An open letter

I came across this on Knowledge is Power and, as is my custom, shamelessly copied it for your enjoyment—or distress, if that is the case. It was lifted directly from zardoz and you might want to drop by, read, and whatever else you do when you find a blog you don’t normally read. Our family thought it was a good idea but as usual, you may disagree. Read it and give it some thought.

“Dear American liberals, leftists, social progressives, socialists, Marxists, Obama supporters, et al:

We have stuck together since the late 1950’s, but the whole of this latest election process has made me realize that I want a divorce. I know we tolerated each other for many years for the sake of future generations, but sadly, this relationship has run its course. Our two ideological sides of America cannot, and will not ever agree on what is right, so let’s just end it on friendly terms. We can smile, chalk it up to irreconcilable differences, and go our own way…

Here is a model separation agreement:

Our two groups can equitably divide up the country by landmass each taking a portion. That will be the difficult part, but I am sure our two sides can come to a friendly agreement. After that it should be relatively easy! Our respective representatives can effortlessly divide other assets since both sides have such distinct and disparate tastes. We don’t like redistributive taxes so you can keep them. You are welcome to the liberal judges and the ACLU. Since you hate guns and war, we’ll take our firearms, the cops, the NRA, and the military. You can keep Oprah, Michael Moore, and Rosie O’Donnell (You are, however, responsible for finding a bio-diesel vehicle big enough to move all three of them) …

We’ll keep the capitalism, greedy corporations, pharmaceutical companies, Wal-Mart, and Wall Street. You can have your beloved homeless, homeboys, hippies, and illegal aliens. We’ll keep the hot Alaskan hockey moms, greedy CEO’s, and rednecks. We’ll keep the bibles and give you NBC and Hollywood. You can make nice with Iran and Palestine and we’ll retain the right to invade and hammer places that threaten us. You can have the peaceniks, and war protesters. When our allies or our way of life are under assault, we’ll help provide them security.We’ll keep our Judeo-Christian values. You are welcome to Islam, Scientology, Humanism, and Shirley McClain.. You can also have the U.N. But we will no longer be paying the bill.

We’ll keep the SUVs, pickup trucks, and oversized luxury cars. You can take every Subaru station wagon you can find.

You can give everyone healthcare, if you can find any practicing doctors. We’ll continue to believe healthcare is a luxury and not a right. We’ll keep The Battle Hymn of the Republic and the National Anthem. I’m sure you’ll be happy to substitute Imagine, I’d Like to Teach the World to Sing, Kum Ba Ya, or We Are the World.

We’ll practice trickle down economics, and you can give trickle up poverty your best shot. Since it often so offends you we’ll keep our history, our name, and our flag.

Would you agree to this? If so please pass it along to other like minded liberal and conservative patriots, and if you do not agree, just hit delete. In the spirit of friendly parting, I’ll bet you ANWAR which one of us will need whose help in 15 years.

Sincerely,

John J. Wall. Law Student and an American

P.S. Also, please take Barbara Streisand.”

There it is; my best effort for today.


In His abiding love,

Cecil Moon

Infrastructure

Much has been made over the new administration and their plans to re-vitalize the sagging economy. One of the features has been expressed as a desire to improve the economy by enhancing the existing infrastructure.

I am certain that there are many bridges, highways, and other public facilities which could use repair, updating, resurfacing, etc.. After the first 1000 miles of my trip, I reflected upon which part of my travels would be affected by these improvements. Granted, I was exposed, so far, to a very limited part of the overall picture, but, I was generally impressed by the work done by the states of Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Nebraska to maintain their rights of way and insure my safe passage.

I have a dislike for interstate highway travel and stick pretty much to the other federal, state and, in some cases, even county roads. I plan trips based on mileage and not speed. I find it more leisurely and tend to stay more alert when driving the back roads as opposed to the mind numbing boredom of the interstate. I also enjoy the opportunity to eat in the tiny downtown cafes where the dress code is bib overalls and the food is plain yet delicious. It’s also an opportunity to observe how the locals built their porch, or the density—or lack—of animal populations and crop assignment, or how cleverly they disguise their mail boxes. I also get to drive by some really meaningless, yet interesting, stuff like the “world’s largest ball of twine” which I saw yesterday in Cawker City, Kansas. It wasn’t meaningless to the guy who started it back in 1953.

Through it all, the evidence of a need for infrastructure improvement seems more like a need to throw money at contractors and other huge corporate entities than a device to enhance employment and actually improve what we already have. It is possible that my criticism is based on too small a sample and largely away from the bulging urban centers of the east coast which by virtue (?) of a large population, use is more abusive of the public facilities they have. Out in the “sticks”, the locals tend to keep things up extremely well.

I realize that it is not our job to run this show but I am also aware of who’s going to pay for it. Yep, it will be the same folks who always put up the front money for these lavish federal programs: you and I.

In Boston, the infamous “Big Dig” project was originally slated to be an obscene $6 billion dollar affair. Subsequent cost overruns amounted to an increase over the original by—are you ready—$16,000,000,000.00. It was also accompanied by a seven-year extension of the estimated time for completion. Many little things were overlooked by the original planners such as failing to notice the 19,000 plus seat Fleet Center. It was not a “vacant lot” as was indicated on the working plans! Such errors were the rule and not the exception. This, dear readers, is improving infrastructure at work.

The opportunity for waste, fraud, greed, corruption, and outright criminal activity is rife. I will admit my understanding of economics is shaky at best but it seems to me that when money is tight, you are better advised to quit spending. At least cut back until rosier times arrive. Enriching contractors, architects, and other highly paid fat cats is not a viable answer. Maybe they could go to Cawker City and get some down home advice for a possible solution.

In His abiding love,


Cecil Moon

Monday Morning Rant 73

I confess! I’m cheating this morning. As you read this, I shall soon be arriving in Douglas, Wyoming and an overdue visit with my eight grandchildren there and their parents. As the week wears on, I shall make my way to Las Vegas to visit the five additional little ones and life-long friends. On the 18th I will travel to Phoenix to watch my daughter’s attempt to run a marathon and then proceed to Tucson for a few days with my son and his family. There I not only get to be with grandchildren but also three great-grand children. Whew! If the weather does not interrupt my schedule, I should be back in the Ozarks in about twelve days. I would certainly appreciate your prayers for a safe trip.

The bottom line is that posting will be spotty for this period but I do hope to be able work in something from a place or two along the line. Thanks in advance for your patience.

Semantics

There is really nothing new here. In forming the language of the pilfering of the US Treasury, we find the oncoming new government leaders turning to their Thesaurus to attempt to alleviate the pain of plunging the nation into huge debt.

To make the process more palatable to the citizenry, they have formed focus groups and panels of “normal” people to evaluate their reaction to the use of every day words. The venerable and accurate words “recession” and “infrastructure” will be replaced with the softer sounding “recovery” and “investment.” Apparently these words are less scary to those involved in the polls and panels assigned to soften the language to ensure the passage of pending legislation.

The word choice attempts to take the best of the progressive and the best of the conservative thought on the matter and achieve a “fusion” of the two for the desired result—redistributing our national wealth to the least deserving. Whether corporation or citizen, those who cannot manage their resources qualify for that description. Those who look to the government as a role model may now dependably reverse each decision made in the hallowed halls of Washington and be on track to a successful outcome.

One of the huge downsides to Gov. Palin was her apparent inability to use this technique and “appear” learned and slick instead of her habit of just blurting out the truth. It is reminiscent of the phrase used by the tough Marine colonel in “A Few Good Men” when he said; “You want the truth? You can’t handle the truth!” Have we grown so soft and touchy-feely that we must be protected constantly from the vile affect of language used accurately?

Mrs. Pelosi (D-San Franfreakshow) reportedly said; “People don’t know the details, but, they like the brand.” In other words, if you obfuscate the message with vocabulary, you may achieve your intended result through deception. Sure sounds like Congress to me. How many times have you gone to the polls to vote and found a series of initiatives listed there of which you really didn’t have prior knowledge? As you read through the scant description were you confused that the title of issue called for the exact opposite of the meat of it?

There is only one conclusion I can draw from all of this. It puts the absolute lie to that old saw that grandpa used so often, “you can’t polish a turd!”

Bad News on Illegitimacy

In the latest posting from the National Review Online we find some remarks by Roger Clegg. To avoid error in the lifting of the information, I am quoting it in its entirety. It pretty much speaks for itself but I had no idea that the numbers were that high.

“As mentioned yesterday, the National Center for Health Statistics came out with its latest numbers yesterday (final data for 2006), and they aren't good. By population subgroup, the percentage of children born out of wedlock is 70.7 percent for non-Hispanic blacks, 64.6 percent for American Indians/Alaska Natives, 49.9 percent for Hispanics, 26.6 percent for non-Hispanic whites, and 16.5 percent for Asians/Pacific Islanders.. Illegitimacy correlates with just about any social problem you can name (poverty, crime, dropping out of school, substance abuse, etc.), and it — not discrimination — is the principal cause of racial disparities in all these areas. But NRO readers know all that.”

It is little wonder that we see in the institution of marriage under constant attack. We are all obviously aware of the assault from the homosexual community but this is a far greater threat. It speaks, in my mind, to the irresponsibility of the fathers. If we have not raised boys to be men I see little hope of altering these numbers.
“Men” is not defined by the ability to father children but rather as a result of character development and discipline. It is a state which is attained through teaching in the home and the example which is established there. Lacking this, I see no clear reason for these numbers to change any time soon.

And finally

As I approach the upcoming reunion with various segments of my family I am constantly amazed by God’s love and mercy in allowing a sinner the joy of repentance. Barring that I seriously doubt I could enjoy the associations I am so looking forward to. There was a time that I looked and heard with some amusement the allegation of committed Christians that; “I am not perfect, just forgiven.” I now fully realize the importance of that statement.

Rejoice with me; I’m out of here.

In His abiding love,

Cecil Moon