Either the economy is back or we're doomed, so pay attention small businesses.

The last four years have been a case study in frustration for my wife and myself, as well as many of our friends.

We keep hearing about the bad economy, the joblessness, the struggles of small business owners, etc etc.

But as we gear up for the November elections, I want to share some observations and experiences.

• Joblessness? Have you seen the way the majority of people show up to apply for a job? Holy cow! Maybe I'm old, but in my day, you put on clean slacks, a pressed or starched shirt, and maybe even a tie, and polished/shined shoes before going to inquire or apply for a job--and that was even for something as simple as a grocery sacker job.

I was in a retail store the other day that had "help wanted" signs on the door and saw two different job-seekers waiting to speak with a manager. I chatted with both of them, mainly out of curiosity. They were guys, one a senior in college the other in his mid-twenties. Both were wearing faded jeans, t-shirts, dirty tennis shoes. . . but both had high-dollar smart phones, of which both were fiddling with.

No surprise that the manager came out, took one look then told the two that the position had been filled. Neither applicant had a resume in hand, neither said "sir" or even stood up straight when the manager was addressing them.

I wonder how often this scenario presents itself each hour of each day?

• My wife just got off the phone, slamming it in frustration, with a carpet cleaning service. We had made an appointment to have a specific individual with this franchise come out and clean the only carpet we have in the downstairs area of our house.

Most of these franchises try to charge us--belay that, rip us off--by claiming this area encompasses two or even three rooms. It does not and a tape-measure proves it. I've escorted more than one of these salesmen to the door who cannot read a tape measure. The carpeted area downstairs covers part of our living room and part of the dining area immediately adjacent to the living room. Essentially, the area is only slightly larger than the area in our master bedroom--which, thankfully, is now tiled.

Yet these small franchises continue to insist that such an area is two or even three rooms. Bull Stink.

But what's really rich is when I see these same idiots at our local chamber of commerce meetings and breakfasts and they're moaning and wringing their hands about this horrible economy and how bad business is and how nobody needs their carpet cleaned.

• I've been trying to get bids to have a fence company come out. What I want are bids to remove a section of old fence, haul it off, and then set steel posts in concrete. That's all. I'll do the rest.

For some reason, this is a problem with both large and small fence contractors alike. The idea that I'll haul out my table saw, mitre saw, air compressor tools, etc., and finish out the fence exactly the way I want it befuddles them.

That is, it befuddles them whenever I can get them to even come out to give me an estimate.

We get these doorhangers all the time from fence companies. We get coupons in the mail from fence companies. We get homemade flyers taped to our front door and garage door from fence companies. But when we call them, they rarely show up. Those that do hem-haw around and insist on finishing out the fence themselves even in spite of how clear I made it that we'll finish out the fence.

To date, two different fence companies have given me estimates which have the same costs whether they finish the fence or I do. That's more Bull Stink.

What these geniuses forget is that I can go down to my local rental place and rent an auger and cement mixer and do the job myself. Problem is, my back is acting up again and I really don't want to subject it to all of that. I will if I have to.

I do have another option, however. We have an area of town where the illegals and immigrants hang out looking for work each day. I have zero compunction about hiring and paying them to do what I need done.

• We hired a tree service to cut down a half-dozen trees on the property and to trim up the others. We took bids, chose our company and gave them the job. We're talking four-figures here.

The job was done as sloppy and half-ass as anything we've ever seen. Repeated calls to the company garnered us zero satisfaction and our check had already been cashed. I filed the obligatory negative Better Business Bureau reports, which also have done zilch, and found every internet survey/feedback site I could find and wrote an honest assessment of the experience.

Yet. . . the principle of this tree company is an alum of my old college and I read in the last month's ex-student association publication how this guy commented about "business being so bad that he may go out of business."

News flash, pal. It ain't business that's bad--it's you that's bad.

And these are but just a few examples of poor small business experiences the wife and I have had. I won't even go into the experience our consulting group is having with vendors and contractors except to say that is much of the same.

Have we simply accepted, over the past four years, that mediocrity is acceptable and that is WE can't make it in business, then it's Bush's fault and therefore the responsibility of the Ozero administration to now take care of us?

Have our job-seekers decided that for some reason, they are so awesome and indispensable with their whopping no years of experience and incomplete college education that retailers and restaurants can't live without them, and therefore no reason to even shave or shower before casually strolling in and literally demanding a job?

What the hell is going on here?

Small business IS the backbone of America, but from what I'm experiencing, it is rather indicative of why this country is broke.

The people I hear who aren't constantly griping about the economy aren't doing so because they're too busy working their butts off. They're getting up early and staying late, they're answering their phones and returning messages to their customers and clients. They're giving their customers one-hundred percent satisfaction and they're doing it for a fair price.

When they need help or have a position open up, they're looking for like-minded applicants--not people with surly attitudes and pants dragging the floor.

So, I don't know. Judging from experience, we either have fantastic news and that being that the economy is back to one-hundred percent, or we have some not so good news, and that is, we're doomed.

Either way, the one thing for certain is that we simply cannot continue on in the status quo.

The idiocy of Uncle Sam.

A friend of mine met me for lunch today and was shaking his head in utter disgust mixed with disbelief.

He'd just returned from an appointment he and his wife and his three-month-old son had with the State Department to get their passports.

His was rejected because the State Department official said he was smiling. My friend told me that he argued he was not smiling, and in fact, was grimacing over the bureaucratic stupidity of the gov't drone reviewing his application.

The wife was rejected because the same gov't drone could not see her ears in the picture.

At least she wasn't smiling.

And just to make it a three-strikes and you're out typical government experience, their three-month old son's passport application was rejected because. . . get this--his eyes weren't open enough.

Did I mention my friends are Korean?

My friend got a little agitated with the gov't drone and explained that A) 3-month-old babies tend to spend a lot of time with their eyes close, B) All Asian 3-month-olds pretty much look all the same, and C) Even at three YEARS of age, the severe "slant" of a Korean youth's eyes are going to make them appear almost completely shut.

"Oh, I didn't realize that," said the gov't drone.

Best part about this idiot? He was assigned to the Asian desk.

God help us all.

Barstool Economics

Suppose that every day, ten men go out for a beer and the bill for all ten comes to $100.
If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this:

The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing.
The fifth would pay $1.00
The sixth would pay $3.00
The seventh would pay $7.00
The eighth would pay $12.00
The ninth would pay $18.00
The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59.00

So that’s what they decided to do. The men drank in the bar every day and seemed quite happy with arraignment, until one day, the owner threw them a curve.

“Since you are all such good customers, he said, I’m going to reduce the cost of your daily beer by $20.00.
“Drinks for the ten men now cost just $80.00

The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes so the first four men were unaffected. They would still drink for free. But what about the other six men – the paying customers? How could they divide the $ 20 windfall so that everyone would get there “fair share?” They realized that $ 20.00 divided by six is $3.33. But if they subtracted that from everybody’s share, then the fifth man and the sixth man would each end up being paid to drink his beer. So, the bar owner suggested that it would be fair to reduce each man’s bill by roughly the same amount, and he proceeded to work out the amounts each should pay!
And so:

The fifth man like the first four, now paid nothing ( 100% savings).
The sixth now paid $2 instead of $3 (33% savings).
The seventh now pay $5 instead of $7 (28% savings).
The eighth now paid $9 instead of 12 (25% savings).
The ninth now paid 14 instead of 18 (22% savings).
The tenth now paid $49 instead of $59 (16% savings).

Each of the six was better off than before! And the first four continued to drink for free. But once outside the restaurant, the men began to compare their savings.

“I only got a dollar out of the $20“ declared the sixth man. He pointed to the tenth man, “but he got $10!”

“Yeah, that’s right, shouted the seventh man. “why should he get $10 back when I got only two? The wealthy get all the breaks!”

“Wait a minute,” yelled the first four men in union. “ We didn’t get anything at all. The system exploits the poor!”

The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up.

The next night the tenth man didn’t show up for drinks, so the nine sat down and had beers without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered something important. They didn’t have enough money between all of them for even half of the bill!

And that, boys and girls, journalist and college professors, is how our tax system works. The people who pay the highest taxes get the most benefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy, and they just may not show up anymore. In fact, they might start drinking overseas where the atmosphere is somewhat friendlier.

2016 Obama's America

See it.

We saw it last night.

Oh. My. God.

Obama sends FORM LETTERS to parents of fallen Navy SEALs.

I used to think that nothing this asshat of a president could do would shock me or anger me any more than I already am.

I was wrong.

At the RNC this year in Tampa, Gateway Pundit is reporting that the families of the U.S. Navy SEALs killed last August have all received form letters from Obama.

Form letters that the selfish, arrogant son of a bitch couldn't even be bothered to sign himself.

They were signed with an electric pen.

So help me God if this asshat gets four more years in office.

So. Help. Me. God.

Hurricane Obama. You happy now, Sheila Lee Jackson?

The local Texas race-bait idiot in the central Houston cesspool, aka Sheila Lee Jackson--CONGRESSperson Sheila Lee Jackson--once bemoaned the fact that hurricanes were not given "African American names," and thus decreed that by only naming them "white names," somebody was being racist.

The idiot (Jackson) couldn't name who was being racist, just that someone was being racist.

Well congrats, Idiot Jackson. You now have your hurricane and it's called Obama.

As depicted in the picture above, what else would you call a storm that spins to the left, leaves millions powerless and cuts a path of destruction and mayhem everywhere it goes?

The 'Bama Media, or BM for short, is having a field day with Hurricane Obama bearing down first on the Republican National Convention in Tampa, and now forecast to clobber the Louisiana and Mississippi coastline.

I mean, they're freaking giddy.

Forbes is howling about how Obama could rival Katrina. Other BMs are crowing about what a disaster, PR-wise, it could/would/should be for the Republicans.

Quite honestly, all this does is give (yet more) irrefutable proof to the bias of the BM, Dems and hardcore libs.

Me? I say we should just sit tight and let's see what happens. We've already seen Bam Bam and how he handles a crisis. It's called V A C A T I O N.

Ad nauseum.

In the meantime, read Murphy's sound advice to the inmates of New Orleans.

No WONDER we're so f-bombed up.

Let's see. . .

We have a hurricane/tropical storm approaching Florida. We have Chicago taking over as the world' most dangerous city. We have corruptness in Congress and the White House of the likes we've never seen.

Terrorists are plotting day and night with every waking molecule how to kill as many of us as they can. You can't even stand and look at the U.S./Mexico border without fear of some Mexican drug cartel skunk taking a shot at you.

West Nile Virus is running rampant in Dallas, Ebola is on a run in Uganda. AIDS is still the dark king of Death and the Invisible Children in Africa continue to multiply.

We have a dork in the White House who know one knows who he really is. We have a psychopath funding him (Soros) that can't die soon enough.

In other words, we're up to our ears in alligators and the rain just keeps coming.

Yet, look at all the attention, energy and MONEY focused on this.

No wonder we're screwed up in this world.

Our priorities are beyond out of whack.

They're fugazi.

A legitimate jerk.

That would be Todd Akin.

First off, Akin is a legitimate idiot for spouting off the way he did.

Then his "understanding" of biology (a woman can "shut down" an unwanted pregnancy if it was caused by rape) makes him a legitimate idiot.

Now, the past four Republican senators from Missouri have asked him to step down and he refuses.

That makes Tom Akin a legitimate jerk.

Or, on the other hand, a typical politician.

If we ever, ever needed a poster child for what is wrong with American politicians, Tom Akin is it.

He doesn't give a damn about Missouri or America. All he cares about is himself.

He looks in the mirror and sees a U.S. Senator staring back. A member of the world's most exclusive club. One of the one hundred most powerful people in all of politics. He sees the riches, the perks, the gains that come with the job.

He doesn't give a legitimate crap about anyone other than himself. This is HIS shot for the legitimate big time and he ain't stepping down for nobody.

Anyone who legitimately thinks a woman's body can "shut down" a pregnancy caused by or as a result of rape is too stupid to be a U.S. Senator. In fact, they're too stupid to do ANYTHING that represents anyone's best interest.

The RNC has pulled their $5 million in advertising support and the Crossroads group (backed by Karl Rove) has also pulled their support. I don't know where Akin is going to find any legitimate support.

If I lived in Missouri, I wouldn't vote for him. I sure as hell wouldn't vote for McCaskill--which means I'd have to leave that box blank.

That would be a legitimate sin for me, but sin I would.

Akin. Step down, you legitimate jerk.

I'm taking the liberal way out. . .

Am feeling beat to crap this past week due to some bad food poisoning and a stubborn chest cold, so not much writing other than on my new book.

So, in true lazy liberal fashion, I'm simply going to link this blog's message to this one. It's a good message and one we forget too often.

Hey Government--you do your job and we'll do ours.

When will it matter?

(from the e-mail stack)

WHEN - he refused to disclose who donated money to his election campaign, as other candidates had done, people said it didn't matter.

WHEN - he received endorsements from people like Louis Farrakhan, Muramar Kaddafi and Hugo Chavez, people said it didn't matter.

WHEN - it was pointed out that he was a total newcomer and had absolutely no experience at anything except community organizing, people said it didn't matter.

WHEN - he chose friends and acquaintances such as Bill Ayers and Bernadine Dohrn who were revolutionary radicals, people said it didn't matter.

WHEN - his voting record in the Illinois Senate and in the U.S. Senate came into question, people said it didn't matter.

WHEN - he refused to wear a flag lapel pin and did so only after a public outcry, people said it didn't matter.

WHEN - people started treating him as a Messiah and children in schools were taught to sing his praises, people said it didn't matter.

WHEN - he stood with his hands over his groin area for the playing of the National Anthem and Pledge of Allegiance, people said it didn't matter.

WHEN - he surrounded himself in the White House with advisors who were pro-gun control, pro-abortion, pro-homosexual marriage and wanting to curtail freedom of speech to silence the opposition, people said it didn't matter.

WHEN - he said he favors sex education in kindergarten, including homosexual indoctrination, people said it didn't matter.

WHEN - his personal background was either scrubbed or hidden and nothing could be found about him, people said it didn't matter.

WHEN - the place of his birth was called into question, and he refused to produce a birth certificate, people said it didn't matter.

WHEN - he had an association in Chicago with Tony Rezco - a man of questionable character and who is now in prison and had helped Obama to a sweet deal on the purchase of his home - people said it didn't matter.

WHEN - it became known that George Soros, a multi-billionaire Marxist, spent a ton of money to get him elected, people said it didn't matter.

WHEN - he started appointing White House Czars that were radicals, revolutionaries, and even avowed Marxist /Communists, people said it didn't matter.

WHEN - he stood before the Nation and told us that his intentions were to "fundamentally transform this Nation" into something else, people said it didn't matter.

WHEN - it became known that he had trained ACORN workers in Chicago and served as an attorney for ACORN, people said it didn't matter.

WHEN - he appointed cabinet members and several advisers who were tax cheats and socialists, people said it didn't matter.

WHEN - he appointed a Science Czar, John Holdren, who believes in forced abortions, mass sterilizations and seizing babies from teen mothers, people said it didn't matter.

WHEN - he appointed Cass Sunstein as Regulatory Czar who believes in "Explicit Consent," harvesting human organs without family consent and allowing animals to be represented in court, while banning all hunting, people said it didn't matter.

WHEN - he appointed Kevin Jennings, a homosexual and organizer of a group called Gay, Lesbian, Straight, Education Network as Safe School Czar and it became known that he had a history of bad advice to teenagers, people said it didn't matter.

WHEN - he appointed Mark Lloyd as Diversity Czar who believes in curtailing free speech, taking from one and giving to another to spread the wealth, who supports Hugo Chavez, people said it didn't matter..

WHEN - Valerie Jarrett, an avowed Socialist, was selected as Obama's Senior White House Advisor, people said it didn't matter.

WHEN - Anita Dunn, White House Communications Director, said Mao Tse Tung was her favorite philosopher and the person she turned to most for inspiration, people said it didn't matter.

WHEN - he appointed Carol Browner, a well known socialist as Global Warming Czar working on Cap and Trade as the nation's largest tax, people said it didn't matter.

WHEN - he appointed Van Jones, an ex-con and avowed Communist as Green Energy Czar, who since had to resign when this was made known, people said it didn't matter.

WHEN - Tom Daschle, Obama's pick for Health and Human Services Secretary could not be confirmed because he was a tax cheat, people said it didn't matter.

WHEN - as President of the United States , he bowed to the King of Saudi Arabia, people said it didn't matter..

WHEN - he traveled around the world criticizing America and never once talking of her greatness, people said it didn't matter.

WHEN - his actions concerning the Middle East seemed to support the Palestinians over Israel, our long time ally, people said it didn't matter.

WHEN - he took American tax dollars to resettle thousands of Palestinians from Gaza to the United States, people said it didn't matter.

WHEN - he upset the Europeans by removing plans for a missile defense system against the Russians, people said it didn't matter.

WHEN - he played politics in Afghanistan by not sending troops early-on when the Field Commanders said they were necessary to win, people said it didn't matter.

WHEN - he started spending us into a debt that was so big we could not pay it off, people said it didn't matter.

WHEN - he took a huge spending bill under the guise of stimulus and used it to pay off organizations, unions, and individuals that got him elected, people said it didn't matter.

WHEN - he took over insurance companies, car companies, banks, etc., people said it didn't matter.

WHEN - he took away student loans from the banks and put it through the government, people said it didn't matter.

WHEN - he designed plans to take over the health care system and put it under government control, people said it didn't matter.

WHEN - he claimed he was a Christian during the election and tapes were later made public that showed Obama speaking to a Muslim group and 'stating' that he was raised a Muslim, was educated as a Muslim, and is still a Muslim, people said it didn't matter.

WHEN - he set into motion a plan to take over the control of all energy in the United States through Cap and Trade, people said it didn't matter.

Everything matters...

Let's put HIS ass in uniform and see how he feels. . .

The commander-in-chief sues to keep his troops from voting.

Seems like a science fiction headline, eh?

Sorry. It's a factual headline brought to you by the communist and socialist faction of our governing institution, aka Obama and the Democratic National Committee.

I remember when Al Gore and the communists did this in Florida in 2000, whining that the military vote was unsupervised and took too long to get to the polls to count.

It disgusted me to the point that I took my little shoebox full of ribbons and medals and certifications and other such military memorabilia and tossed it all in the fireplace.

That is exactly what my military service had become worth--garbage.

I took several days off from work because the state of mind I was in was one of pure danger to anyone who agreed with the Dems and Al Gore filing suit to disallow the military vote.

You see, I've been there in remote places outside the U.S. borders filling out a ballot and handing it to a chaplain for courier service back to an FOB where it was collected with other remote ballots, SECURED, then helo'd to a divisional squadron or HQ depending upon which branch of the armed forces was closest. Then it was shipped to the states.

Sorry, Mr. Gore, that some of those votes weren't exactly on a timeline to you and your fellow communists' liking, but the troops WERE, after all, out there protecting YOUR ASS. Fine way to repay them, you son of bitch.

As for Obama? He's never been my president and never will be. But since he likes having the military chauffeur him around and he likes all the photo ops with the military and likes referring to himself as commander-in-chief, then let's put Barry's ass in uniform and stick him in a combat zone and let him stand directly in harm's way for a few weeks or months.

Let's delay his mail from Moochelle and his kids. Let's feed him the same MREs the troops are eating rather than that bullshit Moochelle is forcing into the schools. Let's have the CIC forego his weekly golf games in exchange for IED patrol duty.

Hell, he killed bin-Laden didn't he? Simple grunt patrol should be a snap for this poser-in-chief.

But let's let him do all of that then see how he likes having his vote argued in federal court and disallowed--over THREE DAYS of additional time for early voting.

Let's see how the arrogant, fraudulent sorry-assed son of a bitch likes that.

An old fashioned butt-kicking.

Ted Cruz didn't just beat David Dewhurst here in Texas yesterday in a primary runoff election. He kicked his butt.

 Several things were proven beyond doubt in the Cruz stomping:

1. Conservative voters have long memories. Dewhurst has never been a strong conservative and his record reflects it.

2. If you're going to run negative advertising, it better be factually correct.

Cruz pointed out Dewhurst's liberal voting and legislative record, which was a matter of public record. From the outset, Dewhurst ran from his record and instead tried to paint Cruz as an evil Washington insider trial lawyer protecting the Chinese.

The most despicable of the ads, however, came when Dewhurst ran ads insinuating that Cruz was defending a "cash for kids" detention facility scandal. That entire campaign was wrong and intentionally distorted and was far below the belt, even by dirty Texas political ad standards.

Note to politicians: We are not stupid. We know how to use the internet that "government built so businesses could make money off of it" to check facts.

3. The Tea Party is anything but over. Hell, we're just getting cranked up.

I wrote on Twitter that I hadn't seen a butt-kicking like Cruz over Dewhurst since the Cowboys laid the smack on the Buffalo Bills in successive Super Bowls.

The victory also tells you how full of pork excrement Obama is. Not too long ago, he slithered into Texas (Austin, which is where we tolerate our more radical liberals but only because they run the music bars and restaurants on East Sixth Street) and proclaimed that Texas "would soon become a battleground state."

He was right on several accounts.

In just the past two years, we've had a couple of major high-profile battles that pitted establishment politicians against local-values politicians. Our embarrassment of a (retiring) senator, Kay Bailey Hutchitson got her butt handed to her by Rick Perry in a classic "Texas values versus Washington values" gubernatorial race.

Just last night, David Dewhurst suffered a similar fate.

The battle was on and here in Texas, we threw the big middle finger at the establishment RINO Republicans.

Battleground state indeed.

There will be some upcoming battles in Texas beginning at the borders, which will include not just the Rio Grande River, but also the Red River.

On illegal immigration, we're fed up. We'll give Romney a chance to shore up the borders, but he'd better act quick. Otherwise, if he doesn't, we will. "Remember the Alamo?" Hell, we've never forgotten it. We WILL defend our southern border.

On the northern border (the Red River), we're getting tired of liberal yankee carpetbaggers coming down here seeking work and a better life but insisting on bringing their Chicago and Detroit and Boston values (oxymoron) with them. We are a solid Tea Party state and if the liberals, yankees and Californians don't like it, tough cow patties.

The Ted Cruz victory also reaffirmed something else the mainstream media refuses to acknowledge--that Sarah Palin is VERY relevant in conservative politics. Her endorsement and campaigning for Richard Mourdock in Indiana helped Mourdock stomp his own mudhole in one of the biggest frauds to suck air in Republican circles since Olympia Snow and Arlen Spector.

God Bless the Hoosiers, who also epitomize Tea Party values and strength.

Take a look around, my fellow conservatives. The Ted Cruz victory last night in Texas is affirmation that we are not just strong, but an undeniable force to be reckoned with.

If Romney is smart, he'll get the message and campaign accordingly.

The first shot.

I'm not (usually) one to give a lot of inordinate attention to talk about "the second American revolution."

 Quite frankly, I don't think we have the balls.

Someone at the VFW, however, pointed out that during the first American revolution, it was only something like five or six percent of those able to who actually took up arms and kicked the redcoats' collective backsides.

And since the latest statistics today show that less than ONE PERCENT of all living Americans have any military service. . . .

I make no illusions about being young and fit enough to go running and jumping through the woods and urban forests and skulking with face paint and exotic black guns in each hand. As the more experienced (read: aged/"been there, done that") of us relate over cold adult beverages, that is a young person's role.

Us older folks will still be there, however. If the government and left-wing loonies only knew just how organized many of the former military types actually are, and how quickly we can actually organize, arm ourselves and deploy, there would be an explosion in the sale of Depends undergarments.

Several years ago, I was at an event in Oklahoma where the overwhelming majority of us present were veterans. We had all five branches of the service represented and "war experience" ranging as far back as the Korean War. Somehow or another, talk about "what could we do?" began, and within an hour, we had "organized" ourselves into a rather formidable force.

The younger infantry and Marine guys bore the weight-bearing roles, a couple of former Army SF guys (Ranger, Green Beret) who were of the Vietnam era did offensive and recon mission planning, some of us "non-infantry" types organized into supply and logistics and transportation and intelligence roles, one of the Navy guys was a retired machinist and opened his shop to fabricate and repair anything we might need. Etc etc.

This was less than four-dozen veterans of all ages and we organized far quicker, more efficiently and with better immediate resources than the majority of SWAT teams within a two-hundred mile radius.

Bear in mind, there are millions of us scattered throughout America.

What makes us a formidable force is the fact that we have all served and because of that, we instantly understand discipline and chain-of-command and the need to either lead or be led. No arguing, no egos, no whining--just doing it.

It's something, as any vet will tell you, that you never forget. It becomes part of your DNA in boot camp and it never leaves you.

The other thing that bonds us together is the fact that we desperately do not want a war on our soil ever again, especially a civil war. But to protect peace, one must constantly foster strength.

But if a civil war is going to happen, a situation such as what is happening with a family-owned business in Colorado will be the catalyst.

 In a nutshell, the Newland family started and built a small business in the HVAC industry and over the years, built it into a thriving success story that now employs around 250 workers. The problem is Obamacare and the Newland's religion--they're Catholic. Obamacare is requiring that the Newlands provide abortion services, sterilization, birth control, etc to their employees even though such actions are in direct conflict with their religious doctrine.

The Newlands, standing on their religious freedoms, declined and Eric Holder's DOJ filed suit, in essence telling the Newlands "you can keep your religion or you can keep your business. Choose one."


An injunction was granted, but the government's argument against such was the following:

According to the Obama Administration, however, the free exercise of religion is something done only one day a week in a house of worship. It argued that the “Plaintiffs’ free exercise claim fails at the outset because for-profit, secular employers generally do not engage in any exercise of religion protected by the First Amendment.”

This is unbelievable. It's also frightening.

It's also a perfect combination for "the first shot" to occur.

I'll go on record as stating that I will not stand idly by and watch an American's religious freedoms being trampled by a thug administration that routinely defecates on the Constitution for no other purpose than to further empower itself.

A word to the government: None of you ever wore a uniform or badge. You're sole "authority of enforcement" comes from those who do or who have. We swore an oath to the Constitution--not you. We'll defend the Constitution against any and all enemies.

Don't forget that.

Of course Obama talks "more gun control."

Face it, our president is as clueless as the lapdogs in the media that are constantly jock-sniffing his backside like the dogs in heat they are.

In the wake of a mass-shooting, the clueless politicians and cowards--aka, liberals--clamor for more gun control, with Obama now spouting off on the issue himself. Tighter background checks. AK-47s in the hands of soldiers, not civilians. Blah blah blah.

What a bunch of stupid SOBs.

Two words on how well government-mandated gun control works:

Eric Holder.

That's right, the nation's top law enforcement hack is also the nation's top perpetrator of gun crimes, ala Fast and Furious. What's more, the chief Idiot (Obama) apparently had full knowledge, thus his enacting "executive privilege" to keep the records and papers from Congress, ala the American People.

The International Association of Police Chiefs has always been a testicle-challenged organization in which there has never been any need for functional urinals at their convention halls since these chiefs all squat to urinate. So no surprise on their stance.

However, as we move closer to a police state in Amerika, consider that it is the police (their chiefs) who clamor for increasing gun control for everyone BUT the police.

That should scare the hell out of everyone reading this.

The first chapter of my novel, Above Reproach, illustrated what happens when a deranged individual/s intent on causing as much harm can do when their targets are unarmed and basically helpless. But later in the book, when they are confronted by armed and prepared citizens, the outcomes are drastically different.

By the way, that's not fiction. The National Rifle Association published The Armed Citizen every month in their flagship publications--and all those events are lifted from various newspapers across the country.

Being armed can save your life. Being  unarmed can cost you your life.

Just whose damned side are the politicians and police chiefs on anyhow?

Once again we see that criminals ignore signs and laws.

(re-posted from jdkinman.com)

Typical.

Didn't we see this in the Omaha (Nebraska) mall shooting a few years ago? Another "safe, gun-free zone" in which some criminal totally disregarded the law (isn't that what criminals do, by definition?) and started thinning the herd of sheep.

This almost mirrors the opening chapter in my book (Above Reproach) in which armed terrorists targeted "gun-free" zones and cities in which guns had been outlawed for law-abiding citizens. Wholesale slaughter resulted.

Much like Aurora, Colorado.

Where were the police? Where were the military?

Since liberal sheep insist that only police and military need or should have guns, then where the hell were the police or the military in Aurora? Never mind the fact that the military, by law, is prohibited from "enforcement" actions in domestic matters.

So where were the police--even off-duty police?

Contrast this with a scene a few months ago in a grocery store in Salt Lake City where another deranged animal started slashing a fixed-blade knife at patrons, cutting several of them until a law-abiding citizen with a concealed handgun license stopped the attack.

Contrast this with a scene in Ocala, Florida where a couple of scumbag punks walked into an internet café armed with a gun and a baseball bat and attempted to rob everyone until a 71-year-old pulled his legally concealed handgun and fired on the thugs.

I know a lot of folks in Colorado and even in the Denver area who are CHL holders, who are cool under pressure, many of whom are veterans, some of whom are past law enforcement and some of whom are regular sport shooters.

I also know that NOT ONE OF THEM would ever set foot in that theater because it advertised itself as "gun-free" and prohibited firearms.

Looks like that policy was an epic fail.

I REFUSE to patronize any place, business or organization that does not trust me to responsibly exercise my Second Amendment rights. Those same places, businesses and organizations somehow trusted me to carry a firearm when I was wearing our nation's uniform, but they no longer trust me now that I'm back home and a civilian.

So I will not, repeat, not patronize them. It's their right to refuse me service. It's my right to insist on having a fighting chance when some scumbag thug robber or nutjob decides that "today is the day" and wants to go on a killing spree.

Armed citizens could have, and would have prevented the melee that occurred in Aurora, Colorado.

But instead, liberals--which I classify as COWARDS--insist on blaming guns, NRA, Rush Limbaugh. . . anyone but themselves for their cowardly policies denying the masses their rights in order to feel "safe."

The opening quote in my book says it all:

"Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety." (Benjamin Franklin)

And while the cowards (liberals) are crying about the dangers of guns and all the guns we have in this country, when is the last time a massacre of this note occurred at the NRA convention, or the SHOT show, or a gun-show, or at a Bass Pro Shops or Cabela's or any other outdoor/firearms/sporting goods store?

Liberals are to blame for the massacre in Aurora. Not conservatives. Not gun-owners. Not Rush Limbaugh or Sarah Palin or the NRA.

Think about that for every shopping and purchasing decision you make.

Is there a showdown coming between law enforcement and the public?

*Sigh* I just read another one of "those" stories, and I'm waiting on my blood pressure to decline.

Deputies from a Florida sheriff's department do the usual o-dark-thirty raid on a house--the wrong house--and kill the occupant who comes to the door with a gun in his hand.

I worked in law enforcement a long time ago. Not once--repeat, NOT ONCE--did we ever knock or bang on a door without announcing that we were the police.

Not once.

Yeah, we went looking for people at o-dark-thirty because even scumbags sleep. But at o-dark-thirty, most scumbags are out at scumbag locales doing scumbag things.

At o-dark-thirty, most law-abiding, righteous citizens are sleeping so that they can work another day and pay another day's worth of taxes to help keep dumbshit sheriff's departments up and kicking in doors in the middle of the night without announcing who's kicking in the door.

What really grates the living hell out of me in this story is the sheer arrogance of the ass who is defending the murder of this citizen. I quote:

"When we knocked on the door, the door opened and the occupant of that apartment was pointing a gun at deputies, and that's when we opened fire and killed him," Lt. John Herrell said. "Even though this subject is not the one we were looking for when he opened the door. He was pointing the gun at the deputy and if you put yourselves in the deputy's shoes. They were there to pick up someone who was wanted for an attempted homicide."

Not sure about you, but if/when my doorbell gets rung or my door gets knocked on at 1:30 a.m., I answer the door with a gun in hand. I'm not a criminal--I'm an American citizen for who the Constitution guarantees me the right to answer the door at 1:30 in the morning with a gun in my hand.

Especially when whoever is doing the knocking does not announce who the hell they are.

Another example of police arrogance and stupidity resulting in the death of an innocent citizen.

And, another example of some asshole police "commander" trying to blame it on the innocent citizen exercising their rights to defend themselves against whatever scum may come pounding on their door at 1:30 in the morning.

This final "justification" quote from the jackbooted deputy pretty much sums up why law enforcement across America is falling into the same favor as trial lawyers and politicians:

"It's just a bizarre set of circumstances. The bottom line is, you point a gun at a deputy sheriff or police office, you're going to get shot," Herrell said.

OK, Mr. Herrell, think about this. The bottom line is if you go pointing a gun at innocent citizens, badge or no badge, you're liable to get shot. And having shot in many matches with cops, I know who the better shots are.

And the police ain't them.

Police: Get your act together and start putting a muzzle on idiots like this Herrell and you damned well better start identifying yourselves when you pound on people's door.

Otherwise, we're going to start shooting back.

Bullying. You know the solution.

It dismays me to no end that there is a growing legion of people in this country that rely on the government to do everything for them.

Everything.

I keep reading and hearing of this "bullying" problem, and quite frankly, I don't see where the problem is.

Actually, I do and it is with the person or people being bullied.

It's called cowardice. But here is a nice video showing the reality of 99% of all bullying situations.
Bully gets his ass kicked.

That's the way I was taught to handle bullies when I was growing up five decades ago. It worked then, it works now.

It's not necessarily "laying hands on someone" that is the point--it's standing up to the bully and giving it right back to them with the implied PROMISE that you will kick their ass by and with whatever means necessary to end the harassment or threats or bullying they are laying on you.

I was a pretty small guy growing up and the bigger, older neighborhood kids kicked my ass now and then just for the hell of it. My grandad, a WWII vet, encouraged judo lessons. From there, I added karate and in a couple of years, I found myself going after a couple of guys who'd shoved down a kid on crutches.

It infuriated me, and I went after the two guys without thinking. About fifteen seconds into the brawl, it dawned on me that this judo and karate stuff really DOES work. When you focus your discipline and power into your punches and kicks and use your opponent's momentum (and ignorance) against him, you can deliver a fearsome ass-kicking.

But today, we as parents run to the principal's office crying and sobbing and demanding that THEY do something about the bully who is bothering our precious Percy or Priscilla. As adults, we go crying to human resources or EEOC demanding THEY do something about a bullying co-worker or supervisor.

Bullies do what they do because they do not respect the person they are picking on. Fear generates a healthy dose of respect. If you don't believe me, ask any veteran who went through boot camp. We feared our drill instructors and knew, without a doubt, that they could kick our ass seven ways sideways to Sunday.

But because THEY also knew it, the need to "bully" wasn't there. By the end of our eight or twelve weeks of basic military training, mutual respect had been achieved.

You can achieve the same thing in the civilian world in eight to twelve seconds if you simply stand up to the SOB who is bullying you and promise what we called "violence of action" and have every intention of following through.

It's a mindset you have to acquire, which is why we're such a spineless nation ruled by bullies. It's much easier to run whining to the government to make more laws against bullying than it is to stand up to them and/or teach our kids how to stand up to them.

Spare me the talk about lawyers and courts and police. Simply STANDING UP to a damned bully will win three-fourths of the battles. Tell them to kiss your ass and howl at the moon.

If you live in fear, it is because you choose to live in fear. Bullies are nothing new, nor is standing up to them.

But again, we choose to be spineless.

And to prove it, our U.S. Government is the biggest bunch of bullies there are, and we don't even have the guts to vote their asses out of office.

Step right up and join TSA!

Step right up, folks!

Bullied as a young person growing up in your middle-class neighborhood?

Ridiculed in the gym locker room because of underdeveloped/non-developed reproductive organs?

Failed your ACT or SAT tests?

Unfit for military duty?

Is your IQ the average of that of a wilting houseplant?

Do you have strong leanings towards sexual predation?

Unable to pass a bonafide background check?

Are you otherwise unemployable in this age of Obama?

Have zero concept of Constitutional freedoms, in particular the Fourth Amendment?

NO WORRIES!

Join TSA, where our motto is: "The worse you are, the better we become!"

You can thank our absolutely gutless elected officials, going back to George W Bush and his stupid-assed Patriot Act and creation of the Department of Homeland Security, for this travesty.

They did, after all, have the option of bombing the terrorist back into the Stone Age, allowing passengers to fly armed, profiling terrorists instead of toddlers and 87-year-old grandmothers in wheelchairs.

Like I said, GUTLESS elected officials.

But I'm convinced the majority of America doesn't care.

Who's on American Idol tonight?

It wasn't free then. It isn't free now.

Freedom.

Independence.

It came with a price. 

Never forget.

There is still light in this world.

 Maybe we need more of this and less of the governments mismanaging the world.

Sometimes, it really is that simple.

I found America this past weekend.

Some folks in Natchitoches, Louisiana invited me to an EAA (Experimental Aviation Association) fly-in, dinner and shooting get-together at the local range--and they asked me to bring some books to sell and sign.

Let's think about this for a minute. Airplanes (I'm an EAA and AOPA member), guns, Louisiana cooking and the opportunity to make new friends.

I'm in.

I loaded up the Cessna after lunch on Friday, waited until the heat of the day was peaking, made sure headwinds would be at their strongest and departed. (Pilots understand how conditions rarely favor you on outbound legs of trips.)

ATC had me on a departure route west of Fort Worth. I'm always amazed--and dismayed--at how big Cowtown has become.

To the immediate west of my heading was the Fort Worth Joint Naval Air Station. Us local pilots have learned to keep a wary eye out for the Navy jocks. They have a difficult time reading "2,500" on their altimeters--which is the minimum altitude they are required to fly on inbound approach from the north.

Remember: They have parachutes and we don't.

It's always a relief to be clear of ANY class bravo airspace, and even though DFW is home and I know it like I know all the weeds in my backyard, it's always good to have it behind you.

It was 102F when I cranked up and took off. This was to be a VFR trip, so I'd filed for 7500'. Naturally, there was a cloud layer at 7500' and just as naturally, there was one at 5500' so I had a choice: fly at 3500' msl and sweat and get bounced around, or climb above it all.

Took me no time at all to decide, and I snapped this picture as I was clearing 9000' msl. At altitude, the outside air temperature (OAT) was actually in the low 40's. Nice calm and cool skies from that point on eastward.

Looking down at Tyler, Texas--one of my favorite east Texas towns.

It was hot, humid and hazy down below, but that is Toledo Bend Reservoir--the largest enclosed body of water in Texas and it sits on the border between us and Louisiana. Long, big lake.

They have a fantastic airport at Natchitoches (KIER) with first-class people operating it. Here, I've got the bird unloaded and tucked in for the weekend.

Saturday morning, my host, Ben Rushing, asks me if I want to see Louisiana as seen from one of the coolest bi-planes in the universe--a Hiperbipe. He even foolishly let me fly it. Said he needed to get his heart rate up a bit for the day.

View from the front office of the Hiperbipe.

Cheated Death once again and brought a heavier-than-air flying machine safely to the ground.

Here is a beautiful Taylorcraft that showed up for the fly-in. Flying doesn't get much more fun than in these fabric airplanes.

Then there was the Stearman. When you combine the old low and slow fabric birds with bi-planes, you get the classic Stearman. Of course, that big radial engine up front stays constantly thirsty.

After the birds had all come in Saturday morning, there was fellowship and hangar flying and food. A huge swamp cooler had been set up in the hangar along with a lot of long tables.

Some of my Louisiana gun buddies and readers had driven over for the festivities and we had some great conversations. Other attendees sitting at our big long table chimed in. Between us all, we solved the issue of Obamacare--just get rid of Obama and every son of a bitch that voted for it.

We fixed all gun control problems--toss out every son of a bitch that doesn't understand the Second Amendment or who doesn't like it.

Illegal immigration was solved rather easily--pistols began appearing and we admired each other's hardware. I saw some really NICE purse pistols from the ladies. Of course, this also solved the petty crime problems.

Imagine that, a bunch of good southerners gathered together and in less than half an hour, we'd solved 90% of our nation's ills just like that.

How long does it take those dumb asses in Washington, and then they still don't get it right? In fact, they make it worse.

Maybe they need to start attending more fly-ins and book-signings and shooting range events.

At the shooting range in Natchitoches, any remaining problems that we faced in America were dispatched in fine fashion and with a variety of calibers and firearms. We had some poker targets, but we were all too old to see the cards printed on them and had to keep moving closer just to tell the Ace of Spades from the Ten of Clubs.

At least, that was my excuse. Must've left my reading glasses back at the airport. . .

As with all good things, after all the books had been sold and signed and addresses and e-mails and phone numbers exchanged, it was time to head back to the airport to load up the plane and return back home.

On most trips, I look forward to getting back home. On this trip, I wanted to stay.

I'd rediscovered America.

America is in our small towns. The fruits of freedom are often found in large scale in the big cities like Dallas and New York and Los Angeles, but the engine that drives America, the backbone that keeps us free and safe, the morals and values that MAKE us America. . . they're found in ample abundance in Small Town, USA.

Maybe we should reverse how we elect representatives and give more weight (ie more seats in the House) to the rural areas, and less for the urban areas.

More country folks up in Washington, and we'd have these problems licked.

It was something to think about as I flew into the sunset.