President Obama Promises Openness, but Won't or Can't Deliver

Whoo boy. The honeymoon is over. President Obama hasn't been in the White House quite one year and yet he's got some pretty influential reporters pretty steamed at him.

Of course everybody who keeps even a token watch of politics remembers how distinguished senior White House reporter Helen Thomas dressed Robert Gibbs down for President Obama's inaccessibility. That was quite a sight. In my opinion, Ms. Thomas is as much a shill for the DNC as any reporter I've seen in some time. That's quite all right, as long as we're up front about it. If anybody doesn't think that Fox's Major Garrett doesn't lean right, then I'd like to smoke whatever it is they've got.

Then there was the Saturday Night Live sketch on President Obama's accomplishments prior to receiving the Nobel peace prize: "I've done absolutely nothing". OK, it is SNL after all, so we can just laugh that one off.

But Jack Cafferty? CNN's Jack Cafferty? That Jack Cafferty? This reporter had no problem giving a negative opinion about pretty much every aspect of President Bush's administration. Jack has a nightly opinion segment on CNN. Here's what the acrimonious Mr. Cafferty had to say about the "transparency" that President Obama promised:



Ouch.

And then you have CNN's Gloria Berger with this article.

Ouch more.

When CNN starts really ripping on the Democrats and their leadership, you know that there are stormy waters ahead. While this is coming about due to the health care "reform" debate, the fact is that this administration and this Congress seem to be just as reclusive and hidden as any other, especially considering both Candidate Obama and Speaker Pelosi's insistence that we would find ourselves witnessing the "most open and transparent" government ever.

I think that President Obama's campaign promises were laudable. Unfortunately, I never believed them.

2009, Yup. Nothing even comes close.

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An Open Letter to the President from Harold B. Estes

This letter was written to President Obama from 95-year old Harold B. Estes, who served in the Navy for over two decades in the 1930's and 1940's and is now a retiree in Hawaii. This has been posted on numerous websites and blogs. According to www.snopes.com, this letter is authentic and correctly attributed to Mr. Estes. I agree with every sentiment expressed in this brave letter.

Dear President Obama,

My name is Harold Estes, approaching 95 on December 13 of this year. People meeting me for the first time don't believe my age because I remain wrinkle free and pretty much mentally alert.

I enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1934 and served proudly before, during and after WW II retiring as a Master Chief Bos'n Mate. Now I live in a "rest home" located on the western end of Pearl Harbor allowing me to keep alive the memories of 23 years of service to my country.

One of the benefits of my age, perhaps the only one, is to speak my mind, blunt and direct even to the head man.

So here goes.

I am amazed, angry and determined not to see my country die before I do but you seem hell bent not to grant me that wish.

I can't figure out what country you are the president of. You fly around the world telling our friends and enemies despicable lies like:
"We're no longer a Christian nation"
"America is arrogant" - (Your wife even announced to the world, "America is mean-spirited." Please tell her to try preaching that nonsense to 23 generations of our war dead buried all over the globe who died for no other reason than to free a whole lot of strangers from tyranny and hopelessness.)

I'd say shame on the both of you but I don't think you like America nor do I see an ounce of gratefulness in anything you do for the obvious gifts this country has given you. To be without shame or gratefulness is a dangerous thing for a man sitting in the White House.

After 9/11 you said, "America hasn't lived up to her ideals." Which ones did you mean?

1. Was it the notion of personal liberty that 11,000 farmers and shopkeepers died for to win independence from the British ?

2. Or maybe the ideal that no man should be a slave to another man that 500,000 men died for in the Civil War?


3. I hope you didn't mean the ideal 470,000 fathers, brothers, husbands, and a lot of fellahs I knew personally died for in WWII, because we felt real strongly about not letting any nation push us around because we stand for freedom.

4. I don't think you mean the ideal that says equality is better than discrimination. You know the one that a whole lot of white people understood when they helped to get you elected.
Take a little advice from a very old geezer,young man. Shape up and start acting like an American. If you don't, I'll do what I can to see you get shipped out of that fancy rental on Pennsylvania Avenue. You were elected to lead not to bow, apologize and kiss the hands of murderers and corrupt leaders who still treat their people like slaves.

And just who do you think you are telling the American people not to jump to conclusions and condemn that Muslim major who killed 13 of his fellow soldiers and wounded dozens more. You mean you don't want us to do what you did when that white cop used force to subdue that black college professor in Massachusetts who was putting up a fight? You don't mind offending the police calling them stupid but you don't want us to offend Muslim fanatics by calling them what they are, terrorists.

One more thing. I realize you never served in the military and never had to defend your country with your life but you're the Commander-in-Chief now, son. Do your job. When your battle-hardened field General asks you for 40,000 more troops to complete the mission, give them to him. But if you're not in this fight to win, then get out. The life of one American soldier is not worth the best political strategy you're thinking of.

You could be our greatest president because you face the greatest challenge ever presented to any president.

You're not going to restore American greatness by bringing back our bloated economy. That's not our greatest threat. Losing the heart and soul of who we are as Americans is our big fight now. And I sure as hell don't want to think my president is the enemy in this final battle.

Sincerely,

Harold B. Estes

Happy New Year!

2008 sucked.
2009 sucked more.
2010 will probably suck less, because at least Wall Street is reviving from the great Recession of 2009, which means that my retirement portfolio is recovering. But the economy is still very shaky. Things that will, in my humble opinion, make 2010 suck more.

Nationalized Health Care Reform bill actually gets reconciled and passes. With that, my children will get health care (maybe) but they will also be in debt to the government their entire lives.

Whether Nationalized Health Care Reform passes or not, the government does not immediately begin to do something to restrain medical lawsuit abuse (called "tort" reform by some). Why should the lawyers and politicians miss out on the recession?

Timothy Geithner gets his wish and TARP money is instead used as an administration "slush fund". If they are not going to use it for Troubled Asset Relief, then they should put it back in the treasury. But instead it appears that the Chief Financial Wizards of Smart think that hard-earned American taxpayer money can be fraudulently used for any purpose they want once they manage to get it out of the treasury. Note to Congress: You want to spend TARP money on other funds to stimulate the economy? Cool. Put the TARP money back first, then have a stand-up debate in the Senate and House like you should, and if it passes, then GREAT.

The government printed $2 billion in March, 2009. This makes inflation an almost guaranteed bet to occur in 2010. To make 2010 suck less, take $1 billion of that out of circulation as a preventive measure. It would additionally make every dollar that would be left in circulation worth about 6% more, which would make everybody who invests or saves with dollars as opposed to, let's say, gold,(which is almost everybody) happy.

The government continues to advocate spending our way out of the recession (Cash for Clunkers, extension of the first-time homebuyer tax credit, the new proposed Cash for Old Appliances).

Christmas Carols in Native American

http://www.janamashonee.com/

Man do I LOVE blogs! You get some of the neatest information! So I'm reading "Collecting My Thoughts" by Norma and she has a link to Jana Mashonee, a Lumbee Indian. She's recorded an album "An American Indian Christmas" with 10 traditional Christmas Carols, all sung in a different Native American tongue.

So... here's an example: Little Drummer Boy.


You can bet that I bought this album. It's absolutely beautiful! And as fantastic as her voice is, the Native American flutes playing some of the music is also wonderful. Very peaceful.

Merry Christmas!

2009 Christmas Thoughts

As I write this, according to NORADSANTA.ORG, Santa Clause has distributed over a billion gifts to little boys and girls throughout the world and he is currently in the Maldive Islands.

For hundreds of millions of Christians the Christmas season has become perverted by rampant consumerism, boxes, wrapping paper and bows. We annually tally up thousands of dollars of consumer debt so that when our kids return to school after the holiday break they aren't left out of the "WhadidyagitferChristmas?" conversations. Simple games and clothes have given way to game consoles, cell phones and other electronic gadgets.

Our family decided this year that it was out of hand. So we threw names into a hat, and we each drew a name. The budget: Get as close to $100.00 as you can. That doesn't necessarily include stocking stuffers and the annual Christmas jammies. My own budget will probably come to about $200.00 because my mom, who now lives with us and hasn't participated in our Christmas traditions, hasn't quite caught on this year. So between the five of us, that's about $600.00 bucks. That's down considerably from the two-thousand we spent last year and the three-thousand the year before that.

And this year, I don't think one electronic doohickey was purchased. I know that my own Christmas list this year was for some nice shirts, some new socks and some really nice tobacco for my pipe.

And yet, the tree still has lots of presents under it.

But more importantly -- I will be spending Christmas with four of the seven most important people in my world right now: Laura (my wife), Mom, Heather (my daughter) and Mat (her husband). Chris is stationed in Norfolk Virginia and his girlfriend, Alex, is spending the holiday with her folks in Salt Lake City.

We will eat holiday ham and I will enjoy hot buttered rums and smoke my pipe while enjoying the company of my family while we sit in front of the fire and watch "A Christmas Story", "It's A Wonderful Life" and "The Greatest Story Ever Told".


But just as importantly, that's twelve-hundred less credit card debt than the previous year. Which means that we are that much closer to completely getting rid of all our credit card debt, which will take at least a couple more years.

Here's my Christmas wish list for the future.
1) That we all stay healthy.
2) That we all continue to keep our jobs.
3) That after we get rid of this credit card debt, that I can give Laura the following:
3.1) A decent kitchen.
3.2) A nicer living room.
3.3) Finish the front yard.
4) Be able to afford to contribute more money to charity that really counts:
4.1) Shriner's hospitals
4.2) Fraternal Order of Police
4.3) Modest Needs (a new charity that I really think is on the right track).
4.4) Order of DeMolay (a young man's organization).
And I'd like to start tithing. I just haven't figured out which church yet...

No new cars, no new computers, no new games. I'd like to fix the place I live in a little bit and then really ramp up the contributions to charities that I already support.

I don't need the Federal government to be charitable. They're not good at it anyway. They don't hold themselves nearly accountable enough. But every American who has some extra coin in their pocket should be asking themselves... "How can I help? How can I give back?"

Freemasons have been doing this for over four hundred years (and longer if you believe the "myth" of Freemasonry). I strongly suggest to anybody that reads this blog that you should become more active in your church charity programs. If you aren't currently active in a church, please, please, please consider joining a Fraternal Organization (like Freemasons, The Elks, The Eagles, The Moose, Knights of Columbus, Fraternal Order of Police, Volunteer Firefighters) or simply contribute to charities.

Christmas is not about wrapping paper and gifts under the tree, although the smile of a child on Christmas morning is hard to beat.

But consider this: How about the smile of a child in a burn ward who got the care she needed because men like Shriner's care? And how about the smile on a young man's face when he graduates from college because the Marine Corps-Law Enforcement fund paid for his education after his parent list his/her life on the streets of Chicago or in the fields of Afghanistan? Or the single mother of two who received enough money from Modest Needs to be able to put down the security deposit on an apartment so that she has a safe, warm place for her kids to live? Or how about the smile of your mother who is grateful that you have given her a place to live in your own home? I get that smile every morning.

Those smiles might be even better to see on a Christmas morning.

Christmas should be about caring for the people in our families and communities that are less fortunate than ourselves. It's about taking on their burdens, putting our shoulders to the wheel and making our communities a little better place because we care.

Isn't that what Jesus did?

Sen. Harkin, Healthcare is neither a right or a privilege.

Senator Harkin stated on CBS News' "Early Show" that the healthcare debate can be framed as between two sides, which "one one side is health care a privilege, on the other side health care is a right."

Sir, health care is neither a privilege or a right. It is a service. Health insurance is neither a privilege or a right, it is also a service.

Clearly, your stunning intellect is not what achieved your lofty position. It must have been the favors you have courted and paid that got you where you are today.

The primary problem in this country is that people don't want to buy insurance until they need it. Once they need it, no insurance company wants to insure them because they refuse to accept the risk of a "sure thing". The best way to get insured in this country requires no fix to health care. It simply requires that all American citizens buy insurance while they are young and healthy.

Once you are sick, it's too LATE to buy insurance. Why can't you people get it?

It's the greed of the American population that thinks it's OK to transfer the risk and high cost of sickness to others only after they have gotten sick. And there it is, plain and simple.

I've been paying for health and life insurance my entire life. And while I've made a few small claims against that insurance, the fact that I have paid for health and life insurance all my life is why I have had a satisfying relationship with my insurers. I don't smoke, I don't drive fast, I don't drink to excess, I don't pursue risky or life threatening activities. For those reasons, my insurer continues to accept the risk of eventual high-cost claims.

But you people who don't have insurance, many of you don't because you didn't buy insurance simply because you didn't need it. You were healthy. You instead bought flat-screen TVs, or a new car or other material goods. And now that you are sick, you want somebody else to cover the cost. Sure, you'll buy insurance now that you need it. But guess what? We, who have been paying for insurance our entire lives, don't want accept the risk for a sure thing.

Well, my two cents worth is that you made your choice. You voluntarily chose to opt out while you were healthy. You gambled that you would stay healthy. But you didn't and now you want somebody else to cover the bill.

Thanks but no thanks.