We're heading down to Florida to bunk with one of the Kitten's college buddies this weekend, and I'm not bringing the computer or the Blackberry. It's been a brutal week, one I may share with you someday. Feel free to post just about anything you like below, consider it a free for all weekend. But for now, have a great weekend and a Happy Easter!
You are a good man CW. Enjoy the break.
ReplyDeleteAhhh....Florida during Spring Break time. Wear your sunglasses.
ReplyDeleteFor anyone tuning in for their daily dose of CW's commentary, only to be left thirsting for intellectual stimulation while CW enjoys a respite, may I suggest heading over to Postcards from the Backbench (link at top of Sites I Visit Regularly at CW's homepage)? He does some really nice work over there and he's a lot funnier than CW.
ReplyDeleteCW, I'm trying to find your comments on "Naval Operations Concept Still Under Wraps" but don't see it on your blog??? Thanks!
ReplyDeleteWANT SOME CHEERY NEWS?
ReplyDeleteThis one isn't going to make your day ... at least not if you're a person who believes in yourself and your own abilities. I'm reading the book "Comeback, Conservatism That Can Win Again" by David Frum. Now a lot of conservatives are a bit upset with Frum because he is delivering a message that they don't particularly like. That message? That Reagan politics were for the Reagan years .. and that conservatives need to adjust their policies and philosophies to the current era if they are to regain any semblance of power in Washington.
Well .. you can judge that one for yourself. But I did want to share some points Frum makes in his book that I found, to say the least, unsettling. Let me just present them to you as bullet points. Here are some of the reasons why the Statists have the advantage for the time being ...
Republicans draw votes from white voters, Democrats from nonwhites. European Americans were 80% of the population in 1980. The number is now 70%. By 2020 it will be 60%.
Married women vote Republican. Unmarried? You'll vote Democrat. I would venture that this is because unmarried women look to the government for the security that should be provided by a husband. The number of women in this country who are unmarried in their late 30s has doubled since Reagan was elected.
If you have children you are more likely to vote Republican. No children? You're most likely a Democrat voter. Since Reagan was elected the number of women who have not downloaded a tricycle motor by age 40 has doubled.
Go to church, you'll vote Republican. No church? Democrat. You don't need me to tell you that church attendance is in a steady decline.
Just a high school education? You're probably a Republican voter. Uneducated? You'll vote Democrat. Ditto if you're sitting on an advanced degree. Guess which two groups are growing and which group is stagnated. I think you can figure this one out for yourselves.
Here are some other gems from Frum's book:
Democrats are far less likely than Republicans to define themselves as "extremely proud" to be an American. Nice.
Democrats are less likely than Republicans to believe that the United States can solve its problems. In other words, we need to look outside of our country to the international community for those solutions.
Democrat voters are far more likely than Republican voters to feel that their own success in life is beyond their control. If you can't control your own future ... just what good is freedom anyway? Right?
Democrats are more likely than Republicans to basically give up when faced with adversity. Yup ... give up and rely on government.
Things have changed out there. Self-sufficiency is out. Government dependency is in. Politicians love this .. they just absolutely LOVE it. Those who love freedom are shocked and dismayed.
Now .. as you ponder these documented statistics and facts from David Frum's book, can you tell me where the next great Republican leader is? I hate to say this ... and it isn't going to make me any friends ... but we aren't going to save American by sitting around and chanting "Reagan, Reagan, Reagan" all day long. The young voters out there that we need to rely on couldn't write one cohesive paragraph about Ronald Reagan, and they're not going to sit down and do the research. Someone needs to step forward with the eloquence and charisma needed to convince our young people that true fulfillment will come from personal achievement realized through interaction with others in a free society, not from government dependence and eventual enslavement. If you see someone out there who can deliver that message ... let me know. I've been looking for him (or her).
http://boortz.com/nealz_nuze/2009/04/want-some-cheery-news.html
Bryan, have a beautiful weekend with your wonderful family. You have weathered many brutal weeks, and you will weather this one. Much love.
ReplyDeleteGGSS - Even from 3,500 miles away, you still manage to be a noodge. Enjoy London...
ReplyDeleteApril 10, 2009
ReplyDeleteThe President of the United States
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500
Dear Mr. President,
I am appalled that you bowed to the King of Saudi Arabia! We are a sovereign nation and bow to no one! The following letter, which I received as an email, expresses my sentiments a lot better than I could. I don’t know who actually wrote it, but he ought to be given an award. You have NO idea what being an American is. You are tearing my country apart.
Dear Mr. President,
You don't speak for me.
When you go to Europe and say that Americans are "arrogant, dismissive and derisive" of our allies, you don't speak for me. When you pander to foreign leaders, presuming to speak on behalf of all Americans, apologizing for the actions of President Bush, you don't speak for me. When you desperately try to surrender to the French and the Germans, the Russians and the Saudis, and even our great friends in the U.K., just for the sake of maintaining your "Messiah" image, you don't speak for me.
You and your wife may not be proud of America, but I am, sir.
The Europeans seem to have forgotten who saved their collective asses in World War II, but I haven't. I haven't forgotten the tens of thousands of American fighting men who spilled their blood all across Europe to stop a murderous psychopath and his rampaging army. And I haven't forgotten the tens of thousands more who served in theater after that war, when the threat of Soviet advance through the Fulda Gap was ever present. I haven't forgotten, because I was there, for a time, anyway. I saw the obscenity of the Berlin Wall. I saw what happened to people who tried to escape communist Germany by climbing it, or trying to navigate the surrounding mine fields. I occasionally patrolled that border, mirroring Soviet or Czech patrols. And I remember watching on TV, crying as the wall was finally torn down.
I love Germany and England (France, not so much) and was ready to put my life on the line to defend them. So were the men I served with. Many Americans continue to serve across Europe in the military uniform of the United States, more willing, apparently, than many Europeans themselves, to preserve the freedom there that we have already paid for with our blood. I spent my money all over Europe, helping those economies flourish and grow, as did many other American servicemen and women who lived and served there. My only thanks was a very small paycheck, some wonderful memories and the knowledge that I was doing something worthwhile that I could be proud of for the rest of my life. I was, until today.
And then some pandering politician comes along and apologizes for all of that. You never served your country in military uniform, sir, so you wouldn't know how positively insulting that is. In fact, you've never done anything for this country but run for office. You won the election and still you're running a campaign instead of acting like the leader of our great nation. And I don't like it one bit.
I want peace. I want it for my family, for my friends and for my country. I've earned it and will continue to do so until the day I die. I want peace with Russia and China, even Iran and North Korea, if it were somehow possible. I want there to be a free exchange of ideas and trade goods and tourism between all of our nations.
But the difference between you and I, sir, is that I would never sell out my country to gain their applause. Maybe you think you're earning their respect and admiration by being weak and apologetic, but I know better. The only thing you did was weaken my country. And I won't forget it.
I am proud of my country and not even the President of the United States can take that away from me.
Sir, you must stop bankrupting my country and taking it down a road to Socialism. You and the Democrats are tearing this country apart.
Regards,
Aaargh! Where are you? And when are you coming back???
ReplyDelete