Pentimento

The Federal Emergency Mismanagement Agency Debacle

If ever there was proof that this administration and the Federal Emergency Management Agency it employs are totally worthless, take a look at this story FEMA director defends giving away hurricane supplies.

We now have a new disaster in Iowa, and without a doubt those people are going to need those same supplies, but David Paulison just gave them away! Our government is so ineptly run that while they soak us hourly for more and more in taxes, they throw away our hard-earned money doing stupid things like mismanaging disaster relief supplies. Do they think there is never going to be another disaster? Don't they ever watch the weather channel?

I'm sorry, but I think there is a special place in hell for the people in this administration. They have run this country into the ground, and all of us are along for the ride to perdition. We are all on our own folks. Don't ever count on the US government to help you with anything.

Hopefully, you have a plan to help yourselves, your family and your friends because you are going to need it like never before. If you doubt what I am saying, or think I am blowing things out of proportion, take a look at the last 8 years and what the Bush administration has done to help the people. NOTHING. Do a Google search for "Bush administration failures" and take a look at some of the timelines if you need further proof.

I am neither a Democrat nor a Republican. I am, though, a disgruntled American. ~ webduck

The 545 People Responsible For All Of U.S. Woes

Politicians are the only people in the world who create problems and then campaign against them.
Have you ever wondered why, if both the Democrats and the Republicans are against deficits, we have deficits? Have you ever wondered why, if all the politicians are against inflation and high taxes, we have inflation and high taxes?

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And, on that same note, why does anyone find it surprising that McClellan has written a scathing book about the Bush administration? It can only be one of two things...

1. He was a mole sent there to get the fodder to write the book. Or,

2. He is just showing his true colors as the type of low-life scum the Bush Administration would hire.

I plan on watching his interview by Wolf Blitzer in the Situation Room tomorrow night. Should be interesting as McClellan tries to explain himself.

I predict that you will see more and more surprising things coming out of the White House as the election approaches and the rats continue to desert the ship. Don't be surprised if you see Bush signing some pretty crooked bills and anything else he can manage before he leaves in January. On that last day, there will be some dastardly doings!

What We Have Is A Republic, Not A Democracy

There is an interesting discussion going on at Gather on my article about Obama being the Ralph Nader of this election, and someone said something about democracy. I made the mistake recently of saying something to the effect of "what kind of democracy is this?" to one of my smarter friends, and she corrected me by saying that we do not live in a Democracy. We live in a Republic. The following is from Merriam Webster Online:

REPUBLIC

Main Entry:

re·pub·lic

Pronunciation:

      \ri-ˈpə-blik\    

Function:

noun

Etymology:

French république, from Middle French republique, from Latin respublica, from res thing, wealth + publica, feminine of publicus public — more at real, public

Date:

1604

 

1 a (1): a government having a chief of state who is not a monarch and who in modern times is usually a president (2): a political unit (as a nation) having such a form of government b (1): a government in which supreme power resides in a body of citizens entitled to vote and is exercised by elected officers and representatives responsible to them and governing according to law (2): a political unit (as a nation) having such a form of government c: a usually specified republican government of a political unit <the French Fourth Republic>2: a body of persons freely engaged in a specified activity <the republic of letters>3: a constituent political and territorial unit of the former nations of Czechoslovakia, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, or Yugoslavia.

Now look at the definition of DEMOCRACY: 

Main Entry:

de·moc·ra·cy

Pronunciation:

      \di-ˈmä-krə-sē\    

Function:

noun

Inflected Form(s):

plural   de·moc·ra·cies

Etymology:

Middle French democratie, from Late Latin democratia, from Greek dēmokratia, from dēmos + -kratia -cracy

Date:

1576

 

1 a: government by the people; especially : rule of the majority b: a government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised by them directly or indirectly through a system of representation usually involving periodically held free elections 2: a political unit that has a democratic government 3. capitalized : the principles and policies of the Democratic party in the United States <from emancipation Republicanism to New Deal Democracy— C. M. Roberts> 4: the common people especially when constituting the source of political authority 5: the absence of hereditary or arbitrary class distinctions or privileges.

As you can see, there is a vast difference in the two forms of government. And this, from Wikipedia:

A constitutional republic is a state where the head of state and other officials are elected as representatives of the people, and must govern according to existing constitutional law that limits the government's power over citizens.

Just thought I would clear that up. Besides, it gives me something to refer back to should I forget again.

10 Ways To Improve The USA Right Now

 

Too bad I can’t run for President. Here’s what I would do to begin improving my country:

1. There are nearly *500,000 U. S. Military deployed around the world. I was shocked to see those numbers in my husband’s latest American Legion magazine* this month. We need to systematically start bringing home all of our troops deployed in forward positions. It would certainly save our country billions (if not more) of dollars. And, the countries who now enjoy our military protection would have to step up to the plate and take care of themselves. No more blank checks for them to cash in.

2. Provide necessary medical care for all of our Veterans for life.

3. Close our borders. We have a country large enough, and in the interest of real homeland security, put our troops on border patrol to use them in the best way possible. Their presence would beef up the security, and send a clear message to those trying to enter illegally that they are not going to breathe another breath. Orders would be to shoot on sight.

4. Use the military to route out the thugs, and gangs and deport them if necessary. With no illegal’s coming into the country, and all the rest being deported, it will soon put an end to a good measure of violence and reduce the need for as many drug task forces. Clean up the prisons and our sentencing for crimes. Those on death row would go right to their reward immediately. Right now, we can get away with murder in this nation and the only ones benefitting from it are the fat cat lawyers. If the gangs are trying to hide out on Indian reservations in this country, we can ask permission to help the tribes eradicate this blight on their lands and people. 

5. Issue no more Visas. Keep our intelligent citizens here at home. If someone wants to come here to this country, then they must become a citizen.  Provide funding for students to get a worthwhile education that would benefit our nation. With the money saved from non-deployment of troops we should put more into finding ways to reduce our dependence on oil, coal and anything else that would contaminate the planet.

6. Re-purpose old government buildings and make them into low income housing. Give vouchers to those who help maintain these homes, and assign government service to every person over the age of 18 in order to learn responsibility and respect for our country, homes and each other.

7. Provide health care insurance for all children. We need to stop funding wars and start investing in our children’s future.

8. Stop giving special tax breaks to businesses who import tainted food, toys, etc.. Give them hefty fines if they don’t clean up their business practices. Reward companies that make all their products here in the USA.

9. Make the Secretary of Defense a person who has been in the military and understands how to defend our country.

10. Make this country self-sufficient, respectable and honorable again.

Sources: * Over There: Where in the World We Are, The American Legion Magazine, 2.1.08 According to Maj. Gen. Richard Sherlock, director of operational planning for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, “About 490,000 U.S. service personnel are forward-deployed around the world.” [On newsstands]

Obama Is The Ralph Nader Of This Election

I am incredulous, but not surprised, that the American people are again being hoodwinked by the Republican party into dividing their powerful votes for the Democratic contenders. Can’t you see that Obama is the Ralph Nader of this election? I haven’t seen such an untried and idealistic Presidential candidate since Carter was running in the 1970’s. Why in the heck do you think Obama has such good backing? Because the Republican candidates were not as strong as Clinton and they knew if they got some momentum behind the weaker of the Democrats they would stand a chance of buying winning this year’s election too!  Are you too naïve to even consider, much less think, that the Republicans are probably pumping money into the Obama coffers?

And while I am at it, let me just berate the women who are not voting for Clinton. What in the heck are you thinking? For once in the history of this nation we have a viable candidate that could lead. You don’t have to agree with all of her policies, and keep in mind they are not all going to fly anyway, but you should be voting for her because she is a woman. We have consistently voted men into the highest office in our country and they have effectively kept women down now for 232 years. Instead of worrying about Hillary standing by her man, you should see that she was tough and smart enough to keep him in her life because she knew a divorced woman would never stand a chance of getting elected.

Hillary Clinton could do a lot of good for this country if she was given the chance. Women of this country love to do good things, but they are still living under men’s thumbs. That probably won’t change even if Clinton is elected. We think we are such a progressive, modern country and yet the women here give their votes away while keeping a woman, yet again, beneath the highest glass ceiling in the land. Don’t you get it? It isn’t even this woman that could make our country strong again, it is that we need to set the precedent that a woman can be elected here.  Stop being Sheeple and think for yourselves!

This Sign Keeps Salesmen Away!

I have to laugh each time I see some salesperson come up on our front porch. They stride up here full of purpose and high expectations, only to turn around right away rejected and dejected. I have had this sign up on my storm door for many years now and the only time I take it down is Halloween so the little kids don't get confused. Feel free to download and save it so you can have your own "pest repellent". Click on the picture to get the full size before downloading. Enjoy!

She Had No Clue Why She Got Fired

You all remember the bar on Cheers and how it was such a great place to go "because everyone knew you there"? Well, my husband and I have a restaurant that we go to in Port Orchard that is somewhat of the same kind of atmosphere. It is located in our bowling alley and we have been going there for at least 16 years. The same two women have run it, and they know us (and a few million other people) when we walk in the door.

Jim and I stopped in the High Joy to have a quick supper after a long day of shopping for TV stands for our new TV, and we just wanted to have a burger and a chocolate shake. In all the years that we have gone in the restaurant, we have never had a waitress that was anything but friendly...until a couple weeks ago. We ordered our burgers and when Jim asked for a shake our waitress visibly 'slumped', as if she was being put upon. I thought it was my imagination until I too ordered a milkshake and this young girl actually hunched her shoulders over and trudged off to put in our order.

Our burgers came long before our shakes arrived, and as we were just about done eating one of the other waitresses we know came over and told us there would be no charge for the shakes because they were taking so long. At that point, I told the second waitress that I thought the young blond one was not happy that we ordered them. She didn't say much, and we eventually got both shakes. I had to ask for a to-go cup because mine was so thick and I wanted to get home.

On Thursday of last week we again stopped into the High Joy and our waitress was one of the owners, so I just asked her if the young blond one was still working for her. Sherry gave a derisive chuckle and said that, no the girl had been fired. As it turned out, the girl happened to be Sherry's cousin's granddaughter, but Sherry said that she didn't much care since "we are trying to run a business here". Sherry was the one to fire her, and the girl actually asked her "why", so she told her.

Sherry said that the girl had no clue why she was being fired, and Sherry informed her that it had everything to do with her attitude. She was rude to the customers (never tolerated) and she put a minimum of effort into her job.

Personally, I haven't worked that many jobs with the public, but I have some. There were things I didn't like to do, but I knew it was part of my job and I HAD to do them. I hope that this girl isn't representative of the majority of her peers because they will have a hard time in life.

Have you had a job you hated, but did it anyway? What are your thoughts on the younger generation's work ethic? Was this girl the exception, or the rule?

The Sneaky, Underhanded, and Greedy Administration

I have never made it a secret that from the beginning that I have disliked Bush and his so-called administration. It was evident to me from the get-go that if we let them all get elected that it would be like opening the door to the hen house and inviting in the wolves. My apologies to wolves in general that I have compared them to the Bush administration scum.

From the first days they were in office I could see them set out with a manifesto that in some ways rivaled the Hitler regime. A friend of mine sent me a link to a very interesting story by Pete Yost about the latest sneakiness by the White House and how they think they are above the constitutional laws of this country. If you look at almost every aspect of running this country that the president and his staff should be doing, they have run each bit into the ground and milked it for all they could squeeze out of it. Take a look at his Scorecard Of Evil.

The environment: The first thing the Bush Admin wanted to do was make it OK for his cronies to start drilling in the previously off-limits Arctic.

Taking care of the survivors of Katrina: Do you see any massive effort to help the people of New Orleans, or anywhere else that was damaged by the hurricane?

Our food supply safety: We are in serious danger of being poisoned by imported food from other countries, and the FDA is completely worthless when it comes to protecting any of us.

Illegal aliens and drugs: We need to close our borders now and stop the uncontrolled influx of both the illegal aliens and the drugs they are probably bringing with them. Not to mention the gangs that have proliferated while we wage some stupid damn worthless war in Iraq.

It's the economy, stupid: Our country is so deeply in debt that it will be generations before it can be set to rights. It has set the course for our children to not have the educations and health care they should have, and for our country to be ever more vulnerable to being left behind. We are no longer a world power, in my opinion.

Politics vs. Healthcare vs. Religion: In order to garner votes in the upcoming election, the politicos have discarded the utter necessity for progressive scientific research to find cures for diseases in order to court the religious factions, because they know that big religious organizations equates to more money being poured into their campaign coffers.

Will it be the "Iran" war next? If you are not paying attention to what Iran is doing, I suggest you find a very deep cave in which to spend the rest of your days.

You can be sure that if the Republicans got G. W. in for two terms, they probably have another equally as underhanded plan for the next election. After all, they aren't going to kill the cash cow now when she is producing so well for them.

I could go on here, but you get the gist. Our country (and maybe some others too?) is rotting from within. God help us if there is ever a really immense natural disaster that affects a good portion of the country. You may think the government will take care of us "if anything happens", but I know I am on my own. Look at us now! We can NEVER rely on the government because they have been too busy ruining our country through greed and outright evil doing. Who are the real "evil doers", huh? Goodnight Sheeple!