The End Of Days Or Forward Progress? I Vote The Latter…

So yesterday, November 6, 2012, our nation took to the voting booths and stations around this great nation of ours and, when the tally was complete, we…as a people…had re-elected President Obama to his 2nd term as our leader.

Or had we?

Because according to many of my friends in the Facebook world, you would have thought the end was near and God himself was ready to strike our entire country down with lightning bolts and fiery brimstone at the notion that a DEMOCRAT could be elected TWICE to the highest post in nation?!?!

Oh the shame! Oh the horror! We must ALL pray that we survive another 4 years of such debauchery and socialism! This MUST be a mistake! The polls must have broken or there are some hanging chad’s that have yet to be counted or SOMETHING because there is no way that we…as a UNITED people…would EVER re-elect President Barack Obama to ANOTHER 4 years?!?!

Well…ya know what? We did. Granted…it WAS a close race and to be honest, I have to at least mention that I wasn’t quite as ready to give the Obama team my vote as quickly as the first time. In the end though, after all of the negative ads, the slanderous accusations, the ridiculous amount of erroneous sources and all the flip-flopping, my choice seemed fairly easy to make. To me, Mitt Romney is a salesman, a guy who knows how to make a pitch. I have to imagine that he never had to deal with the amount of scrutiny that he has had in this election. I watched the third debate as he stumbled and bumbled his way through discussions of foreign policy, consistently agreed with most of the work Obama had done in several areas involving foreign relations and then watched as Obama bitch slapped him when he made notion of the idea that our naval military isn’t as large as it was back in 1917 (in one of the more memorable moments that came from the debates this season, Obama countered with the response, “We also have fewer horses and bayonets, because the nature of our military has changed”).

Looking back on the past 4 years, I can say that I have been fortunate. I have been successful and my family has been healthy. I’m middle-class all the way and despite the fact that I haven’t been lucky (or smart) enough to sock away millions of dollars annually, I’m getting by. Most of my family seems to have been quite happy with the Obama Presidency. I am a fan of the Obama health care plan (as long as there are safeguards in place that don’t allow it to be abused), in favor of marriage for any couple that decides they love each other enough to make the commitment and 100% against government telling any woman what she can or can’t do with her own body. So on those issues alone, Obama was a clear choice. Romney came across to me as a sham man. He would say one thing one day and contradict himself the next. There were no straight answers and very little sense of accuracy in most of his claims that could have swayed me to back him in this election. Obviously there are those who are very unhappy with almost anything that Obama has done and all I can say to that is that they are apparently in the minority. Not that I’m throwing away all of the points that the Romney camp has brought to light, but I simply feel that Obama is the best man for the direction I want our country to go in.

So we have 4 more years of President Obama. We have 4 more years of putting his plan into effect. Despite what some of my Facebook friends may feel, I do NOT believe he will knowingly plunge our country into a doomed economic apocalypse. I do NOT believe he is a socialist or a member of some unknown religious sect that will rape our women and pillage our country. We are well beyond that everyone and for those of you who are crying that President Obama is the reincarnation of evil, I offer this from a Facebook friend who I have NOT “unfriended” this election season…

“I know that a lot of friends are frustrated by the election and the results but you really need to think twice about some of the things that get posted because a lot of it is making some normally intelligent people sound really dumb…”

Amen to that, Randy! It’s time to move on and get to work! Our country IS great and despite the venomous political landscape, it is time for us to join together to attempt to make it better…if not for ourselves then for our children.

I am Alan and I support THAT message 100%!!!

And so does Big Bird.

The Morning News_7.24.2012

I don’t know about you, but MY Facebook friends are going OFF! In some cases, people are discussing in a civilized manner the topics of the past few days. But in other ways, some people are just way outta line and it’s giving me a headache. If you happen to be reading this 5 years from now, here are today’s headlines on July 24, 2012…

Penn State accepted a $60 million fine, a 4-year post-season bowl ban, massive scholarship reductions and a Joe Paterno statue that was in front of the football stadium was taken down. This, in effect, has brought out all kinds of back & forth on whether JoePa has been found guilty without a trial, does the university deserve its sentence, do the students and athletes who have nothing to do with Jerry Sandusky’s molestations deserve to suffer the indignation of something a monster and a few select others covered up? Although I have no ties to Penn State, it saddens me what took place there and I feel so badly for those who are alumni, current students or athletes at that prestigious university . A college is a place for the young to learn and grow. For this kind of thing to happen, it takes away a huge part of what should be the best years of their lives. I can’t even imagine what I would have done if this sort of thing had happened at Ohio University in 1991. We had (and have) our share of issues (our campus was, once again, recently voted the biggest party school in the country) but nothing like what Penn State will suffer over the next decade or more.

Over the past weekend, Aurora, Colorado was the site of one of the most horrific shootings in our country’s history when James Eagan Jones walked into a midnight movie showing of “The Dark Knight Rises” covered in kevlar and killed 12 people and injured 58 others. This has sparked a debate on everything from the death sentence to whether or not the right to carry a firearm should include automatic weapons. It also has become a springboard for bored parents who have decided to take a stance on infants at midnight movies that are PG-13 or worse. What 15 people dying has to do with whether or not a parent brought their kid to sleep through a film is beyond me but I DID get involved in that debate and for my feelings on it, you can go HERE. As for Jones, I don’t get it. Following his story in the news, it appears the guy had a decent life. Regular family, former student at the University of Colorado, everyone said he was quiet but pretty normal so…what happened? Yesterday he appeared in court for the first day of trial. He hasn’t said a word about his motive. What moves a person to doing something so horrific? Did he just snap? Did he plan out this event for months or maybe years? Was he on some kind of medication that caused him to become depressed? WHAT HAPPENED? I want to know! It’s INSANE!

Sally Ride, the first American woman astronaut, has died. She was only 61. June 18, 1983, she was the first female to launch in Challenger. I was 14 years old and I remember that day. She was a hero and I hope that she is never forgotten.

Last week, President Obama made a statement that has oft been quoted as this…”If you’ve got a business, you didn’t build that.” It’s interesting how many people have taken that particular quote and used it against him saying he is misguided and way off track. If you actually READ what he said at a campaign event in Roanoke, VA, the way he has been misquoted is laughable and it’s ridiculous how the news media will take a SINGLE line (and not even an accurate one) and spin it completely out of its context for any given reason. If you REALLY want to know what the President said, GO HERE. As far as I can read, the man is right. As a country, we all rely on one another in some way, shape or form. To think that we do anything on our own is a misconception. Doesn’t matter if you’re the President of the United States or if you’re a blue collar worker. We all need one another to make this great country work. I get what you’re saying, Mr. President. Too bad some saw it as an opportunity to take what I consider to be an honest & truthful statement and twist it into a slap in the face for so many Americans who are working hard to make ends meet.

In news of lesser importance, Mariah Carey is apparently joining the American Idol, Chad Ochocinco has officially changed his name BACK to Chad Johnson and Seattle baseball superstar, Ichiro Suzuki (who has been the face of that franchise for over 12 years) was traded from the Mariners to the Yankees on the same night that they were to start a 3-game series. The Yankees (leading the A.L. East) not only beat the M’s (worst in A.L. West), but Ichiro had a single in his first at-bat.

Oh…and the Reds are leading the N.L. Central, are 16 games over .500, have won 9 of their last 11 games and are winning despite having lost Joey Votto for a few weeks.

I guess there is SOME sunshine in this morning…


Flying high again!