Thursday, November 27, 2008
Should the Media be in Iraq?
written 15 May 2007
Should the media be in Iraq?
by Crystal Laramore
That is a question I am often asked. Again, how the hell should I know? Like many people, I have my opinion. Who doesn’t?
My answer is always no. Nor should civilians. We are in a war. The military has a job to do. Without question they are hindered by civilians, media or no.
Yeah, I know “Checks and balances”, again I say “This is war”.
My thought is that the media is typically liberal and not in favor of war, but rather peace. But aren’t we all? Isn’t this what the war is really about? Peace? Peace in our country and around the world. Say what you will about the Bush administration but we haven’t had a single terrorist attack since September 11, 2001.
How do Americans, liberal or conservative or independent or libertarian forget that? Maybe we have selective memory when it comes to politics.
But, do we need to see blow by blow details? Do we, as civilians, need to keep up on the war on a daily basis? Maybe, just maybe, if the media was reporting the truth in whole. But they’re not. They are not telling the whole story. They are not telling you that most of the terrorists are not Iraqi’s. Maybe a few thugs, but we’ve had our own thugs act as terrorists.
Civilians in a war zone has got to be a sign of the liberal times we live in. Even though I had “training”, should something have gone terribly wrong, I wouldn’t be writing this article right now. The military has several years of training, for the most part. I had some classroom seminars. They did give me atropine, a bullet-proof vest, a chemical suit (that made my butt look big), a gas mask, a Kevlar helmet and a lot of warm wishes, but no real training.
A mortar hit very close to me one evening as I was chatting with some friends on my way home from the Ambassador’s house. At first is sounded like a bottle rocket on steroids going off, then it hit. There was no mistake we were not celebrating the fourth of July. We all ran to the nearest bunker and stood, shaking and out of breath, for several minutes. Then, as curiously stupid as we were, we came out to “see”. A man was coming out of the hooch (military term for house that was coined in Vietnam-I believe) that was hit and the firemen told us to “Stay back. It didn’t detonate. If it would have exploded, you’d all be dead”. I threw up. Then, I called my daddy. Then I forgot about it. I had to.
And, even though I say civilians should not be in a war zone I am quick to admit that I had an experience of a lifetime. I shook hands with Colin Powell, John McCain, Hillary Clinton, Senator Frist and most senators and congressmen from around the U.S. I flew in a Blackhawk helicopter on many occasion; with the doors open a few times. I had lunch with Three Star Generals, Navy Admirals, Army Colonels, Navy Seals and military men from around the globe. The United State Marines sang “Happy Birthday” to me, from their tanks, as I made my way home from my birthday party at the U.S. Embassy.
Seriously, these are memories I’ll be telling your grandchildren!
When the Green Zone Café was hit by a suicide bomber I was but blocks away and had eaten there two days before. At the same time the market was hit and several people I knew who served as PSD’s (Personal Security Detail) for the Deputy Ambassador were killed.
Better experiences included being in the Al Rasheed hotel when the leaders of Iraq were announced. The leaders were interviewed one by one by press from all over the world and I was within two feet of them. All the while, the building was being hit by mortars and it was chaos outside. Amazing experience, but I should not have been there.
And again, if the media told the truth and showed pictures like the Iraqi people holding up United States of America flags, and signs that said “Go Bush” during the election, maybe I’d have a different opinion.
Maybe the media should be in hotels and at set points. But, never with the troops. These young men, scared and a lot of them are 18 years old and just joined up a few months ago. Their job is intense, stressful, dangerous and sometimes deadly. Do they need the added stress of a camera in their face? At their back? In their midst? You tell me.
Monday, November 24, 2008
The War on Terror
4 June 2007
Random Thoughts on Paper
Many of you reading this commentary have traveled outside the United States of America, as have I. Let me take you back to the moment of departure…you were probably excited to be on your way; anticipating the adventure in store; looking forward to the relaxation or the job at hand.
Now, let me take you back to the moment you were standing in line to be received back into the United States of America. Remember waiting in line to get your passport stamped? Remember the federal agent saying, “Welcome back to the United States”? Essentially saying “Welcome home”!
We’re home! We’ve always said “There’s no place like home”. Most of us mean the house in which we reside. But for anyone traveling abroad, home is the United States of America first and foremost.
Now, think of our military. They are not on vacation. They are not on a short term business trip lapping in the luxuries of hotel living and maid service.
They are on a mission; a purpose-driven mission. They are carrying around about 50 pounds of battle gear in 110 degree heat (at least) living in tents (if that), driving in un-air-conditioned vehicles where the heat is about 10 degrees hotter. They don’t have goose down pillows or scented bath gels or shaving cream with aloe.
What they do have is a purpose-driven mission to complete. They have hope of coming home. They have hope of making that home just as safe for their children as it has been for them and for us for decades.
When you think of home you think of people who love, respect, admire and accept you.
But what do our military men and women think of home, their home, first and foremost, the United States of America.
How would you feel if you were told the media had to travel with you and then that very entity sent you to prison for doing your job to the best of your ability? How would you feel if your home had bad news to report about the way you’re doing you job 24/7? How would you feel if they were telling the world and the very people you are fighting of your plans; your failures; reporting how many people are against your mission; how you are fighting a lost cause; and so on…
Our military is able at different times during their mission to watch television.
They can see we are a country divided.
Terrorists (Let me be clear here: NOT our military but the people killing our military and anyone fighting for democracy in Iraq, either by car bombs, suicide bombs, mortars, be-headings or other more inhumane ways) watch our news. They can see we are a country divided.
Does anyone understand the fundamental, basic concept here? Unless we are united as one, we will fall. The terrorists are united. Our military is united. Why are we not united? We were certainly united on September 12th, 2001.
Unless we get that sense of “United we stand, divided we fall” back into the fabric of our lives we are going to have another attack. We cannot be liberal on this issue. You defeat the terrorists with whatever means necessary. You don’t play nice and negotiate.
Here is a sickening story for you, maybe it will shake you to your very soul, and I sure hope it does. I hope after reading this that you get an understanding of what evil is and know this; we are dealing with evil over there.
While in Iraq I met a truck driver and for the purpose of this story we’ll call him Richard. Richard loved doing his job. He delivered goods to the military, KBR and Dept. of State. He ran (drove) what is known as the Sunni Triangle. I commented on how dangerous a route that was and he told me of lots of “near misses”, but he was committed and would stay until the war was over or he died serving his country and the country of Iraq. Then one day about a year or so later I saw him in the line of folks who were demobilizing, or going home. I was headed out on R&R and feeling pretty good, then I saw him and knew something had to wrong for him to be leaving so soon after our intense conversation. I pulled him out of line and asked him what was going on. Here’s his story in his (and my) words:
Crystal, you know I was committed to the cause. My truck’s been hit by RPG’s (rocket propelled grenades), I’ve dodged ambushes in the desert, my friends have been killed, but something happened last week that I just can’t shake. I’ve seen evil up close and personal and I recognized it and I never want to see it again. While we were making a run last week I happened to be the lead driver (which is a tremendous responsibility. If you are the lead you DO NOT slow down for anything. It’s foot on the gas through the vast desert and no matter what happens you keep going. If you stop and there is an ambush your entire convoy is at risk-risk of death, be-headings etc.). Ahead of me I saw what appeared to be an ambush getting ready to take place so I grabbed the steering wheel tight, focused and kept my foot on the gas. All of a sudden a man intent on stopping the mission threw a young girl in front of my truck…
Richard kept going and I’m sure you can guess the rest. THIS is what (and I say what not who for a reason) we are dealing with. This is what a terrorist does.
What’s his name, Sadr, has been in Iran for 3 months and now is back in Iraq. Just wait. The war on terror is just getting started. If we do not band together as a nation, as we did on September 12th, we’ll have another September 11th.
I had friends from France email me their sympathies after the terrorist attacks on the twin towers, the pentagon and the plane that went down that our own heroes stopped. Where did the unification go? Where did the flags over the overpasses go? Where did our patriotic ideals go?
We are besieged daily with the death toll in Iraq; eight marines killed today, 3 soldiers yesterday, 5 the day before that, the deadliest month to date…
Let us remember the death count that matters; over 3 thousand killed in minutes in the twin towers alone, on September the 11th, 2001.
Like I’ve said in previous articles, this is a war. If we expect anything less than death then we are naïve beyond reason. We should also expect kidnappings, be-headings and inhumane torture. Why? Because we are dealing with terrorists that hate Americans. And when I say hate I do not mean dislike, I mean “I want to see you die a brutal, torturous, slow death and see you in hell” hate. What is our greatest sin against them? We are Americans. We believe in Freedom. We believe in Jesus Christ. We believe in evolution. We believe what we want. We live as we choose. We are free!
“Absurd” you may say. Well, let us take a personal inventory. Are you white? Do you hate people because they are black? Brown? Yellow? Different? Are you black? Do you hate people because they are white? Brown? Yellow? Different? Are you brown? Do you hate…
We are all ready to stand in judgment and say that we cannot understand how they hate us when we hate our own.
Those who hate us have been brought up to hate us. They are brainwashed from birth to hate us, the infidels. They hate us because they do not know us and it is a very natural thing to fear the unknown.
While in Baghdad I spent a lot of time in bunkers or in safe-havens. Whenever there was an attack on my compound I went to the safe-haven; a part of the building deemed “safe” in case of a mortar attack. When walking about we ran to the nearest bunker. Once while at the United States Embassy (where I worked) we were bombarded with mortar attacks. We were in the safe-haven for over an hour. One of the women in the Consulate’s office said “Man, can’t we just give peace a try”? In order for us to have peace abroad, we must first have it at home.
Take the time to make friends with someone of a different ethnic, religious, social or economic background than yours. Try not to judge people based on their skin color, religion or sexual preference. Seriously, can’t we just give peace a try?
Random Thoughts on Paper
Many of you reading this commentary have traveled outside the United States of America, as have I. Let me take you back to the moment of departure…you were probably excited to be on your way; anticipating the adventure in store; looking forward to the relaxation or the job at hand.
Now, let me take you back to the moment you were standing in line to be received back into the United States of America. Remember waiting in line to get your passport stamped? Remember the federal agent saying, “Welcome back to the United States”? Essentially saying “Welcome home”!
We’re home! We’ve always said “There’s no place like home”. Most of us mean the house in which we reside. But for anyone traveling abroad, home is the United States of America first and foremost.
Now, think of our military. They are not on vacation. They are not on a short term business trip lapping in the luxuries of hotel living and maid service.
They are on a mission; a purpose-driven mission. They are carrying around about 50 pounds of battle gear in 110 degree heat (at least) living in tents (if that), driving in un-air-conditioned vehicles where the heat is about 10 degrees hotter. They don’t have goose down pillows or scented bath gels or shaving cream with aloe.
What they do have is a purpose-driven mission to complete. They have hope of coming home. They have hope of making that home just as safe for their children as it has been for them and for us for decades.
When you think of home you think of people who love, respect, admire and accept you.
But what do our military men and women think of home, their home, first and foremost, the United States of America.
How would you feel if you were told the media had to travel with you and then that very entity sent you to prison for doing your job to the best of your ability? How would you feel if your home had bad news to report about the way you’re doing you job 24/7? How would you feel if they were telling the world and the very people you are fighting of your plans; your failures; reporting how many people are against your mission; how you are fighting a lost cause; and so on…
Our military is able at different times during their mission to watch television.
They can see we are a country divided.
Terrorists (Let me be clear here: NOT our military but the people killing our military and anyone fighting for democracy in Iraq, either by car bombs, suicide bombs, mortars, be-headings or other more inhumane ways) watch our news. They can see we are a country divided.
Does anyone understand the fundamental, basic concept here? Unless we are united as one, we will fall. The terrorists are united. Our military is united. Why are we not united? We were certainly united on September 12th, 2001.
Unless we get that sense of “United we stand, divided we fall” back into the fabric of our lives we are going to have another attack. We cannot be liberal on this issue. You defeat the terrorists with whatever means necessary. You don’t play nice and negotiate.
Here is a sickening story for you, maybe it will shake you to your very soul, and I sure hope it does. I hope after reading this that you get an understanding of what evil is and know this; we are dealing with evil over there.
While in Iraq I met a truck driver and for the purpose of this story we’ll call him Richard. Richard loved doing his job. He delivered goods to the military, KBR and Dept. of State. He ran (drove) what is known as the Sunni Triangle. I commented on how dangerous a route that was and he told me of lots of “near misses”, but he was committed and would stay until the war was over or he died serving his country and the country of Iraq. Then one day about a year or so later I saw him in the line of folks who were demobilizing, or going home. I was headed out on R&R and feeling pretty good, then I saw him and knew something had to wrong for him to be leaving so soon after our intense conversation. I pulled him out of line and asked him what was going on. Here’s his story in his (and my) words:
Crystal, you know I was committed to the cause. My truck’s been hit by RPG’s (rocket propelled grenades), I’ve dodged ambushes in the desert, my friends have been killed, but something happened last week that I just can’t shake. I’ve seen evil up close and personal and I recognized it and I never want to see it again. While we were making a run last week I happened to be the lead driver (which is a tremendous responsibility. If you are the lead you DO NOT slow down for anything. It’s foot on the gas through the vast desert and no matter what happens you keep going. If you stop and there is an ambush your entire convoy is at risk-risk of death, be-headings etc.). Ahead of me I saw what appeared to be an ambush getting ready to take place so I grabbed the steering wheel tight, focused and kept my foot on the gas. All of a sudden a man intent on stopping the mission threw a young girl in front of my truck…
Richard kept going and I’m sure you can guess the rest. THIS is what (and I say what not who for a reason) we are dealing with. This is what a terrorist does.
What’s his name, Sadr, has been in Iran for 3 months and now is back in Iraq. Just wait. The war on terror is just getting started. If we do not band together as a nation, as we did on September 12th, we’ll have another September 11th.
I had friends from France email me their sympathies after the terrorist attacks on the twin towers, the pentagon and the plane that went down that our own heroes stopped. Where did the unification go? Where did the flags over the overpasses go? Where did our patriotic ideals go?
We are besieged daily with the death toll in Iraq; eight marines killed today, 3 soldiers yesterday, 5 the day before that, the deadliest month to date…
Let us remember the death count that matters; over 3 thousand killed in minutes in the twin towers alone, on September the 11th, 2001.
Like I’ve said in previous articles, this is a war. If we expect anything less than death then we are naïve beyond reason. We should also expect kidnappings, be-headings and inhumane torture. Why? Because we are dealing with terrorists that hate Americans. And when I say hate I do not mean dislike, I mean “I want to see you die a brutal, torturous, slow death and see you in hell” hate. What is our greatest sin against them? We are Americans. We believe in Freedom. We believe in Jesus Christ. We believe in evolution. We believe what we want. We live as we choose. We are free!
“Absurd” you may say. Well, let us take a personal inventory. Are you white? Do you hate people because they are black? Brown? Yellow? Different? Are you black? Do you hate people because they are white? Brown? Yellow? Different? Are you brown? Do you hate…
We are all ready to stand in judgment and say that we cannot understand how they hate us when we hate our own.
Those who hate us have been brought up to hate us. They are brainwashed from birth to hate us, the infidels. They hate us because they do not know us and it is a very natural thing to fear the unknown.
While in Baghdad I spent a lot of time in bunkers or in safe-havens. Whenever there was an attack on my compound I went to the safe-haven; a part of the building deemed “safe” in case of a mortar attack. When walking about we ran to the nearest bunker. Once while at the United States Embassy (where I worked) we were bombarded with mortar attacks. We were in the safe-haven for over an hour. One of the women in the Consulate’s office said “Man, can’t we just give peace a try”? In order for us to have peace abroad, we must first have it at home.
Take the time to make friends with someone of a different ethnic, religious, social or economic background than yours. Try not to judge people based on their skin color, religion or sexual preference. Seriously, can’t we just give peace a try?
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Honoring Veterans - Old & Young/Past & Present
Random Thoughts on Paper
by Crystal Laramore
Honoring Veterans – Old & Young/Past & Present
Veteran’s day; a time for reflection and gratitude for many. And boy, do we have a lot to be grateful for! Just in my family and circle of friends alone I spent a few hours yesterday & today making phone calls and sending emails, thanking them for serving our country. I even received a few “thank-you’s” myself, which humbled my heart beyond measure.
One of my friends, CW 4 Luke Sweeney, flew an apache helicopter in the downtown parade in Houston on Veterans Day last year. His co-pilot was CW2 Darrick McGill. The lead Apache was expertly piloted by CW3 Roka (Rock) Wolgamott and co-piloted by CW2 Dusty Davis and they were followed by CW2 Ross Hovey and his front-seater was CW2 Jonathan Johnson.
Apparently this was a death-defying act! We were in Baghdad together and he said the flight that day was more frightening than most of the flying he did over there! The buildings downtown were only 75 feet apart and his span on the helo is about 50 feet! Warrant Officer Sweeney, aka Coco, lives here in Coldspring with his children, Brooke & Lucas Sweeney and his sister Sue Sweeney. If you live in Conroe, you may see him flying overhead a lot. He is based out of Lone Star Executive Airport. He belongs to the 7/6 Calvary Regiment. So, those guys you see practicing are doing it for a reason. And when you do see them, take a moment to say a silent “thank you” or heck, yell it till your throat hurts!
Until you’ve been in a war or a war zone you cannot begin to understand the level of commitment the men and women serving your country have embraced. Almost every day people ask me what it was like “over there”. Being Veteran’s Day today and having a chopper fly over my restaurant today made me remember this article and want to re-run it…
The military hospital is called the CASH (combat support hospital; incidentally, they used to be called M*A*S*H hospitals so says Col. Uncle Bill). When I first arrived I was sick with flu-like symptoms for the first three months. The doctors and civilians called it the Baghdad bug and many people were sick with it. So, I was in the CASH a lot. Then my neck stiffened up on me and I could not turn my head so I was in physical therapy for about six-8 weeks every day.
While I was hanging out at the hospital I would visit soldiers who were wounded and find out about their injuries and their lives at home and where they came from. Most of the soldiers had their purple hearts or their silver stars sitting right by their bedside. I caught a few of them watching Oprah, but as soon as I’d walk in and said “Hey, how’s it going?” they’d change the channel to WWF or something. (Not really WWF since we didn’t get that channel, but you get the idea!) And I never once called ‘em out on it. It was a secret among friends.
Other times, when I was coming in for treatment, I’d see a Chinook in the parking lot with a big red cross on it or a Blackhawk with blades running. Sometimes the medics would be taking soldiers off and carrying them in the CASH right in front of me. People screaming, men running, blood dripping. ER in a war zone. No commercials. No actors. No do-overs. Other times the only noise in all the area would be the deep, heavy thudding of the chopper blades. Either scenario was a grave situation. Those young men were in that chopper, on that gurney, in those bandages, bleeding red-for me. (And not all of them were Americans. This is a coalition of forces.) And I would always say a little prayer before walking through those ominous glass sliding doors, because of what awaited me on the other side; a soldier or a marine would often be lying on a gurney with his buddies standing around him in prayer. And I always knew (or thought I did) if the young man would make it or not. Sometimes I couldn’t even get through my physical therapy session b/c I was crying so hard. Probably what pulled at my heart more than anything is that I always expected to see a man; a grown man; an older man; a man who had lived most of his life; a man ready to die;. What I saw were men all right; it’s just that they were men at young boy’s ages; they hadn’t lived their lives; they just graduated from high school; they weren’t ready to die. But they were ready to fight for their country. Their faces were so young and so innocent, and yet so very brave.
At night, when we would all be sitting around winding down, we’d hear the choppers coming in; always, two-by-two. First one, then the other. If I was on the phone with a family member or friend I’d have to say, “Hold on, a chopper’s coming in” and after the chopper passed the person would start talking again and I’d have to say “Hold on, there’s another one coming in about 30 seconds”.
After being over there for a few months you could determine if an Apache, a Blackhawk or a Chinook was coming in. If it was a Chinook, chances were, the second one always had a big red cross painted on the side indicating there were wounded or fallen soldiers on board. The mood always fell to a heavy silence. Sometimes people would cry. It makes my heart beat fast just writing about it. We could hear the war in the background and we could always drown it out with laughter and chit chat and a few Coronas-naked not dressed-who had limes and salt? But, we could not drown out the sound of Chinooks coming in; two-by-two; first one, then the other. It was a heavy, thudding noise that cut through and drowned out our laughter as if demanding attention and prayer; respect and thought. It was ominous, surreal and sad.
And sometimes hearing the choppers coming in, feeling them come in, well, it felt patriotic, brave and warrior-like. I miss the sounds of the choppers flying over-head at night, rocking my hooch (where we lived-term brought back from the Vietnam War). I miss the feeling that I am well protected and loved by those who know me not. I miss feeling protected by the best armed forces in the world simply because I was blessed enough, by God, to be born an American.
So this veteran’s day, when I flew my flag I flew it out of respect for veterans of wars past, but especially for the young men and women who are fighting now. The one’s I’ve met and the one’s I know not. God bless them and God bless America!
by Crystal Laramore
Honoring Veterans – Old & Young/Past & Present
Veteran’s day; a time for reflection and gratitude for many. And boy, do we have a lot to be grateful for! Just in my family and circle of friends alone I spent a few hours yesterday & today making phone calls and sending emails, thanking them for serving our country. I even received a few “thank-you’s” myself, which humbled my heart beyond measure.
One of my friends, CW 4 Luke Sweeney, flew an apache helicopter in the downtown parade in Houston on Veterans Day last year. His co-pilot was CW2 Darrick McGill. The lead Apache was expertly piloted by CW3 Roka (Rock) Wolgamott and co-piloted by CW2 Dusty Davis and they were followed by CW2 Ross Hovey and his front-seater was CW2 Jonathan Johnson.
Apparently this was a death-defying act! We were in Baghdad together and he said the flight that day was more frightening than most of the flying he did over there! The buildings downtown were only 75 feet apart and his span on the helo is about 50 feet! Warrant Officer Sweeney, aka Coco, lives here in Coldspring with his children, Brooke & Lucas Sweeney and his sister Sue Sweeney. If you live in Conroe, you may see him flying overhead a lot. He is based out of Lone Star Executive Airport. He belongs to the 7/6 Calvary Regiment. So, those guys you see practicing are doing it for a reason. And when you do see them, take a moment to say a silent “thank you” or heck, yell it till your throat hurts!
Until you’ve been in a war or a war zone you cannot begin to understand the level of commitment the men and women serving your country have embraced. Almost every day people ask me what it was like “over there”. Being Veteran’s Day today and having a chopper fly over my restaurant today made me remember this article and want to re-run it…
The military hospital is called the CASH (combat support hospital; incidentally, they used to be called M*A*S*H hospitals so says Col. Uncle Bill). When I first arrived I was sick with flu-like symptoms for the first three months. The doctors and civilians called it the Baghdad bug and many people were sick with it. So, I was in the CASH a lot. Then my neck stiffened up on me and I could not turn my head so I was in physical therapy for about six-8 weeks every day.
While I was hanging out at the hospital I would visit soldiers who were wounded and find out about their injuries and their lives at home and where they came from. Most of the soldiers had their purple hearts or their silver stars sitting right by their bedside. I caught a few of them watching Oprah, but as soon as I’d walk in and said “Hey, how’s it going?” they’d change the channel to WWF or something. (Not really WWF since we didn’t get that channel, but you get the idea!) And I never once called ‘em out on it. It was a secret among friends.
Other times, when I was coming in for treatment, I’d see a Chinook in the parking lot with a big red cross on it or a Blackhawk with blades running. Sometimes the medics would be taking soldiers off and carrying them in the CASH right in front of me. People screaming, men running, blood dripping. ER in a war zone. No commercials. No actors. No do-overs. Other times the only noise in all the area would be the deep, heavy thudding of the chopper blades. Either scenario was a grave situation. Those young men were in that chopper, on that gurney, in those bandages, bleeding red-for me. (And not all of them were Americans. This is a coalition of forces.) And I would always say a little prayer before walking through those ominous glass sliding doors, because of what awaited me on the other side; a soldier or a marine would often be lying on a gurney with his buddies standing around him in prayer. And I always knew (or thought I did) if the young man would make it or not. Sometimes I couldn’t even get through my physical therapy session b/c I was crying so hard. Probably what pulled at my heart more than anything is that I always expected to see a man; a grown man; an older man; a man who had lived most of his life; a man ready to die;. What I saw were men all right; it’s just that they were men at young boy’s ages; they hadn’t lived their lives; they just graduated from high school; they weren’t ready to die. But they were ready to fight for their country. Their faces were so young and so innocent, and yet so very brave.
At night, when we would all be sitting around winding down, we’d hear the choppers coming in; always, two-by-two. First one, then the other. If I was on the phone with a family member or friend I’d have to say, “Hold on, a chopper’s coming in” and after the chopper passed the person would start talking again and I’d have to say “Hold on, there’s another one coming in about 30 seconds”.
After being over there for a few months you could determine if an Apache, a Blackhawk or a Chinook was coming in. If it was a Chinook, chances were, the second one always had a big red cross painted on the side indicating there were wounded or fallen soldiers on board. The mood always fell to a heavy silence. Sometimes people would cry. It makes my heart beat fast just writing about it. We could hear the war in the background and we could always drown it out with laughter and chit chat and a few Coronas-naked not dressed-who had limes and salt? But, we could not drown out the sound of Chinooks coming in; two-by-two; first one, then the other. It was a heavy, thudding noise that cut through and drowned out our laughter as if demanding attention and prayer; respect and thought. It was ominous, surreal and sad.
And sometimes hearing the choppers coming in, feeling them come in, well, it felt patriotic, brave and warrior-like. I miss the sounds of the choppers flying over-head at night, rocking my hooch (where we lived-term brought back from the Vietnam War). I miss the feeling that I am well protected and loved by those who know me not. I miss feeling protected by the best armed forces in the world simply because I was blessed enough, by God, to be born an American.
So this veteran’s day, when I flew my flag I flew it out of respect for veterans of wars past, but especially for the young men and women who are fighting now. The one’s I’ve met and the one’s I know not. God bless them and God bless America!
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
9/11
Random Thoughts on Paper
By Crystal Laramore
9/11
September 11th, 2007. It’s Tuesday again. Just like when Elvis died and JFK was shot, when Princess Diana was in a car crash, when the space shuttle challenger exploded, you remember where you were on Tuesday, September 11th, 2001, don’t you?
If you had loved ones in danger as did I, you were no doubt riveted to the television and only accepting pertinent phone calls. Maybe you missed work. And, even if you did go to work, how much did you actually get accomplished that day?
My Colonel/Uncle Bill was assigned to and inside the Cheyenne Mountain Operations Center that day and my Aunt Cheryl (they simply will not tell me what they do or they indicate they must harm me), DoD Contractor extraordinaire, were foremost on my mind that day. BTW, I spoke with my Uncle this morning. No longer on Active Duty, I am certain that he and Aunt Cheryl are financially able to retire completely. But, for some reason they seem to be busier than ever. I know somehow that both he and my Auntie Cheryl are still involved in the GWOT (Global War on Terrorism). And, therefore, I do not bug them too much about coming to Texas and visiting their favorite Niece. Someday, when they “refocus” (I do not believe they will ever retire) they promise to tell me some “secrets” and maybe what it was like inside the mountain on that day…..
Of course, my Uncle was a little too busy on 9/11 to worry with minute details like calling me immediately to ease my fears. God first, country second and in times of National Crisis they are so close to proximity it’s probably and indiscernible line…as well it should be.
While I was putting out my Flag before sunrise this morning I was deep in thought. I’m not sure I put out my flag on July 4th this year. And I’m sure I didn’t get weepy on that day. As I held my flag in my hands today, taking care to not let it touch the ground, tears welled up in my eyes. For many reasons I’m sure; over 3,000 people died that day, I’ve served in Baghdad, Iraq and have too many memories sad and happy, to recount; I fiercely love my country now; and I am more patriotic than ever before.
I wasn’t around on the day we claimed our Independence from Britain, but I was around when terrorists tried to destroy our country’s spirit. That day has meaning for me. Not that July 4th doesn’t, it’s just that I’ve only been told the stories and mostly in a classroom, by a boring teacher while I was a teenager who was more interested in the Friday night football game than the blah, blah, blah. But I experienced September 11th. I lived it, breathed it, touched it, felt it, and helped fight against it (in my own small way).
There is talk of not continuing the memorial services at ground zero. Maybe five years was enough. What? As long as people continue to forget that terrorists boarded airplanes headed toward major U.S. targets, with the specific goal of destroying our country, then we must have the memorial services.
We must remember the scores of people who jumped out of windows to escape an exploding inferno only to fall to their death anyway. We must remember they had wives, husbands, children, parents and friends who miss them terribly and whose lives will never, ever be the same without them.
We must remember the picture of the Statue of Liberty standing over the harbor, while a terrorist attack on the very thing that she stands for unfolded while we all sat in terror and likened it to Armageddon. That was September 11th.
On September 12th we were (truly) One Nation under God, Indivisible…
Not only did the terrorists not destroy our spirit, they lit a fire in our bellies. We got to know our neighbors, enemies became friends, the color of our skin wasn’t seen, our religious differences were ignored and our political affiliation no longer divided us. And, we had one race for a moment in time-American!
Our leaders and our neighbors were united. Our country stood up and looked crisis in the face and we reacted with immense bravery and tireless dedication to people we had never met. Our heroes came in many forms; the New York Fire Department, NYPD, Mayor Rudy Giuliani, first responders, EMS, people walking down the street, and so on.
We prayed. Reverently and without ceasing. Then, we prayed some more. And some of us are still praying. But, I fear many of us have stopped. And, I fear that is dangerous for our country.
Its six years later and we’re back to the same old in-fighting, name calling politics.
Will it take another major catastrophe to once again unite us? Or can we just remember that day and what we are fighting for/against. It continues to amaze me that the solidarity this country showed the day after, the year after, seems to fade every moment of every day.
I have never been so proud to be an American. How about you? How do you show it? Do you remember? Do you support our troops? Do you support the leader of the free world? Do you want to stay free? Have you enjoyed the last six years of terrorist free incidents? Would you like another six, then another? One of my favorite quotes is:
“A champion is someone who pursues the goal long after the mood in which they set it has left them”.
That is what we must do. We must continue to pursue the goal. We must support our troops. And, I don’t mean send them candy or razors (although they do love that), but I mean send them letters. Let them know you appreciate the sacrifice they are making so you don’t have to. Let them know you appreciate the fact that they are wearing 80 lbs. of gear in 120 degree heat so you can sleep soundly, without fear, in an air conditioned house. Let them know that you understand they are sleeping alone without the arms of their loved ones around them, without their children near by. Try and empathize with the fact that each time they go into the red zone they may not come back-just so you can get in your car and not be afraid to put the key in and start the engine. Let them know you are praying for them as they stand on the tarmac in the middle of the night at Dover Air Force Base to accept the “HR’s” (Human Remains) of their fellow soldiers.
Respect them and what they stand for by not trashing the war on terror and denigrating their sacrifices. Don’t mock your leaders. Again, show some respect. Stay the course. And I don’t know about you but,
I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all.
By Crystal Laramore
9/11
September 11th, 2007. It’s Tuesday again. Just like when Elvis died and JFK was shot, when Princess Diana was in a car crash, when the space shuttle challenger exploded, you remember where you were on Tuesday, September 11th, 2001, don’t you?
If you had loved ones in danger as did I, you were no doubt riveted to the television and only accepting pertinent phone calls. Maybe you missed work. And, even if you did go to work, how much did you actually get accomplished that day?
My Colonel/Uncle Bill was assigned to and inside the Cheyenne Mountain Operations Center that day and my Aunt Cheryl (they simply will not tell me what they do or they indicate they must harm me), DoD Contractor extraordinaire, were foremost on my mind that day. BTW, I spoke with my Uncle this morning. No longer on Active Duty, I am certain that he and Aunt Cheryl are financially able to retire completely. But, for some reason they seem to be busier than ever. I know somehow that both he and my Auntie Cheryl are still involved in the GWOT (Global War on Terrorism). And, therefore, I do not bug them too much about coming to Texas and visiting their favorite Niece. Someday, when they “refocus” (I do not believe they will ever retire) they promise to tell me some “secrets” and maybe what it was like inside the mountain on that day…..
Of course, my Uncle was a little too busy on 9/11 to worry with minute details like calling me immediately to ease my fears. God first, country second and in times of National Crisis they are so close to proximity it’s probably and indiscernible line…as well it should be.
While I was putting out my Flag before sunrise this morning I was deep in thought. I’m not sure I put out my flag on July 4th this year. And I’m sure I didn’t get weepy on that day. As I held my flag in my hands today, taking care to not let it touch the ground, tears welled up in my eyes. For many reasons I’m sure; over 3,000 people died that day, I’ve served in Baghdad, Iraq and have too many memories sad and happy, to recount; I fiercely love my country now; and I am more patriotic than ever before.
I wasn’t around on the day we claimed our Independence from Britain, but I was around when terrorists tried to destroy our country’s spirit. That day has meaning for me. Not that July 4th doesn’t, it’s just that I’ve only been told the stories and mostly in a classroom, by a boring teacher while I was a teenager who was more interested in the Friday night football game than the blah, blah, blah. But I experienced September 11th. I lived it, breathed it, touched it, felt it, and helped fight against it (in my own small way).
There is talk of not continuing the memorial services at ground zero. Maybe five years was enough. What? As long as people continue to forget that terrorists boarded airplanes headed toward major U.S. targets, with the specific goal of destroying our country, then we must have the memorial services.
We must remember the scores of people who jumped out of windows to escape an exploding inferno only to fall to their death anyway. We must remember they had wives, husbands, children, parents and friends who miss them terribly and whose lives will never, ever be the same without them.
We must remember the picture of the Statue of Liberty standing over the harbor, while a terrorist attack on the very thing that she stands for unfolded while we all sat in terror and likened it to Armageddon. That was September 11th.
On September 12th we were (truly) One Nation under God, Indivisible…
Not only did the terrorists not destroy our spirit, they lit a fire in our bellies. We got to know our neighbors, enemies became friends, the color of our skin wasn’t seen, our religious differences were ignored and our political affiliation no longer divided us. And, we had one race for a moment in time-American!
Our leaders and our neighbors were united. Our country stood up and looked crisis in the face and we reacted with immense bravery and tireless dedication to people we had never met. Our heroes came in many forms; the New York Fire Department, NYPD, Mayor Rudy Giuliani, first responders, EMS, people walking down the street, and so on.
We prayed. Reverently and without ceasing. Then, we prayed some more. And some of us are still praying. But, I fear many of us have stopped. And, I fear that is dangerous for our country.
Its six years later and we’re back to the same old in-fighting, name calling politics.
Will it take another major catastrophe to once again unite us? Or can we just remember that day and what we are fighting for/against. It continues to amaze me that the solidarity this country showed the day after, the year after, seems to fade every moment of every day.
I have never been so proud to be an American. How about you? How do you show it? Do you remember? Do you support our troops? Do you support the leader of the free world? Do you want to stay free? Have you enjoyed the last six years of terrorist free incidents? Would you like another six, then another? One of my favorite quotes is:
“A champion is someone who pursues the goal long after the mood in which they set it has left them”.
That is what we must do. We must continue to pursue the goal. We must support our troops. And, I don’t mean send them candy or razors (although they do love that), but I mean send them letters. Let them know you appreciate the sacrifice they are making so you don’t have to. Let them know you appreciate the fact that they are wearing 80 lbs. of gear in 120 degree heat so you can sleep soundly, without fear, in an air conditioned house. Let them know that you understand they are sleeping alone without the arms of their loved ones around them, without their children near by. Try and empathize with the fact that each time they go into the red zone they may not come back-just so you can get in your car and not be afraid to put the key in and start the engine. Let them know you are praying for them as they stand on the tarmac in the middle of the night at Dover Air Force Base to accept the “HR’s” (Human Remains) of their fellow soldiers.
Respect them and what they stand for by not trashing the war on terror and denigrating their sacrifices. Don’t mock your leaders. Again, show some respect. Stay the course. And I don’t know about you but,
I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all.
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Crossroads Election
Random Thoughts on Paper
By Crystal Laramore and Deborah Martin
Astutely Edited by Cheryl Laramore
Crossroads Election
Many believe this election is a crossroads of sorts for the American people. We have two candidates running for President:
John McCain - a decorated war veteran, a man who stood up against terrorists, a long time national-level public servant, a federalist and a staunch defender of the Constitution of the United States. No one questions his character.
Barack Hussein Obama – a young, charismatic former community activist whose national-level public service consists of roughly 18 months in the United States Senate, almost all of which has been spent campaigning for President and no executive-level experience of any kind who will not defend the world's greatest constitution-yours! Many question important past associations, including those with terrorists, and those who hate long-held American values, including the constitution, who helped shape his worldview and policies.
Many believe that we are faced with maintaining capitalism or sliding further into socialism. This is, by far, the most important issue of this campaign. Listen up congressmen and senators; we didn't elect you to sit on your asses and do nothing and remain silent while our way of life is being hijacked and our greatness is being replaced with mediocrity. If we become socialist, we won’t need the Dow Jones; the bell can be replaced with a recording and a fog horn – “We’re ALL poor”! It won’t matter how we treat our enemies because our military will be decimated. It won’t matter what kind of healthcare we have – we’ll ALL suffer from long lines, delays and denial of even mediocre care due to the new bureaucracy.
Some people say us folks on the right are fear-mongers. Well, yeah, if there’s something to be afraid of and here it is:
SOCIALISM: a: a system of society or group living in which there is no private property b: a system or condition of society in which the means of production are owned and controlled by the state; b: a stage of society in Marxist theory transitional between capitalism and communism and distinguished by unequal distribution of goods and pay according to work done. Read: No incentive to excel, succeed or be ambitious.
CAPITALISM: a: an economic system characterized by private or corporate ownership of capital goods, by investments that are determined by private decision, and by prices, production, and the distribution of goods that are determined mainly by competition in a free market. Read: GREAT incentive to excel, succeed and be ambitious!
Did you read the definitions above? There is a GREAT difference between capitalism and socialism. Capitalism has made the U.S. into the super power we are. Capitalism is the reason the “tempest tossed” still want to come here.
The rest of the world should WANT us to remain capitalist. After all, we are the world's big brother, for better or worse. We're the ones with the desire AND the ability to help everyone in need and drive worldwide success; hence the term SUPER Power.
When our founding fathers formed our government, they never intended it to become "big brother". Government was intended only to prevent unfair intervention in our lives by the parties in power and by foreigners. Government was supposed to stay small and de-centralized. Especially the federal government. Individuals could forge their own destiny. That's a very powerful idea and we embraced it with great vigor!
Obviously these original intentions are not being honored; the intentions that resulted in making this country the greatest source of freedom and innovation the world has ever known! More and more power has been concentrated in fewer and fewer individuals, which has created an environment ripe for poor and selfish decision making.
Socialism sounds noble – don’t we all want to help the downtrodden? Of course we do. But haven’t private enterprises and your private checkbook always done that in the past? Those who (truly) DESERVE help will always get it. God takes care of even the sparrows. A Socialist government turns us into a nanny state where more and more people stop being self-reliant and become lazy. These failed policies and strategies have a clear track record – just look at the countries which have followed them – USSR , Cuba , China , Venezuela , Iraq , etc. Where there is no freedom there is no incentive to excel. Citizens become prisoners of the government – only allowed to go and do, work or play wherever and however allowed by the few in power.
So why are people attracted to Barack Hussein Obama, who has slowly opened up with his leftist ideas and plans? He’s exposed himself to us gradually, cunningly. Why are we attracted to people like his wife, Michelle, who said “For the first time people are voting”. People are saying for the first time I have something to believe in…believe in what?? “Redistribution of Wealth?”, which is a philosophy Obama has apparently believed in since at least as far back as 1995 when he referenced our founding father’s “blind spot” in leaving out “economic justice and redistribution of wealth” from our Constitution.
John Gault (read Atlas Shrugged) and Bill Gates are leaving the building even as you read this. They’re leaving so fast that if you listen you can hear the air move as they pass by you. They may even be whispering directions; the new direction to the new world. A world where you will still be rewarded for your talents, ambition, risk and hard work rather than penalized!
Michelle Obama said that for the first time in history young people felt (there we go with “feeling vs. thinking” politics) there was a reason for them to vote. Well, most of them feel this way b/c they just turned 18 and CAN vote and the rest of them are too young to know better and I bet some of them really, really like the idea of you and I working, redistributing our wealth to them, so they can stay home and play NINTENDO or XBOX.
Michelle Obama said once that for the first time in her life she was proud of her country. Hmmmm. Why? Because a man who is half black and half white is running for president? That’s it? Well Michelle Obama I’m proud of my country for that reason too. But it’s not the first time I’ve ever been proud of my country.
I’m proud of my country because of its constitution which says you can be anything you want to be if you set your mind to it and work hard. We'll give you the freedoms and the opportunities to make your dreams come true. And in doing so, you can help others along the way. I’m proud of a country that opens its heart and pocket book to any area of the world that suffers a natural disaster. I’m proud of a country that says you can say whatever you want, even if it isn’t in alignment with the current governmental party.
When a reporter in Florida specifically addressed Barack Hussein Obama’s Marxist social and fiscal agenda the news station was immediately frozen out of further coverage from the Obama Campaign. Listen folks. Just listen to what that decision says. And do you think that will be the end of the limitations on your right to free speech, or are we only going to be free to say the "right" speech…Wonder how Oprah feels about THAT?
THIS decision tells me a lot about Barack Hussein Obama and many of his supporters and followers. You know the reason socialism never lasts? Because the hard workers start to resent the fact that lazy people get something for nothing and the rest of the money "disappears" into the hands of those in power. I'm there!! I'll be damned if I want to work my butt off just to give my money to the government which then turns around and gives it to people like the ever-whining, never-working class who didn't have the sense to get out of N.O. when they were told to and who will now spend the rest of their lives feeling oppressed instead of getting OFF their lazy buttocks and going to work. THAT gets me ROYALLY ticked off!
And what about business owners? Why on earth would you want to work 18 (Read: eighteen) hour days to grow a business and then get NO benefit? Most people want to help others, but we want to look out for our own first. One of the reasons capitalism works so well is that there is a lot of motivation to be successful. And a lot of successful people turn around and help those who really need it. However, they don't have a lot of sympathy for the lazy. Nor should they.
The decision in this election is simple – do you want MORE government influence and control in your life? Do you want less control over who benefits from your success? Do you want to support those who are at the bottom of the totem pole because of their own laziness? Then by all means, vote Barack Hussein Obama.
However – if you want to ensure that America remains a free market system with its glories and flaws, if you want to KEEP the hope that you can make of yourself what you will by your own sweat, ingenuity and intestinal fortitude and if you want to “teach a man to fish” instead of giving him most of yours, then you must vote for the candidate who has proven his loyalty, proven his willingness to stand up to opponents and proven his tenacity – you must vote for John McCain on 4 November.
Control is one of those things we have a lot less of than we believe we do. The older we get the more we realize this. We can’t make someone love us, we can’t make people/politicians/corporations/insurance companies… keep their word to us (something to do with free will and all), we cannot make people trust us and we cannot choose the best path for our loved ones, but we can all lead by example. We can all vote (apparently, some of us can vote more than once…).
So, lead by example and vote (once). The one most committed to their cause will win. And make no mistake about it; the Barack Hussein Obama campaign is COMMITTED…
The following poem is from my military buddies in Colorado:
Twas the night before elections
And all through the town
Tempers were flaring
Emotions all up and down!
I, in my bathrobe
With a cat in my lap
Had cut off the TV
Tired of political crap
When all of a sudden
There arose such a noise
I peered out of my window
Saw Obama and his boys
They had come for my wallet
They wanted my pay
To give to the others
Who had not worked a day!
He snatched up my money
And quick as a wink
Jumped back on his bandwagon
As I gagged from the stink
He then rallied his henchmen
Who were pulling his cart
I could tell they were out
To tear my country apart!
On Fannie, on Freddie,
On Biden and Ayer!
On Acorn, On Pelosi'
He screamed at the pairs!
They took off for his cause
And as he flew out of sight
I heard him laugh at the nation
Who wouldn't stand up and fight!
So I leave you to think;
On this one final note-
IF YOU DONT WANT SOCIALISM
GET OUT AND VOTE!
By Crystal Laramore and Deborah Martin
Astutely Edited by Cheryl Laramore
Crossroads Election
Many believe this election is a crossroads of sorts for the American people. We have two candidates running for President:
John McCain - a decorated war veteran, a man who stood up against terrorists, a long time national-level public servant, a federalist and a staunch defender of the Constitution of the United States. No one questions his character.
Barack Hussein Obama – a young, charismatic former community activist whose national-level public service consists of roughly 18 months in the United States Senate, almost all of which has been spent campaigning for President and no executive-level experience of any kind who will not defend the world's greatest constitution-yours! Many question important past associations, including those with terrorists, and those who hate long-held American values, including the constitution, who helped shape his worldview and policies.
Many believe that we are faced with maintaining capitalism or sliding further into socialism. This is, by far, the most important issue of this campaign. Listen up congressmen and senators; we didn't elect you to sit on your asses and do nothing and remain silent while our way of life is being hijacked and our greatness is being replaced with mediocrity. If we become socialist, we won’t need the Dow Jones; the bell can be replaced with a recording and a fog horn – “We’re ALL poor”! It won’t matter how we treat our enemies because our military will be decimated. It won’t matter what kind of healthcare we have – we’ll ALL suffer from long lines, delays and denial of even mediocre care due to the new bureaucracy.
Some people say us folks on the right are fear-mongers. Well, yeah, if there’s something to be afraid of and here it is:
SOCIALISM: a: a system of society or group living in which there is no private property b: a system or condition of society in which the means of production are owned and controlled by the state; b: a stage of society in Marxist theory transitional between capitalism and communism and distinguished by unequal distribution of goods and pay according to work done. Read: No incentive to excel, succeed or be ambitious.
CAPITALISM: a: an economic system characterized by private or corporate ownership of capital goods, by investments that are determined by private decision, and by prices, production, and the distribution of goods that are determined mainly by competition in a free market. Read: GREAT incentive to excel, succeed and be ambitious!
Did you read the definitions above? There is a GREAT difference between capitalism and socialism. Capitalism has made the U.S. into the super power we are. Capitalism is the reason the “tempest tossed” still want to come here.
The rest of the world should WANT us to remain capitalist. After all, we are the world's big brother, for better or worse. We're the ones with the desire AND the ability to help everyone in need and drive worldwide success; hence the term SUPER Power.
When our founding fathers formed our government, they never intended it to become "big brother". Government was intended only to prevent unfair intervention in our lives by the parties in power and by foreigners. Government was supposed to stay small and de-centralized. Especially the federal government. Individuals could forge their own destiny. That's a very powerful idea and we embraced it with great vigor!
Obviously these original intentions are not being honored; the intentions that resulted in making this country the greatest source of freedom and innovation the world has ever known! More and more power has been concentrated in fewer and fewer individuals, which has created an environment ripe for poor and selfish decision making.
Socialism sounds noble – don’t we all want to help the downtrodden? Of course we do. But haven’t private enterprises and your private checkbook always done that in the past? Those who (truly) DESERVE help will always get it. God takes care of even the sparrows. A Socialist government turns us into a nanny state where more and more people stop being self-reliant and become lazy. These failed policies and strategies have a clear track record – just look at the countries which have followed them – USSR , Cuba , China , Venezuela , Iraq , etc. Where there is no freedom there is no incentive to excel. Citizens become prisoners of the government – only allowed to go and do, work or play wherever and however allowed by the few in power.
So why are people attracted to Barack Hussein Obama, who has slowly opened up with his leftist ideas and plans? He’s exposed himself to us gradually, cunningly. Why are we attracted to people like his wife, Michelle, who said “For the first time people are voting”. People are saying for the first time I have something to believe in…believe in what?? “Redistribution of Wealth?”, which is a philosophy Obama has apparently believed in since at least as far back as 1995 when he referenced our founding father’s “blind spot” in leaving out “economic justice and redistribution of wealth” from our Constitution.
John Gault (read Atlas Shrugged) and Bill Gates are leaving the building even as you read this. They’re leaving so fast that if you listen you can hear the air move as they pass by you. They may even be whispering directions; the new direction to the new world. A world where you will still be rewarded for your talents, ambition, risk and hard work rather than penalized!
Michelle Obama said that for the first time in history young people felt (there we go with “feeling vs. thinking” politics) there was a reason for them to vote. Well, most of them feel this way b/c they just turned 18 and CAN vote and the rest of them are too young to know better and I bet some of them really, really like the idea of you and I working, redistributing our wealth to them, so they can stay home and play NINTENDO or XBOX.
Michelle Obama said once that for the first time in her life she was proud of her country. Hmmmm. Why? Because a man who is half black and half white is running for president? That’s it? Well Michelle Obama I’m proud of my country for that reason too. But it’s not the first time I’ve ever been proud of my country.
I’m proud of my country because of its constitution which says you can be anything you want to be if you set your mind to it and work hard. We'll give you the freedoms and the opportunities to make your dreams come true. And in doing so, you can help others along the way. I’m proud of a country that opens its heart and pocket book to any area of the world that suffers a natural disaster. I’m proud of a country that says you can say whatever you want, even if it isn’t in alignment with the current governmental party.
When a reporter in Florida specifically addressed Barack Hussein Obama’s Marxist social and fiscal agenda the news station was immediately frozen out of further coverage from the Obama Campaign. Listen folks. Just listen to what that decision says. And do you think that will be the end of the limitations on your right to free speech, or are we only going to be free to say the "right" speech…Wonder how Oprah feels about THAT?
THIS decision tells me a lot about Barack Hussein Obama and many of his supporters and followers. You know the reason socialism never lasts? Because the hard workers start to resent the fact that lazy people get something for nothing and the rest of the money "disappears" into the hands of those in power. I'm there!! I'll be damned if I want to work my butt off just to give my money to the government which then turns around and gives it to people like the ever-whining, never-working class who didn't have the sense to get out of N.O. when they were told to and who will now spend the rest of their lives feeling oppressed instead of getting OFF their lazy buttocks and going to work. THAT gets me ROYALLY ticked off!
And what about business owners? Why on earth would you want to work 18 (Read: eighteen) hour days to grow a business and then get NO benefit? Most people want to help others, but we want to look out for our own first. One of the reasons capitalism works so well is that there is a lot of motivation to be successful. And a lot of successful people turn around and help those who really need it. However, they don't have a lot of sympathy for the lazy. Nor should they.
The decision in this election is simple – do you want MORE government influence and control in your life? Do you want less control over who benefits from your success? Do you want to support those who are at the bottom of the totem pole because of their own laziness? Then by all means, vote Barack Hussein Obama.
However – if you want to ensure that America remains a free market system with its glories and flaws, if you want to KEEP the hope that you can make of yourself what you will by your own sweat, ingenuity and intestinal fortitude and if you want to “teach a man to fish” instead of giving him most of yours, then you must vote for the candidate who has proven his loyalty, proven his willingness to stand up to opponents and proven his tenacity – you must vote for John McCain on 4 November.
Control is one of those things we have a lot less of than we believe we do. The older we get the more we realize this. We can’t make someone love us, we can’t make people/politicians/corporations/insurance companies… keep their word to us (something to do with free will and all), we cannot make people trust us and we cannot choose the best path for our loved ones, but we can all lead by example. We can all vote (apparently, some of us can vote more than once…).
So, lead by example and vote (once). The one most committed to their cause will win. And make no mistake about it; the Barack Hussein Obama campaign is COMMITTED…
The following poem is from my military buddies in Colorado:
Twas the night before elections
And all through the town
Tempers were flaring
Emotions all up and down!
I, in my bathrobe
With a cat in my lap
Had cut off the TV
Tired of political crap
When all of a sudden
There arose such a noise
I peered out of my window
Saw Obama and his boys
They had come for my wallet
They wanted my pay
To give to the others
Who had not worked a day!
He snatched up my money
And quick as a wink
Jumped back on his bandwagon
As I gagged from the stink
He then rallied his henchmen
Who were pulling his cart
I could tell they were out
To tear my country apart!
On Fannie, on Freddie,
On Biden and Ayer!
On Acorn, On Pelosi'
He screamed at the pairs!
They took off for his cause
And as he flew out of sight
I heard him laugh at the nation
Who wouldn't stand up and fight!
So I leave you to think;
On this one final note-
IF YOU DONT WANT SOCIALISM
GET OUT AND VOTE!
Gulf Coast vs. Bailout
Random Thoughts on Paper
Gulf Coast vs. Bailout
By: Crystal Laramore
8 OCT 08
Maybe the reason we’re not hearing much about Galveston and the Gulf Coast and our heart-wrenching destruction is because the nation is too focused on how much money we are all handing over to companies like AIG, etc.
Billions of dollars floating around is just a lot sexier to talk about than debris, disaster relief and thousands of new homeless people. Let’s face it, Ike just hit at the wrong time. If he’d just come a month earlier or a few months later maybe we could give our un-divided attention to how he destroyed Galveston, Orange, Port Bolivar, La Porte, Bayou Vista, Kemah, Seabrook, Omega Bay, Houston, Coldspring, Conroe, Dayton, Liberty and other less sexy cities.
Plus we have the election on our minds. If either one of those two men running for President would act presidential and put together a benefit concert or throw some of that 700 BILLION dollars towards the Gulf Coast Region…oh, then there’s that 1.3 TRILLION we (cuz the feds means You and Me) are spending to buy three-month unsecured and asset-backed commercial paper directly from eligible companies. We hope to have the program up and running soon, Fed officials said. Really? WE do? No one discussed it with us, did they?
And really, I understand why. It’s because we’d have none of it. Guys, this is socialism. This is taxation without representation. This is YOUR money. Dumb it down if you need to but explain it to everyone you see: The feds are spending our money. It is time for a revolution folks. Our senators and congressmen did NOT listen to “We the People” when they voted FOR this bailout bill.
If every taxpayer in the U.S. had received the 700 BILLION we each would have received about $6,000.00. Could you use an extra six grand? I could. I have damage from hurricane Ike that I need to repair. Oh, back to that damn hurricane again? Yes. This bailout is unconstitutional. The hurricane? Natural disaster. Not one person or one entity is at fault for the vast destruction caused by hurricane Ike. However, there are thousands of people and several entities directly at fault for the collapse of these financial institutions.
You tell me what job in America or anywhere in the world is worth 480 million in an eight-year period. (Granted a lot of that, close to half, went towards taxes but still…)Yet, 480 MILLION DOLLARS is exactly how much money Robert Fuld, CEO of Lehman Brothers, “earned?” in the last 8 years! And all while his company was collapsing! I think we call that “cooking the books”. See Arthur Anderson and ENRON. Oh, speaking of ENRON, we bailed them out too. We (YOU and ME) gave them a nice package so all the nice people working there would not lose all of their 401k’s and investments…NOT our problem people. This is NOT the governments business. You have to decide if you want a capitalist, socialist or communist way of life. Pick a team and stick to it. We cannot have it all three ways. We are either going to abide by the constitution or not. BTW, our constitution is the only one that has stood the test of time. It’s a good constitution and it has served us well. Where we are not being served well is by the politicians who do not abide by it or bend its meaning.
EVERY DAY we are double taxed and our wants are ignored. Heck, if we are ignored then that would mean at least somebody listened to us. So, I take that back, we are not even being listened to! Have I said the word revolution yet?
Meanwhile, back in Galveston…try as we might Sue and I could not find ONE benefit concert. It was Sunday and the weather was beautiful but not ONE concert in session to raise money to help those in need. Not one. No famous people in sight. Not one.
Driving down the streets, in my very dirty convertible, we must have pulled over a dozen times to take pictures. We were in awe. In awe that almost 4 weeks later; the island still looks like a war zone. And I know what a war zone looks like-up close and personal...it looks like Galveston Island, it looks like my step-father's neighborhood in Bayou Vista; it’s very eerie.
The souvenir shop that we ALWAYS went to since I was a child is gone. Just gone. And in the interior of the island-where there is NO WAY water could have reached…WAY-water did reach; and left destruction in almost every building.
Scott Arnold’s landmark restaurant, the Balinese Ballroom, built in the 1920’s is gone. Did you hear me? GONE. It’s now pilings. That’s it. Pilings. It was an old wooden restaurant that seemed to stretch forever out over the water. Long and narrow. A landmark. A part of history is gone forever. Graduating seniors and young men with beautiful prom dates; couples celebrating milestone anniversaries and anyone celebrating a milestone birthday will now have to plan their event elsewhere. I remember going there for a fancy dinner with a lot of my friends many years ago. Twenty of us sat at a long table, dressed in our best, with wait staff to serve us all. It was quite an experience.
When Scott bought the Balinese Ballroom he made a lot of changes. He served the needs of the young, the old, the hip and the traditionalists. He served the Heavy Metal lovers and the Rock and Roll lovers. He served the bikers and tourists. Tourists from around the world who happened in, to their good fortune, on a weekend night and were blessed to hear the best blues and Jazz music Galveston had to offer, will now have to…you guessed it…go to New Orleans. You see, New Orleans had their benefit concerts.
But Scott will not get a bail out; even though he served the public well. Scott will not get any of his tax dollars back that he’s paid in over the years. No, Scott’s tax dollars went to bail out companies who made poor decisions while their CEO’s made millions.
Van Brookshire, who is running for State Representative for House District 12, said today in a phone interview “This is a step toward socialism. What we are doing is rewarding incompetence and in some cases out-right theft and manipulation of the markets”. When asked if Mr. Brookshire would have voted “for this bill he said “NO!”
President Bush also was set to talk about the government's bailout effort, which lets the government buy rotten mortgages and other bad debts from banks and other financial institutions. (Call me crazy but isn’t that how we got into this mess to start with?) By getting these bad debts off bank's balance sheets, they might be in a better position to raise capital and be more willing to lend to each other and to customers.
Van Brookshire also went on to say “I like Newt Gingrich’s plan of working our way out of this problem instead of bailing it out”.
I’m a small business owner and when I make a mistake I certainly have to work my way out of it. If my business is not making money, I DON’T MAKE MONEY! If I make poor business decisions I am NOT rewarded. Therefore, I do my best to make good decisions. That includes doing a lot of hard work myself. It includes hiring responsibly and firing responsibly. In my world, if I do not do the right thing, I am not rewarded. So if we don’t hold everyone to those same standards what is the incentive to do the right thing?
But, we didn’t get here over night people. In the 80’s the banks were MADE to make sub-prime loans to people who just could not afford to pay them back. Banks were forced to make poor decisions so as not to discriminate against the poor. Mortgage companies falsified legal documents as late as a week ago to get people into houses they could not afford. It almost happened to me in 2005. However, I kept asking how much my interest rate was going to be and if it was fixed and I never got an answer. Therefore, I did not show up to closing. If your mortgage company is not forthcoming with information and trying to "Push through" your loan - Here's Your Sign!
This is not a land of equal capacity. It’s a land of equal rights. But owning a house or a business is not a right. It’s a privilege; a privilege that comes from hard work and good decisions.
First National Bank of Livingston just re-financed my building that houses my business. Corky Evans was my loan officer. Corky looked over my credit report and my books for the last seven years I have been in business. He then presented his findings to a board that made an educated decision. Corky knows I have made my current mortgage payments for the last seven years on time EVERY month. Corky has been in my business and experienced its success. I have paid my dues, never borrowed money and pay my bills on time. I do whatever is necessary to be successful. After SEVEN years of hard work and dedication I have been rewarded.
And, First National Bank will be rewarded for making a good loan. They will be rewarded with interest. Speaking of interest, I know what my interest rate is. I know the terms of my loan. Corky went over it with me. I asked pertinent financial questions and he answered them. If I have more questions all I have to do is call. Corky informed me that they house all of their loans. They don’t sell them to larger financial institutions. If they make poor lending decisions they have to suffer the consequences. No bail out for them either…
Gulf Coast vs. Bailout
By: Crystal Laramore
8 OCT 08
Maybe the reason we’re not hearing much about Galveston and the Gulf Coast and our heart-wrenching destruction is because the nation is too focused on how much money we are all handing over to companies like AIG, etc.
Billions of dollars floating around is just a lot sexier to talk about than debris, disaster relief and thousands of new homeless people. Let’s face it, Ike just hit at the wrong time. If he’d just come a month earlier or a few months later maybe we could give our un-divided attention to how he destroyed Galveston, Orange, Port Bolivar, La Porte, Bayou Vista, Kemah, Seabrook, Omega Bay, Houston, Coldspring, Conroe, Dayton, Liberty and other less sexy cities.
Plus we have the election on our minds. If either one of those two men running for President would act presidential and put together a benefit concert or throw some of that 700 BILLION dollars towards the Gulf Coast Region…oh, then there’s that 1.3 TRILLION we (cuz the feds means You and Me) are spending to buy three-month unsecured and asset-backed commercial paper directly from eligible companies. We hope to have the program up and running soon, Fed officials said. Really? WE do? No one discussed it with us, did they?
And really, I understand why. It’s because we’d have none of it. Guys, this is socialism. This is taxation without representation. This is YOUR money. Dumb it down if you need to but explain it to everyone you see: The feds are spending our money. It is time for a revolution folks. Our senators and congressmen did NOT listen to “We the People” when they voted FOR this bailout bill.
If every taxpayer in the U.S. had received the 700 BILLION we each would have received about $6,000.00. Could you use an extra six grand? I could. I have damage from hurricane Ike that I need to repair. Oh, back to that damn hurricane again? Yes. This bailout is unconstitutional. The hurricane? Natural disaster. Not one person or one entity is at fault for the vast destruction caused by hurricane Ike. However, there are thousands of people and several entities directly at fault for the collapse of these financial institutions.
You tell me what job in America or anywhere in the world is worth 480 million in an eight-year period. (Granted a lot of that, close to half, went towards taxes but still…)Yet, 480 MILLION DOLLARS is exactly how much money Robert Fuld, CEO of Lehman Brothers, “earned?” in the last 8 years! And all while his company was collapsing! I think we call that “cooking the books”. See Arthur Anderson and ENRON. Oh, speaking of ENRON, we bailed them out too. We (YOU and ME) gave them a nice package so all the nice people working there would not lose all of their 401k’s and investments…NOT our problem people. This is NOT the governments business. You have to decide if you want a capitalist, socialist or communist way of life. Pick a team and stick to it. We cannot have it all three ways. We are either going to abide by the constitution or not. BTW, our constitution is the only one that has stood the test of time. It’s a good constitution and it has served us well. Where we are not being served well is by the politicians who do not abide by it or bend its meaning.
EVERY DAY we are double taxed and our wants are ignored. Heck, if we are ignored then that would mean at least somebody listened to us. So, I take that back, we are not even being listened to! Have I said the word revolution yet?
Meanwhile, back in Galveston…try as we might Sue and I could not find ONE benefit concert. It was Sunday and the weather was beautiful but not ONE concert in session to raise money to help those in need. Not one. No famous people in sight. Not one.
Driving down the streets, in my very dirty convertible, we must have pulled over a dozen times to take pictures. We were in awe. In awe that almost 4 weeks later; the island still looks like a war zone. And I know what a war zone looks like-up close and personal...it looks like Galveston Island, it looks like my step-father's neighborhood in Bayou Vista; it’s very eerie.
The souvenir shop that we ALWAYS went to since I was a child is gone. Just gone. And in the interior of the island-where there is NO WAY water could have reached…WAY-water did reach; and left destruction in almost every building.
Scott Arnold’s landmark restaurant, the Balinese Ballroom, built in the 1920’s is gone. Did you hear me? GONE. It’s now pilings. That’s it. Pilings. It was an old wooden restaurant that seemed to stretch forever out over the water. Long and narrow. A landmark. A part of history is gone forever. Graduating seniors and young men with beautiful prom dates; couples celebrating milestone anniversaries and anyone celebrating a milestone birthday will now have to plan their event elsewhere. I remember going there for a fancy dinner with a lot of my friends many years ago. Twenty of us sat at a long table, dressed in our best, with wait staff to serve us all. It was quite an experience.
When Scott bought the Balinese Ballroom he made a lot of changes. He served the needs of the young, the old, the hip and the traditionalists. He served the Heavy Metal lovers and the Rock and Roll lovers. He served the bikers and tourists. Tourists from around the world who happened in, to their good fortune, on a weekend night and were blessed to hear the best blues and Jazz music Galveston had to offer, will now have to…you guessed it…go to New Orleans. You see, New Orleans had their benefit concerts.
But Scott will not get a bail out; even though he served the public well. Scott will not get any of his tax dollars back that he’s paid in over the years. No, Scott’s tax dollars went to bail out companies who made poor decisions while their CEO’s made millions.
Van Brookshire, who is running for State Representative for House District 12, said today in a phone interview “This is a step toward socialism. What we are doing is rewarding incompetence and in some cases out-right theft and manipulation of the markets”. When asked if Mr. Brookshire would have voted “for this bill he said “NO!”
President Bush also was set to talk about the government's bailout effort, which lets the government buy rotten mortgages and other bad debts from banks and other financial institutions. (Call me crazy but isn’t that how we got into this mess to start with?) By getting these bad debts off bank's balance sheets, they might be in a better position to raise capital and be more willing to lend to each other and to customers.
Van Brookshire also went on to say “I like Newt Gingrich’s plan of working our way out of this problem instead of bailing it out”.
I’m a small business owner and when I make a mistake I certainly have to work my way out of it. If my business is not making money, I DON’T MAKE MONEY! If I make poor business decisions I am NOT rewarded. Therefore, I do my best to make good decisions. That includes doing a lot of hard work myself. It includes hiring responsibly and firing responsibly. In my world, if I do not do the right thing, I am not rewarded. So if we don’t hold everyone to those same standards what is the incentive to do the right thing?
But, we didn’t get here over night people. In the 80’s the banks were MADE to make sub-prime loans to people who just could not afford to pay them back. Banks were forced to make poor decisions so as not to discriminate against the poor. Mortgage companies falsified legal documents as late as a week ago to get people into houses they could not afford. It almost happened to me in 2005. However, I kept asking how much my interest rate was going to be and if it was fixed and I never got an answer. Therefore, I did not show up to closing. If your mortgage company is not forthcoming with information and trying to "Push through" your loan - Here's Your Sign!
This is not a land of equal capacity. It’s a land of equal rights. But owning a house or a business is not a right. It’s a privilege; a privilege that comes from hard work and good decisions.
First National Bank of Livingston just re-financed my building that houses my business. Corky Evans was my loan officer. Corky looked over my credit report and my books for the last seven years I have been in business. He then presented his findings to a board that made an educated decision. Corky knows I have made my current mortgage payments for the last seven years on time EVERY month. Corky has been in my business and experienced its success. I have paid my dues, never borrowed money and pay my bills on time. I do whatever is necessary to be successful. After SEVEN years of hard work and dedication I have been rewarded.
And, First National Bank will be rewarded for making a good loan. They will be rewarded with interest. Speaking of interest, I know what my interest rate is. I know the terms of my loan. Corky went over it with me. I asked pertinent financial questions and he answered them. If I have more questions all I have to do is call. Corky informed me that they house all of their loans. They don’t sell them to larger financial institutions. If they make poor lending decisions they have to suffer the consequences. No bail out for them either…
Ike and His Victims...All But Forgotten...
Random Thoughts on Paper
By Crystal Laramore
Edited by Deborah Martin
Ike and His Victims…All But Forgotten…
Really? Why? Where are Brad and Angelina? Where is Bono? Where is Elton? Where is Harry Connick, Jr.? Emeril Lagasse (I have looked all over my kitchen and cannot find him)? Where is Band-Aid? Where oh where are our saviors?
We Texans aren’t upset that these people don't care; we just wonder why they don’t care about us. We support them. We trade our hard earned dollars to watch their movies and listen to their songs and purchase the tabloids when they are naughty or when they’re helping the hungry in Africa. What is it about us that warrants their blatant absence? I believe we’ve been snubbed. I guess we're just not needy enough and maybe that's the more important point. We don't need them.
Maybe our expectations are too low when it comes to hand outs and we need to raise them. One thing is for sure, our expectations were exceeding low when the Army showed up with MRE’s (Meals Ready to Eat). And wasn’t everyone surprised! Maybe that is the key to success…lower your expectations so you can be pleasantly surprised. Anyway, the MRE’s showed up and the lines were long. I wasn’t in the line. I was in Baghdad. I’ve had MRE’s.
I’m telling you, I WISH I could get people to talk as much about my Shrimp Crystal as they did (and still are) about the MRE’s. The food critics gave raving reviews; here are some of the comments from the galley:
“Mine had a dreamsicle cookie! We got: lasagna, star fish tuna with fancy crackers, Ravioli, fajita chicken, stew, Mac & Cheese, chili w/Mexican corn; we got cookies, sweet bread, Reese’s, M & M’s, Red Hots, power bars, spearmint gum, Tabasco, salt & pepper, sugar & creamer to go with the cappuccino and hot coco and yes, even milkshakes! They had cheese and potato sticks. Now, every box had a mixture of each so it was like Christmas when everyone was opening their presents: “Oh, look what I got! Hey! I want one of those. I’ll trade you my jalapeno cheese for mild cheese. I’ll trade you two chocolate cookies and a cappuccino for your dreamsicle cookie”!
The dreamsicle cookies were the most coveted of items! And the biggest surprise of all-you could heat them up! Everyone was thrilled, simply thrilled to have hot food. No one cared that you had to set the bag to the side, so as not to breathe the mysterious gray smokey stuff, while the magic little chemicals worked together to create heat. No one questioned the heat gods. They just did what the box said and ate with wild abandon!
Whoever is in-charge of the Army MRE Institute of Culinary Food in a Box needs a big fat raise. Hey I know, maybe we could give him some of that 700 Billion…
And we didn’t wait for FEMA or our insurance companies to show up before we started patching our holes (in our homes and in our hearts). All over Southeast Texas the same scene of non-neediness was repeated; people in communities coming together to help each other. Restaurant owners opened their doors even when there was no power to give folks a place to gather and commiserate with one another. Guys broke out their toys - lowboys, backhoes, bulldozers, generators and chainsaws and went to work. If your gas pumps didn’t work two of our fellow Texans displayed the best of redneck engineering and rigged up a way to get the gas out without using electricity!
Those who had food shared it. Strong backs lifted and toted. Roads were cleared. Trees were lifted off houses. All over tarps were spread over holes in roofs till a more permanent solution came along…still waiting. And to make things festive we had tarps in red, blue, camouflage and even purple! FEMA did its usual song and dance and got some stuff done. But the real heroes were and still are our churches, our local organizations, family members, friends and individuals who rounded up ice, food and other necessities (like beer and tequila) and took it where it needed to go. I have never been more proud to be a Texan.
Having said all that, there are still thousands of displaced families who desperately need help (and probably beer and tequila). Why are you not hearing about it; cuz I’m sure you’re not? Maybe it’s that good ole Texas pride. That’s all I got. I don’t really know the answer. Maybe the news reporters who were trying to make a name for themselves, on the tragedy that’s on our backs, have lost their GPS and can’t remember where we are. This hurricane promises to be the most expensive hurricane in HISTORY. So can someone tell me where our benefit concerts are? Where is Michael McDonald when you really need him? He wants to take back his country, he could start with Galveston; it’s a clean slate…
Or, maybe he could start with sitting in a circle with the insurance companies and singing Kum Bah Yah. Maybe a little Zen and meditation will help them decide exactly how it was that our homes were destroyed during hurricane Ike. Apparently Ike isn’t very forthcoming with information so they are having to guess who’s at fault; was it the rain, the wind or the flooding (caused by the storm surge)…If you’re the flood insurance folks, the rain caused the damage which was propelled into your house by the wind, and if you are the wind insurance the storm surge washed your house away not us…really? How in tar nation (all Texans must know this word…) do they know THAT? Were they there? Did they call Ike? More importantly, did he answer?
Speaking of answers-I wanted to see for myself how forgotten we are so I logged onto YAHOO!, the most popular web browser in the world, and the only (semi) mention of a hurricane was a story about no gas in Atlanta. Seems Ike is to blame for that too. Guess he left them a note. The top SEVEN postings on Yahoo! were NOT about us. No concert postings, no benefit concerts slated for this week, nothing. Not a peep. Or a tweet, tweet, Twiddle dee.
Yahoo’s top story: Kim Kardashian is getting a lot of attention from the Dancing with the Stars judges for her non-swinging hips and low performance level. Kim said she joined the show as a personal challenge. Well Kim, no one is appreciating your personal journey. Maybe you cold waltz your way to Texas and do something really challenging…like help some people with some clean up or bring big satchels of cash from your friends and pass it out…I’m just saying…
So listen, the next time a hurricane blows through a distant region or an earthquake shakes a country a thousand miles away and you Hollywoodites run to the rescue-you will probably lose some of your fan base. I know one fan many of you have lost already.
Back to Ike: My step-father used to have a two-story house on Bayou Vista. Now he has a one story house on Bayou Vista. Luckily the bottom half was the blown away part and the piers are still there. Unluckily, Ike didn’t leave him a note to tell him who did what. My friend Jim Ray used to have a house on Trinity Bay in Anahuac. He now has a nice foundation. Ike took the house and the pilings. Again, no note from Ike. So, he and my step-father, along with tens of thousands of others, have to rely on the genius of insurance adjustors to meander their way through the forensic investigation to uncover the real culprit. It’s really fun (unless it’s your pile of debris) to watch people argue over who did what when no one was there. It’s like you want to say “Look, here come your friends in the white coats-just in time too, I’d say”. How do these people sleep at night?
Texas Wind Storm Insurance Association and the Federal Flood Insurance agencies are fighting over whether twenty feet of storm surge caused by Ike is a flood or a wind storm issue. Are you kidding me? TWIA is saying it’s a flood and the Federal Flood Insurance is saying…you guessed it…the Wind is at fault! Both agencies, GOVERNMENT agencies, are trying to cheat folks out of the help they’ve PAID for.
There are some jobs you couldn’t pay me enough to do and one of them is trying to keep people from getting the financial help they deserve in the face of total devastation to their homes and families. And when I say deserve let me be clear-help they’ve paid for. They do not deserve it because they need it. They deserve it because they’ve paid for it. (Read Atlas Shrugged people.) Whether the help is coming from an insurance company or FEMA, most of us have paid our dues over the years for this help; assistance…
Don’t tell me that we have 700 Billion (read Seven Hundred BILLION) to hand to AIG and Fannie Mae and those other companies yet we have to quibble over a few thousand dollars per household in a totally devastated area of our great nation. Seriously, don’t tell me that. The CFO or CEO or something of AIG is getting a severance package worth millions and gets to keep his signing bonus worth millions. He’s been with the company 3 weeks (read THREE WEEKS!). How much have we spent in Iraq & Afghanistan over the past seven years? It’s about 870 Billion. Divide that by 7. It equals about 124 billion per year! And the media is still yapping about that.
Someone, anyone, balance it out for us.
By Crystal Laramore
Edited by Deborah Martin
Ike and His Victims…All But Forgotten…
Really? Why? Where are Brad and Angelina? Where is Bono? Where is Elton? Where is Harry Connick, Jr.? Emeril Lagasse (I have looked all over my kitchen and cannot find him)? Where is Band-Aid? Where oh where are our saviors?
We Texans aren’t upset that these people don't care; we just wonder why they don’t care about us. We support them. We trade our hard earned dollars to watch their movies and listen to their songs and purchase the tabloids when they are naughty or when they’re helping the hungry in Africa. What is it about us that warrants their blatant absence? I believe we’ve been snubbed. I guess we're just not needy enough and maybe that's the more important point. We don't need them.
Maybe our expectations are too low when it comes to hand outs and we need to raise them. One thing is for sure, our expectations were exceeding low when the Army showed up with MRE’s (Meals Ready to Eat). And wasn’t everyone surprised! Maybe that is the key to success…lower your expectations so you can be pleasantly surprised. Anyway, the MRE’s showed up and the lines were long. I wasn’t in the line. I was in Baghdad. I’ve had MRE’s.
I’m telling you, I WISH I could get people to talk as much about my Shrimp Crystal as they did (and still are) about the MRE’s. The food critics gave raving reviews; here are some of the comments from the galley:
“Mine had a dreamsicle cookie! We got: lasagna, star fish tuna with fancy crackers, Ravioli, fajita chicken, stew, Mac & Cheese, chili w/Mexican corn; we got cookies, sweet bread, Reese’s, M & M’s, Red Hots, power bars, spearmint gum, Tabasco, salt & pepper, sugar & creamer to go with the cappuccino and hot coco and yes, even milkshakes! They had cheese and potato sticks. Now, every box had a mixture of each so it was like Christmas when everyone was opening their presents: “Oh, look what I got! Hey! I want one of those. I’ll trade you my jalapeno cheese for mild cheese. I’ll trade you two chocolate cookies and a cappuccino for your dreamsicle cookie”!
The dreamsicle cookies were the most coveted of items! And the biggest surprise of all-you could heat them up! Everyone was thrilled, simply thrilled to have hot food. No one cared that you had to set the bag to the side, so as not to breathe the mysterious gray smokey stuff, while the magic little chemicals worked together to create heat. No one questioned the heat gods. They just did what the box said and ate with wild abandon!
Whoever is in-charge of the Army MRE Institute of Culinary Food in a Box needs a big fat raise. Hey I know, maybe we could give him some of that 700 Billion…
And we didn’t wait for FEMA or our insurance companies to show up before we started patching our holes (in our homes and in our hearts). All over Southeast Texas the same scene of non-neediness was repeated; people in communities coming together to help each other. Restaurant owners opened their doors even when there was no power to give folks a place to gather and commiserate with one another. Guys broke out their toys - lowboys, backhoes, bulldozers, generators and chainsaws and went to work. If your gas pumps didn’t work two of our fellow Texans displayed the best of redneck engineering and rigged up a way to get the gas out without using electricity!
Those who had food shared it. Strong backs lifted and toted. Roads were cleared. Trees were lifted off houses. All over tarps were spread over holes in roofs till a more permanent solution came along…still waiting. And to make things festive we had tarps in red, blue, camouflage and even purple! FEMA did its usual song and dance and got some stuff done. But the real heroes were and still are our churches, our local organizations, family members, friends and individuals who rounded up ice, food and other necessities (like beer and tequila) and took it where it needed to go. I have never been more proud to be a Texan.
Having said all that, there are still thousands of displaced families who desperately need help (and probably beer and tequila). Why are you not hearing about it; cuz I’m sure you’re not? Maybe it’s that good ole Texas pride. That’s all I got. I don’t really know the answer. Maybe the news reporters who were trying to make a name for themselves, on the tragedy that’s on our backs, have lost their GPS and can’t remember where we are. This hurricane promises to be the most expensive hurricane in HISTORY. So can someone tell me where our benefit concerts are? Where is Michael McDonald when you really need him? He wants to take back his country, he could start with Galveston; it’s a clean slate…
Or, maybe he could start with sitting in a circle with the insurance companies and singing Kum Bah Yah. Maybe a little Zen and meditation will help them decide exactly how it was that our homes were destroyed during hurricane Ike. Apparently Ike isn’t very forthcoming with information so they are having to guess who’s at fault; was it the rain, the wind or the flooding (caused by the storm surge)…If you’re the flood insurance folks, the rain caused the damage which was propelled into your house by the wind, and if you are the wind insurance the storm surge washed your house away not us…really? How in tar nation (all Texans must know this word…) do they know THAT? Were they there? Did they call Ike? More importantly, did he answer?
Speaking of answers-I wanted to see for myself how forgotten we are so I logged onto YAHOO!, the most popular web browser in the world, and the only (semi) mention of a hurricane was a story about no gas in Atlanta. Seems Ike is to blame for that too. Guess he left them a note. The top SEVEN postings on Yahoo! were NOT about us. No concert postings, no benefit concerts slated for this week, nothing. Not a peep. Or a tweet, tweet, Twiddle dee.
Yahoo’s top story: Kim Kardashian is getting a lot of attention from the Dancing with the Stars judges for her non-swinging hips and low performance level. Kim said she joined the show as a personal challenge. Well Kim, no one is appreciating your personal journey. Maybe you cold waltz your way to Texas and do something really challenging…like help some people with some clean up or bring big satchels of cash from your friends and pass it out…I’m just saying…
So listen, the next time a hurricane blows through a distant region or an earthquake shakes a country a thousand miles away and you Hollywoodites run to the rescue-you will probably lose some of your fan base. I know one fan many of you have lost already.
Back to Ike: My step-father used to have a two-story house on Bayou Vista. Now he has a one story house on Bayou Vista. Luckily the bottom half was the blown away part and the piers are still there. Unluckily, Ike didn’t leave him a note to tell him who did what. My friend Jim Ray used to have a house on Trinity Bay in Anahuac. He now has a nice foundation. Ike took the house and the pilings. Again, no note from Ike. So, he and my step-father, along with tens of thousands of others, have to rely on the genius of insurance adjustors to meander their way through the forensic investigation to uncover the real culprit. It’s really fun (unless it’s your pile of debris) to watch people argue over who did what when no one was there. It’s like you want to say “Look, here come your friends in the white coats-just in time too, I’d say”. How do these people sleep at night?
Texas Wind Storm Insurance Association and the Federal Flood Insurance agencies are fighting over whether twenty feet of storm surge caused by Ike is a flood or a wind storm issue. Are you kidding me? TWIA is saying it’s a flood and the Federal Flood Insurance is saying…you guessed it…the Wind is at fault! Both agencies, GOVERNMENT agencies, are trying to cheat folks out of the help they’ve PAID for.
There are some jobs you couldn’t pay me enough to do and one of them is trying to keep people from getting the financial help they deserve in the face of total devastation to their homes and families. And when I say deserve let me be clear-help they’ve paid for. They do not deserve it because they need it. They deserve it because they’ve paid for it. (Read Atlas Shrugged people.) Whether the help is coming from an insurance company or FEMA, most of us have paid our dues over the years for this help; assistance…
Don’t tell me that we have 700 Billion (read Seven Hundred BILLION) to hand to AIG and Fannie Mae and those other companies yet we have to quibble over a few thousand dollars per household in a totally devastated area of our great nation. Seriously, don’t tell me that. The CFO or CEO or something of AIG is getting a severance package worth millions and gets to keep his signing bonus worth millions. He’s been with the company 3 weeks (read THREE WEEKS!). How much have we spent in Iraq & Afghanistan over the past seven years? It’s about 870 Billion. Divide that by 7. It equals about 124 billion per year! And the media is still yapping about that.
Someone, anyone, balance it out for us.
We Survived Ike!
Wednesday 24 September
We survived IKE!
By Crystal Laramore
Editing by Deborah Martin & Bill Stratton
Did anyone take note of the way Texans behaved during the recent natural disaster we called a hurricane? Some 800,000 people are still without power in our area. People are only able to enter Galveston Island to look and leave. They are given “re-entry guidelines”. If you go to Galveston Island you have to get a tetanus shot and people are asked to not bring their children onto the island. The city is uninhabitable. Wiped out. Yet, I’ve heard of no riots, no National Guard called in to keep the peace, no murders and no rapes. And as far as I can tell thousands of Galvestonians and Houstonians were not evacuated to another city only to be forgotten.
But that’s ok, all-in-all we took care of our own. And for those who did not have family members to take care of them our Texas Government took care of them, churches took care of them, strangers took care of them, local organizations like the YMCA, FEMA, the Texas National Guard, the Illinois Baptists, DHS and the white house and congress. Actually most of the credit should go to lessons learned all along the chain from the mishandlings of Katrina. Just look to the death toll to find out how well we did. Now, we can’t save every (stupid) person, but we sure try, ya’ll.
Looting? In Texas? Are you kidding me? We have guns. And we have signs to warn you that we have guns. There were signs everywhere that said “You loot, we shoot”.
Rick Perry is our governor and he when he spoke directly to the would-be looters he was clear in his message; “Looting will not be tolerated”. What did he mean? Well, seems no one was interested in testing him or the mettle of their fellow Texans.
And the blame? Where did we place the blame? OK, this is not a silly question. We didn’t blame anyone because there is no one TO blame. Mother Nature is not a real person. I guess we could have blamed the President, seems he is powerful enough to have conjured up hurricanes in the past…
All in all I am proud of the way we reacted to the coming of the storm and the way we are reacting in the aftermath. As for me and my house…I stayed at the restaurant during the high winds and when the worst of it was over I took UB’s advice and opened the doors so that those who needed to could have a place to commiserate; and they did.
We are only open Thursday-Saturday but we’ve not closed once since Ike. Friday night was the calm before the storm. We weren’t very busy but we were very excited. It was a mixture of anticipation and nerves and some calmness that we were so far away from the gulf. We had a real live evacuee from Tiki Island here. He said when he saw his hot tub float away he began packing really, really fast. He had us all at rapt attention while he was telling the story about how fast the water was rising-about a foot every 10 minutes! There were several sideways glances amongst us locals that said “OMG! Why are we still here”?
Part of the reason we were still here-in Ike’s path-was in large part due to media coverage; or lack there of. Oh, well they were ALL around us and they were on the television 24/7 but the coverage was…lacking. And it was inaccurate and each channel had opposing opinions on where the eye was going and if it was going to be a category 3 or 4; it was a 2. The speed of the winds was also apparently hard to determine. We heard anywhere from 75-120 mph. Why? Because 75 doesn’t sound scary and doesn’t get the people’s attention but 120 mph winds…well they can knock over even the most solid of reporters-like Geraldo Rivera. Somebody fire that guy.
What goes through his mind right before he does something really stupid? Don’t answer that. As we huddled around the three televisions in the restaurant listening intently Geraldo gave us something to laugh about. Before long we were no longer paying attention to the news. We were paying attention to Mother Nature. She was right out side and telling us it was time to pay our tabs, close up and go home.
About 1:30 in the morning I was talking to AC (Auntie Cheryl) and the satellite was flickering along with the electricity. Ooooohhhhh. I tried to stay awake but fell asleep and awoke about 4:30 to darkness and loud winds. Oooooohhhhhh. He was here.
As he howled outside the door I walked through the restaurant like a mother hen. The winds were coming in from the East so the courthouse was blocking a lot of the forceful winds from my building. Thank you God! It was eerie. There were many times when my family would call (cuz I have rotary dial phones-call me silly now!) and try to reassure me by saying things like “You survived much worse than this in Baghdad”. No. No I didn’t. But the burning question is “Will I stay again”? Hmmm. Not sure. It was scary but I think it would have been less so if I had not been alone (contingency plan in place for next time!) However, I’m glad I did stay b/c of the service we offered afterwards.
And afterwards came on Sunday. “They” came in droves. UB was right; people needed a hub, a place to gather and tell their war stories and hear others’ stories. People needed hot food and a friendly face. The people needed beer and tequila.
My staff had evacuated except for my bartender Shaun. He and Marty cooked all day on Sunday. We fed a lot of people. And we didn’t just feed them food. We fed them laughter, hugs, smiles, beer and tequila, a hot shower, hot tea, hot food, a soft sofa, a dry place to hang out and beer and tequila.
We’ve served the Army, the DPS troopers (from the Dallas area), the electrical crews, the Sheriff’s Department, the tree trimming crews, Pike Electric, C & H, SHECO, FEMA (that one guy); we served our friends, family, strangers, neighbors; we served beer and tequila and we served those who evacuated from an hour and half away. We were able to serve them because others served us. The Cavalry (aka my father and step-mother) showed up with napkins, paper plates, plastic cups, tomatoes, eggs, propane, candles, ice…and I don’t mean a few of these and some of those…HUNDREDS of each, gallons and gallons of propane (we cooked on the gas grill outside), dozens and dozens of eggs, pounds and pounds of tomatoes but, most of all daddy showed up with a big hug! That’s what I needed most. The other stuff was just ice on the chicken.
Matt & Kelly Bruner brought us a generator. Sysco would not deliver more food until we had either a generator or electricity. (Ok, that is probably b/c some idiot sued them one time for something stupid they did and some idiot attorney took the case and some idiot judge…Read Atlas Shrugged for lessons on taking responsibility for you very own actions). Anyway, the generator seemed the more likely fix given the circumstances…we had a lot of folks to feed and we were eternally grateful! Matt usually sings and entertains us on Saturday nights but this week he and his wife (not any government agency) have cooked, replaced shingles on the roof, cleaned drip pans, washed my laundry and yes even managed to sing and entertain us! JD (not some government agency-but wait…) fixed lights, replaced bulbs, fixed plates, cooked and served our customers. Many, many of my friends and customers brought us things we needed and I and we are eternally grateful.
Our community and our state have been complimented on our patience and understanding by all of the service entities who showed up, in mass, to serve us. I’ve heard that if this would have happened in DC or Detroit people would be shooting each other. My staff and I have been thanked for our hospitality and they are the ones serving us-16 hours a day! Our local officials stepped in and stepped up. The Baptist church, the Methodist church, our local law enforcement and our local politicians all worked tirelessly and around the clock some nights. I am proud to be an American and especially proud to be a Texan. Actually, I’m proud to have capable and helpful friends.
My friend Penny has a flower shop and, sadly, there was a funeral on Sunday. She couldn’t see in her shop so we designed the flower arrangements in the front dining room of my restaurant. My bartender arranged flowers, the florist cooked, Marty and I stepped & fetched and not one person complained all day (OK, Marty and I may have mumbled something about starting a union…it seemed to be the theme throughout the week-thx JD for keeping the dream alive…). We were all tired beyond words but we all kept going. We played cards by candle light, and talked. There was no background noise to divert our attentions so we talked and asked each other questions. We hugged a lot and sent well wishes to each other. We made phone calls and checked on loved ones and let loved ones from afar know we were ok. But we didn’t complain -too much.
Sometime Saturday night while we were playing Attack UNO® by candle light and flash light we realized what was important: good friends and any kind of food-and beer and tequila.
Electricity is a luxury but not a necessity; ice on the other hand… Candles make everyone look better. Hot showers are great but taking cold showers saves water! Clothes can be cleaned without a washing machine and dried without a dryer! The restaurant does NOT have to be spotlessly clean for people to eat/drink here. Men may not be good at mopping or sweeping but they are really good at cleaning gas grills-thx JD! The Army is one big family whether you are in Colorado or Texas; retired or active. ATM’s run on electricity. Cash IS king. Chicken has endless possibilities. After 3 days of eating eggs, Picante sauce is priceless! Caffeine is the BEST drug ever! (Besides beer and tequila.) Text messaging: it’s not just for kids anymore! Gratitude can make you smile in the face of any disaster-so can beer and tequila.
And grateful we were: Grateful we were alive; grateful we had gas to cook with and take hot showers with; grateful we didn’t know one person who died during the storm; grateful we had people who loved us. And, grateful we had hot food, cold beer- and tequila!
We survived IKE!
By Crystal Laramore
Editing by Deborah Martin & Bill Stratton
Did anyone take note of the way Texans behaved during the recent natural disaster we called a hurricane? Some 800,000 people are still without power in our area. People are only able to enter Galveston Island to look and leave. They are given “re-entry guidelines”. If you go to Galveston Island you have to get a tetanus shot and people are asked to not bring their children onto the island. The city is uninhabitable. Wiped out. Yet, I’ve heard of no riots, no National Guard called in to keep the peace, no murders and no rapes. And as far as I can tell thousands of Galvestonians and Houstonians were not evacuated to another city only to be forgotten.
But that’s ok, all-in-all we took care of our own. And for those who did not have family members to take care of them our Texas Government took care of them, churches took care of them, strangers took care of them, local organizations like the YMCA, FEMA, the Texas National Guard, the Illinois Baptists, DHS and the white house and congress. Actually most of the credit should go to lessons learned all along the chain from the mishandlings of Katrina. Just look to the death toll to find out how well we did. Now, we can’t save every (stupid) person, but we sure try, ya’ll.
Looting? In Texas? Are you kidding me? We have guns. And we have signs to warn you that we have guns. There were signs everywhere that said “You loot, we shoot”.
Rick Perry is our governor and he when he spoke directly to the would-be looters he was clear in his message; “Looting will not be tolerated”. What did he mean? Well, seems no one was interested in testing him or the mettle of their fellow Texans.
And the blame? Where did we place the blame? OK, this is not a silly question. We didn’t blame anyone because there is no one TO blame. Mother Nature is not a real person. I guess we could have blamed the President, seems he is powerful enough to have conjured up hurricanes in the past…
All in all I am proud of the way we reacted to the coming of the storm and the way we are reacting in the aftermath. As for me and my house…I stayed at the restaurant during the high winds and when the worst of it was over I took UB’s advice and opened the doors so that those who needed to could have a place to commiserate; and they did.
We are only open Thursday-Saturday but we’ve not closed once since Ike. Friday night was the calm before the storm. We weren’t very busy but we were very excited. It was a mixture of anticipation and nerves and some calmness that we were so far away from the gulf. We had a real live evacuee from Tiki Island here. He said when he saw his hot tub float away he began packing really, really fast. He had us all at rapt attention while he was telling the story about how fast the water was rising-about a foot every 10 minutes! There were several sideways glances amongst us locals that said “OMG! Why are we still here”?
Part of the reason we were still here-in Ike’s path-was in large part due to media coverage; or lack there of. Oh, well they were ALL around us and they were on the television 24/7 but the coverage was…lacking. And it was inaccurate and each channel had opposing opinions on where the eye was going and if it was going to be a category 3 or 4; it was a 2. The speed of the winds was also apparently hard to determine. We heard anywhere from 75-120 mph. Why? Because 75 doesn’t sound scary and doesn’t get the people’s attention but 120 mph winds…well they can knock over even the most solid of reporters-like Geraldo Rivera. Somebody fire that guy.
What goes through his mind right before he does something really stupid? Don’t answer that. As we huddled around the three televisions in the restaurant listening intently Geraldo gave us something to laugh about. Before long we were no longer paying attention to the news. We were paying attention to Mother Nature. She was right out side and telling us it was time to pay our tabs, close up and go home.
About 1:30 in the morning I was talking to AC (Auntie Cheryl) and the satellite was flickering along with the electricity. Ooooohhhhh. I tried to stay awake but fell asleep and awoke about 4:30 to darkness and loud winds. Oooooohhhhhh. He was here.
As he howled outside the door I walked through the restaurant like a mother hen. The winds were coming in from the East so the courthouse was blocking a lot of the forceful winds from my building. Thank you God! It was eerie. There were many times when my family would call (cuz I have rotary dial phones-call me silly now!) and try to reassure me by saying things like “You survived much worse than this in Baghdad”. No. No I didn’t. But the burning question is “Will I stay again”? Hmmm. Not sure. It was scary but I think it would have been less so if I had not been alone (contingency plan in place for next time!) However, I’m glad I did stay b/c of the service we offered afterwards.
And afterwards came on Sunday. “They” came in droves. UB was right; people needed a hub, a place to gather and tell their war stories and hear others’ stories. People needed hot food and a friendly face. The people needed beer and tequila.
My staff had evacuated except for my bartender Shaun. He and Marty cooked all day on Sunday. We fed a lot of people. And we didn’t just feed them food. We fed them laughter, hugs, smiles, beer and tequila, a hot shower, hot tea, hot food, a soft sofa, a dry place to hang out and beer and tequila.
We’ve served the Army, the DPS troopers (from the Dallas area), the electrical crews, the Sheriff’s Department, the tree trimming crews, Pike Electric, C & H, SHECO, FEMA (that one guy); we served our friends, family, strangers, neighbors; we served beer and tequila and we served those who evacuated from an hour and half away. We were able to serve them because others served us. The Cavalry (aka my father and step-mother) showed up with napkins, paper plates, plastic cups, tomatoes, eggs, propane, candles, ice…and I don’t mean a few of these and some of those…HUNDREDS of each, gallons and gallons of propane (we cooked on the gas grill outside), dozens and dozens of eggs, pounds and pounds of tomatoes but, most of all daddy showed up with a big hug! That’s what I needed most. The other stuff was just ice on the chicken.
Matt & Kelly Bruner brought us a generator. Sysco would not deliver more food until we had either a generator or electricity. (Ok, that is probably b/c some idiot sued them one time for something stupid they did and some idiot attorney took the case and some idiot judge…Read Atlas Shrugged for lessons on taking responsibility for you very own actions). Anyway, the generator seemed the more likely fix given the circumstances…we had a lot of folks to feed and we were eternally grateful! Matt usually sings and entertains us on Saturday nights but this week he and his wife (not any government agency) have cooked, replaced shingles on the roof, cleaned drip pans, washed my laundry and yes even managed to sing and entertain us! JD (not some government agency-but wait…) fixed lights, replaced bulbs, fixed plates, cooked and served our customers. Many, many of my friends and customers brought us things we needed and I and we are eternally grateful.
Our community and our state have been complimented on our patience and understanding by all of the service entities who showed up, in mass, to serve us. I’ve heard that if this would have happened in DC or Detroit people would be shooting each other. My staff and I have been thanked for our hospitality and they are the ones serving us-16 hours a day! Our local officials stepped in and stepped up. The Baptist church, the Methodist church, our local law enforcement and our local politicians all worked tirelessly and around the clock some nights. I am proud to be an American and especially proud to be a Texan. Actually, I’m proud to have capable and helpful friends.
My friend Penny has a flower shop and, sadly, there was a funeral on Sunday. She couldn’t see in her shop so we designed the flower arrangements in the front dining room of my restaurant. My bartender arranged flowers, the florist cooked, Marty and I stepped & fetched and not one person complained all day (OK, Marty and I may have mumbled something about starting a union…it seemed to be the theme throughout the week-thx JD for keeping the dream alive…). We were all tired beyond words but we all kept going. We played cards by candle light, and talked. There was no background noise to divert our attentions so we talked and asked each other questions. We hugged a lot and sent well wishes to each other. We made phone calls and checked on loved ones and let loved ones from afar know we were ok. But we didn’t complain -too much.
Sometime Saturday night while we were playing Attack UNO® by candle light and flash light we realized what was important: good friends and any kind of food-and beer and tequila.
Electricity is a luxury but not a necessity; ice on the other hand… Candles make everyone look better. Hot showers are great but taking cold showers saves water! Clothes can be cleaned without a washing machine and dried without a dryer! The restaurant does NOT have to be spotlessly clean for people to eat/drink here. Men may not be good at mopping or sweeping but they are really good at cleaning gas grills-thx JD! The Army is one big family whether you are in Colorado or Texas; retired or active. ATM’s run on electricity. Cash IS king. Chicken has endless possibilities. After 3 days of eating eggs, Picante sauce is priceless! Caffeine is the BEST drug ever! (Besides beer and tequila.) Text messaging: it’s not just for kids anymore! Gratitude can make you smile in the face of any disaster-so can beer and tequila.
And grateful we were: Grateful we were alive; grateful we had gas to cook with and take hot showers with; grateful we didn’t know one person who died during the storm; grateful we had people who loved us. And, grateful we had hot food, cold beer- and tequila!
Glitz, Glamour & Politics
Random Thoughts on Paper
By Crystal Laramore
Editing by Deborah Martin
Contributions by Cheryl Laramore
Oh my. Obama sure surrounded himself with a lot of glitz and glamour didn’t he? Maybe he thinks if the eye is busy looking then the ear cannot hear what is not being said.
Seriously, SOMEBODY, anybody tell me why people like Michael McDonald are voting for him? There cannot be a bigger fan of Michael McDonald out there than me; fan-not fanatic. His voice is sexy, he is sexy, his music is sexy, well you get the picture. His Motown CD is in my car, on my Ipod and in my house and I’ve copied it for my friends. But, sadly I heard him speak at the Obama unveiling last week. Not hidden behind the written word and music, free to speak his feelings, because we all know the rising of Obama is about feelings (cuz it sure ain’t about substance) he lost me. It was the only part of the DNC that I was looking forward to. There he was, seated at his piano. There I was, glued to the television; waiting for him to sing me a love song. But, he started speaking NOT singing. “…Like many of you I think it’s time to take our country back”. Gee, where have I been? I was caught completely unawares. I had no idea someone had taken my country!
Hmmmm. Guess he’s not a big country and western fan. Maybe he knows not of the Dixie Chicks and their fall from grace (See Toby Keith for definition of cause and effect). Maybe he’s old and ready to retire. I hate to say it, but I really have a harder time with what he said than I did with Natalie Maines. She was young, confused, caught up in the moment and obviously has a reputation for not filtering. Michael, well that is a different story. He’s seasoned and yet...what he said he really feels. When are they gonna learn that they are entertainers and they are paid to give us an illusion. They are paid to take us away from reality. They are not paid to speak. They are no Ronald Reagan. There was only one. Just because you have talent and can sing, act, or look attractive doesn’t mean you have any expertise or special knowledge that you need to share with me as an American. The scary thing is that some Americans actually take what these people have to say seriously, thinking they actually know something special just because they can sing. Yes, celebrity does bring responsibility. That is why they shouldn’t speak about their “feelings” regarding issues that affect all of us; people might actually listen to what they “feel” as truth and fact – not just “feelings”. As Laura Ingraham likes to say, “Shut up and sing”!!
My UB (Uncle Bill for all new readers) sends me a copy of the Patriot Perspective from time to time and there was an article by Mark Alexander. He referenced the Dems making decisions based on feelings vs. the GOP making decisions based on what we think. Seems to be the common thread that holds all of us conservatives, strong of mind, free thinking, abstract thinking, America loving, flag waving, gun-toting, Bible thumping folks together; process of thought. If only…
OK, it’s not that we don’t have “feelings”, we have very strong feelings. It’s just that we balance our feelings with thought, logic and yes, facts. We know just because something is said out loud by a political pundit, a newscaster, a preacher, a teacher or the next door neighbor, and ESPECIALLY a political candidate - ANY political candidate - doesn’t mean it is “truth”; likewise we know that just because something is “felt”, it isn’t truth. And we know we have a responsibility to do all we can to discern truth from untruth before making important decisions – like who will lead this great nation.
Seriously, if the Dems were a thinking people, they would not allow folks like Liz Trotta to speak for their party. She was speaking for the liberal (feminist) party today and said that it’s an issue that Sarah Palin is … a mom! Are you kidding me???? Isn’t Obama a dad? Didn’t JFK have young children while serving as President? Didn’t Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton? Did anyone ever question their ability to lead because they had children? NO! Which party is being sexist?
Sarah Palin may be a surprising choice for VP but don’t you like what you see and hear about her? She's a genuine conservative. She IS a reformer. She’s got real American spirit – the kind our forefathers envisioned when they designed our representative form of government. She sees a need and does something about it – beginning with her children’s PTA. She's made tough personal and professional decisions. She’s not the career politician that becomes so enamored with their own position and power they forget they are supposed to representing the “real” people back home. That was never the intent of our founders. It was supposed to be the farmer, who goes to serve for a period, then the banker or the teacher; then they go back home to their real “careers”; the representative service to our local and federal government was never intended to become the career; that leaves far too much room for corruption.
Choices become not about what is best for community, for the nation, but about what will bring re-election. Hmmm….sounds a bit familiar! While I’m sure there are some genuine career politicians with servant’s hearts, we will see this by their actions, not by their words. Words are meaningless unless they are preceded or followed with action – walk the walk, talk the walk. John McCain is one of this rare breed. “I’d rather lose an election, than lose a war” - those words from John McCain were both preceded and followed by his actions in support of our troops and the war against terror. I want real people leading our nation – not those who will say and promise anything to get elected and then make self-serving choices that impact us all. That’s what we did in Elementary School – “Elect Barack for Class President and he’ll give free bubble gum to everyone.” Or “Elect Sally for Class President and she’ll bring cookies for everyone on Friday.” So, we voted based upon nothing more than whether we preferred cookies or bubble gum, or maybe if we knew Barack or Sally would be mad at us and push us down on the playground if we didn’t vote for them. The point is – the person running our country should be about substance, not about words or promises that show no way of how those words or promises will come into fruition and at what cost. That’s the very thing Sarah Palin saw occurring in her home town, in her state and now in her country; she chose to take action, and yes, I’m sure at cost to her personally and to her family; that’s what’s known as “selfless service” to others!! Thank you, Sarah!
Liberals are saying, hey wasn't it great that she had a "choice" to keep her Downs Syndrome baby; as if that made any difference. To her (to quote a bumper sticker) "it's not a choice, it's a child". And THAT, ladies and gentlemen is a fundamental difference between a liberal and a conservative. To a card carrying liberal that precious baby was a choice to be made, not a life to be shared and cherished. If they have that mindset about human life, what in the world makes we the people think they will make decisions based on OUR best interests?!
If you are seriously interested in the promotion of equal rights you best be voting on the ticket that delivers. Who appointed a black man AND a black WOMAN to the position of Secretary of State? Who just chose a WOMAN to be on the ticket as Vice President of the
Barack Obama (to quote Newt Gingrich) flinched on one of the most important decisions of his life; his VP nomination. IF Obama was truly interested in change and the progress of women and minorities he would have chosen Hillary Clinton to stand beside him, NOT a life long politician. No, Barack Hussein Obama ran in the direction of safety and status-quo. John McCain, on the other hand, went with someone who represents
THINK before you vote!
Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap
Random Thoughts on Paper
Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap
By Crystal Laramore
Edited by Deborah Martin
Newsweek calls it Mindless Populism? Seriously? While talking about Sarah
Palin? Being a populist means you have the common man's best interests at
heart. As Vice President she will genuinely fight for the common man (and woman, of course). Barack Hussein Obama, on the other hand, will SAY he's a populist but are his policies really what's best for the rank and file? Not when small business owners, the definition of which he has entirely wrong, will be expected to hire someone and pay their salary just to get a measly $3000 tax credit. However, if you want to talk about popularity Obama will probably win, which has nothing to do with his policies or qualifications. Ever watch Dancing with the Stars? American Idol?America
When I promoted motivational speakers one of my favorites was Les Brown. Les is a black man who was born in a crack house inFlorida
father is unknown. The two things his mother did that were noble were to keep
the boys together and give them up. Les was always called “the stupid twin”. At
a very early age he was diagnosed as being educable mentally retarded. Les went on to become a janitor at a high school and during a commencement ceremony a man with a doctorate’s in psychology was addressing the student body and the graduates and he said they could be anything they wanted to be. He went on to implore the listeners to not let someone’s perception of them to become their reality.
Well, Les thought he was speaking directly to him and of course he was. Les went on to become one of the best motivational speakers in the world. He went on to marry Gladys Knight. His burning passion and desire fuel me still. I can hear his words and his passion every time I’m in a battle; be it spiritual, emotional, personal or business related; “The person most committed to their cause will win”.
Whichever team in this race is most committed to their cause will win, be it the
GOP or the DEM’s. Now, it doesn’t mean we are going to have a fair and balanced competition. See the latest cover of Newsweek for one example. Let’s talk about that for a minute; personally, I think they did young women around the world a tremendous favor. What they’ve done, unintentionally of course, is to
say “Look! Even if you have a blemish, facial hair, large pores or some well-
deserved wrinkles you too can be the GOP Vice Presidential nominee”!
Newsweek has said to the world “Look, beauty is only skin deep. It’s what’s on
the inside that counts. Perfection is in the eye of the beholder. You don’t
have to be perfect to be smart and successful; you have to be tenacious and hard-working and capable of handling the biggest of monsters that are jealous of your success. You have to be able to stand up to powerful forces who will be against you if you are successful and especially if you are successful, female and
smart”. Young women everywhere take note…members of your very own sex-the sex that has fought for equality for centuries-will be jealous and vindictive toward you if you do not believe, hand-in-glove, how they believe.
Newsweek’s cover was a dirty deed and its original intention was cheap. Everyone saw it for what it was. Everyone. So, beware people, the LIBS will stop at NOTHING to win. They are committed if not honest; creative if not beholden to integrity; rich in enthusiasm if not cheap in methodology; clean with nothing if not dirty with everything. We cannot even believe in their voting base. That number is a lie too. (See Acorn and Obama’s attachment to them.)
I’m truly confused why someone votes for a far-left liberal. And make no mistake Barack is no Democrat in the original intent of its definition. He is going to
shrink our military making us more of a target than a super-power. He is going to
socialize medicine and he is going to tax small businesses and large corporations straight out of your job. If you work for one of us your job will be at risk. I will close my doors before I give all of my (meager) earnings to an employee and/or the govt.
The minimum wage will be $7.25 next July. I don’t have anyone in my kitchen
earning $7.25/hour at this moment. Now, the job done well is worth about
$15.00/hour. However, in my community I’ve yet to find someone who can be
committed to menial tasks such as following a recipe consistently; correctly
placing the food orders; correctly checking in the food orders; following the
basic of instructions or even showing up for every shift. Oh, and mind you this
is a 3 ½ day a week job! Hmmmm. So, I’ll be forced to pay someone $7.25/hour
yet I cannot force them to show up on time or do their job well? Yes. And the
Libs want me to GIVE them insurance? Are you serious? People, SOCIALISM is on the move here. VOTER BEWARE!!!
Back to the Newsweek cover: the caption read “She’s one of the Folks” as if that
is a bad thing. How brilliant! Thank goodness she is one of the folks.
Remember people-we’re going for “Change” here… I’m ready for change aren’t you? Barack and Joe keep chanting about change. And as far as I can tell Joe Biden and Barack Hussein Obama ARE NOT one of the folks and will not bring us change; not change that is positive anyway.
How many Supreme Court decisions can you name? Sarah Palin knew (for sure) of one Supreme Court decision. I bet you can name it cuz it’s the one all of
us “folks” know. It’s probably the only one most of us “folks” know. More proof
that she really is “One of the Folks”. Thanks Newsweek for pointing that out.
Who knew?
Another thing she brings to the table/ticket is integrity. Anyone who wants to
put the national checkbook on the internet is ok by me. That way there is no
room for unethical behavior. It’s all right there for the public to see-in black
and white. At my restaurant the profit/loss spreadsheet is available for
everyone to see. If there is a question about tips or where money goes - it’s on
a spreadsheet and backed up by receipts. I’ve asked for a TABC audit twice
(which is apparently unheard of). I call the health dept. in when they are over
their time for an inspection. I do all of this b/c I do not do anything I mind
the staff seeing. I want to trust them and they need to trust me.
Trust…it’s a small word which carries a big burden. Trusting in someone or
something is scary. Yet when we find significant people in our lives we can
trust don’t we sleep better at night? We trust our mates, our children, our
bosses, our spiritual leaders and we should be able to trust our world leaders.
That is why I will vote for John McCain and Sarah Palin; I trust them. I trust
them with the security of our Nation. I trust they will make decisions that are
best for our economy and our reputation as a superpower. I trust they will abide
by our constitution and hold others to the same standards. I trust they will not
be partisan to party lines but partisan to Americans. I also trust that every
vote will count-once.
Most importantly I trust that race will not be an issue but protecting our
country from terrorism will be and when the call comes in at 3 a.m. I don’t care
if John McCain or Sarah Palin picks up the receiver!
Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap
By Crystal Laramore
Edited by Deborah Martin
Newsweek calls it Mindless Populism? Seriously? While talking about Sarah
Palin? Being a populist means you have the common man's best interests at
heart. As Vice President she will genuinely fight for the common man (and woman, of course). Barack Hussein Obama, on the other hand, will SAY he's a populist but are his policies really what's best for the rank and file? Not when small business owners, the definition of which he has entirely wrong, will be expected to hire someone and pay their salary just to get a measly $3000 tax credit. However, if you want to talk about popularity Obama will probably win, which has nothing to do with his policies or qualifications. Ever watch Dancing with the Stars? American Idol?
When I promoted motivational speakers one of my favorites was Les Brown. Les is a black man who was born in a crack house in
father is unknown. The two things his mother did that were noble were to keep
the boys together and give them up. Les was always called “the stupid twin”. At
a very early age he was diagnosed as being educable mentally retarded. Les went on to become a janitor at a high school and during a commencement ceremony a man with a doctorate’s in psychology was addressing the student body and the graduates and he said they could be anything they wanted to be. He went on to implore the listeners to not let someone’s perception of them to become their reality.
Well, Les thought he was speaking directly to him and of course he was. Les went on to become one of the best motivational speakers in the world. He went on to marry Gladys Knight. His burning passion and desire fuel me still. I can hear his words and his passion every time I’m in a battle; be it spiritual, emotional, personal or business related; “The person most committed to their cause will win”.
Whichever team in this race is most committed to their cause will win, be it the
GOP or the DEM’s. Now, it doesn’t mean we are going to have a fair and balanced competition. See the latest cover of Newsweek for one example. Let’s talk about that for a minute; personally, I think they did young women around the world a tremendous favor. What they’ve done, unintentionally of course, is to
say “Look! Even if you have a blemish, facial hair, large pores or some well-
deserved wrinkles you too can be the GOP Vice Presidential nominee”!
Newsweek has said to the world “Look, beauty is only skin deep. It’s what’s on
the inside that counts. Perfection is in the eye of the beholder. You don’t
have to be perfect to be smart and successful; you have to be tenacious and hard-working and capable of handling the biggest of monsters that are jealous of your success. You have to be able to stand up to powerful forces who will be against you if you are successful and especially if you are successful, female and
smart”. Young women everywhere take note…members of your very own sex-the sex that has fought for equality for centuries-will be jealous and vindictive toward you if you do not believe, hand-in-glove, how they believe.
Newsweek’s cover was a dirty deed and its original intention was cheap. Everyone saw it for what it was. Everyone. So, beware people, the LIBS will stop at NOTHING to win. They are committed if not honest; creative if not beholden to integrity; rich in enthusiasm if not cheap in methodology; clean with nothing if not dirty with everything. We cannot even believe in their voting base. That number is a lie too. (See Acorn and Obama’s attachment to them.)
I’m truly confused why someone votes for a far-left liberal. And make no mistake Barack is no Democrat in the original intent of its definition. He is going to
shrink our military making us more of a target than a super-power. He is going to
socialize medicine and he is going to tax small businesses and large corporations straight out of your job. If you work for one of us your job will be at risk. I will close my doors before I give all of my (meager) earnings to an employee and/or the govt.
The minimum wage will be $7.25 next July. I don’t have anyone in my kitchen
earning $7.25/hour at this moment. Now, the job done well is worth about
$15.00/hour. However, in my community I’ve yet to find someone who can be
committed to menial tasks such as following a recipe consistently; correctly
placing the food orders; correctly checking in the food orders; following the
basic of instructions or even showing up for every shift. Oh, and mind you this
is a 3 ½ day a week job! Hmmmm. So, I’ll be forced to pay someone $7.25/hour
yet I cannot force them to show up on time or do their job well? Yes. And the
Libs want me to GIVE them insurance? Are you serious? People, SOCIALISM is on the move here. VOTER BEWARE!!!
Back to the Newsweek cover: the caption read “She’s one of the Folks” as if that
is a bad thing. How brilliant! Thank goodness she is one of the folks.
Remember people-we’re going for “Change” here… I’m ready for change aren’t you? Barack and Joe keep chanting about change. And as far as I can tell Joe Biden and Barack Hussein Obama ARE NOT one of the folks and will not bring us change; not change that is positive anyway.
How many Supreme Court decisions can you name? Sarah Palin knew (for sure) of one Supreme Court decision. I bet you can name it cuz it’s the one all of
us “folks” know. It’s probably the only one most of us “folks” know. More proof
that she really is “One of the Folks”. Thanks Newsweek for pointing that out.
Who knew?
Another thing she brings to the table/ticket is integrity. Anyone who wants to
put the national checkbook on the internet is ok by me. That way there is no
room for unethical behavior. It’s all right there for the public to see-in black
and white. At my restaurant the profit/loss spreadsheet is available for
everyone to see. If there is a question about tips or where money goes - it’s on
a spreadsheet and backed up by receipts. I’ve asked for a TABC audit twice
(which is apparently unheard of). I call the health dept. in when they are over
their time for an inspection. I do all of this b/c I do not do anything I mind
the staff seeing. I want to trust them and they need to trust me.
Trust…it’s a small word which carries a big burden. Trusting in someone or
something is scary. Yet when we find significant people in our lives we can
trust don’t we sleep better at night? We trust our mates, our children, our
bosses, our spiritual leaders and we should be able to trust our world leaders.
That is why I will vote for John McCain and Sarah Palin; I trust them. I trust
them with the security of our Nation. I trust they will make decisions that are
best for our economy and our reputation as a superpower. I trust they will abide
by our constitution and hold others to the same standards. I trust they will not
be partisan to party lines but partisan to Americans. I also trust that every
vote will count-once.
Most importantly I trust that race will not be an issue but protecting our
country from terrorism will be and when the call comes in at 3 a.m. I don’t care
if John McCain or Sarah Palin picks up the receiver!
Waits and Measures
Crystal Laramore
Special editing by Deborah Martin and Cheryl Laramore
Waits and Measures(Ok, I meant to spell it that way…)
Do you ever get the feeling that finding that special someone is like voting for the right person for President? Is that person really out there?
Is it possible to really get to know someone before you cast that vote? (Hey, this is the only way I could figure out how to tie this article to dating. Sorry. It’s all I got.)
Special editing by Deborah Martin and Cheryl Laramore
Waits and Measures(Ok, I meant to spell it that way…)
Do you ever get the feeling that finding that special someone is like voting for the right person for President? Is that person really out there?
Is it possible to really get to know someone before you cast that vote? (Hey, this is the only way I could figure out how to tie this article to dating. Sorry. It’s all I got.)
Lately I’ve been watching a lot of press coverage on Obama. Why? Well, I think I can honestly say that I already know what McCain stands for. So, before I cast a vote I also need to know what Obama stands for. How can one make an educated decision unless they know ALL the facts about EVERY candidate?
Sidebar: While I was in the Green Zone working at the U.S. Embassy I was fortunate enough to help run congressional delegations in and out of the Green Zone. One such delegation was the McCain/Clinton Delegation. McCain’s name was first b/c he is a Sr. Senator; having said that, McCain was essentially her peer. Snicker.
We (The Ambassador {John Negroponte}), The Chief of Protocol and myself along with some Iraqi staff members were standing ready to receive our distinguished guests when they arrived in their up-armored vehicles with plenty of pomp and stance. It was always such a thrill for me when dignitaries arrived. It was everything you’ve ever seen on television and then some (it was a war zone you know). Patriotic doesn’t begin to describe…
Anyway,
Umph. Well, that didn’t sit well with us. We were all staunch republicans standing about the place ready to shake hands with our hero and hopefully the next President of the
Thankfully, McCain recovered his hero status with us after the press conference when he shook all of our hands and snatched Clinton from her Face the Nation pedestal and yelled “It’s time to go!” She leapt up, grabbed her brief case and followed like a whipped puppy. Ahhh.
Now, back to Obama; if someone IS voting for him, I’d really like to know why. A few weeks ago I was watching Terry Moran from Nightline interview him in one of Sadam’s palaces in the Green Zone. It was like watching an interview take place in my own dining room. There he was where I sat many a time with some of the bravest men I’ve ever met. There he sat waiting and measuring. The man could barely answer a question for all the thought he put into each word. It was painful listening to him. And when he was finally capable of letting words pass through his lips: What? I was so frustrated I sent a friend of mine (former Army Ranger) a text message saying something to the effect of “What ARE the American people thinking? Are they asleep”?
The man has no clear, concise plan. No, he doesn’t. First he said “I do not believe we should use the strategic oil reserves at this time”, Then he says “We should sell 70 million barrels…from our strategic oil reserves…” now he’s saying it’s a shame to drill offshore… I’m telling you people, be astute in your voting. Know both candidates and decide wisely. Voting is a privilege, not a right. Vote responsibly.
And, before you vote for a bleeding heart liberal who has no plan other than to “provide free prescription drugs, free health care, free, free, and free; listen to me.
It is NOT free. I am paying for it. And while you may be poor and maybe even a friend of mine, I do not want to pay your way. It is not my responsibility to pay your way. Whose is it then? Well YOURS of course.
One day on the radio we were having this discussion and a caller called in and said that he needed more than the $900.00 he was getting a month from disability. I told him it was not my responsibility to pay him more. Why should I? Well, he said he was in a wheel chair; again, while I truly am sorry that he is in a wheel chair it is still not my responsibility to take care of him. And if you are in a similar situation is completely unfair for you to think the world owes you because…It is the responsibility of your family, your church, your friends and yourself to provide the necessities of life for you. Nothing is free. If we keep taxing those of us who work into a lose-win situation, we’re all gonna stop working. (See Atlas Shrugged), then where will you be? Uh?
Once upon a time my friend Richard got a divorce from Sophia. She didn’t work. Never did; drank a lot; partied a lot; slept around a lot. Well, they had two children so when he finally divorced her he got to pay child support. (That’s a WHOLE separate article…) Every year she would drag him to court to raise the child support. One day, he visited with his financial advisor and she told him that at the age of 45 he could retire; not in lavish lifestyle, but very comfortable. So he did. Now she barely gets any child support and
Whenever someone tells me they are voting for a liberal candidate I wonder if they have a job. I always ask them if they enjoy looking at how much they made then scrolling to how much they are actually taking home. Mostly, they say no. Then why on earth are you going to vote someone into office that is going to take more from you? What are you people thinking??????
Barack cannot spit out a complete thought based on his experience. He stutters, he thinks, he weighs every answer. That scares me. I want a leader that has so much knowledge about his subject (global economics, global peace, etc.) that he doesn’t have to rack his brain to give us an answer he thinks we are gonna like. Didn’t we already have eight years of that with the
I am attaching a blurb I was sent that was read on the Walton & Johnson show in
“Each year I get to celebrate Independence Day twice. On June 30, I celebrate my independence day and on July 4, I celebrate America\'s. This year is special because it marks the 40th anniversary of my independence.
On June 30, 1968, I escaped Communist Cuba, and a few months later I was in the
I've thought a lot about the anniversary this year. The election-year rhetoric has made me think a lot about
When the young leader spoke eloquently and passionately and denounced the old system, the press fell in love with him. They never questioned who his friends were or what he really believed in. When he said he would help the farmers and the poor and bring free medical care and education to all, everyone followed. When he said he would bring justice and equality to all, everyone said \'Praise the Lord\'. And when the young leader said, ‘I will be for change and I'll bring you change’ everyone yelled, 'Viva Fidel'!
But nobody asked about the change, so by the time the executioner's guns went silent the people's guns had been taken away. By the time everyone was equal, they were equally poor, hungry, and oppressed. By the time everyone received their free education it was worth nothing. By the time the press noticed, it was too late, because they were now working for him. By the time the change was finally implemented
over more than a million people had taken to boats, rafts, and inner tubes. You can call those who made it ashore anywhere else in the world, most fortunate Cubans. And, now, I'm back to the beginning of my story.
Luckily, we would never fall in
Would we?”
So vote like you’re gonna be married to them for the next 8 years. You might as well be: that person is going to decide how much money you get to put in your pocket!
What I know for Sure
Random Thoughts on Paper
By: Crystal Laramore
www.montgomerycountynews.net
What I Know for Sure
Well, the older we get the wiser we get, right? I’m not so sure these days. I knew more last week than I know this week. For instance, I thought Colin Powell was endorsing John McCain. Hmmmmm. As I asked of one of my friends “Has Colin Powell lost his mind”?
By: Crystal Laramore
www.montgomerycountynews.net
What I Know for Sure
Well, the older we get the wiser we get, right? I’m not so sure these days. I knew more last week than I know this week. For instance, I thought Colin Powell was endorsing John McCain. Hmmmmm. As I asked of one of my friends “Has Colin Powell lost his mind”?
What I do know for sure is riding a bike with the right kind of (padded) shorts is better than not. What I know for sure is the Samba is a very hard dance to learn but it’s a great work out. What I know for sure is that my right knee isn’t as strong as it used to be but my heart, mind, body, spirit and soul are much stronger. What I know for sure is that great friends will serve you beer and tequila when you need it-dressed or undressed (the tequila…)
What I know for sure is the kind of man I want to lead me spiritually, romantically, mentally and politically. What I know for sure is the kind of man I want leading my country. And I want all of those men to have the same qualities. I want strength, integrity, wisdom, discernment, courage, passion, loyalty, trust and love of God and Country. When women think about their partners they want to feel safe; it’s no different at our house than at the White House. We want to trust the man sleeping in both beds. I want to trust that my man will keep me from harm and protect me and our family and our home at all costs. I want a man who has the ear of God and the discernment to do what is right, not what is easy. It’s what ALL women want.
And, that IS what MOST Americans want in their president.
When I look at Barack Hussein Obama I don’t see that. When I read about him, I don’t read about those qualities. When I listen to him, I do not hear those qualities coming across with the words he chooses nor do I see it in his actions. My grandfather used to tell me “What you do speaks so loudly I cannot hear what you say”.
As more and more young men/women sign up for one branch or the other of the armed services, I cannot help but think they want a man they can place their trust in too. They want a leader with honor and integrity. If you were signing up to defend people you do not know, but a county you love wouldn’t you want the man sleeping at the White House to be a man of honor and integrity? Wouldn’t you want him to love God and Country? Wouldn’t you want him to have experience in foreign policy? Wouldn’t you want to know that he was going to defend you at all costs?
I also know for sure that music moves (most of) us. Music is the glue that holds our mind to a certain memory from a special time or a special someone. The class of 1978 had their 30 year reunion at my restaurant Saturday night. Does “I’m your boogie man…” bring back any memories? What about “Let’s get it on”? For me, almost every song I hear triggers SOME memory. There are several men in my life that chose to serve our great country. When I look at them or think of them I think of Toby Keith’s song “American Soldier”. I’ve included the words for you to chew on before you vote:
“…Up and at 'em bright and early,
I'm all business in my suit,
Yeah, I'm dressed up for success from my head down to my boots,
I don't do it for money, there's still bills that I can't pay,
I don't do it for the glory, I just do it anyway,
Providing for our future's my responsibility,
Yeah I'm real good under pressure, being all that I can be,
And I can't call in sick on Mondays when the weekends been to strong,
I just work straight through the holidays,
Sometimes all night long.
And you can bet that I stand ready when the wolf growls at the door,
Hey, I'm solid, hey I'm steady, hey I'm true down to the core,
And I will always do my duty, no matter what the price,
I've counted up the cost, I know the sacrifice,
Oh, and I don't want to die for you,
But if dyin's asked of me,
I'll bear that cross with an honor,
'Cause freedom don't come free.
I'm an American soldier, an American,
Beside my brothers and my sisters I will proudly take a stand,
When liberty's in jeopardy I will always do what's right,
I'm out here on the front lines, sleep in peace tonight.
American soldier, I'm an American,
An American,
An American Soldier”
Shouldn’t the same hold true for our President?
This week has been a week of reflection, thought and hard decisions. It’s been a week of study, prayer and deep thought. Exercising our right to vote should be given the same thoughtful attention. Voting happens every year right before/on my birthday and this year what I know for sure is that I’m voting for honor, integrity, courage, loyalty and strength…for my gift to myself and my gift to my country.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
