The Blog Less Traveled

Pants on the ground,
Pants on the ground,
Lookin’ like a fool with your pants on the ground!

Well, I just couldn’t resist. I think this is as apropos a metaphor as you can get concerning Obama and his Presidency. Mr. Transparency is finally being seen by the majority of liberal and conservative thinking Americans for what he truly is. He is an extreme Socialist at heart and will do anything to further his agenda. The Healthcare bill and how it was conceived and presented to the American people will be a great history lesson for years to come. Never in recent history has the arrogance and sheer underhanded political maneuvering been so blatant. The President and the Democrats in Congress are equally responsible for this debacle. To think that they were so close to ramming this monetary nightmare through Congress is unbelievable. I, for one, am extremely grateful that the people of Massachusetts elected Scott Brown as their next Senator. Without that vote, Obama would now be signing that bill into law. Thank you, Massachusetts.

What I still don’t understand is why it took so long for people to see the truth in all of this. If this was such a good program for the American people, why did the Democrats have to write this bill in such secrecy and behind closed doors? Why did they have to bribe so many members of their own party? Why did Obama hold closed-door sessions with labor union bosses and give them “sweetheart” deals? Representative Joe Wilson was right when he told Obama, “You lie!,” during his speech to Congress last September. He lied about the real substance of the bill and he lied to the American people when he said the Healthcare bill proceedings would be televised on C-Span. He also lied when he said he would have no lobbyists in his administration. And despite Obama always criticizing the Bush administration for “sweetheart” deals with favored contractors, the Obama administration recently awarded a $25 million federal contract to a company owned by a Democratic campaign contributor without any competitive bids. How many times do you get a free pass on all this before the people say, “Enough is enough!”

So, there you have it America. The man who campaigned and promised hope, change and transparency is finally being seen for the deceitful and Socialist politician that he really is. A Chicago-style politician at his finest. Tomorrow will be his State of the Union address. I’m sure he’ll try to minimize all his blunders and lies and blame most things on the past administration. That’s always his excuse when his failed policies don’t work. Hopefully, most Americans will see through this charade. This man is NOT worthy of the Presidency – never was, never will be.

For the most part, I try to stay informed on what is going on in the world and our country. I read excerpts from the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, CNN, Fox News, NPR, BBC, etc. I find it amazing how a single story can come across so completely different depending on which news outlet you read. The same goes for network and cable TV. Some are so blatantly obvious that it amazes me that people can actually watch them and think they’re getting any semblance of a fair and objective viewpoint. If you can watch MSNBC and the likes of Keith Olbermann or Rachel Maddow and not see the vindictive and generally unseemly diatribe on American values, then there’s not much hope for you. Even Hannity on Fox News carries it a little bit too far, although I don’t think it’s as mean-spirited as the MSNBC shows.

Anyway, I got the below email from a friend the other day and I thought I’d share it with you.

A Harley Davidson biker is riding by the zoo in Washington, DC when he sees a little girl leaning into the lion’s cage. Suddenly, the lion grabs her by the cuff of her jacket and tries to pull her inside to slaughter her, under the eyes of her screaming parents.
The biker jumps off his Harley, runs to the cage and hits the lion square on the nose with a powerful punch. Whimpering from the pain the lion jumps back letting go of the girl, and the biker brings her to her terrified parents, who thank him endlessly. A reporter has watched the whole event.

Sadly, that pretty much sums up the liberal news media’s approach to the news these days.

Happy New Year! I hope everyone enjoyed the holidays. Up here in Michigan, it’s been pretty cold. We’ve had some snow, but not all that bad. It’s a little more than three months before I run in the Boston Marathon. Trying to train for it in this weather will be a challenge. The roads have been pretty slippery so I haven’t been out doing much running lately. I hate running indoors on a treadmill, so I don’t really get too much running in right now. I just bought some traction gizmos to put on the bottom of my running shoes. They’re called YakTrax Pros. Supposedly, they’ll keep me from slipping on hard-packed snow surfaces. I may end up having to use them pretty soon if the weather doesn’t change. We’ll see how that works out.

I’ve recently been reading a book called, “26 Miles to Boston.” It’s about the Boston Marathon – surprise! The gentleman that wrote it goes over the history of the marathon. The reason why I like the book is because he gives a blow-by-blow account for each mile of the race. He ran the race back in 1996 and discusses all the things that a runner might be interested in as he runs the course. There’s a chapter for each mile. He tells you the general slope, the points of interest along the way and anything else of value. The course runs through eight different towns and he describes the roads, the crowds, the town, etc. It’s been pretty interesting, thus far. I’m on the chapter for mile 13 right now. This is the portion of the course that takes you through Wellesley College, the women’s liberal arts college. From the description, it sounds like the ladies there really whoop it up for the runners. It’s also the halfway point in the marathon, so I guess it’s a little boost for the runner.

At this point, you might be asking yourself, why the heck did I title this blog posting, “Forgive Me When I Whine?” Well, while I was reading the book, the author mentioned how a long-distance runner has a lot of time to contemplate things. He said during the long stretches when things got tough, he would sometimes think of his favorite poem, “Forgive Me.” He wrote down a portion of it in his book. I did a little digging on the Internet and found out that it’s actually the lyrics to a song by an Islamic singer named Ahmed Bukhatir. It kind of puts things in perspective when you complain about things not going well at the time. Be thankful for all the good things that are going on in your life.

So, if you hear me complaining, forgive me when I whine.

Lyrics: Forgive Me…

Today, upon a bus,
I saw a girl with golden hair.
And wished I was as fair.
When suddenly she rose to leave,
I saw her hobble down the aisle.
She had one leg and wore a crutch.
But as she passed, she smiled.

Oh God, forgive me when I whine. When I whine.
I have two legs the world is mine.

I stopped to buy some candy.
The lad who sold it had such charm.
I talked with him, he seemed so glad.
If I were late, it’d do no harm.
And as I left, he said to me,
“I thank you, you’ve been so kind.
You see,” he said, “I’m blind.”

Oh God, forgive me when I whine. When I whine.
I have two eyes the world is mine.

I saw a child with eyes of blue.
He stood and watched the others play.
He did not know what to do.
I stopped a moment and then I said,
“Why don’t you join the others, dear?”
He looked ahead without a word.
And then I knew. He couldn’t hear.

Oh God, forgive me when I whine. When I whine.
I have two ears the world is mine.

With feet to take me where I’d go.
With eyes to see the sunset’s glow.
With ears to hear what I’d know.
Oh God, forgive me when I whine. When I whine.
I am blessed indeed, the world is mine.

The phone rings and the lady of the house answers.

“Hello?”

“Mrs Sanders, please.”

“Speaking.”

“Mrs. Sanders, this is Dr. Jones at St. Agnes Laboratory. When your husband’s doctor sent his biopsy to the lab last week, a biopsy from another Mr. Sanders arrived as well. We are now uncertain which one belongs to your husband. Frankly, either way the results are not too good.”

“What do you mean?” Mrs. Sanders asks nervously.

“Well, one of the specimens tested positive for Alzheimer’s and the other one tested positive for HIV. We can’t tell which is which.”

“That’s dreadful! Can you do the test again?” questioned Mrs. Sanders.

“Normally we can, but the new health care system will only pay for these expensive tests just one time.”

”Well, what am I supposed to do now?”

“The folks at Obama health care recommend that you drop your husband off somewhere in the middle of town. If he finds his way home, don’t sleep with him.”