Sep

6

12,000 Scraps Of Cloth

Category: Opinions | Comments Off | 415 words | Print

As a child, I learned about our nation’s flag. I learned about its history, I learned what it means to us as a nation. I learned that our flag represents the very heart of our nation, and I learned what the flag means to those who have fought and died beneath it.

I was never taught to respect the American flag. I just did. You cannot teach respect. Respect comes naturally.

I hold our flag in great esteem. The flag, with its stripes, represents the very founding of our nation. The stars on the flag represent all of the states that have made their contribution to our great nation. Put them together and the flag represents all of the untold battles fought in the name of our country, for our freedom.

I didn’t learn to to respect the flag from a Democrat or a Republican, I grew to respect it from the lessons taught by a patriotic teacher (who may have or not have been a democrat or a republican). Respect does not belong to a political party.

The picture above shows just some of the 12,000 small flags that were simply ‘thrown away’ after use at the Democratic National Convention.

Some may argue that the flags in the photograph are nothing more than little scraps of cloth ‘made in Taiwan’. Some may also say that it’s the symbol of freedom that we fight to protect, not the physical pieces of cloth that we display. Either way, I’m sorry. I don’t accept those answers.

I have a huge issue with our nation’s symbol being manufactured in some foreign land far from our shores, but that is a topic for another post.

No matter where the flag is made, no matter what “scraps of cloth” are used to make it, and no matter how you obtained it, once you choose to display that flag, whether on your car, on a flag pole, or in your hand at a political convention, it becomes the symbol that we have fought to protect throughout our nation’s history.

When was the last time you wondered where a flag was made when you saw it waving in the wind? When was the last time you thought of flags as “scraps of cloth” when you see them waving in a crowd? Probably never. Unless of course you’re like the guy who decided to throw away 12,000 symbols of our nation’s freedom.

Sep

3

The Delusional Barack Obama

Category: Politics | Comments Off | 777 words | Print

Barack Obama is delusional and he thinks you are stupid.

When faced with a question about his experience compared to the experience of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, rather than focusing on reality and moving forward from there, he would rather cloud the issue and avoid reality all-together.

My understanding is that Gov. Palin’s town, Wassilla, has I think 50 employees. We’ve got 2500 in this campaign. I think their budget is maybe 12 million dollars a year – we have a budget of about three times that just for the month,” Obama responded.

Our ability to manage large systems and to execute I think has been made clear over the past couple of years and certainly in terms of the legislation I’ve passed in the past couple of years, post-Katrina.”

I am not doubting any of the facts stated above, but he’s hoping you are so tired of listening to reality that you are forgetting one thing. Sarah Palin was not only the mayor of the small town of Wasilla (CNN doesn’t use spellcheck apparently). She is the current Governor of Alaska.

That’s right. In case you missed it in all of the news reports over the past few days or in my lead up to the quote, she is the current governor of Alaska and has been responsible for the entire state of Alaska since she was elected in 2006. Now that you know the reality of the situation, let’s compare the two again.

As an Illinois state Senator, Barack Obama had a small staff, probably less than 25 people. As a U.S. Senator he has about 40 people working for him. As a candidate for President he says (as you can read above) he has 2,500 employees. That puts his total at 2,565 employees.

As the mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, Mayor Palin had a staff of 50 employees (according to ‘The One’). As Governor of Alaska, Governor Palin is responsible for the jobs of 15,000 people. Her total? 15,050. By Barry O’s own comparison, Governor Palin has 486% more experience in managing employees and staff.

Let’s continue.

As an Illinois state Senator, Barack Obama managed a budget of… hmm. wow. State Senators don’t manage budgets, do they? As a U.S. Senator he manages a budget of… hmm. wow. U.S. Senators don’t manage budgets, do they? As a candidate for President he says (as you can read above) he has a budget of $36 million per month. For comparison, let’s use a 12 month period, or a budget of $432 million for the past year. Barack Obama’s budget experience is $432,000,000 over the span of his entire career since he was an Illinois State Senator. That’s not too shabby is it?

As the mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, Mayor Palin managed a budget of $12 million per year. She was mayor for 8 years. As the Governor of Alaska, Governor Palin manages a budget of $12 billion. That’s a ‘B’ people. Sarah Palin’s budget experience is $12,096,000,000. Governor Palin has 2700% more experience in managing budgets.

Should I delve into the fact that she, as Governor, has a cabinet and departments much like the President of the United States does? She runs the state with the harshest weather in the nation. I think it’s safe to say she is far more qualified than Barack Obama when it comes to doing the job as President of the United States, let alone dealing with natural disasters.

Should I mention that every day mayors and governors across our country (including Sarah Palin) must make yes or no decisions that affect people immediately?

Should I reference the fact that while mayor of Wasilla, Sarah Palin was taking charge, reforming her small town government and making it a better place to live, while Barack Obama was voting ‘present’ in the state Senate in Illinois?

Senators don’t make executive decisions. They are members of a large body that sits in committee meetings, listen to special interests, and vote according to their party’s official line. Governors however, must make executive decisions. They are ‘one person’ responsible for the lives of the people in their state. And for the record, Sarah Palin was not listening to special interests or making her decisions in accordance to her party’s official line.

When it comes to experience, there is no comparison. Sarah Palin, while new on the national scene, is far more qualified to be President (let alone Vice President) than Barack Obama. To think otherwise is just delusional.

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