These assumptions and accusations are not deserved.

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Fox News broadcast an interview Shepherd Smith did with the woman who grabbed the magazine from the shooter in Arizona yesterday, after he had been brought to the ground and subdued by other bystanders.  As I was listening it occurred to me that she sounded angry.  She made sure to correct what was reported, that she had tackled the guy and grabbed the magazine from him.  He was already down when one of the men who had him under control yelled for someone to grab the magazine, and she did.  Shep was pushing, asking questions trying to make an interesting interview out of something it wasn't.  I thought she was getting annoyed with the questions he was asking.  But at the end of the interview he asked about her son who is a year older than the shooter, and then indicating it was the end of the interview asked if she had anything to say to people, and said something weird like "to make people feel better?"  That is when she blamed right wing politicians and talk show hosts for the inflammatory language they use, and cited "the job killing bill" and things like that.

Jane Fonda, like SHE is so relevant these days has placed the blame on Sarah Palin for "targeting" Gabrielle Giffords congressional seat, because isn't it obvious that was the motive for this shooting?  Sarah Palin made it happen?  Why are people so afraid of her?

NOW is blaming GOP members of congress and says : "We condemn, equally, the culture of hate and violence increasingly reflected in extreme right-wing opponents of those who support progressive solutions to our country's challenges."  So .. it's the peaceful tea partiers and the right wing commentators and politicians that made this man shoot people?  Hmmm.  Why don't they just say that opponents of progressive solutions are violent, because that's what they mean?

The former senator and Democratic presidential hopeful Gary Hart, writing on the Huffington Post website, blamed symbols such as cross hairs and the use of words such as "targeted".
"Today we have seen the results of this rhetoric," Hart wrote.  GARY HART??  REALLY??

Giffords's father was blunter. Asked if she had any enemies, he said: "Yeah, the whole Tea Party."

Twitter and Palin's own Facebook page are exploding with accusations:

"You're a disgrace of a person! This is ALL your fault for exciting violence in America. Continue killing your wolves but stop making your minions kill politicians. This bulleyes list produced by you is most likely the reason for today's incident," one person wrote.

Another wrote this: "Well I guess Sarah can mark Gabrielle Giffords as "taken care of" on her target hit list. She must be so proud of herself!"
The posts are being rapidly erased.

New York Times columnist Paul Krugman wrote on his blog hours after the shooting that Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh have contributed to a “climate of hate.”

"You know that Republicans will yell about the evils of partisanship whenever anyone tries to make a connection between the rhetoric of Beck, Limbaugh, etc. and the violence I fear we’re going to see in the months and years ahead. But violent acts are what happen when you create a climate of hate. And it’s long past time for the GOP’s leaders to take a stand against the hate-mongers."

Krugman later disabled the comments on the post.

Why are politicians or people with right wing political views being blamed for this?  We do not espouse hate and certainly do not incite violence!  It makes me laugh when they throw Glenn Beck in there, what's HE doing - PRAYING bullets at someone?? 

We DO hate the actions of many people.  We do hate the fact that many of us were kept quiet by political correctness for years until we figured out what was happening and now because we dare speak out and fight back politically - we hate groups of people and we promote violence??

I am so tired of the accusations.  I am so tired of the lies.

But - it only strengthens my resolve to continue to fight toward getting our republic back through legal, political, and PEACEFUL means.  Unfortunately when there are no real examples of right wing hatred and violence, the left makes it up.  But we will not give them the real thing because we are NOT who they say we are.

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Only white folks are racist.

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People talk about America being a racist nation. If it is, it has only become one in the last two years under the most divisive administration ever. But that still doesn't mean this is a racist country like it was before Martin Luther King and separate drinking fountains etc. But I am beginning to think Chicago is the most divided city in the nation. Not to mention the most corrupt, but that's for another day.

Mayor Daley announcing he would not be running for mayor again caused a big scramble for who was going to run. Rahm came home and proved he was eligible to run because boxes he left in the crawlspace of the home he rented out while in D.C. meant he was coming back. Chicago was still home and he always intended to come back. Unless something else happens, his name will be on the ballet. But even before he was approved, as soon as he came into town 2 or 3 people jumped off the ballet. You don't suppose he made them an offer they couldn't refuse, do you? Hmmm.

It looks like the main competition for Rahm just may be Carol Moseley Braun. A week ago Sen James Meeks dropped out, he was one of the main challengers to Rahm Emanual's residency status. A couple of days ago neither Braun or Danny Davis were budging, they were planning on staying in the race until Rev. Jesse Jackson called them to a meeting on Wednesday night at his Rainbow Push headquarters. Danny Davis dropped out yesterday, and is endorsing Braun whole-heartedly, it's all about unity. Black unity. A-freaking-mazing.

In Chicago it doesn't seem to matter what party you belong to. It matters what color you are. Jesse Jackson and other local black leaders are trying to narrow down the number of black candidates so they have the best chance of winning the mayoral seat for a black candidate.

On the other side of town I'm sure there are groups of white guys pushing other white guys to drop out of the race so they can put all their support and money behind the perfect white guy who can win.

NOT. If that were happening there would be an uproar! That would be racist and just not acceptable.

In another part of Chicago you just know Luis Gutierrez is planning some kind of civil disobedience because his dream act didn't pass. He said he would quit the democrat party if it didn't happen but I haven't heard a word. Gutierrez who has been quoted as saying he only has one loyalty, and that is to the immigrant community. In Luis-speak - that means the illegal immigrant community. He calls them all immigrants, the "illegal" part is apparently - offensive. This from the man who was the former leader of the Puerto Rican Socialist Party in Illinois. Not a surprise.

But call me silly. Shouldn't Gutierrez be loyal to ALL his constituents? I mean, a few of them have to have papers, right? And shouldn't he be loyal to the U.S. Constitution? Now he's talking about Latinos breaking off and starting a whole new party of their own, the tequila party!

We have politicians who are running for office based on race, and others who are putting people first who aren't even citizens! And there's a lot of it in Chicago.

We are not supposed to judge people by race, right? Isn't that what MLK wanted? Yet we aren't supposed to talk about how divided Chicago is by exactly that. Race. I guess it's only bad if it's white people doing things on the basis of race. Hmm. That's the new status quo I guess.

Hell pretty soon we're going to need affirmative action for us white people!
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May you have a very blessed Christmas!

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Anger, petulance, and .. hostage takers?

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I'm not sure why I continue to be surprised by this president. Just when he has an opportunity to be generous and/or gracious he just. can't. do it. He is an angry, bitter man.

Was it possible for him to have a press conference about continuing the Bush tax cuts without devolving into an 'us and them' mentality? Apparently not. Was it possible for the president to give the Republicans and the people something they need and want without being grudging and petulant? Apparently not. Was it even possible to discuss the issue at hand without trying to prove how scrappy and tough he is? Um.. no.

And Democrats out there are losing their minds! I was listening to the radio today and heard a clip from MSNBC - it was a woman saying that now we are going to be borrowing money to give to the wealthiest Americans. Excuse me?? We're going to borrow money to give to the people who are simply being allowed to keep more of their own money? Because it IS their own money! Why do people so conveniently forget that? That money belongs to the people who earn it, not to the government that takes it and wastes it.

So the logic is, not taking more money from the people it belongs to adds to the deficit. STOP SPENDING!!!!!! No one is GIVING money to the wealthy, but the government IS giving a hell of a lot of money to the unemployed! It kind of makes you feel relaxed doesn't it - that if you righteously get laid off or screw up and get fired .. you'll have a comfortable three years to find another job! So yeah, stay home for a year, work on your tan or your abs .. cook meals and get reacquainted with your family. On OUR dime. Nice!

 

Being out of work is starting to sound better all the time! Unfortunately we are paying people to not work. Most of us know someone .. lost their job a year ago, has taken a couple of jobs for cash so they didn't lose their full unemployment benefit or, either did not apply for lower paying jobs than they wanted, or turned them down if they were offered. Because they are damn comfortable with that free money. I do not believe someone cannot find a job in 2 years. I do believe someone very well might not find the job they WANT in 2 years. That's an entirely different thing.

The left is screaming, some of the right is too. Nobody is satisfied with what they are getting, if this turns out to be the deal. I'm pretty sure the left has never been so far from the right in history. The way the facts are twisted on a daily basis is disheartening and contributing to the polarizing of America.

 

Where is our leader? The person who is supposed to make decisions that are best for the people and true to American culture and ideals? Where is that leader who is graceful in defeat and above purely political decisions on matters of national defense and proposals to strengthen a faltering economy?

 

Because he's not in the White House now. The man in the white house is an empty suit of a man/child who cannot fathom that everyone doesn't see things his way and isn't willing to play by his rules because he is making them up as he goes along.

 

It's time for the man to take his bat and ball and go home. Please Mr. President, become the hero you want to be. Resign. You are incompetent.

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Time for the truth

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Okay, I do want President Obama out of office.  My dream would be that he would wake up tomorrow morning and say - "I'm done."  Then give a speech saying how much he sucks and how badly he's been doing his job.  BUT I know that's not going to happen so I'll wait until 2012.  I don't wish for anything other than an election to take him out, unless of course someone manages to find his Watergate and he's shamed out, that wouldn't be too bad either.  Okay, let's just say I would settle for just about anything that gets him out of office that is legal and causes no physical harm.  I didn't say anything about ethics.  Ahem.

But when I saw that fat lip the other day, saw BO walking with that gauze in his hand, there was a teeny tiny part of me that was like - "aw-w-w-w .. why couldn't it have been me who caused that accident!!?!"  I mean - there have been a few things he has done over the last couple of years I would have loved to pop him in the mouth for.  For LYING to the American people maybe?  But no.  I never wished him harm.

Still, I'm enjoying the fat lip vicariously, hoping there was a little more than a basketball elbow behind it. 

Is that wrong?

Because I really don't care.

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Our bird is the magnificent bald eagle - as Americans - it's time to fly!

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No one was more surprised on September 11th 2001 than I was. I was not politically aware and had only a vague idea of what and where the World Trade Center was. Most of us were in shock, our world had shifted on it's axis and thrown us totally off kilter. Not surprisingly so.

It was a huge and horrific event, and like George W. Bush said when he heard the third plane hit the pentagon - I knew it was a declaration of war.

For days afterward I spoke to my teenage kids about what happened. To me it just didn't seem that they grasped the enormity of what had just occurred. I wanted them to get it, to absorb it, to deal with the

feelings involved in something so catastrophic. Still, it seemed more surface to them, as if they were not as surprised as I was and were taking it in stride.

Because of the school he went to my son was a captive audience for me every week day for about 20 minutes to school and 20 minutes back, as I drove him to school on my way to work and picked him up at his grandparents house on my way home. I had the same concerns everyone else did about the lost and missing loved ones, the grieving families left behind. Watching TV whenever possible fed my need for information, and caused me to cry over and over for all of those Americans forever scarred by the actions of so few.

And over and over again I asked why. And honestly to this day I still don't understand why.

But, with air traffic shut down for days I remember saying to my son on the way home one evening "y'know, they killed a lot of people, and for whatever reason they want to kill us all. But what they are really going to do is kill us economically."

Now if you know me you know I'm no Stephen Hawking, but that one fact was as clear to me as my own name. The airline industry is huge, and it affects every corner of our economy. There isn't a single business that does not require supplies of some sort, commerce in general requires travel, the ability to move people, things, and ideas from one side of the globe to the other. And the airline industry has not been the same since September 11th.

I'm not fond of flying these days. Never liked it much anyway but if we don't fly, even in protest of the intrusiveness of the body scans and enhanced pat-downs, we are hurting the airline industry as surely as if

we brought a plane down ourselves. Please keep flying. Don't let them win. Their aim is to destroy our economy and the airline industry was a smart place for them to start. It touches everything.

Find another way to protest the government intrusion. And keep flying. We're Americans, no one should be able to keep us on the ground if we want to fly. Do it.

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Generalities do TOO count!

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It is amazing that a group of people not representing any particular country, not representing a certain government or nationality, not even the majority in the religion they fight for - is holding the world hostage.

The debate going on right now about touching people's "junk" or getting the body scans is all about Muslim extremists. Our own citizens are being treated like criminals in the name of safety, springing from an obscene and desperate necessity. We don't want to die.

It is really hard not to paint all Muslims with the same broad brush. Americans do not understand Islam, it's teachings are completely foreign to us. In the simplest terms because I'm a simple gal, God is good. God is different things to different people but in the American culture it really is simple. God is about love, hope, faith, and charity. And please, don't go all Old Testament on me here, I am speaking in generalities. We do not understand a religion that generates such hate and such violence.

Islam does not make sense to us, it clashes with all we know of religion and belief in God, it's tenants the total opposite of what we learned as children and heard preached from pulpits in temples and churches across our land. And because it does not make sense to us we have no frame of reference to say oh - this group has chosen to follow this part of the Koran and that group interprets the Koran in a totally different way. And because so few Muslim groups stand along side Americans in outrage when acts of terrorism have occurred, it is hard for us to not be suspicious of them, uncomfortable and sometimes, afraid.

The more we are restricted and man-handled and feel we are losing our rights to things as personal as our own bodies, the less we are apt to feel kindly toward Muslims in general.

Because we freaking cannot tell the difference between a Muslim that will hurt us and one that won't!

And it is simple self-preservation that we feel the need to mistrust those we cannot fathom, and those we see as being the ones responsible for causing us pain. They do not wear a sign that identifies them as a friendly Muslim or a frothing at the mouth crazy Jihadist nutbag Muslim.

I'm sorry but I just wish they would go. OH THE HORROR! My brothers would be so appalled. But I do. I'm tired of feeling like a racist when I worry about whether or not someone I love will be blown to bits while doing something as innocuous as shopping for Christmas gifts. I don't want to feel I have to change my way of life because someone wants to kill me and would delight in cutting off my head while rolling video. There is a part of me that wishes we could pull the virtual covers over our heads as a nation and not have to let anyone else in - and start a steady stream of Muslims on their way out.

I can't apologize for feeling that way either, because I wouldn't mean it. I can say I'm sorry if I hurt some one's sensibilities but that doesn't change the way I feel. I am so tired of people wanting to destroy us simply because we exist and feeling like we have to be on guard all the time.

Oh to be 11 years old again, riding my sting-ray down the street with no hands, with no worries beyond crashing my bike. I don't like what our lives have become and while I don't generally like to play the blame game, damn it, it is Muslims that have brought us here. I just wish they didn't like it here anymore.

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Nostalgia

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Had some family in town recently, doesn't matter which ones, they are all liberals.  One of my brothers made a remark about George Bush going into Iraq because his dad didn't get the opportunity to finish the job there so doggone it - he was going to.  *crickets*  Yes, he really did say that.  Today a coworker said she had seen George Bush on TV the other day but "he's just not articulate, I couldn't watch him."  Really?? 

Dubya is all over the TV right now because he's selling his book.  My copy came yesterday, I pre-ordered it.  I did not agree with everything George Bush did.  I did not like the way he did some things.  But I liked and I respected him.  I cannot say that about his successor.  I thought I would illustrate some of the reasons I liked President Bush.



He was real.

He could throw a baseball without looking like a girl. 

No offence to the girls out there.

He was a cowboy and a leader when we needed one.

George Bush touched people.

He kissed babies.

President Bush liked people, and I never got the

feeling it was just a photo op.

Also - I'm pretty sure he knew how to use one of these.

He respected and loved the military,

..and they him.

He graciously wished his successor well, and did not flinch when

Obama turned around and blamed everything on him just minutes later.

George Bush had press conferences and actually took questions.

He wasn't too cool for the Easter Bunny.

He wore his heart on his sleeve, loved this country, and was

simply a decent man who deeply respected the office he held.

Also - there were some moments when he

reminded me of Johnny Carson.  And I miss him too.

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A small gift, a huge promise

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My office er .. roomate at work had to go out east for a week and brought back this little defective bell as a gift for me.  I know, right?  I set it on it's tiny box and decided it would stay there. 

My defective bell stands for liberty which means more to me right now than at any other time in my life.  I took a couple of pics and then realized I had set it right next to one of my little army men.  Don't all office workers have little army men on their desks?  Anyway.  The juxtoposition of them both I thought was perfect.  One makes the other possible.

 

We need to take heart where we can, absorb our strength and keep moving forward.  We CAN take our country back.

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