Immigration

In the last GOP debate, Texas Gov. Rick Perry called those who didn't support his state's plan of giving in-state tuition for illegal aliens, essentially offering them an education, "heartless."  He had to come out the next day and apologize for his choice of words, but this is becoming a recurring theme with Gov. Perry:  Debate, apologize, repeat.  If you apologize for one thing, most people will let it slide.  When you keep apologizing for the things  you say time after time, it looks like you're trying to cover up your true feelings.  But all due respect to both Gov. Perry and those who support his stance on immigration as well as those that support the DREAM Act, which uses college or military service as a fast track to citizenship for children of illegal aliens, I would like to ask; "What part of ILLEGAL don't you understand?"  We are a nation of laws, not of men.  That means there is no grey area when it comes to the law.  Children of illegal aliens are still illegal, whether they chose to come here or not.  If this makes me heartless, then so be it.  Giving them an education or citizenship is essentially rewarding someone for another's illegal act.  That's like someone robbing you and giving the money to their child.  Then if they're caught, they may go to jail, but the child would be allowed to keep the money.  What does it say to all the people applying for citizenship legally?  "Sorry, they found a shortcut, sucks to be you."  A person should not be allowed to benefit from the criminal, yes I said criminal, actions of a family member.  Period.

I was listening to Alan Colmes on Fox News Radio yesterday, at least for as long as I could before I thought my head would explode, and I heard him debate with a Border Patrol Agent over immigration.  According to Colmes, the problem is so large and overwhelming that we should just give up because we'll never be able to secure the border.  How very 1930's France of him.  If the Founding Fathers had this philosophy, we'd still be a British colony.  The complete lack of American exceptionalism these days absolutely sickens me.  I'm tired of people in this country saying how horrible we are and a President who travels the world apologizing for us.  Are you serious?!  If you don't love this country, you know where the damn door is.  But don't expect those of us who love this nation and everything it stands for to sit idly by or change our ways because your feelings about the poor foreigners are hurt because we don't just hand over everything the rest of us have fought and died for.  Sorry, those things have to be earned.

So how do we fix the border problem?  Well, we could start by getting our soldiers out of Iraq and Afghanistan and using them to secure the border.  We could use the National Guard and Reserves as well if necessary.  After all, we're only concerned about the Southern border since there isn't really an epidemic influx of those pesky Canadians moving south.  If you're worried about the illegals being treated humanely, equip the border guards with tranquilizer guns.  That way anyone caught crossing illegally will wake up unharmed.....in Mexico.  Call me heartless and cold if you want, I don't care, but it's time we take care of our own and stop being the world's soup kitchen.

Transformers

   Three days before the 2008 Presidential election, with his lead in hand and the White House in sight, Barack Obama announced to the crowd at his campaign stop:  "We are just 3 days away from the fundamental transformation of the United States of America!"  Michelle Obama has said; "Barack knows that we're going to have to make sacrifices, we're going to have to change our conversations, change our traditions, change our history, we're going to have to move into a different place."  What exactly did they mean?  Let's look at our first example:  "Fundamental transformation."
   By definition, fundamental transformation means to change something at its core into something else entirely.  Best example I can think of is taking a Chevrolet Corvette and breaking it down and rebuilding it into a Toyota Prius.  Now, I don't know about you, but if I had a Corvette, I wouldn't want to turn it into a Prius.  If I wanted a Prius, I'd go somewhere where I could get a Prius.  From everything I've seen, Barack Obama was given the keys to a Corvette, but he really wants a Prius.  Yes, our Corvette may not run as well as she used to, but that's no reason to tear her apart to make a totally different car.  Here's a question, if you have a classic car or an antique, would you transform it?  Or would you restore it?  Our country doesn't need a transformation, much less a fundamental one.  We need a restoration.  We need to use our Constitution as a blueprint.  That is the foundation that made this country the greatest in the world, and we can get there again as long as we use the Constitution as our guide.  If we don't, we are destined to join the ranks of past great nations and empires that could not sustain themselves.  We've survived on self-governance for 235 years for one reason.  The Constitution.  That's it.  Not because of one great President, social programs, weaponry, whatever.  Just the Constitution and all that it gives us and limits the government from doing.  President Obama says its a document of  "negative liberties."  He doesn't get it.  He wants big, overbearing government.  With the Constitution he can't do that and he hates that.  So he wants to "transform" it into something better suited to his values and his purposes.  Sorry, Mr. President, I don't think so.  Leave my Corvette alone.
   Now on to Mrs. Obama's statement.  Let's look at it piece by piece.  1. "...make sacrifices."- OK, it's a recession, that's understandable.  2. "...change our conversation,"- about what?  change it to what?  3. "...change our traditions," -which ones?  4. "...move into a different place."- like?  And 5. "...change our history."- I love this one.  How exactly do you change history?  Do they own a time machine?  Perhaps a DeLorean complete with a flux capacitor?  History cannot be changed unless it is forgotten and re-written.  Or maybe that's his plan.  Change the history books. Diminish the significance of the Founders and the Constitution.  Erase our Judeo-Christian values and heritage and fill it in with whatever he likes.  Make 235 years of independence look like the wrong path and the only salvation is his big government nanny state solution?  Like I said before, I don't think so.  Mr. President, Madam First Lady, leave my Corvette alone.  If you want a Prius, go somewhere where you can get a Prius, because we're fresh out.  All we have here are Corvettes, and that's the way we like it.

9/11 then and now

 Today marks 10 years since our lives were irreversibly changed.  We all remember where we were and what we were doing when we found out about the attacks.  The images will be forever burned in our memory.  I still get emotional about it to this day.  But what I want you all to think back upon is not how you felt that day, but how you felt the day after.  Remember?  We were all a little nicer to each other, we looked out for one another, we helped those in need.  We were Americans.  United.  We saw beyond color, religion, political affiliation, all the things that divided us on Sept. 10.  None of those things mattered on Sept. 12.  Unfortunately, most of us, myself included, have slipped back into some of our old habits and our Sept. 10 mentality.  Why?  The attacks still happened, they can't be undone.  We must always remember and remain vigilant or they WILL happen again.  I believe we as Americans have a bit of a short term memory and once the initial feelings wear off and the news coverage stops, we tend to go back to our old habits.  This doesn't have to be the case.  This shouldn't be the case.  We need to remember that we are all Americans.  We may have differences, but they should not overshadow the fact that we all love this great nation and would not want anything like Sept. 11 to ever happen again.  So my question to you is: "Are you living your life like it's Sept. 12? or are you living like it's Sept. 10?

Don't Drink the Kool-Aid

You know, when people find out I'm a conservative, they automatically assume I'm a Republican.  This would be a mistake.  The same mistake would be made if someone said they were a liberal or a progressive and it was assumed they're a Democrat.  I have a political ideology, but I do not subscribe to one particular party.  That being said, yes I do tend to side with Republicans more often than Democrats, but I am not in lock-step with the GOP.  As an individual, I cannot abide those that align themselves with one party and support all of the talking points of one side and rebuke all the points of the other side.  If you really pay attention, the two parties are almost interchangeable with some of their policies.  Perfect example:  Two of the biggest policies of George W. Bush were the No Child Left Behind Act, which has been an abysmal failure, and the Patriot Act, enacted after the attacks of 9/11, that essentially allowed the government to spy on people they deemed to be a threat.  These are both "Big Government" programs that would not typically be associated with the Republican Party.  After all, they're all about smaller government, right?  You also have pro-life Democrats and pro-choice Republicans.  I could go on, but you see my point.  Here's the problem.  We have had the two-party system in place for a very long time, so it's what we have to work within.  For now.  Personally, I'd like to see all political parties eliminated and people run on their beliefs and their moral character (I know, politicians and moral character, oxymoron, right?).  Unfortunately, that isn't happening yet and the media doesn't want it to happen because that makes their job harder.  They want "good guys vs. bad guys" and the two-party system makes this easy and readily accessible.  They want you to believe what they're broadcasting as gospel truth, whether its MSNBC for the Democrats, Fox News with the Republicans, or all the other media outlets available and whomever they align themselves with.  In essence, they want us all to "drink the Kool-Aid."  Politicians feed on this too.  In 2008, there was such a public discord against George W. Bush that all Republicans were portrayed as another "Dubya."  I believe this is what allowed Barack Obama to be elected President with only ideas like "Hope and Change" with no concrete plans on how to improve the country or the economy.  If Obama would have had to lay out his plans before the election, there's a distinct chance he would never have won the Presidency.  But there was such an anti-GOP mood in the country that the Democrats won not only the White House, but a majority in the House and a super majority in the Senate.  In 2010, the Republicans made a comeback thanks in large part to the rise of the Tea Party and Obama's failed and unpopular policies.  Here's my point, those who seek public office will align themselves with whichever party they think will win.  The "D" and the "R" are interchangeable.  It requires more effort on our part to see beyond the party to the person.  I know politics can be boring, but which is more important, the future of our nation, or the next winner of American Idol?  You know my answer to that question, what's your answer?