Category: Conservative

Posted on

I imagine a lot of people are blogging about 9/11

I’ve been thinking about this a lot.

10 years ago today I flipped on the TV for some background noise as I prepared to begin a job search, as CNNs image resolved I, like many Americans couldn’t believe what I was seeing. My mind simply refused to accept what my eyes were telling me.

Suddenly I was on my knees, peering into the glowing phosphors hoping it was a terrible accident but knowing in my heart it was an attack… and that our lives were irrevocably changed.

Over the years my thoughts and opinions have changed. However there are a few things that remain constant.

I’m very conflicted, and I’m still just as angry today as I was then.

My Duty as an American is that I must protect the rights of everyone even those that I absolutely disagree with, although today I’ve narrowed that view to Americans. Naturalized or born here, it doesn’t matter. Anyone that has chosen to be an American is automatically part of that duty. Anyone else… well frankly their rights are only those protected under international law.

I’m conflicted because there are many people who are Americans and who obviously hate this country, their  loyalties in fact lie solely with their countries of origin. How does my duty apply in those situations?

Duty… once so clear, is now confused and muddled.

Rules once so easy to follow and understand are now intermittently visible at best.

Our lives changed, there is no doubt about that.

It’s not just the TSA, or the Patriot act… everything is subtly influenced.

Americans as a group are much more suspicious of everyone. I’m never in public anymore where I’m not paying attention to crowds & the people around me. There are friends that would say I’m being paranoid. I disagree.

There are places in the world where bombings in public markets are commonplace. It hasn’t happened in this country but it could and I personally believe it will.

What was once unthinkable here in the United States is now within the realm of possibility.

We as a people had our innocence taken from us, It can never be regained.

I can’t forgive the countries or the people that harbor these terrorist animals, any more than I can forgive the terrorists themselves.

As I’ve watched the ceremony in New York I’ve been feeling the same things I felt 10 years ago. Rage, sadness, and … fear.

My brother lived in NY and was involved in law enforcement. For many hours I couldn’t reach him , or his wife. I have never been more grateful for any message than I was for the simple text message “We are OK”.

There are so many who received a very different message. My heart goes out to them… there is nothing that can be said to assuage their pain and loss.

Even though a decade has passed somehow the wound is as fresh today as it was then. This begs the question…

How do we move forward?

Posted on

Re-Evalution in old relationships

I’m from The South.
No, I’m not a “The South shall rise again” kind of guy. That ship has sailed and I, like most of the Southerners I know are good with it.
I was born and raised South of the Mason-Dixon line. I’m proud of where I came from. I’m proud of the freedoms I enjoyed as a child and that I was safe no matter where I was in my local environment.
I’ve been thinking about being from The South because of a rather disturbing email exchange with someone I’ve known for years. I’m astounded at how after all this time, this person is comfortable denigrating all things Southern including apparently Me.
This characterization was in response to my mentioning offhandedly and with a certain amount of tongue in cheek that I had earthquake supplies, a personal plan, at least one gun with ammo, and that my family had a loose plan to meet at a central location in the event of some serious catastrophe.
I’ve got enough in emergency supplies to feed 2 people for at least 12 days. That’s BEFORE I have to get creative with water, or start hunting. I honestly think that I should have more, but this, as a minimum will do. I also think that I’m going to be feeding several of my neighbors who for one reason or another won’t be able to feed themselves.
My family seems to have always had a motto, “Better to have a plan you don’t need, than to need a plan you don’t have.” I don’t know if I read that somewhere and am using it to describe our desire to be ready for trouble or if it was something my Dad & Granddad said.
The next series of email responses frankly blew my mind.
In the course of the emails this person painted me as an irrelevant, ignorant, ammo hoarding, gun toting, survivalist, neo-nazi, with no social conscience, who was waiting for the end times!
It was as though because I wasn’t complacently expecting for the government to simply take care of me that somehow I was “Wrong-headed”.
When someone you know takes you to task like this, you can do a few things. Get offended, Get Angry, or Re-evaluate your stance.
99% of the time, I’ll pick door number 1 or door number 2. In this situation because of the long standing relationship and the fact that I have a lot of respect for this person, I chose door number 3.
I thought about my childhood and how that had shaped the man I would become. A man, by the way that in general I’m proud to be. I’m comfortable in my skin and getting more so with each passing day.

I’m shocked every time I encounter the kind of thinking that suggests somehow the South is full of a bunch of ignorant savages.

It’s astounding that educated, “Fair-Minded”, liberal people, get away with painting a picture suggesting that everyone in, or from The South are racist, rednecks, with rifles slung over their shoulders and pistols in their ass cracks. This characterization couldn’t be further from the truth…

Honestly, as a Southerner I find the generalization offensive. Particularly when these generalizations are delivered by people that supposedly know me.

Posted on

Muslims behaving badly

Caught an article in USATODAY

Muslims, celebrating Eid-ul-Fitr were involved in a dust up over head scarves at an amusement park.

Apparently, the park considered the scarves a danger on some of the rides (I can see the reasoning). Park employees told the organizer during the booking of the event that the scarves are banned on some rides, and again when guests arrived.

The Organizer didn’t mention the ban to the attendees before they got to the park and thats where the problems started.

The park was refunding peoples money and making apologies for the confusion when things escalated. A group of women & girls started screaming and bitching at park security. At some point security or the cops or both had enough and put some of the women down then handcuffed them. Now of course the men had reason to get involved and the dustup really gets going.

I have some questions,

Was this a test on the part of the Center for American Islamic Relations (CAIR)? Were they trying to create a situation where law suits could be filed and freedom of religious expression could be tested in court?  

Safety being first and foremost why would ANYBODY not get it when the reasons for the ban were explained unless they were looking for a fight.  

When a group of people regardless of their gender, religion, race, or whatever confront police, someone is going to jail. That simple fact is something that these folks apparently were not acquainted with. Well now they are.

Police were painted as the bad guys. The poor Muslims were being oppressed and downtrodden… At least that’s how the Muslims wanted it portrayed.

Why do so many people ASSUME they’re being victimized?

These people have the freedom to behave badly. They exercised it and just like anyone else they got arrested.

After all isn’t that why they came to America in the first place?