State of the Union

I watched that side show on TV last night. There was the usual ceremony and fake applause. There was bitter political enemies on the isle when the president went by. There was the usual grand standing in front of the statues by people who wish they were president. There was a woman setting behind the president for the first time but she did nothing that any other speaker from an opposing party would not do. Then there was the speech itself. About the only thing I can say is that it was well written but poorly read.

I listened carefully and tried to take notes. I tried to ignore the delivery and understand the words. In the first half when he talked about domestic issues I heard nothing new. He still wants amnesty for Mexican invaders. He still wants no child left behind. He still wants people to afford health insurance but admits that he cannot get it done in two years. He still believes the global warming theory is real. We have a very good and growing economy but for the life of me I can't figure out why he did not brag about it.

Now for the foreign half of the speech. He somehow forgot that Mexico is a foreign country and talked about that problem in the first half of the speech. I believe we are in a global war on terror in counties all the way across North Africa, The Middle East, the southern part of the former Soviet Union, across Afghanistan, Pakistan and even Western India. There are Islamic terrorist countries all over South East Asia and the Pacific Islands. There are also terrorist and Islamic sympathizers in every country including our own. If that is not a world war I do not know what a world war is.

Take a look at a map and you can see that one of the worst countries in the world is between Afghanistan where we have troops and Iraq where we have troops. People say we should forget about Iraq and focus on the terrorists but on my map Iraq is in the heart of terrorist territory. Yes we are bogged down in Iraq when we should be in Iran. I can remember when we were bogged down in the Arden forest of Belgium when we should have been in Germany. Thousands of replacement troops were used as a surge during the battle of the bulge. So what is the difference between then and now? Simple, Roosevelt was a better public speaker. If I did not know better and got all my info from listening to our president, I would assume like every one else that Iraq and the war on terror were two completely separate issues. I think the idea of a troop surge may work. It has to work because we cannot afford another loss. I only wish we had some one better at convincing we the people that it can work.

This post is open to any one who heard that speech and wants to comment.

What Just Happened?

What an election! Some things about it caught me off guard and other things I fully expected. As for the big view, I think I will just have to ask a twelve year old next time I take one fishing. Better yet, why don't I just ask you. What do you think just happened and what does it meen. I will add my two cents later but I only have a penny now.

I am NOT a Republican

I am not now, never have been, and probably never will be a Republican. I am a conservative. I vote to promote the conservative and Christian way of life in America. When I was young that meant voting Democrat. Now it usually means voting Republican. I admit that I voted for the current Democrat mayor of Jackson and the current Democrat sheriff of Hinds County. I have voted for a few Constitution Party candidates and even voted for a Libertarian once. I don't pick candidates only for the party but when I pick a conservative he usually just happens to be Republican.

This year there are a lot of RINO republicans on the bubble in the federal government. Some of them, like Arlin Specter, align themselves more with Democrats than the conservatives leaders of their party. My first thought is to wish those bums were purged from the Republican Party, even if it meant supporting a Democrat but not this year. The single most vital factor this year is who they will vote for to be speaker of the house.

Even though I am really not a Republican I am increasing my effort this year to help promote the GOP just because of the speaker of the house. As part of that effort I have added a link to GOPbloggers.org on this site. I have also submitted this site to them to be added to their web ring.

Gone Fishing

I have read a lot of web sites written by people about my age. Most of them talk about grand kids and fishing. The most interesting thing half of them discuss is their need for prune juice. I promised that this site would be different but here I am telling about taking my great-grand son fishing.

When an 85 year old man takes a 9 year old boy fishing, the boy thinks it just about fishing. The old man knows it is more. I showed him how to string a line on a bamboo pole and rig a hook, bobber and sinker. I showed him how to dig up worms from the creek bank. I showed him how to swing his hook out to the water and let it gently land. I told him all about watching the bobber move and setting the hook. I also told him about patience and love of nature. I told him about southern history and tradition. I even told him about the imortance of family ties and respect for elders. He got the part about fishing but I think he also got the rest too. I pray that one day he will teach the same lesson to his own great-grand kids.

I used the "N" word

Back when I was young the proper address for a black person was negro. Sometimes the word was pronounced negra or niger. It was not a racist slur. It was a mispronunciation. There were a few people who did use the word niger in a taunting way and changed the meaning of the word. Now I am not sure what word to use. Is it Black? It it Colored? Is Afro American? I think it might be easier to just say human.

It is not just words that change. I used to not only use the "N" word but I was also Democrat. I remember when Democrats were like Harry Truman and Sonny Montgomery. Now they are like Hillary Clinton and Benny Thompson. I did not leave the party. The party left me. I did not change my vocabulary. It was the language that changed.

Old Guy Starting Over

Okay, I admit it. I am old. It happens to every one who does not die young. I watch TV and read the papers. I try to keep up with what is going on in the world. I even keep up with pop culture a little. It is modern technology that I have trouble with.

On December 25, 1999 my grand son gave me a computer. He said if I was to stubborn to die before the end of the century I might as well catch up on how the new century works. That damn thing gave me fits for about two years. I guess I was trying too hard to understand how all the internal wheels turned instead of how to use the thing. One day I watched my 7 year old great-grand-son using a computer. I realized that he was doing cause and affect. When he did this that happened, and when he did that this happened. He did not worry about how it happened but just had faith that it would happen. I realized that I was like the man who could not turn on a light switch because he did not understand electron flow. I changed my approach to learning computers and look at me now. I am surfing the net and am even working on my first blog. Maybe my grand-son was right when he called me a cool old codger.