It is OBAMA

By now, we all know our next President will be Barack Obama - the First African American President of the United States.

The problem I have is with the racist that blog the derogatory words about him. It still shows that this nation has a ways to go, but it is on the right track. For those of you that cannot get past race, I feel sorrow for you. It is evident that you are the same people that get boners over Sarah Palin and the ignorants she brings to the election process.

There are those that did not vote for Barack Obama based upon the issues and not the color of his skin. I fully understand how certain issues would prevent you from voting from him. There is nothing wrong with having problems with his political ideology, I can relate to this in my opinions of those on the Republican side, but to disagree based upon skin color is assinine.

I have to say the majority of racist were in the Democratic Party. The nineteen percent of Hillary Clinton supporters who voted against Obama speaks volumes about themselves. How could you vote against your own ideology and principles? There is only one answer - race was the issue.

Well, the election is over and I say to the people that have a problem with Barack Obama to build a bridge and get over it.

Is McCain toast?

Is Sen. McCain toast or will he pull a bun out of the oven that smells like a sweet roll?

I am not sure what direction this election will go. I have seen the polls, but the polls have been so inaccurate over the last few elections it is hard to determine if Obama's lead is that huge. I suppose that old adage "that we must wait and see" is still in play.

How many of you think the polls are correct, and how many of you think the polls are inaccurate?

Red States / Blue States - The real welfare recipients

As we have the debate on wealth distribution, let us go no further that which states are donor states versus the states that are the taker states.

It is a well known fact that seven nine percent of the donor states are blue states, while sixty nine percent of the taker states are red states. If states were people, that means the red states are welfare recipients.

The reason this happens is simple. The red states have two reasons, actually, that contribute to this situation.

1. The majority of red states are governed by conservative Republicans that think less taxes are
the answer to their states problems, until they need money to fund pet projects. When this
occurs, they run to the federal government for the answer.

2. You will not find many higher paying jobs in the red states. This is contributed to the idea that
unions and higher paying jobs are a burden to businesses that do maintain a presence in the
area. And many in the red states are still farmers or are attached to agriculture, where it is
more family based.

I can respect the farmers for not wanting their taxes to be increased based upon not knowing the crops pricing on any given year. But the over all culture of not believing in higher paying jobs is an interesting one.

As I have question some people in red states over the last five years, I have found a common theme - we are not entitled to higher paying jobs. This is an interesting concept that I have not found as common in the blue states.

I have been trying to figure out where this idea of asking a business owner to pay the employee more may come from. But as I started to get more input from people from red states, I found that many believe the concept borders on the ideology of Marxism or communism. People perceive by asking an employee for increased wages is a pseudo-unionized position which goes back to Marxism.

And now how does this effect the nation as a whole? By believing in less taxes, lower wages which presents a lower tax base, and recognizing the need for pet projects, but are unwilling to get the funds from within their own state, the red states have become the welfare states of America.

The question is what to do about it? The answer is simple. The Federal government should only give back what a state puts into the Federal coffers, however, if that state can show it is needed for a federally man-dated project, the project should be funded.

It is more complicated than I am providing in this article. If I were to detail it more in depth, I would lose many of you because of page length.

I have a link that might show the disparity in tax donor blue states and tax taker red states. It is an eye opener as well.

http://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2004/09/red_states_feed.html

I realize that this is from the year, 2004, but the study is done every four years.

Less Than A Week Before This Crap Is Over....

I am so happy that this election is near the end. I have had it up to the proverbial (here) with this presidential election.

Whether Obama or McCain wins it, the next President is going to have a hell of a time with the economy, foreign policy, and establishing America's credibility throughout the globe on both issues.

Good Luck to both on that one.

VPs - Any ones guess

With the conventions coming up for both parties, who are the V.P. choices going to be for each respective party?

With the Republicans, it looks like Mitt Romney; however, it appears many evangelicals are not sold on the former governor. They dislike the fact he is a Mormon, and they do not trust him on issues of abortion, gay marriage, and of course, religion.

So is Jidal out of Louisiana a viable candidate? If I needed an exorcise, he would be my first choice. And perhaps, that is what this nation needs at this time in history. It is that or an enema.

With the Democrats, it appears to be one of three - Tim Kaine, Evan Byah, or Joseph Biden. I can see an outside chance of it being someone else, but who would that someone be?

If you have an opinion on who you would choose if you were running for president, please place give it.

Consumer prices are up 5% -- Inflation or Stagnation?

With consumer prices up five percent, which is a seventeen year high, are we headed for inflation or stagnation? The prices are being driven up by food and energy cost, as well as health care.

As the credit crunch has come about because the of the housing debacle, where does this put the economy? With so much negativity, do we have the proverbial silver lining?

How bad is the economy?

As we listen to politicians, we hear a variety of answers on the subject of the economy. This is expected because this is the nature of politics, but what do you make out of it when economist are at odds with the economy debate?

My question to you - How bad is the economy, if it is bad at all?

The Rattler has been closed as a memorial.

It will become like the burial plot that no one tends. It will grow over with grass, and it will not even be remembered --people will cease to go to it.

I am not sure this is the way Jesus Claus would have wanted it, but then again, I do not speak for him or those that do. They made the decision to close the blog, so it stands.

It sounds more like kicking a person to the curb instead of a memorial. And for the person that will take the reins to create a new blog for people to go to, I am sure it has nothing to do with power and control.

The New Yorker Cover - Osama Obama?

To someone like myself, I understand parody, but to those that watch Faux News, they still believe Obama has Islamic roots that might translate into him giving a sympathetic look toward radicals within the fundamentalist circle.

But then again, I did state the Faux News viewers that need Crayola Crayons to express themselves without going outside their preconceived box of notions and ideas.

And that is at the gist of this cover, those that do not understand parodies. And from what I can see on this blog, we have a few.

I received this from a paper blog site - Rockford Register Star

Should we get rid of the Pledge of the Allegiance? It has been changed multiple times to fit the agenda of many -- especially the religious establishment within this country. And as we have politicians citing "The Pledge" and wearing flag lapel pins, we watch them erode our constitution.

All hail the hypocrites -- the career politicians that move their mouths. - Q Jordon

Below is the piece I am posting from another site.

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Independence Day — a perfect time for some independent thinking. On this all-American day of apple pie, parades, and fireworks, what better time to question why we pledge “allegiance” to a flag.

We say the Pledge of Allegiance a lot, mechanically mouthing the words without truly understanding them or their history. Are we deluding ourselves into believing this somehow renders us more patriotic?

At the risk of sounding like Cliff from Cheers, here are some little-known facts, Normie.

Conservatives are up in arms about presidential candidates wearing flag pins. I’ll bet precious few of them, however, are aware the Pledge of Allegiance was written by a left winger, a socialist even, and that corporate profits were the sole motivating factor behind it.

Francis Bellamy penned the Pledge in 1892. Bellamy was a Baptist minister, a Christian socialist, and an extreme nationalist whose sermons (“Jesus the Socialist,” for one) eventually got him booted from the church.

He then landed a job with Youth’s Companion, a magazine that also happened to be in the business of selling American flags. The magazine’s owners decided they needed to boost flag sales. They came up with a marketing gimmick.

They engineered a deal with the National Education Association to celebrate the 400^th anniversary of Christopher Columbus landing in the New World. By agreement, all the schools in the country were to have flag ceremonies, and naturally they would all need to have flags. To cement the deal, they had Bellamy write the following pledge that youngsters all over the country would be required to say:

I pledge allegiance to my Flag and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

“One nation indivisible” was a phrase Bellamy used to drive home the fact that states had no inherent right of secession. The Civil War was still fresh on the minds of Americans, and the Northerners wanted to be sure the Southerners understood the new rules.

Socialist that he was, Francis had wanted to include “equality for all” in his Pledge, but he knew the states’ superintendents of education — who generally did not support equality for women or for African-Americans—would object. That could hurt flag sales (the Pledge was, after all, just an advertising ploy meant to peddle more flags), and so he dropped the idea.

The last change to the Pledge came in 1954. In response to the “Red Scare” of the McCarthy era, the words “under God” were added, supposedly to show that we rejected the godless precepts of Communism. Otherwise patriotic atheists and agnostics were not consulted.

Sadly, the Pledge of Allegiance was but an ad campaign created to bolster a corporation’s bottom line. Perhaps worse, it was worded to be politically expedient rather than politically correct.

We’re about the only nation to “pledge allegiance” to a flag, and we do it without even understanding why we do so. Perhaps it’s time to consider retiring this anachronistic practice, or at least finding a meaningful replacement.

Paul M. Howey is an author and photographer, and lives in the mountains
of Western North Carolina with his wife, four dogs, and five parrots.
He may be reached at pmhowey@gmail.com.
Distributed by AMSyndications Service.

Tony Snow - dies at 53

Tony Snow has succumb to the cancer that forced him to quit his press secretary duties under the Bush Administration. Mr. Snow was fifty three.

Though when it came down to political ideology, Mr. Snow and I would be at different ends of the spectrum, I always found him to be one of the better conservative news journalist. His humor, wit, and intellect kept him well above the rest.

Mr. Snow, you will be missed by this Democrat. My heart and condolences go out to your family and friends. Rest well, Mr. Snow.

With advisors like this, who needs enemies?

Phil Gramm has tripped on his proverbial pecker while commenting on those that are worried about the economy. He called this "a nation of whiners" whose economic complaints are mostly "mental".

Remember Phil Gramm was a Senator that was a Democratic Senator from Texas before he slid over to being a Republican. He had slipped many ill-advised resolution in bills prior to his retirement from the Senate. And in many cases, he created the debacles you see as of late. Check this website for clarity - http://www.motherjones.com/news/feature/2008/07/foreclosure-phil.html

This is a man that has done nothing but suck off the government's teat since he was born. And yet, he cries about less government in people's lives. Without the government, this man would have been on the unemployment line years ago.

Donations to Hillary from the Obama supporters...

If anyone has been paying attention, you will realize that the grand total that the Obama supporters have given to Hillary Clinton's debt of ten million dollars is ------------------

under $100,000 dollars.

It appears many are not willing to give money to Hillary. Is it because they dislike her to begin with, or is it because she created the debt by staying in longer than she needed to?

Many feel she could have saved herself from the debt if she would have bowed out earlier than she did.

What is your opinion?

State may be coming up short on unemployment benefits!

It was recently announced that thirty three states are dangerously close to running out on unemployment benefits for those that are on unemployment. And now, the federal government is about to extend the length of time a person can be on unemployment benefits.

What is going to happen to the people on unemployment? What will they do when they run out?
And what direction are we headed?

Obama on Iraq

Does anyone know what the hell Sen. Obama's position on Iraq is truly? Was he for withdraw before he was against it? Or was he against it before he was for it before he was against it?

In the last two weeks, he has proved he is the candidate of change, and he has done that on many of his issues in this time frame.

Bozo the Clown

Bozo the Clown has died. It is official, the Bozo the Clown has died. There will be no more Bozo Buttons, golden stars, or chocolate chip cookies for any of us, anymore.

Larry Harmon wasn't the original Bozo the Clown, but he was the real one. Harmon, who portrayed the wing-haired clown for more than half a century, died Thursday of congestive heart failure, said his publicist, Jerry Digney. He was 83.

My heart goes out to all of Bozo's family members and friends. When it comes down to it, we are all his friends. I, like many others, grew up with Bozo the Clown. I watched him every day just to see what him and Cookie were going to do.

I miss him already.

Jesse Helms the ultimate Conservative

Although I am the first to say I was not a fan of the Ultra-Conservative Senator from North Carolina; however, I admired him for his commitment to the cause in which he believed.

By its very nature, politics can create divisions among us. And in the Senate, Sen. Helms was very good at creating those divisions in both parties.

As my father said, "If you piss people off on all sides of an issue, you must have done something right."

My heart goes out to Mr. Helm's family and friends. May he rest, peacefully, and be allowed to reap all the awards in his heaven that he has sown.

Obama the Chameleon

For some of us that supported Obama since the beginning, we have had to refine our position on that support. It has been quite obvious that Obama is changing before our eyes, and if we wanted to have him change this much, we would have voted for Hillary.

Obama appears to be changing the very spots that he had promised to run his campaign upon, and now here we are stuck with a -- Chameleon.

Is there anyone else that feels the same way?