Random Thoughts for November, 2012
The choice people will make Tuesday is between growing the economy and jobs with Romney or growing the debt and the government with Obama. We know how those who hope to live off government will vote. The decision will be fateful for our Republic.
If Obama is reelected Tuesday, I will lose all hope of saving the Republic. But I will doubtless fight on without hope, because it’s what Marines do—and I could be wrong. I think Romney offers only the hope of slowing the process of deterioration.
When the 3 am call came from Benghazi
With a fair media and honest voting, Romney would win by 10 points Tuesday. But we don’t have either.
But since the media has declared Obama the winner, there’s no need for liberals to bother voting.
But since it’s a secret ballot, smart liberals may vote for Romney in hopes of getting or saving a job, then act shocked around their friends.
Democrats have been demanding more specifics about Romney’s program. Like Obama gave us in 2008 with “Hope,” “Change” and “Yes, we can.” Highly detailed plans.
Watch the weather in swing states on Tuesday. In Massachusetts
President Romney, if elected, should establish a fast track program to welcome wealthy Frenchmen to the US
Obama is promising to do a lot if only he gets elected President.
It would be a lot easier to convince folks to be more tolerant of Muslims, if they didn’t learn from the news daily that tens of millions of Muslims—not all, but a whole lot—are completely intolerant towards “infidels,” that intolerance is preached in far too many mosques and by far too many “mainstream” Muslim religious-political leaders, and that these Muslims expect us to completely change to accommodate every detail of their religion. They are also completely intolerant of fellow Muslims, often to the point of violence, who hold views of Islam that differ to any degree.
If Romney is elected, you should put in a buy order for stocks. I think, freed from the threat of oppressive regulations and taxes, the market will soar in his first year. Whether it can sustain the gains in the face of our debt and the world situation is another matter.
It’s not that I hate people who have spent our grandchildren into bankruptcy. It’s not that I hate Jihadists who want to impose a seventh-century theocratic, oppressive system on us. It’s not that I hate illegal colonizers who want to impose a failed culture on ours. It’s that I love America
The Democrats have become the party of the un-churched, unmarried and unproductive.
People expressed shock and outrage over that old Obama race-baiting video, as though a Democrat politician, especially a black Democrat, isn’t always willing to whip up a sense of victimization among blacks to gin up votes and get power. At the expense of black advancement, which they care about not at all.
Turns out Obama’s 12-year-old daughter and her friends had far more taxpayer-funded security on her Spring Break in Mexico than our Ambassador did in terrorist-hotbed Benghazi
Obama may have stood down when it came time to save the lives of four Americans in Benghazi, but you have to admit he stood up for Sandra Fluke’s right to have someone else pay for her birth control.
I was sure McCain would lose after Lehman Brothers collapsed in September of 2008, but I went on contributing the dollars I could and doing what I could, because I always want to tell myself that I, at least, did all that was possible. I’m glad I did, looking at the last four years. In one of his books, the great Robert A. Heinlein has a character say something like, “If you’re going down, go down fighting. Your status in hell is determined by the number of side boys you send ahead to announce your coming.” That may not be an exact quote—it’s been a few years since I read it.
I don’t believe in celebrating the touchdown before you cross the goal line. Those guys who start doing their victory dance five yards short of the end zone are spitting in Murphy’s eye.
If things get worse in the Middle East , Obama can fly over and show them his Nobel Peace Prize.
Trying Obama “just once” turns out to have been as smart as trying heroin “just once.”
Jefferson and Jackson are revered as the great men of the Democrat party, which holds “Jefferson-Jackson” day dinners every year. But if they were alive today, with the current principles and policies of the Democrats, Jefferson wouldn’t show up. Jackson
I think Obama’s hamartia is that he was always passed to the head of the class because he was, in Biden’s words, a “clean, articulate” black guy, despite no testing or real accomplishments and a world view not based in reality. We are all suffering for that, not least the black population.
Prior to WWI, a German newspaper reported the Kaiser’s Sunday Church Europe and the world were changed forever, not in good ways, as the war gave rise to National Socialist Germany and International Socialist Russia, leading to tens of millions more dead. Hubris among leaders and a sycophantic press are a murderous combination. Our time is coming.
I know that it often would be efficient to postpone a task to group it with similar tasks. But my “get it done now” attitude has served me pretty well.
Vote Obama: Be cool, unemployed and poor!
Democrats say we need race-based affirmative action every place except sports, which must be merit-based.
We need a nationwide voter ID law, a nationwide effort to make voter IDs very easy to get for legal voters—and severe penalties for voter fraud.
You spend 16 trillion, and what do you get? Four more years and deeper in debt….
There are few forces more powerful than self-discipline.
The Statute of liberty is now open for visitors to go into the head again. It made me reflect that France gave us the statute and Lafayette France
I don’t believe the taxpayers should be required to pay for entertainment. Not for the arts, not for sports stadiums, not for public TV and radio.
If Obama and Biden lose, they can do a SitCom: The Commie and the Clown.
People who believe in “taking one day at a time” are often surprised when the next day, which they didn’t prepare for, smacks them in the snot locker.
I understand the concerns about early voting, when all the arguments having been heard. But I suspect that most folks who vote early couldn’t be changed at gun point. I’m more concerned about fraud and the efforts to suppress the military vote, both of which benefit Obama.
It amazes me how many people make bad life choices, then demand that someone else fix the mess.
I live in Cook County , IL where working, honest taxpayers are the natural prey of the coddled, corrupt Chicago
If you are unsure that what you are about to do is right, it’s probably not. If you wouldn’t want your family to know about it, it’s not.
My friend Chuck says that the one thing that America
If someone sells or gives heroin or other hard drugs to your child, I don’t understand why it’s not legal to shoot that dealer.
Do you get the idea that the folks like OWS decrying the one percent and the rich elite desperately want to join that elite, but are not willing to make the necessary sacrifices to succeed?
Anyone who thinks that slavery was unique to the American South in the 175 years before 1865 is ignorant of history. Dr. Thomas Sowell points out that in the years when 500,000 black Africans were sold by fellow blacks to be brought to North America, a million white Europeans were kidnapped into slavery in North Africa by Muslims. Probably even more blacks were sold by blacks to Muslim slave traders, but the slave population didn’t survive to breed and be a minority in the Arab lands, except those pretty enough to be bred in harems. Slavery existed in every culture, and people of all races and ethnic groups were enslaved. Only western civilization—despised by all progressives—turned against it. It still exists in Muslim lands and is endorsed by the Holy Qur’an. Mohammad, who is considered by Muslims to be the perfect example of conduct for all men, kept slaves and allowed forced sex with slave girls, thus making it halal for Muslims today.
In this spot should be the brilliant thought I wrote down at night, but couldn’t read—or understand what I meant—in the morning. Happens too often.
Good Philosophy: Our friend Leslie Blain, from Balquhidder , Scotland
Leslie says that the joke in Scotland is if you want to help Greece , vacation in Germany
A lot of people wonder aloud how I can get so much done, and be so productive. They often wonder that during the commercial breaks while they are watching TV….
I’ve been on LinkedIn for years, but I have only used it to link to people who ask to link. I’m on Facebook to promote my books, but folks kept posting stuff on my page I have no time to read, that pushed the book info down, so I gave up on it too, except to respond to “friend” requests to be polite. If you want to communicate with me, send an e-mail. I mostly ignore Facebook posts. No time.
If a liberal has to avoid using “Like Hitler,” Racism,” Islamophobia” or “War on Women” for 24 hours, he strokes out.
I think a "luxury" SUV or one that looks cute and curvy like a sports car defeats the purpose. An SUV should be square—like most Jeeps, the Dodge Nitro, the Hummer H3, the older Isuzu Troopers, the old Toyota FJ-40 Land Cruiser (I owned three). They should look like you could mount Ma Deuce on it and do some serious business.
Never leave your keys in your overcoat. I had a friend and colleague who came out of a bar one evening--he was a lobbyist, drinking was his job--picked up his trench coat, and, since it wasn't raining, tossed it in the back seat. A week later, he discovered his coat--which he hadn't worn that night--hanging in his closet. It was exactly like the one in his car--except for the set of car and house keys in the pocket of that one. He quietly dropped it back in the bar...
Amazing things happen. After what I can only assume was a vigorous, nationwide search interviewing hundreds of candidates for the post of Director of the Illinois Sports Facilities Association, Gov. Pat Quinn (D-Obamaville) discovered that the best qualified candidate was a pal and supporter who worked in his office, right under his nose. What are the odds?
I'm Clueless. I just found out that AFT stood for American Federation of Teachers. I thought it was "Always Fooling Taxpayer." (Okay, "Fooling" wasn't what I thought, but this is a family blog.)
I think that anyone who deliberately steps outside the law forfeits any claim to protection by the law while there. It should be perfectly legal to shoot someone committing a robbery, even if the thief is unarmed. It would stop a lot of the deterioration of our society.
I know that it's considered wrong to hate anyone, plus bad for your health. I'm trying, but there's a long list. Is it okay if I just loath and despise them? Of course, there's another long list I just hold in contempt, but many of them are trying to move up in class.
There's a woman of 37 that I'm thrown into frequent contact with through circumstances I cannot change. We pretty much despise each other, though I maintain the civilities—mostly—for the sake of others who I care for who are involved. And she maintains them, I assume, hoping for another shot at putting her hand in my wallet. We are complete opposites. I've worked since I was 16, full time except during college and one six-month period of unemployment. She'd never held a 40-hour-a-week job, for any length of time. She's a thief, I'm not, though I've been her victim many times over the years. She has been involved with drugs—hard drugs—off and on since she was a teen. I've never even tried marijuana, and monitor my drinking carefully. She smokes, I never smoked cigarettes. (So I get the lung disease--go figure.) We've both been to college three times, but I got three degrees—she doesn't have an AA. And she never carried a full credit load. If she told me to have a nice day, I'd call the weather bureau to be sure. She once told me that I was book smart, but she was street smart, which was better. Apparently that allows you to live off book smart people without actually earning a living yourself. Several years ago, I was chiding her on the lack of any focus on a career. She said, "Bob! I'm only 26. What were you doing at 26?" "At 26, I was a Marine veteran of Vietnam
I don't know anyone who isn't in favor of "justice." Unfortunately, we all tend to mean different things by it. Some folks think that because Bill Gates and Warren Buffet are far better at making money than I am, that's unjust, and the government should force them to share it with me. I think it's just that they get to keep as much of what they earned as possible. It's nice that they give to charity, but I don't think they should be forced to do so, or that I should qualify, as a middleclass person. Hell, I don't even think it would be "justice" to force John Kerry to share the money he married into with me.
Here’s the message of every political ad by either side: “I’m different from the rest of those bums you hate.”
We have become so polarized that liberals and conservatives can hardly stand to listen to or read things written by people on the other side. Best we do is read about what they said in the “unbiased” media, or from pundits who share our worldview. Yes, I include myself, alas.
Some people’s “leadership” style is based on arrogance, bullying and intimidation. If anyone they view as being below them in the hierarchy crosses them in the smallest way, they browbeat them into submission. Sometimes this is based on their insecurity, sometimes on their personality. They tend to die of a thousand cuts, as the people they browbeat have ways to slip a knife into them. The casual remark to others, the message not passed on, the strict obedience to orders even when they are wrong—all contribute to undermining the leader—who brought it on himself. Or herself—some women do this too.
Nothing is as successful at killing employee initiative and productivity as micromanagement.
We all know that the best advertised product or service is often not the cheapest or the best, but people buy them anyway, because it works.
I actually think Sandra Fluke is fairly cute. You’d think a lot of guys would be willing to pay for her birth control to sleep with her. She must date losers.
Private, I need you to run down to supply and pick me up four or five more hours for my day today. Don’t argue, just do it!
If Obama is reelected, I suggest you arm yourself. The Chicago-style Thugocracy will become permanent.
I’m perfectly okay with negative political ads, if the content of the ads is true and relevant to the campaign. Sadly, it rarely is, on either side.
We are always surprised when someone in who we placed our trust turns out to be untrustworthy, or someone we helped shows an attitude instead of gratitude. Alas, the human condition.
I told my wife, Bonnie, the three best decisions I had made in my life were joining the Marines, running for the Massachusetts
My watch died, so I bought a new USMC watch on eBay for $13. I don’t need a Rolex to make me happy. I just want to know what time it is.
When I get up for a head call at night, I try not to disturb the cats on the bed, though they don’t seem to mind if I do. This probably proves I’ve grown soft in the head.
Sometimes I wonder if it wasn’t for cooked books, if there would be any financial books in government at all.
It may be a flaw to see everything in black and white, but it’s perhaps also a flaw to see only gray and be paralyzed from making value judgments. Some journalists feel you should be neutral between the small girl and the virus that is trying to kill her.
NIEDs—coming soon to a city in America
Of course using ALL CAPS will make me pay more attention to your hard-to-read e-mail rant. Why wouldn’t it?
The world is, as always, filled with barbarians. If you are unwilling to make the sacrifices necessary to fight and defeat them, then you will live in a barbaric society.
The only thing “renewable” from taxpayer support of many “green energy” companies were renewable contributions to Democrats.
I think every soldier and Marine should be issued a rifle in Boot Camp, take it with him from duty station to duty station--and keep it when he leaves the service. Sure, there would be some problems--but a lot less crime in our society.
Most people are self-made. And a lot of folks did a really crappy job with the material God gave them.
Though I use Gmail now, I still check my old Comcast e-mail address, as some people can’t figure out how to change t. You have to love Comcast’s “Email Preview” page. But couldn’t they add to our frustration by adding several other useless steps you have to click through to get your e-mail?
You must Pay to Play—It’s The Chicago Way.
So many people pronounce “grisly” as though it had a “z” in it that dictionaries are starting to give that as the pronunciation. A few years ago, they gave up on “fort,” the correct way to say “forte” when you mean strength, and started allowing the musical term “for-tay” to be correct. Very irritating, but so many people were doing it. I guess if language was the only thing deteriorating in our society, I guess I could live with it.
I’m fed up. The next young thug who crosses me is going to get his fists beat bloody with my face.
A friend recently told me they had to put his mother in a place where she could be cared for. “Well,” I said, “I hope it’s a no-kill shelter.”
Some people ration politeness like there is a limited supply.
Liberals tend to think that conservatives “love things and use people.” We tend to think they use people to serve the state and make them feel good about their intentions regardless of outcome. But the truth is that there are sociopaths who are liberal and conservative and of all genders, races, ages and ethnic heritages. And many are highly-functional, charming folks who stay out of trouble with the law, but think that everyone operates on the premise that other folks are to be used for your benefit.
We recently had a visit from our friend, Leslie Blain, of Balquhidder , Scotland
Progressives would rather let poor people die than risk being called racists.
“Best Laid Plans” seldom are.
Is anything so often wrong as “the conventional wisdom”?
New scam: Had a robo call from "Rachel" at Premier Health," telling me my "application for health insurance had been accepted," detailing the coverage and giving me a call back number. Right.
Remember that friends and colleagues can become competitors. Share sensitive information only on a need to know basis, not a need to talk about it basis.
Looking back on my single years, I made a few very bad decisions about women to date, that could have created a lot of grief for me. In no other area is our judgment so suspect as in affairs of the heart. If that’s the organ I’m thinking of here….
Politics has become so vicious that anyone with actual accomplishments who runs for office can expect to have them cherry-picked for things to exaggerate and smear him with. Which is why Obama was probably elected with little vetting in 2008—not much there to look at.
Given the negative ads of both sides that take items and magnify them to smear the other candidate, it is little wonder that many people decide not to vote at all.
People who are nasty to others feel put upon that others are often nasty back.
What the hell will liberals do if they have a white, male candidate in the future and can’t accuse conservatives of opposing his policies because of racism or sexism?
You have to say this about the extensive black violence in Chicago
So now being against voter fraud and being for equal punishment for the same offenses is racist. What the hell next?
All Progressives believe that "Islam is a Religion of Peace.” I just wish the same percentage of Muslims believed it.
We should apply the "pre-existing condition" rule to not only health insurance, but to home and life insurance. So if your house was on fire, or you had terminal cancer, you could immediately buy coverage at the same rate as everyone else. Why make only health insurance unaffordable?
I've been boring you about my diet since I went on it on March 31, with a goal of dropping from 225.2 pounds to 170 pounds, my weight as a senator. On Sunday, October 28, I finally hit 168.7, having lost 25% of my body weight. The last four pounds took about ten times longer than the first four. Now comes the hard work of holding it there.
If an apple a day keeps the doctor away, since I started my diet I've held a whole medical center at bay.
I was raised in an America where high school football games were played Saturday afternoon and the whole town went, where the after-school schedule for kids was "Do your homework and be back before dark for dinner," where freight trains had cabooses, where if I had showed up in church without a coat and tie my grandmother would have marched me out by the ear, and where kids "friended" each other in person. Maybe I'm just old, but in a lot of ways, I feel sorry for today's kids.
What people say is 1%. What they do is 99%.
People keep endorsing me on Facebook and LinkedIn and sharing with me on Google and other apps I’ve never heard of. No idea what about. Have zero time to get into these platforms and still work, do this blog, sleep, etc.
I’m pretty tired of the “throw under the bus” cliché.
Class is not status, or wealth or education or breeding. Class is where you stand when things get tough.
No matter what political side you are on, on any given day you can find stuff on the Net to cheer or depress yourself.
You must ignore liberals trying to shut down speech by calling anything they disagree with racist.
I assume that 99% of “Trail Mix” is not eaten on trails.
*****
For a free PDF of the book, e-mail him at tartanmarine(at)gmail.com.
Posts
I wonder how different you might have made things if you had continued in office.
ReplyDelete