I usually loathe the holidays and have been quoted as saying I would rather take a sleeping pill before Thanksgiving and wake up in January than suffer the rough the season. It's different this year and I haven't quite put my finger on the reason why. I crawled into the attic today to gather the Christmas decorations and I actually enjoyed it.
I have friends who will experience their first holiday season with the absence of loved ones lost this year. I know how you feel and my heart goes out to you. All I can say is that it does get easier. In my case, I suspect it has something to do with having my granddaughter around. I might not ever figure out why. I've decided not to second guess it this year. I'll just roll with it.
Where am I going and what am I doing in this hand basket?
I wish I could say I was surprised at the outcome of the Presidential election, but I'm not. I really wish I could comment on Obama's loss, but I can't. Notice I didn't say "Romney's win". I was never a Romney fan, but when the only alternative was Barack Obama, Sun Tsu's well known axiom comes to mind.
Nevertheless, America has voted and it did so in record numbers. In fact, Ohio and other states had voter turnouts exceeding 100% of the registered populace! I predicted voter fraud would bubble to the surface after the election and it appears to be doing so in various forms. Still, whatever fraud can be proven will not be enough to overcome the slight popular vote margins Obama received. Liberals can celebrate the fact that Obama will be re-inaugurated in January.
Rush Limbaugh said "America voted for Santa Clause instead of work". Hate Rush if you will, but this was a pretty astute observation. The sad fact is that more Americans would rather receive five dollars per hour for doing nothing than ten for doing legitimate work. My mother raised me to be self sufficient and accountable for not just my own actions, but for my own success. I have done my best to do the same with my sons and so far, they're on the right track. Obama's America is an entitlement America. This administration's goal is to create a society so dependent on the government that they can't even envision creating their own success and wealth. College graduates today don't need to worry about actually achieving anything on their own because the message to them is clear that government has got their back.
I predict it won't be long after the celebrations are over before those riding high on post election euphoria will begin to experience a post election economic hangover. The President has clearly stated publicly that his policies will drive up the cost of common resources that all Americans need. The President' comment on electricity rates is below. In 2008, Steven Chu (Obama's Energy Secretary) stated "Somehow we have to figure out how to boost the price of gasoline to the levels in Europe."
All Americans need electricity. All Americans buy gasoline. Almost every aspect of our lives depends on gas and electrical power. We drive to work. We drive to play. Even those who refuse to work have to go cash their welfare checks. Everything we buy is transported in the US by rail or truck. Many people said in exit polls that they voted for Obama to stick it to the wealthy. If you're one of those people, you're the ultimate example of cutting your nose off to spite your face. You're also a tool, but that's obvious to everyone (except for maybe you). You will pay the same price for gas and electricity as those to whom you stuck it. The meager margin of cash you might have after paying your bills (assuming you pay them) will be even more meager when you're paying $5.00 for a gallon of gas. Just remember YOU voted for it. The election was not just Romney's loss, or even my loss. I see it as America's loss.
So now what? What about the Republican Party? As an independent, I see it this way. The Republican party has its place, but it needs to refocus its energy and its policies. Exit polls also highlighted a fear among voters that Romney's religious values. I find this about as rational as prayer, but I digress. If "morality" could have ever been legislated in America, it would have happened during the Reagan years. The fact is even the most religious among us don't give a shit about stalwart Republican issues like abortion and gay marriage. Romney himself was pro choice in years past. I actually like Joe Biden's comment when asked how he reconciled his stance on abortion with his Catholic faith. Biden stated that while he shared the Catholic church's stance, he did not see it as his responsibility to force it on others. The Republicans could learn a lot from Biden on this one.
Democrats want the government out of our bedrooms, but insist on forcing religious organizations to bow to their policies on birth control options and on being in our kitchens limiting our salt, fat, soda sizes, etc. They hail the smallest microbe found in a drop of water on the planet Mars as proof of extraterrestrial life, yet deny that a fetus on earth is "alive" until some gestational time has been reached. Republicans claim to want smaller government, but insist on enforcing "moral " issues like abortion, drugs, and marriage eligibility.
Republicans need to refocus. I believe Obama would have been decidedly defeated by a candidate who ran on a platform of fiscal conservatism absent of all the morality bullshit. I believe also that this is because those Americans who actually work for a living would prefer to keep more of that they earn. It's said that the Hispanic vote was key to Obama's win. The Hispanics I know work much harder than I do and and more than many liberals I know. They work their asses off. I don't recall ever seeing a Mexican on the corner with a sign begging for money. The republican party might stand a better chance in 2016 if they accept reality and adjust their platform and reach out to a hard working, family oriented demographic like Hispanics.
My plan for the next few years is to further apply the lessons I learned in "The Virtue of Selfishness" by Ayn Rand. Read it before you roll your eyes (if it's not too late). You just might find there's more to it than the title. I turned 50 years old a couple of weeks ago and the lessons my mother taught me are applicable now more than ever. I'm keeping myself physically fit because although I'm fortunate to have a job where my health insurance only costs me $6,000 per year (whether I use it or not), I'm far too much a realist to believe that Obamacare won't negatively impact it. I believe in my Second Amendment rights and I am taking advantage of them while I can. I have also significantly increased my savings this year with a focus on measures to keep the government from looting the fruits of my labor and redistributing them to the ever-increasing moocher class. After all, I am a proud producer and regardless of who my President is, I know what's mine.
I believe things will be very different in this country in the next few years, if not months. I don't expect the House of Representatives to stand their ground against the Democrat controlled Senate and a compliant mainstream media certainly won't help. If you voted for Obama, I'm happy that you're happy. I predict however, that you will feel more like I do sooner than later.
I've been out of the country with no access to email or even a cell phone. While I had a wonderful time, I'm conflicted because I left you people for a week and you re-elected the Marxist. I have plenty to say about that, but not till I dig out from under the pile that accumulated on my desk and in my email inbox.
What gives? We're into November in a general election year and there's no sleazy Democrat desperation campaign stunt to reveal some astounding news to embarrass the Republican candidate. Still, as desperate as the Obama campaign is at this point, it has become clear to me why there wasn't an October Surprise. The concept of the October surprise is to guard some little known salacious information about the opposing candidate and then spring it on the public late in the election cycle. With George W Bush, it was his DUI arrest during the 2000 election. It didn't work.
The President's surrogates like Debbie Wasserman Shultz and Stephani
Cutter are about as sleazy as anyone in the history of politics. Both
have been caught in lies red handed with video and audio proof and of
course, the mainstream media ignores it. If there was supposed to be an October surprise, it's logical that it might have come from them. Wasserman Shultz's reputation is so jaded that I see little chance of anyone taking anything she says seriously. Stephanie Cutter has demonstrated that she is arrogant enough to make a go of it anyway. Cutter served on Ted Kennedy's Senatorial campaign against Romney in 1994 and it's a given that if there were any dirt on Romney, it would have been brought to light then. Romney has had an eye on the Presidency for years and if his Mormon upbringing wasn't enough to keep him somnolently boring and squeaky clean, his political aspirations were. If there were any dirt on Romney other than him crating his dog, Cutter would have exposed it back in 1994.
So we're into November with less than a week to go and the October surprise window of opportunity has passed. Maybe the surprise was that the sleaze level had dropped to its lowest possible level prior to October.
Well, the brunt of the campaigns are over and the debates are behind us. All that's left is for Americans to perform their Constitutional duty and cast their vote. I voted early last week because I will be out of the country on election day. I usually enjoy the event of voting on the second Tuesday of November. I enjoy the crowds, the banter, and hearing everyone's opinions. The county I live in leans heavily to the right, so the conversations are predictable to say the least. When I cast my vote last week, there was no line and no other people. In fact, the room was empty except for two little old ladies who were serving as election monitors. Apparently the UN didn't see a need to send observers to Rockwall County. I was in and out in a snap, which seemed odd in an unremarkable way. What seems more odd is the idea of being out of the country when the election takes place. One of the most significant events in our Country's history - potentially setting the stage for the complete exchange of our government - could be set to take place and I'll be abroad. My being home won't make any difference. It just seems odd to me.
To say the least, my political comments on this blog have been less than unbiased. I used to say that there were things about President Obama that I liked. After seeing the way he and his surrogates have conducted his campaign, I can no longer say that. The President himself said that if you don't have a platform of accomplishments to run on, you sling fear and lies about your opponent. It's reminiscent of the way Thomas Edison behaved in the late 1880s with Nicoli Tesla in the Battle of Currents. A popular figure with the American people, Edison used to media to spread misleading "facts" about
Tesla and his theory and in the end, Edison himself lost his company over it. His electric chair stunt backfired on him and he wound up figuratively zapping his own ass instead of displacing Tesla. The Obama campaign has lived up to his statement with its own lies about Romney in everything from taxes, claiming Romney was responsible for a woman's cancer death, and many others I need not detail.
After seeing the way the President and his administration have handled the terrorist attack on our Libyan embassy and the murders of our staff there, I can only think of bad things to say about the man and his ambitions. People seem to forget the fact when Obama called on the Navy Seals, they killed Osama and when the Seals called on Obama, he let them die and attended a Las Vegas political fund raiser the next day. This week, Obama is all over the White House Situation Room feeding the mainstream media images of him acting presidential during the Hurricane Sandy aftermath. Too bad he didn't spend adequate time there on September 11th. It's sad, really. As I said in a previous article, I really wish I had someone to vote for rather than against. But I digress.
One thing that makes me smile through all of this is the knowledge that the American system will play out, just as it was designed to by our framers in the 18th century. I have confidence in the concept of our electoral system. I defended it in the military, I appreciate it, and I participate in it. I feel fortunate to have won the genetic lottery that placed my birth in this country as opposed to the one that Obama was born in. (I'm kidding! It was too easy.)
While I have confidence in the concept of our system, I know there are those who not only lack that confidence, but loathe it. There are some for whom their own political gain - or the political gain of those from whom they seek favors - means far more than preserving the legitimacy of our system of government. While I have been very vocal about my feelings regarding the candidates, I have yet to predict a winner. I truly believe the majority of Americans know in their hearts exactly who and what Obama is and that they will cast their ballots accordingly. I believe Romney has done a fair job of showing America that while he may not be the best answer for America's troubles, he is the best choice we have now and he most certainly isn't the greedy, evil man Obama's campaign has made him out to be. I have confidence in these things.
The thing I fear most is organized voter fraud. There are many who feel that getting it their way supersedes such patriotic silliness as abiding by the Constitution. They justify their actions by claiming that they are for the collective good. They are influential and they have the mainstream media on their side. Their actions in Wisconsin during the Governor's recall election are evidence of their connections and their capabilities. Fortunately, the informed people of Wisconsin turned out in numbers so significant, that the fraud - blatant as it was - was ineffective. I won't predict a winner here, but I will predict that voter fraud will be a major issue in the days and weeks following the election and I hope the informed people of America turn out like they did in Wisconsin. I'm not simply pre posting sour grapes here. I just know what I know and I suspect much of America will also know soon.
Nevertheless, I can do nothing about it. My hopes are high. My fingers are crossed. Most importantly, my ballot is cast (just once). All I can do now is wait and see.
