So much has happened in the last couple of weeks it is hard to take it all in; from the current defeat of the individual mandate for Obamacare in Virginia, to the Wikileaks vindication of GWB in that there was indeed yellow cake being sought by Iraq and confirmation there were indeed WMD’s in Iraq.   It has been a busy, busy time.  So busy, in fact, that the Democrats are using it to shield their procedural shenanigans and unbridled power grabs, again.

Take, for example, the trillion dollar Omnibus spending bill.  Didn’t the midterms teach Democrats anything?  The party of juvenile deadbeats that just cannot take NO for an answer needs the newly elected adults step in and take them to the woodshed, again.   The reason they got a shellacking in the midterms is because they have always been, are and will always be irresponsible with other people’s money.   The Republicans need to shut them down, now.   The answer had better be NO.

Then there are the land grabs such as detailed by Michelle Malkin, here. [Readable format, here.]  One has to wonder why this Congress thinks it is appropriate to remove land from Pinal County out of the hands of the Border Patrol by designating it as Federal land?   Sure as hell doesn’t make it any safer, as we have seen in similar situations in Arizona.   The signs warning of illegal aliens, drug trafficking and cartel violence, your stimulus dollars at work making the signs I might add, do very little to deter the mayhem and violence.  SOP for this administration, I am afraid.   The Republicans need to say not just NO, but add some profanity to that for emphasis.

Add to that, the insanity of adding the same land in the San Joaquin valley that is dying to a small fish.   The river smelt, a tiny little insignificant fish has been designated as an endangered species and is the reason for high unemployment, low fruit and vegetable growth and an explosions in the price of California produce [or worse yet we are forced by buy Chilean or Mexican produce – can you say r-e-d-i-s-t-r-i-b-u-t-i-o-n ?]  The land that this tiny fish resides in would be the same land Barbara Boxer has added to the Omnibus bill to make it – wait for it:  a  Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta heritage designation.

I do believe that it is in response to this:  Court Sides with Water Agencies and Farmers in Delta Smelt Matter.    The decision can be read, here.    By hook or crook, eh, Babs? 

I say salt the river, kill the fish and get on with LIFE.    Republicans had better smack this one down, as well.

And then we have the “framework” for taxation for the 2010 year.  After railing against the Bush era tax cuts, now Obama and his designated hitter Bubba Clinton have decided we really need to leave them alone; except, they have to bribe the Democrats with all kinds of sweeteners to get them to go along.   Although I like Paul Ryan, a lot, I actually do, I think the Republicans should stand firm on this and make the Democrats make their stand on this with no high fructose additive and let the American people see exactly who each party stands for.   Either you want to stimulate the economy and growth by leaving the tax rates alone and let the market work, or you don’t.  It is pretty black and white.  I never got a job from a poor person and never got a lucrative deal from a union worker.

The rich invest their capital in people, places and things, the middle class buy and invest and the poor work for those who make it from the bottom to the top.  There should be no envy, only respect and inspiration.  There should be no class warfare as seems to be the policy of choice by the Democrats.

 So really, it all boils down to who promotes the better character within us.  Who promotes the better angels of our nature, and who promotes the spoiled rotten side that allows Veruca Salt within to run amok and call it policy?   I don’t hate the rich, I want to be like them.  I want them to employ people, I want them to invest in new companies.  I don’t want them to hoard their capital. 

It is in that vein I think the Republicans ought to let the current tax rate expire and when people get a good look, a real good look at what they are facing in April, they will better understand that the current tax rate is not a break, the rich [and everyone else] won’t be getting more money, they will get to KEEP more of their own.  The Republicans can then ask for what they want with no deals and make it retroactive.   The only way to get what you want from those who have bought into the Democratic lies of taxation is to let them experience it a little.   Experience is a good teacher.  

In a perfect world I would also ask for a simple, fair tax [10 bullet points, easy to read, one sheet of paper] and abolish the estate tax, the inheritance tax and death tax altogether.  The three exist solely to pick the pockets of an already over taxed people.

One more thing about this lame duck session that really irks me and has gotten no airplay except in conservative talk and blogs:   Do we really need a babysitter for food?  FLOTUS thinks so, and it really makes my head explode that she and her petulant POTUS are so condescending as to put into words “We Can’t Just Leave It Up to the Parents.”  This encompasses their entire domestic political agenda.  9 words, it is all you need to know about the Babysitters-in-Chief.  Parents cannot be trusted to decide what their kids eat.  This from parents who have personal chefs?   Following this line of thinking, what the hell else can parents not be trusted to do and what liberties and roles will they try to relieve us of, next?   

Republicans had better come to DC with a spine and the word NO on their lips.  The adults need to take over in January.  This is what happens when children have autonomy.

I received my copy of Imprimis today. To steal a line from President Obama during the recent Medal of Honor ceremony, of Mike Pence and his speech on the Presidency, “I really like this guy.”   The same day I received the publication I saw Mike on Fox News and I have to tell you, if he is running for office of the President in 2012, he is my man.

In Pence I can see the humility of man, the reverence of God, the love of country and the unbridled patriotism we have missed since the era of Reagan.  The speech he wrote on the role of the President can be found here, but a few parts that moved me are below:

Isn’t it amazing, given the great and momentous nature of the office, that those who seek it seldom pause to consider what they are seeking? Rather, unconstrained by principle or reflection, there is a mad rush toward something that, once its powers are seized, the new president can wield as an instrument with which to transform the nation and the people according to his highest aspirations.

But, other than in a crisis of the house divided, the presidency is neither fit nor intended to be such an instrument. When it is made that, the country sustains a wound, and cries out justly and indignantly. And what the nation says is the theme of this address. What it says—informed by its long history, impelled by the laws of nature and nature’s God—is that we as a people are not to be ruled and not to be commanded. It says that the president should never forget this; that he has not risen above us, but is merely one of us, chosen by ballot, dismissed after his term, tasked not to transform and work his will upon us, but to bear the weight of decision and to carry out faithfully the design laid down in the Constitution in accordance with the Declaration of Independence.

Indeed this midterm election cycle did just that, however, it appears the current President cannot return to the center and is enabled by a Congress that refuses to acknowledge what the events that unfolded Nov 2 were all about. 

All too well Pence has zeroed in on the character flaws of the current president with words like this:

The president is not our teacher, our tutor, our guide or ruler. He does not command us; we command him. We serve neither him nor his vision. It is not his job or his prerogative to redefine custom, law, and beliefs; to appropriate industries; to seize the country, as it were, by the shoulders or by the throat so as to impose by force of theatrical charisma his justice upon 300 million others. It is neither his job nor his prerogative to shift the power of decision away from them, and to him and the acolytes of his choosing.

And he is absolutely correct.  We have seen this played out in the last two years since Obama’s election.  Examples are too numerous to cite, many here at Redstate.  We do feel that as a nation we have been roughed up and tossed about by a blustering bully who condescends to our stratosphere from time to time.

And then he nails it.  Pence further goes on to state that the president must realize and come to terms with the specific powers accorded to him and the limitations placed on those powers both by man and by God.   Obama has no such realization because he does not feel any limitations, and if there be any, they are not placed by man, nor are they placed by God, but by an intellectually inferior class of people to rule.  Inept, unintelligent populace, that is the stumbling block for Obama.

From there Pence goes on to further indict the Commander in Chief in his behavior abroad with these words:

You do not bow to kings. Outside our shores, the President of the United States of America bows to no man. When in foreign lands, you do not criticize your own country. You do not argue the case against the United States, but the case for it. You do not apologize to the enemies of the United States. Should you be confused, a country, people, or region that harbors, shelters, supports, encourages, or cheers attacks upon our country or the slaughter of our friends and families are enemies of the United States. And, to repeat, you do not apologize to them.

The whole piece is terrific.  In writing it Pence tell the reader about himself and if he makes a run for the White House in 2012, he will be my Reagan.

 Voting record            Stats      Bio          Position Papers

healthinsurance@hhs.gov

http://www.hhs.gov/ociio/regulations/patient/ociio_2010-1_20100903_508.pdf

http://www.hhs.gov/ociio/regulations/11-05-2010annual_limits_waiver_bulletin.pdf

 Send your request in for waivers, today.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dear Secretary Sebelius:

It has come to my attention that you have issued 111  1-year waivers to companies to opt out of Obamacare.   In addition, you have exempted Native Americans, Amish and Muslims for religious reasons so they are not forced to participate, nor are they penalized for not doing so.

With that information in mind, I want to request a waiver for myself and my family want verifiable proof that we can opt out of Obamacare for a number of reasons.   We are Native Americans, tracing one leg of our family history all the way back to Pocahontas in 1523.   I can submit the Ancestry.com documentation if you like.  We are also Native Americans on the other side of the family, tracing our ancestry to Annanias Maddewell in Newton County Arkansas.  Although Annanias did not have a Dawes roll number, she was adopted by the Madewell family and you can find her documented history on Ancestry.com, as well.   She was full blood Cherokee.  

If that is not enough information to opt out, we have a Yoder in the family and family from Pakistan….so we should have the trifecta to opt out.

Looking further into the matter of waivers, I also believe that you have given many, many unions a waiver to opt out….I thought those with “Cadillac” plans were supposed to be punished for having them, not rewarded for supporting you politically?   You didn’t think anyone would notice?????

United Food and Commercial Workers Allied Trade Health and Welfare Trust Fund

– International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Union No. 915

– Asbestos Workers Local 53 Welfare Fund

– Employees Security Fund

– Plumbers and Pipefitters Local 123 Welfare Fund

– United Food and Commercial Workers Local 227

– United Food and Commercial Workers Local 455 (Maximus)

– United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1262

– Musicians Health Fund Local 802

– Hospitality Benefit Fund Local 17

– Transport Workers Union

– United Federation of Teachers Welfare Fund

– International Union of Painters and Allied Trades (AFL-CIO)

– Plus two organizations that appear to be chapters of the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA)

- Service Employees Benefit Fund (exempt until 2018)

- Local 25 SEIU Welfare Fund in Chicago (exempt until 2018)

- McDonald’s, Darden Resteraunts [Olive Garden, Red Lobster] and Jack in the Box

- Carlson Restaurants and Regis

- Manor Care Inc., a nursing-home company owned by Washington-based private equity firm Carlyle Group, and

- Universal Forest Products Inc., a lumber company based in Grand Rapids, Michigan

- Dish Network 

These are only a few of  the recipients, and you had better believe that if Captain Elliot’s Party Boats gets a waiver, I want one, as well.

I don’t ask much.  I had to go outside of work to insure my family and am paying for a crappy plan out of pocket.  My insurance at work skyrocketed from $450 a month to $1200 a month to cover my family, and being the choosy mother I am, I opted to feed my family rather than get insurance through work.   I had to look for insurance outside of employer based coverage, thanks to Obamacare.  It seems my insurance problems begin and end in the same geographic location.

Insomuch that you have elected to let SEIU have waivers until 2018, I want either exemption or waivers until that time as well.

I will be waiting by the mailbox awaiting your reply.  Please make sure I have it in plenty of time to properly fill out my taxes.

Thank you.

One of the best things to come out of Canada, next to alcohol of any kind and Rush, was a band called Triumph fronted by Rik Emmett. Now, dating myself, I was a pup in high school and L O V E D, not liked, lOOOved Triumph. Flipping through some stuff I found some pictures from that time period and then wondered what was on You Tube….were they really as good as I thought? They were and the reason is not just the music, but the lyrics. My friends, Fight the Good Fight, every minute, every day, fight the good fight every moment, make it worth the price we pay. Enjoy.  Here is the album version with lyrics.  Niiice.

The days grow shorter and the nights are getting long
Feels like we’re running out of time
Every day it seems much harder tellin’ right from wrong
You got to read between the lines
Don’t get discouraged, don’t be afraid, we can
Make it through another day
Make it worth the price we pay
The Good Book says it’s better to give than to receive
I do my best to do my part
Nothin’ in my pockets I got nothin’ up my sleeve
I keep my magic in my heart
Keep up your spirit, keep up your faith, baby
I am counting on you
You know what you’ve got to do
CHORUS:
Fight the good fight every moment
Every minute every day
Fight the good fight every moment
It’s your only way
All your life you’ve been waiting for your chance
Where you’ll fit into the plan
But you’re the master of your own destiny
So give and take the best that you can
You think a little more money will buy your soul some rest
You’d better think of something else instead
You’re so afraid of being honest with yourself
You’d better take a look inside your head
Nothing is easy, nothing good is free
But I can tell you where to start
Take a look inside your heart
There’s an answer in your heart

# 6.  The Debt Commission and Kent Conrad.   Conrad gets it, the Debt Commission still has some work to do.

Raising taxes is not the answer guys, cutting spending is.   In some respects the Debt Commission gets it, but not far enough and not in the right areas.   Here are some suggestions.   Cut welfare, WIC, SChip.  That is what charity is for.  For those “foundations” meant to help the poor, give to the charities, quit sitting on their boards and making millions and calling it philanthropy.   Cut federal spending on programs not necessary to the education of our children if you cannot bring yourselves to do away with the Dept of Education and give the power back to the states.  Let the schools fund their own music programs and sports.  Ever read “12 Mighty Orphans?”   Leave the Bush tax cuts and then overhaul the tax code.  1 page, 10 bullet points, 3 x 5 card.  That is all we need.  Tax everyone, but do it fairly.

Let the military decided what defense cuts to cut.   No one wants to take money away from defense of our nation, but people in the thick of things can surely identity waste, fraud and abuse.  Let them do it.  Eliminate the EPA, eliminate the Dept of Energy, eliminate the Dept of Education [I wish] and eliminate the IRS.   No one in public service nor politicians serving the people needs a raise.  When Social Security recipients don’t get a COLA raise, when private sector workers are denied a COLA, the LAST people who should be getting them are those who get paid out of our back pockets.   In fact, if the comparable private sector job worker makes less, then the public sector salary for that same job should be knocked down an equitable level.  That would make it less attractive for Shirley Sherrods to make a living off the backs of the people making a lot of money for very little service.   I wonder if that is what Obama meant by public jobs being a “higher calling” than corporate jobs.  Probably so.   

#5.  Jesse Jackson, huckster extraordinaire is spinning the repeal of Obamacare like this:

“Well, a kind of creeping genocide.  What is hypocritical is that those who vote against the health care bill themselves have comprehensive health care for their families.  You’re talking about more working poor people.  Most poor people are not on welfare, they’re not derelicts; they work.  Half of the veterans were homeless — men homeless are veterans.  A million and a half children who — who are homeless, and they often go to school without adequate health care.  So this really is a — a mass march for the kind of humane — human destruction, of the likes of which we’ve never known.  We deserve better” 

#4.    Did anyone notice that Obama opted out of laying the wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier?  He planned his trip to coincide with this action, or lack of action.  It is my humble opinion he has better things to do.  I have blogged about this before, he has no respect for this country or it’s military, it is beneath him to do such mundane things.   He always leaves it to number 2 [which is a double entendre]  to do the job.  It will be the same next year, mark your calendars.

#3.   If a hoax perpetrated on the American people fails, do we hear the sound of failure?  If a climate exchange quits selling carbon credits, do we notice?   October 21 the CCX, the Climate Change Exchange that buys and sells, trades carbon credits, will quit doing so.   Every one say altogether say “Aaaahhhhhh.”   His Surliness Al Gore must be really upset, as will all other faux companies that depended on the Waxman-Markey debacle know as cap and trade to survive.  The CCX will still exist as does the Kyoto Protocols, but I have high hopes the Republicans can bash those dreams, as well. 

#2. Lt.  Colonel Allen West.   Will the real gifted orator please speak up?    Some victory speech lines that give me a tingle up my leg: 

I know who the enemy is out there, and I am not afraid of confronting that enemy.

And I am not afraid to make sure that this enemy knows that the United States of America believes [in] peace through strength. Peace through might.

We will no longer have a policy of compromise, negotiation, and appeasement with the enemy.

http://www.thehopeforamerica.com/play.php?id=5755

and the number one spot this week is the Chickafication of sports.  The last bastion of testosterone and maleness has been co-opted by ‘feelings’.  Want a latte or chai tea to go with that tissue?

1.  The quarterback change in Miami, the  Dolphins have decided they’re going to sit Chad Henne out as the starting quarterback and put in there Chad Pennington.  Tony Sparano, the coach,  [not to be confused with Tony Soprano] walks into the quarterbacks meeting to announce the change, and the two quarterbacks start crying!  The whole ugly thing:    “Shortly after coach Tony Sparano walked into the room to inform the group a change was needed, Henne and his mentor-turned-replacement Chad Pennington had a heart-to-heart that turned into a sob session.”   What a bunch of cry babies!.  From the pink-out of gear for breast cancer awareness to the ‘Crying Game’ we see here, the feminization of sports has got to stop or we’ll be having therapy sessions after each loss and grief counselors on the sidelines.  Someone get those guys some Pamperin, stat.  I’m just saying … 

I listened to some of the President’s speech yesterday to the Indian Parliament.  It was a love fest, to say the least.  He outlined in great detail the exceptionalism of India and it’s place in the world, calling it the largest democracy; on the other hand the US, the greatest democracy known to man was termed simply the “oldest.”   At a town hall meeting in Mumbai Obama said “the US was such an enormously dominant economic power, we were such a large market, our industry, our technology, our manufacturing was so significant that we always met the rest of the world economically on our terms. And now because of the incredible rise of India and China and Brazil and other countries, the US remains the largest economy and the largest market, but there is real competition.”  So, in other words, we are no longer a power to contend with.   What more did you expect from a president overseeing the decline of the US?

From the outsourcing of jobs to using a financial crises to create the economic catastrophe we now have in the US, this president and his 2nd and 3rd {Pelosi and Reid} have blatantly sought to give the US what they think it deserves and to purposefully manage expanding the poor class by milking the middle class and outright theft of money from the rich, simply because they have it.  It is Robin Hood on steroids.  They have used race baiting, class warfare, political warfare, strong arm thuggery and threatening their own.  Really, did you expect more?

From a President that spent 20 years in a “G-D America” church, American has seen disdain and contempt.   It has been disrespected in traditions, such as a president laying a wreath a the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.   It has been slandered in deeds by a president that calls the country “arrogant and dismissive.”   Obama has stated before that America is less like a shining beacon, in a speech to France of all places.  What more could you expect from Obama?

Spending his entire first year in office apologizing for the misdeeds and flaws of the US, bowing to dictators and snuggling up to thugs, Obama has played his hand; and it isn’t pretty.  To him there is no exceptionalism in America, there is nothing to be proud of.   We are hit over the head again and again with the history of slavery and racism.  Indeed, even in India the US cannot escape being slammed down with with history as the speech detailed how Gandhi inspired Martin Luther King, Jr. and how he used his inspiration to save America.  As an American, I am tired of being beat over the head with that singular historical fact in our history.    But, really, would you expect anything more from a “beer summit” president?

From allowing the UN to look at Arizona for human rights violations, slamming Vegas and people who spend their money there [Nevadans have a short memory, don't they?], failing to protect the people of Arizona, Texas and other border states from the drug trafficking and violence in Mexico, this president wants very little to do with his own country, a country in decline, a decline that HE has helped to propell by runaway spending, bad fiscal policies, non-existent foreign policies and appeasement, slip-shod handling of the Ben Bernanke and the fed.   Instead of telling the Fed that an infusion of billions of dollars right now would be the impetus for inflation we have not seen since the 70′s, he gave them the green light and defended it measure.  Because the first stimulus worked so well, Mr. President?   As the theme from “Welcome Back, Kotter” plays in the background, I have to asky why would one expect more from this thin-skinned, arrogant, politically inexperience, citizen loathing president.  I have to wonder why it is that this president would willingly bump Jimmy Carter to SECOND worst president in US history, on purpose?  Why would one expect any glimmer of statement of the exceptionalism, or beacon on the hill speech with a president whose sole job, it seems, is to usher in a post American decade?

Just some observations on the day after the GOP took the House and a good portion of the Senate.

1.  It is fantastic that all the GOP Representatives, Senators Elect and the multitude of newbies were all on message last Tuesday.  It is great that they all seem to understand it is time to work, not party. 

2.  MSNBC is full of goons, led by Chris Matthews who has repeatedly shown himself to be an on-air-ass.  The donk is a loser and showed everyone just so by his crass remarks to Michelle Bachmann an Eric Cantor.   The New York Times is their apologist.  Don’t expect an apology from the troll.

3.  Mitch McConnell has really become a great voice for the mandate the American people want:  repeal the POS known as Obamacare.  Way to go Mitch.  Don’t back down. 

4.  The President didn’t seem to get it.  He wants the GOP to get along and go along, but I do not think there is room for him, his ego and conservative principles on the Hill.   The President looked beat down.  Good.  But that doesn’t stop him from going on a $200 million a day jaunt to India.  I think it is safe to say, he does not get it. 

5.  San Fran Nan didn’t get it either.  The Baghdad Bob of the Beltway thinks only a couple of Obamacare things need to be changed.    Can you say “deluded?”

6.  Stephanopoulos yesterday pressed and pressed Rand Paul yesterday to commit him to taking care of the Bush tax cuts.  Where were all the hard questions and pressing for an answer for the last two years?   Been a hypocrite much, George?

7.  CNN and MSNBC lost the ratings war during the election coverage and FOX gave more face time to liberals.  Class act all the way.

8.  Women, do you all understand the NOW is an acronym for National Organization of Some Women, Or Liberal Women only?  Do you not yet understand they do not represent you if you are conservative?   Crickets chirp when Meg Whitman is called a whore,  they say nothing of the brutal attacks on Palin, Bachmann, O’Donnell.   National Organization of What is Wrong with America is more like it.

9.  Angle and O’Donnell would have won but for the sniping and fighting of the party.   Ordinary people should run.  Ordinary people have baggage.  Ordinary people can win elections if they were supported by their party and not discounted as “non electable.”  The gals were both on message.  The NRSC got it panties in a wad because they were TEA party backed and not established party politicians.   Four words, GOP:  Get used to it.  Get behind it or get run over.

10.  What common ground could the president be referring to?  This election was a mandate on failed policies on all fronts.  It was a “refudiation” of his czars and their micromanaging our lives.  It was a refusal to accept the socialization  of America, so what exactly is this mythical common ground we support with the Marxist?

From Drudgereport:

November 1, 2010, I bring you words of encouragement for these ARE days that try men’s souls.

Take heart my friends, stay the course, and see this race through to the end.

I give you  Aragorn’s speech at the Black Gates of Mordor:

Hold your ground – hold your ground!  . . . my brothers! I see in your eyes the same fear that would take the heart of me. The day may come when the courage of Men fails; when we forsake our friends and break all bonds of fellowship; but it is not this day – an hour of wolves and shattered shields, when the Age of Man comes crashing down – but it is not this day!!! This day we fight! By all that you hold dear on this good earth – I bid you stand!

Or King Theoden at the Fields of Pellenor:

Arise, arise, Riders of Théoden!
Fell deeds awake: fire and slaughter!
spear shall be shaken, shield be splintered,
a sword-day, a red day, ere the sun rises!
Ride now, ride now! Ride to Gondor!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And these:

When you come to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on.  ~Franklin D. RooseveltFall seven times, stand up eight.  ~Japanese Proverb

When you get into a tight place and everything goes against you, till it seems as though you could not hang on a minute longer, never give up then, for that is just the place and time that the tide will turn.  ~Harriet Beecher Stowe

The world is round and the place which may seem like the end may also be only the beginning.  ~Ivy Baker Priest

What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.  ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Most of us, swimming against the tides of trouble the world knows nothing about, need only a bit of praise or encouragement – and we will make the goal.  ~Jerome Fleishman

It is not the mountain we conquer but ourselves.  ~Edmund Hillary

If one dream should fall and break into a thousand pieces, never be afraid to pick one of those pieces up and begin again.  ~Flavia Weedn, Flavia and the Dream Maker, © Flavia.com

Pain is inevitable.  Suffering is optional.  ~M. Kathleen Casey

If you’re going through hell, keep going.  ~Winston Churchill

A bend in the road is not the end of the road… unless you fail to make the turn.  ~Author Unknown

The robbed that smiles, steals something from the thief.  ~William Shakespeare, Othello

I know God will not give me anything I can’t handle.  I just wish that He didn’t trust me so much.  ~Mother Teresa

We acquire the strength we have overcome.  ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Some luck lies in not getting what you thought you wanted but getting what you have, which once you have got it you may be smart enough to see is what you would have wanted had you known.  ~Garrison Keillor

I ask not for a lighter burden, but for broader shoulders.  ~Jewish Proverb

We must embrace pain and burn it as fuel for our journey.  ~Kenji Miyazawa

Adversity is like a strong wind.  It tears away from us all but the things that cannot be torn, so that we see ourselves as we really are.  ~Arthur Golden, Memoirs of a Geisha

When the Japanese mend broken objects, they aggrandize the damage by filling the cracks with gold.  They believe that when something’s suffered damage and has a history it becomes more beautiful.  ~Barbara Bloom

I have sometimes been wildly, despairingly, acutely miserable, but through it all I still know quite certainly that just to be alive is a grand thing.  ~Agatha Christie

When it is dark enough, you can see the stars.  ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

He who has a why to live can bear almost any how.  ~Friedrich Nietzsche

When written in Chinese the word “crisis” is composed of two characters – one represents danger and the other represents opportunity.  ~John F. Kennedy, address, 12 April 1959

It’s not easy taking my problems one at a time when they refuse to get in line.  ~Ashleigh Brilliant

That some good can be derived from every event is a better proposition than that everything happens for the best, which it assuredly does not.  ~James K. Feibleman

The soul would have no rainbow had the eyes no tears.  ~John Vance Cheney

Defeat may serve as well as victory to shake the soul and let the glory out.  ~Edwin Markham

Adversity is the first path to truth.  ~Lord Byron

The difficulties of life are intended to make us better, not bitter.  ~Author Unknown

Fortune knocks but once, but misfortune has much more patience.  ~Author Unknown

Adversity has the effect of eliciting talents which, in prosperous circumstances, would have lain dormant.  ~Horace (Quintus Horatius Flaccus), Satires

There is in every true woman’s heart a spark of heavenly fire, which lies dormant in the broad daylight of prosperity; but which kindles up, and beams and blazes in the dark hour of adversity.  ~Washington Irving, The Sketch Book, 1820

The turning point in the process of growing up is when you discover the core of strength within you that survives all hurt.  ~Max Lerner, The Unfinished Country, 1950

God uses suffering as a whetstone, to make men sharp with.  ~Henry Ward Beecher

Perhaps everything terrible is in its deepest being something helpless that wants help from us.  ~Rainer Maria Rilke

Problems are only opportunities with thorns on them.  ~Hugh Miller, Snow on the Wind

God gave burdens, also shoulders.  ~Yiddish Proverb

Man performs and engenders so much more than he can or should have to bear.  That’s how he finds that he can bear anything.  ~William Faulkner

We shall draw from the heart of suffering itself the means of inspiration and survival.  ~Winston Churchill

The art of living lies less in eliminating our troubles than in growing with them.  ~Bernard M. Baruch

It is foolish to tear one’s hair in grief, as though sorrow would be made less by baldness.  ~Cicero

I have woven a parachute out of everything broken.  ~William Stafford

I have heard there are troubles of more than one kind.
Some come from ahead and some come from behind.
But I’ve bought a big bat.  I’m all ready you see.
Now my troubles are going to have troubles with me!
~Dr. Seuss

Mishaps are like knives, that either serve us or cut us, as we grasp them by the blade or the handle.  ~James Russell Lowell, “Cambridge Thirty Years Ago,” Literary Essays

Rock bottom is good solid ground, and a dead end street is just a place to turn around.  ~Buddy Buie and J.R. Cobb, “Rock Bottom”

If the wind will not serve, take to the oars.  ~Latin Proverb

Count the garden by the flowers, never by the leaves that fall.  Count your life with smiles and not the tears that roll.  ~Author Unknown

But ne’er the rose without the thorn.  ~Robert Herrick

God brings men into deep waters, not to drown them, but to cleanse them.  ~John Aughey

Never give in… never, never, never, never, in nothing great or small, large or petty, never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense.  Never yield to force… never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.  ~Winston Churchill

You must be at the end of your rope.  I felt a tug.  ~Author Unknown

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And of course, there’s George Patton.  Every other word is a * simply because, it was Patton.

Men, this stuff that some sources sling around about America wanting out of this war, not wanting to fight, is a crock of bullsh**. Americans love to fight, traditionally. All real Americans love the sting and clash of battle. You are here today for three reasons. First, because you are here to defend your homes and your loved ones. Second, you are here for your own self respect, because you would not want to be anywhere else. Third, you are here because you are real men and all real men like to fight. When you, here, everyone of you, were kids, you all admired the champion marble player, the fastest runner, the toughest boxer, the big league ball players, and the All-American football players. Americans love a winner. Americans will not tolerate a loser. Americans despise cowards. Americans play to win all of the time. I wouldn’t give a hoot in hell for a man who lost and laughed. That’s why Americans have never lost nor will ever lose a war; for the very idea of losing is hateful to an American.”

*snip*

The real hero is the man who fights even though he is scared. Some men get over their fright in a minute under fire. For some, it takes an hour. For some, it takes days. But a real man will never let his fear of death overpower his honor, his sense of duty to his country, and his innate manhood. Battle is the most magnificent competition in which a human being can indulge. It brings out all that is best and it removes all that is base. Americans pride themselves on being He Men and they ARE He Men. Remember that the enemy is just as frightened as you are, and probably more so. They are not supermen.”

“All through your Army careers, you men have bitched about what you call “chicken shit drilling”. That, like everything else in this Army, has a definite purpose. That purpose is alertness. Alertness must be bred into every soldier. I don’t give a fuck for a man who’s not always on his toes. You men are veterans or you wouldn’t be here. You are ready for what’s to come. A man must be alert at all times if he expects to stay alive. If you’re not alert, sometime, a German son-of-an-a**hole-bit** is going to sneak up behind you and beat you to death with a sockful of sh**!”

*snip*

“My men don’t surrender”, Patton continued, “I don’t want to hear of any soldier under my command being captured unless he has been hit. Even if you are hit, you can still fight back. That’s not just bull sh** either. The kind of man that I want in my command is just like the lieutenant in Libya, who, with a Luger against his chest, jerked off his helmet, swept the gun aside with one hand, and busted the hell out of the Kraut with his helmet. Then he jumped on the gun and went out and killed another German before they knew what the hell was coming off. And, all of that time, this man had a bullet through a lung. There was a real man!”

*snip*

“We want to get the hell over there”, Patton continued, “The quicker we clean up this Goddamned mess, the quicker we can take a little jaunt against the ** Japs and clean out their nest, too. Before the GD Marines get all of the credit.”

*snip*

“Sure, we want to go home. We want this war over with. The quickest way to get it over with is to go get the basta**s who started it. The quicker they are whipped, the quicker we can go home. The shortest way home is through Berlin and Tokyo. And when we get to Berlin”, he yelled, “I am personally going to shoot that paper hanging son-of-a-bit** Hitler. Just like I’d shoot a snake!”

*snip*

“I don’t want to get any messages saying, “I am holding my position.” We are not holding a Goddamned thing. Let the Germans do that. We are advancing constantly and we are not interested in holding onto anything, except the enemy’s balls. We are going to twist his ba**s and kick the living shi** out of him all of the time. Our basic plan of operation is to advance and to keep on advancing regardless of whether we have to go over, under, or through the enemy. We are going to go through him like cr*p through a goose; like sh** through a tin horn!”

“From time to time there will be some complaints that we are pushing our people too hard. I don’t give a good GD about such complaints. I believe in the old and sound rule that an ounce of sweat will save a gallon of blood. The harder WE push, the more Germans we will kill. The more Germans we kill, the fewer of our men will be killed. Pushing means fewer casualties. I want you all to remember that.”

 ”There is one great thing that you men will all be able to say after this war is over and you are home once again. You may be thankful that twenty years from now when you are sitting by the fireplace with your grandson on your knee and he asks you what you did in the great World War II, you WON’T have to cough, shift him to the other knee and say, “Well, your Granddaddy shoveled sh** in Louisiana.” No, Sir, you can look him straight in the eye and say, “Son, your Granddaddy rode with the Great Third Army and a Son-of-a-GD-Bit** named Georgie Patton!”

When asked about the speech, Patton replied:

“When I want my men to remember something important, to really make it stick, I give it to them double dirty. It may not sound nice to some bunch of little old ladies at an afternoon tea party, but it helps my soldiers to remember. You can’t run an army without profanity; and it has to be eloquent profanity. An army without profanity couldn’t fight it’s way out of a pi**-soaked paper bag.” …

“As for the types of comments I make”, he continued with a wry smile, “Sometimes I just, By God, get carried away with my own eloquence.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ht:  Canadian Free Press

This article is worthy of reading in it’s entirety.  Pay attention to the lists of 50 impeachable offenses in the article

Each of these offenses listed in the article underscores the willingness of Obama to turn a blind eye to and commit crimes.  it underscores the 75% disapproval-rated Congress willingness to aid and abet crimes and corruption.   It further illustrates the depths of depravity and corruption in politics in general, in the Democratic Party in particular.   That we have to tolerate this is crazy, and sad. 

Currently, the most pressing ones are ones we are watching play out, again, like an instant replay from 2008.

From the original list of 25 Offenses:

Widespread voter fraud including voter intimidation, ballot stuffing, falsified documents, and threats of violence against Hillary Clinton supporters committed by the Obama campaign and ACORN during the 2008 Democrat primary election. For more information see my CFP article How Obama Used an Army of Thugs to Steal the 2008 Democratic Party Nomination. This is corroborated, here.

Department of Justice illegal race based policies regarding voter fraud as exposed by former Justice attorney J. Christian Adams. This includes the dropping of voter intimidation charges against 2 Black Panthers brandishing weapons in front of a voting location in Philadelphia and the stated intention by political appointees to ignore voter crimes committed by African Americans, Latinos and other minorities.

Department of Justice purposefully allowing some states to continue their disenfranchisement of military personnel serving overseas in direct opposition to the 2009 Military and Overseas Voter Empowerment (MOVE) Act, which was established in response to the more than 17,000 military votes that were not counted in the 2008 election because ballots had arrived after the deadline.

Millions in illegal contributions accepted by the Obama campaign during his presidential run. Credit card filters designed to screen out foreign money and domestic donors who had maxed out their legally allowable limits, as required by US law, were intentionally switched off.

I do hope that the GOP, when they take over will have the spine to do the hard work and stop Obama.  Not coddle, not play patty cakes, not compromise, not kowtow.   Stop.  Stop the march toward socialism, stop the fiscal nightmare of spending and stop selling out the US.  It is my hope that the GOP will have the equipment necessary to stop the Obamacare train; not modify – REPEAL it in it’s entirety and slash the entitlement programs.  

I also hope that the GOP will crush the Democrats left in Congress who will try to push the Obama agenda through in a lame duck session with gems like Cap and Trade. {proud to say Texas has yet to comply with the EPA directives to ramp this up}, or the Rangel wish list of H. R. 5741 that will be used to fulfill Obamas 2008 campaign speech in Colorado Springs where Obama  said he wanted to create a “Civilian National Security Force” as big and well-funded as the $650 billion-plus U.S. military. 

To require all persons in the United States between the ages of 18 and 42 to perform national service, either as a member of the uniformed services or in civilian service in furtherance of the national defense and homeland security, to authorize the induction of persons in the uniformed services during wartime to meet end-strength requirements of the uniformed services, and for other purposes.

Something tells me the “other purposes” would be to more impeachable offenses.

If the GOP gets the keys to the car, we expect big things and adherence to conservative principles out of them.  There is no room for wishy-washy feel good moderate move to the center behavior.  You will be there at our leisure.   Use those keys wisely.