"Countrify America, Mr. President!"

A week ago, we saw the American Idol crowned again. I'm a fan; every year, I pledge I will not get involved in another season; by week two, I'm stuck again! This program has become an American institution; millions of viewers cast their votes for a favorite contestant, hoping he or she will be the next great voice. Scotty McCreery was this year's winner, and I couldn't have been happier. His clean and wholesome attitude; and youthful exuberance was wonderful. I'm a country fan, so his voice was a perfect fit for me; although I really liked the runner up, Lauren Alaina; also a country singer. Each of these two contestants were about sixteen years old; virtually children. Each of these contestants came from families with conservative American values. Each of these contestants seemed to have genuine affection for each other.

One of the things that I liked about Scotty was, he was offended and taken aback by "Pop Diva" Lady GaGa. Her suggestive comments were not well received by this young man; for that, I give him praise for exhibiting great character in the face of "popular culture". One hundred and twenty million people voted in the final week of Idol this year. This is an astounding number. When we examine the available choices, I find it interesting, that both contestants are from the country genre; perhaps, the most conservative music genre in America. Is this a reflection of what America really wants? There were "rockers", "jazz singers" and "soul singers"; yet, the finals were "country"; a thoroughly American form of music. Is this the true identity of America?

About a week or so ago, I wrote about a "Rap-Thug" called Common who went to the White House to reflect American culture. Vile music about violence and murder was invited into our nation's home, and showcased as American culture. I didn't hear if Toby Keith, or John Rich got a call from our First Lady; but I guess they didn't. I don't know if President Obama called Scotty to congratulate him; I didn't hear anything about it. Is what is being reflected in the White House truly what America yearns to be? Do we want our youth striving to "carry an Uzi, or kill a cop"?

I would like to thank America for showing what they really believe about American values. "Common" couldn't be more well-named; because he is common in his venue. His work reflects all the things we don't want America to degenerate into, violence and disregard for the law.

Mr. President, America is a country,;let's put the Country back in America! Well, my friends,that's a "RAP"!

"FALLEN HEROES!"

I ask all of you this question: What cannot be replaced? We all have favorite things; I have photos and some sports collectibles that I'm very fond of, but I would not be scarred for life if I lost them through some minor tragedy. Things are only things, and nothing more!

When I was in Alabama, at Fort McClellan, I had an opportunity to see the men who were the drill team at Arlington Cemetery. I had a rough day of dealing with trainees and I was tired, but after some persistent pestering from a fellow NCO, I went to watch those soldiers train in drill and ceremonies. I will never forget how great this group was. Each trooper was in step and sequence to one another; each looked like a recruiting poster and all of them were dedicated to be the best. After their drill was over, I talked to some of them, and I was impressed; America could be very proud of those young men. They go through special selection and requirements to become a member of this select group. They each have to take classes on the history of Arlington Cemetery, and be able to answer any questions from visitors when asked.

Arlington is one of America's most revered places. Its rows of graves represent soldiers, marines, sailors and airmen who have given their lives in the protection of America's freedom. I have some friends who rest at Arlington. Richie went to high school with me, he was a year older than I; he was a great guy. Richie had an older brother named Steve, who was also a great guy. Steve enlisted in the Marines and served in Viet Nam, with honor, like his big brother, Richie enlisted in the Corp. We all kidded him about being careful and not "messing his pants" in battle; everyone laughed. Nobody laughed when we heard that Richie was killed in battle. We knew we wouldn't see him again; no more jokes, no more friendly conversations; only an empty space where a good kid once stood. Mike was my first squad leader; he was from Chicago and we would compare notes on "hot dog joints" across the city, and where the best pool halls were. I was home when I heard Mike was killed while eating his noon meal under a tree. Mike and Richie are now part of a unique brotherhood; those who traded life for freedom. John was a very good friend, we played little league baseball together; he was a role model before the term role model existed. John was a Captain in Special Forces. It took John a little while to suffer from the war; John got cancer from Agent Orange, and it took him twenty years to die for his country; I still think of him today.

Monday is Memorial Day; it is for men like Richie, Mike and John. I'm glad there are troopers who are specially trained to watch over these fallen heroes; these men most certainly deserve this. I'm sure I'm not the only man who has stories like Richie, Mike and John; there are thousands of them. WWI, WWII, Korea, Viet Nam, Desert Storm and now our current conflicts continue to produce martyrs for freedom and country. Have a wonderful holiday on Monday; never forget what it means, or the price that has been paid. This holiday is really for them, you know.

(This is my last blog til Tuesday, have a good holiday, remember a veteran.)

"Choice!"

I went to elementary school in the 1950s, a much more family oriented era than we see today. I didn't know anyone whose parents were divorced until I got to high school. My Mom stayed at home to take care of us, while Dad worked two jobs to make ends meet. School was across the street from our 2-flat, I could see it from our living room. I don't remember anything of a controversial issue while I was in grade school. Parents were in control of the spiritual and moral teaching that their children would receive; we got the "3-R's" and proselytizing didn't exist, as it does today. The words "politically correct" didn't exist yet, and minority issues usually applied to racial prejudice and nothing else. I don't remember hearing the word evolution in my science class; it's only a theory you know. I never heard the term "alternate life style", and I thought gay meant happy. My Dad never discussed homosexuality with me; I didn't know it existed until much later, in my early teen years. When I finally asked Dad about it, he said somewhere in their lives those people got messed up; God didn't intend for people to act that way, and we never spoke about it again. I could see it made my Dad uncomfortable.

Having never questioned myself about this condition, I couldn't understand it very well; one look at a contraband "Playboy" and I was hooked on girls! When I became a father, our house reflected traditional values, which I believe we've passed on to our daughter. She knew more about the "gay life" at a younger age than I did, she also read her bible and believes that the "gay life" isn't what God intends for us, as do I.

Before you start screaming "homophobia", I would like to make one thing clear; an individual's life is theirs to lead, however they wish to lead it. This doesn't mean I have to approve of it, or validate it. This also means I can offer my opinion as to tax dollars being spent to advocate an agenda.

Television, radio and printed media are in the process of making homosexuality part of the norm in America, and throughout the world; I don't agree with that position. I don't hate Gay People! I don't advocate their choice in life. I don't want my children or grandchildren taught that it is a viable way to live.

In Oakland,California at the Redwood ELEMENTARY School, children of a very young age are being indoctrinated into the belief that gay and transgendered life is an acceptable alternative to traditional marriage and a heterosexual life. This is being explained under the cover of "evolution" and the animal kingdom. The quote I've read says this "(There's) a lot of variation in nature. Evolution comes up with some pretty funny ways for ANIMALS to reproduce. It turns out that there are not just two options."

As I stated earlier, evolution is a theory, never been proven by any scientist, it is all conjecture, depending on random selection. I don't subscribe to the evolution theory, and I don't want it taught as fact. I believe we are more than animals, and should not behave as the animal kingdom does. This persistent advocating of "alternative lifestyles" doesn't belong in any grade schools; let parents deal with these controversial issues as they see fit. STOP SPENDING TAX DOLLARS ON THIS SPECIAL INTEREST GROUP, AND INDOCTRINATING OUR CHILDREN!

I'm sure this blog will be unpleasant for some of you, and for that I apologize, but I believe it had to be said. God loves all of us; this is not condemnation, it is choice. Please don't force your choice on my children.

" La! La! La!"

"When you were little did you ever cover your ears when you didn't want to hear the remarks of someone? Did you cover them and make noises like "La,La,La!!" to make sure you couldn't hear words that were not to your liking? This playground behavior is pretty common from eight year old children.

Teenagers will sometimes storm off to their rooms to pout about decisions that were made that they weren't in agreement with. Muttering under their breath is a common reaction to discipline. Constructive criticism is never welcome, and is usually met with a slamming door, or statements like "I hate you!", or "I wish I'd never been born!" Ah, adolescents are so special!

Adults are supposed to react in a mature manner when confronted with "bad behavior". We have consequences for bad behavior; you know; jail! If we didn't have courts and jails, and we could only shake our fingers at wrongdoers, what would happen to our society? Could our streets turn into armed camps, and our honest citizens hide in the walls of their homes because criminals and miscreants roamed the nation? What would life be like if all our police could do was criticize criminals without the power to stop their actions?

For the last two-and-a-half years, the United Nations have been issuing sanctions against Iran about nuclear weapons development. As time has passed, Iran has done its level best to totally ignore United Nations sanctions, virtually covering their ears and saying "La,La,La, I can't hear you!" Once again the International Atomic Energy Agency has voiced concern about Iran's nuclear ambitions. Guess what America; Iran is ignoring this too! What a surprise!!

Back door activity between Iran and Syria is common knowledge, and it has been going on for a very long time. The United Nations sanctions do NOTHING!! The lunatic Ahmadinejad will continue on his radical path to destroy Israel and, when able, America. No Muslim nation will take action to stop Iran's actions because they AGREE WITH HIM! The World Police Force, you know; the U.N., is a useless body with no real teeth. We now reap the benefits of a weak defense, courtesy of Barack Obama. Less missiles, more reliance on international diplomacy, and a desire to become "one of the pack" instead of a world leader have led us into this horrible situation.

Mr. President, all the speeches in the world will not stop this situation! This "SPOILED CHILD" isn't listening to speeches or sanctions!! He is saying "La, La ,La, I can't hear you!!!"

"The Return of the Monster!"

I wonder if Bram Stoker and Mary Shelly knew what they were starting when they penned their most famous characters; Frankenstein and Dracula! Both of the original novels are compelling and well written; and not much like the movie treatments. When "Frankenstein" and "Dracula" entered the movies, could anyone have predicted the plethora of sequels that would follow them? Frankenstein would go on to meet the "Wolf Man", as would Dracula. Frankenstein would have a host of relatives show up, daughters and sons, even a teenage version in the 1950s. Dracula also had his family show up as his son and daughter and some of his wives wreaked havoc on an unprepared populous. No matter what was used to destroy these monster icons, they kept coming back! We now have contemporaries such as Freddy Kruger and Jason, who seem just as sturdy as "Old Drac and Frank". Sometimes monsters are difficult to remove! Burning wind mills, stakes in the heart, glaciers and drowning seem to have no effect on these monsters. I'm really glad they only exist in fiction.

I recently read that former Russian President Vladimir Putin is going to seek the Russian Presidency once again. Yes, my fellow Americans, the former head of the KGB, and former President seems ready to resurrect himself as the Chief Executive in Russia. Under the Russian Constitution, a person can only serve two consecutive terms as president; unlike our constitution, after a term layoff, they can seek office again (thank God we don't have that here).

Putin alluded that he may want to return to the Presidency when Dimitry Medvedev took office. The popular opinion is that Medvedev was just keeping the seat warm for Putin's return. The article I read said Putin is beginning to doubt Medvedev's loyalty. In the old days of the KGB, I'm sure disloyalty would be quietly removed, if you know what I mean! It's a good thing Russia is such a staunch republic now (sarcasm).

What does this mean to America? Iran and Syria are rumored to have very close, "under the table" discussions with Russia, and none of these three nations are overly fond of Israel or the United States. Russia still has a stockpile of nuclear weapons and usable plutonium, and I'm sure they are willing to deal these commodities to the highest bidder. Believe this, America, if Iran or Syria gets a hold of these dangerous elements, radical Islamist terrorists will certainly have access to them.

We have already entered into terrible arms agreements with the Russians, leaving America in a weakened condition. The return of Putin will only make things worse than they are now.

I find it interesting that Dracula was based on a character called "Vlad the Impaler"; you know Vlad is short for Vladimir.

"Barack Obama, TIME TRAVELLER!"

"Help Me Rhonda!" blasting out of my radio in my 1958 Cadillac convertible, cruising around the neighborhood; what great memories! My top was down, and I didn't have a care in the world. It would be a while before I enlisted in the Army, the sun was bright and the girls were all cute. I stopped for gas and the pump price was .35 cents a gallon; after that, I stopped for a hot dog for .25 cents. I was making $1.65 an hour and I had plenty of money for movies, pizza and shopping for new LEVIS. Our house cost Mom and Dad around $38,000 dollars, not bad for a Chicago suburb. Our household was ten people, two of whom were retired. We always had food on the table, and it was tasty. The year was 1967; I had not yet reached my twentieth birthday. The war in Viet Nam was real, and every person had their own opinion of its validity. The median income in America was about $7,300 a year; wow, try that now. Oddly, one hour of minimum wage pay could buy about five gallons of gas; today that same minimum wage will buy about two gallons of gas. Israel won a war in six days; pretty good for a country that would be considered a tiny state here. Yes, 1967 was a very interesting year; but we can't go back there.

Last week, President Barack Obama made a speech promoting the restoration of the 1967 Israeli border, asking Israel to give up hard fought territory won in the hopes of insuring security for the people. I honestly don't understand this President's distancing from the nation of Israel. Israel has been our friend since its inception; this statement can't be made about most of our other "friends" in the world.

Israel, as I said earlier, would be considered a tiny state here. Israel is surrounded by nations whose policies are blatant in their hatred of Israel, and openly advocate obliteration of the Israeli people. For more years than I would like to think about, the people of Israel has been dealing with terrorism and attack on their civilian population. America has been dealing with radical Islamists for only a little over a decade, yet,we are willing to do almost anything to deal with them. Israel has been doing it for over sixty years. Do you think it would be a good idea to go back forty-four years, and give up land needed to protect itself?

Prime Minister Netanyahu has basically told Obama to "forget about it", in the words of "Donnie Brasco". The atmosphere between Obama and Netanyahu was "chilled' to say the least; and I don't blame the Israeli Prime Minister; I blame Barack Obama. Obama seems more than willing to throw Israel "under the bus" in efforts to placate the Middle-East Islamist radicals. Ahmadinejad and the Muslim Brotherhood must be doing cartwheels over Obama's latest insult to the Israeli people. Barack Obama doesn't understand that those lunatics will happily turn their hatred on the United States as soon as they can wipe Israel off the map! Our President is being STUPID AGAIN!

As an American who supports Israel, I would like to offer my sincerest apologies to the fine people of Israel for the actions of America's President. He does not reflect the beliefs of freedom loving Americans! My prayers go out to all of you during these most trying times. America will be making a choice next November; I hope she will consider Mr. Obama's attitude toward Israel; I certainly will!

(I would like to thank all of those who have prayed for me since my minor accident, I'm not quite 100%, but I'm close!)

Minor Accident

Dear Readers:

Due to a minor accident, I will not be posting for the remainder of this week and will hopefully return on May 23, 2011. Thank you for your patience.

T.P.