Long weekend thoughts

Last summer, we spent an extended weekend in Cape May, NJ. I love that place. (I wrote about that visit here, and I even featured the same seagull that's shown above, but in photographic format instead of acrylics; just scroll down if you do click on that link, because the gull photo's at the bottom.)

Now that Memorial Day is upon us (don't forget to hang an American flag if you don't display one already!), I have begun thinking summer thoughts. Many folks head beachward for the big weekend. Sadly, we will not be among the beach-bound, but perhaps we can finish some half-completed home projects in between barbecues?

I finished this painting a couple of days ago. He's for sale in my Etsy shop. This made for a prettier picture than another gull image that's seared in my brain; on that particularly memorable occasion, while enjoying our lunch at an outdoor cafe, we observed a gang of sea gulls attacking a beachgoer's bags of unsecured snacks, then devouring them... only to find out later that the victims of the thievery were staying in our bed and breakfast. Poor folks. They hadn't learned, yet, the incredible damage a flock of seagulls can wreak.

Gulls are very smart birds; experts train them to do all sorts of tricks at the National Aviary on the North Side of Pittsburgh. I could digress here, and lead into a rant about birds being smarter than some bird-brained individuals I keep encountering... but I don't want to lay that on you when there's an important holiday, and another long weekend, winking at us all. So, gulls are smart. I'll leave it at that.

Thank a veteran for service. Thank another in honor of those who lost lives while serving; pray for those who've come back and brought injuries and anguish with them. This cushy realm we call America could not exist without their sacrifice.

(Although, if the current leadership keeps up its relentless efforts to kill the freedoms I love through lies, deception, and the systematic dismantling of the Constitution, our cushy realm will completely cease to exist... Oops. There I go again.)

He said it better—so I'll let him

I sat down to try to explain why I've been physically ill since Election Day. I penned a long-winded, hot-headed rant that meandered from one point to another in a huff. Thankfully, I saved it for possible posting on another day, and then I found this fellow's work, which said all I felt but with well-spoken, intelligent candor instead of emotionally driven wrath (that was mine).

So, without further delay, I share with you the wise words of Andrew P. Napolitano, a former judge of the Superior Court of New Jersey, and the senior judicial analyst at Fox News Channel. Judge Napolitano has written six books on the U.S. Constitution.

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Only in America can a president who inherits a deep recession and whose policies have actually made the effects of that recession worse get re-elected. Only in America can a president who wants the bureaucrats who can’t run the Post Office to micromanage the administration of every American’s health care get re-elected. Only in America can a president who kills Americans overseas who have never been charged or convicted of a crime get re-elected. And only in America can a president who borrowed and spent more than $5 trillion in fewer than four years, plans to repay none of it and promises to borrow another $5 trillion in his second term get re-elected.

What’s going on here?

What is going on is the present-day proof of the truism observed by Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton, who rarely agreed on anything in public: When the voters recognize that the public treasury has become a public trough, they will send to Washington not persons who will promote self-reliance and foster an atmosphere of prosperity, but rather those who will give away the most cash and thereby create dependency. This is an attitude that, though present in some localities in the colonial era, was created at the federal level by Woodrow Wilson and Theodore Roosevelt, magnified by FDR, enhanced by LBJ, and eventually joined in by all modern-day Democrats and most contemporary Republicans.

Mitt Romney is one of those Republicans. He is no opponent of federal entitlements, and he basically promised to keep them where they are. Where they are is a cost to taxpayers of about $1.7 trillion a year. Under President Obama, however, the costs have actually increased, and so have the numbers of those who now receive them. Half of the country knows this, and so it has gleefully sent Obama back to office so he can send them more federal cash taken from the other half.

It is fair to say that Obama is the least skilled and least effective American president since Jimmy Carter, but he is far more menacing. His every instinct is toward the central planning of the economy and the federal regulation of private behavior. He has no interest in protecting American government employees in harm’s way in Libya, and he never admits he has been wrong about anything. Though he took an oath to uphold the Constitution, he treats it as a mere guideline, whose grand principles intended to guarantee personal liberty and a diffusion of power can be twisted and compromised to suit his purposes. He rejects the most fundamental of American values -- that our rights come from our Creator, and not from the government. His rejection of that leads him to an expansive view of the federal government, which permits it, and thus him, to right any wrong, to regulate any behavior and to tax any event, whether authorized by the Constitution or not, and to subordinate the individual to the state at every turn.

As a practical matter, we are in for very difficult times during Obama’s second term. ObamaCare is now here to stay; so, no matter who you are or how you pay your medical bills, federal bureaucrats will direct your physicians in their treatment of you, and they will see your medical records. As well, Obama is committed to raising the debt of the federal government to $20 trillion. So, if the Republican-controlled House of Representatives goes along with this, as it did during Obama’s first term, the cost will be close to $1 trillion in interest payments every year. As well, everyone’s taxes will go up on. New Year’s Day, as the Bush-era tax cuts will expire then. The progressive vision of a populace dependent on a central government and a European-style welfare state is now at hand.

Though I argued during the campaign that this election was a Hobson’s choice between big government and bigger government, and that regrettably it addressed how much private wealth the feds should seize and redistribute and how much private behavior they should regulate, rather than whether the Constitution permits them to do so, and though I have argued that we have really one political party whose two branches mirror each other’s wishes for war and power, it is unsettling to find Obama back in the White House for another four years. That sinking feeling comes from the knowledge that he is free from the need to keep an eye on the electorate, and from the terrible thought that he may be the authoritarian we have all known and feared would visit us one day and crush our personal freedoms.

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Thanks, Judge. I'm with you. I just wish you weren't so right.

I'd add only this from the book of Daniel, which has brought me hope, peace, and the sincere desire to seek truth even when many around me pursue dust:

The Lord reigns forever; he has established his throne for judgment.

Flag Abuse

Speaking of the flag, here's an abuse of the American flag, plain and simple.
flag abuse

People, I try to keep politics at a minimum here on Melmoirs. I do. But honestly, at this point, I'd have to find out something unspeakable about Mitt Romney or Paul Ryan to make me vote for anyone else.

I urge all of us to open our eyes. Understand the bloated and unfounded ego, the unhealthy agenda. Please try to grasp the threat to America that is clearly evident in one man's utter disrespect for what made this country great.

Can you handle the truth?

OK, I've been tiptoeing around a lot of issues on this blog. I said in the beginning that it wouldn't be that kind of blog. But it's becoming increasingly difficult to avoid the messy stuff of late. And, in fairness, I warned you recently that I'd be stepping out of the closet soon.

Here goes:

I think Obama is a joke. I have never felt so unrepresented by an American president in my life. It has nothing to do with his color; it has everything to do with his unspoken agenda, his lies about his supposed Christianity, his habitual favoritism to all things socialist, and his general lack of life and work experience. He is a figurehead, a pretty front-man for a party that longs to rule things inadequately and expensively.

I could turn this into a serious bashing post, but so many others have done it better than I could that I will hold my tongue.

However, I will include these links for your horror and edification:

Regarding the Gulf oil spill disaster, go here.

If you want to feel ill about potential taxes, go here and here.

If you want to question why he pushed his radical Christian minister in our faces, go here.

And if you are still thinking that he has a clue about what this country needs. please go back to "Go." Do not collect $200. Reread everything that is available to you—NOT in the mainstream media, his pandering accomplices, but in the real, gritty, hardcore media of honest people. Please join me in being horrified about NASA's new mission, as explained here.

My fellow Americans, I beseech you: see what is before you. FRAUD. CHICANERY. DOOM.

I continue my prayer that God will have mercy on this country. I ask you to join me. Remember how our great country began here.

The first step to solving a problem is admitting that you have a problem...right? It's not too late to reclaim this place. Damage is done—but it's been done before.

And this person did...what?

Hi, All. Sorry for the hiatus. Take a sick kid (ear infection), add an equally sick mother (unofficial diagnosis of S.A.D.), and you have a blogger with not much to say. But I'm back. Thanks for noticing me. (And thanks to Eeyore for such a great line.)
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There are some famous people in this world whose appeal escapes me. A whole slew of them, in fact. So as not to drone on, I’ll try to limit my examples to just a couple:

Sarah Jessica Parker. What is the appeal here? It can’t possibly be her appearance. She’s quite common. I’m no beauty queen myself, but then again I’m not world-renowned, nor am I featured on hair-coloring advertisements. What do people see in this woman? Honestly? She’s thin, yes, but it seems she is famous mostly for her fictional glamorization of sleeping around—at least that’s my understanding of that show that made her famous—and I hardly think that performance merits the hoopla this chica gets from the “in” crowd. I wish someone could explain it to me.

Justin Timberlake. This is a heartthrob? Are you kidding me? Come on, he reminds me of a gal pal’s kid brother who plays little league ball and leaves dirty footprints on the carpet. Sexy? Hardly. Does he even shave? And the musical talent eludes me as well. Take away the driving beat and boy-band harmonies and what have you got? Lame. His participation in the Janet Jackson Super Bowl fiasco only made the whole scam more pathetic.

Obama. Yes, I’m sorry to say, his charm is lost on me, as are his golden-tongued persuasive speeches about rebuilding our country. As the conceited one has already boldly reminded us all, he “won.” So when will he start doing what he said he’d do? I tried to watch that speech to congress last night, I really did. And it read like so many pre-election speeches, meant to inspire and bolster confidence and all that #@&*. I’m all about the action, people—and as much as I love words, I know not to trust them. The more glib the speaker, the more you should beware. This guy scares me.

So, there you have it. Most superstars don’t live up to the hype, and today’s versions are no different—be they actors, musicians, or politicians.

Here’s a great quote I stumbled across, though:

Prosperity is when people buy things they can’t afford; recession is when they stop doing it.
-H. E. Martz, WSJ, 1963

Find more wise chuckles here.

Gettin' on with it

Well, I’ve had a couple of days for the election results to sink in. I’m feeling slightly better. Not recovered, but less ill in general.

I hate that anyone has to lose. I feel the same way in sports; we’ll be watching our team kick some other team’s hind end, and as the game wears on I begin to feel sorry for the losers. The cameras will close in tightly on a player’s face, the misty eyes, the twisted mouth… Sometimes they’ll capture an unsavory word slipping out of that mouth, or a furrowed brow and scowl, and those aren’t as pitiful. But the resigned loser always gets me.

I have to remind myself, in these days, that every single time a leader is elected, there are many who are not elected. I have to remember that in nearly every casting of votes, from the first to this one and beyond, there have been people who celebrated the results, and also people who shook their heads and frowned. Every time the procedure runs its course, there must be a winner—and losers.

Maybe that’s why I’m not good at sports. Aside from my complete lack of coordination, I have too much trouble remaining polarized. I always, eventually, begin to realize that the other side is not so different, really. They want to win, too. They’ve been practicing, too. Without major conditioning and mental training, I’d make a crappy soldier. I’ve never been very competitive, and I like to think that perhaps, it isn’t just because I hate losing; maybe it’s because I hate that there has to be a loser at all.

I especially hate it at this time, in this particular “sport”—which is easily the most violent and heartless available to the viewing public—because this time, the loser was my guy. And his vice-gal.

I think about Sarah Palin, back at home, all the hubbub dying down, normality resuming…and I wonder what in the world she is thinking. Is she secretly relieved? Does she wonder what tornado hit in these last few months? Is she sorry she’s been traveling so much? Sorry she missed time with her littlest son? Sorry she hasn’t been able to spend time picking out nursery colors with her daughter? I have to think she must feel rather blind-sided. (Although not too blind-sided, since she’s sort of left that door open for four years in the future…)

And McCain himself. What’s on his mind? Does he regret running? All that time, and money, and effort. Those countless appearances, speeches, debates… Would he do it over again? Would he think about trying again in the future, if he were a younger man? I didn’t hear his concession speech, but not surprisingly, the few comments I encountered about it were flattering. He’s a classy guy, in my opinion, and I believe he’ll prove that many more times in the days to come. He’ll be okay; he’s dealt with far worse than this. But still.

I didn’t vote for Obama. A lot of other people did—people who believed all his promises, and more. I will admit that I’m taking some solace in the thought that he is probably feeling a bit of panic; you really have to wonder whether he’s as cool about all the activity as he seems. There has to be some level of frenzied realization under that calm demeanor; if there isn’t, there will be. The job he’s “won” is not an enviable position; I’m frankly amazed that people keep trying to obtain it. I feel certain, in my gut, that there will be many days when he feels completely overwhelmed. I know he asked for it, and I’m not going to go so far as to say I’m feeling sorry for him. That would be untrue. He is a human, though—and he’s got a long, ugly road ahead of him.

I heard a joke that this election might be the only one in which the winner asked for a recount. And I laughed—and nodded vigorously in agreement.

BO is our president-elect now, and I will be a level-headed American and accept the clear results of this election. But just as I embrace the "trust God and lock your doors" mantra, we'll be stockpiling some extra ammo and fuel, and praying daily: Lord, help us all.