Rights and Responsibilities

Disclaimer: I am standing on my soap box and I am about to speak from the bottom of my red, white, and blue heart. You have been warned.

Okay, let’s see… after a disclaimer like ^that^ I wonder what could possibly be on my mind today. It’s the elections, of course. Not just the elections this year, but voting in general. I have to take a deep breath because I don’t want to just spout rhetoric and nonsense. I know this may come as a surprise to the liberals out there, but yes, there is such a thing as original thought in America these days.

Anyway, I have seen on the news that the Democrats have won enough seats to take control of the House of Representatives. Let me pause right there to ask, if it really is a House of Representatives, who do they represent? I know the Constitution says they represent the people who voted for them to be in office, but is that truly the case? I often wonder, but I digress. I don’t get a chance to watch very much news from the States out here in my current location, but I’ve seen enough to get the gist of what the national strategy was for the D’s. Their entire platform seemed to be to criticize anything and everything the President did and claim to be able to do better. Well, here’s your chance, Ms. Pelosi. (Even Fox News analysts say it’s a forgone conclusion that Nancy Pelosi will likely be the next Speaker of the House.) The challenge for the next couple of years, I think, will be to actually do something with this power. The Democrats have done nothing constructive for the past 6 years and I will be very curious to see what they intend to do now that the party of Ted and John is in charge of the budget writing process. I already know that my taxes are going up. Prove me wrong, blue team. Renew the tax cuts enacted by President Bush and the Republicans. Let me do what I think is best for my family. Stay out of my pocketbook as much as possible. Oh, and that’s assuming that I will continue to make enough money to even pay taxes. The last couple have years have convinced me that we need an overhaul of the tax code. I made almost as much money on my tax return as I made in reportable income for the tax year 2005. I don't get it.

The Democrats hold the likes of Cindy Sheehan and Jane Fonda close to their hearts. That does not bode well for the military. I didn’t join the Corps to make a fortune, but I would feel better if I knew that the budget funds will be there to get the supplies we need. I’m not even talking about plasma TV’s or hi tech satellite gear. I just want enough paper to print my contracts and fuel for the vehicles. Oh, having ammo might be a good idea and if you are so certain that we don’t have enough armor in Iraq, then you’re more than welcome to approve a budget for R&D to fix that problem. Of course, that’s taking the huge leap of faith that you intend to see the Global War on Terrorism through to the end. Will you do that or will you cut and run and allow Iraq to fall apart and then try to place the blame on the President?

By the way, the coverage of the elections by CNN sucked. True, the elections are a big news story. True, there are people out there who may not understand exactly all the nuances of what happened yesterday, but when you report that the Republicans are losing to the Democrats, could you at least try to do it with a straight face? I thought Wolf Blitzer was going to have an orgasm as he kept reporting on the races as they were being called. It was clearly another fine example of the liberal bias of the main stream media. For every Republican they had on CNN to “explain the loss”, they had two Democrats gloating. At least on Fox, they had evenly split coverage between the two sides. Don’t believe me? Check the footage. Okay, that’s my pitch on the results of the election. I haven’t heard yet how the local issues did in California, so I can only make generic observations about the bigger picture.

Now, for those of you who voted to not vote, I want you to do me a favor. I want you to walk up to a member of the military. Whether he or she is active duty, reserve, retired, or just got out after serving for four years doesn’t matter. I want you tell them that you did not exercise your right to vote; a right for which hundreds of thousands of men and women have sacrificed, fought, bled, and even died to protect; and I want you to say, “I did not vote because I do not care about my freedom.” And I want you to slap them in the face. I fully support your right to vote any way you choose, even if I think you voted incorrectly, and I have been separated from my family for half of the last three years to defend that right. I want you to slap me physically so I can see it coming and I want to look you in the eye before and after you hit me. It is difficult to say that democracy is alive and well in America when less than ½ of the country’s registered voters even bother to voice their opinion.

By the way, if you didn’t vote and you’re eligible to do so… SHUT UP! I hereby revoke your right to say what you want. Hey, you didn’t vote, so I’m suspending the rest of your rights as a citizen of the United States. Until you participate in the process of democracy, you have no right to voice your opinion as far as I’m concerned. You have voluntarily abandoned one right, so I’m saving you the trouble of having to surrender the others one by one.

The quiz for today was taken a long time ago. I may have even posted these results before. If so, I’m sorry, but it’s my blog and I can post whatever I want.

You Are Incredibly Logical

Move over Spock - you're the new master of logic You think rationally, clearly, and quickly. A seasoned problem solver, your mind is like a computer!

How Logical Are You?

Oh, I figured this is as good a time as any to update the name of this log as well. Since it seems to be my question to the Democrats, and is also my question to every Marine I counsel about their career options, I thought it appropriate for this forum. Have a great rest of your week. I’ll be back in a few days.