A Responsible Government: June 2011

Saturday, June 18, 2011

Fathers Day Tribute

It is now coming up on the second Fathers Day since my mother and wife both passed away. I am lucky and still have my father with me. So I find myself wanting to spend a lot of time with him. When in a position such as this, you really start to think how lucky you are to still have your father. To be honest, when my mother first passed away, I was unsure just how my dad would be able to move on with life being that my mother and father were married and together for more than 50 years. So many times you read about elderly people passing away and then less than a year later you read about their spouse passing away. So I am very blessed and happy to still have my father around and able to spend time with him everyday. (even if only for a little while)

I also think about others who no longer have their fathers. I think a lot about my Aunt, she lost her husband at a very young age and it left four very young children without a father. They had to grow up through their young years, teenage years, young adult years and middle age years without a father. That has got to be very difficult I believe for anybody. I was very lucky because I was able to make it to adulthood and even middle age before loosing one of my parents.

So many people in today’s world let a tragedy like this turn them against the world, get angry and blame a tragedy for them not to be able to move on or to continue to live their lives. I am sure without a doubt, that not a day goes by that my father does not miss my mother (I know I do), and I am sure that not a day goes by that my cousins do not miss their father, and I am sure that they could of used his guidance and understanding that only a father can give you at times. I am also very sure that so many times while raising her children that my Aunt could of used a husband and father to her children in her life to help out.

The amazing part of all of this is the fact that they had like so many others in this world got dealt a terrible tragedy in their lives. But having been dealt this tragedy, none of them let it affect them to the point of not being able to go on with their lives and in the case of my cousins to be very successful. Believe me, I truly understand that my father, my aunt and cousins are not the only people in this world who have been able to overcome tragedies and continue on to live their lives and not to blame their tragedy on what they may consider their shortfalls or inability to deal with life. People are out their doing it everyday in every facet of live. I only mention this because of how much it amazes me and the fact that I admire my father, aunt and cousins for the way they handled these things that happened to them.

However, the real reason behind this story or article is the fact that I want to show just how thankful I am for my father. I want to tell and show others how much they should be thankful for their father on this and every fathers day. I believe that anybody who no longer has their father with them can tell you that it leaves a big opening in your heart. So much more advertising and attention is given to mothers day, and rightfully so, mothers just as much as fathers deserve the attention given to them. They are also such a big part of our lives even as we get older.

Like I said, I lost my mother about two years ago now. But even as she got up in age a little. She was constantly bringing things up and remembering and praising her mother and father. Even now, I see my father as he gets a little older, he seems to remember his mother and father more frequently. So I can now say with confidence that I know that even the hardest of men in this world get soft with age when it comes to remembering their parents. I know that my wife as her life grew closer to the end, she was constantly remembering her mother and father and praising them for the good things that they had given her during her lifetime. No matter how many years you live on once you have lost one of them, you never forget them. It amazes me every time I walk into my fathers home and look on the wall, there is a picture of his mother who passed away early in his adulthood actually a few months prior to me being born, and in one of his bedrooms is a picture of his father.

It is things such as that, that makes me so proud to be his son. I know that they raised us three children the correct way. It shows me that they distilled in us the fact that family is important in anybodies life and that we should cherish each and every moment that we have with them. They instilled in me and my two brothers the fact that we should take responsibility in our life. That we should be proud of who we are, where we come from and what we do and not to let anybody tell us any different. They taught us good morals, correct morals and how to use those morals in our life.

So now that we are coming up on Fathers Day, I think we should all take the time to tell our fathers if they are still around thank you for that and to tell them just exactly how much they mean to us and how much they have meant to us through the years. I know I am going to tell my father that!

My middle brother for years has always told me that our parents are the reason why we are here. If you think about that and what it means, it is so, so true. Take that thought and put it into a broad context and think about things your parents did for you through the years to ensure that you are still here and standing today. Just in case any of our younger generation is reading this, think about the things your parents done for you other than throwing money your way. The younger generation seems to think that nobody is helping them unless they are giving them money. So it is very true, if it wasn’t for our parents, we would not be here today, and if it wasn’t for them, we would not be in the place we are today. No matter if we are successful or unsuccessful in life, the reason why we are still on this earth today is because of our parents. Because our parents gave and taught us the basic tools for surviving. So no matter if you are the richest and most successful person on the face of this earth, or if you are a person living in the gutters and the most unsuccessful person on the face of this earth, you are here because of one reason and that reason is because of your parents.

I want to send out a special Happy Fathers Day to my father and I also want to wish all the other fathers who might be reading this a very happy Fathers Day!!!

Fathers Day

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

IWO JIMA Marines Memorial Story

I received an email from a close friend of mine last night and the subject of the email was dealing with the Imo Jima Memorial in Arlington, Va. When I read it, the story brought back to me some very fond memories of being stationed in the Washington, D.C. area. The place is just totally filled in monuments and statues about our country’s history. After reading the story, I could just picture in my mind and remembered being at the same place with my mom and dad. I also remember a few times that just me and my wife (deceased) would ride over there just to watch the evening ceremonies in the summer time. They could put on a show like you would not believe.

It also brought back some memories from when we had brought my grandmother up for a visit a few months after my grandfather died. She had always wanted to visit Washington D.C., but had never had the chance until we got her to come up for a week. My wife took the whole week off from work and they spent everyday in the city visiting the different memorials and places you could go. I can still see her sitting in my living room one evening telling me about visiting the grave of President John F. Kennedy and she had tears running down her face. She loved that man.

I would recommend to anyone thinking of a vacation to or around the Washington, D.C. to take full advantage of it. It is a once in a lifetime trip for anybody and the history of it is something special to see.

But anyway, the email last night I got was about the six military people on the Marine Memorial, better known of the Iwo Jima Memorial. The story itself has been around for a while now, I know it has been around since 2007. But it actually never gets old, and that is why it pop’s up in email threads so often. I thought it would be something interesting to blog about because we talking about military personnel that are hero’s in our books, but in there books they were doing nothing but there jobs. So here it is for everybody’s enjoyment.

Six Brave Soldiers

Each year I am hired to go to Washington, DC, with the eighth grade class
from Clinton, Wisconsin, where I grew up, to videotape their trip. I
greatly enjoy visiting our nation's capitol, and each year I take some
special memories back with me. This fall's trip was especially memorable.

On the last night of our trip we stopped at the Iwo Jima Memorial. This
memorial is the largest bronze statue in the world and depicts one of the
most famous photographs in history - that of the six brave soldiers raising
the American Flag at the top of a rocky hill on the island of Iwo Jima,
Japan, during WW II. Over one hundred students and chaperones piled off
the buses and headed towards the memorial. I noticed a solitary figure at
the base of the statue, and as I got closer he asked, "Where are you guys
from?" I told him that we were from Wisconsin. "Hey, I'm a cheese head, too! Come gather around Cheese heads, and I will tell you a story."

(James Bradley just happened to be in Washington, DC, to speak at the
memorial the following day. He was there that night to say good night to
his dad, who has since passed away. He was just about to leave when he saw
the buses pull up. I videotaped him as he spoke to us, and received his
permission to share what he said from my videotape. It is one thing to tour
the incredible monuments filled with history in Washington, D.C., but it is
quite another to get the kind of insight we received that night. When all
had gathered around he reverently began to speak. Here are his words that
night.)

'My name is James Bradley and I'm from Antigo, Wisconsin. My dad is on that statue, and I just wrote a book called 'Flags of Our Fathers' which is #5 on the New York Times Best Seller list right now. It is the story of the six boys you see behind me.

'Six boys raised the flag. The first guy putting the pole in the ground is Harlon Block. Harlon was an all-state football player. He enlisted in the Marine Corps with all the senior members of his football team. They were off to play another type of game. A game called 'War.' But it didn't turn out to be a game. Harlon, at the age of 21, died with his intestines in his hands. I don't say that to gross you out, I say that because there are people who stand in front of this statue and talk about the glory of war. You guys need to know that most of the boys in Iwo Jima were 17, 18, and 19 years old - and it was so hard that the ones who did make it home never even would talk to their families about it.

(He pointed to the statue) 'You see this next guy? That's Rene Gagnon from New Hampshire. If you took Rene's helmet off at the moment this photo was taken and looked in the webbing of that helmet, you would find a photograph...a photograph of his girlfriend Rene put that in there for protection because he was scared. He was 18 years old. It was just boys who won the battle of Iwo Jima. Boys. Not old men.

'The next guy here, the third guy in this tableau, was Sergeant Mike Strank. Mike is my hero. He was the hero of all these guys. They called him the 'old man' because he was so old. He was already 24. When Mike would motivate his boys in training camp, he didn't say, 'Let's go kill some Japanese' or 'Let's die for our country' He knew he was talking to little boys. Instead he would say, 'You do what I say, and I'll get you home to your mothers.'

'The last guy on this side of the statue is Ira Hayes, a Pima Indian from Arizona. Ira Hayes was one of them who lived to walk off Iwo Jima. He went into the White House with my dad. President Truman told him, 'You're a hero' He told reporters, 'How can I feel like a hero when 250 of my buddies hit the island with me and only 27 of us walked off alive?'

So you take your class at school, 250 of you spending a year together having fun, doing everything together. Then all 250 of you hit the beach, but only 27 of your classmates walk off alive. That was Ira Hayes. He had images of horror in his mind. Ira Hayes carried the pain home with him and eventually died dead drunk, face down, drowned in a very shallow puddle, at the age of 32 (ten years after this picture was taken).

'The next guy, going around the statue, is Franklin Sousley from Hilltop, Kentucky. A fun-lovin' hillbilly boy. His best friend, who is now 70, told me, 'Yeah, you know, we took two cows up on the porch of the Hilltop General Store. Then we strung wire across the stairs so the cows couldn't get down. Then we fed them Epsom salts. Those cows crapped all night.' Yes, he was a fun-lovin' hillbilly boy. Franklin died on Iwo Jima at the age of 19. When the telegram came to tell his mother that he was dead, it went to the Hilltop General Store. A barefoot boy ran that telegram up to his mother's farm. The neighbors could hear her scream all night and into the morning. Those neighbors lived a quarter of a mile away.

'The next guy, as we continue to go around the statue, is my dad, John Bradley, from Antigo, Wisconsin, where I was raised. My dad lived until 1994, but he would never give interviews. When Walter Cronkite's producers or the New York Times would call, we were trained as little kids to say 'No, I'm sorry, sir, my dad's not here. He is in Canada fishing. No, there is no phone there, sir. No, we don't know when he is coming back.' My dad never fished or even went to Canada. Usually, he was sitting there right at the table eating his Campbell's soup. But we had to tell the press that he was out fishing. He didn't want to talk to the press.

'You see, like Ira Hayes, my dad didn't see himself as a hero. Everyone thinks these guys are heroes, 'cause they are in a photo and on a monument. My dad knew better. He was a medic. John Bradley from Wisconsin was a combat caregiver. On Iwo Jima he probably held over 200 boys as they died. And when boys died on Iwo Jima, they writhed and screamed, without any medication or help with the pain.

'When I was a little boy, my third grade teacher told me that my dad was a hero. When I went home and told my dad that, he looked at me and said, 'I want you always to remember that the heroes of Iwo Jima are the guys who did not come back. Did NOT come back.'

'So that's the story about six nice young boys. Three died on Iwo Jima, and three came back as national heroes. Overall, 7,000 boys died on Iwo Jima in the worst battle in the history of the Marine Corps. My voice is giving out, so I will end here. Thank you for your time.'

Suddenly, the monument wasn't just a big old piece of metal with a flag sticking out of the top. It came to life before our eyes with the heartfelt words of a son who did indeed have a father who was a hero. Maybe not a hero for the reasons most people would believe, but a hero nonetheless.

One thing I learned while on tour with my 8th grade students in DC that is not mentioned here is . . that if you look at the statue very closely and count the number of 'hands' raising the flag, there are 13. When the man who made the statue was asked why there were 13, he simply said the 13th hand was the hand of God.

We need to remember that God created this vast and glorious world for us to live in, freely, but also at great sacrifice

Let us never forget from the Revolutionary War to the current War on Terrorism and all the wars in-between that sacrifice was made for our freedom...please pray for our troops.

STOP and thank God for being alive and being free due to someone else's sacrifice.

The Truth of this story:

The author of this story is Michael T. Powers. It is published on his website at http://www.hearttouchers.com/iwojima.

It has also been reprinted in several books including Chicken Soup for the Grandparent's Soul.

It was originally titled The Boys of Iwo Jima. The title has been changed by people who have forwarded it around the Internet and who have also eliminated the author's name and added the last paragraph, which was not in the original.

A new version of the story started circulating in 2007 that added the paragraph which I put in red print which Michael Powers also said was not a part of the original story and he did not know where it came from. It said "One thing I learned while on tour with my 8th grade students in DC that is not mentioned here is that if you look at the statue very closely and count the number of "hands" raising the flag, there are 13. When the man who made the statue was asked why there were 13, he simply said the 13th hand was the hand of God." The statue only has 12 hands on it. Despite this myth of having 13 hands, the sculpture Felix de Weldon was asked one time about 13 hands and his reply was “Thirteen hands. Who needed 13 hands? Twelve were enough.”

Also, the references to the men in the original story was "six brave men," not "six brave soldiers," but none of them would properly be called a soldier, which refers to those who serve in the Army. Five of them were Marines and one was a Sailor.

As they were sculpting the Memorial Statue of the Raising of the Flag on Iwo Jima, the Marine Corp was searching for the money to construct the base on which the statue rests. Cpl. Stephen B. Sheldon (Deceased), stationed at Camp Pendleton during the Korean War, was given the task to make it happen. Single handedly, he raised the money by arranging for a MG dealer to commit to donating a brand new car to the cause and then set to personally sell enough raffle tickets, on base, to arrange for the construction of the base and plaque to hold the magnificent statue.

Belated Happy Birthday to the U. S. Army

Well as usual I am a day late and a dollar short, but I wanted to put this blog out yesterday, but messed around and did not do it. Although I am retired Navy and love my U.S. Navy, I do feel that I should reach out and wish a Happy Birthday to my follow servicemen and women in the Army.

On June 14th of 1775, the Congress of the United States adapted the American Continental Army. That was 236 years ago and still today, it is still around and stronger than ever. Although the name has changed to the United States Army, it has been around to help defend our nation from the Revolutionary War to the operations that are going on today.

The U. S. Army is the biggest of all of America’s military branches and is the backbone of our defense. Along with having the most active duty personnel, the Army is in charge of the our largest reserve force in the country which is the U. S. Army Reserve and the Army National Guard.

The Army’s mission is to fight and win our Nation’s wars by providing prompt sustained land dominance across the full range of military operations and spectrum of conflict in support of combatant commanders. This will be accomplished by:

1. Executing Title 10 and Title 32 United States Code directives, to include organizing, equipping, and training forces for the conduct of prompt and sustained combat operations on land.

2. Accomplishing missions assigned by the President, Secretary of Defense and combat commanders, and Transforming for the future.

Just for those who are wondering, the preamble to Title 10 United States Code is:

THE ARMY MISSION

It is the intent of Congress to provide an Army that is capable, in conjunction with the other armed forces, of- preserving the peace and security, and providing for the defense, of the United States, the Territories, Commonwealths, and possessions, and any areas occupied by the United States; supporting the national policies; implementing the national objectives; and overcoming any nations responsible for aggressive acts that imperil the peace and security of the United States.

If you would like to find out more about the mission of the Army, check it out on the internet. They like other military branches break mission statements down to local commanders and such. I am not writing this article to tell people what the Army does, it is being written to wish the Army a happy birthday.

Throughout the 236 years of Army history, they again have been the backbone of our fighting force and many of U.S. men and women have served and many has given the ultimate sacrifice to help make the U.S. Army the greatest Army in the world.

I believe with all of my heart that anybody who is wearing a Army uniform or anybody who has worn an Army uniform should take great pride in today. I believe that we as a nation should honor this day every year a lot more than what we do. Because no matter how big or how small our Army is or becomes, this nation will not be able to stand and stay free without the United States Army.

So Army personnel, put on your best Ceremonial Dress Uniform, polish your shoes, put your shoulders out, stand tall and celebrate that you are part of the greatest Army to ever set foot on the face of this earth. Happy Birthday!!!!!

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Republican Debate

Unlike a lot of other people throughout the country tonight, I passed on all my urges to watch “The Bachelorette” and watch the New Hampshire Republican Primary.

It was very interesting and informative. They had seven republicans which have already made it known that they are a candidate for the President of the United States.

Just quickly I am going to tell you that only 3 of them impressed me. It was very simple why 3 of them impressed me and the other 4 didn’t. Ron Paul, Herman Cain, and Newt Gingrich. The reason why these 3 impressed me was that they actually answered the questions asked of them. The other 4 avoided answering the questions, telling what they would do and spent more time talking about what was wrong. We all know that there is problems and the things we are doing is not working. We do not need to know that every time we ask a question.

I was very impressed by Ron Paul, I thought he was very down to earth and answered all the questions that was asked of him. He was honest and did not try to answer questions in a way that he thought people wanted to here him answer them.

I felt the same way about Newt Gingrich and Herman Cain. Also got the feeling from them that they are not in it to make sure the Republicans win the election. They seem to be in it because they feel things are not working and they think that they can make them work.

That is how I feel. I do not care anymore if it is a Republican, Democrat, Tea Party or Independent candidate who is President of the United States. I do not care anymore if we have different parties in the House or Senate. All I want to see happen is for people who really care about this country and wants to do what is right for the people to be in Washington. They say America is free and is run by a democracy, well it is not a democracy if the rich can buy the laws that they want.

The President of the United States of America should be the most important and the person with the most power in the whole world. He is the one who stands up for this country and that is what he should do. And when he does it, he should have the full power and allegiance of the Congress behind him.

I am a military man, spent 20 plus years in it. I believe in the military way of live, I believe what it stands for and I believe in the way it works. In a military command such as the Navy, you have ships and shore stations. Each one of those ships and shore stations have Commanding Officers. The Commanding Officer is the one who has the responsibility of that command. Each ship and shore command is broken down into departments, and each department has a person in charge who is responsible to the Commanding Officer for that department. The Commanding Officer does not get himself involved in Department matters unless the Department is not working or producing the way it should. Overall command matters are decided by the Commanding Officer based on recommendations from all the department leaders. Once the Commanding Officer makes a decision on something, no matter if you agree or disagree, you stand in force behind his or her decision. If his or her decision is not working, then they get the word from the troops through the departments that they have made a wrong decision and they have enough believe in the military way of life to change things. However, no matter if it is right or wrong, the face of the command is always behind the Commanding Officer. If this structure fails and at times in over 200 years of being it has, the command fails. If the command fails, it can in a lot of cases cost lives.

This structure is very close to the way the Federal Government and the State Governments are. The only difference is that the structure is failing on both the Federal and State levels. It is failing because there is simply no communications between the Federal Government and the State Government, the Federal Government does not want to stand behind the State Governments and the State Governments does not want to stand behind the Federal Government. Nobody in either the State Governments or Federal Government wants to compromise. It is like a bunch of kids, they are only wanting it their way or they are going to take their toys and go home. We need people in both the state governments and in the Federal Government who are in not for themselves but for the people. That is what the government is for.

Sunday, June 12, 2011

Generation "Y' Is Lazy

I went to Walmart twice this week. Here in a retirement community such as this that I live in, Walmart is a big part of the community. But I say this because of what came to my attention each time I went into the Walmart store. The first time was early in the week and when I walked through the door and there was a lady in her Walmart blouse welcoming me, she handed me a cart and said very friendly “Welcome to Walmart”. She was between the age of 60 and 70 years old, and did this using a walker. When I left the store, the same lady was still working and she said to me, “Thank You for Shopping at Walmart”. Later in the week, I went back to Walmart and this time there was a young man working the door as the Walmart Greeter, and he was somewhere between the age of 20 and 30. He was leaning on the wall next to a bread display and talking on his cell phone. He never took the time to say “Welcome to Walmart” or anything like that, he was too busy talking on his phone.

So I find myself asking is our younger generation, the so called “Y” generation that lazy? Do they not have any type of work ethic whatsoever? What is going to happen if we one day loose the ability to have satellites to work our cell phones or better yet, does this Y generation even understand that it takes satellites to work cell phones! I am very sorry to say, but I see everyday this younger generation thinking that they are owed a living by America and they wanted brought to them on a silver platter.

I find myself asking, do these younger kids know any skills for life? Can they grow, cook and preserve food or could they plant a garden and grow a patch of potatoes. They no longer repair things, they just throw them away and expect someone else to buy them a new one. Do they know what basic tools are and how to use them? If we were to loose the internet, would any of them know how to use the library? Do they understand when you don’t have enough money to do something, then you don’t do it?

I read an article today that said unemployment for people between the ages of 18 and 35 is the highest it has been since 1948. Yes, the economy is bad, but I also feel it has a lot to do with the work ethic of the “Y” generation. None of them want to start at the bottom and work their way up. They all want to come in and get paid more to do less. This generation seems to think that they know more than anybody else. Well, I am sorry, but I am here to say that personally I am going to take advise from someone older than me before I take it from someone younger. That older person has been around and he has seen it. He has seen both the good and bad this world has to offer.

America’s character and morals of this generation is also in the pits. They show no respect for themselves, their elders, their parents and their responsibility to live in a free country. We have mothers killing her children because they are in the way of them going out and having a good time. Fathers, who would rather spend their money on getting a new tattoo than putting clothes on their children’s back. Someone tell me the last time they saw a person below the age of 30 take the time in a grocery store to reach up on a high shelf to get something for someone in a wheelchair. It just does not happen. They fuss about the person in the wheelchair being in their way.

They say that the majority of people between the ages of 18 and 35 would like to get rid of “Social Security” and go back to when families took care of family members. People who want this have to be out of touch with reality. Today, the family unit is broken and keeps getting worse. Disabled, elder people in general have no family members who will help them and it will only get worse. I believe the baby boomers are the last generation that we will see that are willing to take care of elderly family members. More and more children and grandchildren often have no time for their older parents and grandparents and often feel that older and disabled people are in the way. They only contact them when they need money or wish to check on their possible inheritance from older members of the family. Many young people think nothing of stealing from their parents or grandparents if they think they can get away with it. So many families have only one adult or parent to support and nurture the children, and more and more women are supporting their boyfriends and fewer and fewer couples are getting married. A large number of families are in deep financial trouble because they have become so materialistic feeling they must have the latest new toy or electronic gadget on the market. It is a common fact now that many young adults often try to make older folks feel they have outlived their welcome no matter how hard they worked when they were young to help build a nation of these young people who feel it only belongs to them.

America was made great because each successful generation stepped up to the plate and took responsibility for themselves and their country. We will only see America continue to decline until this younger generation steps up and is willing to do the hard work it takes to make a country great.

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

A True American

I was very blessed this evening. Had spent all day trying to think about something to blog on. A very good friend of mine sent me an email about a lady in Utah. To me, she is a saint, but if nothing else she is a true American patriot. Something we could use a lot more of.

The artist name is Kaziah Hancock, a known artist who has sold landscape paintings for around a thousand dollars. Now she is painting portraits of fallen soldiers free of charge for their families as part of Project Compassion. The video below shows her at work. She has now painted upwards of almost 250 portraits to help these families of fallen soldiers deal with and remember their love ones.

Please watch the video as it will choke you up and give you such a wonderful patriotic feeling inside.

http://www.militarytimes.com/hancock

Monday, June 6, 2011

TAKE CARE OF OUR TROOPS

I read an article today on military.com about a press conference or interview that now Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen talked to reporters about cutting the DOD budget nearly a half of trillion dollars over the next 12 years. Says that in order to do so, Military Personnel will be looking at a cut in pay and benefits. Sorry, but that really hits home with me!!!

I believe whole heartedly that we (America) need to get our fiscal house in order and when you have to do things like that, then all people are going to have to sacrifice.

However, this person feels that cutting the pay and benefits of our war fighting troops, the ones who go out on the front line and put themselves in harms way is not what we want to do. Especially not since every military person we have now is a volunteer. Nobody in the military was drafted to do these jobs. They volunteer to do it!!! So if we cut there pay, and cut their benefits, all we are doing is cutting the quality of people we have to defend this country.

If you cut their pay and benefits, then you will not have the same quality of people like the Seal Team 6 that went in and got Bin Ladin for us. Of course, we could always outsource something like that. Wonder what the going rate is for hiring a team to go in and get someone like that who we had been chasing for all most 10 years? Hiring a missionary team of civilian personnel would of cost America ten times the amount it cost them using military. I mean come on people, let’s face it, the military does produce and is paid very little for what they actually do. Can our Congress say the same thing? I do not believe so. You see, something like this gets very political! If you do not cut the pay and benefits of military, then you have to cut some of the programs of the Department of Defense and then you start stepping on political toes. Defense contractors will not take a cut because they have to pay those congressional leaders to get those contracts, so the Department of Defense continues to pay multiple times the money for something that is purchased on the outside. Home Depot and Lowes would love to get the price defense contractors get for a toilet seat.

It is very simple business sense. If you do not take care of the people who work for you, then they will not take care of you. I spent more than 20 years in the military, and believe me when I tell you there is plenty of ways to cut the DOD budget without having to take pay and benefits away from the troops. There is DOD programs out their that could be cut out totally and by itself would balance the budget and nobody would be hurt with the exception of maybe a Congressman. It is time that we stop taking care of everybody else and start taking care of ourselves.

Casey Anthony Trail

I like many hundred of thousands of people in this country and throughout the world have been mesmerized by the Casey Anthony trail. Remember the girl who is accused of killing her daughter and is on trail for that in Florida. Florida is attempting to get the death penalty out of the case.

One thing that really amazes me about this is the fact that she is trying to make an excuse for doing this horrible murder by blaming her dad for sexually abusing her as she was growing up. Again, like my article on responsibility, always trying to blame something or someone else for something that we did and do not want to take responsibility for.

I mean don’t get me wrong, I am not saying it is okay to sexually abuse a child or for that matter to sexually abuse anybody. But, I know and have known many people in my life that was sexually abused as a child, however, I do not know anybody personally that has committed murder.

But when you think about it, in the legal community and in life in general, people have been using childhood abuse as an excuse for a while now. We got people running around this country and the world blaming their actions on what happened to them as a child. Sorry, maybe I am naive, but I just cannot buy this excuse. Anybody who blames the problems in their life on their parents or something that happened in their childhood are just trying to escape taking responsibility of there own actions. Granted, like just about anything else in this world, there are a few exceptions when traumatic events in someone’s life can affect them for the rest of their life, but it is still and never will be an excuse for breaking the law.

Granted, not everybody has a great childhood. Let’s face it, not everyone was meant to be a parent. But, the bottom line is, once we reach a certain age in life, we learn to make up our own minds, and to me, that age is getting younger and younger with the technology we have. Every child in this world is taught the difference between right and wrong. Some are taught these lessons in school, some in church, some at home and some are taught these lessons using all the above.

So, now, back to Casey Anthony and her case. To me, if she for some out of this world reason is not convicted, then we will just give even more reason and more credibility to the fact that we can blame everything that happens to us on our childhood or on our parents. But to me, the problem is not what happens in our childhoods, but the choices we make in our life. To me, Casey Anthony is just another one of the many in this country who does not take responsibility for their actions. She had a choice in her life, and the choice was to be responsible and take care of her child or to put herself first and continue to have a good time in life. She chose the later, and now she has created a tragedy that she does not want to be responsible for. She not only has taken a life, but she has ruined so many lives by doing so. Like so many others are doing right now, they think it is so neat or cool to have a child outside of being married, let the government pay for it, and let someone else be responsible for it. All they want from it is the fact that they can say they had a baby, had someone else pay for it, and enjoy the child when they want to. Once the child gets in the way, they want to pawn it off on someone else or like in the case of Casey Anthony, just get rid of it.

If the government would crack down on these type of people, we would not be seeing these types of tragedies in our country, mothers or fathers killing their kids. Start holding people accountable for their actions. I am not saying that the government cannot step in and help, because they can. But hold both the mother and father accountable. If a teenager goes out and gets pregnant, find out who the father is and make him pay for the child to be born, make him pay for the healthcare of the child. If the government has to pay for it, then make the father pay the money back, even if it takes 20 or more years, just like we are doing with student loans. Make the people responsible. If the mother does not want to admin who the father is, then make the mother responsible for all the finances involved with having a child. So many things can be done to stop all this. Put levy’s on their cars and homes through the years until they have paid back the money. If the IRS can track down people who do not pay their taxes, then I am sure we can do the same with welfare. Then if we start doing things such as this and holding people accountable and making them responsible, these types of tragedies will become few and far between.

My opinion on Welfare is very simple. It should not be something that is given to people. It should be something that is earned. If the government is going to give you money, then you should have to pay the money back. If you are unable to get a job, then the government should put you to work. There is always plenty of things in every community that can be done. Take the prisoners off the side of the road working and put the people on welfare out there doing it. Then watch and see how fast some of those people find jobs and start being more responsible with their life!

Sunday, June 5, 2011

Responsibility

Responsibility

The definition of responsibility is “The state or fact of having a duty to deal with something” or “The state or fact of being accountable”. Is this not what we elect our government officials to do? Being responsible is what America needs to get back to. We need to get back to basics of life.

Nobody wants to take responsibility for anything. We have become an America who blames everything that happens on someone else. We never take responsibility for anything, and this includes personal responsibility for our actions. If we walk through the house at night and stub our toe on something, we blame it on someone or something else, not on our lack of responsibility or laziness to turn on the light so that we could see where we were walking.

Our lack of responsibility is all over America, from the top to the bottom. Democrats blame everything wrong with America on the Republicans, the Republicans blame everything wrong with America on the Democrats and now the Tea Party people blame everything wrong with both parties. None of us from the top to bottom seam to want to just do what is right for ourselves or for America. One of the many things that has made America through the years is the fact that until recently (last 30 years) we always did something, if it was wrong, we did something else. Now, we just do nothing.

We do nothing now, because nobody wants to take responsibility. This is also from the top down, we blame someone or something else for everything due to the fact that none of us want to take responsibility. We do not want to take responsibility for stubbing our toe because we did not turn on the light to stop us from doing it. Our leaders do not want to take responsibility because they are afraid they will not get elected or that we will not trust them any longer.

We, the people of America can fix this country and make it the greatest country in the world again, on if we are willing to take responsibility.