the scene, here was a beautiful woman, a mother, and a politician who shared my principals. I should have known that women would be her worst enemy.
Ladies, wake up, WE ARE BEAUTIFUL! And we can be smart and powerful and kind and strong all in the same package. We do not have to trade one for the other. Women are the only ones who have allowed it to be a man’s world for this long. And women are the only ones who can put an end to it, once and for all. The next time you hear a woman speak, it is up to you to embrace her for the feminine creature that she is. She is not competing with you or dragging you down. You are doing that to yourself. A beautiful woman with intelligence and something to say is not a threat, she is the embodiment of YOU. Listen to what she has to say, appreciate her words and take her at them. Do not delude yourself into thinking that the likes of David Letterman, who joked about Sarah Palin’s teenaged daughter getting knocked up by A-rod at a Yankee’s game and claimed that Palin bought makeup to go along with her “slutty flight attendant look,” gets to dictate social policy. A woman is allowed to be feminine without fearing that she will be demeaned or viewed as a sexual object and nothing more. Yes, we have reproductive organs, but we are more than that, although rapper Eminem may have missed that day in class. We, as a gender are allowing the likes of Playboy to list the powerful conservative women they would like to “hate f—.” If we don’t agree with the woman’s views, we’re ok with her being on that list. Instead we should be outraged.
Let’s not lie any longer to ourselves. We do not empower one another by aborting our children, or fighting for the rights of others to do so. Most of us don’t know anything about Planned Parenthood other than what we’ve been told to think. Someone tells us they are empowering women, so we think that they must be. We do not empower one another, or ourselves, by picking apart other women simply for being women. I can’t count the number of times I have heard another woman speak of someone as “a blonde bimbo,” even if that blonde woman was a political commentator who really knew her stuff. Ann Coulter is one who comes to mind who has been branded with this negative image simply based on her looks. Why do we insist on selling ourselves short in that manner?
We can only empower ourselves by opening our eyes and coming out of the shadows. We can’t be afraid to get behind a woman who stands for everything that we stand for, simply because she is also beautiful. It is as if we look at certain women, like Sarah Palin, and say that we wish we could find someone who believed the things that she did, but who didn’t look as pretty. The sad truth is that we don’t even realize we are insulting ourselves and our daughters with this mentality. Soccer moms, strong women, beautiful women, and women who feel comfortable in a skirt and heels are out there. Their ideas and opinions are just as valuable as any man’s, or any woman who wears only pants and has short hair, for that matter. Why do we allow someone like David Letterman to insult another beautiful woman the way he does, simply for being viewed as beautiful?
This photo (at Left) shows a beautiful mother with her beautiful daughter. How is it that we hate ourselves, as a whole, so much that we would allow someone to call her a “slutty flight attendant?” I would like to think that we are more enlightened than that. This issue is larger than Sarah Palin. Self-loathing, as a gender, is a problem that has been plaguing us, young and old, for quite some time. We do not have to be someone else to succeed. We do not have to hide behind the image of a man to make a difference in this world. If you are a woman and you have strong ideas about something, STAND UP, but by all means do not feel that you have to make a run to the hair salon for a chop job just to prove your worth. Women today give the slogan, “Don’t hate me because I’m beautiful” a whole new life. In closing, let’s not forget that Ronald Reagan didn’t “look the part” either. He was “just some actor from Hollywood” but boy did he do a world of good for this great nation. Ladies, let’s not rob ourselves of that same opportunity based on some archaic notion of what a leader should look like.
Note: Repost from my orginal blog in 2009. Amazingly, it is just as true today as it was when I wrote it just over two years ago.
Long Lost Land of the Free
Posted by: | CommentsLet’s all sing…”O’ say does that star spangled banner yet wave, o’er the land of the free and the home of the brave?” Wait a minute, back the truck up! Are we not in the “land of the free?” Certainly this is still the land of the free where any man can come and make his own way in life in the ultimate pursuit of happiness. Isn’t it? Not lately. Let’s look at a few recent asinine examples of how over-regulation is ‘fundamentally transforming America’. Oh, you recognize that phrase do you? Keep reading and think about how different the America of today is from the City on a Hill that our Founders envisioned.
The Blaze is running the story of an 11 year old girl who saved a baby bird from being her cat’s lunch. Yay! What a fine, upstanding young lady this is, right? Wrong. The baby bird happened to be a Woodpecker and 11 year old Skylar Capo’s selfless actions landed her mother a hefty $535 fine under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. From The Blaze’s coverage: ”The Migratory Bird Treaty Act makes it illegal for anyone to take, possess, import, export, transport, sell, purchase, barter, or offer for sale, purchase, or barter, any migratory bird, or the parts, nests, or eggs of such a bird except under the terms of a valid permit issued pursuant to Federal regulations.” The mother faced both the fine and up to a year in jail. Oh the horror of having a child who does the right thing in this day and age. Thank goodness the national media picked up on this story and as they typically do when confronted with sunlight, the lame-brained, over-reaching bureaucrats suddenly found their scruples and back-tracked. The citation never should have been issued. It was a clerical error. Umm hmm. They sent out an under cover agent and a State Trooper to this little girl’s home, further wasting your tax dollars and leaving wildlife and the highway unprotected because someone forgot to enter “common sense” into the computer? Not buying it. I thoroughly enjoyed and commiserate with this sampling of comments to this story from The Blaze: Read More→
“Nowhere in the list of things you cannot do does it say “save.” However, apparently if you save a migratory bird you are what… possessing it? Why didn’t they put the cat down for violating the act?” – Flagwaver
“While I‘m watching this I can’t help but wonder if the woman with the snake on her front windshield wasn’t making an illegal transfer of wildlife….. One never knows anymore….” – Tikesissy
“Just think of the life lesson this little girl has learned at such a young age. You’ll be punished for being kind, don’t tell anyone anything, be secretive and hide what you do, be afraid of law enforcement, don’t trust the government….sounds like the same lessons a lot of us adults are learning. Thank you Obama and all the rest of you gestapo agencies trying to terrorize us.” – Captain Crunch
In another case of your tax dollars going down the garbage disposal like this morning’s soggy Cheerios, rest assured that the poor, defenseless bikers in Coralville, IA will not be put at risk by a 4 year old girl’s greedy attempt at capitalism and free market principles. That’s right, she thought she was going to clean up while helping hydrate the bike riders, but the crazy-law-crusade struck again and promptly shut down the villainous tyke’s pop stand. I’m left to wonder if the Coralville, IA city code enforcers have failed to do their jobs completely. What do you think the odds are that her crayon-adorned “L E M o N – A D E” sign was in violation of the municipality’s signage codes? Maybe she just got away with that one. Nonetheless, the authorities pulled the plug on the preschool child’s lemonade stand. It seems that her parents got lucky and weren’t issued a citation or a fine. Is it me or are they just not very good parents? Shouldn’t they have encouraged their daughter’s entrepreneurial spirit and just bought her the permit and sprung for the full-fledged health inspection? Aye aye aye, I’m only kidding. This is just insanity. In my America adults have enough of a risk-taking streak that we can decide for ourselves if we want to drink lemonade that a little girl mixed, even if she *gasp* didn’t wash her hands first. For goodness sakes she is FOUR years old! We might even buy it and pretend to drink it because we think it’s cute. But by golly let us make our own decisions and get out of our lives.
The city of Oak Park is keeping its residents safe from the offensive view of criminal vegetation. Don’t worry, they’re just looking out for you. To hear some tell it, Julie Bass thought she was going to pull one over on the authorities when she planted a garden in wooden boxes in her front yard. Food, glorious food is what one typically plans to get from a garden of tasty vegetables. But instead, Bass was faced with a misdemeanor. The economy isn’t great these days, but apparently they’re rolling in the dough over in Oak Park because they have enough of the green stuff laying around that they hold no qualms about paying a prosecutor and footing the bill for a full-fledged trial to show Julie Bass and other radical law-breakers like her that they mean business. It is after all HER yard, who does she think she is deciding what she can plant in it? What a crazy free spirit she must be. Does she think she lives in America or something? Oh wait, right, it is, my bad.
Recently in my own neck of the woods, in Bowie County, TX, I faced grand jury charges. Today it was announced that the case against me has been withdrawn, but only after a full-blown waste of taxpayer dollars on a Sheriff’s office investigation when the Sheriff himself was present for the alleged “disruption of a meeting.” Yes, the alleged crime was “disrupting a meeting” even though as County Clerk, I was a part of the meeting. I heard distortions of truth and factual artistry being employed and I called it out. I quietly said, “you’re lying.” I didn’t stand up, didn’t yell or curse. I told the County Judge, “you’re lying” and he was. Then, I sent out a public apology for what I thought might have come across as rude. Three days later, I was told by a reporter that I was facing a $2,000 fine and up to 6 months in jail. Oh, and if I had been found guilty of the Class B misdemeanor and it was deemed “related to official duties” it would have resulted in immediate and automatic removal from my elected office. Nice. Joe Wilson told the President of the United States, “You lie!” and it was water cooler conversation. I, as a small town County Clerk, told someone he was lying when he was and ended up facing the Grand Jury.
In recent times these crazy scenarios have played out time and time again. I’ve heard of mothers watching one another’s children before or after school so they are able to be safe and attended to, only to be told that Big Brother would prefer the children to be on their own than in the care of an adult of the mother’s choosing. After all, those moms were considered “unlicensed child care providers.” No, Mr. Crazy Bureaucrat, they are called moms. It’s what we do. A friend recently came to me for advice on how to handle a complaint from the city about her carport supposedly encroaching on a right away. Man, she sounds like a law-breaker doesn’t she? Not really, she hired a contractor to build the very nice looking carport on HER property and he forgot to get the required permit. And it was built TWO years ago. What is the city asking, you wonder? Oh, nothing big, they just want her to have the 2 year old carport that looks like it’s part of her home to be torn down. That’ll learn her!
Have you forgotten about the terrorizing actions of those rascally Amish unpasturized milk smuggling outlaws? There have been numerous raids of Amish family farms. The thing America has going for her is that we have “the authorities” who are willing to sweep in and confiscate cheese-making equipment “for our own good.” Ahhh, I can see Samuel Adams and Thomas Jefferson smiling with satisfaction at the sight of this beautiful nation bound and gagged with red-tape galore. Some of these horrible offenses listed on this page can be found at the aptly named dumblaws.com. Take this gem for instance. In Arkansas, it is a crime to honk your horn at a sandwich shop after 9 p.m. In South Carolina, it is a crime to sell a musical instrument on a Sunday. In Boulder, CO it is illegal to have a couch on your porch. Now, don’t get me wrong, I think it is a crime against all things classy to have a couch on your porch, but whose porch is it anyway? You give ‘em an inch and they take a mile. First it’s your couch on your porch, tomorrow it’s the garden in your front yard, next year it’s the fact that you make cheese and milk to feed your family and earn a living (we do have starving children in this country, by the way), then they shut down your daughter’s lemonade stand on your lawn, and next they criminalize saving baby animals from sudden death and mutilation.
The more of these stories I come across, the more it is clear to me that this country is like two trains at a railroad crossing…of course in Texas both of those trains would have to come to a full stop and neither could proceed until the other has passed. With that, I’m left to wonder who on earth is writing these laws? Why have we turned a blind eye to the fact that our government is too politically correct, too heavy-handed, too into regulation, but not too far gone? It only changes when we say “Enough is enough. Stop the insanity!”
When are we, as freedom loving Americans, going to stand up and say to our overbearing, far-reaching, red-tape-wielding government, “GET OUT!!!”? Bear with me as I hum to myself and write these words to one of my favorite and extremely applicable songs for you.
If tomorrow all the things were gone I’d work for all my life,
And I had to start again with just my children and my wife,
I’d thank my my luck stars to be livin’ here today,
’cause the flag still stands for freedom and they can’t take that away.And I’m PROUD to be an American where as least I know I’m free.
And I won’t forget the ones who died, who gave that right to me.
And I’d gladly stand up next to you and defend her still today.
‘Cause there ain’t no doubt I love this land God bless the USA.
