Run Fred Run….

Well it looks like it is “semi”- official that Fred Thompson will run in ’08. I for one am glad to hear it…

Fred Thompson is plain spoken, is a friend of the “little people” like us, and is a conservative who I believe will work to bring the two sides together. I also believe Fred Thompson is a principled individual who will do all in his power to do what is right for the Nation as a whole, not just the good ol boys and the beauracrats. He has seen the glitter and the glamour, both of DC and Hollyweird and I don’t think he is impressed with either one.

We have had enough divisiveness, lies and finger pointing… These last six years are the worst I can remember in my 55 years on this ol‘ rock. It is time to bring the USA back to one Nation under God, with ALL of the Amendments fully fuctional, not just the ones the liberals, ACLU and media want.

Maybe folks need a little refresher… Here are the first two paragraphs of the Declaration of Independence for your reading pleasure.

I would ask each of you that read this, regardless of who your candidate is… VOTE!

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. –That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, —That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. —Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain [George III] is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

Memorial Day

Tomorrow we will “celebrate” Memorial Day. For many, it’s just another holiday away from work, and oh yeah, that thing with the flags at the Cemetary… sigh…

It should be a day of rememberance for those who gave their lives that we might live free and unafraid here in the US. Here is a link on the history of Memorial Day.

http://www.usmemorialday.org/backgrnd.html

I am lucky, if you want to call it that, to live and work in Northern Virginia. I have the ability to get to the Memorials and go to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

Today the Rolling Thunder motorcycle parade is taking place starting from the North Parking at the Pentagon and ending at the Vietnam Memorial. For many of the riders, this has become their day and their way to honor the fallen comrades, and those left behind. I was at a local restaurant last night and overheard four riders talking, they had ridden from Washington State, 8 days on the road to be here and were leaving to go back on Monday afternoon. To them, it was an honor to be here, not a “thing” they had to do. I talked to them for a few minutes, and thanked them for their service and the trip they made.

Tomorrow, I will go to Arlington early in the morning to remember those who have gone before us; then I will go to the Tomb and stay until after the services there. If you can’t go to any local services, take a moment and say a prayer for our folks that are defending us today, throughout the world. I think they will appreciate it.

From the Pointy end

Well, I’m back from a week in WESTPAC, the Western Pacific for those who aren’t Navy oriented… Spent some time talking to the Sailors who are spending time in the Gulf both on deployment and Individual Augmentee (IA) duties. I gotta say what I am hearing from these folks is pretty much directly contradictory to what most of the media is saying. These folks are proud to serve, believe in what we are doing, and see the positives of the situation in Iraq and Afganistan both. They see improvements we (the Coalition) have fostered, schools, water, power, hospitals; but agree there are not enough due to politics and the local infighting. To a person, they all agreed we should stay the course.

This makes me wonder even more about the media and today’s crop of politicians… I thought I had seen it all after Nam, Grenada, and the first Gulf War, but these folks just leave me speechless… I’m for, but I’m against, but I was for… timetables for withdrawl, but I support the troops, but I want to take away their money and ability to do anything… Does this make any sense?

Not to me- I am to the point that I believe the pols are posturing (posterioring?) to try to be on both sides of the war. I guess they think we the people are too dumb to remember the last thing they said, or hope we will “only” remember what they say in the sound bites.

If you have the time, take a minute to thank those reservist, Guard and active duty folks you know. These are the folks who are on the pointy end, doing the best they can with what they have. It behooves us to support them in any way we can.

Passports are a pain in the A**

Welcome to passport hell… (well that is what the sign SHOULD have said)
To make a long story short, I sent my passort in for more visa pages 3 weeks ago, as I have a trip this Friday. So yesterday I spend, off and on, 7 hours on the phone trying to get into the system and actually talk to a live body… Finally succeed, and guess what- Passport is not done, not sure where it is, etc… Bottom line, I get an appointment for 0800 this morning at the Washington Passport Office in downtown DC. So….

Early get up, run in to the office, jump on Metro, hike four blocks, get there at 0745, and I’m number THIRTY in line…

Stand in line for an hour to get to the appointments desk, only to be told, “Well you don’t actually HAVE an appointment, I don’t care what your paperwork and email says, so you will have to see a Supervisor. Got sit down and wait.”

Oh okay… geez, what is this little number beside wait time printed on the ticket? Hmmm… ONE HOUR AND FIFTY TWO MINUTES!!!! What the? So I go corner the supervisor (nice lady by the way), to whom I explain the situation, she says, “Oh you will definitely have to wait at least that long. I only have two supervisors working today.”

Two and a half hour later, I finally get to the window, only to be told, “Well, since your passport is still in our system, I can’t do anything until tomorrow, so if you don’t receive it by tomorrow, come back and we will help you then.”

It’s now 12:30, I’m back in my office with nada to show for the entire morning…sigh…

AND I’ll probably have to do this all over again tomorrow.

Testing… testing…

I’m new to this whole arena, but thought I’d give it a try. I guess I fall in the “silent majority” as we have been deemed, I’ve never sought publicity, sued anyone for spilling my coffee, sure as hell ain’t a movie star; well, you get the drift…

I’m mid-50’s have a decent job, two decent kids trying hard to make their own way in the world today, and a lot of frustration with what is happening to the US of A. Being from the South, I hunt, fish, and shoot guns; so that immediately makes me one of those “rabid rednecks” to quote some out there. I did have a pickup, but it’s hard to park it where I work, so I drive a Pontiac… sure do miss the truck though… sigh…

As a retired military type, it really hurts to see the crap we are putting the folks in service through today. I lived through that in Vietnam, and I take the time to thank every Soldier, Sailor, Airman or Marine for their service when I get the chance. Most of the kids (I’m Southern so I can say that) are doing the best they can with what they have. They believe in the job they and others are doing in the Sandbox, and are pretty upset by the media coverage they get.

Anyway, I’m going to try this for a while and see what happens… thanks for reading and commenting…

Old NFO