Friday, May 29, 2009

The Pledge of Allegiance

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands: one Nation under God, indivisible, With liberty and Justice for all. As a child in school we memorized the Pledge of Allegiance and recited it every day with our hands on hearts. Reciting the Pledge of Allegiance gave us a sense of pride in our nation. "I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America", We look proudly at the flag and all that it stands for. "And to the Republic for which it stands", I believe in our Government to protect and serve its constituents. "One nation under God". We are a Christian society and even though we believe in the freedom to practice all Religions our government is based on Christian beliefs and mores. "Indivisible", All American people will stand together as a whole for the right of Democracy and Freedom. "With liberty and justice for all", We offer to all Americans Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness and a justice system that will defend and protect all who uphold its laws.

This is such a simple Pledge with nothing but good intentions so why is it persecuted so often. Oberlin's Grade School has not allowed the Pledge of Allegiance to be recited for 30 years because it could be offensive to someone. What American could be offended by the Pledge of Allegiance? I have heard that the use of the words "Under God" gets people upset. Too Bad! We are a Christian society that accepts your right to worship any Religion you like, but do not trample on our rights as a Christian society to have a Democracy based in Christianity. Our laws are based on the Ten Commandments not the Koran, when you move here or are born here you know that. Accept our way of life or move. Why should we have to change our whole Democratic system because we might offend a minority of people. Democracy is based on majority rule, so lets put the reciting of the Pledge of Allegiance in Public Schools to a vote. Get the ACLU attorneys out of the way and Vote on it, simple, majority rules. End of discussion.

I have seen at the Cavaliers games lately, where young people do not take off their hats and talk the whole time the National Anthem is being sung or played. This to me is very disrespectful to our nation, our flag and our democracy. Maybe because these young kids have not learned respect of our nation through such things as the Pledge of Allegiance or prayer in school, they have grown up with a total lack of respect for everything symbolic towards our Nation. Thank You ACLU for raising a generation of offensive oafs.

Lets cut the crap. Get the attorneys out of interpreting our laws. Let the American people vote on the interpretation and intent of the laws. Should The Pledge of Allegiance be recited in Public Schools I vote Yes. Should Prayer be allowed in Public Schools, I vote Yes. America, love it or leave it, I vote Yes. GOD BLESS AMERICA, LAND THAT I LOVE, STAND BESIDE HER AND GUIDE HER THRU THE NIGHT WITH A LIGHT FROM ABOVE. FROM THE MOUNTAINS, TO THE PRARIES, TO THE OCEANS WHITE WITH FOAM. GOD BLESS AMERICA MY HOME SWEET HOME. Allah bless America, just would not have the same ring to it. Yahwe bless America, nope. Budha bless America, I don't think so. GOD BLESS AMERICA, yeah thats the one.

Sunday, May 17, 2009

The GOP and Women

If you are of the female persuasion you should be very upset with the GOP and the two positions that they are taking this week. No woman in her right mind should be standing on the right side of the political road. The GOP has always been a right wing, evangelical, white male, good old boys club with no regards for minorities, young people and women. Women, minorities and young people are considered second class citizens to the Republican party.

The GOP is looking down its nose at John McCains's daughter Meghan because she tends to be a centrist Republican. Meghan recently has been promoting her views of what the Republican Party meens to her. She does not stand hard along party lines like a fat, old, white man. She is in touch with the younger generation and their need to lighten up on some of the social issues that the old guard Republicans stand for. The old guard say she needs to grow up and understand taxes before she can become the voice for the Republican Party. The GOP is throwing away all of the voters under the age of 35 with statements like that. All young people should take note that the only young people that the GOP want are the yes men, Hitler youth, that will not think for themselves but bow to the old evangelical white way.

President Obama is supposedly considering 10 different women for the position on the Supreme Court that Davis Souter is going to vacate. The GOP has already taken a position against everyone of them. Ten highly educated women, Federal Appellate Judges, Law Professors, Federal District Judges, Solicitor Generals and Assistant Solicitor Generals and according to the GOP not one of them is qualified. Lets be frank here, is it that they are not qualified or is it that they are women. According to the GOP way of thinking a second class citizen, like a woman, does not belong on the Supreme Court Bench. "Its an immense opportunity to build the conservative movement," said Richard Viguerie a GOP fund raiser. "Its a massive teaching moment for America". Lesson learned, women belong barefoot, pregnant and in the kitchen, not on the Supreme Court. Way to alienate the female vote, dude.

President Obama is set to speak at Notre Dame University commencement exercises. Many right wing conservative groups are planning on disrupting the Presidents speech. I was always taught in the Catholic schools that I attended, that you learn more by listening than by talking. Maybe these groups should shut up and listen so that they can learn what the other side has to say. Notre Dame is supposed to be a institution of higher learning. Is ND about thinking and educating or just regurgitating back what the professors think in order to get a grade. Students and Families should be the only people allowed on campus, the outside rabble rousers should be kept off campus or arrested. The fact that the religious right is trying to stifle the freedom of speech of the President of the United States is appalling. I might not believe in abortion but I do believe that it is an individuals right to choose an abortion if their consequences are not suitable to having a child. I cannot make that choice for every pregnant woman in the United States. Every situation is different. This should not be a political issue it is a religious issue. Abortion issues should be taught in the churches not in the courtrooms. I say less government when it comes to the rights of an individuals body. I also do not agree with seat belt laws but that is another blog.

So what have we learned? The GOP is against young women because they need to grow up before they can express an opinion. The GOP is against any woman being appointed to the Supreme Court. The GOP is against a woman being able to choose what is right for her body. If I was a woman I would not be voting Republican any time soon. The women that do vote Republican are told to do so by their old, white, evangelical, husbands.

Sunday, May 10, 2009

Mothers Day

I would like to wish my Mother and all of the Mothers in the world a happy Mothers day. I am so grateful that my mother was there to guide me, protect me and patch me up throughout my life. Mom was there to watch all of those Football, Basketball and worst of all Track meets that I was involved in. She carted me and my friends around to skating, tobogganing and camping. She allowed me to have parties with girls at the house. Mom pushed me into theatre in high school and college. She was a buffer between me and my father when we did not see eye to eye. She was always there when I had to have surgeries and was sick. She listened about my broken heart traumas and put up with girls that she probably knew were not right for me but tolerated them any way.

My Mom wasn't a modern Mom. She hit me with wooden spoons and ping pong paddles. She had a mean arm when she was throwing a shoe at you. She played catcher when she was younger and could throw a shoe that seemed to curve around corners to hit you. People today would call that type of action abuse. I called it Love and discipline. I am probably a better man because of it. Sometimes a kid just needs some discipline.

My Mother was always there when I got home from school and is still there today when I stop by unannounced. she is always willing to make some soup and sandwiches for lunch or pop some extra food in for dinner. She always welcomed my friends into our house no matter what.

Mom I want to thank you for all that you did for me. I know I wasn't the ideal child but I turned out OK because of you. I probably do not say it enough but I Love You. Happy Mothers Day.

Saturday, May 2, 2009

Capitalism Needs Morality

I have a friend he is sitting on the right side of the road and I am sitting on the left side of the road. We are both close to the dotted white lines in the middle of the road but we are none the less in different lanes. He is very intelligent and an accountant. So where do you think I would turn my discussion towards? That's right, Capitalism and the failed economy.

My friend made a statement that I found to be very profound. He felt the failure of the banking industry and the auto industry came from a lack of morality within the companies. Any corporation that intends to grow and prosper needs to have the morality to look out for the company as a whole. The company must make a profit. The workers must be compensated for a job well done. No one man is bigger than the company as a whole.

No one man is bigger than the company as a whole. CEO's in the 1980's were receiving a salary 20 times greater than the average worker. In 2008 CEO's were making 400 times as much as the average worker. Corporations were no longer profitable and the men at the top were bigger than the company as a whole. The banking industry claimed that they had to compensate their people so well or the people would leave. Your company is failing why would you want them to stay?

The workers must be compensated for a job well done. Unions have long hid lazy people amongst the work force. When I was in Local 310 Laborers Union I was told to slow down so that the union could get another man on the job. If I slowed down I could be the next worker laid off by the company. I always felt give a company 100% for eight hours and the company would prosper and I would have a job. Yeah I know it doesn't always work out that way, I am laid off right now. The unions over stepped their bounds and the construction industry, steel mills and the auto industry are now paying for it. Men slept in cranes, heating ducts, trucks, where ever, for six out of eight hours and were paid for it. They could not be fired because of the union. I have a friend who demanded to be paid $200 for a four to five hour concrete job and said he really should be making $250 for the day no matter how long the job takes. He is filing for bankruptcy. Another friend refused to work for $15/hour I can not call him because he refuses to answer his phone because of bill collectors.

The company has to make a profit. The companies have all moved out of the United States there was no loyalty to the workers or the management. Now that the good times are gone everyone is pointing fingers. Management raped the company with their high wages. Labor raped the company with low quality work ethics. Where was the guilt? What about the Corporation? There was no foresight. It was all about ME. What can I get? What do I deserve? If the company no longer exists you can't get any thing. Where was the Morality? Had the management taken fair compensation for their time and been punished for failure there would have been more money for the company. Had labor given an honest days work for an honest days wage the company would have prospered. Had the company prospered they never would have left the United States.

THE END

Here is a bit of a side note. First Energy is asking for rate hikes on our electricity, I say NO. A CEI worker gets an hour drive time to get from the barn out their job. So if the job is 10 minutes away they waste 50 minutes because they get an hours drive time and they use it all. Add for the hour drive home. So now they are only working a six hour shift. They get a half hour for lunch and a 15 minute break in the morning and afternoon. Now they are only working a five hour shift. If it is below 32 degrees they get to sit in their trucks for ten minutes every hour. So in the winter they are only working a four hour shift. If it sprinkles they sit in their trucks until it stops. No work for that day. I am in construction if it is cold out we work or go home. If it rains out we work or we go home. We do not get drive time to and from work. The PUCO needs to clamp down on CEI and get them to do some work, then they would not have to raise our rates.

Obama in Europe

I have recently been barraged with letters by angry Americans who feel that President Obama belittled past American soldiers who fought in WWI by apologizing for Americas arrogance. Boy you guys are stretching to find something to be upset about. I heard the speech while I was working out and found it to be quite truthful and not derogatory towards our service men and women in any way. How long can we keep saying, "We beat back the Nazi's for you now do it our way".

We have been known as the Ugly Americans since 1958 when the book The Ugly Americans written by William Lederer and Eugene Burdick was first published, and if you read Peter Hecks column we have not learned a thing in over fifty years. We are viewed as arrogant around the world. We force our way of life on others because we feel superior to every other nation on earth. After the last administrations "might makes right" attitude that left America disparaged from the rest of the world, President Obama needs to show some humility to patch up our foreign relations. This act in and of itself does not dishonor any American dead or alive. President Obama is doing what he has to to achieve peace and prosperity around the world for all Americans.

Yes America is the best Country in the world. Yes Americas relief efforts and military have helped almost every nation in the world at some time or another. And yes the rest of the world should be grateful towards us but you can't just jam our opinions down their throats. We can't keep trying to say, "We are America and this is what you are going to do because we say so". President Obama will get more conciliation from other nations by being contrite rather than being a demagogue.

Peter Heck and the other author, who wasn't even man enough to sign his name to his rant, are welcome to come to my house and we can try it their way at first. I might be a fat old man but I still have a few cans of whoop-ass left in me. I will proceed to beat both of them into a bloody pulp until they submit to my way of thinking or we can sit down and have a discussion about our differences. Believe me they would both rather sit down and talk to me rather than fight me. Mr. Heck's grandfather will really be embarrassed when his grand kid comes home beat up and spewing my doctrine of peace. America needs to sit down and talk with the other people of the world. Lose the superiority complex, lose the arrogance and become the guiding light, lead by example.

Diplomacy is the word for the day. Let us all try and get along with each other. The mahatma in me wants to feel the love. I will accept you and your faults if you will accept me and my differences. We can all work together to build a better future, a better world. Or we can try and be despots demanding respect and ruling by fear, which never seems to work out for very long. President Obama stay the course America Loves You. Peter Heck I will put a candle in my window for you.

You can search for Mr. Peter Hecks misguided column at Peter Heck Arrogant Americans, Mr. President?