Current events should baffle the educated

I am a news addict and I’m a progressive/conservative/libertarian voter. By this I mean I vote what I think is best regardless of which party is pushing which agenda. If you read my columns, you have figured this out. I am not for the far Right and I sure as heck ain’t for the far Left. I look at how these professional politicians have voted, not what comes out of their mouth.

Mrs. Clinton, who astoundedly has did most everything wrong, now comes out against something that would create thousands of jobs. She was vaguely for it until now. The Labor unions even endorse it. It’s the Keystone Pipeline and it would put money in the pockets of many Texans and food on their table. Now before you jump all over this, look back on the feet dragging for Alaska Pipeline fiasco that made us dependent on OPEC oil.

In his book “Fundamentals of the Petroleum Industry”, Robert O. Anderson, the wild-cat oil man who formed ARCO Chemical Company explained how environmentalists screamed foul and all of it was as hollow as a corn-cob pipe stem. The environmental evisceration carbon footprint simply did not pan out and we went through 45 plus years of Saudi dominance because we failed to build it immediately missing the opportunity.

Sure, we built it… ten years later. Environmentalists screamed to high heaven about how the herd animals would not walk under the pipeline, so every so often a giant expansion joint was added so they could cross. Guess what? They walked under all of it. While everything was at a halt awaiting legal finagling, which lasted years, the thousands of machines had to be ran to keep them from freezing up and the cost of all this was laid on the project.

“President Barack Obama is expected to make a decision in coming months on the (Keystone) pipeline that has been pending for seven years. The White House declined to comment on Clinton's position on Keystone.”  7 years?  Seriously? We have an administration that can’t make a call of something as big as this for 7 years?

The man can make a call on everything from sports to people being beaten by cops in seconds. What’s the problem?

President Obama continues to rip apart tradition in this country, alienating the masses to placate the few. Ask almost anyone and they will tell you the same thing. Everything from smooching up to communist Cuba, to inviting the Pope here is his pleasure. Throw in recommending we appoint an openly gay civilian to running our Army and you have an astounding Presidency that openly pushes the lunatic fringe ahead of they typical voter. 

I am old enough to remember the hesitancy of this country to elect JFK because he was Catholic. If you are a student of history, you will understand why and I’m not going to try to educate anyone here on this. That’s what Google is for. By the way, can I end a sentence with “for” and get away with it?

How is it some of our educators cannot see how bizarre this Democratic Party has become? When according to the latest Gallup Pole, only3.8% of the US population is gay, transgender, etc. How is it that an openly gay man is the most qualified person to lead an Army that 10 years ago he had to be undercover to even be in? God help us if Obama wants him to lead the Marine Corps.

Am I against gay people? No. That’s not even the point. The point is the current administration is going to great lengths to placate the few in spite of what the majority thinks or wants. The majority is not even considered in most cases. It’s almost as if the man checks to see what is open for radical change and heads straight for it.

There is open season on Christians. Muslims, anti-police groups, fringe elements and almost everyone else are hugged with giddy abandon by this administration.  Take the kid who simply disassembled a clock and put it in a suitcase as an example. Only morons, imbeciles, and idiots wouldn’t think this looked like a bomb, but yet he gets an invitation to the White House immediately and is hailed as a “Science” guy.  Never mind that he also happens to be a Muslim and Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg wants to buddy up with him.

“Cool clock, Ahmed. Want to bring it to the White House? We should inspire more kids like you to like science. It's what makes America great. — President Obama (@POTUS) September 16, 2015”

Imagine this boy bringing this “clock” into the White House prior to this incident.  He would have been slammed down on the floor immediately and the bomb squad called in.  In the news release there would be no mention of his religion, unless he was Apostolic. Then he would have been thrown in with that other “wacko” Kim Davis.

On another note, if my birth certificate was in question, I would simply publish it instead of letting folks guess – wouldn’t you? Geeze, I’m just a guy here in Baytown; not the President of the United States, but like Hillary and her email server, Obama would rather keep people guessing. Why? Because he can get away with it. You try something like that and you’ll be held in contempt and jailed.

The only thing this President has done that I agreed with was calling Kanye West an idiot when he jumped on stage to announce Beyonce should have beat Taylor Swift. The truth is he should have kept his mouth shut, as that was simply not Presidential. Our President is supposed to represent the bulk of this country. He is not a king or a demigod. He simply does not represent me as a voter. His only claim to fame is he presents himself well and that doesn’t stack up to a whole lot. Look at Joe Biden’s smile as an example of a hollow gesture. If I met Joe at a car dealership, I would run.

No, I don’t understand how any educated person can see that this is the direction our country needs to go or has gone so far. Health insurance premiums and prescription drug costs are through the roof. I want someone in the big house who can make these costs realistic. I want to see racial tension ease and our police forces returned to a place of respect. I want to feel like there is a future in this country and that is the person I will vote for.

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Carl's Jr. tops my list of burgers

I've yet to find a MAJOR hamburger chain to match Carl's Jr. YMMV and I want to know what you think. I used to really think JIB was good, but they have went downhill. I stopped in Kerrville and ate a burger at Wendy's and it was disappointing also. Surprisingly DQ's Beltbuster is very very good. Okay, I know someone will post about a local place, but that is not what this is about. Its about your take on a MAJOR chain. Opinions?

What if The Donald actually wins?

What if the impossible actually happens and Donald John Trump becomes President of the United States? Will this be the end of the America as we all know it? Will everything go to Hades in a hand basket? Will The Donald make us a laughing stock for the rest of the world because he’s not a dyed in the wool slippery politician?

If elected, will he continue the politically correct trend of neutralizing anything and everything that could/would/might offend even one person?  Under President Trump will we rename the White House to something less offensive? Will people start naming their baby boy and girl children Donald or John because gender shouldn’t be an issue? Will the gardening term “green thumb” be found to be racist?

If Trump runs the White House the way Chemical Engineers and accountants run Exxon-Mobil, it should work as far as our economy goes.  Albeit, it would hurt like the Dickens for a while as they jerked the economy around - but remember Reaganomics?  Folks hated Reagan back in 1982 for correcting the Jimmy Carter idea of what America should look like.  Sound familiar?  It should, because we are currently experiencing the downside of fuzzy planning.

There is no doubt Donald Trump is a financial wizard and frankly, our politicians on both sides of the fence has decimated our finances.  Our finances. They’ve promised to give away more money than we have and borrowed it to fulfill their promises.  Their solution hasn’t been sound either, as they’ve raised taxes to cover it. Why not just quit spending? That’s what my bride and I do when we don’t have extra cash.

It is as if they cannot see the obvious when almost the whole country is clamoring for them to stop spending. Ockham’s razor folks.  “In the absence of differences in predictive ability—the fewer assumptions that are made, the better.”  In other words, stop spending and the problem will go away! 

Trump's big challenge would be to surround him with intelligent people and then let them do their jobs without a Jerry Jones attitude of micromanagement. This would be difficult for him and I’m sure it would stunt any cancerous growth in government… Wait, what did I just say?  Shoot, maybe that is the answer after all.

Franklin Roosevelt wanted Harry Truman for a VP because Old Harry was a nobody and FDR didn’t plan on giving him any leash at all.  After FDR died, cursin’ Harry stepped in and did what no one else would have believed possible – he won the war and ran the country and he did it pretty danged well.  Most people don’t know that before he got into politics and he owned a five and dime-size clothing store.

Maybe we need a non-professional politician in the number one seat.  Maybe it’s time to elect someone who will do what is good for the United States over openly placating and bowing to the whole world. Maybe it’s high time we voted in a person who Putin wonders what in the world they will do on almost anything. I do believe the spin machine has everyone believing we need to reelect the same old same old and rocking the boat with anything else is too scary to consider.

The Donald is promising to cut through the baloney and create jobs and this appeals to everyone who wants to work, regardless of race or creed. He’s not afraid to ad lib and doesn’t give a hoot about a script and most of us find this amazingly refreshing. The Blue and Red are scared to death of him, as neither group of professional politicians can control him and this is another big plus for us.

Like I’ve said in the past, anyone they can’t control they demonize. Will he make mistakes?  Sure. Is he scary and unpredictable?  Yup. Will other world leaders try to bully him?  Maybe once.

In the coming months, they will do everything they can to discredit Mr. Trump.  They will compare him to Dan Quayle and explain how out of touch he is with the reality of running a government. They will call him an airbag of smoke and a buffoon and all because he is a major threat to them.

The Donald might have started this as a joke, but it isn’t now and he’s not going away. He doesn’t need lobbyist dollars and won’t promise favors to anyone. Wow, what a concept in American politics! Our Country is a business and he’s a successful businessman. Nope, Donald Trump isn’t going to suddenly back down and hand off an endorsement.  He’s seriously running for President.

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I wish I had a solution to all this mess.

I am not against immigration. I am against immigrants putting the country they left ahead of this country. Whole parts of the country are being converted into areas where English is not even spoken, let alone learned. The old country customs and way of life is pushed ahead of learning to become Americans. When this continuous influx of migrants happens, it changes the demographics of an area forever. Note I am referring to legal immigration here.

Germany is experiencing this very thing where over 30,000 refugees are being resettled. Germans are

welcoming these masses with open arms. I think five years from now they’ll wonder what in the heck they were thinking. The demographic change will be a mixture of religion and customs and

permanently change the community where they move.

This was what happened to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. Thousands of Hispanic workers

moved to the area to rebuild it — and never left. What was once a predominately solid culture of Louisiana cooking and customs suddenly became a town full of taquerias.

Am I against Hispanic workers?

No, I am making a point about demographic change. Many of the immigrants who are flooding into Europe come from the Fertile Crescent region of the Earth. This is the oldest civilized area in the world and yet they are preying upon each other like black ants against red. With all of their thousands of years of history, they can’t find peace.

Today is Sept. 11, 14 years after that fateful day when Islamic jihadists attacked the United States. Now, 14 years later, we as a country are more fractured than ever. We have open season on our police departments, no faith in our politicians, and a tanking economy. If you don’t believe me, look at your savings account. I told my bride that every time our country goes to war, the country we try to liberate comes home with our troops.

When the planes hit the twin towers, you hardly saw an American man with a shaved head and a

beard. Look around you now. Today, it’s not uncommon to see a covered Muslim woman or a mosque. I can’t recall seeing either prior to the attacks.I’ve long ago figured out that skin color means nothing, but customs do. The old tried and proven Mom, apple pie, and the Bible days are a thing of the past.

The old security of a stable family is gone, as many people have been married three or more times

and have kids scattered all over. No one can have a traditional family reunion, because their ex would be there.

I guess we are all to blame for messing up our country. That’s what our political leaders want us to believe, because it sure as heckire ain’t their fault. They are hell-bent on dropping in more and more immigrants into locales that will be smothered by the sheer numbers.

According to various news sources, immigrants accounted for 13 percent of the total 316 million

U.S. residents; adding the U.S.-born children (of all ages) of immigrants

means that approximately 80 million people or one-quarter of the overall U.S. population, is either of

the irst or second generation.OK, we are talking legal immigrants only with all these numbers.

What are the chances that an illegal immigrant wants to assimilate? My guess is very low, as staying

under the radar would probably be a good strategy.

I wish I had a solution to all this mess. Hillary and Joe have come out saying they believe they can ix

what Obama has done. I’m not sure there is a reset button anyone can push. Maybe The Donald can do it.

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Concerning Kim Davis

Here is my understanding of what took place with Kim Davis and we share beliefs. She is Apostolic and I am Oneness Pentecostal- same-same.

She swore to perform her office, but when the law changed, she appealed to be allowed to let others in her office sign the paperwork, citing her beliefs. She was denied. The outcome was inevitable if she stuck to her guns - which she did.

The final outcome is what she originally asked for and that is what is so stupid about all of this.
I truly believe the people in power and in our court system are doing everything possible to bend over backwards to meet the demands of all the other religions, but doing the opposite if a fundamentalist Christian throws up a red flag.

Evidence is all over the place the way they force Islam down the throat of this country, trangenderism, or atheism while pushing anything resembling Christian teaching as unconstitutional, bigoted, racist, or ignorant.

The First aMendment right concerning religion is so obvious, I can't for the life of me understand how it can be interpreted ambiguously by our courts and politicians.
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The irony of awareness campaigns

Our society has become inundated with symbolic awareness movements in the last decade. From pink this and that for breast cancer to toy runs for kiddos and a plethora of organized outings for returning Veterans and list goes on and on ad finem – out there somewhere. Of course, there is no real end, because more causes are added each day.

It’s confusing to me for the most part. Sure, I understand how wearing pink reminds people that breast cancer kills and ruins people’s lives; I’m just not convinced that wearing pink will make a dimes worth of difference, seeing how it’s become common. I’m not sure that the person wearing it has contributed a single dime to fight the disease or if they are wearing it and making no connection to the cause.

5 new "causes to join" in one day on my Facebook

Take for instance the car in front of you with the Christian symbol of a fish and you watch how they drive and wonder what kind of association there is between the two. Don’t get me wrong on what I am writing here. I believe in supporting causes; I really do, but when a symbol of a movement becomes hip and cool, it loses all the momentum it fought so hard to get.

After 9-11 happened, I bought a pair of those yellow ribbons and magnetically attached them to our vehicles. I also put up Old Glory in my yard as did almost everyone. I wanted folks around me to know that I was supportive of our government and our troops.

Yellow ribbons became so profuse that they quit selling, so enterprising merchants came out with 50 variations and suddenly, there were ribbons for every cause. I took our two ribbons off our vehicles, but a year later, I was still flying my flag. Sadly, only a few yards out of hundreds continued to show support this way. They had ribbons a plenty though, because it had become hip to have them. Some cars had rows of every imaginable ribbon including the camouflaged ones.

Now here is the real irony in this awareness business.

We are living in a time where people are so distracted, they can’t even drive their car without fooling (in the true sense of the word) with their phones, adjusting their undecipherable media system, eating everything from a plate of spaghetti (an actual sighting by one of my brothers), or rubber-necking.  This is the short list.

Coming home from Houston the other day, a woman in the car next to me, while doing 75 miles per hour, was driving with her knees and eating a bowl of food with her hands using a fork. I constantly wonder if most of the people around me got their drivers license illegally, because they surely don’t know how to safely operate anything larger than a tri-cycle – and that may be a stretch.

We are distracted by everything from our phones dinging, ringing, or Lady Gaga’s ringtone to figuring out which campaign we will support next. In the meantime we watch TV and sit though the stupidest programs and commercials they can dream up. There must be a prerequisite in programming that it has to insult the intelligence of a 5^th grader before it gets the go ahead. We are like dunces without the pointed cap, allowing ourselves to be manipulated 24-7. Our politicians are no help in clearing up anything and most of us think they don’t represent us anyway, so why listen to them?

There is an astoundingly stupid post on Facebook that asks the question “if you would be willing to be unplugged for 3 months, you could win 3 million dollars!” I think it may be a hypothesis, but I haven’t seen any takers either. 

On any given day I observe people texting as they drive.  I don’t have to wait more than a few minutes and I will see it. Usually they are the first car at the red light and don’t go when it turns green. So tell me; how can we be a nation who is aware of all these causes and we can’t even get it through our thick heads that texting and driving will kill or maim us and those driving around us?  We can believe in the long range effect of carrying a ruck sack on our back for a 10 mile hike and showing support of police officers, but we can’t stop texting while driving?

How can we be so blind to the obvious, but optimistic about something that may or may not have a lasting effect?

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