Really!  My wife surprised me with a new computer for my birthday with Windows 7 as the operating system.  The dilemma is that I know about as much about operating Windows 7 as a Politician in Washington knows about following the Constitution.  I do believe my limited computer knowledge makes me something less than a computer geek but that is okay.  I spent 4 hours, not to mention the occasional angry screams which didn’t amuse my wife, trying to remove an anti-virus program that came with my new computer.  It was a program that I did not want and knew from past experience would dramatically slow my computer down and would run its tentacles into every part, partition and program on my computer affecting each of them.  Does that sound like Washington?  The Laws, Rules, and Regulations they pass do not do the job and run their tentacles into every part, partition and facet of our lives slowing us down, controlling us and taking away our liberties.  Finally, after many attempts, phone calls, emails, web searches and an infinite amount of worthless information I found the correct method to remove the program and install the Security program I wanted originally.  A Program that would defend my computer, keep it safe and allow me to do the things I needed and wanted to do.  Again, sounds like Washington, their actions do not defend us nor keep us safe and their inane legislative actions hinder us from pursuing the Constitutional right of the pursuit of happiness.  They cast off the restraints of the Constitution and place on us the shackles of their ideologies enslaving us in an attempt to make us totally dependent on “The Man” for our sustenance, subsistence and ability to function independently.

I have encountered numerous other issues with some of the older programs that I have attempted to install on this new computer.  It seems that each one either needs a new driver or a new version to operate correctly and efficiently.  Unfortunately the new versions cost a lot more but don’t necessarily work any better.  Again, sounds like Washington, they want to give us new programs that will cost a lot more and may or may not work better than the older ones and in fact we often know in advance they will not work as well.  A few simple patches or a new driver would have solved the problem and allowed us to keep functioning with the older program but no we have to have “Hope and Change”. All I can say is I Hope this Change doesn’t destroy Our Country!

On one printer from my older version, my son and I reinstalled a new driver twice and everything would appear good, then the troubleshoot icon would show up on in the printers and other devices section.  We would run the troubleshoot program and it would identify that the driver was bad and there was a USB problem however the printer would still print most of the time.  Finally Sunday, I found that I could not print from some very important programs and that was a problem needing a quick resolution.  I furiously began a web search and found a different website from the Microsoft site we had previously visited and it suggested that I download the full overhaul version, which I did.  It completely uninstalled the printer, making me extremely nervous, then reinstalled the new driver and software.  To my amazement I have a lovely green check mark next to the computer’s icon and it works flawlessly.  Yeah!  Sounds like Washington too, they don’t seem to realize that if they are upgrading something (as if that ever happened there) they need know that all the parts that make the program work correctly are in place and not in the hands of someone who knows or cares little about functionality.

What I have in common with Politicians is that I know freakin’ little about working with Windows 7 and many other aspects of the computer.  Unlike the Politicians I know people who are knowledgeable about the issues I am facing.  I can and do call them for assistance and take their advice, perform the corrective actions, apply the proper applications and find that my computer then functions smoothly and efficiently, which is great!  Politicians know freakin’ little about governing under the Constitution in a Democracy under our Republican form of government.  They know how to push their agendas, press their ideologies and spend money like there was an unlimited supply because after all they can come back and confiscate our money to pay for their actions.  Most of us have to pay for our own actions but not Congress and the White House they just become talking heads, pushing their agendas and the people be damned.

I will get my new computer fully operational, learn how to do what I need to do on it in a few days, weeks or months.  I just hope that we have time to correct the problems that Washington is bringing upon us.  I realize that it will probably take decades to correct what they have done. That’s what makes these next elections so important.  I would encourage you to lean more about each candidate.  Become more diligent than you ever have before.   Study their records in politics.  If they are new to the political scene study their business practices, ideologies, philosophies as well as written and spoken statements.  Are they truly interested in “We The People” or are they interested in a particular political party or a particular political ideology?  If they don’t fit the bill don’t give them the opportunity to occupy the office they seek and thereby do further damage to what is already epidemic.  Hey, maybe you want to run, I don’t know.  What I do know is that we cannot allow this to continue and we have to have “Change that will give us Hope” because the other phrase and actions has given just the opposite.  By the time this bunch is through with destroying our lives and this country I just “Hope We Will Have A Little Change (Cash) Left”.

I admit it, I don’t know a lot about some aspects of computers and wish the politicians would admit they don’t know much about governing and start listening to those of us who feel the effect of their actions on a daily basis.  Not only we but our children and grandchildren will suffer endlessly for their wrong actions.  We cannot afford to have a bunch in Washington who continually get it wrong!  Let’s help them actually hear our voices and get it right.  The voting booths are the most effective places to bring that about.  Vote the incompetents out and sooner or later they might just start getting the message.

That’s my suggestion what is yours?  I would love to hear from you!

Sir, you like to talk about “Green Energy” and getting away from “Fossil Fuels” and want this energy to be cheap.  Really?  Is that why we are being force-fed “Cap & Trade” and the ‘EPA” running a Gestapo operation in this great land?  It wouldn’t make any sense to produce the least expensive fuels like “Oil & Coal” right?  I have an idea why don’t you Try Yelling!  It’s a source of energy and relatively inexpensive!  The only problem is if you yell for 8 years, 7 months and 6 days you will produce enough energy to heat one cup of coffee.  That makes about as much sense as not drilling for the abundant supply of oil that we have right here in America and remaining dependent upon countries that hate us. 

I think I figured it out!  What you really want is for us to become worker bees.  While that sounds good and productive the fact is that the average worker bee produces 1/12th of a teaspoon of honey in its entire lifetime.  Sounds about as productive as welfare to me.  The WPA was a better idea than giving illegal aliens free everything and the government funding and running every social program.  There was a time when “charity” came from the good-heartednesss of one’s neighbors and the church, not the government.  Of course the neighbor nor the church were running for office, they were acting out of human kindness and God’s love.  That’s not something you will find in the government. 

Some of the ideas coming out of Washington are like an outdated Texas law about trains.  When two trains meet each other at a railroad crossing, each has to come to a full stop, and neither can proceed until the other is gone.  Duh, “Here’s your sign!”  The very idea that we can spend out way out of our financial problems is not only ridiculous but that Texas law makes more sense.  It’s like betting on a football replay that the outcome will be different or playing poker with borrowed money or buying stock in a company that has already gone bankrupt.  If you want me to believe the spin coming out of Washington then maybe I should believe that the Moon is actually made of green cheese!  I can believe that just as easy as the lunacy coming from D.C.

I have an idea, why don’t you in Washington take a 50% pay cut and cut your expense accounts by 50% and see how much that helps!  Don’t know if it would do much for the economy but it sure would help reduce the budget in Washington and you would still be millionaires, traveling ten times more the average citizen all on the tax payer’s nickel. Hey it’s just a thought but if we are going to tighten our belts and live within our means how about you leading the way.  Give us an example to follow.

Where are the leaders and heros that we can look up to?  Where are the role models that we would want our children to grow up to be like?  Where are the statesmen and patriots who truly represent the wishes of their constituency?  Don’t tell me what I need to do when you are eating $75.00 steaks and $100.00 lobster and washing it down with $400.00 bottles of wine.  I’m not asking that you live in poverty but at least stop the extravagance while millions are losing their jobs and homes. 

This is still the greatest country in the world and I’m still proud to be an American.  I am a veteran and proud of it and thankful for each one that has served in whatever capacity that service came.  I treasure the Constitution of this great land and value the blood and sacrifice that it cost to bring it into being.  I still have chills run down my spine when I hear the national anthem and see the flag and am not willing to see it disrespected either by physical, political or philosophical actions.  Freedom is not Free!  It has been earned, and the price extremely high so let’s do whatever it takes to defend and protect it.

Tell me what you think!  This country’s future really is up to you!

I have an idea for a new reality show for politicians it’s called an Election!  In the game show we get to play the part of Donald Trump and say to those whose performance does not measure up – – YOU’RE FIRED!!!”

I told a friend once that if I could find an honest politician I’d vote for him or her.  I’ve known some that I considered  honest and honorable before being elected but somehow after they were there awhile something changed.  I know some who went into office with little money but don’t know any that have come out the same way.  I’m talking about a lot more than their normal salary would have afforded them during their tenure in office.  I won’t call them crooks or say that their increase in wealth was through graft or corruption but I would like to know where it came from.

Amazingly, we send people to Washington to represent us and they get there and seem to forget us.  Oh, they tell us it is for the good of the country and they are really protecting our interest and if we just understood all the fine points of the bills we would agree with their actions.  I could buy that except most of the bills that go through Congress have so many pages, riders, addendum after addendum and a few choice slabs of pork that if you read the bill and try to ask them about it – – They’re clueless!  So I guess I don’t buy their explanation.  Although I don’t buy their explanation I do get the privilege of paying for their decisions and paying through the nose!

Many if not most people at least attempt to live within their means.  That means you don’t spend more than you take in.  A person can exist for a while with their out-go exceeding their income but not for long.  There is a payday that comes and it is usually painful.  Many people take on extra jobs, cut back (sometimes to the bone) to live within their means but not Congress.  Why do that when you can either borrow or print unlimited amounts of money and then tax, tax, tax to pay for it.  You know it’s bad when there is consideration for taxing ranchers for their cattle’s flatulence.  Hope they don’t do that to humans I probably could not afford it and don’t know what the penalty would be for not being able to hold it.  I can only imagine the cost of the monitoring devices to measure each time, amount and pungency of each depressurization that we have.  Of course, that could be counted in the jobs created group.  I can just hear it now when asked, “What do you do for a living?”  I work for the government sniffing for farts or it would probably be dressed up and called “Flatulence Engineers”. 

I want to borrow a bit of a speech that Davy Crockett gave to Congress:

One day in the House of Representatives, a bill was taken up appropriating money for the benefit of a widow of a distinguished naval officer. Several beautiful speeches had been made in its support. The Speaker was just about to put the question when Mr. Crockett arose:

“Mr. Speaker — I have as much respect for the memory of the deceased, and as much sympathy for the suffering of the living, if suffering there be, as any man in this house, but we must not permit our respect for the dead or our sympathy for a part of the living to lead us into an act of injustice to the balance of the living. I will not go into an argument to prove that Congress has no power to appropriate this money as an act of charity. Every member upon this floor knows it. We have the right, as individuals, to give away as much of our own money as we please in charity; but as members of Congress we have no right so to appropriate a dollar of the public money. Some eloquent appeals have been made to us upon the ground that it is a debt due the deceased. Mr. Speaker, the deceased lived long after the close of the war; he was in office to the day of his death, and I have never heard that the government was in arrears to him.

“Every man in this House knows it is not a debt. We cannot, without the grossest corruption, appropriate this money as the payment of a debt. We have not the semblance of authority to appropriate it as a charity. Mr. Speaker, I have said we have the right to give as much money of our own as we please. I am the poorest man on this floor. I cannot vote for this bill, but I will give one week’s pay to the object, and, if every member of Congress will do the same, it will amount to more than the bill asks.

“He took his seat. Nobody replied. The bill was put upon its passage, and, instead of passing unanimously, as was generally supposed, and as, no doubt, it would, but for that speech, it received but few votes, and of course, was lost.

Crockett was right!  Congress has no right to appropriate or misappropriate our money.  It is interesting that the Bible only calls for 10 percent and yet our government wants, in some cases 90 percent of our income.  They spend with no thought of how it will be repaid.  They have no concept of living within a budget.  They have no concept of how the real world lives.  They live in Ivory Towers, vote themselves pay raises, retirement and benefit packages that are not Cadillac the’re beyond Rolls Royce. 

Listen to me, I’m mad and getting madder by the minute!  I can’t afford to fly in chefs from around the country to prepare exotic meals, specialty pizzas or hamburgers I have trouble going to McDonald’s.  I can’t hop on a jet and fly on somebody else’s nickel around the world and call it a fact-finding mission.  I have trouble filling my tank with gas to go to work.  I can’t wear Armani Suits and $1000.00 shoes I do good to wear jeans and sneakers. 

Mr. or Ms. Politician you supposedly work for me.  I’m Donald Trump in this deal so represent me or “You’re Fired”!  I think it’s time that we worked as if it all depends on us to clean house in Washington and pray as if it all depends on God.  We need to interview some new candidates for the positions that are coming open this next election.  That  means local, county, State and Federal.  Since the President is deciding what CEO’s can make why don’t we decide what he and the rest of that bunch get paid based on their performance and our rating system will set their pay. Unfortunately we probably can’t make them give back what they took .  Yet, some of their job performances would demand that they reimburse us!

That’s my rant and I’m sticking to it!

Hello Washington!  It’s not so much that I mind that you keep moving and even eating the cheese but would you mind not cutting it?  The odor that is coming out of D.C. these days is enough to almost need a gas mask to survive.  Our lives change on a daily basis.  Our jobs, health, social environment and even financial well-being are in an almost constant state of flux.  What we do not need is a bunch of career bureaucratic politicians being poly ticks (blood sucking parasites).  We do not need more, bigger and most costly government we need relief and that is not an excuse for you in D.C. to cut the cheese! 

We are growing government at a rate and cost that is unsustainable in any economy.  We have not only mortgaged the future of our children and grandchildren but are in the process of destroying the very fabric of what America is all about.  I have often wondered what our Founding Fathers would have to say if somehow they could arrive on today’s political scene.  I do not think that very many in either party would be very happy about what they had to say.  This great land is so far removed from what they not only envisioned but established.  They placed safeguards, checks and balances in our governing documents to protect us and yet we have allowed the politicians to not only dilute but virtually destroy those checks and balances. 

A few years ago there was the rave about the book “Who Moved My Cheese” and everyone wanted in on the bandwagon.  Unfortunately, it seems that those in Washington forgot the motivational part of that and have not only been moving our cheese but leaving behind a reminder of their efforts by cutting the cheese loudly and often.  The pungent odor from their efforts is unmistakable.

We date ourselves when we reminisce and wish for the “Good ‘ole Days” or “Simpler Times” but I am one of those.  It was a simpler time when I was young.  A time when most people seemed to know the difference between right and wrong and choose to do the right even if it was not necessarily the most profitable for them at the moment.  Prior to my time we fought two World Wars and won them both with resolve to protect freedom not only here but around the world.   We stood against tyranny and defended the right of people to live free.  Today in America we not only have big brother watching us but he is actively attacking anyone who disagrees with his particular political view.  That sounds more like something that you would hear about under a Hugo Chavez, Fidel Castro or in the Old Soviet Union, Communist China, North Korea or Hitler’s Germany.  Yet in America our freedoms are being taken from us little by little and for too many years we have sat idly by and allowed it to happen.  Enough is enough!

I urge you to take action.  Get involved in the political scene locally, regionally and nationally.  Work, talk, discuss, write letters, send emails and most importantly go to the polls and vote intelligently in each and every election.  The only way we can bring America back to her former greatness is from the bottom up.  If we build a strong solid conservative base we can build a strong country that can survive any of the storms she will face. 

In our great State of Texas we have candidates for governor who leave a lot to be desired and I’m tired of voting for the lessor of two evils.  Give me a candidate who is for the values upon which our our country was founded.  Someone who is opposed to creating a welfare state where over 50% of the population is dependent upon the government for their subsistence.  Someone who supports the Constitution of the United States and this State.   Someone who understands that the way to recover from the economic crisis we face is not over spending and over taxing but creating incentives through tax breaks and encouraging people to become entrepeneurs.  Our health care system is not broken but the best in the world.  Health coverage needs some work but that is a completely different story.  We can fix that through tax breaks allowing people to buy coverage if they so choose.  Creating tax incentives to health care providers to give care for the indigent would be step in the right direction.  Take medicare out of the hands of bureaucrats who know nothing about health care or even business and put it in the hands of people who are in the field and in business would be a plus.  Create health savings accounts to allow people to plan for health issues and make the savings plan portable so that it carries over from year to year and is inheritable by the family of those who own the accounts should they pass on.  Stop providing health coverage, welfare, etc. to illegal aliens in this country.  Illegal is the key word here!  Everyone can go to the emergency room and receive care regardless of insurance or the lack thereof.  Of course there are horror stories but they are not the rule they are the exception.  With the inefficiency of our government on every front why would anyone think that the government would be an ideal candidate to run a health care system that will have a cost that is beyond our ability to pay for and will not only ration care but deny care especially once you reach a point where your productive years are viewed as being too few to justify the cost of care.

The only comfort that I have in this is my faith that God is still God and will fulfill His promise to “Never leave us nor forsake us”.  I am still looking up because I believe that redemption draws near.  Truly, I am just one who is passing through this land, this is not my final nor eternal destination.  Enjoy life, find something that you love to do and love what you do. Make every day better than the day before because even if you live 100 years you only have a few of them.  May God’s best be yours each day of your life!