significant turn of events

A stunning statement.

Blue states such as Minnesota, Wisconsin, and New Hampshire have flipped. President Obama's former Senate seat was filled by a Republican. A grassroots movement organized itself, rallied, and made a difference.

Last January, Ohio representative and House Minority Leader John Boehner said the following:

"Many people believe that teams are judged by how many games they win," Boehner said. "I would suggest that the best way to judge a team is to look at how they handle losing."

Yesterday, the Republican Party orchestrated the biggest pick-up of House seats, by any party, since 1948. A rather staggering feat, considering this country is only two years removed from a supposed revolution of "hope and change," speculated by many to be a permanent alteration in this nation's government and ideology.

Oops.

The citizens of the United States have spoken ... loudly: STOP spending. Listen to the people. We've come to take our country back. This nation was built by independent, hard-working people, not by a big protosocialist government and Washington takeovers. Whether you're a Republican or a Democrat, you represent us, not your own interests.

Oh, and by the way ... we're paying attention.

rockin' the youth vote

I don't think I've mentioned in my blog that we're expecting Bundle of Joy #2 in September.

I ran across these onesies today and got a total kick out of 'em . They probably wouldn't be as well-received in [our future home of] Boston as they would be in [our permanent home of] Texas, but I think most people with even a smidgen of a sense of humor would chuckle.

Onesies courtesy of CoolConservative and Cafe Press.

hypocrisy at its finest

Last August, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi portrayed the Tea Party movement and its followers as racist, nazi, gun nuts, and chided the groups as being "astroturf" rather than true grass-roots organizations.

"I have some concerns about some of the language being used, because I saw this myself in the late 70s in San Francisco,'' Pelosi said. "This kind of rhetoric was very frightening, and it created a climate where violence took place.

Low and behold, now that the movement has gained a great deal of momentum -- effecting the outcome of elections in some cases --- as well as garnered supporters from all political walks-of-life, good ol' Nancy has decided that she drastically needs to change her tune ... or at least, her public comments. She's now decided that she and the Tea Party movement have "shared views."

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says she has much in common with the Tea Party. The speaker now says she shares views with the movement she dismissed last summer as being “Astroturf” -- her suggestion that the grassroots of the Tea Party were a creation of the Republican Party.

In a “This Week” interview with ABC’s Elizabeth Vargas, Pelosi said, “We share some of the views of the Tea Partiers in terms of the role of special interest in Washington, D.C., as -- it just has to stop. And that's why I've fought the special interest, whether it's on energy, whether it's on health insurance, whether it's on pharmaceuticals and the rest.”

Madam Speaker, YOU are a fraud.

stunning statement

THE GOVERNMENT WORKS FOR US! WE DO NOT ANSWER TO THEM! THEY ANSWER TO US!

Finally. A ray of light. People are waking up from this nightmare. And wow ... it's the people of BOSTON, of all places!

Republican Scott Brown winning the Boston Senate seat yesterday should send an incredibly LOUD message to this administration. The problem is, they don't seem to be listening.

The largely left-leaning populace of Massachusetts voting in a Republican to fill the Senate seat previously held by a Kennedy would be like the people of Texas deciding to ban BBQ and beer -- it just doesn't happen.

But the independent majority is pissed off, Mr. President. Are you listening yet?! And no, we're not "tea baggers" or ignorant rednecks. We're AMERICANS who are tired and fed-up of the lies and political promises that have turned out to be nothing more than another bag of bullshit slung at us from a bunch of morally void suits and skirts in D.C.

We're tired of working hard, only to be forced to subsidize those who don't. My husband and I work our tails off in order for our children to have a better future. We don't take fancy vacations. We don't drive fancy cars. We generally try to be fiscally responsible, despite the fact that our government does not.

It's amazing to me how Obama, Pelosi, Reid (the kind and gentle racist) and their ilk took a rather significant referendum for change (the '08 election victory) and totally squandered it.

The democrat 8-month supermajority in the Senate is now gone. And what do they have to show for it? A failed stimulus plan. A failed health care plan. A softened stance on terrorism. Bravo, Dems. Well done.

They've crammed they're policies down the collective throats of the American people and have basically said, "To hell with what you think. We're doing it our way."

During Obama's first year, this administration has failed to protect our national interests, but rather implemented more taxes, more spending, more government and less freedom.

Closed meetings? Secret deals? Exemptions? What country do we live in?!

If Obama and his party don't start working FOR the people, he's going to end up in the annals of history right beside Jimmy Carter.

Are you listening, Mr. President? The people have spoken ... AGAIN. What you choose to do with what you've heard (or ignored) is now entirely up to you.

tableau tuesday

thank you, captain obvious?

Looks like someone in our current braintrust of an administration (home of Janet "don't worry, be happy" Napolotano) finally woke up and smelled the jihadi coffee ...

"While we remain committed to closing the (Guantanamo) facility, a determination has been made, right now any additional transfers to Yemen is not a good idea," [ya think??!!] said White House spokesman Robert Gibbs.

The White House decision came after The Times newspaper of London reported that at least a dozen former Guantanamo Bay prisoners had rejoined al Qaeda to fight in Yemen.

But don't fret. I'm sure its only temporary. I mean, we'd hate to offend any honest, hard-working, reformed suicide bombers or anything.

how texas lives within its means

During a time when I'm often left shaking my head after listening to a politician trying to explain away the reckless spending of my children and grandchildren's money, the Op-Ed column written by Texas Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst that I read this morning was a welcome (and rare) breath of fresh air.

Given recent comments about our state’s budget, I feel it is time to
separate fact from political fiction. The fact is, in stark contrast to the U.
S. Congress, the Texas Constitution requires the Legislature to balance the
state budget every two years, and that would have happened with or without any
federal stimulus dollars.

In 2007, I led the effort to save $7 billion to balance the revenue
shortfall we anticipated this year.

So it’s simply political fiction that stimulus dollars were necessary
to balance our budget.
Although we tried to use the federal stimulus dollars
on one-time expenditures, in some cases the federal government made us use the
money on recurring costs that actually add to the cost of state
government.

While other states struggle with overwhelming deficits, Texas has
created a model for the rest of the nation to follow that is based on living
within its available revenue. The state cut taxes a net $4 billion per year in
2007 while fostering a predictable regulatory environment that allows business
to thrive and continue to make Texas the No. 1 job creator in the U.S. over the
past two years.

These are the moral, fiscally conservative values with which I was raised, and with which I will try and impart to my children. In a nutshell, if you don't have the money, don't spend it.

Thank God not all politicians have lost their freakin' minds.

i may not agree with his politics

... but I'm proud of the warm reception President Obama received at my beloved Alma Mater, Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas. I'm sure it didn't hurt that he was flanked by Aggie favorite (and legend in his own time around our parts), former Texas A&M University President and now Secretary of Defense, Dr. Robert Gates.

According to student newspaper, The Battalion:

President Barack Obama received a hearty "Howdy" from more than 2,000 attendees at the Presidential Forum on community service on Friday afternoon in Rudder Auditorium at Texas A&M.

"Service isn't separate from our national priorities or second to our national priorities, it's integral to achieving our national priorities," Obama said. "It's how we will meet the challenges of our time."

Aggies are known for their dedication to service, so this non-political speech on a subject that we could all get behind made it easy to temporarily put aside ideological differences.

Mr. Obama was treated with respect, yet dissenting opinions were peacefully on display outside the George Bush Presidential Library and Museum where Obama was invited to speak as a guest of former President, George H. W. Bush.

The First Lady of Texas A&M, Reveille (our beautiful collie mascot) was there to greet the President as well. And one resourceful Aggie football fan even managed to get in a plug for our quarterback, Jerrod Johnson (and a pie-in-the-sky hope at a Heisman).

All in all, a great fall day in the Lone Star State.

go flag yourself!

To all you “fishy” Americans out there, go FLAG yourself!

democracy in action

A hell of a lot of anger is permeating America right now. We're polarized between two separate and distinct ideologies like I've never seen before, with apparently very little common ground to be found.

During the past few weeks (Congressional summer recess), citizens' emotions have run especially high surrounding the issue of the government's proposed health care bill. Many are panicked by it, as the bill was released and circulated with little explanation of some clearly alarming new proposals. It's understandable that such a sweeping change would heighten concerns, as is the case with any landmark change.

One of the results has been town hall-formatted meetings popping up around the country. These gatherings have billed themselves as opportunities for individuals to ask questions, express concerns or appreciations, and to voice their thoughts and opinions. Somewhere along the line, although these gatherings have been non-violent yet admittedly heated, concerned citizens participating in these forums have been labeled as members of an "angry mob", and accused of being part of a vast, right-wing conspiracy.

What a bunch of double-talk hogwash.

When Hilary Clinton went off on a particularly angry tirade while campaigning last year, she stated that she was tired of being labeled unpatriotic for questioning the Bush administration. She then received a boisterous and positive response from the crowd.

Yesterday however, the House's top two Democrats, Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer called opponents of the bill who are speaking out in protest "simply un-American." Are you kidding me?! Even the White House is distancing itself from these extreme comments made by Pelosi.

What is going on? Why the double-standard? Many of my democrat acquaintances have been telling me for years that protests and speaking one's mind is the most American of all actions. So why does that only apply to certain groups and certain causes?

We have to make some changes in our health care system -- its broken, and few people are arguing that point. But many citizens are FEARFUL and want answers to their questions ... and that's VERY American.

I just spent about an hour watching a live town hall meeting in Pennsylvania hosted by Senator Arlen Specter. He allowed 30 questions, and 29 of them were opposed to the current proposals. These people weren't angry mob members -- quite the contrary. They were average citizens who posed heart-felt questions and concerns, based on personal experiences.

Props to Senator Specter for staying and facing his constituency (many politicians are not), as well as for admitting that he has yet to read the bill (how the HELL that's even acceptable is another subject for another day). We need to see so much more of this.

And bravo, America. Don't give up on this country and what our founders created, according to the Constitution. Somewhere on some level, no matter how grand or small, I have to believe that our voices are being heard.