Well, I did vote early.  I voted today, the 19th of October.  I don’t plan on voting often.  And I am still alive, so I won’t be voting in Chicago.  This is the first time I have voted by absentee ballot.  That means, I voted before the third debate.  Maybe I should have given Obama one more chance.  Maybe he won’t be lethargic and out of it, like he was in the first debate.  Or, as smug, arrogant and aggressive as he was in the second debate.  I don’t expect he can get moderators in two successive debates to bail him out.

I can’t think of anything he could do in the third debate to change my mind.  He could admit than he lied when he claimed he said, in the Rose Garden, that our ambassador was killed in an act of terror.  But that would make him an acknowledged liar, rather than a deceitful liar.  And then, the spin meisters came out and said, “yes, he called it an act of terror.”  I need to move on because this subject has me frothing at the mouth.

After all, isn’t it really all about the economy?  We have a President that stated what he was going to accomplish and has miserably failed – for four years.  He was going to bring unemployment down to 5% and he didn’t bring it down at all.  He was going to cut the debt in half.  But, he added a trillion dollars to our national debt each year he has been in the White House.  Hope and Change.  What a joke.  I’m frothing again.  I think the only Hope is for a Change.

I know that some people believe that the Republicans in Congress went out of their way to keep Obama from succeeding.  First, let me say that the Congress of the United States is a true embarrassment – both Republicans and Democrats.  But Obama had a complete Democrat majority his first two years (half the time he was in the White House) and had nothing to show for it, except Obamacare.  The entire time of his administration, he never passed a budget.  You can say that that is Congress’ fault, but I say if we had a president who was a leader, we would have had a budget.  Does anybody doubt that Mitt Romney will have a budget his first year?

If you hire someone who has no qualifications or understanding of the job, you get what you deserve.  That is what we got with Obama.  Nice looking, articulate (with a teleprompter) and likeable, but unqualified.  The guy who told the press he had visited 57 states (Can you imagine how the press would had played that up if Dan Quayle had said that?).  The leader of the free world who bowed to a Saudi King and then had his spin meisters say he didn’t do it.

I have finally come around to Hope and Change.  Our only Hope is to fire Obama and Change to someone who can get the economy going.  I believe Mitt Romney can do it.  He worked with a Democrat legislature in Massachusetts.  He put a struggling Olympics into the black and I want to give him a chance to do something good for our struggling country.  We desperately need it.

Never has a president accomplished so little in helping the economy and piled on so much debt.  I would like to say, “But maybe I’m wrong.”  But the facts won’t let me.
Obama said, “If I don’t get this thing done in three years, I’ll be a one term president.”  Well alright then.

Written be PJ Rice at ricequips.com

For the last two weeks, we have been on a cruise of Alaska.  I have felt like Nero fiddling.  Here I am on a plush cruise liner and all I have to worry about is showing up for meals, whale watching tours and my ping pong competition.  Yet, from what I’m getting from the TV, it seems like Western culture, as we know it, is sinking into the abyss.

First, we lose a chopper full of Navy Seals.  What a disaster.  Afghanistan keeps chugging along.  Longest war in our Nation’s history.  I don’t see an end.  I’m not a “cut and run” guy, but I wish some smart people could figure out how to get us out of there.  When I hear politicians talking about the importance of giving the Afghan tribesman a democratic system of government with free elections, I want to barf.  Where’s McNamara when we need someone to lie to us about the “light at the end of the tunnel.”  It is costing us billions each year to carry on the fight and when we leave, it will still cost the Afghan government those same billions.  Once we pull out, the billions will not be forthcoming.

Also, while we were watching the Hubbard Glacier calve, the stock market was also calving.  Crack, rumble, crash.  No “oohs and ahs” on the market.  The Hubbard Glacier, unlike our economy is growing.  Don’t tell Henny Penny Al Gore.  Standard and Poors downgrades the US Treasury Bond.  What a joke.  S & P are the guys who gave the triple A rating to all the banks right before we had to bail them out.  They are partially responsible for the problems in the first place.  Then they downgrade the US government bonds.

Then there’s the President.  He seems to be a pleasant guy, but he is clearly out of his element.  I am satisfied that he is clueless when it comes to running our government.  However, he does know how to run a campaign and raise money.  He has lots of strategists to help him get reelected and when I hear him talk about jobs, I am satisfied he is only interested in his own.  No, that’s not fair.  I am sure he would like the unemployment numbers to come down, because that would help him save his job.

He seems to be constantly running for reelection.  For the first two years of his presidency, he had large majorities in both houses of Congress (a fillerbuster proof Senate) and he couldn’t even get a budget passed.  He hasn’t had a budget passed his entire time.  Good grief!  He may be the first president who never gets a budget passed.  He is still a first term senator that is clueless.  When one of his constituents complained to him about high gas prices, he told her to get a more fuel efficient car.  We are going to be like a third world country with everyone driving around on a motor scooter.

I am not opposed to universal health care.  After all, we are presently paying for the medical care bill of the poor.  I believe we are capable of working something out.  But the way the Democrats went about the health care bill was unconscionable.  Something as significant as universal health care needs to be vetted and debated and bought into by both sides of the isle.  I remember the Civil Rights Act during the Johnson Administration.  Congress butted heads, but worked together on some equally difficult issues and found solutions.  This time, however, we had midnight raiders who pushed through Obamacare, saying things like “you can read it after it is passed.”  The president who said he would insist on transparency in government and no more pork was just lying to us because it was expedient.

I’m satisfied that the Supreme Court will declare Obamacare unconstitutional and then we can start over.  But, will we?  I doubt it.  Obama missed his chance, but that is consistent with being clueless.  I generally try to put some humor in these blogs, but it’s hard to do when you are ranting.  I am definitely ranting.

Let’s move on to Congress.  I think most of them are pretty smart.  There are a few Weiners, but on the whole they are conscientious people.  But members of the House run for reelection every two years and so they are constantly running for reelection.  The best way (unfortunately) to get reelected is to attack your opponent.  It doesn’t even have to be 100% true.  It just has to pass the smell test.  With everyone attacking everyone, nothing gets done.  The word “statesman” has disappeared from the Washington vocabulary.

Obama has been in office for the better part of three years and his answer to everything on the economy is it’s Bush’s fault.  Where is the “change” he kept talking about?  I am convinced that Obama plans on putting out an economic recovery plan in September that he knows will be unacceptable to the Republicans.  Then, when the Republicans reject it, he will use it as a key point in his reelection campaign.  “I had a great plan to get the economy moving, but the Republicans shot it down.  They are to blame.”  How does that help the American people?

I would like to keep ranting, but I have a ping pong match followed by high tea and dinner.

Written by PJ Rice on www.ricequips.com
 

I’m confused about us going to war with Libya.  You say war, what war?  Well, firing a hundred plus missiles into another country is an act of war.  I am certain that the leaders of this country know this.

During the Cuban Missile Crises, we imposed a quarantine around Cuba and not a blockade, because a blockade constituted an act of war.  But that was 50 years ago.  Now, we just cut loose.

I have no use for Mommar Gaddafi.  I think he is a tyrant and a murderer, and if he were blown in to 1,000 pieces, I would be pleased.  I might even go as low at 200 pieces.

What I see in Libya is an internal uprising.  I see a revolution against Gaddafi.  I support it, but I don’t understand where we have the right to fire missiles into another sovereign, albeit tyrannical, nation.  The justification is that Gaddafi is slaughtering his own people.  When you have a revolution and internal forces attempt to overthrow their miserable leader, I would expect the miserable leader to fight back.  He obviously has and very successfully.  And those people he is slaughtering are the people who are trying to overthrow him (and most likely execute him).  None of this startles me.

It’s great to have missiles and air superiority.  But, if Gaddafi has superior forces on the ground, he will probably put down this internal revolt.

Did President Obama think these things through before he committed our nation?  What I am hearing is the US is only taking charge for a little while and then we will turn it over to NATO forces.  What does that mean?  Does that mean that we will bow out or just step back.  I suspect NATO will enforce a no-fly zone while Gaddafi forces wipe out the opposition.  I wish our President would have consulted with Congress before authorizing this act of war.

Bill O’Reilly says it’s OK to do it because Gaddafi ordered the bombing of Pan Am 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland.  Maybe we should indict him – Gaddafi that is.   But the Administration says it’s to keep him from slaughtering his own people – “innocent civilians” (who are trying to overthrow him).

At this time I was going to quote Colin Powell on only going to war when you have overwhelming power, understand the objectives and definitely have an end game to close out the matter.  In looking Powell up on the internet so that I could make sure I had the quote correct, I read that Powell supported Obama for President.  He thought Obama would provide fresh eyes to look at the issues. 

After reading that, I no longer concerned myself with getting the quote right.  I’ll bet Powell is feeling pretty stupid right now.


Written by PJ Rice on www.ricequips.com

An Open Letter to Congressman Gerry Connolly, 11th District, Virginia

Dear Congressman Connolly:

A few days back, I received in the mail a six-page brochure from you entitled, “A Progress Report from Congressman Gerry Connolly.”  It was an expensive glossy brochure with color pictures of you on four pages.  I thought, if this is how you want to spend your campaign money, that’s your business.

Then I noticed in the fine print on the last page the following, “This mailing was prepared, published and mailed at taxpayer expense.”  I am furious.  I don’t understand how you, in good conscience, can spend our money to make yourself look good.  Shame on you.  You could have published your report on plain white paper with black and white photos (if necessary) and saved the taxpayers thousands of dollars.  I plan on holding on to the brochure so that I can show people I talk to that you are being a spendthrift with our money.

Also, please consider losing the mustache.  Every time I see you smile, it reminds me of the dastardly villain who is tying the poor helpless damsel to the railroad track.  In my own mind, I see the poor helpless damsel as our health care program that you have already tied to the track.

If you intend to send out any more expensive glossy, color photo reports, please remove me from your mailing list.

Sincerely,
Paul J. Rice
11th District Voter

Yes, I did.  I wrote my Congressman.  This health care legislation should have everyone expressing their view.  The idea of pushing through some massive program which no one completely understands or knows what will be the effect in five years is sheer folly. 

I really don’t expect my Congressman to even read my letter, but I feel better about sending it.  My correspondence will probably be a check in a box somewhere.  But, who knows?   I put it down below.  I tried to be on point and not too angry.  I was mostly successful.  You can decide for yourself.

Dear Congressman Connolly,

I received your recent correspondence encouraging us to contact you if we needed help in dealing with the Government bureaucracy.  I appreciate your interest.

My problem is with what is happening  in Congress regarding health care.  At the present time, I am retired military and over 65.  So my wife and I received Medicare and Tri-Care for Life.  I personally believe that these medical benefits came as a promise from my country for serving for 28 years.  I am convinced that any new health care legislation will reduce our benefits.  I’ve seen draft language where we would be required to make co-payments for our Tri-Care.  This goes back on the promise to the military. 

I don’t accept promises from President Obama on health benefits.  His promise that the military won’t be touched rings hollow.  He promised no more “pork” in legislation.  Now, he acts like he never said it.  His administration was not going to include lobbyists.  That also went by the wayside.  “No more business as usual.”  You see why when he promises Tri-Care won’t be touched, I cringe.  

President Obama has me very disturbed.  His plan to take from the rich and give to the poor is ridiculous for a number of reasons.  First, Robin Hood was fiction.  Not bad fiction, but fiction.  Secondly, there is no way the Government can take enough from the rich to pay for all the poor in the health care arena.  I am convinced this is marching towards Socialism.

President Obama says there are 50,000,000 in our country without health care insurance.  I suspect a not insignificant number of them are illegal aliens.  I don’t want to pay for the health care of people who snuck into this country.  He says we can add these 50,000,000 to our health care rolls and do it more economically.  “We will be more efficient.”  That is such an old and hackneyed expression.  Please don’t support the President on health care legislation that will end up taking money from one group and giving to another, with the Government deciding issues that should be between the doctor and the patient.

Any legislation as significant as universal health care should be bipartisan.  Start with small steps, not with something that is so large, no one can understand the repercussions until it is too late.  I would be interested in knowing where you stand.  Please don’t be a minion for the Speaker.  It is not in the best interest of your constituents nor yourself.

Very truly yours, 

Somewhere in my youth, I was told that it takes a big man to admit he is wrong.  So I bought into that.  Some days, I would get bigger and bigger as the day progressed.

So, why can’t the President admit when he is wrong or does something stupid?  Why can’t he just admit he goofed when he bowed to the king of Saudi Arabia?  To have his people come out and say he didn’t bow makes them all look stupid and untrustworthy.  Anyone who saw the pictures or video knows he bowed.  Hey, its a goof, but it’s not a big deal.  Lying is a big deal.

The bowing incident reminds me of the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale, “The Emperor’s New Clothes.”  Does Obama really believe he didn’t bow?  Does he believe anyone believes him?  I think he is just too arrogant to admit his mistakes.

Then, he screws up by pronouncing that the Boston police acted stupidly.  He prefaced his comment by saying he didn’t have the facts.  He should have stopped right there.  Then he wouldn’t have acted stupidly.  Then, he was surprised that it became a big deal.  He stated that he could have calibrated his words differently.  What does that mean?  Acted foolishly, sillily, unwisely, injudiciously, imprudently, witlessly?  What calibration are we talking about?

The big loser is probably Professor Gates, who, after the beer fest, saw his racial profiling best-seller book go up in smoke.

I can’t wait for the next Presidential press conference.  I am very interested in what President Obama thinks about the Cleveland Indians trading away their star Catcher, Victor Martinez, the day before the Indians were to celebrate Victor Martinez Bobblehead Night at Progressive Field.  I sure hope he can get this one properly calibrated.

When Governor Sarah Palin was nominated to be John McCain’s running mate, I mentioned to a friend that she would have every aspect of her life flyspecked.  He said that she had already been Governor, so there wasn’t much not known about her.  I said, “Wait and see, they will try to “bork” her.

I am absolutely certain that I do not want my last name to become a verb.  Robert Bork had been Solicitor General, Attorney General and a judge for the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit.  But when President Reagan nominated Bork to be a justice of the Supreme Court, the attack dogs came out.  You would have thought that President Reagan had nominated a Klansman.  Bork’s opposition went over every opinion he had ever written.  They reviewed his speeches.  They even checked on every movie he had ever rented!  I guess they didn’t mind violating his individual rights in order to protect theirs.

Bork’s credentials were unimpeachable,  but there were strong objections to his conservative views.  He was not confirmed by the Senate and thus, the verb, to bork, came into existence.

There was a strong attempt to “bork” Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.  He was accused of sexual harassment by a subordinate, Anita Hill.  In my opinion, neither his story, nor hers made a lot of sense.  He was in her apartment a number of times, but there was no allegation of wrongdoing on those occasions.  Plus, she followed him from one job to another, and even after she quit working for him, she still made personal calls to him.  Not the normal activity of someone who has been sexually harassed.  Thomas was confirmed by the Senate.

Now, it is Sarah’s turn.  In their effort to find something on Sarah, we’ve got “wardrobegate.”  Supposedly, $150,000 was spent on clothing for Sarah (really about a third of that amount).  Some staffer did it and went to stores she had been instructed not to go to, and now it is shame on Sarah.  It  all sounds kind of sexist to me, but I don’t expect the feminist movement to come out and support her.   But life’s not fair and I think Sarah already knows that.  She must have known they would try to “bork” her.

I got on the computer today to go to the Obama Tax Calculator.  This is supposed to tell me whether I will be better off under the Obama or McCain tax proposal (key word is proposal).  I found the page and put in all the financial information, but then they wanted my email address.  Why?  I thought the Democrats don’t believe people should have to show an ID to vote, so why do I have to give them my email address?  I saw in another place on the web page that if I gave them a donation I would receive a free gift.  It reminds me of the old joke, “Please write your name and address on the back of a twenty dollar bill and we will send you your free gift.”

I really didn’t need the tax calculator to know I would do better under the Obama proposal.  The politician who promised a chicken in every pot lost the election, because his opponent promised two chickens in every pot.  How do you think the chickens felt about all that?  Well, I feel like a chicken and I am hoping that next Tuesday, I don’t feel like I have been thrown into the pot.

It’s an exciting time, with a racehorse pace,
A presidential election, who will win the race?
Obama or Hillary, both with a strong voice,
I picked Hillary, but she wasn’t my choice.
Of course, I was wrong, I’ve been wrong before,
Now, I predict Obama, I may be wrong some more.

I will support McCain, he is his own man,
He’s strong on the military, and I’m part of that clan.
As for the Democrats, they’re weak on defense,
And from where I stand, it doesn’t make much sense.
I’ve watched through the years and it’s not very funny,
When the Democrats are in power, the Army runs out of money.

I’m not a lock-step Republican, Rush would not be happy,
I think some GOP policies are just downright crappy.
The right to bear arms is in the Constitution,
But semi-automatic weapons seem like a convolution.
I’m not opposed to abortion, but parental consent is a must,
Letting a 15 year old decide, leaves the family in the dust.

I’m not a right-winger, but I’m not on the fence,
I’m a fiscal conservative and strong on defense.
I believe in free trade, and am reasonably green,
I stand for states rights and all that should mean.

I’ll support whoever’s President and hope for the best,
We have a way of succeeding and that is the test.
We’ll survive Obama and maybe be smarter,
We came out on top when we dumped Jimmy Carter.

It’s a well-meaning country, with genuinely good folks,
We enjoy working hard and laughing at jokes.
When the election is over, we’ll put it aside,
But, new radical ideas, will not abide.

My hope and my vision is we’ll come together,
There are forces out there to cause foul weather.
But, when they hit, and our enemies foment,
We’ll bond together, without any dissent (and succeed)!
                                             
                                       God Bless America

I’m always amazed and in somewhat dismay,
When some high official pads a resume.
A masters from Harvard, a doctorate from Tech,
Why lie of those things, they’re so easy to check.
Doctors with no license, lawyers who fail the bar,
Some just keep on practicing, some really get quite far.

So Hillary wants to look tough, it may come down to the wire,
So she mentions while in Bosnia, she came under sniper fire.
When questioned, she embellished,  “We ran while I ducked my head,”
Poor Chelsea then was questioned and supported what her mother said.
Those of us from the military, knew her cover was blown,
You don’t land the First Lady’s plane into a sniper zone.

Just like with the dress and the DNA,
When the facts were clear, she had something to say.
She was “sleep deprived,” and she just “misspoke,”
If you’ve ever been shot at, you know that’s a joke.

But, I’m not ruling Hillary out, there are problems to be resolved,
The economy is in the tank, and, of misspeaking, she can be absolved.
She knows how to make money, she’s done it I’m told,
She’ll put tax dollars in cattle futures and rake in a hundred fold!