KC Chiefs - A Fresh Start in '09

On Sept 14th, I posted the following:

"It's long past time that the Kansas City Chiefs bring the long nightmare of the Carl Peterson era to a close. The Chiefs suffered an embarrassing 23-8 butt-kicking against a sub-par Raiders team today. This should be the final nail in Carl's coffin. What was once a proud franchise is now a complete joke. Change is way past due. Fire Carl and do it now!"

On Dec 15th, I finally got my wish. Carl is gone! Yeah!

I'm excited that the Chiefs will have a new GM in 2009. Here is hoping that our long playoff drought will soon end. Go Chiefs!

I'm back

I'm back. Except for a short post last week, I have been silent on this blog for the past two months. So why did I go dark? Let me explain:

About two weeks before the November elections, I stopped following the news. The liberal bias was just more than I could handle. In fact, it was darn right nauseating.

I had a bad feeling that the election would turn out the way it did and therefore occupied my mind with other things. That is my way of coping. It has taken me two months and quite frankly I'm still not over it. I just can't believe my fellow Americans elected such an evil man. Obama's election as president is truly a low point for America.

Life goes on though.

Tom, my partner, recently started his own blog (see "Tom's blog" under my Favorite Links) and he has been encouraging me to begin posting again on mine. With Tom's prodding, I'm back.

That said, I've decided to take this blog in a new direction. I plan to post less about politics and more on other interests. Stay tuned.

Madoff - another crooked DEMOCRAT

Well what do you know? Turns out that Bernard Madoff, one of the biggest crooks of all time, contributes mostly to liberal Democrats. He has given three separate $25K contributions to the DEMOCRATIC SENATORIAL CAMPAIGN COMMITTEE since 2006. It kills me that this isn't being reported by the MSM. How can anyone deny that the media has a liberal bias? If Madoff were a Republican donor the MSM would make this their top story.
http://www.newsmeat.com/fec/bystate_detail.php?zip=10022&last=MADOFF&first=BERNARD

Of course, Fox News is on top of it - as always: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2008/12/15/madoff-hefty-political-contributions-politicians/

Photos from Lubbock, TX

NRCC video "What Just Happened?"

Another must see video

Burning Down The House: What Caused Our Economic Crisis?

Fannie & Freddie

Great article that appeared on bloomberg.com today.
To read "How the Democrats Created the Financial Crisis" by Kevin Hassett go to
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aSKSoiNbnQY0

Another good column

Michael Reagan's column also correctly assigns the blame for the mortgage mess where it belongs - with liberal Democrats.

http://townhall.com/columnists/MichaelReagan/2008/09/18/pinning_the_tail_on_the_donkey

Neal Boortz column

Neal Boortz has a great column today on Townhall.com.
http://townhall.com/columnists/NealBoortz/2008/09/19/the_rest_of_the_meltdown_story

Fire Carl

It's long past time that the Kansas City Chiefs bring the long nightmare of the Carl Peterson era to a close. The Chiefs suffered an embarrassing 23-8 butt-kicking against a sub-par Raiders team today. This should be the final nail in Carl's coffin. What was once a proud franchise is now a complete joke. Change is way past due. Fire Carl and do it now!

The Difference a Day Makes

Today is a beautiful day in Dallas - mostly sunny, few clouds, temps in the upper 80's. What a difference a day makes!

Notre Dame 35 Michigan 17

Now this is more like it! The 2-0 Fighting Irish looked like their old selves today with a nice win over Michigan. Is this the start of an Irish resurgence?

Dear Mr. Obama

This is a must-see video. I heard the audio yesterday on Rush Limbaugh's radio show. Hats off to this young man - a true American hero!

Mizzou rules!

The Missouri Tigers rolled past Nevada today 69-17. I don't get to watch too many Mizzou games here in Dallas but luckily this one was televised and I saw most of it. The Tigers were very impressive once again! Go Mizzou!

Winds picking up

Fortunately it appears that Dallas will be spared from the heavy winds and rain caused by Hurricane Ike. The winds have picked up here with gusts at 33 mph, but that is nothing like the 60mph wind gusts in Tyler, which is just east of Dallas. It's been raining fairly steady in Dallas for most of the day. Ugh!

Ike's rain reaches Dallas

Hurricane Ike's rains have reached Dallas. I just shot this video of our backyard/pool area. Observations at this point: Sky is very cloudy. Rain is moderate to heavy. Not much wind - yet. Hint: Pause the music playing on my site before playing video - then you can hear the rain!

Dems running scared

Now that the wheels are coming off of the Obama campaign, other Dems are running scared.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/6c2f69ce-8031-11dd-99a9-000077b07658.html

Happy Birthday Tommy

Pic of Tom taken recently in San Francisco

Happy Birthday to my L-P-B-S!
I had made plans for us to celebrate Tom's birthday in Austin or Houston this weekend. We scrapped those plans though due to hurricane Ike, which is expected to hit southeast Texas later tonight. My thoughts and prayers go out to all who are in the path of Ike. Anyway it looks like we'll be spending Tom's birthday weekend in Big D - away from the storm.

Flashback: Seven years ago we spent Tom's birthday in St. Louis, where I was living at the time. Tom had a ticket to fly to St. Louis on 9/12/01 but his flight, along with all others, was cancelled due to the savage terrorist attacks the day before. Instead, he got in his car and made the ten hour drive from Dallas to St. Louis, arriving into town that evening. I can't remember much of what we did during Tom's stay other than watch TV coverage of 9/11. That was all most everyone, including us, could think about.

McCain Now in the Lead!

The latest Gallup daily tracking poll shows that John McCain now leads Barack Obama 48 percent to 45 percent among registered voters. Now, this is more like it! America is finally waking up!

McCain's mother

I don't know about you but I couldn't get over how great John McCain's mother Roberta looks for her age. Mrs. McCain looks better at the age of 96 than most 80 year olds do.

This should help John McCain with the so called age issue in his campaign. Last night millions of Americans got to see firsthand how strong and clear-headed Roberta McCain is. Hell, John is still a baby compared to her.

If longeivity is mostly genetic, then John McCain inherited a great set of genes - and at 72 he is still a spring chicken!

Strong Women

For the past several years, liberals have falsely claimed that the real reason why men don't like Hillary Clinton is that we are intimidated by a strong woman. This of course is nonsense.

As I have stated repeatedly, most men have no general problem with strong women. We just have problems with this particular women, Hillary Clinton. It's Hillary's lack of ethics and her socialist tendencies that we deplore. We would feel the exact same about her if she were a man.

Furthermore, one of my favorite world leaders was Margaret Thatcher. Was not "Iron Lady" Thatcher the epitome of a strong woman?

Now along comes Sarah Palin. Who can deny that she too is one strong woman? Yet, surprise, surprise! I, along with millions of other men, have total respect and admiration for Gov. Palin.

So much for being afraid of a strong woman!

Barack who?

GO SARAH! WOW! That was one heck of an acceptance speech that Sarah Palin delivered last night. She hit it out of the park! Our soon to be VP dazzled me with her strength and poise. Sarah Palin represents the future of our grand old party. When it comes to hope and change, Barack Obama & his same ol' same 'ol Chicago - style machine politics can't hold a candle to Sarah!

A few of the highlights of her speech:

First - her joke: "What's the difference between a hockey mom and a pit bull? Lipstick."

Gov. Palin commenting on her family: "...And in April, my husband Todd and I welcomed our littlest one into the world, a perfectly beautiful baby boy named Trig. From the inside, no family ever seems typical.

That's how it is with us. Our family has the same ups and downs as any other ... the same challenges and the same joys.

Sometimes even the greatest joys bring challenge.

And children with special needs inspire a special love."

Gov. Palin comparing her experience as mayor with Obama's experience as a community organizer: "Before I became governor of the great state of Alaska, I was mayor of my hometown.

And since our opponents in this presidential election seem to look down on that experience, let me explain to them what the job involves.

I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a "community organizer," except that you have actual responsibilities."

Gov. Palin taking Obama to task over his derisive comments about small town Americans: "I might add that in small towns, we don't quite know what to make of a candidate who lavishes praise on working people when they are listening, and then talks about how bitterly they cling to their religion and guns when those people aren't listening.

We tend to prefer candidates who don't talk about us one way in Scranton and another way in San Francisco."

Gov. Palin assailing the Washington elites: "And I've learned quickly, these past few days, that if you're not a member in good standing of the Washington elite, then some in the media consider a candidate unqualified for that reason alone.

But here's a little news flash for all those reporters and commentators: I'm not going to Washington to seek their good opinion -- I'm going to Washington to serve the people of this country. Americans expect us to go to Washington for the right reasons, and not just to mingle with the right people."

Gov. Palin discussing her record of fiscal responsibility: "While I was at it, I got rid of a few things in the governor's office that I didn't believe our citizens should have to pay for.

That luxury jet was over the top. I put it on eBay.

I also drive myself to work.

And I thought we could muddle through without the governor's personal chef -- although I've got to admit that sometimes my kids sure miss her. I came to office promising to control spending -- by request if possible and by veto if necessary.

Senator McCain also promises to use the power of veto in defense of the public interest -- and as a chief executive, I can assure you it works.

Our state budget is under control.

We have a surplus.

And I have protected the taxpayers by vetoing wasteful spending: nearly half a billion dollars in vetoes."

Gov. Palin demonstrating that she gets it when discussing energy: "When a hurricane strikes in the Gulf of Mexico, this country should not be so dependent on imported oil that we are forced to draw from our Strategic Petroleum Reserve.

And families cannot throw away more and more of their paychecks on gas and heating oil.

With Russia wanting to control a vital pipeline in the Caucasus, and to divide and intimidate our European allies by using energy as a weapon, we cannot leave ourselves at the mercy of foreign suppliers.

To confront the threat that Iran might seek to cut off nearly a fifth of world energy supplies ... or that terrorists might strike again at the Abqaiq facility in Saudi Arabia ... or that Venezuela might shut off its oil deliveries ... we Americans need to produce more of our own oil and gas.

And take it from a gal who knows the North Slope of Alaska: we've got lots of both.

Our opponents say, again and again, that drilling will not solve all of America's energy problems -- as if we all didn't know that already.

But the fact that drilling won't solve every problem is no excuse to do nothing at all."

Gov. Palin uncloaking the real Obama: "This is a man who can give an entire speech about the wars America is fighting, and never use the word "victory" except when he's talking about his own campaign. But when the cloud of rhetoric has passed ... when the roar of the crowd fades away ... when the stadium lights go out, and those Styrofoam Greek columns are hauled back to some studio lot -- what exactly is our opponent's plan? What does he actually seek to accomplish, after he's done turning back the waters and healing the planet? The answer is to make government bigger ... take more of your money ... give you more orders from Washington ... and to reduce the strength of America in a dangerous world. America needs more energy ... our opponent is against producing it.

Victory in Iraq is finally in sight ... he wants to forfeit."

Gov. Palin talking about change: "In politics, there are some candidates who use change to promote their careers.

And then there are those, like John McCain, who use their careers to promote change."

Gov. Palin closing the sale: "If character is the measure in this election ... and hope the theme ... and change the goal we share, then I ask you to join our cause. Join our cause and help America elect a great man as the next president of the United States.

Thank you all, and may God bless America."

Rudy's speech

I thoroughly enjoyed Rudy Giuliani's speech at the Republican National Convention! A few of the highlights:

Rudy taking a jab at the media and Hollywood: "We, the people, the citizens of the United States, get to decide our next president, not the left-wing media, not Hollywood celebrities, not anyone else but the people of America."

Rudy, after going through John McCain's impressive resume, compares it to Obama's: "...then he ran for the state legislature and he got elected. And nearly 130 times, he couldn't make a decision. He couldn't figure out whether to vote “yes” or “no.” It was too tough. He voted — he voted “present.”

I didn’t know about this vote “present” when I was mayor of New York City. Sarah Palin didn’t have this vote “present” when she was mayor or governor. You don’t get “present.” It doesn’t work in an executive job. For president of the United States, it’s not good enough to be present.

You have to make a decision."

Rudy making the point that Obama is not ready to be Commander-in-Chief, while John McCain is: "And, yes, being president means being able to answer that call at 3:00 in the morning. And that’s the one time we agree with Hillary.

But I bet you never thought Hillary would get applause at this convention. She can be right. Well, no one can look at John McCain and say that he’s not ready to be commander-in-chief. He is. He’s ready."

Rudy, after stating that John McCain favors the "All of Above" energy strategy, responds to the crowd: "Drill, baby, drill? Drill, baby, drill."

Rudy comparing how John McCain and Barack Obama responded to the Georgia crisis: "When Russia rolled over Georgia, John McCain immediately established a very strong, informed position that let the world know how he’ll respond as president at exactly the right time. Remember his words? Remember what John McCain said? “We are all Georgians.”

Obama’s — talk about judgment. Let’s look at what Obama did. Obama’s first instinct was to create a moral equivalency, suggesting that both sides were equally responsible, the same moral equivalency that he’s displayed in discussing the Palestinian Authority and the state of Israel.

Later — later, after discussing this with his 300 foreign policy advisers, he changed his position, and he suggested the United Nations Security Council could find a solution.

Apparently, none of his 300 foreign policy security advisers told him that Russia has a veto power in the United Nations Security Council.

By the way, this was about three days later. So — so he changed his position again, and he put out a statement exactly like the statement of John McCain’s three days earlier.

I have some advice for Senator Obama: Next time, call John McCain."

Rudy highlighting Obama's antipathy for small town America: "I’m sorry — I’m sorry that Barack Obama feels that her hometown isn’t cosmopolitan enough.

I’m sorry, Barack, that it’s not flashy enough. Maybe they cling to religion there."

Rudy on Sarah Palin's experience: "Well — well, the first day — as far as I’m concerned, the first day she was mayor, she had more experience as an executive than — than Obama and Biden combined."

Rudy chastising the left-wing media for their blatant sexism: "And how — how dare they question whether Sarah Palin has enough time to spend with her children and be vice president. How dare they do that.

When do they ever ask a man that question? When?"

The Fairmont San Francisco

Top pic - outside of hotel showing our corner suite
Second pic - the bedroom in our suite
Third pic - outside entrance at night
Bottom pic - me in the hotel lobby

I must say, Tom sure does know how to spoil me! We were quite impressed with the Fairmont San Francisco during our recent stay. The Fairmont is in a fanstastic location atop Knob Hill. Both the living room and bedroom were huge. The best part about the suite was that, with two full bathrooms, we each got one of our own! This old hotel has quite a history. Here are a few tidbits from the Fairmont website at http://www.fairmont.com/sanfrancisco:

...Kings, Queens, Presidents and all who visited were entranced by their surroundings.

...and The Fairmont was once again the place to see and be seen. Meanwhile, The Fairmont had made news with its role as the venue for the meetings of the United Nations. Once again, history was being made in a big way. To this day, the plaque commemorating the drafting of the Charter for the United Nations can be seen outside the Garden Room on the lobby level while the country flags of the original signatories fly proudly above the porte cochere

...As the San Francisco residence for every U.S. president since William Howard Taft, The Fairmont garnered a reputation for world-class hospitality.

Media bias

It's a given that the mainstream media has a liberal bias but this is getting ridiculous. The way the New York Trash & the rest of the left - wing media is attacking Sarah Palin says more about them than it does her. Sarah Palin is the kooky left's worst nightmare and they will stoop at nothing to destroy her.

While there has been a media feeding frenzy attacking Governor Palin, the media remains silent about Barak Obama's close relations with domestic terrorist William Ayers. More tough questions have been asked of Governer Palin in the last week than have been asked of Obama in the 1 1/2 years that he has been running for president.

Fred Rocks!

Fred Thompson delivered a passionate speech last night at the Republican convention. I supported Fred during the GOP primary and was disappointed that his campaign never really took off. During the primary Fred just didn't seem to show much passion...but he sure did last night!

Fred was right on target when he described the kind of character needed in our leaders, "This is the kind of character that civilizations from the beginning of history have sought in their leaders. Strength. Courage. Humility. Wisdom. Duty. Honor." John McCain possesses all of these traits to a much greater extent than Obama.

Fred, referring to John McCain, noted, "It's pretty clear there are two questions we will never have to ask ourselves, "Who is this man?" and "Can we trust this man with the presidency?" Since Obama has been given a complete pass by the media, we still don't know who he is after 19 months of campaigning!

Another money quote was when Fred discussed the historic nature of the Obama campaign, "History making in that he is the most liberal, most inexperienced nominee to ever run for president. Apparently they believe that he would match up well with the history making, Democrat controlled Congress. History making because it's the least accomplished and most unpopular Congress in our nation's history." The Nancy Pelosi/Harry Reid led Congress has the lowest approval rating ever - so I'm glad that Fred alluded to this fact!

Finally, Fred was right on the money when describing the Dem's tax plan, "Now our opponents tell you not to worry about their tax increases. They tell you they are not going to tax your family. No, they're just going to tax "businesses!" So unless you buy something from "business," like groceries or clothes or gasoline ... or unless you get a paycheck from a big or a small "business," don't worry ... it's not going to affect you. They say they are not going to take any water out of your side of the bucket, just the "other" side of the bucket! That's their idea of tax reform."

Tonight should be another great night of speeches!

San Francisco - Sat 8/30/08

On Saturday, Ed, a hometown friend of Tom's, took the train into SF from his home near Lake Tahoe. Ed met us at our hotel and came upstairs to our room for a nice visit.

Then the three of us caught a cab to North Beach, aka "Little Italy" and had lunch at one of the many Italian cafes. After lunch we walked through Chinatown, which is adjacent to North Beach. From there we took a cab to Union Square because Ed wanted to pick something up at Gump's. What a kewl store!

We then took yet another taxi - this one to Haight Ashbury. The Haight district is a counter-cultural wasteland populated mostly by hippies and punks. It was quite a shock to my conservative sensibilities! We popped in and out of several shops. I didn't make any purchases but Tom and Ed both did. From the Haight we headed back to the hotel where we said goodbye to Ed.

On Thursday I had spotted an In-N-Out Burger along Fisherman's Wharf and had been craving an In-N-Out burger ever since. I had eaten at In-N-Out many times before on previous vists to California. As luck would have it, Tom and I wanted to have a low key dinner on Saturday night so we took a cab to Fisherman's Wharf where I got my In-N-Out fix! Yeah! Fisherman's Wharf was super crowded. I couldn't believe how many people were out walking around.

Top pic is Tom and Ed in the Haight-Ashbury district.
Middle pic is me, Tom and Ed in cab on way back to hotel.
Bottom pic is me - taken on roof garden of our hotel after we returned from dinner.

Tribute to Del Martin

The GLBT community lost a pioneer on Wednesday with the death of lesbian activist Del Martin. I'm sure my politics are quite different than hers; nonetheless, the fact that Del & wife Phyllis Lyon, were together for nearly 60 years is an accomplishment worthy of respect. The top pic is a rainbow flag flying in the Castro district - note it is flying at half mast. The bottom pic is a makeshift memorial set up for her in the heart of the Castro.

San Francisco - Fri 8/29/08

Today we took the muni (light rail) to the Castro, which is the largest gay district in San Francisco. The Castro spans for several blocks and has both a commercial district and residential area. We enjoyed strolling through the Castro and browsing in the shops. The place we ate at for lunch was great for people watching since it was on a bustling corner, but the food was rather forgettable.

On our way back from the Castro, we accidentally got off the muni at Civic Center which meant we had to walk an extra six blocks to the hotel - gee thanks Tom! LOL. Pic one was taken on Market St. between Civic Center and Union Square. Before heading to the hotel we hung out for a while in Union Square & took some pics.

For dinner we took a cab to the ocean and ate at Sutro's at the Cliff House, which is another of the restaurants that my boss recommended. Sutro's has floor to ceiling windows facing the ocean, offering spectacular views! Unfortunately it was a foggy evening which reduced the visibility. Delicious food combined with the perfect ambiance made for a memorable evening nonetheless! The bottom pic is at the Cliff House.

Pics from SF - Thurs 8/28/08

Top pic is at Twin Peaks. Bottom two pics are at the Golden Gate Bridge. More San Fransicso pics on Flickr.com.

Well, wouldn't ya know? Tom & I almost always fly either American Airlines or Southwest Airlines, but since it seems like AA is always running late we decided to give another airline a chance. We chose to fly United Airlines to San Francisco. I guess we should have stuck with AA - our United flight was delayed 3 hours on Wednesday night. We finally got into SF at 1am SF time (3am Dallas time).

By the time we arrived at our hotel (the Fairmont on Knob Hill) they didn't have any more rooms available in the tower. The hotel clerk apologized and upgraded us to a super large suite (the Danzig Suite) so everything worked out fine.

Thursday morning we walked down to Union Square for a little shopping/browsing. Of course, Tom felt right at home amongst Neiman Marcus, Saks & Brooks Brothers. Then we spent most of the afternoon on a tourist bus, which took us all over the city. It was fun and informative.

For dinner, we took a taxi to Absinthe, a restaurant that my boss had recommended. It's located in the Civic Center area. The food was superb - and the cocktails were darn good too!

It's Palin!

Two thumbs up on John McCain's choice of running mate. Sarah Palin solidifies the Republican ticket & will make a great VP!

Barack the Barbarian - Killer Issue Not Going Away

It should now be obvious to all that Barak Obama is a heartless barbarian. His support of infanticide is going to be the KILLER issue in this campaign - and it should be. Obama's campaign is toast. No moral person is going to vote for a man who thinks killing live babies is a-ok.

Here are three more articles that discuss Obama's extremist support of infanticide and how he continues to LIE through his teeth about it.

1. http://townhall.com/columnists/AmandaCarpenter/2008/08/18/obama_calls_pro-lifers_liars

2. http://townhall.com/columnists/RichLowry/2008/08/18/barack_obama_-_abortion_extremist

3. http://townhall.com/columnists/KathrynJeanLopez/2008/08/18/dems_will_never_abort_pro-choice_mission

Barack the Barbarian - More

http://townhall.com/columnists/GuyBenson/2008/08/17/obamas_infanticide_disgrace

Happy 10th Birthday Rusty!

Happy Birthday to my itty bitty baby kitty who turned ten on Friday 8/15/08. It's hard to believe that Rusty is already ten years old. He was just six weeks old when I got him. I can still remember the day as if it was yesterday.

I had been wanting a kitten for some time so one Saturday afternoon my friends Mike & Karen took me to look around for one. Rusty was the first kitten that we saw that day. He was the last of six in his litter to be adopted and I could immediately see why - the little dummy was asleep in his litter box! I couldn't help but feel sorry for him and think that nobody is going to want such a dumb kitten.

When I held him though I felt an immediate bond. He was very affectionate and was starving for attention. We left the store without him however because I wanted to look at other kittens before making up my mind. We went on to three more places and saw several other kittens. The whole while though I couldn't get Rusty out of my mind. I knew I had to go back for him.

My baby has been with me ever since and we have lived in three different cities together. Rusty truly turned out to be a diamond in the rough. The people who passed over him have no idea what they missed out on!



Pics taken 8/17/08.

More on Barack the Barbarian's Strong Support of Infanticide

Here are two more articles about Obama's enthusiastic support of infanticide.

http://townhall.com/columnists/PatrickJBuchanan/2008/08/12/a_catholic_case_against_barack

http://townhall.com/columnists/AmandaCarpenter/2008/08/12/obama_lied_about_abortion_record

Dallas Heat Wave

Update 3: Finally - relief! Wednesday's (8/6/08) high temp was just 95 degrees. We even got a touch of rain which provided much needed relief!

Update 2: Tuesday's high temp was 102 - the 12th consecutive day over 100 and 26th of the year.

Update: The high temp on Monday was 105 degrees, the 11th consecutive day over 100 and 25th of 2008.

The temperature reached 107 degrees in Dallas on Sunday. This marked the 10th consecutive day & the 24th day in 2008 that the mercury has reached 100 degrees. The forecast calls for a high of 107 again today. I love hot weather but this is even too hot for me. Not only is it scorching hot but we have had very little rain - just 1.65 inches in the June/July timeframe.

Barack the Barbarian

It bewilders me that so many people can't see Obama for the cruel and heartless barbarian that he is. Obama's opposition to the IL Born Alive Infants Protection Act should horrify anyone who possesses a sense of decency. Certainly nobody with a conscience can vote for Barack Obama. I realize that most of Obama's supporters are non-Christians but come on now.

Even the overwhelming majority of pro-abortionists draw the line at killing a LIVE baby - but not Obama. Seriously, how much more wicked can a person be than to favor murdering innocent LIVE babies? I don't know what is more frightening - that Obama thinks it is ok to kill LIVE babies or that millions of Americans don't seem to care.

Read Jill Stanek's article titled "Why Jesus would not vote for Barack Obama" which can be found at http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=51121

McCain's "Celeb" ad

John McCain's "Celeb" ad is spot on. Obama may be a celebrity but if that is the only qualification to be leader of the free world, we may as well elect Paris Hilton as she would be just as qualified as Obama.

Sadly, one of the worst traits of young people today is their narcissism. McCain can actually benefit from the desperate need that the younger generation has to feel respected. Here's how:

McCain (without saying so) has cleverly exposed Obama's supporters as the mindless groupies that they are...and nobody wants to be thought the fool. It is a fact though that most young Obamaniacs cannot articulate an intelligent response when questioned about why they support Obama for President of the United States.

This ad forces them to do that. As they struggle to come up with an answer, young people may finally start to learn about the real Obama. That will be Obama's undoing. It's just not possible that normal young people will support Obama once they truly get to know him. Of course, Obama will still have the support of the kooky left fringe but thankfully that is a small number of voters.

Vote Republican & Stop Paying the The Pelosi Premium! PLAY VIDEO

Happy Independence Day

IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776.

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed,

That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.

Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.

The Pelosi Premium

Americans are paying the price for electing Democrats in 2006. Here is what the Pelosi Premium is costing us at the pump:

National Average Gasoline prices*
11/7/06 Election day 2006: $2.19
1/4/07 Nancy Pelosi sworn in as speaker: $2.30
7/4/08 Today: $4.10

*Energy Information Administration estimates

4/18/06. Nancy Pelosi commenting on $70 oil: "...The Republican Rubber Stamp Congress has passed two energy bills, costing taxpayers $12 billion for giveaways to big oil companies. But the Republican bills clearly have done nothing to lower gas prices, as the price of a barrel of oil has settled above $70 a barrel – the highest price in our history. Even the Chairman of the Federal Reserve agrees that gas prices are decreasing the purchasing power of American families and depressing the U.S. economy.

“Democrats have a plan to lower gas prices, taking America in a new direction that works for everyone, not just the few. Our plan would empower the Federal Trade Commission to crack down on price gouging to help bring down skyrocketing gas prices, increase production of alternative fuels, and rescind the billions of dollars in taxpayer subsidies, tax breaks, and royalty relief given to big oil and gas companies.”

1/4/07. Nancy Pelosi sworn in as speaker - oil at $58.35.

7/4/08. After 1 1/2 years of Nancy Pelosi leading House - oil at $145.29.

The price of gas at the pump & the cost of a barrel of oil have both skyrocketed on Madame Pelosi's watch. The Democrats' lack of a practical energy policy has had disastrous consequences for America. Republicans need to pound this message home every single day between now and November. This is a winning issue for us!

Tired of Paying the Pelosi Premium?

Vote Republican!

Drill Here. Drill Now. Pay Less. Sign the petition at: http://www.americansolutions.com/actioncenter/petitions/?Guid=54ec6e43-75a8-445b-aa7b-346a1e096659

iPhone 3G

9 days until the iPhone 3G goes on sale. Let the countdown begin!

I've never gotten excited over a phone before but this one is going to be incredible. I can't wait until 7/11/08!

Check it out at: http://www.wireless.att.com/cell-phone-service/specials/iPhone.jsp?rel=nofollow&wtSlotClick=1-0014ZE-1-1

A Poem from my Mother

My mother recently shared a poem that she wrote for me when I was a little boy. I'll always cherish it. With her permission, here it is:

My Little Man

When God gave you to us, my little man, our hearts were full of joy.
We felt so lucky to have such a wonderful baby boy.

First you started to walk, then to talk, and soon before we knew,
our little man was counting to ten, so many things you could do.

For Christmas you got a wooden board with pegs of red and yellow.
You sat patiently filling every hole, such a determined little fellow.

I remember the day you sat on the bed with me as I mended clothes.
You took a button out of my my sewing box and stuck it up your nose.

There are so many memories of you that cause your Daddy & me to smile.
But to list every one of them would certainly take awhile.

Time has a way of flying by so I'll cherish each day that I can.
For no matter how old you grow up to be, you will always be my little man.

Obama, Typical Politician - only worse!

Barak Obama is looking more and more like the typical politician in that "Mr. Change You Can Believe In" has broken yet another campaign pledge. Obama's latest is his recent decision to forgo public financing.

It should now be obvious that Obama is not who he claims to be. Uniter - get out of here. Above politics - no way. Barak Obama will say or do whatever is necessary to advance his extremist agenda - even going so far as to throw grandma under the bus!

Obama is actually worse than the typical politician. He is by far the most extreme major party candidate in my lifetime. Obama's uber-liberal voting record should speak for itself. However since the media is in the tank for him, Obama's extremism has yet to become much of a campaign issue.

It is also fair to say - based upon the company he keeps - that Obama is one of the most divisive candidates to ever seek the Oval Office. Obama's close company has included two anti-American racist pastors as well as several known terrorists. It's comical that the left thinks that someone like this is going to unite America. Not gonna happen.

The real Obama: 1) breaks promises 2) is an extremist 3) is divisive. Let's pray that between now and November Americans wake up and see this guy for who he really is.

AT&T HQ Moving to Dallas

AT&T announced yesterday that it's moving corporate headquarters from San Antonio to Dallas. The move has apparently been in the works for a number of months but was kept under close wraps.

There are four AT&T skyscrapers adjacent to one another in downtown Dallas. I'm located in One AT&T Plaza which is the largest of the four. Soon the CEO & many of AT&T's other top executives will be moving into my building. This is rather exciting!

It's been quite a ride throughout my 21 years with AT&T. I'm proud to work for such a legendary company and am thrilled that AT&T is as strong as ever. AT&T faces a bright future and now I'll get to experience it up close!

Press release:

AT&T corporate headquarters to move to Dallas
We're announcing this afternoon the move of AT&T's corporate headquarters to Dallas to gain better access to our customers and operations throughout the world, and to the key technology partners, suppliers, innovation and human resources we'll need as we continue to grow, domestically and internationally.

The move will begin in the coming weeks and is expected to be complete by around year end. It will involve about 700 of our nearly 6,000 San Antonio-based employees. The company's Telecom Operations group will remain in San Antonio.

"We're a growing global company with customers and operations around the world," said Randall Stephenson, AT&T chairman and CEO. "After much study and consideration, we determined the benefits of being headquartered in Dallas are significant for our long-term growth prospects and human resources needs, and our ability to operate more efficiently, better serve customers and expand the business in the future. It's a decision we believe will benefit AT&T employees, customers and shareowners for years to come."

The vast majority of employees will be notified no later than July 3 if their job is moving to Dallas. Soon after that, affected employees will be provided with more information about when their group will move, relocation assistance, job search assistance for spouses, a special relocation website, and other details to help you and your family move.

"I know from experience that moving is never easy, but we're committed to make it as smooth as possible for employees and their families," said Stephenson. Plans are to locate corporate headquarters' employees in our existing One AT&T Plaza (208 S. Akard) in downtown Dallas, though we will continue to evaluate our long-term real estate needs in the Dallas area.

Moving to Dallas puts our corporate headquarters near many of our key technology suppliers and other telecom companies who have major operations in Dallas, such as Alcatel-Lucent, Cisco, Ericsson, Fujitsu, Huawei, Nokia, Nortel, RIM and Samsung. The Dallas area is home to one of the country's largest communities of telecom companies, nearly 1,300 strong with 45,000 employees.

Air travel to and from Dallas will be more convenient, time efficient and cost effective. The DFW airport is the 3rd largest in the U.S. and one of the top six in the world, offering daily non-stop service to 35 international and 133 U.S. destinations. Additionally, Dallas enjoys a second major airport; Love Field — the 50th largest U.S. airport (San Antonio ranks 47th) — offers more than 160 non-stop flights daily.

Being headquartered near leading air transportation facilities is critical to global companies like AT&T as the airline industry continues to consolidate and reduce hubs and flights amid higher fuel prices and industry economic pressures. With better access to significantly more commercial flights — both domestically and internationally — the company will be able to sell some of its corporate aircraft, the proceeds of which are expected to more than pay for the move.

AT&T — recently ranked 10th among Fortune 500 companies — is a dramatically different company today than when it relocated corporate headquarters from St. Louis to San Antonio in 1992. At that time, the former Southwestern Bell had 60,000 employees, 11 million customers, $9.3 billion in revenues and operated primarily in five states. Today, AT&T has nearly 310,000 employees worldwide, more than 100 million customers, $119 billion in annual revenues and operates in all 50 U.S. states and 160 countries.

Good Larry Elder column

Larry Elder makes some great points in his column today at:
http://townhall.com/Columnists/LarryElder/2008/06/26/how_can_a_fellow_black_republican_oppose_obama

Money quote: "Compassion is not about making people dependent on government. Compassion is about encouraging personal responsibility, and getting people to understand that life is about making choices."

2nd Amendment Rights Preserved - barely

Yesterday the Supreme Court affirmed by a 5-4 margin that Americans have an individual 2nd Amendment right to keep and bear arms. Duh!

This SCOTUS case is a prime example of why elections matter. The four liberals on the court naturally voted to take our 2nd Amendment right away from us. One more liberal on the court would have tipped the vote in their favor. Had either Al Gore or John Kerry been elected president in '00 or '04 respectively, we no doubt would have lost one of the rights guaranteed us in the Bill of Rights.

This is precisely why we must elect John McCain. True, John McCain is not an ideal candidate. However we must be pragmatic and consider the alternative. Does anyone really think that Barak Obama's Supreme Court Justice nominees will be any less extreme than he is? Keep in mind that despite what he is saying now, Obama supported the D.C. gun ban - the most draconian anti-constitutional ban in the country.

This should be a wake up call to America of just how perilous our rights really are. Our fundamental 2nd Amendment right to keep and bear arms rested in the hands of Anthony Kennedy for goodness sake. If that isn't enough to frighten all moderates and conservatives into rallying around John McCain, then we are in deep trouble.

Texas GOP Convention - Day Three (6/14/08)

CD Caucus meetings reconvened at 8am. Many thanks to District 32 U.S. Rep Pete Sessions & his staff for providing us with coffee and breakfast tacos! The business of today's caucus was electing:

2 Delegates to the Republican National Convention
2 Alternates
1 Presidential Elector
RNC National Committeeman
RNC National Committeewoman

The surprise (a pleasant one) was that in the vote for RNC National Committeewoman, Bora Van Dormolen edged Cathie Adams 66-64. Although Ms. Adams would go on to win the state-wide election later in the day, it is telling that we (her home district) voted against her. It's just too bad that the rest of the state doesn't yet know how divisive Ms. Adams is. Unfortunately Ms. Adams promised that if elected she'd work to shape the National Republican platform after the Texas one. That's a scary thought!

The caucus meetings adjourned at about noon, which gave me just enough time to rush over to the hotel and (barely) meet their strict 12:30pm check out time. Because I was anxious to get home, I skipped the afternoon General Session and hit the road to Big D.

Texas GOP Convention - Day Two (6/13/08)

The first order of business today was Senate District Caucus meetings, scheduled from 9am - 11am. Unfortunately I had some work to do from my hotel room so missed the SD16 Caucus meeting. I showed up at the LCR hotel suite at about 11:30am and ran into my friends Ranil & Craig. We were all hungry so decided to go grab a bite.

On our way out, we noticed that Newt Gingrich had just arrived at the convention center and was walking our way. We decided to stick around for a few minutes to see if we could get closer to him. Newt proceeded to take a seat behind a table that had been set up for him & he began to sign copies of his latest book - see top pic above. It was amazing the crowd that swarmed around him. Newt still has rock star appeal among the party faithful - including me! We took a few pics of Newt but it was hard to get too close because it was an absolute mob scene!

Craig drove us to a Greek restaurant where we enjoyed a nice lunch. We got back to the convention center just in time for the start of the Second General Session at 1pm. The speakers today were fantastic! Newt kicked things off with a great speech focused on how we need to DRILL HERE, DRILL NOW, PAY LESS! An aside: if you haven't already signed his petition please do so right away. Other speakers were:

- Hon. Kay Bailey Hutchison, U.S. Senator
- Hon. John Cornyn, U.S. Senator
- Hon. Mike Huckabee, Former Governor of Arkansas
- Hon. Jerry Patterson, TX Land Commissioner

We then got down to business with the reports of the permanent committees (Credentials, Organization, Nominating, Rules, & Platform). This part of the afternoon seemed to drag on. The platform changes were approved all at once without much drama. I cast a symbolic "Nay" vote since LCR's resolution to remove anti-gay language from the platform wasn't even considered by the state platform committee.

Immediately after the General Session, we proceeded to CD Caucus meetings. Our CD32 meeting of ~ 150 people seemed quite cozy compared to the General Sessions of ~ 10,000. The CD Caucus meetings were the last "official" business of the day. Then it was off to dinner.

The GOP Dinner was supposed to start at 7pm but was delayed to 7:30pm since the General Session ran longer than scheduled. However, this still didn't give us enough time to go back to our rooms to change clothes so we went as is - much more casual than planned. The keynote dinner speaker was the Honorable Mitt Romney, former Governor of Massachusetts & former presidential candidate. Mitt gave an inspiring speech & encouraged everyone to support our nominee - John McCain.

After dinner, it was time to party! Rob, David, Ranil, Craig and I stopped into Borah Van Dormolen's party. Borah was one of the two candidates running for Republican National Committee (RNC) National Committeewoman. Most everyone I know was supporting Borah since she is conservative yet appears to be much more inclusive than her opponent.

Ranil, Craig and I then headed down the hall to the Lone Star Salute Party honoring the Republican State Senators - see bottom pic above. This party was a blast! They had an open bar so we consumed a few adult beverages. They also had a live band. It was an honor to meet Lt. Governor David Dewhurst at the party and get my picture taken with him - see middle pic above.

Thus concluded a VERY long day! Day Three to follow.

Father's Day 2008

This is the second Father's Day since my dad's death. I think about my dad every single day and know that I always will. As I was thinking about Dad today I wanted to write something about him on my blog but just couldn't find the right words to express what I'm feeling. So instead, I'm posting the eulogy that I gave at Dad's funeral. Happy Father's Day Dad. I love you.

Eulogy
I'd like to share a few things about my father but first please allow me to read a short poem that my father's sister Betty shared with me. The poem was written in 1996 by Dad's cousin Peggy Nash Galbreath and is titled “We'll meet tomorrow”

Although it isn't easy to release our loved ones to eternal peace
We trust their soul to the Father's care and know that eternity one day we'll share.
A good-bye kiss when they depart, memories are left within our heart.
Their spirit released. free as a dove; in perfect bliss, now one with love.
The ending of pain - fear, grief and sorrow, in that better place where we'll meet . . .
tomorrow.

My father was a family man and my mother, Pat, was his first and only love. He was a faithful and devoted husband to her. Dad had unconditional love for each of his children and grand-children and wanted nothing more than to see to it that we were happy. He celebrated our successes but even more important he always seemed to know exactly when we needed an encouraging word.

My father never gave up on any of us no matter how many times we erred. He believed in each us – even when we had doubts about ourselves. He wanted each of his children and grandchildren to meet their full potential and was always there to help us through any challenges we faced along the way.

My father was man of deep faith. He was active here at St. Ann's and truly loved being an usher. He was very passionate about his Catholic faith and was never shy about sharing it with others – but always in a non-threatening way. My father considered himself a behind a scenes kind of guy. He was never one who liked to be in the limelight. He just looked around for things that needed to be done and did them without seeking credit.

My father had a BIG BIG heart. He was the most caring and compassionate man I've even known. He did many kinds deeds, often for strangers - and usually always with little or no fanfare.

My parents both grew up going to Saint Ann's. Mother shared with me that her and Dad saw each other for the first time right here in this church. Mother and Dad were married at St Ann's 49 years ago. In fact, they would have been married 50 years this September. Although they moved around a lot throughout the years and attended many different parishes they came back home to Saint Ann's about fifteen years ago.

Many of you here know that my dad was a huge Notre Dame football fan. On Saturday afternoons during football season Dad would start getting himself ready for the game about an hour before kickoff. He had to have his chair positioned just right, his cup filled up and there on the table in front of him, the ringer on the phone turned down so it wouldn't ring during the game, but most important he had to get into the right mental frame of mind. Dad was convinced that we could affect the outcome of the game if we all channeled positive thoughts – which he referred to as cosmic rays. We learned at a young age not to talk about other things or say anything negative about the Irish during the game. My brother Steve and I have always been avid Notre Dame fans. We kid with each other that there was no way you could grow up in our father's household and not be an Irish fan.

Baseball was another of my father's passions. He enjoyed listening to the Royals every evening on his transistor radio. He played baseball throughout his younger years. He also played for the Knights of Columbus fast pitch softball team and was quite a third baseman.

My father had a great sense of humor. He always tried to make people laugh. My sister Lori shared with me that no matter how down she felt Dad always had the ability to cheer her up and make her laugh. My sister Suzy shared with me that the week before he passed away - when he saw her sad - he cracked a joke to cheer her up.

Dad liked to play around and sing in a Tiny Tim voice just to be funny. One day a friend was over at the house and Dad started singing in that awful falsetto voice. I was outside and didn't even realize what Dad was doing. About a week later, my friend asked me if my Dad sang out loud at mass. I said why do you ask? He said “well no offense but while you were outside the other day your Dad started singing and I have to say he has the worst singing voice I ever heard.” I immediately burst out laughing and explained that that wasn't his real singing voice. I still chuckle when I think of how my friend thought that he really sang that bad. Dad got a kick out of it too.

Dad was known for being quite a talker. He could go on for hours about any subject if given a chance. He found it difficult to answer a yes or no question without going into great detail. He was also very outgoing and had the ability to engage total strangers in conversation. He had a number of friends and he valued each of one of them in his own special way.

My father was always thinking of others and their well being. My Uncle Augie would usually drive my father out to the cancer center and sit with him while he received his chemotherapy. Dad noticed that a lot of the patients that would sit alongside him receiving treatment looked unhappy. One day in the car on the way to the treatment center, Dad told Augie “Our mission is to cheer the patients and nurses up.” And they proceeded to do just that.

I can honestly say that my father was my hero. He has always been an inspiration to me - but especially towards the end of his life when he faced tough challenges yet kept up his cheerfulness and positive attitude.

My father was also my best friend and confidant. If I ever had a problem or needed advice I knew that I could talk to him and he would understand. Although sometimes he would tell me something I didn't want to hear, I trusted his judgment and knew that he always had my best interest at heart.

Dad taught me many valuable life lessons and I'd like to mention just a few. One, he demonstrated by example to give of yourself freely without expecting to receive anything in return. Second, he used to always remind me not to take things too seriously – he believed that if you always try to do the right thing, things would have a way of working themselves out. Third, he taught me that the best things in life really are free. Although he didn't have a lot of material possessions, I believe that my father considered himself truly blessed since he was filled with faith and was surrounded by family and friends who loved him.

In closing - Dad - I just want to say thanks for always loving me, believing in me and being the best Dad a son could ever have. I love you very much and am proud to be your son. I'll miss our nightly chats but I know that you will always be with me in spirit. May you rest in peace with God.

My father's grandson, Thomas, would now like to say a few words about his grandfather.

Texas GOP convention - Day One (6/12/08)

As previously mentioned on this blog, I attended the Texas GOP state convention Thurs (6/12/08) - Sat (6/14/08). I drove from Dallas to Houston on Wednesday night & arrived at my hotel just after midnight. Needless to say, by the time I unpacked, I was exhausted & ready for bed!

The first General Session session didn't get under way until noon on Thursday but Log Cabin Republicans had work to do before then. We arrived at the convention center at 9am to distribute invitational fliers to the Big Tent Pizza Party we hosted that evening. We placed fliers on over 7,000 seats out on the convention floor! Our task completed, we sat back and enjoyed the first day of speeches. The speakers list was mainly comprised of our statewide office-holders including:

- Hon. Rick Perry, Governor
- Hon. Susan Combs, Commissioner of Agriculture
- Hon. Michael Williams, Chairman, Railroad Commission
- Hon. Greg Abbott, Attorney General
- Hon. David Dewhurst, Lieutenant Governor
- Hon. Tom Craddick, Speaker of the House

I enjoyed all of the speakers, especially Governor Perry and Railroad Commissioner Michael Williams.

The highlight of the day though was our Log Cabin Republicans (LCR) Big Tent Pizza Party! Over 500 fellow Republicans visited us in our suite Thursday evening. We served our guests pizza & drinks while educating them about LCR. A local pizza joint delivered pizzas for us as fast as they could make them. Still, the line to get into our suite snaked all the way down a very long haul and around the corner. Someone commented that this was likely the most Republicans who have ever attended a gay-hosted party. I don't doubt that it was!

Despite the wait (as much as 45 minutes) to get in, most everyone was grateful for our hospitality. A countless number expressed support for LCR, which was a real boost for the club! It's humbling to know that so many people - straight and gay - stand with us & I never take that support for granted!

Summary of Day Two to follow.

DAVID COOK ROCKS!

Congratulations David Cook! I'm pleasantly surprised that David Cook is the new American Idol. He's been my favorite for most of this season! GO DAVID COOK! YOU ROCK KANSAS CITY!

Media double standard

You can bet that if Obama was a Republican, the "mainstream" media would be having a field day with some of the doozies that Michelle Malkin lists in her column today on Townhall.com.
http://www.townhall.com/columnists/MichelleMalkin/2008/05/21/barack_obama_gaffe_machine

Busy Time

I've been extremely busy over the past couple of weeks so haven't had much chance lately to post. Hopefully things settle down to normal soon!

Work commute time quadruples!

On 5/9/08 I moved out of the AT&T office building in North Dallas of which I had worked for the most of the past six years. As of 5/12/08 I'm now located on the 31st floor of AT&T's largest office building in downtown Dallas. Thus began a whole new experience for me!

For the past 18 years, I've lived within 15 minutes of where I worked. Now however it takes me 15 minutes just to get to the train station. I then board the DART (Dallas Area Rapid Transit) light rail for my ride into downtown. The next leg of my trip involves walking two blocks from where I de-board the train to the AT&T office complex. It then concludes with a long ride up the elevator! My total commute time is now one hour each way, which is definitely going to take some getting used to. :(

It's pool season!

I took advantage of the nice weather in Dallas this weekend by spending a lot time laying out in the sun. Yesterday I got in the pool for the first time this year. The water temp was just 76 degrees but it felt great! Tom and I both got into the pool today - athough it took a bit of a push from me to get Tom into the water!

Chiefs draft DT Glenn Dorsey

The Kansas City Chiefs selected DT Glenn Dorsey (LSU) as the #5 pick in the first round of the NFL draft today. Chief's other picks today included T/G Branden Albert (Virginia) and CB Brandon Flowers (Virginia Tech). Overall, it was a solid first day for KC.

Thanks, but no thanks

Ashley Herzog's column today provides yet another example of the disastrous and often fatal consequences of allowing liberals too much authority. To read it go to: http://www.townhall.com/columnists/AshleyHerzog/2008/04/22/an_environmental_failure_restrictions_on_ddt
I was just recalling this very example with friends over the past weekend, so her column was very timely for me.

Liberals never seem to care about the potential harm that may result from their "do-gooder" schemes. Once they've made up their collective minds that something is good (or bad) for us libs shut off all debate and force their "prescription" down our throats. Pity anyone who dares to question them, as most liberals have absolutely no tolerance for opposing views - despite their claims to the contrary.

Nor do liberals take accountability for their failures. If liberals acknowledge their failures at all, which is quite rare, they do so only to shift the blame. You see it's never their fault things didn't work out as they had planned. Their failure is usually the result of mean and uncompassionate Republicans sabotaging their noble efforts.

A classic example is the explosion in the poverty rate after LBJ's "War on Poverty." How often have you heard liberals admit that LBJ's programs did far more harm than good? How often do they admit that government "assistance" programs often trap people in poverty? Rather than acknowledging the obvious and learning from their mistakes, liberals continue to call for more government handouts.

Liberals wonder why more people don't trust them when they offer assistance. Do they not realize that many of us have longer memories than they give us credit for? They must think we've forgotten all about the victims of their DDT ban, the lives destroyed by their "War on Poverty" and the many other times their "help" has ended up hurting people. That is all the reason we need to say "No thanks"!

Political Spin

Bill Clinton said he was going to run the most ethical administration ever. Then President Clinton, after committing perjury and obstructing justice, became only the second president to ever be impeached.

Barack Obama claims he is a uniter. It has now become painfully clear to all but those on the far left that Mr. Obama is in fact a very divisive politician.

It seems anytime a politician has a glaring weakness (e.g. Clinton's lack of ethics, Obama's divisiveness, etc.) the way he deals with it is to continually claim the opposite virtue. By repeating the falsehood often enough he is able to deceive many people into thinking he is who he claims to be...which is the opposite of who he really is.

The sad reality is that the spin often works. As difficult as it is to believe, there are actually Americans who - despite the HUGE mountain of evidence to the contrary - to this day still think Bill Clinton is an ethical person. Go figure.

So what will Obama do now and how will people react? No doubt he will continue to claim he is a uniter and a fair percentage of Americans will believe him. After all, if he says he is a uniter he must be, right?

Obama the Extremist

Cartoon is by Glenn McCoy.

Does anyone doubt that if a Republican's voting record was as conservative as Obama's is liberal, the media would be calling the Republican an "extremist" and a "right-wing zealot"? Obama is one of the most EXTREME (liberal or conservative) candidates EVER to run for president yet the media is fawning all over him and calling him a "uniter" who "transcends politics". Go figure.

Abortion is just one of the many issues in which Obama has an EXTREMIST voting record.

KC Royals Lose 4-3

The Royals just lost 4-3 to the Twins. Fall to 3-1.

Favorite Columns

Check out my Favorite Columns and let me know what you think. All of my posted favorites and many other great columns are archived at Townhall.com.

The 2-0 Royals. UPDATE - ROYALS NOW 3-0!

UPDATE - KC Royals are now 3-0. Royals are only remaining undefeated team in baseball - ya gotta love it!

As of right now, the Kansas City Royals have the best record in the American League at 2-0!

As of right now, the Kansas City Royals have the best record in the American League at 2-0!

So what if the 2008 season is still in its infancy. Long suffering Royals fans like myself have waited what seems like an eternity for this. One of the great things about baseball is that no matter how bad your team team did the year(s) before, once the new season arrives your past failures no longer matter. You are filled with hope that maybe, just maybe, this could be THE season we turn things around.

BTW, yes I do realize that I typed "As of right now, the Kansas City Royals have the best record in the American League at 2-0!" twice. It felt so good typing it the first time, I couldn't help myself.

GO ROYALS! http://kansascity.royals.mlb.com/index.jsp?c_id=kc

The Start of Baseball Season

My dad always loved this time of year. Beginning with the first nice weather day of the year, Dad would count down the days until the start of baseball season. I'm a lot like my dad in that way. Dad would have enjoyed George Will's article today and he probably would've gotten the quiz right. He always impressed me with his knowledge of baseball trivia!
http://www.townhall.com/columnists/GeorgeWill/2008/03/30/springtime_means_baseball

Our "Gay Lifestyle"

Tom and I spent last evening at the home of our friends, Brian & Andrew. We always have a nice time at their parties and last night was no exception. Towards the end of the evening Tom and I were were gathered in the kitchen with two other gay couple friends who have been together a long time. Let it be noted that all six of us are solid Republicans!

Anyway, somehow we got to chattting about which partner does various household chores and things like that. One of our friends then said something that got me thinking. I know, I know that is dangerous! Anyway, he said something like this: "it's funny listening to each other talk about our partners, our different personalities, and the roles each partner plays in the relationship. There really aren't any set rules for gay couples so we all just kind of go with what works best."

There is some truth to that but what got me thinking was actually how similar our lives seemed to be. More importantly, our lives all seem to bear little resemblance to this "gay lifestyle" that we hear so much about. Not that I needed any reassurance, but it confirmed for me once again that Tom and I aren't the only gay couple in America whose "gay lifestyle" looks an awful lot like our parents' lifestyles and that of our straight relatives and friends.

SD16 GOP Convention II

Today I attended, as a delegate, the Texas Senate District 16 GOP convention. I'm glad I participated because it helped me to better understand Dallas GOP politics and the way things are done. It also gave me the chance to meet a lot of fellow Republicans and to get a sense of what they were thinking.

Overall, I came away from the experience with mixed feelings. I was encouraged that many people I spoke with shared my concerns about the direction our party has taken over the past several years. They would like to see the GOP return to core conservative principles, especially around the proper role of government. Most people that I talked to want the government to just leave them alone. I couldn't agree more! There seems to be a real libertarian streak in my district, which was evident by all of the the Ron Paul supporters in attendance.

I don't support Ron Paul for three reasons: 1) his views on monetary policy 2) his isolationist foreign policy, including his position on withdrawing troops from Iraq and 3) his call for limited government goes a bit too far for my comfort level. That said, I think his supporters (and there are many) bring needed energy and debate to our party. I also sense that most of his supporters are tolerant of gays and lesbians, and that they'd like to see some of the divisive language removed from our state party platform.

I mentioned that I exited the SD16 GOP convention with mixed feelings. My biggest concern is that the folks who run the local party are completely out of touch with the citizens of Dallas County. In '06 the GOP got SWEPT out of office in Dallas County - we lost all 47 contested races to the Democrats! In response, every GOP candidate in Dallas county now goes around TALKING about how we need to grow the base and become more of a "big tent" party. I'm all in favor of that - but talk is cheap.

The sad reality is that the SD16 committees, esp. the SD16 Resolutions Committee, are still controlled by right wingers who have their collective heads buried in the sand. They seem oblivious to the sentiment within the party and throughout the city. These party "leaders" are making it very difficult for many moderates to vote Republican. They are also alienating many fiscal and national defense conservatives. This is based on a widespread feeling throughout Dallas that the Republican party has become too harsh and mean-spirited. As a result, I fear that we will face the same fate this year as in '06. Which brings me back to the SD16 Resolutions committee. First some background:


In '06 the state party adopted a platform that went out of its way to offend gays and lesbians. The platform contains multiple negative references to homosexuality. For example:

• "Homosexuality: ...sodomy tears at the fabric of society, contributes to the breakdown of the family unit..."


• "Homosexual behavior is contrary to the fundamental, unchanging truths that have been ordained by God, recognized by our country's founders, and shared by a majority of Texans."


• "We are opposed to any granting of special legal entitlements, recognition, or privileges including but not limited to marriage between persons of the same sex, custody of children by homosexuals, homosexual partner insurance or retirement benefits."


• "...no homosexual or any individual convicted of child abuse or molestation should have the right to custody or adoption of a minor child" (notice how gays & lesbians are lumped together with child abusers).


• "...the disqualification of homosexuals from military service."

This platform language is deeply offensive to gays and lesbians and our families. Murderers and rapists fare better in the Texas GOP platform than we do. It seems like special effort was made to single us out for condemnation and discrimination. It sends a very loud message that we are not welcome in the party.

As easy as it would be be, many of us refuse to leave the party. We are conservatives and we know that deep down the Republican party is where we belong. We will not back down to the "religious" zealots who are trying their best to drive us away. Further, we choose to stay in the GOP despite the ridicule and abuse we take from the gay community at large, which votes heavily Democrat.

Gay Republicans and our straight allies have tried in recent years to reclaim our party. This year, an effort was made to have the divisive language on homosexuality removed from the state party platform. The first step in this process is to pass resolutions at precinct conventions on the evening of the primary. This was accomplished in many precincts across Dallas.

The next step in the process is for the Resolutions Committees in each Senate District to review and vote on all of the resolutions that came out of the precincts. The SD16 Resolutions committee did this last week.

Today I attended the SD16 Resolutions committee meeting held simultaneously (in another room) as the convention. The committee met to issue their final report to be presented to convention delegates. It was in that meeting that I was informed that the committee voted to reject our resolution. When I pressed the committee for details I was told that the vote was unanimous. This meant that our resolution would not be presented to convention delegates for a vote.

This was a bitter disappointment. I don't know whether convention delegates would have passed our resolution or not. Unfortunately we will never know. I sense that the committee knows we would have either won, or gotten more support than they would have been comfortable with.

The fact that the committee vote was unanimous is revealing. It shows that we still have a long way to go before we are truly a big tent party. Anytime there is a unanimous committee vote against a resolution that has broad support among party members, it demonstrates that the committees are monopolized by one group of people.

So what next? That will be the topic for another discussion. What I will say for now is that I, and my fellow gay Republicans, WILL NOT back down nor will we run away. We will redouble our efforts and this temporary setback will only strengthen our resolve. Polls shows that younger voters are OVERWHELMINGLY on our side. Therefore we know that the question is not whether we will ultimately prevail but rather only a matter of when. Many of us are heading to the state convention in Houston as delegates or alternates and will continue to make our case for fairness.

The Truth about Greed

It's considered "gospel" truth among liberals that they are oh so compassionate people while conservatives are nothing but greedy capitalists. George Will's article shines the spotlight of truth on what conservatives have known all along. While libs talk a good game, it is conservatives who demonstrate, by their actions, true compassion. Read Will's article at:
http://www.townhall.com/columnists/GeorgeWill/2008/03/27/conservatives_really_are_more_compassionate

SD16 GOP Convention

On Saturday 3/29/08 I'll be attending the TX Senate District 16 Republican convention as a delegate. Check back later to read all about it.

SASSy Dems

Most of what I'm hearing from the Democrats these days is nothing but SASS...Socialism, Amnesty, Secularism, Surrender!