November

This November's midterm elections will be crucial in determining the course of both the War on Terror and the fate of many domestic programs. A swing the wrong way will give Democrats command and control of all House committee chairs and hinder Republican efforts to move our nation forward. One can easily say that the GOP is the party of progress, since House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi's stated policy is currently to block all Republican legislative efforts. This approach begs the simple question, "does the Democratic party have its sights set on helping the American people, or winning elections?"

After years without a terrorist attack, the Democrats have caught the public in a "lull", and they have the greatest political weapon of all: hindsight. They can look back at Republican ideas and legislation and pick it to pieces. At the time such actions were taken, they more than likely either went along with it or offered no substantive alternative, but now it is fair game.

Here is why we need a Republican congress:

-Your taxes WILL be raised. Every Democratic leader in Congress has mumbled the talking point, "Sure, we'd love to cut taxes, but right now it's just not responsible." This is Big Government B.S. It is simple economic fact that cutting taxes creates jobs (more income taxes collected), increases personal spending (more sales taxes collected), and INCREASES tax revenue. The tax cuts of the '20s, '60s, '80s, and '00s all created more vastly more revenue for the government than was collected during higher tax periods. The Democrats think that they can spend your money more wisely than you can - and that's that.

-The War on Terror WILL be compromised. Consider last week's "Path to 9/11" miniseries on ABC. The movie told the story of the leadup to the terrorist attacks of 9/11 - and much of it cast a dark shadow on Democratic appeasement of terrorists during the '90s. They were outraged that ABC would claim that Bill Clinton could have prevented 9/11. He was offered bin Laden several times and failed to act, fearing political consequence. That movie outraged the Left because it was TRUE. Furthermore, the Democrats have attempted to block the PATRIOT Act and every major attempt by the administration to monitor terrorists - including electronic surveillance, which the British used to foil last month's terror attempt - one that would have been worse than 9/11.

Politics are cyclical, and the Democrats will control the government at some point in the future. But we must hold off on that recession for as long as possible. There is too much at stake right now.

Republicans - get out and vote. Democrats - demand that your party forge an identity other than the "Party of the Filibuster".

Stay Strong

It is the butterflies. The nervousness. The apprehension, and oftentimes, the fear. Nobody likes uncomfortable or unsettling situations. But every now and then, uncontrollable circumstances test every one of us. It is at these moments, and these moments alone, that true character of a person or society is tested.

Such is the case as we mark the five year anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. Everyone remembers where they were or what they were doing on that infamous day. I specifically remember evacuating downtown Atlanta with businessmen, students, and tourists creating a sea of paranoid people. There were rumors flying around that Atlanta was a potential target (they actually ran that rumor on the crawl on CNN - very irresponsible). One remarkable thing that still sticks out into my mind is that I, along with everyone else, had my eyes on the buildings above me for the entire duration of the exodus. On that beautiful morning, we all expected a 747 to take our skyline and some of our citizens. The fear was tangible, the attitude was hopelessness, and I will never forget that feeling for the rest of my life.

And so it was that for weeks we kept our eyes to the skies. Our national psyche was deeply affected in a negative way, but we drove on. We gave blood. We poured billions into charities. We still went to the malls. Our stock market re-opened days later. We packed baseball and football stadiums. Many joined the armed forces. We refused to let the facists win. But it was not because we were not scared. We all still instinctively glanced at our skyline everytime we heard a plane overhead - expecting the worst.

It is often understood that courage is the absence of fear. That could not be further from the truth. True courage is demonstrated by doing what one knows to be right in spite of understood dangers and inherent fear. It is very well documented that the passengers of United 93 were apprehensive before their heroic revolt, but they did what had to be done, and that is what makes their story so impressive.

Now, we must renew our resolve to carry on with the mission started over Shanksville, Pennsylvania. It is our responsibility to both our future generations and to the oppressed peoples of the world to stand up to the Islamic-Facist movement and send its followers the message clearly expressed by General Pace today: "Not on our watch."

This mission will be long and trying. It will require sacrifices - some large, and some small, but all necessary. Most of us will not have to choose between being burned alive or jumping 100 stories to our death. Nor will most of us have to choose to either allow our airplane to be used as a missile or overrun knife-wielding terrorists and run the bird into the ground. We will have to give up some privacy at an airport. Maybe we will have to wait a little longer to get into a sporting event. We will all have to deal with the anguish and mental fatigue of a long war. We should consider these sacrifices miniscule in comparison to the ones made by our soldiers everyday. And the ones made by so many just five years ago. Above all, we must commit ourselves whole-heartedly to what must be done.

So maybe it isn't the butterflies, nervousness, apprehension or fear that defines a situation. It's how we deal with it. And how we continue to deal with it.


God bless the civilian heroes of that horrific day, our uniformed heroes of today, and above all - the cause of Freedom.

Think About This

Up until now, I thought that the best feature story that I had ever read was one that I wrote a while back. What can I say? I'm good. But Anne Hart takes the honor now, with her story "It Wasn't My Life To Take" in Sunday's Savannah Morning News. Read the whole thing - this couple is ridiculously brave.
http://new.savannahnow.com/node/131517

The Politics of Personal Responsibility

I was reading an interview with Bill Maher that lent some insight into how he developed his politics. Apparently, most of his beliefs stem from a fundamental "fear of religion", and the "devastating" impact that it can have on civil rights. Ridiculous. However, it got me thinking about how I developed my politics.

I am a social and fiscal conservative and free-market capitalist. Nothing irritates me more than the self-perpetuating cycle of entitlement in this country. I absolutely, positively do not look to any religion for guidance on policy. I do not worship at the altar of big corporations, as Democrats would have you believe. I base my politics entirely on personal responsibility.

I want the government to do what is necessary to keep a foreign army from invading. I want it to protect my ACTUAL rights (not the perceived ones championed by the political left) through its legal system. I want it to provide public services such as roads, bridges, etc. And that is all.

The problem with the politics of the left is that it eschews the necessity of personal responsibility. Consider the following issues:

Abortion - The rallying cry of pro-choicers is that women's rights are trampled by abortion regulation - mainly the "women's right to choose". I am 100% for the woman's right to choose. She and her partner choose to engage in the act of procreation (#1), and then they choose to not use protection (#2)! That's two choices! So choose to deal with the consequences.

Hurricane Katrina - This was easily the worst natural disaster on U.S. soil in decades. New Orleans and Louisiana officials, along with refugees, led the charge to attack the Republican FEDERAL administration for "not responding quickly enough". First of all, I specifically remember two days before the storm saying, "If that cat 5 storm hits Louisiana, New Orleans is gone because those levies won't hold." Am I an expert on the subject? No. Did I live there at the time? No. I went to New Orleans one time for 3 days. But it was common knowledge that it would be completely destroyed in a cat 3 storm! This was a cat 5 storm! If you didn't get out of the city - that's your fault. As for the local officials, they knew better than anyone else on the planet what was at stake. They didn't bus the poor or sick out of the city. They didn't offer worthwhile evacuation plans. They didn't evacuate government vehicles (such as school busses) that are costing tax payers millions to replace. They had no plan whatsoever - they were purely reactionary. There is plenty of blame to go around, and almost none of it should go to the federal government.

Social Security/Medicare/Medicaid - I am not opposed to these programs for people who are disabled, and in certain circumstances as an incentive for prospective single mothers. However, these are the entitlement beasts that have consumed our country and have us accustomed to giving 40% of our paychecks to our fatass uncle in striped pants. If you are not disabled, plan for your own retirement! Purchase your own healthcare! I can almost guarantee that you will do a better job at taking care of yourself than our government will.

I could go on and on about almost any modern issue and how the left champions shirking personal responsibility, but you get the point.

I honestly believe that once an individual has to overcome some difficulties by his- or herself, he/she cannot be a Democrat. I cannot pity those who do little or nothing to help themselves in today's society. I physically and mentally cannot do it. It was not that long ago that my dad and his 7 brothers and sisters were in a 13x13 shack in the country refusing government assistance.

Unfortunately, Americans are incredibly lazy, and once you give them a supersize serving of entitlement, it's too late.