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 United States of America? Which platform has paved the way for more women/minorities in America to achieve the highest office we have to offer? Look at George Bush’s record on appointments of women and minorities in high offices. The GOP does not feel it should empower women and minorities-it DOES empower women and minorities!

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 America. She is one of us. John McCain is one of us.

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’s Got Talent? The winners are not necessarily the best but they certainly are the most popular.

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 Florida. He was a twin. His
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!